By Nick Gilbert
The Architectural Activities industry plans buildings and landscapes in accordance with the requirements of its customers with expert knowledge of design principles, building materials, building stipulations, and zoning regulations.
The industry¡¦s earnings of 4.5 billion pounds during 2012ƒ{2013 are less by 4.3% from those of the previous year. Of late, exports contribute to about 5.0% of the industry¡¦s earnings and imports cater to about 1.0% of the local demand. Industry earnings are expected to further decline by about 7% annually up to the five years ending 2012ƒ{2013.
Anthony Kelly, IBISWorld market analyst, attributes this decline to reduced office constructions, which generally demand high architectural design services. The industry is marked by a scattered structure, involving various small-scale operators. Direct employment of the industry is expected to touch 57,500 people in 10,300 organisations during 2012ƒ{2013, which was a decline of 10,500 direct employments from the cyclical peak of 68,000. However, the industry has gone up by 1000 organisations since the beginning of the recession because of which many architects had to set up individual establishments or quit. Furthermore, industry earnings are forecast to grow at a faster rate than the UK GDP of 2.0% in the next five years ending 2017ƒ{2018.
Three-fourths of industry establishments are very small organisations with less than five employees and annual earnings below 250,000 pounds. One-third of the architectural firms have been in operation below three years. The Architectural Activities industry in the UK has a low concentration of ownership and comprises limited large-scale international participants and various small-scale ones in a narrow market. The four of the largest firms account for less than 5% of the total industry¡¦s revenue.
Source: http://www.ibisworld.co.uk