Welcome to this month’s edition of Moorgate Management’s ConTech Matters, where we look at news, related stories and trends from around the construction technology industry to help bring you and your business the information you need to devise and develop strategy, including Go to Market within the built environment.
Monthly Market Review
The monthly macro trends continued to be seen, with the Glenigan | Powered by Hubexo April 25 Construction Review showing a fall in Q1-25, with the value of project starts dropping 4% compared to the previous three months and falling 21% year on year, partly driven by Gateway delays. Click here to read more.
Similarly, when looking at the latest housing starts and completions published by Office for National Statistics (ONS), these show that in 2024 that housing starts were 30.8% lower than pre-pandemic levels in 2029, and 25.7% lower than in 2023. When looking at completions the picture is slightly more positive, with a total of 184,390 dwellings completing in 2024, being 13.9% less than pre pandemic levels in 2019, and 5.3% fewer than in 2023. These fall considerably below the government’s stated ambition going forward of building 300,000 dwellings per annum. To read the full report click here.
In contrast, the S&P Global Flash PMI numbers for Mar-25 showed a remotely positive sign, with quarterly GDP growth of 0.1%, however, with employment continuing to be cut ahead of the NMW and NI changes, confidence was still running close to January’s two-year low. To learn more click here.
Looking forward, the Spring forecast from the Construction Products Association shows that after two challenging years impacting newbuild and RMI, total construction output is forecast to grow by 1.9% in 2025 and 3.7% in 2026 – being a slight revision downwards from their previous Winter forecast attributed to a slow start in Q1-25, higher inflation and subdued consumer and business confidence. Click here to learn more.
This is underpinned by the potential opportunity that exists within RMI, highlighted by the latest research from Impact Data Metrics Ltd estimating that the UK housing retrofit bill could hit £118bn to bring UK homes up to 2030 government benchmark EPC level C energy efficiency standards. To read more click here.
Similarly for newbuild, the 300,000 homes per annum opportunity exists, and is supported by Government initiatives such as the Home Building Fund (to partner with private sector funding, including HSBC) to help housebuilders deliver these. Click here to learn more. In addition, targeted funding to help small- and medium-sized housebuilders is now in place, in the form of the Greener Homes Alliance 2 fund targeting sustainable homes. To read more click here.
Trading updates from customers across each section of the built environment continued to show a mixed set of results.
For Tier 1 Contractors, Balfour Beatty plc delivered upbeat results for 2024, with underlying profits from operations up 7% at £252m (to read more click here) where, in stark contrast, Wates Group saw its pre-tax profits drop over 90% to £2.6m based on “difficult market conditions”. Click here to learn more.
In positive signs for housebuilding, Bellway Homes‘ Interim results showed an 11.9% increase in operating profit to £156m, coupled with a similar 11.9% increase in homes completed in the period to 4,577. To read more click here.
Similar positive sentiment was seen from Persimmon Homes in its full-year results, with completions up 7% to 10,644 homes and underlying pre tax profits up 10% to £395m. Click here to learn more. In contrast, regional housebuilder Allison Homes reported completions down 8% at 392, and a pre-tax loss of £3.4m on turnover of £97.7m, reducing from prior year losses of £7.3m. To read more click here.
Within facilities management, Mears Group PLC reported a 37% increase in profit before tax to £64.1m and a 20% increase in its order book to £3.0bn, highlighting strong commercial and operation performance supporting the housing sector. Click here to learn more.
Housing associations are also showing positive signs, with Clarion Housing Group results to Mar-25 showing a net surplus before tax up 14% to £94m and a 12% increase in homes completed to 1,727. To read more click here. Similarly, Southern Housing reported a 15% increase in its operating surplus, with 807 homes completed to £124m despite a claim submitted against Henley Construct following its administration. Click here to learn more.
Consolidation through M&A activity continued with both inward and outward investment.
Within the retrofit space, M Group‘s acquisition of Aran Group expands its offering in the energy efficiency and social housing retrofit market, alongside its previously acquired Agility Eco. To read more click here. With its acquisition of repairs and maintenance contractor EBS Construction, Glasgow groundworker M Squared will expand its offering to customers and joint capability. Click here to learn more.
Inward investment from Malaysian IJM Corporation Berhad into JRL Group Ltd supports IJM’s existing JV with Network Rail and provides access to JR:’s full service delivery model. To read more click here. Outward investment by Murphy with a 40% stake in Australian contractor Abergeldie Complex Infrastructure follows similar JVs in Canada and acquisitions in the US as it continues to develop a global presence. Click here to learn more.
Interestingly, similar to trends being seen within the merchant space, Gilbert-Ash has become the latest contractor to transition into employee ownership with a sale to its Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). Click here to read more.
The trends within both contractor and housebuilder insolvencies sadly continue, with the highest number of insolvencies in the 12 months to Jan-25 at 4,031. To learn more click here. Recent examples include Housing maintenance contractor Breyer Group and Taggart Homes.
Industry Trends
In a clear demonstration on the value of BIM in delivering efficiency, a groundbreaking research report has highlighted that BIM can solve persistent scheduling and planning problems to improve delivery, reduce disruption and cost certainty. Of the seven targeted use cases of BIM, 4D BIM was highlighted as the most significant – particularly regarding defining activity sequences. Click here to read more.
Within the Last mile delivery category of logistic systems and tracking category, a new partnership between Stuart and TradeKart will integrate Stuart’s delivery solutions within the TradeKart platform. Similar solutions such as Screwfix Sprint are provide by Gophr. To read more click here.
Innovative technology from Ecoveritas has been designed within the Waste management and circular economy to streamline and remove the friction from Extended Producer Reporting (EPR) within the Builders’ Merchants vertical – in particular assisting with managing missing weights. Click here to read more.
Within the New Construction Materials space, significant progress has been made with circularity with new geopolymer technology, which turns recycled glass and construction waste into a durable construction material suitable for infrastructure with its high compressive strength. To learn more click here.
Significant progress has been made regarding the adoption of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) into tier 1 and national housebuilders:
Balfour Beatty plc will complete its fourth, PassivHaus-certified school building in Scotland, with its construction of the £61m Nairn Academy school. To read more click here.
Barratt London has similarly announced plans to build 728 sustainable homes, which is likely to be the largest Passivhaus rollout in the country. The Lo-E homes have been designed by experts including Beyond Carbon and PassivHaus to be able to handle future extreme weather conditions. Click here to learn more.
In a positive move to provide scalable MMC supply chains, Peab and Södra have signed a collaboration agreement to create a standardised ECO-hybrid frame solution for industrial volume production, where the material is guided by function, climate benefit and resource efficiency, taking MMC to a new level. To read more click here.
Robotics trials continue to grow in number, with Taylor Woodrow trialling the first autonomous excavator in the UK, developed in collaboration with Gravis Robotics, Yanmar and AMRC, with benefits in excess of 20% being cited as the cost of what is being built attributed to not getting it right first time. Click here to understand more.
Pioneered by Bouygues Construction Australia, trials for an autonomous piling system (APS) are underway, seeking efficiency, accuracy (using GPS) and accelerated timescales using equipment developed by Built Robotics. To learn more click here.
Looking at Sustainability enablement, Energy Networks Association (ENA) Connect Direct digital platform has removed the friction for installers to apply to connect domestic low-carbon technologies to the electricity network by providing a more consistent, efficient and accurate process. Click here to understand more
There is innovation within the Carbon tools space from Cobuilder with the development of of Collaborate, which helps construction companies to automate the collection, structuring and reporting of environmental carbon and sustainability data for frameworks including CSRD and BREEAM. For more details click here.
Funding trends
When raising funds, grants play an important a part in your company’s growth as equity. In an interesting opportunity for founders, FundingIP, a global not-for-profit organisation is providing zero-equity grants to support founders to secure patents, trademarks and designs. To understand more and apply, click here.
Similarly, when looking at how to fund, founders do not necessarily always have both the opportunity or knowledge to understand the available options. In this helpful article entitled Start up Finance 101, the options of Debt, Equity and Mezzanine Capital are set out together with their respective opportunities and pitfalls. Click here to read more.
As part of reviewing the last 12 months, BuiltWorlds has provided an overview of the participants of its Venture Forum which, for founders, provides a great insight into the “who’s who” of trade investors ranging from A to Z, from EllisDon through to Trimble Ventures. To see the full list click here.
It has been interesting to see in the most recent funding rounds how certain areas on Contech have been supported. Within the procurement marketplace, several different approaches have been backed. Fuel Ventures 🚀 invested £2m into UK marketplace Materials Market while Navitas Capital, along with Blumberg Capital, DivcoWest Ventures and Superseed Ventures invested US$10.5m in Series A funding for the Material and Equipment procurement Marketplace Field Materials AI. To learn more click here and here.
M&A activity continued to be buoyant with BuildData Group acquiring DFM Systems, providing strong building information management focused on handover, quality and asset management solutions. Click here to read more.
Looking at exits, 3D environment visualisation platform Sitedesk Ltd has been acquired by Glider Technology to enhance its existing operational and asset management offering. To learn more click here.
When looking at the recent trends in ConTech exits, this helpful article from BricksAndBytes looks at the current state of exit routes – whether IPO or M&A, as well as looking at the factors driving exit activity – something every founder needs to be aware of. Click here to discover more.
Founder trends
In an insightful and succinct piece from Foundamental, the job of a ConTech CEO is explored in great detail, and boiled down to three timeless traits that all successful Contech CEOs share regarding hiring people, having the right information and execution. Click here to understand more.
When looking at the ConTech addressable market and the opportunities that await founders and their customer-driven Contech solutions, this interesting research from AECO (architecture, engineering, construction and operations) collaboration platform Revizto highlights the size of the addressable market and the opportunities for founder led solutions to address them. To learn more, click here.
Understanding why potential customers will not immediately take on your solution – whether it be the pain points not resonating or the solution value messaging not being correct is key to being able to grow and scale your business. In this concise article, a Contech founder shares their experience of overcoming pain points. Click here to read more.
An interesting insight for founders from the CIO of STO Building Group, from their key note address of how construction companies see the ConTech landscape and the opportunity for founders to provide solutions to help them. To learn more click here.
Forewarned is forearmed. Understanding other founders’ journeys although different, can help you to shape your specific journey. In this interesting discussion from Foundamental, the hidden pitfalls of why Contech start ups falter is shared from an investor perspective. Click here to read more.
Industry Associations
For those founders who have yet to join, C-Tech Club provides an immense peer network of support and ideas, together with an ever evolving analysis of the ConTech space, and its recognised subsectors, which in the latest Catalogue of Construction technology Types is 31. To learn more click here.
Industry awards provide a platform for recognition of both your innovation and validation, particularly when nominated by peers. The Construction News TechFest Awards 2025 provide such a platform, along with the Digital Construction Awards which for founders, can provide context for their solutions and potential client partners for their proof of concepts (POCs).
The recent BIM Summit by Symetri Europe provided a showcase of the progress that BIM has made across 44 countries, with some interesting keynotes to provide context. Click here to read more and book for the event.
The upcoming Modular Construction and Prefabrication Summit provides an interesting opportunity for founders in that Contech space to both network and showcase their innovation. To learn more click here.
ConTech Insight
Generative and industry-specific AI Procurement software models are creating an opportunity for ConTech startups to change the way that the tender process works. In this really interesting article from VC firstminute capital, the challenges and opportunities that exist are explored analytically, providing a great insight into the art of the possible. To learn more click here.
As part of the Go To Market Strategy Patents and their protection could and should be front and centre for any scaling business. In this interesting article by Balderton Capital, the need to establish a clear Patent Strategy is clearly laid out, together with a “How to” and key takeaways on next steps. Click here to read more.
In a thought provoking panel session at the recent New York Tech Week the subject of Bridging Infrastructure and Innovation was discussed, with panelists including contractors STV and VC fund 53 Stations highlighting the need for Contech founders to help transform infrastructure delivery with their digital tools that collaborate, design, deliver and sustain. To learn more click here.
Often overlooked, the use of PR (Public relations) by a ConTech business can be vital in supporting both founder credibility (particularly if a first-time founder) and momentum when scaling up. In this article from BricksandBytes, the benefits and best practice of ConTech PR are well outlined with sage advice regarding the need to nuance the approach. Click here to discover more.
The use of Strategic Partnerships by founders as part of their accelerator channels in their strategic roadmaps is often well understood but not necessarily well executed as part of the Go To Market plan. Creating a structured partnership programme and resource and develop these partnerships is paramount. In this really interesting article, one Contech Founder shares their own journey and the use of their Bullseye Framework which systematically builds scalable strategic partnerships to scale the business. To read more click here.
Having secured customers, the importance of Customer Success cannot be understated and is often overlooked in pursuit of new customer sign ups. In this helpful articles, the five most common pitfalls of customer success are outlined to help you avoid them. Click here to learn more.
Understanding your potential customers’ buyers journey is as important as the Value Matrix you have created to identify their pain points and the value your ConTech solution brings. Understanding how they set about Evaluating your Solution will help you to remove the friction (barriers) to the sales process and ultimately accelerate your customer acquistion process. In this article by Matrak the seven most common considerations to evaluating ConTech are given to help you with your journey. To learn more click here.
ConTech Case Study
Helping our clients with recent funding rounds, the creation of an Investment Tracker has been pivotal in helping them to source and evaluate potential investors, and equally importantly, identify those whose values align with theirs and will be Investment “partners”. In this case study, we share how we were able to do that. Click here to read more.
If you’d like to learn more about any of the topics covered and how we can help you and your business to devise and develop strategy including Go to Market within the built environment, get in touch with Moorgate Management Limited today, or call 07767 291 379.
Thank you for reading.