COOKHAM: According to the April 2010 ‘State of the Industry’ survey, nearly one third of companies are planning to increase the size of their marketing departments over the next 12 months and less than 10% are planning a reduction in numbers. The survey was carried out by construction market research specialists Leading Edge in association with CIMCIG (The Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Construction Interest Group). These are the best figures since the survey began in 2008.
The news is also better for sales figures after months of heavy falls. Sixty-eight per cent of companies managed to improve their sales in 2010 Q1, compared with the same period last year. This is almost double the number from last quarter, indicating that the worst may now be over for many companies, said Leading Edge.
There is more confidence in the market with 86% of companies expecting their sales figures to remain the same or improve in Q2 2010, compared to Q1.
The biggest worry for companies remains ‘margins being eroded by competitors’ and ‘how to win more projects / customers’. Both these issues are also seen as much more of a concern compared to 12 months ago. Also, compared to this period last year, there has been:
Nick Hollaway, senior manager at Leading Edge commented: “The latest survey suggests that sales figures are now starting to improve after months of heavy falls, but any sales increases will probably be from a very low base. The outlook appears to be slowly improving for marketing departments across the industry, but there is still some uncertainty about whether further cuts to budgets will be made during 2010.”
