Construction news

• Steeplejack dies after 60 metre church fall

  22-01-2025 09:17
  
  A specialist construction company has been fined £60,000 after a worker fell to his death from a church steeple in Birmingham.
  David Clover was employed by Ecclesiastical Steeplejacks Ltd to carry out restoration work to St Nicholas’ Church in Kings Norton on 13 November 2020.
  The 64-year-old steeplejack had been suspended from the 60 metre tall steeple of the Grade 1 listed building, sitting in a ‘bosun’s chair’ – a work positioning seat – when he fell,
  
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• Council pulls £274m road scheme over bats row

  22-01-2025 08:46
  
  Norfolk County Council has withdrawn its planning application for the £274m Norwich Western Link road amid an ongoing row with Natural England over protected bats.
  The government conservation advisory body decided to confer “favourable conservation status” on Barbastelle bats in the region last March just days before the application was due to be submitted.
  The council has been trying to reach a solution with Natural England ever since but has now “exhausted all options.&
  
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• Council pulls £274m road scheme over bat row

  22-01-2025 08:46
  
  Norfolk County Council has withdrawn its planning application for the £274m Norwich Western Link road amid an ongoing row with Natural England over protected bats.
  The government conservation advisory body decided to confer “favourable conservation status” on Barbastelle bats in the region last March just days before the application was due to be submitted.
  The council has been trying to reach a solution with Natural England ever since but has now “exhausted all options.&
  
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• Plasterer in court for Covid loan fraud

  22-01-2025 08:16
  
  A Lancashire plasterer who overstated his business’s turnover to secure a maximum-value Covid loan spent the funds on groceries, gambling, fantasy football, and almost 40 withdrawals from cash machines.
  Jordan Allen, 39, was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years, when he appeared at Preston Crown Court on Monday.
  Allen, of Oswaldtwistle, was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and 10 days of rehabilitation activity. He must also pay £3,600 in compensation
  
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• Sellafield awards £95m industrial services framework

  22-01-2025 08:15
  
  Industrial services contractor Kaeffer has clinched a four-year framework deal for work at the Sellafield site in Cumbria.The contractor will supply access systems plus asbestos and insulation support under a new arrangement to replace the past Sellafield Industrial Services Framework.
  Under the £95m deal, Kaeffer will design, manufacture and install access systems including scaffolding, powered access systems, roped access, rigging and cranes.Services provided under the asbestos and insul
  
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• Government faces £49bn estate maintenance backlog

  22-01-2025 08:11
  
  The government is facing a massive £49bn maintenance backlog across its public estate.
  According to spending watchdog the National Audit Office, the staggering figure highlights the urgent need for a comprehensive strategy to manage assets, alongside long-term investment planning.
  The NAO found that properties owned by the Ministry of Defence, schools, and the NHS account for more than £10bn each in backlog costs, making up 88% of the total.The remaining 12%—estimated at less t
  
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• £500m house building framework opens for bids

  22-01-2025 08:05
  
  Contractors and consultants are being invited to apply for spots on a North West social housing consortium’s £500m framework.
  The invitation to tender has opened with three lots for contractors and seven for consultants for JV North’s framework.
  Construction lots range from upwards to £4m, £4m to £12m and £12m and over.Consultant lots are open for architectural services, employers agents, purchaser agents, engineers, clerks of works, principal designers
  
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• HG Construction names new MD

  22-01-2025 07:02
  
  HG Construction has named Greg Purkiss as its new managing director completing the final phase of its corporate restructure.
  Purkiss’ appointment comes following significant structural changes across the business over the past year, with the establishment of a new operational board and appointment of dedicated construction directors with regional responsibility.
  Purkiss previously held the position of commercial director at the Hitchin-based contractor, which he joined in 2000 as a trainee
  
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