Construction news

• A66 gets November start but build stretches to nine years

  28-10-2026 23:39 via Construction Enquirer
  
  The Government has finally given the green light for main construction on the £1.5bn-plus A66 dualling scheme to start next month.
  Balfour Beatty, Kier and Aureos will deliver the Northern Trans-Pennine upgrade under a revised nine-year programme, stretching the build from the previous five-year accelerated target.
  The Budget confirmed phased construction will begin in November to complete a continuous 50-mile dual carriageway between the M6 at Penrith and A1(M) at Scotch Corner.
  Civils and ear
  
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• Chancellor puts council homes at heart of £1.5bn Budget boost

  28-10-2026 15:16 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Chancellor John Healey has pledged an extra £1.5bn for social and affordable housing alongside a freeze on major building regulation changes in his first Budget.
  Healey postponed difficult decisions ahead in his ‘breathing space’ budget with no cuts to welfare spending and a welter of small tax changes that fail to tackle rising Government borrowing.
  Housing was the main winner in the Budget with the extra cash funding expected to deliver around 10,000 homes in England, with priority given
  
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• Watchdog MPs demand tighter cost controls on Sizewell C

  28-10-2026 08:35 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Watchdog MPs have demanded tighter oversight of Sizewell C construction amid warnings that taxpayers and consumers are carrying most of the financial risk.
  The Public Accounts Committee branded plans for annual progress reports to Parliament “totally inadequate” for the £40.5bn–£47.7bn nuclear project.
  It wants six-monthly updates setting out actual and forecast costs, changes to the construction timetable and progress against key milestones.These should also reveal the expected impact o
  
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• Renew buys directional drilling firm for £50m

  28-10-2026 08:16 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Infrastructure maintenance giant Renew has acquired high voltage cabling and directional drilling specialist PBU (UK) Ltd for a total consideration of up to £50m.
  The deal further enhances Renew’s delivery capabilities across the electricity transmission and distribution network.
  Renew has paid an initial cash consideration of £31.1m with up to an extra £18.9m conditional upon the vendors achieving specific profit targets over a three-year period.Latest accounts for PBU for the year to Sept
  
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• Take That brother buys £40m North East marine civils firm

  28-10-2026 08:15 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Entrepreneur Simon Orange has snapped up £40m-turnover marine civils specialist Southbay Civil Engineering.
  His Orange UK Holdings business has bought the Gateshead contractor from founding shareholders Gordon and Gill Green.
  The deal follows Orange’s acquisition of £350m-turnover steelwork giant William Hare in June last year, extending his interests from structural steel into ports, harbours and coastal infrastructure.
  A purchase price has not been disclosed for the Southbay business which
  
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• Three firms picked for Essex school building alliance

  28-10-2026 08:08 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Morgan Sindall, Bowmer & Kirkland and R G Carter have secured places on a new Department for Education alliance for school building work in Essex.
  The three firms have been brought together under the DfE Essex Alliance, due to run until the end of 2031.
  Morgan Sindall and Bowmer & Kirkland have landed places covering high value projects, while R G Carter takes low value jobs.The appointments draw on the DfE’s national Construction Framework 2025. Morgan Sindall and Bowmer & Kirklan
  
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• Plans lodged for Welsh Water’s biggest-ever project

  28-10-2026 08:07 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Plans have gone in for Welsh Water’s £600m overhaul of water treatment infrastructure serving more than 400,000 properties across south Wales.
  The Cwm Taf scheme is the biggest infrastructure project in the company’s history and will replace ageing treatment assets that have served the region for more than a century.
  Contractors and investors are already being sounded out ahead of procurement starting in early 2027 under Ofwat’s Direct Procurement for Customers model.The main construction
  
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