Future Trends Survey - architeria.eu

RIBA ANNOUNCES JANUARY RESULTS OF THE FUTURE TRENDS SURVEY


The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announces the first set of results from its Future Trends
Survey, which was established at the start of the year to monitor business and employment trends
potentially affecting the profession.

Completed by a mix of small, medium and large firms based on a geographically representative sample,
initial figures suggested around half of all respondents (51 per cent) expected workloads to stay the same
over the next three months, whilst 39 per cent had prepared for a decrease, suggesting that work is
available. The Public Sector remained the top area that practices aimed to procure work from, with 60
per cent expecting workload to stay the same and 27 per cent predicting an increase. About half of both
private housing and commercial workloads were expected to decrease (46 per cent and 44 per cent
respectively).

Smaller practices, particularly sole practitioners, were more likely to suffer due to a lack of work;
47 per cent said that they were underemployed over the last month, compared to 17 per cent of larger
practices with over eleven members of staff. In terms of redundancies and staff retention, 72 per cent
of all practices expected staff levels to remain constant over the next three months, whereas 24 per cent
predicted a decrease.

The statistical analysis of the returns will enable the RIBA to regularly report on two key confidence tracking
indices relating to future workloads and staffing levels. For January 2009, the RIBA Future Trends Workload
Index is -29 and the RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index is -20.

In response to the January results, Adrian Dobson, RIBA Director of Practice said:

“The first set of data obtained from the RIBA Future Trends survey is a good initial indicator of the current
confidence levels of our membership and their predictions for the next three months. This information will
be used to identify and develop further policy and programmes to support the profession in a challenging
financial environment.

The January survey results clearly indicate that architects are now very cautious about future workloads
and are re-structuring their practices in the light of economic developments. Practices are taking a realistic
view and taking action now to ensure the viability of their businesses. The smallest practices are least
pessimistic about future workload in the housing sector, perhaps reflecting greater confidence about
commissions from individual clients in comparison with larger scale speculative and housing association
development, but smaller practices were less confident about growing their work in the public sector,
reflecting on-going concern about access to this sector. The RIBA continues to lobby government to create
an environment in which smaller practices can be enabled to bring fresh ideas and sustainable local delivery
to public sector capital projects, in particular the primary school programme. We are also working hard
to persuade government to re-consider the current VAT levels on maintenance and refurbishment works,
which could provide a vital stimulus not least in the residential sector.

The practices in the Future Trends survey currently obtain 9% of their work overseas, and with
the retrenchment in the domestic market we will be monitoring this figure closely to see if practices can
increase the amount of work they are winning abroad. UK Trade and Investment, the main UK government
body supporting exporters of goods and services is working closely with the RIBA to develop initiatives
to market the services of UK architects in key growth markets, including Russia, India and China, and
emerging markets in Africa and South America. Opportunities exist for practices at all scales.

The Institute is doing all that it can to minimise the effect of the recession on its members, practices and
the wider industry. The RIBA provides support for the membership to both survive the recession and to
be best prepared for the future: practical help has been provided in the recently published RIBA Recession
Survival Kit – expert guidance, consultancy and practical advice for both individual members and small to
large practices - at www.architecture.com. Throughout the Regions the RIBA is offering CPD seminars aimed
specifically at business survival in the recession. The RIBA’s Business Benchmarking scheme is a vital
business development tool which can assist practices in measuring their business performance and modeling
their future development; it is available free to all RIBA chartered practices and we are encouraging members
to access this unique service as part of their recession survival strategy.

As the Future Trends survey continues over the coming months it will both provide evidence of the emerging
trends and assist the RIBA to support the profession in equipping itself for the future shape of professional
practice.”

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Text: The Royal Institute of British Architects