Published Sunday 12 July 2026 · By the JustEng team
A quieter Sunday for headlines but a heavy week behind us: a fresh construction PMI print reinforcing the housebuilding downturn, a new Cabinet Office regulation update aimed at faster infrastructure delivery, planning reforms landing at the end of the month, and yet more nuclear and insolvency signals feeding into what employers are budgeting for the second half of the year.
Construction PMI stuck near a six-year low
S&P Global’s June UK Construction PMI printed at 38.4 — only a whisker above May’s six-year low of 38.2 and the tenth consecutive month below the 50 no-change mark. Housebuilding activity was the weakest sub-sector at 35.6, with the Construction Products Association now forecasting a 2.5% contraction in output across 2026. Bloomberg framed the print as a fresh blow to the Government’s new-homes pledge.
Hiring angle: Residential-heavy contractors are freezing permanent hiring and leaning on contract civils and site engineers to keep programmes moving, while consultancies with infrastructure and nuclear exposure continue to compete hard for senior structural and civil engineers — the split in the market is now the widest we have seen this cycle.
Regulation Action Plan targets faster consenting
The Government published its Regulation Action Plan progress update on 8 July, setting out how it will cut administrative drag on infrastructure delivery. Ofgem has been asked to accelerate electricity connections for strategically important projects, including data centres, while the Environment Agency will simplify permitting for on-site backup power, according to industry reporting summarised by Construction Magazine UK.
Hiring angle: Faster grid connections and simpler EA permitting should feed demand for power systems, environmental and DCO-experienced planners — roles that are already tight and typically pay a premium in our salary benchmarks.
NSIP planning reforms take effect end of July
From the end of July 2026, mandatory pre-application consultations for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects are being removed, with the Planning Inspectorate offering earlier technical guidance in their place. Enerdata reports the aim is to cut major-project approval timelines by up to 12 months across solar, wind, nuclear, reservoirs and transport.
Hiring angle: Consenting and technical-advisory teams inside civils consultancies are being scaled up now to catch the pipeline of DCO applications the reforms are expected to unlock — expect renewed demand for senior planners, EIA leads and multidisciplinary project directors on the civils and infrastructure side.
Construction insolvencies still the sector’s biggest single risk
The latest Insolvency Service data shows construction accounted for 16% of all corporate insolvencies in England and Wales in May 2026, with 281 registered construction businesses failing in the month alone. The 12-month running total to May stood at 3,803 — down 6% year-on-year but still 18% above the pre-pandemic 2019 baseline, according to The Construction Index.
Hiring angle: Distress at Tier 2/3 subcontractors is pushing experienced staff into the market at pace — clients who move quickly on senior QSs, project managers and MEP engineers are securing good candidates on terms that would have been out of reach twelve months ago; if you are recruiting, our team can help you register a vacancy.
Sizewell C signals a nuclear skills squeeze
Sizewell C chief executive Julia Pyke has told suppliers the £38bn Suffolk project will move as much work as possible offsite in response to a looming construction skills shortage, warning that productivity is a “key risk” to programme and budget. Separately, New Civil Engineer reported on 1 July that more manufacturing issues had been logged during production of Sizewell C’s reactor vessels than at Hinkley Point C.
Hiring angle: The offsite shift will lift demand for modular and DfMA-experienced structural and MEP engineers, quality and welding specialists, and forensic-minded reviewers who can interrogate supplier documentation — roles where our structural and fire engineering desks are already fielding daily briefs.
Recruiting engineers or design staff in a market this uneven? Register a vacancy and we’ll shortlist against verified UK candidates; if you are a candidate weighing options, submit your CV and we’ll benchmark you against live briefs across civil, structural, fire and facade teams.