Commenting on the Government announcement on Heathrow, Dr Nelson Ogunshakin OBE chief executive of ACE said:

"It is good to see that the government has finally come to a decision on the issue of aviation capacity in the South East, after the Davies Commission finally put to rest the debate about whether extra space at the region’s airports was required. The professional engineering and construction sector can now begin to work with clients to develop the supply chain, allocate the resources, and develop the workforce vital to delivering this strategically important investment project.

"That we have taken this long to arrive at the same decision held by prior politicians over the past decade and a half have proposed is disappointing, however, and indicates a continued issue around uncertainty in the political process around large scale infrastructure investment projects. The delay we have seen over this issue has cost the UK economy billions of pounds in inward investment, and at a time when we need to be highlighting that Britain is open for business to the world, this is clearly unacceptable and should be avoided in future. We hope the government learns the lessons from this and puts measures in place to ensure needed infrastructure decisions are not held up by political fluctuations."

ENDS