A crane’s-eye view of UK progress
What can Deloitte’s Crane Surveys reveal about our cities?
Progress is always happening somewhere. Just look up.
For nearly three decades, Deloitte has looked to the skies to understand how our cities are changing and growing.
Not by charting the stars at night. But in daylight, counting the cranes overhead in UK cities and regions.
Why count cranes?
Like a weathervane, construction activity can show us local and regional economies’ individual strengths and challenges.
Analysing the building activity underway in Belfast, Birmingham, Leeds, London and Manchester – the cities and regions Deloitte’s Crane Surveys analyses – can help us understand each one’s unique growth story.
What comes down must go up
Whether breaking ground on completely new developments or refurbishing a building to change its purpose, construction activity can tell us something important about the places we live and work, today and in the future.
Over the years, crane surveys have charted historical ups and downs and a story of resilient markets and regions.
And while it’s clear that growth, year on year, is reassuring, our experience of analysing the UK’s inevitable difficulties gives us confidence in the future.
That’s because, while surveys in the past have reflected significant dips in activity associated with challenging times, cities and regions have a reassuring habit of bouncing back.
For example, nine years after construction slowed as a result of the 2008 financial crisis, our 2017 surveys charted and shared office building booms, along with the encouraging news that construction had returned to levels last seen a decade earlier.
And just three years after the impact of Covid-19 contributed to a collapse in London office spaces in 2020, the Summer 2023 London Crane Survey data showed a post-Covid boom, logging its highest ever volume of new office starts – and giving Deloitte an opportunity to share the encouraging news with a recovering market.
Our intention is for the insight to be used in local areas, supporting ongoing work to create thriving economies and communities.
Counting cranes, charting growth
Based on robust data and analysis, crane surveys are compiled by our firm’s real estate experts and are a valuable addition to the day-to-day advice Deloitte provides with public and private sector clients and partners on planning, development and regeneration and much more.
Offering a crane’s-eye view of an area’s latest construction activity can act as a market-sentiment barometer for investors and stakeholders, helping to consolidate their forecasted development pipeline and offering reassurance as to whether now is the right time to build.
Our intention is for the insight to be used in local areas, supporting ongoing work to create thriving economies and communities.
Whether it’s being shared to highlight opportunities for collaboration or illustrate challenges to resolve, it’s rewarding to see and hear our analysis being used by leaders in local authorities, the real estate sector and beyond.
From the perspective of our firm’s regional growth experts, the insight remains crucial in their work supporting the sector and, in some cases, working alongside clients and local government to help bring new economic growth ambitions to life.
Our work as lead adviser to Knighthead Capital Management LLC in the development of the Birmingham Sports Quarter is a great example.
Bringing huge sums in public and private investment into the West Midlands, the impact of this development is set to create 10,000 jobs and provide much needed employment opportunities for younger residents.
Green shoots and new opportunities
It goes without saying that challenging economic and geopolitical conditions can impact investment in construction, affecting some developers’ confidence to take risks.
In today’s complex and challenging economy, it was only to be expected that the firm’s December 2024 London Crane Survey and February 2025 surveys for Belfast, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester, show a fall in new projects breaking ground.
For cities and regions, understanding downturns is just as important as capitalising growth – and it’s worth remembering that a headline isn’t a whole story. Looking behind it often reveals green shoots of progress, opportunities and sectors to watch.
For example, London’s 2024 data identified the emergence of large-scale life science developments driving new activity in the King’s Cross and Docklands submarkets.
Meanwhile, Manchester’s 2025 data showed a residential sector continuing to drive momentum, both in completing construction recorded in our previous survey and registering new starts.
In the face of broader economic challenges, this activity demonstrates ongoing confidence in our cities and the unique characteristics that make them great places to live and work.
Looking ahead, we’re compiling the insights we’ll share as part of future crane surveys. We hope they’ll highlight the opportunities local areas have to keep developing the bricks, mortar and wider infrastructure that make UK cities thrive.
