Construction news

• Balfour pleads not guilty after nuclear site death

  18-03-2026 17:35 via constructionenquirer.com
  Balfour Beatty Group Limited has pleaded not guilty to health and safety offences following a worker fatality at AWE’s Aldermaston nuclear site.
  The firm appeared at High Wycombe Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning for a prosecution instigated by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), the UK’s independent nuclear regulator.
  The charges relate to an incident which occurred at the Aldermaston site in West Berkshire on 6 July 2023 when Stuart Cook, 58, a construction worker from Ea
  
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• Contractor J Smart plans new industrial hub

  18-03-2026 16:46 via constructionenquirer.com
  Developers Manse LLP and contractor J. Smart & Co have formed a joint venture and submitted a planning application to North Lanarkshire Council for a new industrial and logistics development at Eurocentral.
  The proposed Eurocentral Gateway scheme will deliver over 200,000 sq ft of new industrial and logistics space in one of Scotland’s most established and sought-after distribution locations.
  Work will involve construction of two high-specification industrial buildings of approximately
  
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• Final phase of London’s Elephant Park gets green light

  18-03-2026 14:48 via constructionenquirer.com
  The final piece of the Elephant Park regeneration in London’s Elephant and Castle area has secured planning, paving the way to close out more than a decade of transformation across the 10-acre site.
  Developer Hub is bringing forward the 1.2-acre mixed-use development, known as Chords. This will consist of 695 co-living flats and 20 three-bed family homes alongside community infrastructure, including a new NHS health centre.
  Designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, the scheme will be deliv
  
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• HMRC promotes digital tax changes – with print ads

  18-03-2026 13:37 via constructionenquirer.com
  HMRC chiefs are reminding construction sole traders about digital tax changes with a print based advertising campaign.
  Making Tax Digital changes comes into force next month and require construction sole traders with qualifying income over £50,000 to maintain digital records and send quarterly updates via HMRC-recognised software.
  But the government publicity campaign for the changes is being pushed through the industry’s dwindling range of shrinking print titles.One contractor said:
  
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• Caddick bags £25m Durham student flats job

  18-03-2026 09:17 via constructionenquirer.com
  Caddick Construction has landed a £25m design and build deal to deliver a 232-bed student scheme in Durham as it ramps up regional growth.
  The contractor will build the Melbury Court development off Old Dryburn Way for Whitesmocks, adding to its expanding North East pipeline.
  The PBSA scheme will provide modern student flats alongside landscaped public realm to improve the surrounding setting.Completion is targeted for summer 2027 ahead of the 2027/28 academic intake.
  The award marks anoth
  
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• Laing O’Rourke wins £3.2m High Court payout in film studios row

  18-03-2026 08:54 via constructionenquirer.com
  Laing O’Rourke has secured a £3.2m High Court victory after successfully enforcing an adjudication decision in a payment dispute with client Shepperton Studios.
  The Technology and Construction Court ruled that Shepperton must pay the sum plus VAT and interest following a row over an interim payment from a £331m design and build contract in 2021.
  Laing O’Rourke had originally sought to enforce a £5.6m adjudication award in its favour but the court reduced the final s
  
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• Wates buys its head office building

  18-03-2026 08:53 via constructionenquirer.com
  Wates Group has purchased its long-standing head office in Leatherhead, Surrey.
  The acquisition of the 37,000 sq ft Wates House comes after the contractor has leased the building for 20 years.
  Eoghan O’Lionaird, Chief Executive of Wates Group, said: “As a purpose-led business, everything we do at Wates is driven by reimagining places for people to thrive.“Securing the future of Wates House – our home for more than two decades – strengthens Wates’ long-term com
  
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• Beard gives away £4.5m as profits hit £9m high

  18-03-2026 08:50 via constructionenquirer.com
  Beard has capped a record year by handing half its £9m profit back to communities as turnover surged 16% to £230m.
  The family-owned contractor chose to donate £4.5m to regional charities instead of boosting shareholder dividends, marking one of the biggest philanthropic moves seen among UK regional builders.
  Strong trading was driven by a busy delivery year, with 62 projects completed across its South of England patch and a steady stream of framework and direct award wins.Opera
  
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• Morgan Sindall starts £28m steel decarbonisation centre

  18-03-2026 08:32 via constructionenquirer.com
  Morgan Sindall has started work on the South Wales Industrial Transition from Carbon Hub (SWITCH).
  The £28m research facility is designed to accelerate the decarbonisation of the steel and metals sector on a brownfield site at Port Talbot’s Harbourside.
  Morgan Sindall was first instructed under a design and build deal in 2023.SWITCH Harbourside, will be a purpose built, open access research hub supporting innovation across academics, industry and government.
  Its focus will help secto
  
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• Costain bags £45m Rugby sewage works upgrade

  18-03-2026 08:24 via constructionenquirer.com
  Costain has secured a £45m deal to upgrade key assets at Severn Trent’s Rugby Newbold sewage treatment works, extending a long-running partnership between the pair.
  The contractor will act as principal contractor and principal designer on the scheme, which runs to 2028, delivering new facilities and upgrading existing systems to boost operational resilience.
  Work will also increase feed and storm capacity at the site, forming part of Severn Trent’s wider AMP8 investment push ac
  
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• Barking Riverside doubles down with 20,000-home green light

  18-03-2026 08:08 via constructionenquirer.com
  London’s biggest single-ownership housing scheme has been scaled up after planners backed a major expansion at Barking Riverside.
  Developer Barking Riverside Limited has secured revised outline consent to deliver up to 20,000 homes on the 443-acre east London site – almost doubling the original 10,800-home consent.
  The decision from Barking & Dagenham councillors clears the way for a long-term build-out of one of the capital’s most significant brownfield regeneration p
  
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• Andrew Davison becomes joint MD at AGD

  18-03-2026 00:01 via constructionenquirer.com
  Plant hire specialist AGD Equipment Ltd has appointed Andrew Davison as Joint Managing Director.
  Davison brings over 25 years of experience in the piling and ground improvement markets, having spent most of his career with Keller and more recently working on HS2.
  Over the coming months Davison will be taking time to meet AGD customers and suppliers across the country.
  During his free time Davison races a Caterham car which has just been painted in the AGD orange livery. 
   
  
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