Construction news

• Tilbury Douglas boosts margin to 2.1% as profits double

  01-05-2025 12:44 via constructionenquirer.com
  Tilbury Douglas has improved its operating margin as it doubled pre-tax profit to £12m and closed the year with over £50m cash in the bank.
  In 2024, the contractor increased revenue by 7% to £542m but made a bigger leap in profitability, with operating profit jumping from £3.8m to £11.5m, lifting its margin from 0.7% to 2.1%.
  That shift marks a key milestone for the group in only its second full year as an independent business, driven by stronger performances in bui
  
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• Balfour appoints management consultant to lead strategy

  01-09-2026 15:19 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Balfour Beatty has appointed Emma Loxton to the new role of Chief Strategy Officer.
  Loxton joins from management consultant McKinsey & Company where she spent more than a decade advising major industrial and infrastructure businesses on strategy, transformation and growth.
  She was a partner at McKinsey, most recently leading the UK Advanced Industries and Transport & Infrastructure practices.
  Earlier in her career, Loxton was a Senior Policy Advisor in the UK Government’s Prim
  
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• Gilbert-Ash confirms £40m RIBA HQ revamp deal

  01-09-2026 14:50 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Gilbert-Ash has signed off the £40m job to overhaul the Royal Institute of British Architects’ landmark London headquarters.
  The contractor is carrying out the major refurbishment and restoration of the Grade II* listed 66 Portland Place building in Westminster, with completion due in September 2027.
  The Portland Place scheme will act as a pilot project for the Net Zero Carbon Building Standard and involves a major upgrade of the building fabric and services.Gilbert-Ash is stripping
  
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• Laing O’Rourke to start £400m Lancashire prison job

  01-09-2026 14:20 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Laing O’Rourke has secured the enabling works deal for a major new £400m-plus prison planned alongside HMP Garth and HMP Wymott in Lancashire.
  The Ministry of Justice has now signed off the package for the 1,700-place category C jail near Leyland, clearing the way for early works ahead of completion targeted in 2031.
  The scheme, presently known as HMP Garth 2, will provide around 74,500 sq m of accommodation across seven four-storey house blocks, each holding about 245 prisoners.Init
  
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• Barnwood warns of tougher market after profit fall

  01-09-2026 09:12 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Employee-owned regional building contractor Barnwood saw pre-tax profit fall by more than a third last year as tighter margins offset continued revenue growth.
  Turnover at the Gloucestershire-based group rose 15% to £118m in the year to December 2025 from £103m, while pre-tax profit fell to £3.3m from £5.1m.
  Operating profit dropped to £2.7m from £4.7m, cutting operating margin to 2.3% from 4.5%.Despite the squeeze, Barnwood doubled its annual contribution to
  
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• Data centre plan unveiled for former IBM site

  01-09-2026 09:03 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Plans have been submitted to transform part of Greenock’s former IBM site into a major data centre development.
  Slate Island Developments Ltd has applied to Inverclyde Council for the development at Spango Valley, off Inverkip Road.
  IBM opened its Spango Valley operation on the site in 1954 and the facility closed in 2017 with buildings being demolished in 2020.Slate Island Developments is now seeking to regenerate part of the former technology and industrial site for modern digital infras
  
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• Brick maker battles “long trough” in construction

  01-09-2026 08:42 via constructionenquirer.com
  Michelmersh saw brick dispatches drop another 9% in the first half of this year with volumes more than 25% below the recent 2022 peak.
  The sales slump has forced the manufacturer to juggle factory output to meet decreased demand including the complete closure of its Charnwood site in Leicestershire with the loss of 30 jobs.
  Things are unlikely to improve anytime soon following a “long trough” in construction activity.Chief Executive Officer Ryan Mahoney said: “The lack of posit
  
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• Government names line-up for £120bn FM framework

  01-09-2026 08:34 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Government procurement chiefs have named the major FM contractors that will compete for the biggest jobs under a new framework valued at up to £120bn.
  Amey, CBRE, Equans, Kier, Mitie, OCS, Serco, Skanska, Sodexo, Vinci Facilities and Wates are among 18 firms appointed to the top Total Facilities Management lot covering individual contracts worth more than £15m a year.
  The other winners on the highest value work lot are Compass, Dalkia, G4S Facilities Management, ISS, JLL, Robertson F
  
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• Bidding set to start for £800m south Wales civils framework

  01-09-2026 08:34 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Five councils are gearing up to invite contractors to bid for places for the next-generation South West Wales civil engineering framework worth up to £800m.
  Over 60 firms on the existing civils framework now face a fight to retain places on the four year deal with invitations to tender due out on 5 October.
  Carmarthenshire County Council is leading the procurement with Ceredigion, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Swansea councils.Natural Resources Wales, Powys County Council and compan
  
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• Graham to build Sky Livingston Campus

  01-09-2026 08:22 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  GRAHAM has been appointed main contractor for Sky’s new Livingston Campus after planning commission was granted for the 21,000 sq metre scheme in West Lothian.
  The project will bring  together Sky’s existing operations into a modern workplace for around 3,000 employees.
  It will replace four existing buildings at Kirkton Campus and leased space on the Alba Campus, creating a new site spanning 15 acres.Chris MacLeod, regional director at GRAHAM Building North, said:“Sky&rsqu
  
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• Mount Anvil profit rises 24% as JV schemes drive earnings

  28-08-2026 08:58 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  London developer/contractor Mount Anvil Group lifted underlying pre-tax profit by nearly a quarter last year, with earnings largely driven by strong returns from its joint venture developments.
  The London residential specialist reported pre-tax profit of £10.4m for the year to March 2026 on turnover of £346m.
  Its prior year accounts covered 15 months following a change in year end. Pro-rating those figures to 12 months gives comparable pre-tax profit of £8.5m and turnover of ar
  
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• John F Hunt starts basement build at Tenter House

  28-08-2026 08:56 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  John F Hunt has started piling work and basement construction at the 45 Moorfields development – formerly known as Tenter House – in the City of London.
  The start of Phase 1 of the scheme follows nine months of pre-construction works undertaken in close collaboration with developer Freshwater, which included the demolition of the existing 11-storey building and extensive enabling activities to prepare the site for the redevelopment.
  Hunt’s latest package includes the constructi
  
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• Thames Water to retender £500m Teddington river abstraction job

  28-08-2026 08:12 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Thames Water is preparing to retender its £500m Teddington Direct River Abstraction project after abandoning plans to procure the main tunnelling and treatment plant works separately.
  The utility has switched strategy to combine the major civils and tunnelling works with construction of the advanced water treatment facility at Mogden sewage treatment works under a single main contract.
  Thames Water said the switch to a single-contractor delivery model would simplify interfaces and strength
  
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• Willmott Dixon starts £40m Leeds rail office overhaul

  28-08-2026 08:11 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Willmott Dixon has just started work on a £40m overhaul of the Princes Exchange office building next to Leeds station.
  Network Rail is bringing the vacant eight-storey building back into use to create a new city centre hub for rail industry staff alongside five floors of commercial office space.
  The 108,576 sq ft building sits opposite the Aire Street entrance to Leeds City Station and was bought by Network Rail in 2024.The Department for Transport and Network Rail-funded scheme is being d
  
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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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