STEVE Park, head of Warrington & Co, talks bouyant builders in his latest column.

IT is no surprise that the UK construction industry, which accounts for about seven percent of Britain's economy, was hit hard by the financial crisis of 2007-09.

But it is encouraging to see that, according to a Reuters survey last month, Britain's builders are, apparently, in ‘buoyant’ mood.

Optimism has risen to its highest level since January 2007 and are firms hiring staff at the fastest pace in four months.

The boon in residential construction helped by resurgent demand of development programmes and supportive funding conditions has been the sharpest experienced in the past 10 years.

Here in Warrington during the recession new home construction slowed but never stopped.

Chapelford, for instance, is now nearly complete and throughout the recession maintained its position as David Wilson Homes best-selling location.

While other towns and cities struggled to meet housing targets Warrington continued to exceed them which to me is an indicator of what we have always known here, but the Sunday Times discovered for themselves and announced last month, when they listed Warrington and Lymm in their top 101 places to live with a summary that in terms of location, ‘..the connections are second to none’.

For the past 15 years Warrington has published an annual property review.

The document provides a detailed analysis of commercial and residential property trends for each year.

Collectively they paint an interesting picture that charts Warrington pre, during and post-recession.

Needless to say the borough has fared well throughout. Developers and investors have seen Warrington as a safe bet.

Our sixteenth edition will be published at the end of this month and I am excited to see the findings. Keep a look out in the press and a copy of the document will be available on our website from 29th.