Construction news

• ‘James Bond’ builder fined for threats to HSE inspectors

  23-01-2026 14:25 via constructionenquirer.com
  A builder who threatened safety inspectors and told them his name was James Bond has been fined.
  David Robert Lane, 59, was the site manager of an extensive cottage refurbishment in Staffordshire when unsafe work caught the attention of two inspectors from the HSE.
  The pair had been carrying out routine inspections in the Rugeley area on 11 February 2025 when they saw two people on the site accessing a roof from the bucket of an excavator.There were around ten workers on the site and when the in
  
  Read more

• Another immigration raid on huge warehouse site

  23-01-2026 08:57 via constructionenquirer.com
  Immigration authorities staged another raid at the Panattoni Park warehouse construction site in Swindon this week.
  Last month Immigration Enforcement officers and Wiltshire Police swooped on the logistics site where Winvic is one of the main contractors.
  During the December raid 30 workers were arrested.In the latest operation yesterday around 200 workers were spoken to, all of whom were working legally.
  Chief Inspector Carly Nesbitt said: “This is a great result for everyone involved in
  
  Read more

• MPB lands £37m Midland Metro Phase 2 civils job

  23-01-2026 08:52 via constructionenquirer.com
  MPB Structures has landed a £37m civil engineering package on Phase 2 of the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro extension, cementing its growing role on the Midland Metro programme.
  The specialist concrete contractor has broken ground on the next stage of the scheme for the Midland Metro Alliance, building on its earlier delivery of the Delta Junction works on Phase 1.
  The Phase 2 package hands MPB responsibility for the full civils scope, covering more than 600m of new infrastructure along
  
  Read more

• Balfour to start £108m Middlewich bypass this spring

  23-01-2026 08:40 via constructionenquirer.com
  Construction will start on the delayed Middlewich Eastern Bypass in Cheshire this spring.
  Main contractor Balfour Beatty was due to start work last summer but the job was delayed by funding worries.
  Cheshire East Council has given the green light for work to begin with a £53.8m main construction deal signed on the £108m scheme.Councillor Mark Goldsmith, chair of the council’s highways and transport committee, said: “This is great news for Cheshire East and those who drive
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• MPs call for fraud probe in solid wall insulation scandal

  23-01-2026 08:26 via constructionenquirer.com
  MPs have called for the Serious Fraud Office to investigate the ECO insulation programme after warning suspected fraud is likely far higher than regulators have so far uncovered.
  In a blistering report, the Public Accounts Committee said the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero designed ECO4 and the Great British Insulation Scheme with no single organisation responsible for preventing or detecting fraud.
  This created gaps in data, accountability and oversight that allowed abuse to flour
  
  Read more

• HS2 final tunnel drive to Euston starts next week

  23-01-2026 07:55 via constructionenquirer.com
  Skanska Costain Strabag joint venture is set to start boring HS2’s long-awaited Euston tunnels next week, with tunnelling works launching from Old Oak Common.
  A team from SCS will drive a 4.5-mile twin-bore tunnel linking Old Oak Common to Euston using two tunnel boring machines, Karen and Madeleine.The first machine, TBM Madeleine, will be launched on the upline next week, with the second machine, TBM Karen, following around a month later on the downline.
  Once fully operational, the TBMs
  
  Read more

Follow @new_constructio on Twitter!