Construction news

• Morgan Sindall starts delayed £29m Newcastle leisure centre

  12-03-2026 16:53 via constructionenquirer.com
  Construction has finally started on Newcastle’s long-awaited £29m Outer West Leisure Centre in West Denton – nearly six years after the area’s previous swimming pool closed.
  Morgan Sindall has finally broken ground on the new complex, with activity on site set to ramp up in the coming weeks and completion expected in late 2027.
  The project replaces the former West Denton pool built in the 1960s, which shut during the pandemic and never reopened.The new leisure centre will
  
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• Mace and Arup land roles for UK’s first small modular reactor

  12-03-2026 16:23 via constructionenquirer.com
  Mace and Arup have been brought in to help shape the early engineering and delivery strategy for the UK’s first small modular reactor project at Wylfa in North Wales.
  Great British Energy–Nuclear has appointed Arup to lead early phase foundation engineering, while Mace will bring programme management expertise for the Anglesey scheme.
  They will work alongside Gleeds, LDA Design and TÜV SÜD Nuclear Technologies to develop the site’s first integrated design.The team wil
  
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• Green light for Sheffield Cole Brothers store revival

  12-03-2026 15:49 via constructionenquirer.com
  Urban Splash has secured planning approval to revive Sheffield’s landmark Cole Brothers department store, kick-starting the transformation of one of the city centre’s most prominent vacant buildings.
  The Grade II-listed 1963 building at Barker’s Pool will be converted into a mixed-use destination combining leisure, food and drink, retail and flexible workspace under plans designed by AHMM.
  Urban Splash was selected by Sheffield City Council to lead the revival of the landmark b
  
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• Green light for Sheffield Cole Brother store revival

  12-03-2026 15:49 via constructionenquirer.com
  Urban Splash has secured planning approval to revive Sheffield’s landmark Cole Brothers department store, kick-starting the transformation of one of the city centre’s most prominent vacant buildings.
  The Grade II-listed 1963 building at Barker’s Pool will be converted into a mixed-use destination combining leisure, food and drink, retail and flexible workspace under plans designed by AHMM.
  Urban Splash was selected by Sheffield City Council to lead the revival of the landmark b
  
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• Former facade boss Lee Marks joins Skanska

  12-03-2026 13:06 via constructionenquirer.com
  Lee Marks is joining Skanska UK next week as Executive Vice President and new leader of the Building business.
  He will take over the reins over the next few months from Terry Muckian who will assume executive responsibility at the Infrastructure operations and Cementation Skanska.
  Marks’ last major industry role was as COO at facade speciailist Permasteelisa which he left late last year.Prior to that he held senior roles at NG Bailey, Laing O’Rourke and Galliford Try.
  Marks also led
  
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• Vistry boss buys £893k shares after stock slide

  12-03-2026 08:50 via constructionenquirer.com
  Vistry chairman and CEO Greg Fitzgerald has moved to back the business with his own money, snapping up £893,000 of shares just days after the house builder’s stock was hammered on margin fears and news of his retirement.
  Fitzgerald bought 219,377 shares at £4.072 each yesterday, lifting his total holding to 1,509,167 shares, equal to around 0.47% of voting rights.
  The dealing comes after Vistry shares slumped more than 20% last week to a near-decade low after the group warned 2
  
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• CITB accused of cutting cash for small contractors

  12-03-2026 08:43 via constructionenquirer.com
  The CITB is coming under fire again after announcing more changes to how it hands cash back to contractors.
  From April only micro, small, and medium size employers can use the Employer Networks funding route.
  The annual budget for the programme has been set at £11.5m for the upcoming financial year with an annual cap on claims for smaller firms of between £1,500 and £4,500.The previous cap was £15,000 and the Enquirer has asked CITB for details of how the total £11.
  
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• Morgan Sindall submits Crystal Palace refurb plans

  12-03-2026 08:26 via constructionenquirer.com
  Morgan Sindall has submitted plans for a transformation of the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.
  The refurbishment project has been procured using the Southern Construction Framework (SCF), with Morgan Sindall appointed main contractor.
  Plans will rejuvenate the sports centre – which originally opened in 1964 – by bringing the 15-hectare site up to a modern standard while showcasing its heritage and historic features.This will include enhancing facilities to support sports from
  
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• £25m Dartford town centre housing job heads for tender

  12-03-2026 08:23 via constructionenquirer.com
  Dartford Borough Council is preparing to launch the contest for a contractor to deliver a £25m town centre housing scheme after submitting a planning application for the long-awaited Westgate Village redevelopment.
  The council has lodged plans to transform the derelict former Co-op site between Spital Street and Hythe Street into a new neighbourhood delivering 69 homes across a mix of blocks rising to 4 storeys and town houses.
  Around 22,000 sq ft of Class E commercial space will also be d
  
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• UK’s biggest AI data centre plan approved

  12-03-2026 08:17 via constructionenquirer.com
  Plans to build the UK’s largest data centres near Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire have gained outline approval.
  The massive AI data centre campus would deliver over 1.5m square metres of hyperscale floorspace across a campus of 15 data halls and is expected to cost around £7.5bn to build.
  This makes one the most ambitious digital infrastructure projects ever targeting 1,000MW of IT load to serve the accelerating needs of artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
  The project is fr
  
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