Construction news

• Property developer giants join call for planning reset

  13-07-2023 09:24
  
  British Land and Landsec have called for urgent planning reforms to regenerate the UK’s towns and cities.
  The pair are calling for specific improvement to the planning system to unblock brownfield regeneration.
  The property companies are behind some of Britain’s most significant regeneration projects, including Landsec’s 24-acre Mayfield neighbourhood in central Manchester and British Land and AustralianSuper’s 53-acre Canada Water in London.In a new report, the pair warn
  
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• Fleet up for sale as plant hire boss retires

  29-06-2026 16:49
  
  Euro Auctions is hosting an online sale of the entire fleet formerly run by Kent-based Skelton Plant Hire following the owners’ decision to retire from the industry.
  The sale will offer contractors, plant hire businesses, builders, groundworkers and equipment buyers the opportunity to acquire a substantial fleet of fresh, low-hour machinery and commercial vehicles direct from one of the South East’s leading operators.
  The online auction takes place on Thursday 2 July. Much of the equ
  
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• Investment giant DWS buys stake in Flannery Plant Hire

  29-06-2026 13:03
  
  Asset manager DWS has completed the acquisition of an interest in Flannery Plant Hire.
  The Flannery family has retained a significant interest alongside DWS, and Patrick and Martin Flannery will continue to lead the business as joint CEOs.
  The deal will support the next phase of growth for the business as it continues to provide services to major infrastructure projects.Flannery is the largest operated heavy construction plant-hire company in the UK, combining the lease of large-scale specialist
  
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• National Highways axes Skanska’s £300m A46 Newark bypass

  29-06-2026 09:16
  
  National Highways has cancelled its contract with Skanska to advance the long-delayed A46 Newark Bypass project in the East Midlands.
  Skanska announced the cancellation of the £297m contract this morning by National Highways, warning it adversely impacted the Swedish group’s order book in the second quarter.
  The scheme to dual 6.5km of the A46 received development consent late last year but no timetable for the project’s start has been released.Subcontractors had been pricing w
  
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• Skanska gets start date for 55 Old Broad Street

  29-06-2026 08:16
  
  Skanska will start main construction work at 55 Old Broad Street in the City of London in October under a £282m deal.
  Work is due for completion in 2029 and will create around 270,000 sq ft of high-quality office accommodation across 23 storeys, alongside retail space and public realm at ground level.
  The former Landsec scheme had been on hold but private equity real estate firm AshbyCapital is taking the project forward with Landsec retaining a role as development manager.Skanska’s
  
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• Fusion plans 39-storey Manchester student tower

  29-06-2026 08:11
  
  Fusion Student has lodged plans to finally develop a long-stalled Manchester city centre tower site.
  The developer wants to build a 39-storey, 818-bed student scheme at 10-12 Whitworth Street West, close to Deansgate Locks.
  Domis Construction is advising the client for planning, drawing up the construction and logistics plan for the job, while Gardiner & Theobald is on board as cost manager. Consultant Amber is MEP engineer with Shear Design providing structural design.
  The vacant plot has a
  
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• HS2 reset hinges on contractor deals and £8bn Euston plan

  29-06-2026 08:01
  
  Transport chiefs have been warned that HS2’s latest reset will fail unless they get a grip on contractor negotiations and nail down Euston plans.
  A National Audit Office report said the Department for Transport and HS2 Ltd are making progress on the overhaul.
  But the watchdog warned major risks remain around commercial deals, cost control, delivery skills and the unresolved London terminus.
  DfT now estimates HS2 will cost between £88bn and £103bn to complete — around doub
  
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• SCF starts hunt for £2bn+ framework contractors

  26-06-2026 18:10
  
  The tender race has started for contractors to join Southern Construction Framework’s (SCF’s) sixth generation (SCF6) deal.
  The current framework delivers around £500m of projects a year across London, the South East and the South West and the new deal will run for an initial four years from May 2027.
  Delivered jointly by Hampshire and Devon County Councils, since its inception in 2006, SCF has supported the delivery of £10bn of public sector construction projects.SCF6 wi
  
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• HS2 contractors fined £400,000 after tipper truck fall

  26-06-2026 14:41
  
  A joint venture working on HS2 has been fined £400,000 after the driver of a 20-tonne tipper truck was injured when his vehicle fell off the edge of an excavation ramp.
  The incident happened on 27 July 2021, at a site in Copthall North near Uxbridge, West London.
  The site was being run by SCS Railways, a joint venture of Skanska Construction UK Limited, Costain Limited and Strabag AG.The tipper truck fell approximately two metres and landed on the driver’s side. The man behind the wh
  
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• Scottish ministers halt £2.1bn Laing O’Rourke hospital job

  26-06-2026 09:16
  
  Health chiefs have been sent back to the drawing board on plans for Laing O’Rourke to build a £2.1bn replacement for Monklands Hospital after ministers refused to sign off the scheme over affordability concerns.
  Scottish health secretary Angela Constance said the proposed new hospital at Wester Moffat, near Airdrie, failed to represent value for money and ordered a “comprehensive redesign” of the project.
  The decision throws fresh uncertainty over the programme and is lik
  
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• Ministers fail to plug imported fabricated steel tariff gap

  26-06-2026 09:05
  
  The Government has stopped short of closing a controversial loophole in its new steel tariff regime, prompting warnings that cheap imported fabricated steelwork will flood the UK market and put thousands of jobs at risk.
  Ministers yesterday confirmed the final shape of the new safeguard measures ahead of their introduction on 1 July, after weeks of lobbying from the construction and fabrication sectors.
  Under the plans, imported steel sections will face quotas and tariffs, but fabricated steelwo
  
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• Hinkley M&E dispute leaves hundreds off site for three weeks

  26-06-2026 08:21
  
  M&E works at the Hinkley Point C nuclear project have been disrupted for over three weeks after a workforce dispute spiralled into a stand-off that saw hundreds of operatives sent home.
  The disruption was triggered when workers staged a sit-in protest on 2 June over safety concerns about new clocking-in stations, moved further into the job and away from canteens. Workers claimed the new clocking stations were dangerously close to a crane-lift zone which is denied by management.
  Project bosse
  
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• Glasgow green lights 25-storey student tower

  25-06-2026 23:21
  
  A 25-storey student tower has won planning approval as developers press ahead with the £250m transformation of a key Glasgow city centre gateway site.
  Developer CXG Glasgow has secured detailed consent for a 620-bed purpose-built student accommodation block at Elmbank Gardens, marking the first phase of the wider Charing Cross Gateway masterplan.
  Designed by Michael Laird Architects, the tower will rise on the corner of Bath Street and Newton Street as part of a mixed-use redevelopment tha
  
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• Kier promotes finance chief to head highways business

  25-06-2026 22:14
  Kier has promoted company veteran Barry Jupp to run its highways business as it looks to strengthen its grip on the roads market.
  Jupp steps into the managing director role on 1 July, taking charge of a 2,000-strong operation delivering highway construction and maintenance work across local authority and strategic road networks.
  The appointment crowns more than 23 years with Kier, where Jupp has risen through a string of leadership roles, most recently as finance director for its transportation
  
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• New boss takes charge at £118m revenue Barnwood

  25-06-2026 21:53
  
  Regional building contractor Barnwood has promoted finance director Matthew Williams to group chief executive in a planned succession move at the £118m turnover business.
  The 40-year-old takes over after a decade with the Gloucestershire contractor, replacing Simon Carey, who becomes group chairman after leading the firm since 2004.
  Employee Ownership Trust-backed Barnwood employs 230 people across its Construction, Shopfitting & Interiors and General Works divisions and delivered more
  
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• Labourer falls to death through window opening

  25-06-2026 14:19
  
  A contractor  has been fined £50,000 after one of its employees was killed when he fell through an unglazed window opening.
  Antonio Rodrigues, 55, had been working as a labourer for Lima Construction Limited on a project to redevelop a former department store on the High Street in New Malden, into a mixture of commercial and residential units.
  On 27 July 2022, Rodrigues fell from an external scaffolding platform through an unglazed window void, landing on an internal concrete ground f
  
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• CField lands £176m Fusion student housing double

  25-06-2026 08:50
  
  CField Construction has secured £176m of work from developer Fusion Group to deliver two major student accommodation projects in London and Glasgow.
  The contracts will see CField build a combined 1,269 purpose-built student beds and 79 affordable homes, with both developments due to open for the 2028 academic year.The biggest award is a £97m mixed-use scheme at Wood Green in north London. The project comprises a 636-bed PBSA block alongside 79 affordable homes and new public realm ar
  
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• Developer hunt for London iconic meat and fish markets rebuild

  25-06-2026 08:49
  
  The Greater London Authority has launched a hunt for a development partner to deliver a £220m rebuild of London’s historic Billingsgate and Smithfield markets at the Royal Docks.
  GLA Land and Property has started market testing for the redevelopment of the 25-acre Albert Island site in Newham, where the capital’s iconic fish and meat markets are set to relocate.
  The winning team will work alongside the City of London Corporation to build around 300,000 sq ft of new wholesale ma
  
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• Fresh inflation storm gathers over construction

  25-06-2026 08:47
  
  Construction firms are bracing for another bout of price inflation as high oil prices, steel tariffs and carbon taxes combine to push up project costs over the next two years.
  Consultant Arcadis has increased the upper end of its previously already high tender price inflation forecasts for 2026 and 2027 by one percentage point to reflect the risk of Gulf-driven inflation following the recent Iran conflict.
  The biggest pain is expected to hit infrastructure projects, where higher oil prices feed
  
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• Habiko targets Chester with 342-home affordable flats scheme

  25-06-2026 08:19
  
  Affordable homes consortium Habiko has lodged plans for 342 flats on a key regeneration site in Chester city centre, fresh from securing planning consent for its first development in Warrington four weeks ago.
  The joint venture between Pension Insurance Corporation, Muse and Homes England wants to build two apartment blocks rising to eight and 10 storeys on Charterhall Drive, close to Chester railway station.
  The scheme will deliver 342 one and two-bedroom affordable flats on land within the &po
  
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• Balfour lands £325m SSEN grid superhub job in Scotland

  25-06-2026 08:18
  
  Balfour Beatty has clinched a £325m contract from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks to build the Netherton Hub in Aberdeenshire, cementing its position at the heart of Britain’s electricity transmission upgrade.
  The latest award further strengthens Balfour’s foothold in the booming electricity transmission market as network operators accelerate investment to connect a new generation of renewable energy projects.
  The two-year deal, awarded through SSEN’s Accelerat
  
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• Watkin Jones lands £50m Oxford aparthotel job

  24-06-2026 15:26
  
  Watkin Jones has checked in to build a 145-unit Wilde-branded lifestyle aparthotel in Oxford.
  The contractor has signed a building contract with Marick Real Estate to redevelop 38-40 George Street, close to Gloucester Green, in its first development partnership with the investor.
  Enabling works and demolition are due to begin in late August before the main construction phase gets under way, with completion targeted for early 2029.
  The scheme will transform the site into a design-led aparthotel f
  
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• Sisk confirmed for £280m Battersea Power Station resi job

  24-06-2026 15:05
  
  Battersea Power Station has confirmed Sisk will deliver the next residential phase of the massive redevelopment project in London
  Sisk will start work this summer on Phase 3C, the final two Frank Gehry-designed buildings that will complete Electric Boulevard.
  The project is expected to carry a build cost of £250m–£280m and includes a substantial basement and podium structure supporting two buildings rising to 15 storeys.Phase 3C is expected to create around 400 construction job
  
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• Fit-out firm BW gives subbies the raspberry with new hi-vis rule

  24-06-2026 08:54
  
  London fit-out specialist BW is giving subcontractors a raspberry on site – literally.
  The contractor has rolled out mandatory raspberry-coloured hi-vis vests for all subcontractor operatives on its projects as part of a colour-coded identification system designed to boost visibility and accountability.
  Under the system, BW project teams wear black hi-vis, visitors wear white and subcontractors now wear raspberry jackets.The move is now in place across 14 live fit-out projects involving 13
  
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• BW gives subbies the raspberry with new hi-vis rule

  24-06-2026 08:54
  
  London fit-out specialist BW is giving subcontractors a raspberry on site – literally.
  The contractor has rolled out mandatory raspberry-coloured hi-vis vests for all subcontractor operatives on its projects as part of a colour-coded identification system designed to boost visibility and accountability.
  Under the system, BW project teams wear black hi-vis, visitors wear white and subcontractors wear raspberry.The move is now in place across 14 live fit-out projects involving 137 supply cha
  
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• NG Bailey tops £700m as grid boom powers profit growth

  24-06-2026 08:53
  
  NG Bailey grew profits, expanded its workforce and broke through £700m revenue for the first time last year as booming electricity infrastructure markets and a strategic reshaping of the business gathered pace.
  The UK’s largest independent engineering and infrastructure services group hiked pretax profit 47% to £26m in the year to February as turnover rose 7% to £707m.
  The business also increased headcount by 5% to 3,648 employees and recruited more than 55 apprentices as
  
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• Major nuclear project plan for former Cottam power station

  24-06-2026 08:51
  
  US nuclear specialist Holtec International and EDF have submitted plans to the Government to build up to four small modular reactors at the former Cottam coal-fired power station site in Nottinghamshire.
  The partners have also signed heads of terms to establish a joint venture to develop the SMR scheme under the Government’s Advanced Nuclear Framework, which is designed to accelerate advanced nuclear projects backed by private investment.
  The proposed development would see the former coal
  
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• Eleven firms land places on £1.5bn YORbuild framework refresh

  24-06-2026 08:50
  
  Five contractors have broken into the latest £1.5bn YORbuild Major Works framework for the first time as local authorities across Yorkshire and the North East refresh one of the country’s busiest public sector procurement vehicles.
  Caddick Construction, Graham, McLaren Construction, Robertson Construction Group and Vinci Building have all secured their first places on the enlarged major projects framework. Meanwhile, BAM Construction and Bowmer + Kirkland have failed to make the cut
  
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• Berkeley warns flat delivery times have jumped to eight years

  24-06-2026 08:50
  
  Berkeley has launched a scathing attack on Britain’s planning and regulatory system, warning it now takes at least eight years to deliver an apartment building in London compared with five years a decade ago.
  Executive chair Rob Perrins said the ever-lengthening process of securing planning permission, agreeing Section 106 obligations, satisfying statutory consultees, clearing pre-commencement conditions and obtaining Building Safety Regulator approvals was choking investment and stifling
  
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• Five firms win £1.2bn of overhead power line work

  23-06-2026 12:43
  
  National Grid has launched the next phase of its Electricity Transmission Partnership (ETP), appointing five delivery partners to carry out major overhead line upgrades across England and Wales.
  An initial £1.2bn of reconductoring projects covering over 1,000km of routes have been allocated to Balfour Beatty, M Group, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, Murphy and OTW, through a partnership model which transforms how National Grid works with its supply chain.
  Reconductoring involves upgrading e
  
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