The CPA State of Trade Survey for the opening quarter of 2025 suggested that even before tariff-related disruption and uncertainty hit the UK economy in April, the construction recovery was taking a little longer to gain momentum.
In Q1, product sales decreased for a balance of 15% of heavy side firms, which comes after three previous quarters of growth. In contrast, a balance of 55% of light side firms reported an increase in product sales, which represents the strongest balance since 2019 Q3, pre-pandemic. This split is likely to reflect the varying stages of the construction recovery by sector, with house builders, commercial and industrial developers still holding back on new starts (reliant on heavy side products) but continuing with projects already underway (moving into phases that use light side products). Completions and finishes within private housing are also likely to have been strong in Q1 ahead of the increase in sales before the changes to stamp duty thresholds at the end of March.
Ongoing areas of strength such as government-funded energy-efficiency schemes dominated by thermal insulation and solar/PV measures are also driving demand towards the light side. Nevertheless, even at the time of polling for the Q1 survey, which was when US President Donald Trump had confirmed the US would be implementing ‘reciprocal’ tariffs, leading to falls in global stock markets and a spike in uncertainty, manufacturers anticipated that product sales would increase throughout 2025 – according to balances of 31% on the heavy side and 80% on the light side.
FIS Members can access the full report here.
Market Data
FIS has access to a wide range of market data from sources including the CPA and Barbour ABI. In addition, FIS produces a state of trade survey specifically for the finishes and interiors sector.