Building a case for investing in the construction sector and its suppliers in the current environment is never going to be easy. Chronic uncertainty about Brexit has meant building and development projects have been put on hold (witness Crest Nicholson, which only this week shelved a £400 million planned scheme in Hove).
Rising labour costs and inflation can put the squeeze on suppliers, particularly if they meet resistence when they try to pass price rises on to customers. Treacherous weather conditions can halt work and seize up a supply chain.
And then there’s the C word, as the shadow of Carillion continues to loom over the sector.
Into this maelstrom comes CRH, the Irish building materials group that among other things owns Tarmac. The