The construction industry in Britain is better poised for recovery than at any time this decade, the Building Employers Confederation has said. Builders could look forward to annual growth rates of between 2 and 3 per cent over the next three years, said chairman Mr Paul Shepherd in his new year's message. The industry - a key indicator of Britain's economic health ahead of the general election - has only recently emerged from the recession of the early 1990s.

Mr Shepherd warned that recovery still remained patchy across some regions and in certain trading sectors.

Most encouraging was the growth in the private housing market, which had registered an increase of 20 per cent in building starts in the three months to October 1996 compared with the corresponding period a year before.