Scottish builders post +31% workload balance as UK slips to -4%, FMB survey finds

Scotland's small builders recorded the strongest workload growth of any UK nation in the first half of 2026, with a net balance of +31% against -4% UK-wide, the Federation of Master Builders said.

The State of Trade Survey, produced by the FMB with the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and conducted by Barbour ABI, covers January to June 2026 and drew 416 responses. England's net workload balance was -9%.

Scotland was also the only UK nation where enquiries for new work rose, at a net balance of +9% compared with -10% across the UK, the FMB said.

Gordon Nelson, Director of FMB Scotland, said: "While firms elsewhere in the UK saw work dry up, Scottish small building companies remained busy with enquiries for new work boosting their pipeline into 2027."

Nelson said material costs and fuel surcharges were squeezing already thin margins, leaving firms without the headroom to recruit and train. He called for increased funding and support for small firms to employ young people across the trades.

Workloads by nation

Nation or area	Net workload balance, H1 2026
Scotland	+31%
Wales	+14%
UK	-4%
England	-9%

Wales recorded the second strongest workload balance of the UK nations behind Scotland, according to FMB Cymru, but Welsh enquiries for new work fell to a net balance of -8%.

The UK trend

The CIOB said the UK net balance for total workload fell to -4% in H1 2026 from +22% in H2 2025 and +25% in H1 2025. Enquiries fell to -10% from +18% and +34% over the same periods, and the employment balance declined to -4% from +17% and +26%.

Scotland's figures have moved the other way. The FMB's previous Scottish release, published on 31 March 2026, put the nation's workload balance for the second half of 2025 at +28%, down slightly from +30% in the first half of that year. Nelson said at the time that the +28% rise was second only to Northern Ireland.

Scottish enquiries had fallen to +16% in H2 2025 from +56% in H1 2025, so the latest +9% reading follows two periods of declining pipeline growth. In H2 2025, 72% of Scottish firms were affected by a lack of skilled tradespeople, up from 61% in H1 2025, and 75% reported rising material costs.

Costs and skills

Across the UK, 75% of builders saw material costs rise in the first half of 2026 and 68% were hit by skills shortages, with 47% delaying jobs as a result, the FMB said.

Of businesses affected by skills shortages, 21% reported cancelled jobs and 18% said shortages had prevented growth or expansion. Among firms facing higher costs, 47% reported lower-than-expected profits or losses, 48% raised their prices and 29% cut back on plans to take on new staff.

Pam Wilson, FMB Scotland President and Managing Director of Kevin Wilson Master Builders, said her firm's diary was full well into next year. She said: "From timber to fuel, the cost of delivering a job keeps going up and that puts real pressure on small businesses like ours."

AI and confidence

More than half of building companies (57%) increased their use of artificial intelligence (AI), mostly for admin, quotes and tenders, while 22% said they were not using AI at all.

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said AI was becoming a more established part of how construction firms ran their businesses but that technology was not a silver bullet. He said the Government must ensure small firms have practical support to navigate new technology.

UK-wide, 39% of businesses said they felt positive about the rest of 2026, against 23% feeling negative.

The FMB, established in 1941, describes itself as the UK's largest trade association for small and medium-sized building companies, with around 6,500 vetted SME members. It said the State of Trade survey has tracked SME construction indicators for more than 30 years. The previous edition, covering the second half of 2025, was based on 493 responses from FMB members, CIOB companies and businesses outside both organisations.