Hannah Vickers, Chief Executive of the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) responds to the announcement of a general election in December 2019:

"Since 2015, we have seen a much welcomed greater appreciation for the social and economic importance of infrastructure to the UK economy with a corresponding increase in government spending. As we face the upcoming general election, the UK, however, stands at the crossroads; either it can decide to invest in social and economic infrastructure networks that can compete with emerging economies, or it can continue to underinvest and see its international competitiveness fall.

"We want all political parties to accept the need for a long-term plan for infrastructure investment and to work together to provide industry with the certainty it needs to invest in our future. ACE looks forward to working with the political parties to ensure that this happens."