Construction news

• Marshalls to cut 250 jobs as sales slump

  31-07-2023 08:24 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Building products manufacturer Marshalls is cutting 250 jobs and closing its factory in Carluke, Lanarkshire as the slowing housing market drags down sales.
  The job losses come on top of 150 redundancies at the end of last year.
  Marshalls confirmed the cuts in a gloomy trading update today which warned performance in the second half of the year will be below market expectations.For the six months to June 30 2022 group revenue fell by 13% to with the biggest falls at landscape products which was
  
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• Durkan quits contracting

  27-08-2026 13:39 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Durkan is quitting the contracting market completely after 50 years in construction.
  The move was confirmed in latest results for parent company Durkan Holdings Ltd following a period of the contracting operation being scaled down.
  The company said: “Following more than 50 years operating in the contracting sector, Durkan has taken the strategic decision to withdraw from this activity.“This decision reflects the increasing legislative and regulatory burden in the sector which has dri
  
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• Morgan Sindall names new London construction chief

  27-08-2026 09:40 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Morgan Sindall Construction has promoted Richard Dobson to regional managing director for London as part of a wider management shake-up across the capital and Home Counties.
  Dobson, who has built his career with Morgan Sindall in London, will lead the capital business alongside newly appointed regional commercial director Adam Allen.
  The contractor has also expanded its Home Counties operation after a sustained period of growth, creating a new Northern Home Counties Ventures business headed by d
  
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• Hill lands £1.5bn Lewisham regeneration partnership

  27-08-2026 08:50 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  London’s Lewisham Council has picked Hill Group as its long-term development partner under a deal covering up to £1.5bn of construction work across the south London borough.
  The 10-year strategic partnership, which can be extended for a further five years, will be used to accelerate affordable housing and regeneration projects rather than procuring a separate development partner for each scheme.
  Hill was appointed following a year-long procurement process involving detailed dialogue
  
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• Wates to finish Ardmore’s £200m Britannia resi towers job

  27-08-2026 08:46 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Wates is set to take over completion of Hackney Council’s near-£200m Britannia housing scheme following the collapse of Ardmore Construction Group.
  The council is preparing to enter a pre construction services agreement with Wates in September, which has already taken over management and security of the site.
  Ardmore was appointed in 2023 to deliver the final £197m phase of the Britannia Masterplan in Shoreditch, comprising 371 homes across four tower blocks.The scheme includes
  
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• Fire safety costs see Durkan record another loss

  27-08-2026 08:25 via constructionenquirer.com
  Durkan Group saw operating profit increase last year but fire remedation claims dragged the South East house builder and regeneration specialist back into the red.
  Latest results for parent company Durkan Holdings Limited for the year ended 30 November 2025 show an increase in operating profit to £6.2m on a turnover of £142m.
  But £18.6m of exceptional costs for fire remediation claims arising from legacy developments under the Building Safety Act saw Durkan make an overall net
  
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• HB Reavis unveils retrofit rethink for stalled Waterloo mega-scheme

  27-08-2026 08:16 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  London developer HB Reavis has unveiled a major rethink of its stalled One Waterloo scheme with plans to retain much of the existing Elizabeth House structure and switch from commercial new build to a mixed-use retrofit-led project.
  The developer has launched consultation on proposals that would bring together two hotels, purpose-built student accommodation, build-to-rent homes, offices, shops and leisure space on the prominent site next to Waterloo Station.PLP Architecture has drawn up the new
  
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• Over 2,000 unsafe cladding blocks still waiting for work to start

  27-08-2026 08:03 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  More than 2,000 residential blocks over 11m with unsafe cladding are still waiting for remediation work to start, with the Government’s newer safety funding programmes now accounting for the bulk of the backlog.
  Latest Government figures up to July show 2,146 of the 4,697 buildings being monitored have yet to start remediation work.
  That means 46% of identified buildings have yet to start work, compared with 718 under way and 1,833 completed.The biggest challenge sits with the Cladding Saf
  
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• Graham lands £50m Basingstoke school rebuild

  27-08-2026 08:02 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Graham has signed a contract for the £50m rebuild of Cranbourne Secondary School in Basingstoke.
  The contractor will replace seven existing buildings, including 1960s blocks containing RAAC, with a new 10,000 sq m school on the existing Wessex Close site.
  Early works started this summer ahead of foundation work getting underway in the autumn.Graham regional director Pat O’Hare said a new two and three-storey building would bring teaching, specialist learning and sports facilities und
  
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• Bridgestone bags £18m care homes deal

  26-08-2026 23:42 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Bridgestone Construction has been selected by Anchor, England’s largest not-for-profit provider of housing and care for people in later life, to progress the £18m Park House development in Waterloo, Sefton, following a competitive tender through the ICN framework.
  Park House is the second major scheme Bridgestone has secured through the framework, following the award of Chestergate in Stockport.
  The scheme will create 90 new one- and two-bedroom specialist and affordable homes, compr
  
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• Rayner tells councils to find sites for new housing push and funding

  26-08-2026 08:45 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Councils across England have been ordered to review their house building plans and bring forward fresh bids for billions of pounds of still-unallocated affordable housing funding.
  Housing secretary Angela Rayner and housing minister Matthew Pennycook have written to every council leader demanding authorities “scale up now” as the Government seeks to deliver the biggest council house building programme since the early 1980s.
  Councils are being asked to review plans for increasing coun
  
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• Rayner tells councils to find sites for new homes push

  26-08-2026 08:45 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Councils across England have been ordered to review their house building plans and bring forward fresh bids for billions of pounds of still-unallocated affordable housing funding.
  Housing secretary Angela Rayner and housing minister Matthew Pennycook have written to every council leader demanding authorities “scale up now” as the Government seeks to deliver the biggest council house building programme since the early 1980s.
  Councils are being asked to review plans for increasing coun
  
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• House builder went down owing subcontractors £35m

  26-08-2026 08:39 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  West Country house builder Devonshire Homes went into administration owing subcontractors and suppliers more than £35m.
  The scale of the firm’s debts was revealed in a Companies House update by administrators Marsal Europe LLP .
  Devonshire Homes went into administration in June when most of the 44 staff were made redundant.The administration affects Devonshire Homes Limited only and does not extend to other Devonshire Homes-branded developments or associated companies.
  Devonshire Hom
  
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• Kier seals £29m early works for £170m Blackburn biogas plant

  26-08-2026 08:29 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Kier has started on a £29m early works package for United Utilities’ planned £170m advanced anaerobic digestion project in Blackburn.
  The contractor is progressing design development, surveys, ground investigations, enabling works and site preparation at Blackburn Wastewater Treatment Works ahead of a decision on the main construction phase.
  The scheme is being developed through United Utilities’ Enterprise delivery model, which brings together the water company’s o
  
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• Kier and Tilbury Douglas win £108m schools double

  25-08-2026 11:43 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Kier and Tilbury Douglas have secured preconstruction deals on two Department for Education school projects worth up to £108m.
  Kier has been lined up for the larger £77m overhaul of RAAC-hit Stepney All Saints Church of England Secondary School in east London, while Tilbury Douglas has landed the £31m Cavendish School scheme in Eastbourne.
  The Stepney All Saints project will involve the design and build and refurbishment of the existing 1,500-place secondary school and sixth fo
  
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• BAM raids Robertson for new Scotland regional boss

  25-08-2026 10:37 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  BAM UK & Ireland has recruited Robertson Construction board director Mike King to head its construction business in Scotland.
  King will replace Jim Ward, who recently retired, as regional director for Scotland on 17 September, bringing nearly 30 years of engineering, project management and construction leadership experience.
  He joins from Robertson Construction Group, where he was executive technical director and a board member.At Robertson, King worked across the contractor’s eight re
  
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• Finance deal agreed for 30-storey Cardiff tower

  25-08-2026 10:11 via constructionenquirer.com
  The finance deal has been completed for a 30-storey tower currently under construction in Cardiff.
  Close Brothers Property Finance has agreed a £67.2m facility to support Draycott Group in delivering the 340-unit Build to Rent scheme which is set to be one of the tallest buildings in Wales.
  The main tower crane is now in place at Harlech Court where Intelle Construction is main contractor and Stephenson RC Frames the frame contractor.Phil Hooper, CEO of Close Brothers Property Finance, sai
  
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• SCAPE opens bidding for £8bn construction framework

  25-08-2026 10:00 via constructionenquirer.com
  Procurement specialist SCAPE has opened bidding for its next £8bn national construction framework, offering up to 15 contractor places across five lots.
  The Construction Works and Services Framework will cover England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is expected to run from 2027 to 2031, with the option of a further two-year extension.
  SCAPE plans to appoint three delivery partners to each lot, giving public sector clients more choice when selecting contractors for individual projects.The l
  
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• Vistry to receive £350m in Homes England funding

  25-08-2026 08:32 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Vistry Homes will receive £350m in government grant funding to help deliver social and affordable homes across the country, outside of London.
  The firm was among 33 strategic partners confirmed today by Homes England to help deliver the government’s new £39bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP).
  Most of the organisations on the list for the ten-year funding programme are housing associations and councils.Homes England Chief Executive Amy Rees said: “The strong de
  
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• National Highways fires gun on £8bn roads upkeep deal

  24-08-2026 23:30 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Big highways contractors are gearing up for a £8bn battle after National Highways fired the starting gun on its next-generation road maintenance framework.
  The invitation to tender has now gone out for the Maintenance and Response 2 framework, which will overhaul upkeep of England’s 4,500-mile strategic road network.
  The new seven regions regime will replace the existing 10 maintenance contracts set up as they expire from July 2028. Current area contractors include Amey, Colas, Costa
  
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• Energy and coastal work powers Knights Brown growth

  24-08-2026 23:11 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Civil engineering contractor Knights Brown has lifted pre-tax profit by 44% after strong performances from its coastal and energy businesses.
  The independent Hampshire-based firm saw revenue rise 17% to a record £136m in the year to March 2026 driving an uplift in profit to £5.6m from £3.9m.
  Directors said the improvement in average operating margin to 4% reflected tighter project selection, strong delivery and disciplined commercial management.Coasts and ports, and energy were
  
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• Firms named to advance £89m trio of school jobs

  24-08-2026 22:57 via constructionenquirer.com
  Tilbury Douglas, McLaren Construction and Willmott Dixon have secured preconstruction deals on three Department for Education school projects with estimated works values of up to £89m.
  The contractors have been appointed under the DfE’s Construction Framework to take the schemes through early supplier involvement ahead of agreeing final design and build contracts.
  The £89m combined figure is based on the DfE’s early-stage broad estimates, prior to designs being drawn up.T
  
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• Contractors called up for £80m Llandeilo bypass

  24-08-2026 22:55 via constructionenquirer.com
  Welsh Government has fired the starting gun on the bidding for the long-delayed A483 Llandeilo and Ffairfach bypass in Carmarthenshire.
  Up to five contractors will be shortlisted to bid for the £80m highways project.
  It will provide a new route around Llandeilo and Ffairfach to take through traffic away from the congested town centre and improve safety on the existing A483 corridor.A preferred route has already been identified and the project includes a new bridge of around 100m over the R
  
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• Cardo snaps up 280-staff compliance specialist CCS

  24-08-2026 22:46 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Cardo Group has continued its acquisition spree with the purchase of Andover-based compliance and energy contractor Correct Contract Services.
  The deal strengthens Cardo’s electrical, heating and retrofit capabilities and expands its reach across southern and central England.
  Correct Contract Services employs more than 280 staff and provides compliance and energy services to more than 50,000 properties for local authorities and social housing landlords.The £30m turnover business was
  
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• Metro mayors given power to override councils on big schemes

  24-08-2026 09:16 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Mayors across England are set to be handed powers to seize control of major planning applications from councils in a fresh drive to speed up development.
  The new call-in regime will cover schemes of more than 150 homes, commercial projects above 15,000 sq m and buildings taller than 30m, roughly equivalent to ten storeys.
  Under proposals due to be published next week, regional mayors will be able to take over strategically important applications and decide whether they should go ahead or be refu
  
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• Network Plus margin climbs to 9.4% on utilities boom

  24-08-2026 09:00 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Private equity-backed utility and infrastructure contractor Network Plus Services has more than doubled pre-tax profit to £55m as booming water and energy workloads pushed turnover towards £700m.
  Revenue jumped 15% to £671m in the year to 29 March 2026, driven by higher volumes on existing energy and water contracts alongside a string of new wins.
  The Greater Manchester-based business also saw adjusted EBITDA surge 45% to £63m, with its adjusted EBITDA margin climbing to
  
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• Go-ahead for High Wycombe warehouse scheme

  24-08-2026 08:39 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Pension fund manager Railpen has secured planning consent for Phase 2 of the High Wycombe X industrial and logistics scheme
  The latest round of construction at Cressex Business Park will deliver 145,000 sq ft of space across five units.
  Developed in partnership with Wrenbridge, High Wycombe X forms part of Railpen’s growing X portfolio, an industry-first branded collection of small and medium-sized industrial and logistics developments.Scheme are strategically located around the M25 and ot
  
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• Green light for 425 rental flats Cambridge station scheme

  24-08-2026 07:35 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Plans for 425 build-to-rent homes on railway land next to Cambridge North station have been approved.
  The Cambridge North Residential Quarter is being brought forward by blocwork, the joint venture between Network Rail property development company Platform4 and developer bloc.
  Grainger has been lined up to forward fund the rental homes scheme and will operate and manage the homes once completed.Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council approved the proposals, clearing the
  
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• Landsec clears reset of stalled £1bn North London scheme

  24-08-2026 07:24 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Landsec has secured planning for a reboot of its stalled £1bn O2 Centre new homes regeneration scheme in North London.
  The original 1,800-home strip-site scheme stalled as rising construction costs and new building safety requirements hit viability.
  Camden Council has now approved Landsec’s revised plan for the 14-acre Finchley Road site, allowing the developer to increase the height of several buildings and reduce affordable housing to restart development.The wider masterplan will s
  
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• Winvic holds £1bn turnover despite tougher markets

  21-08-2026 12:09 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Shed and multi-room specialist Winvic stayed in the £1bn-plus turnover club for a second year despite tougher markets.
  Turnover at Winvic Group edged down 1% to £1.003bn in the year to January 2026 from last year’s peak with pre-tax profit also slipping to £30m from £32m. That pushed operating margin down to 2.5% from 2.8%.
  Despite the softer result, Winvic said it was strongly placed to resume growth with a £1.68bn forward order book and 85% of forecast 2026/
  
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