The construction industry is urging the Scottish government to 'do everything it possibly can' to help unlock the commercial industry's potential for economic growth, as data reveals new orders for commercial development and repair work have fallen by a third since 2007.

The Scottish government is being called on to act as data reveals new orders for commercial development and repair work have fallen by a third since 2007.


Over 200 industry delegates gathered in Edinburgh for the Scottish Property Federation's (SPF) annual conference, to hear how this drop in construction and related sector output alone has accounted for an estimated £2 billion of economic value lost to the wider Scottish economy.


With an estimated 28,000 jobs lost in the commercial property sector, and research from Warwick University suggesting as many as one in four small-to-medium-sized enterprises believing they will close by 2014, the SPF is calling for: