Construction news

• Keltbray gets start date for £50m motorway upgrade

  29-06-2022 12:59 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Keltbray has been confirmed winner of the £49.8m M621 Junctions 1 to 7 improvement works on behalf of National Highways.
  The contractor will start main construction in August with works expected to run until summer-2024.
  The M621 is an urban motorway that runs through the district of Leeds. The route runs from Junction 27 of the M62 to Junction 43 of the M1 and provides a vital link between Leeds city centre and the surrounding road network.Improvement works will include the construction o
  
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• New Finance Director at Anamore

  30-09-2026 16:44 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Building remediation specialist Anamore has appointed Maurice McHugh as its new Finance Director as the business enters its next phase of growth.
  James McCallan, Director at Anamore, said: “We’ve built a strong business with an established presence across the UK and Ireland, and we’re now focused on taking Anamore to the next level.
  “We’re securing major opportunities, growing our team and continuing to build on the expertise and relationships that have brought us t
  
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• Bridgestone starts building first Trafford Waters high rise

  30-09-2026 15:12 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Bridgestone Construction has started work on the first high-rise residential scheme at the Trafford Waters site in Manchester after securing Gateway 2 approval from the Building Safety Regulator.
  The £37m Anchor Residency will be a 208-home apartment development across eight and 13-storey buildings  located within regeneration specialist Peel Waters’ wider Trafford Waters district.
  Architect Leach Rhodes Walker led the architectural design, supported by Thomas Consulting as stru
  
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• Police hand over Grenfell files for charging decisions

  30-09-2026 14:10 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Met police investigators have submitted all files to the Crown Prosecution Service to allow them to make charging decisions following the Grenfell Tower fire.
  The 20 files relate to 20 companies and organisations and 54 individuals.
  The CPS will consider charges including corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, health and safety offences, fraud and fraud-related offences and misconduct in public office.
  The CPS has committed to making the charging decisions before the tenth annive
  
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• Steelwork firm J&D Pierce powers back with £6.8m profit

  30-09-2026 09:20 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Scottish steelwork contractor J&D Pierce has returned to growth after two years of falling turnover as a strengthening market helped drive a surge in operating profit.
  Revenue rebounded 23% to £121m in 2025, adding nearly £23m of workload in a year.
  The rise ends two successive years of declining turnover after revenue fell to £104m in 2023 and then below £100m in 2024.
  Pierce previously turned over £195.2m during an extended 17-month accounting period in 2022,
  
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• Planning approvals for new homes crash to 14-year low

  30-09-2026 08:46 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Planning approvals for new homes have plunged to their lowest quarterly level since 2012.
  Just 45,315 homes secured permission in England during the second quarter of 2026, down 21% on the previous three months.
  Home Builders Federation figures show permissions over the 12 months to June fell 8% to 214,515 homes, 36% below the 2017 peak.
  Volume house builder applications were hit particularly hard. Approvals for homes on sites of more than 10 units slumped 21% quarter on quarter to 39,689 and we
  
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• Aggregates firm fined after worker crushed to death

  30-09-2026 08:25 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Gill Aggregates Limited has been fined £24,000 after one of its workers was drawn into machinery and suffered fatal crush injuries at its site in Dagenham, East London.
  Manjit Kumar, 34, was working as a production operative on 24 June 2020, when the incident occurred. He was operating a bag flattening conveyor system forming part of a larger piece of machinery.
  Kumar was drawn into the compression conveyor through an opening in the guarding. His colleagues raised the alarm and stopped the
  
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• BAM in frame as £25m Teesside flood job gets go-ahead

  30-09-2026 08:21 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Plans have been approved for a £25m Environment Agency flood defence scheme on Teesside with construction due to start early next year.
  Hartlepool Borough Council has cleared the Greatham North East Flood Alleviation Scheme, paving the way for around two years of construction work.
  BAM Nuttall has previously been brought onto the project by the Environment Agency for early supplier engagement, although a full main works award has yet to be publicly confirmed.The job will see a new 1.5km fl
  
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• Developers to get power to build own grid connections

  29-09-2026 17:30 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Developers will be given greater powers to build their own electricity grid connections under a major shake-up aimed at breaking one of the biggest blockages holding up construction projects.
  The Government today launched Great British Grid as a new publicly-owned infrastructure investor within Great British Energy alongside plans to widen self-build rights for grid connections.
  The reforms could open a significant new market for contractors as developers of data centres, industrial plants and o
  
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• AC1 signs deal to finish Torsion’s Manchester apartment job

  29-09-2026 17:25 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  AC1 Construction has signed a replacement building contract to finish Zentra Group’s delayed One Victoria apartment scheme in Manchester following the collapse of Torsion Construction.
  Practical completion of the 129-home development is now expected in December, around 18 months later than the original programme.
  Harrow-based AC1, a privately-owned contractor with annual turnover approaching £30m and offices in London and Manchester, was first brought onto the job under a letter of i
  
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• Construction set to start on stalled Liverpool site

  29-09-2026 17:03 via constructionenquirer.com
  Developer Bentry Capital has secured Gateway 2 approval for the first phase of the £87m Abbey Row site in Liverpool clearing its in-house contractor, Mellior Construction to start main works on the 241-home scheme next month.
  The site has already been cleared and the initial subcontractor packages have been secured, allowing Mellior Construction to move directly into the principal construction phase.
  Abbey Row was formerly known as the Islington Quarter and was first put forward for planni
  
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• £2 diesel threatens £600m construction fuel shock

  29-09-2026 09:06 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Construction has suffered a near £600m fuel price shock since the start of the year as diesel prices soared to a record £2 a litre yesterday.
  The infrastructure sector burns more than 1bn litres of diesel a year, meaning the rise from around £1.41 a litre in January has inflated its theoretical annual fuel bill by around £590m.
  The 42% surge is ripping into margins across plant-heavy civils businesses, with muckshifting contractors among the hardest hit.Diesel can account
  
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• Billington boss to retire after 42-year steel career

  29-09-2026 09:04 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Billington chief executive Mark Smith is to retire after more than 42 years in structural steelwork as the contractor reports a 70% surge in first-half profit.
  Smith will step down on 1 January 2027 after nearly 12 years at Billington, with chief operating officer Trevor Taylor lined up to succeed him.
  Taylor has taken an increasingly operational role across the group over the past five years and was promoted to chief operating officer in October 2025.
  Smith announced his departure from the top
  
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• Drink driving builder jailed for killing highways worker

  29-09-2026 08:41 via constructionenquirer.com
  A builder has been jailed for ten years for killing a highways worker after driving into a coned-off section of the M23 near Gatwick Airport.
  Vilius Domarkas, 38, was sentenced yesterday after admitting causing death by dangerous driving at an earlier hearing.
  The fatal collision occurred on July 8 when highways worker Anthony Howe was hit by Domarkas’ Citroen Relay van which veered into the coned off lane.Domarkas was found with glazed and bloodshot eyes and was slurring his speech, was u
  
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• Kier lands £60m London Holborn office retrofit

  28-09-2026 16:35 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Kier has been selected as preferred contractor for Railpen’s 100,000 sq ft office refurbishment at Red Lion Square in Holborn, London.
  The contractor is entering a pre-construction services agreement for The Fenner ahead of a planned site start later this year.
  Stiff + Trevillion has designed the estimated £60m overhaul of the existing building at 26 Red Lion Square, which will be transformed into eight floors of Grade A workspace over the two-year programme.The scheme includes new f
  
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• Costain appoints new head to deliver HS2 tunnels

  28-09-2026 15:41 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Costain has appointed Rohan O’Grady as the new managing directior of Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture delivering the London tunnels section of HS2.
  O’Grady will take up his new role next month replacing Jonathan Morris who has served as interim MD for the last six months and will now be taking a sabbatical.
  O’Grady joins Costain from Australian based CPB Contractors where he oversaw a string of major infrastructure projects.Jonathan Willcock, Managing Director, Transportat
  
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• McLaren bags £55m Elephant & Castle contract

  28-09-2026 12:54 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  McLaren Construction has been confirmed winner of a £55m contract to build new student accommodation in Elephant & Castle, south London.
  Developers Fabrix and PATRIZIA have appointed McLaren for Walworth Corners – a 134,000 sq ft PBSA development which will see the 0.34‑hectare brownfield site transformed to provide 283 student beds, 20 new affordable homes for social rent and retail and community space.
  Enabling works are now underway with completion targeted for Spring 20
  
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• House builders hail return of Help to Buy-style loans

  28-09-2026 09:04 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  House builders have welcomed Government plans to revive Help to Buy-style equity loans in a bid to kick-start the struggling new-build housing market.
  The new Your First Home scheme will allow eligible first-time buyers in England to purchase a new-build home with a deposit of just 2.5%, backed by a Government equity loan worth up to 20% of the property value.
  Full details are due to be unveiled at the Budget on 28 October, including household income limits, regional property price caps and the
  
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• First plans go in for vast Royal Docks scheme

  28-09-2026 08:47 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Developer Arada has submitted a series of planning applications to the London Borough of Newham for the £2.5bn Thameside West site between the Thames and Royal Docks.
  The plans detail the first 1,500 home stage across six buildings on the 47 acres site which will eventually deliver at least new 5,000 homes in east London.
  At the heart of the proposals will be a new seven-acre park, alongside around 1,000 new trees, creating a greener, more biodiverse environment for residents and the wider
  
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• Morgan Sindall gears up to restart stalled Blackpool courthouse

  28-09-2026 08:34 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Morgan Sindall is gearing up to restart Blackpool’s stalled major courthouse scheme after being brought in to replace collapsed contractor ISG.
  The contractor has signed a deal with HM Courts & Tribunals Service and is now progressing detailed design for the new court complex at the junction of Devonshire Road and Talbot Road.
  The project was originally costed at around £43m, but the final bill is expected to be higher following the delay and contractor change.Fresh planning chan
  
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• Builders flee site during immigration raid: Video

  28-09-2026 08:09 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Construction workers have been filmed fleeing a major site in South London last week after the Home Office staged an immigration enforcement raid.
  Footage shared with the Enquirer shows a stream of workers running into nearby woodland to escape the authorities.
  Others can also be seen hiding in concrete formwork in a bid to evade officers.
  The site is in Crayford for developer London Square where Carey London is main contractor overseeing site infrastructure work and reinforced concrete frame co
  
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• Stalled Yorkshire Post scheme switches student towers for offices

  28-09-2026 08:04 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Prescient Capital is attempting to reboot the stalled redevelopment of the former Yorkshire Post site in Leeds by replacing consented student towers with two major office buildings.
  The latest plan switches the northern plots from around 1,700 student rooms to 15 and 17-storey office blocks providing nearly 49,000 sq m of workspace.
  The rethink follows further market testing and viability work aimed at unlocking the next phase of the prominent city centre site, which has remained largely vacant
  
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• McLaren clears planning for Hammersmith student block

  26-09-2026 19:34 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  McLaren Property has got the planning green light to build a 291-bed student accommodation scheme in Hammersmith, west London.
  The 14-storey Sussex Place project, estimated to cost around £45m to build, will replace an ageing eight-storey office block beside Hammersmith station.
  The development will provide 147 cluster bedrooms and 144 studios, with 35% of the accommodation offered at affordable rents.The 98,700 sq ft building will include student amenity space, a landscaped courtyard and
  
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• Darwin scales back complex NHS modular work after £3m loss

  25-09-2026 09:07 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Modular healthcare specialist Darwin Group is scaling back its appetite for large complex projects after cost overruns sent the contractor into the red.
  Turnover at the Portakabin-owned business almost halved to £72m in 2025 from £140m the previous year.Darwin plunged to a £5m operating loss from an £8.6m profit, while pre-tax performance swung from a £9.2m profit to a £3.2m loss.
  Directors blamed the reversal on several large permanent modular healthcare proj
  
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• Robertson picked for St Helens heritage job

  25-09-2026 08:49 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Robertson Construction North West has been picked to transform the Grade II-listed Gamble Building in St Helens town centre.
  The contractor will restore and extend the Victoria Square landmark to create a creative and learning hub, bringing St Helens Central Library back into the building alongside an archive, youth hub, offices, café and communal space.
  The £15m job will be delivered under a two-stage design and build deal.Robertson will now review the proposals with St Helens Boro
  
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• Gateway 2 push fuels 20% jump in housing starts

  25-09-2026 08:36 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  House building starts jumped 20% in the second quarter as thousands of higher-rise homes flowing through the Building Safety Regulator helped swell the figures.
  New-build starts in England reached 35,910 between April and June, up 6% on the previous quarter and 20% on the same period last year.
  But government number crunchers cautioned that the rebound is being boosted by a dramatic rise in projects reported through the Building Safety Regulator.The BSR reported 5,758 housing starts during the l
  
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• Construction labour rates hit record high

  25-09-2026 08:29 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Average earnings for self-employed tradespeople rose to an all-time high of £1,110 per week during August.
  Latest research from the industry’s largest payroll firm Hudson Contract said this represents a 3.1% increase on July rates and 4.5% on the same month last year.
  Plumbing led the increases, with rates up 10.4% month-on-month to £1,348. Joinery rose 8.9% to £1,247, while steel and timber frame contracting climbed 7.6% to £1,102.Hudson managing director Ian
  
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• HG Construction lands resi contract at Ilford store site

  25-09-2026 08:15 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  HG Construction has been awarded the contract to build 326 new homes in residential towers across the site of the former Harrison Gibson department store on Ilford High Road in east London.
  Main construction work on the site which has stood vacant for nearly a decade can now begin after MP Living, the social housing provider established by Meadow Partners received the first tranche of grant funding from the Greater London Authority (GLA).
  MP Living is working in partnership with the GLA and the
  
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• Firms fined £1.3m after falling window kills passer-by

  25-09-2026 00:53 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Two companies have been fined a combined £1.3m after a window unit fell from the 26th floor of a luxury development in London killing a coach driver on his break as he walked below.
  The incident happened at around 10.30am on 2 October 2018 when Mick Ferris, 53, had been on a break and was just returning to his coach, which was parked up nearby.
  The 130kg window fell 300ft from the Corniche development on the capital’s Albert Embankment killing Ferris instantly.St James Limited, part
  
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• Roofing director fined for hiding mobile during bid rig probe

  24-09-2026 11:36 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  The Competition and Markets Authority has fined contractor M&J Group and two staff members a total of £50,000 for hiding a mobile phone and documents during an inspection.
  The raid on the M&J business premises was part of a CMA investigation into 12 construction companies suspected of bid rigging on roofing work for school improvement jobs
  The cartel buster is examining whether these companies illegally colluded when bidding for contracts awarded by both private and public sector b
  
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