• Stage set for Andover £24m new theatre bid race

    Test Valley Borough Council has raised the curtain on a £24m two-stage tender to build Andover’s new flagship theatre.
    The council is hunting a contractor to deliver pre-construction services and a 77-week main works package that will form the centrepiece of its town-centre masterplan.
    The project replaces the old Poundstretcher unit on the High Street, now being demolished to create a clear site for the venue, which will become the new home for The Lights.
    Five contractors are expec
  • £700m Scottish super-hospital goes to ministers for final approval

    NHS Lanarkshire has signed off the full business case for its planned new £700m University Hospital Monklands and passed Scotland’s first fully digital, net-zero carbon hospital to ministers for final approval.
    The milestone clears the way for construction to start next year on the 185-acre Wester Moffat site in Airdrie.
    Laing O’Rourke is leading pre-construction on the Monklands Replacement Project, adding to its track record of delivering 18 major hospitals since 2010.The exi
  • Ravenscraig 200-acre site remediation gets go-ahead

    A huge clean-up of the derelict Ravenscraig steelworks site will kick off early next year after planners gave the green light for one of Scotland’s biggest ever land-remediation jobs.
    North Lanarkshire Council has approved extraction and remediation works across 200 acres of the 1,200-acre plot – unlocking the next phase of brownfield regeneration scheme.
    The programme involves ripping out deep steelworks foundations and shifting more than 2.7m cubic metres of material to prepare lan
  • Roofer verbally abused safety inspector

    A Cornish roofer has been sentenced after failing to comply with requests for information from an HSE inspector and verbally abusing her.
    The HSE investigated after workers had been observed carrying out roof replacement work without any scaffolding being in place.
    The regulator identified unsafe work on a roofing job carried-out by Steven Hendry, 40, from Liskeard, leading HSE inspector Hatti Shipp, to serve a prohibition notice against him.As a result, further information was requested from He
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  • Gateway 2 sign-off for landmark Stratford student tower

    Student rooms developer Unite has bagged Building Safety Regulator Gateway 2 sign-off for its landmark 41-storey Meridian Square tower project in Stratford, London.
    Contractor RG Group is hotly tipped for the job, which will rise next to Westfield Stratford City, but has still to get a start date.
    Architect BDP designed the 952-bed tower that offer several roof terraces and a fully kitted-out gym aimed at London’s growing student market.
    As part of the project, Unite will also help deliver
  • 13 firms win £150m Lincolnshire roads race

    Lincolnshire County Council has picked a 13-strong line-up of contractors for its new four-year highways framework.
    Firms selected will carry out general works and major resurfacing jobs worth up to £150m.
    The framework will run from January 2026 to January 2030 and is split into three lots for schemes ranging from small junction improvements to big-ticket A-road upgrades and primary route resurfacing across the county.
    General works £0–£1.5m (Total value £18m)Amalg
  • Kori wins £30m London care home job

    Kori Construction has landed the contract to build a £30m care home in north London.
    Main construction work will start next month on the site in Highgate according to construction data specialist Barbour ABI.
    The job is due for completion in March 2028 and will provide a 61-bed care home including specialist dementia care facilities.The scheme has been designed by Wolff Architects and includes social areas, shared dining rooms, an art studio, a spa and gym, a screening room and a library.
  • £125m South London estate rebuild approved

    London’s Lewisham Council has given the green light to the £125m regeneration of the 1950s-built Achilles Street estate in New Cross.
    The £125m construction programme will see 278 homes built, delivering 60% affordable housing, new maker spaces and a major upgrade of streets and public areas.
    The scheme replaces outdated housing with 122 new council homes for social rent and 44 shared ownership properties, increasing the number of social rent homes on the estate from 87. Nearly
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  • Buyers report steepest output fall for five-and-half years

    Construction buyers reported a “sharp and accelerated reduction” in output levels last month.
    The latest bellwether S&P Global UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 39.4 in November from 44.1 in October.
    It was the lowest reading since May 2020 while lower volumes of construction output have now been recorded for eleven months in a row.Activity fell below the 50 no change mark in all sectors with housing activity (index at 35.4), commercial construction (43.8)
  • Anglian Water to shift £1.5bn work to single Tier 1 partner

    Anglian Water has put contractors on notice for a major bid race to appoint a single design and build firm or JV to deliver a £1.5bn programme of flagship projects across AMP8 and AMP9.
    The new Major Infrastructure Delivery Framework marks a clear shift from the multi-contractor alliance model that underpinned its AMP4 and AMP5 programmes.
    Now Anglian intends to try a more commercial approach with a sole Tier 1 delivery partner that operates in parallel with its existing Strategic Pipeline
  • Balfour Beatty powers up order book 20% to record £18.4bn

    Balfour Beatty is set to close the year with a turbocharged order book and cash pile as the UK energy boom powers the pipeline to record levels.
    This morning Balfour said it would reach year-end with an order book around 20% higher at roughly £18.4bn, driven by more than £3.5bn of new UK power-generation work and the long-awaited inclusion of £3bn of Sizewell C civils.
    Revenue is expected to come in more than 5% ahead of last year’s £10bn, with UK construction and s
  • Balfour Beatty powers up order book 20% to over £20bn

    Balfour Beatty is set to close the year with a turbocharged order book and cash pile as the UK energy boom powers the pipeline to record levels.
    This morning Balfour said it would reach year-end with an order book around 20% higher at more than £20bn, driven by more than £3.5bn of new UK power-generation work and the long-awaited inclusion of £3bn of Sizewell C civils.
    Revenue is expected to come in more than 5% ahead of last year’s £10bn, with UK construction and s
  • Electrical apprentice falls through fragile roof

    Two companies have been fined after an electrical apprentice fell through a roof while installing CCTV in Weymouth.
    The then 20-year-old had been working for electrical contractor Tristan G Murless Limited at one of its sites at a commercial industrial estate on 13 July 2022.
    He had been using a makeshift crawling board when he fell around 11 feet through a fragile roof to the concrete floor below.
    The incident took place on the roof of a lean-to attached to a main warehouse. The project involve
  • BAM gets green light for £140m Cardiff Central revamp

    BAM has got the green light to start the £140m overhaul of Cardiff Central after the Government approved the final business case for Wales’ busiest station.
    Work will begin in spring 2026 on a major rebuild delivering a new southern entrance, a larger concourse and an extended platform 0 to ease chronic congestion for the 35,000 passengers using the station each day.
    The £140m package includes nearly £78m from the UK Government, £40m from Cardiff Capital Region and
  • Monster TBM hunt starts for Lower Thames Crossing

    Bouygues Murphy JV has entered talks to buy a monster TBM to drive one of the widest tunnels in the world for the Lower Thames Crossing.
    The JV will use just one machine to drive both 16.4m wide north and southbound tunnels, keeping costs down while not impacting the total programme schedule.
    Tunnelling machine procurement gets underway as it emerged the mega project cost is heading towards £11bn, up from the £9bn cited earlier this year. The Government is due to foot £3.1bn of
  • BGS Utilities gets investment boost for growth plans

    Multi-utility infrastructure provider BGS Utilities has received a six-figure investment boost to assist the firm’s future growth.
    Based out of its offices in Birchwood Park, Warrington, BGS Utilities works across the industrial and commercial, and house building sectors across the North West and surrounding areas.
    The investment from NPIF II – FW Capital Debt Finance, which is managed by FW Capital as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II) is assisting the firm
  • Builder ordered to pay back stolen plant and car money

    A builder who stole almost £85,000 in hired plant and used company funds to pay for his high-performance car will go to jail if he does not repay more than £190,000 in the next three months.
    Vasile Hrusca used more than £67,000 from his own failing company in 2019 to pay off the remaining balance on a hire purchase agreement for an Audi RS6 which he had bought the previous year for just under £75,000.
    He also sold seven diggers and other machinery which were still subject
  • Iconic London meat and fish markets line up Royal Docks move

    Traders at London’s iconic Billingsgate and Smithfield markets have agreed a preferred new home at the Royal Docks paving the way for massive development plans at the exisiting sites.
    The City of London Corporation and GLA have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to relocate both historic wholesale markets at Albert Island next to City Airport in Newham.
    The ambitious plans now hinge on Parliamentary approval to formally end trading at the current sites in 2028 and planning consent from N
  • Amey rail maintenance workers to hold strike ballot

    Rail union TSSA will ballot hundreds of members employed by Amey after accusing the contractor of trying to push through a ‘below-inflation pay offer amounting to a real-terms cut in wages.”
    Around 300 Amey rail maintenance workers across Scotland, Wales, North East, Midlands, London and all Southern regions will be asked to support strike action in the ballot which opens today and closes on Monday 15 December.
    The action follows Amey’s decision to proceed with a pay offer of 2
  • Water orders flow as Kier nets £44m ECI haul

    Kier has scooped another pair of early-stage AMP8 deals from Southern Water, adding £44m of work to its fast-growing water portfolio.
    The two ECI packages cover design and development work across a dozen wastewater treatment sites and come on top of £29m of similar AMP8 wins secured earlier this year.
    A £20m tranche covers early-stage design at six plants: Chickenhall, Fullerton, Leeds, Newnham Valley, Paddock Wood and Sellindge.
    Upgrades will lift capacity and boost compliance
  • £350m plan lodged for Leatherhead town centre revamp

    The Kier Property and Mole Valley District Council joint venture has fired the starting gun on a £350m overhaul of Leatherhead town centre in Surey.
    The Leret Partnership is targeting two key brownfield sites at Bull Hill and the Swan Centre as part of the council’s wider Transform Leatherhead programme.
    Its application will see 480 homes, workspace and leisure, including more than 10,000 sq m of modern Net Zero Carbon offices aimed at attracting new employers into the town.Bull Hil
  • Willmott Dixon tops contracts league after £136m Luton win

    Willmott Dixon has topped the November work-won rankings after bagging a £136m mixed-use scheme in Luton town centre and a run of education jobs that pushed it clear of the chasing pack.
    Its flagship Luton Stage project, procured through the Southern Construction Framework, will transform the old Bute Street Shoppers car park into a major new destination with 292 flats, commercial space and a purpose-built events venue.
    Morgan Sindall took second place after another strong month of regiona
  • Civils firm files administration notice as part of restructure

    The directors of Essex-based contractor E.J. Taylor & Sons Limited have filed a Notice of Intention (NOI) to Appoint Administrators as part of a proposed restructuring process supported by FRP Advisory.
    The NOI was filed at Court on Monday to provide the company with protection while marketing of the business is undertaken and a pre-packaged sale is progressed.
    The business continues to trade normally in the meantime and said it will continue to make supplier and subcontractor payments.The c
  • Tilbury Douglas appoints new fit-out MD

    Tilbury Douglas has appointed Jack Dixon to the newly created role of Managing Director at its fit-out division Paragon.
    Dixon joins from Structure Tone London where he spent nine years latterly as a divisional director.
    Craig Tatton, Chief Executive Officer at Tilbury Douglas said: “This appointment further invests in Paragon’s development, building on its established reputation.“Looking ahead, there’s a clear opportunity to grow our fit-out business with targeted privat
  • Kier CFO to step down after six-year turnaround mission

    Kier CFO Simon Kesterton is stepping down at the end of the year after six years helping steer the group through its biggest financial reset in a generation.
    Kesterton joined when Kier was on the ropes with a battered balance sheet and mounting debt.
    He leaves with the group firmly back on its feet, cash discipline tightened and major IT and procurement shake-ups pushed through.
    CFO change: Simon Kesterson steps down after six years as Tom Hinton hired to drive next phase of growth
    His replaceme
  • London Mayor ends stalemate over Paddington student towers

    Unite has won a long-running planning battle in Paddington after the London Mayor’s office stepped in to overturn Westminster Council and approve its 600-bed Baltic Wharf student towers project.
    City Hall’s intervention draws a line under one of Westminster’s most fiercely contested student housing disputes and finally clears the way for construction to start.
    The £147m scheme on a Travis Perkins builders’ merchant site had been repeatedly blocked by councillors who
  • Severfield suffers £7.6m first-half loss amid work slowdown

    Steelwork giant Severfield has taken another financial hit after posting a £7.6m pre-tax loss for the first half of the year amid tighter pricing, lower factory volumes and lingering bridge remediation fallout.
    Revenue at the steelwork contractor tumbled 18% to £206m as demand across commercial, industrial and data-centre work stayed muted and margins remained under pressure.
    Underlying pre-tax profit slumped from £16m in the same period a year ago to just £0.6m as factor
  • Holcim buys site waste removal business

    Holcim UK has acquired London construction waste management company Thames Materials Limited.
    The acquisition will reinforce Holcim’s position in the recycling and construction demolition materials market in the capital and surrounding areas.
    Thames Materials was formed in 1995 and employs 90 people with a fleet of 62 vehicles with its head office in Uxbridge.Recycling operations are conducted from a 12 acre facility in Harefield with a capacity of 750,000 tonnes.
    The firm specialises in t
  • London co-living job storms through Gateway 2 in 13 weeks

    Developer Morro has achieved the industry’s fastest Building Safety Act approval clearing Gateway 2 in just 13 weeks for a London co-living scheme.
    The rapid Building Safety Regulator sign-off means contractor HG Construction can now get underway on the Hackney project at a long-vacant builders’ yard overlooking Regent’s Canal.
    The Meanwhile Group’s Morro brand, working with development manager Pareto Projects and principal designer Veretec, has now secured both planning
  • Bauer Technologies lands Dovetail Building piling deal

    Bauer Technologies has been awarded the specialist piling and geotechnical works package for The Dovetail Building – a 24-storey mixed-use development in the City of London.
    Commissioned by Deconstruct UK Ltd on behalf of client Brockton Everlast, the project represents a significant addition to London’s premium office and retail landscape, featuring a three-level basement and high-specification tower structure designed to meet modern sustainability and performance standards.
    Bauer T

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