Construction news

• Contractors face mental health quiz to win work

  10-05-2024 08:10 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Industry accreditation  specialist Veriforce CHAS is pushing for mental health assessments of contractors to become part of the prequalification process.
  The firm has launched its first Mental Health & Wellbeing Question Set as a voluntary module within its core Veriforce CHAS  assessments.
  Managing director Ian McKinnon said:  “We hope that this heralds a new era where mental health and wellbeing are prioritised alongside traditional safety measures and mental health an
  
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• Strabag UK suffers further big trading loss

  24-05-2024 09:08 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  The UK arm of Austria construction giant Strabag suffered a third year of losses as the firm continued to gear up for a long term presence in the UK.
  While the contractor has worked in the UK on HS2 since securing work in 2017 it set up Strabag UK in 2020 to become its main operating business here.
  Last year the firm reported operating losses of £17m, after falling £22m into the red in 2022 and £2m the year before that.
  Revenue almost doubled last year to £135m as its Har
  
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• Architects now upbeat after 10-months of work gloom

  24-05-2024 08:33 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Confidence among architects about future workloads has turned the corner after 10 consecutive months of gloom in the industry.
  According to the latest Royal Institute of British Architects monthly trade survey the industry workload index is positive (+2) for the first time since June 2023.
  This ends the longest spell of gloom since the survey began in 2009.
  Over the next three months, 19% of practices expect workloads to increase, 17% expect them to decrease, and 63% expect them to stay the same
  
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• Durham Uni picks UPP for £130m student scheme

  24-05-2024 08:28 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Durham University has picked student accommodation specialist UPP to design build and operate a major expansion of student facilities.
  The £130m project will involve refurbishment of the College of St Hild and St Bede and the development of new college accommodation at the Leazes Road site.
  This will deliver 1,000 self-catered bed spaces and associated facilities, including a shared hub building.The site benefits from a south facing aspect fronting on to the River Wear and is a short walk
  
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• Kilkern wins drainage deal at £480m green energy plant

  23-05-2024 23:30 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Kilkern has been appointed to carry out the installation of all underground services at the Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant (LSEP) project in Cheshire.
  LSEP, a joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and FCC Environment, awarded the contract to the Bolton-based civil engineering and infrastructure specialist which will install drainage and ducting to meet the needs of the Energy-from-Waste facility.
  Black & Veatch is the engineering, procurement and construction manag
  
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• Motorist dies after collision with road paver

  23-05-2024 17:42 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  A motorist has died after his car crashed into a stationary Volvo paver machine near Glenluce in Wigtownshire, Scotland.
  Police Scotland have named the victim as 49-year-old Kevin Bodle who died after the collision on the A75 on Tuesday morning.
  Sergeant Lloyd Caven said: “Our thoughts remain with Kevin’s family and friends at this terrible time, as they try to come to terms with their loss.“We continue to appeal for anyone with information on the crash, any witnesses, or motor
  
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• McLaren Living appoints HG Construction for £69m scheme

  23-05-2024 13:53 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  HG Construction has been appointed as the main contractor on a £69m Build to Rent scheme in Leeds for McLaren Living and funding partner Heim Global Investor.
  The new BeckYard development is located in the South Bank Regeneration area of the city centre and will transform a vacant former car park site
  Designed by Carey Jones Chapman Tolcher (CJCT), the BtR scheme deliver 375 new homes comprising a mix of apartments. Amenities include residents’ lounges, shared workspaces, gym and eve
  
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• McAlpine pulls out of £55m Carlisle Citadels project

  23-05-2024 12:53 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  University of Cumbria is on the hunt for a building contractor to deliver its Citadels project in Carlisle city centre after Sir Robert McAlpine decided to step aside and focus its efforts on other projects.
  McAlpine has been working with the university for the past two years in preparation for the project.
  But after recently winning tenders for two large new infrastructure projects it has now decided to focus resources on these.A contract notice has now been issued by the University inviting ex
  
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• National Grid raises £7bn for big infrastructure upgrade

  23-05-2024 09:25 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  The National Grid has announced a £7bn capital raise as it seeks to double its capital spending over the next five years.
  Over the next five years, National Grid plans to invest approximately £60bn in networks, with over £30bn earmarked for the UK.
  This investment, more than double what National Grid has spent in the UK over the last five years, will support an additional 60,000 jobs in the UK by the end of the decade.John Pettigrew, National Grid’s chief executive,
  
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• Hunt starts for nuclear fusion plant construction partner

  23-05-2024 09:04 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  The UK Atomic Energy Authority has formally opened bidding for separate engineering and construction partners to build the country’s first big fusion energy plant.
  The commercial protype plant will be built at the former West Burton coal-fired power station site in Nottinghamshire, and aims to demonstrate net energy from fusion in the 2040s.
  Fusion is based on the same physical reactions that power the sun and stars, combining two hydrogen atoms to release large amounts of energy.Important
  
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• Galliford Try to re-enter affordable homes market

  23-05-2024 08:59 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Galliford Try is staging a return to the affordable housing market as part of a bid to boost group margin in a new five-year growth plan.
  The firm was excluded from the growth sector when it sold its Linden Homes and partnerships businesses to Vistry for £1.1bn four years ago.
  But now that agreement has lapsed allowing Galliford Try to build up a new business stream in a sector that typically commands margins of 4-5%.
  Announcing his new five-year plan, chief executive Bill Hocking, said: &
  
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• Former Sellar chief to lead civils contractor Kilnbridge

  23-05-2024 08:54 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Civil and structural engineering contractor Kilnbridge has appointed former Sellar chief operating officer Owen Dannatt as its new CEO.
  The move follows the decision by Kilnbridge founder and CEO Dermot McDermott to take up the role of Chairman after 33 years at the helm.
  Dannatt is a chartered civil engineer who spent his early career with Taylor Woodrow before joining the real estate world culminating in his senior role at Shard developer Sellar.McDermott said, “Assuming the role of Chai
  
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• Squibb liquidator probes £2m of “missing” plant

  23-05-2024 08:33 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Liquidators handling the fallout from the collapse of demolition specialist Squibb Group have discovered more than £2m of plant and equipment is missing from the firm’s sites.
  Before Squibb went under late last year it tried to strike a Company Voluntary Arrangement with its creditors.
  In the CVA proposal it was estimated the company owned outright plant and equipment worth £2.5m plus cars worth £264,000 and £200,000 of scrap metal.But auctioneers sent in by the liq
  
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• Grenfell police probe to last at least until end of 2025

  22-05-2024 23:48 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  No charges will be made against companies or individuals involved in the Grenfell Tower fire until late 2026 at the earliest.
  The Metropolitan Police have issued an update into the investigation into the tragedy in June 17 which it described as “one of the largest and most complex” ever undertaken by the Met.
  A team of 180 officers and staff have identified and are investigating 19 companies or organisations and 58 individuals, as suspects.Police said they have so far interviewed und
  
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• Quest now offers latest industrial vacuum system

  22-05-2024 16:45 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Waste management specialist Quest has taken delivery of the new Dragonfly 40 Industrial Vacuum System
  The system is designed for areas with restricted access, where low noise and vehicle size are crucial.
  The all-in-one standalone unit is ready for immediate use anywhere, anytime, with its 80-litre diesel fuel tank providing eight hours of autonomous operation.The trailer-mounted unit features a cyclone, an automatic filter cleaning system, an efficient hydraulic positioning system and the abili
  
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• Mace confirms £100m London office retrofit

  22-05-2024 12:28 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Developer Helical has confirmed Mace as the main contractor on the redevelopment of a City of London office at 100 New Bridge Street, next to Ludgate Circus.
  Located adjacent to City Thameslink station, the 1990s office building will be renovated to create 200,000 sq ft of space in a project understood to be worth towards £100m.
  The project will retain 91% of the reinforced concrete lift cores and 85% of the reinforced concrete walls.Targeting BREEAM Outstanding and Well Platinum certifica
  
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• Mace confirmed on £100m London office retrofit

  22-05-2024 12:28 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Developer Helical has confirmed Mace as the main contractor on the redevelopment of a City of London office at 100 New Bridge Street, next to Ludgate Circus.
  Located adjacent to City Thameslink station, the 1990s office building will be renovated to create 200,000 sq ft of space in a project understood to be worth towards £100m.
  The project will retain 91% of the reinforced concrete lift cores and 85% of the reinforced concrete walls.Targeting BREEAM Outstanding and Well Platinum certifica
  
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• Wylfa chosen for next big nuclear power station build

  22-05-2024 09:25 via constructionenquirer.com
  The Government has selected Wylfa on Anglesey as the preferred site for the next large-scale nuclear power plant after Sizewell C.
  The site was bought by ministers for £160m from previous developers Hitachi who abandoned plans for a new reactor in 2019.
  The government is exploring building a gigawatt-scale nuclear power station, similar in scale to Hinkley in Somerset and Sizewell in Suffolk.
  This new project would revive the nuclear history of Wylfa and bring thousands of jobs a
  
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• Civils contractor A Catlow files administration notice

  22-05-2024 09:08 via constructionenquirer.com
  Sheffield based A Catlow Civil Engineering Ltd has filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator.
  The specialist contractor works with clients throughout the UK and Ireland providing civil engineering and high voltage cabling services.
  Its client base includes leading utility companies and many civil engineering firms.  A Catlow has been in business since 2001 and employs around 50 staff.Data and credit checking specialist Red Flag Alert highlighted the firms’ administration
  
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• Bowmer & Kirkland trading profit halves

  22-05-2024 09:07 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Derby-based building contractor Bowmer & Kirkland saw profit slide in a challenging year of subcontractor insolvencies and tricky jobs.
  The building arm was supported by developer Peveril Securities which made a strong contribution to group profits in the year to August 2023.
  Revenue over the year rose 8% to £1.24bn but inflationary pressure and market challenges saw trading profit almost halve to just £24m from £47m in the previous year.
  Nearly £14m interest from Bow
  
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• Piling specialist Van Elle plans further job cuts

  22-05-2024 08:12 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Piling specialist Van Elle is planning further wave of job cuts and cost-saving measures as it faces lower levels of demand from housing and infrastructure.
  In a year-end trading statement this morning, chief executive Mark Cutler said revenue would be 6% down on the previous year at £140m, including five months contribution from the acquisition of Rock & Alluvium.
  He said Van Elle had identified a range of further cost-saving measures, consisting of headcount reductions and efficiency
  
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• Green light for ARC Oxford lab campus

  22-05-2024 08:12 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Plans for at 110,000 sq ft lab-ready science building at the ARC Oxford science and innovation campus on the outskirts of the city have been approved by planners.
  Seven buildings at the former Oxford Business Park site, now rebranded ARC Oxford, will be demolished to make way for the Ascent building.
  Designed by architects Spratley & Partners, the building will achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating, while delivering a 40% reduction in operational carbon emissions compared to current building reg
  
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• Stonehenge tunnel hit by another legal delay

  21-05-2024 15:30 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  The start of main construction works for the £1.7bn A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down upgrade including a tunnel near the historic Stonehenge site has been hit by another legal delay.
  National Highways chiefs hoped the long running planning saga was over when a High Court judge dismissed a challenge to the scheme by campaigners in February after a development consent order (DCO) was granted by the government last year.
  But the Court of Appeal has now decided it will grant a hearing to an appea
  
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• 40% affordable homes target for Labour’s new towns

  21-05-2024 13:03 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Labour aims to deliver 40% affordable homes in a next generation of new towns, if it wins power,
  Shadow housing secretary and deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner pledged to work with the private sector to build  “new towns” aimed at meeting a commitment to construct 1.5m new homes over five years.
  She said the party would appoint a new towns taskforce of independent experts to earmark sites for the first of its new towns before the end of its first year in power.In a speech to th
  
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• Plans go in for huge Olympic Park construction hub

  21-05-2024 10:58 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Network Rail Property has submitted an outline masterplan to regenerate 30 acres of brownfield land at Bow Goods Yard on the Olympic Park in East London.
  The scheme will deliver London’s largest integrated construction rail freight logistics hub capable of transporting 3.5m tonnes of materials to and from the site every year.
  Bow Goods Yard is one of London’s primary railheads and the new scheme will increase its capacity taking up to 90,000 HGV movements a year from London’s r
  
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• Vistry seals £157m West London housing deal

  21-05-2024 09:00 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Housing association Sovereign Network Group has picked Vistry to deliver a flagship scheme of 575 new homes in Ealing, West London.
  This innovative scheme at Merrick Place in Ealing is worth £157m and will be made up of mixed-tenure homes along with commercial floorspace across four separate buildings.  
  Now defunct Henry Construction had previously been lined up to deliver the major project, which has been designed by architect Cartwright Pickard.It has been designed to maximise
  
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• Streamlined Watkin Jones returns to profit in first half

  21-05-2024 08:41 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Student accommodation and private rental builder Watkin Jones returned to profit in the first six months of the year after a successful business restructure.
  This morning firm reported it was at last seeing an improvement in sentiment in the investment market bringing forward more opportunities.
  In the first half of the year, revenue rose 14% to £175m generating a modest profit of £2.1m after last year’s £43m full-year loss following provisions for building safety work.Al
  
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• Surgo Construction went down owing £4.5m

  21-05-2024 08:17 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  North East building contractor Surgo Construction went into administration in March owing £4.48m.
  The scale of the firm’s debts were detailed in an update from administrator FRP Advisory posted at Companies House.
  Hundreds of subcontractors and suppliers were left holding unpaid invoices worth more than £1.2m with little chance of unsecured creditors receiving anything for their submitted bills.The biggest creditor was Bellway Homes who are owed £1.18m by Sugro following
  
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• BAM wins £33m Kent secondary school job

  21-05-2024 08:09 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  BAM is to construct a new 750-pupil secondary school to replace the existing Orchards Academy in Swanley, Kent.
  The £32.8m project will deliver a full 100% new build school replacement on a live school site.
  BAM will deliver two distinct blocks – a teaching block and a sports hall block – integrating innovative modular construction techniques to minimise disruption.Daniel Brenchley, BAM construction manager, said that the school will be designed to achieve net-zero carbon build
  
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• Persimmon under fire for delays to £10m relief road

  21-05-2024 08:08 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  West Suffolk Council is serving two Breach of Condition Notices on Persimmon Homes after the latest delay to the £10m Haverhill Relief Road.
  The relief road was originally meant to be completed by March 2023 but has been hit by a series of delays and revised timetables with the house builder now hoping to complete the route by the end of this year.
  Cllr Jim Thorndyke, Cabinet Member for Planning at West Suffolk Council, said: “We have seen delay after delay and excuse after excuse. I
  
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