THE new chairman of Constructing Excellence in the North East (CENE) has warned that the region’s building industry is likely to see more high-profile casualties before the end of the year but that developments in green energy should come to the rescue of some companies.

The organisation, which works with industry and the Government to help deliver improvements within the industry, has welcomed John Burns as its new chairman.

Burns, who is a director of Gateshead-based Mackellar Architecture and has been involved with the Construction Industry Council, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Forum for the Built Environment (FBE), is under no illusion as to the challenges the industry faces over the coming years as firms continue to struggle in their search for new work.

The most recent company to fall foul of the bleak trading conditions is Dorin Construction, which went into administration earlier this week after it was unable to renew its banking facilities.

The firm, which was also badly hit by the icy winter weather, has made almost 100 workers redundant at its Newcastle site as the administrators continue to look for a buyer for all or part of the business.

He said: “It’s safe to say that the construction industry is having a pretty tough time of it at the moment and, from the outside, looks as though it is falling apart.

“I fear that this will continue over the next two years as companies struggle to secure finance or are unable to accept the terms being offered by the banks.

“Also, as many public sector organisations vacate their premises as part of the cuts, there will be even less demand for new developments.”

Despite the gloomy outlook, Burns said that he had a number of plans in place to help support the industry.

He is now looking to work closely with the new local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) and the North East Economic Partnership (NEEP), which are being set up to form strategic alliances between businesses and the public sector to bring work to the region.

He said: “It has to be said that CENE has been guilty of being too dependent on working alongside the public sector when it comes to serving our members and outlining our agenda.

“Now that things like the regional development agencies are to be no more, we need to align ourselves closely with initiatives such as the new LEPs and NEEP in addition to the region’s universities in order to better voice the concerns of the construction industry.

“We also need to increase our membership in the North East, which at the moment is around 200, so I will be looking to market the organisation better.”

He also believes businesses involved in retrofitting, which involves fitting new technologies to factories and work places, will be best placed to witness an upturn over the next two years.

He said: “The green energy market is going to play an increasingly important role in the construction sector, and will help to support those firms that have invested in this area recently.

“This will in turn help to secure a number of jobs as clients keep to their obligation to reduce emissions.”