Ninety-three percent of engineering services businesses say they are “concerned or very concerned” about the impact of coronavirus on their business over the next six months, according to initial responses to a major new ECA/BESA SELECT engineering services survey.
More than 60% of respondents are “very concerned” about coronavirus while only 1% of respondents suggested they were “unconcerned.”
Half of the engineering services respondents (51%) said that they have already encountered “delays and disruptions to current projects” with 61% of larger businesses reporting current disruption. Approximately half of the respondents already report “delays and disruption to future work.” More than half of respondents (53%) said they were now “preparing business contingency plans” as a result of developments — a figure that rose to 71% in larger businesses.
The most commonly cited business activity in response to coronavirus to date is “reducing business travel” and “asking or allowing staff to work from home,” followed by “business contingency planning.” However, around 10% of businesses say they have “shut down at certain premises or sites,” and more than 10% of respondents also say they are “updating their contracts” and “looking into alternative suppliers.”
The survey, which is still live but closes on Friday, March 27 at 4 p.m., has already received more than 600 responses from across the industry, including nearly 180 from larger businesses in the sector. The coronavirus situation is fast-moving and further survey responses are expected to show increasing impact on the industry in the days ahead.
To participate in the survey, visit www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/2CWB95Z.
