Scotland leads United Kingdom in education and hospitality approvals

by XPRESS, 04 May 2022

The Super Sector report, released by construction sector provider Barbour ABI in March, found that Scotland has been at the forefront of planning approvals for education and hospitality projects across the UK.

Scotland also beat the Barbour ABI Super Sectors report in the value of planning applications approved in the recreation, resort and sport building sectors for the second month in a row.

Projects valued at £222million were given the go-ahead in March, more than double the £82m requests that were approved in March.

This is a clear sign the hospitality sector in Scotland is slowly recovering from the pandemic, and there is a strong pipeline of projects in this sector. Tom Hall, chief UK economist at the Barbour ABI, said: 'The data for March indicates the construction industry in Scotland will continue to be strong for the short-to-medium term. Scotland came second in both procurement (£286m) and planning permission (£296m) in the UK.

The report by Barbour ABI Super Sectors also suggests that Scotland's medical sector is particularly weak with no planning requests approved as of March despite the latest focus on the availability of healthcare services across the UK.