Construction news

• New Building Safety Regulator boss steps down

  02-05-2023 01:25 via Construction Enquirer
  
  The new Chief Inspector of Buildings appointed to lead the biggest change in building safety for a generation has retired.
  Former HSE director of construction, Peter Baker was picked two years ago to lead the new Building Safety Regulator set up in the wake of the Grenfell disaster.
  His decision to retire before the new body, which lies within the Health and Safety Executive, is formally launched next year was a surprise to many involved in consultations.
  One told the Enquirer: “I think ma
  
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• United Infrastructure buys £15m roofing specialist

  27-10-2026 08:55 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Private equity-owned United Infrastructure has snapped up £15m-turnover roofing and building maintenance specialist Hodgson Sayers.
  The County Durham firm employs around 100 staff and brings specialist roofing and building envelope expertise into the group as it expands across power and social housing.
  Founded in 1979, Hodgson Sayers operates across the UK from its Stanley headquarters and a Nottingham base. Its services span roofing, building fabric repairs, civils, metalwork, fabrication and
  
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• US insurer plots 70-storey London tower beside Gherkin

  27-10-2026 08:32 via Construction Enquirer
  
  US insurer AmTrust is joining the City of London’s skyscraper race with plans for a 70-storey tower beside the Gherkin.
  At around 300m, the proposed Exchequer Court redevelopment would stand close in height to the neighbouring One London tower planned at 1 Undershaft.
  The insurer has enlisted former Canary Wharf boss Sir George Iacobescu to steer the project, which would deliver more than 1.08m sq ft of Grade A offices at 33 St Mary Axe.WilkinsonEyre is drawing up the scheme, with Upper Brook
  
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• Vistry taps Severn Trent for new finance chief

  27-10-2026 08:31 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Vistry has raided water giant Severn Trent for its next finance chief as boss Adam Daniels builds his top team.
  Helen Miles will take the CFO seat and join the partnerships house builder’s board in 2027 after serving her 12-month notice period at the water company.
  Until then, former Crest Nicholson and Crown Estate finance chief Robert Allen will hold the reins. He joins the board with immediate effect.The double appointment follows a search led by Vistry chair Rob Woodward and puts another k
  
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• Green light to convert student block to hotel and resi

  27-10-2026 08:31 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Developer The Westcombe Group has secured planning approval for the £20m transformation of student accommodation at Kingston Bridge House in Hampton Wick into a new five-star Hotel Indigo alongside 22 new homes.
  Work overseen by Westcombe’s in-house construction division will start on site in January in Richmond upon Thames.
  Kamal Pankhania, Chief Executive Officer of Westcombe Group, said: “We are transforming a formerly vacant building into new homes, affordable housing and a five-star lu
  
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• Anglian Water picks 20 for M&E upkeep framework

  27-10-2026 08:05 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Anglian Water has lined up 20 firms to keep its mechanical and electrical assets running under a £300m framework stretching to 2035.
  The deal covers planned and reactive maintenance alongside smaller capital projects across the East of England and East Midlands, supporting work through the AMP8 and AMP9 investment periods.
  Among the four lots, the £102m projects and parcels lot will handle more complex and critical M&E packages. Amentum, Galliford Try, M Group Water, Quartzelec, Ross-shire
  
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• Bovis starts £220m tower job near British Museum

  26-10-2026 18:02 via Construction Enquirer
  Bovis has started main construction on the £220m St Giles Quarter scheme beside the British Museum in central London.
  The contractor is taking the Bloomsbury project into full delivery after working up the construction strategy for client Simten under a pre-construction deal running since August 2025.
  At its heart is One Museum Street, a 19-storey stepped office tower with landscaped terraces, surrounded by new homes, restored heritage buildings and shops.Designed by DSDHA, the tower will deliv
  
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• Construction faces deeper 2026 fall and weaker recovery

  26-10-2026 15:00 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Economists are warning construction is heading for a deeper fall this year than previously expected with next year’s hoped-for recovery also now cut to a crawl.
  The Construction Products Association now expects output to fall 4% in 2026, against the 3.3% drop forecast in the summer.
  It has also slashed its 2027 growth forecast by two-thirds to a feeble 0.4% recovery, with house building and home improvement work both suffering another year of decline.Renewed Middle East conflict and rising oil
  
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• Three towers evacuated over “serious structural problems”

  26-10-2026 12:06 via Construction Enquirer
  
  More than 200 flats have been evacuated after “serious structural problems” were discovered across three tower blocks in Canning Town, east London.
  The emergency evacuation of 211 flats happened on Friday night after a warning from the London Fire Brigade.
  Letters sent to residents highlight issues with the transfer slab which “could result in a collapse.”A thorough structural investigation is now underway into the buildings which were completed in 2017 for a joint venture between Cathed
  
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• Thames Water picks nine teams for £4bn major works

  26-10-2026 08:57 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Thames Water has picked nine contractor teams for its £4bn Major Projects Framework to upgrade water and wastewater infrastructure across London and the South East.
  Among the winning line-up Taylor Woodrow has teamed up with US engineering giant, while Binnies partners Ferrovial Construction alongside its Spanish sister water treatment specialist Cadagua.Major Projects Framework AMP8/9 winners
  BAM Nuttall
  Barhale
  Costain
  Binnies / Cadagua / Ferrovial Construction
  Murphy
  Amentum / Taylor Woodrow
  
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• Crown Estate opens race for £322m London West End scheme

  26-10-2026 08:57 via Construction Enquirer
  The Crown Estate has put a £322m West End building prize up for grabs as it pushes ahead with the second phase of St James’s Market development in London.
  Contractors will battle for a £222m main works package, with a further £100m on the table for an optional overhaul of neighbouring 130 Jermyn Street.
  The London scheme will wrap 312,500 sq ft of new offices around and above the Grade II-listed Carlton Cinema on Haymarket.Balfour Beatty built the first phase of St James’s Market, complet
  
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• Scottish builder Cruden profits from new direction

  26-10-2026 08:19 via Construction Enquirer
  Scottish construction and housing group Cruden has more than doubled profit after retreating from price-led tendered building work.
  The Edinburgh-based business is stepping up private development and partnership-based affordable housing partnerships, with a pipeline of more than 3,500 homes lined up to drive its next growth push.
  Profit before tax and exceptional items jumped to £6.1m from £2.8m in the year to March 2026 driven by turnover, including its share of joint ventures, rising to £13
  
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• Private equity pumps £44m into groundworks firm

  26-10-2026 08:19 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Data centre groundworks and infrastructure specialist VKE Group has secured a more than £44m investment from private equity funds advised by investment firm Leon Capital LLP.
  The group is predicting a turnover of £300m in its next financial accounts.
  Founder Val Shira and the existing leadership team will retain operational control of the business and the funding will enable it to take on larger and more complex  packages and to expand into new markets.Val Shira, Chief Executive Officer, and
  
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• Private equity pumps £42m into groundworks firm

  26-10-2026 08:19 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Data centre groundworks and infrastructure specialist VKE Group has secured a £42m investment from private equity funds advised by investment firm Leon Capital LLP.
  VKE had a turnover of £30m in the year to August 31 2025 generating a pre-tax profit of £3.7m.
  Founder Val Shira and the existing leadership team will retain operational control of the business and the funding will enable it to take on larger and more complex  packages and to expand into new markets.Val Shira, Chief Executive Off
  
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• Statom lands super prime Bayswater job

  26-10-2026 08:17 via Construction Enquirer
  Statom’s turnkey delivery arm Fancourt Property Group has been appointed by Sunley Project Solutions to deliver 17 super prime residences in Bayswater in the City of Westminster.
  Works will involve the demolition and façade retention of the first two floors, and full rebuild of the new four-storey building at Esca House over the Circle and District line which run directly beneath the project.All divisions of the vertically integrated construction businesses will be involved in the work:Demoli
  
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• British Land puts brakes on £3.6bn London scheme

  26-10-2026 08:12 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Developer British Land has reportedly shelved the next construction phase of its flagship Canada Water regeneration in south-east London until market conditions improve.
  The move threatens to delay a substantial programme of housing, commercial buildings and infrastructure across the 53-acre development.
  The developer has completed the first phase, but sales of apartments at its 35-storey Founding tower have been slow with only around 30% of the first 186 apartments sold.Rising construction cost
  
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• Wates bags £23m Crown Estate green homes pilot

  23-10-2026 09:29 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Wates has scooped the Crown Estate’s £23m green housing pilot in Hemel Hempstead to help draw up the blueprint for a 4,000-home expansion.
  The 75-home Westwick Row scheme will be a proving ground for building greener homes with lower bills before lessons are rolled into the much bigger East Hemel development.
  Wates Residential saw off Greencore Homes and Kind & Co to land the two-stage job.
  It will first sharpen the design, construction plans and price under a pre-construction services ag
  
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• HBC Construction starts Dewsbury Market revamp

  23-10-2026 08:44 via Construction Enquirer
  
  HBC Construction has started work on the £18m redevelopment of Dewsbury Market in West Yorkshire.
  Work will complete in early 2028 to sensitively restore the historic market hall, preserving and enhancing its iconic glazed roof structure and distinctive metal architecture.
  To ensure existing traders can continue operating throughout the construction period, a temporary market has been created across Market Place, Longcauseway and Foundry Street.Lee Powell, Managing Director of HBC Construction,
  
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• Liverpool seals deal for 800-home Festival Gardens scheme

  23-10-2026 08:38 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Urban Splash and igloo have cleared a major hurdle in their bid to build 800 homes on Liverpool’s Festival Gardens site.
  The council has approved legal agreements with the joint developers paving the way for the waterfront scheme to advance, with around 440 homes earmarked for the first phase.
  The partners will now submit a planning application by the end of 2027 for the 27-acre site.They landed the job as preferred partners in August last year, beating rival bids from Muse, Vistry and CERT Pr
  
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• Wills Bros lined up for £220m A9 Pitlochry dualling

  23-10-2026 08:19 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Wills Bros is set to scoop the £220m contract to dual the A9 between Pitlochry and Killiecrankie, closing out the programme’s old procurement model.
  Transport Scotland has named the civil engineering contractor as its intended winner for the 6.4km stretch, with formal award subject to the mandatory standstill period.
  It will be the fifth A9 dualling scheme to move into construction and the last let as project-by-project tendering delivery model.The remaining five construction packages will be
  
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• £600m design race looms for £3.7bn Windermere clean-up

  23-10-2026 08:04 via Construction Enquirer
  
  United Utilities is preparing to launch a £600m design and integration race for its proposed £3.7bn overhaul of wastewater infrastructure around Windermere.
  The appointment will help shape one of the water sector’s biggest emerging construction programmes, including major tunnelling, new sewers, pumping infrastructure and advanced treatment works.
  A formal tender notice is expected in early November following preliminary market engagement.The initial design and pre-delivery phase is expected
  
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• Clancy wins £27m reservoir pipeline

  22-10-2026 19:11 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Clancy has been appointed by Portsmouth Water to deliver the next stage of the Havant Thicket Reservoir project.
  The contractor will start in December under a £26.84m deal to build a pumping station at Farlington and install an 8.5km pipeline between the treatment works and the reservoirs
  The new pipeline will be capable of moving up to 32.4 million litres of water per day – enough to fill 400,000 bathtubs.Completion of the scheme is scheduled for early 2030.
  Matt Cannon, chief executive offi
  
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• England’s road repair spending powers up to £4.9bn

  22-10-2026 10:12 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Councils are stepping up preventative roadworks as ministers push to break the cycle of repeatedly patching potholes.
  New Gvernment figures show 94% of councils will carry out preventative maintenance this year, up from 76% last year, boosting demand for treatments that stop road surfaces breaking up.
  The shift comes as council road maintenance spending reaches a record £4.9bn, up £800m in two years.
  Nearly 7,000 miles of roads are due to be resurfaced this year, more than 10% up on last year.
  
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• Builder severely injured in Banbury site scaffolding collapse

  22-10-2026 09:02 via Construction Enquirer
  
  A construction worker suffered severe injuries when a building and scaffolding partially collapsed at a housing site in Banbury yesterday.
  Two workers were taken to hospital following the incident on Lower Cherwell Street late on Wednesday morning.
  Emergency crews at the Banbury site after partial building and scaffolding collapse (Image: Banburyshire Info)
  Nine workers were understood to have been on site, where a former car sales garage is being redeveloped into 19 flats.South Central Ambulanc
  
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• Infrastructure work set to lead steady construction growth

  22-10-2026 08:48 via Construction Enquirer
  
  The UK construction market is set for steady growth over the next few year as infrastructure leads the recovery from the current doldrums.
  Latest forecasts from consultancy McBains predict construction output is anticipated to grow by 1.8% in 2027, strengthening to 2.8% in 2028, before moderating to 2.3% in 2029 and 2.1% in 2030.
  Infrastructure is expected to be the star performer with work increasing by 14% between 2026 and 2031 while residential and commercial development experience a more
  
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• Contractor swap on troubled Oldham site

  22-10-2026 08:26 via Construction Enquirer
  
  First Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO) has appointed a new main contractor to finish a delayed development of 30 apartments in Royton.
  The housing association will use John Southworth Builders Ltd to complete the £3.7m project of affordable one and two-bed flats at Shaw Street.
  FCHO terminated its contract with the original contractor Robwood Construction Limited in June following “unacceptable delays” to the project that should have been concluded in 2024.John Southworth has now surveyed the bui
  
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• Fifteen win places on new-look £1bn North West framework

  22-10-2026 08:10 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Fifteen contractors have secured places on the North West Construction Hub’s new £1bn high-value building framework, nearly doubling the existing eight-firm line-up.
  BAM, Graham, Kier, McLaren, Robertson and Vinci Building have landed places on the new major projects lot for jobs worth more than £45m.
  Ten firms join the roster compared with the existing arrangement: BAM, Equans, F Parkinson, GMI, Graham, Henry Brothers, McLaren, Robertson, Seddon and Wates.NWCH high-value projects frameworkP
  
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• Munnelly plots acquisition push as sales hit £181m

  22-10-2026 08:05 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Munnelly Group is gearing up for acquisitions and a push into new infrastructure markets as it chases bigger profits from longer-term contracts.
  The family-owned construction site services group has set out a Target 2030 growth plan to pull its eight businesses closer together and win more work spanning pre-construction through to project handover.
  Energy, water, nuclear, defence and prison expansion are in its sights as it seeks to build on decades of relationships with major contractors.The st
  
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• HG lands £225m quartet of Manchester towers

  21-10-2026 11:56 via Construction Enquirer
  
  Developer FEC has appointed HG Construction to lead the delivery of the next phase of homes at the Red Bank neighbourhood north of Manchester city centre.
  The £225m contracts will see HG Construction build four new buildings across plots NT02 and NT03, forming part of FEC’s wider plans for Red Bank within Victoria North.
  The contractor will be responsible for delivering 316 properties over 34 storeys in FEC’s first build-to-rent development at NT02, along with three buildings &
  
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• Bigger projects pay-off for Oliver Connell

  21-10-2026 08:25 via Construction Enquirer
  
  RC frame and groundworks specialist Oliver Connell has posted another strong set of results as a focus on fewer, larger projects pays off.
  Latest numbers filed at Companies House show turnover ticked-up to £155m for the year to June 30 2026 from £150m last time as pre-tax profits hit £23.4m from £22.6m.
  The directors said: “The company maintained a consistent level of profitability during the year. The board has continued to pursue tender opportunities that align wi
  
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