Construction news

• Wates poaches Balfour director to lead North West operation

  24-11-2022 14:29 via constructionenquirer.com
  Wates Construction has hired Balfour Beatty national framework director Sarah Cooke as new regional director for the North West.
  Cooke brings more than 20 years’ experience within construction, gained primarily at tier one contractors including Morgan Sindall, Lendlease and Galliford Try.
  Most recently, she spent more than two years at Balfour Beatty as National Framework Director where she was responsible for its successful re-procurement of the Scape Civils framework, the Crown Commercia
  
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• Kier hires Laing O’Rourke veteran for London office push

  24-11-2022 13:57 via constructionenquirer.com
  Kier has signed former Laing O’Rourke project chief Gus Wright to lead a push for commercial orders in London.
  He joins in the newly-created role of regional director for London in January responsible for the operational delivery of Kier’s commercial and residential projects across London.
  Wright has over 30 years’ experience in construction holding senior roles at Ardmore Group, Mace and most recently, Laing O’Rourke, where recent successes include the delivery of the Br
  
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• VolkerFitzpatrick lands starring role on £174m film studios

  24-11-2022 12:31 via constructionenquirer.com
  VolkerFitzpatrick has been confirmed main contractor on the £174m Eastbrook Studios scheme in East London.
  Developer Hackman Capital Partners and its affiliate The MBS Group are creating London’s largest film and television production centre, in Dagenham.
  The site will include 12 sound stages, three acres of backlot, offices and ancillary space, totalling over half a million square feet.VolkerFitzpatrick started preparatory work on the 26-acre site in August by modifying two existing
  
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• Rebuilt TBM launches into second HS2 tunnel drive

  24-11-2022 09:42 via constructionenquirer.com
  HS2’s 125m-long ‘Dorothy’ tunnel boring machine has launched for her second tunnel bore after four months of intensive work to dismantle and then reassemble the machine.
  The second one-mile tunnel bore under Long Itchington Wood in Warwickshire marks the next big milestone for the  Balfour Beatty Vinci (BBV) tunnelling team on the northern section of phase one.
  After operating around the clock in shifts over seven months, Dorothy became the first on the HS2 project to comp
  
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• Materials lead times back to pre-pandemic levels

  24-11-2022 09:07 via constructionenquirer.com
  Overall availability of building materials and products is now returning to pre-pandemic levels last seen at the end of 2019.
  Inflationary pressures rather than availability now present the main challenges for energy-intensive products such as glass, concrete, cement, PIR, plasterboard and bricks.
  Easing pressure on volumes was reported in the latest Builders Merchants Federation member returns for the third quarter. This showed volume sales were -6.8% down compared to the third quarter in prepa
  
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• Bond strength helps TClarke towards £500m turnover target

  24-11-2022 08:35 via constructionenquirer.com
  Building services giant TClarke is on track to hit £500m turnover next year as its strong standing in the bond market assures clients.
  In a trading update the firm said: “Many of our clients demand performance bonds to be in place as part of the contract requirements.“Due to the strength of its balance sheet TClarke has at its disposal £65m of bonding capacity; one of the largest bonding capacities when compared to our recognised peer group.”TClarke is expecting rev
  
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• Michelmersh buys offsite pre-built brick product maker

  24-11-2022 08:18 via constructionenquirer.com
  Michelmersh Brick has bought leading brick fabricator and manufacturer of off-site pre-built brick products Fabspeed for £6.2m.
  Fabspeed is a manufacturer of pre-fabricated building products with a significant focus on bespoke, complex and specialist products, including chimneys, arches, canopies and cladding panels
  The business currently operates from three facilities, two in West Yorkshire and one in Oxfordshire, employing around 90 people.Frank Hanna, Joint Chief Executive Officer, said
  
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• Michelmersh buys offsite brick cladding and chimney maker

  24-11-2022 08:18 via constructionenquirer.com
  Michelmersh Brick has bought leading brick fabricator and manufacturer of off-site pre-built brick products Fabspeed for £6.2m.
  Fabspeed is a manufacturer of pre-fabricated building products with a significant focus on bespoke, complex and specialist products, including chimneys, arches, canopies and cladding panels
  The business currently operates from three facilities, two in West Yorkshire and one in Oxfordshire, employing around 90 people.Frank Hanna, Joint Chief Executive Officer, said
  
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• Pagabo acquires mental health monitoring business

  24-11-2022 08:07 via constructionenquirer.com
  The owner of framework provider Pagabo has acquired mental health monitoring business Moodbeam.
  The deal comes just weeks after Pagabo announced plans to introduce mental health clauses into its procurement documents.
  Pagabo owner The 55 Group first worked with Moodbeam in 2019 when its wearable wristbands were used on site to gauge how workers were feeling.Moodbeam has dispensed with the wristbands and now offers online and mobile dashboards for contractors to monitor the morale of their workfo
  
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• All-clear for £125m Guildford Debenhams redevelopment

  24-11-2022 08:00 via constructionenquirer.com
  Developer Native Land has gained planning for the 300,000-sq-ft redevelopment of the 1.7-acre former Debenhams department store site in Guildford.
  Permission unlocks the potential of a riverside site to deliver the £125m St. Mary’s Wharf scheme. This will provide a 185 private and affordable homes along with 21,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant space, and almost an acre of new riverside public realm.
  It will feature two new buildings, designed by architects Squire & Partners, th
  
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• Thompsons brings down historic Redcar blast furnace – video

  24-11-2022 07:57 via constructionenquirer.com
  Demolition contractor Thompsons of Prudhoe yesterday successfully blew down the historic Redcar Blast Furnace marking the close of clearance works of major industrial landmarks at the Teesworks redevelopment site.
  Teams from Thompsons brought down the Casting Houses and the Blast Furnace using 175kg of explosives after weeks of pre-works.Clean-up operations at the site will now continue into next year. The four stoves which heated the blast furnace will be brought down in a separate demolition i
  
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• Thompsons brings down historic Redcar blast furnace

  24-11-2022 07:57 via constructionenquirer.com
  Demolition contractor Thompsons of Prudhoe yesterday successfully blew down the historic Redcar Blast Furnace marking the close of clearance works of major industrial landmarks at the Teesworks redevelopment site.
  Teams from Thompsons brought down the Casting Houses and the Blast Furnace using 175kg of explosives after weeks of pre-works.Clean-up operations at the site will now continue into next year. The four stoves which heated the blast furnace will be brought down in a separate demolition i
  
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