Construction news

• Cala names industry veteran Tom Nicholson as new CEO

  16-12-2025 16:52 via constructionenquirer.com
  Cala has turned to industry heavyweight Tom Nicholson to take the top job as the house builder prepares for a tougher 2026 market.Nicholson steps in as chief executive bringing more than three decades’ experience with some of big house builders, including senior executive posts at Crest Nicholson and Linden Homes, as well a senior sales roles at Berkeley Homes and Ideal Homes earlier in his career.
  He spent the past year as a non-executive on the Cala board and succeeds Kevin Whitaker who
  
  Read more

• Yorkshire brickmaker saved in last-minute rescue deal

  16-12-2025 14:32 via constructionenquirer.com
  Yorkshire’s York Handmade Brick has been snapped up by private equity firm 4D Capital Partners in a rescue deal that saves 20 jobs and secures the future of the specialist brickmakers.
  The Alne-based firm, which supplied the Shard, Oxford’s Said Business School and Cambridge’s Magdalene College Library projects, had been on the brink of administration before 4D stepped in.
  The acquisition sees York Handmade folded into 4D’s fast-growing building products group alongside H
  
  Read more

• Steel fixer crushed by blockwork wall collapse

  16-12-2025 14:27 via constructionenquirer.com
  A construction company has been fined £100,000 after a steel-fixer was seriously injured when a newly built blockwork wall collapsed at a site in Poole.
  Matrod Frampton Limited pleaded guilty at Bristol Magistrates’ Court after the incident left 69-year-old Patrick Grant with life-changing injuries.
  The court heard how the breeze block wall had been back-filled too early, before the mortar had properly set. The wall collapsed while Grant was working nearby, crushing him against the c
  
  Read more

• Conlon Chairman to retire after 38 years

  16-12-2025 12:05 via constructionenquirer.com
  Conlon Construction has announced that Chairman Michael Conlon will retire after a 38-year plus career at the Preston-based firm founded by his father and four uncles in 1961.
  Current Managing Director Guy Parker will step into the additional role of Chairman from January 1 2026.
  Michael Conlon returned to the family firm in 1987 after four years with a smaller company. Starting out as an assistant site manager, he progressed through a series of senior roles and was appointed Chairman in 2013.He
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• HS2 first as giant bridge slid across live motorway

  16-12-2025 08:53 via constructionenquirer.com
  HS2 engineers claimed a UK-first over the weekend when they successfully slid a 4,600-tonne viaduct across the M6 without closing the motorway.
  The 17 hour-long operation was the culmination of an epic three-stage process to assemble and install the 315-metre East deck of the M6 South viaduct, which will carry high-speed trains heading to Birmingham and further north.
  While the previous slide had required a weekend closure of the main carriageway, the team – led by HS2’s main work co
  
  Read more

• Gilbert Ash breaks ground on £120m Wilde aparthotel

  16-12-2025 08:43 via constructionenquirer.com
  Gilbert Ash has kicked off construction on a £120m Wilde aparthotel in London for Dublin-based Staycity Group and developer The Property Trust Group.
  The 11-storey scheme at 19 Great Eastern Road in Shoreditch will become Staycity’s largest Wilde-branded property in London and its fifth in Zone 1.WT Partnership is project manager with completion slated for May 2027.
  The aparthotel will deliver 275 studio and one-bed units with self-catering layouts and a full suite of amenities inclu
  
  Read more

• Developer showed “total disregard” for site safety

  16-12-2025 08:30 via constructionenquirer.com
  A Cheshire property developer has been fined £45,000 after the Health and Safety Executive found multiple failures at a construction site in Manchester.
  Numerous health and safety failings were found during a site inspection at a home build project being undertaken by Stockport Development Limited on Kingsley Road, Manchester, in November 2023.
  The HSE inspection found missing edge protection on first floor landings, missing and damaged security fencing, a lack of fire alarms and exti
  
  Read more

• Watkin Jones takes £8.7m hit but eyes brighter 2026

  16-12-2025 08:27 via constructionenquirer.com
  Watkin Jones has slumped to an £8.7m pre-tax loss after another year of impairments and slow deal flow.
  But the developer insisted the worst of the downturn was now behind it as forward-sold revenue and a £2bn pipeline stack up for 2026 and beyond.
  Revenue fell 23% to £280m in the year to September and margins tightened as three to four-year-old legacy schemes worked through the system, while a £7.1m impairment on two assets and a £5m top-up to building-safety provi
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Bennett wins brace of retirement home deals

  16-12-2025 08:22 via constructionenquirer.com
  Investor Octopus Capital has appointed Bennett Construction to deliver two retirement living schemes in Surrey and Oxfordshire.
  At Headley Court in Surry Bennett Construction will be main works contractor to deliver 100 newly constructed apartments by transforming the historic Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre into a retirement village.
  The development of the 23-acre site close to Leatherhead will also include 12 two-bedroom apartments within a redeveloped Grade II-listed historic mansion ho
  
  Read more

Follow @new_constructio on Twitter!