Around 100 attendees joined EDA’s Q2 2026 Talking Shop Live Online on Friday 24 April for 90 minutes of industry insight, practical business advice, and early access to the latest State of the Sector Survey results. The session was given a 4.6 out of 5 rating and you can find the full recording and links to all documents discussed below.
Top of the agenda was the impact of the Middle East conflict on the construction sector and, in particular, the electrotechnical supply chain, and the growing concerns of members and affiliates about raw material and running costs, price increases and potential future product shortages.
Margaret Fitzsimons drew attention to the impending quotas and tariffs on steel that have taken many in the construction industry by surprise and are likely to have an enormous impact the sector.
The latest construction industry forecasts from the Construction Products Association (CPA) were also presented.
The State of the Sector Survey, ably presented by Anne Vessey, was dominated by members’ concerns about the difficult business environment and how they will react to the geopolitical uncertainty and the very difficult UK trading conditions which have led to the construction forecasts being downgraded considerably.
Special guest speaker Peter Hill, Accountant and Business Consultant, gave a taster of his forthcoming webinar (Friday 1 May at 11.00 am) that will help members grow sales in a challenging market – timely advice indeed.
EDA’s special advisor, Paul Reeve, urged attendees to read the Government’s White Paper on construction products reform as it is likely to have a big impact on our businesses and how we manage product data in future. You can read the document here.
