Construction news

• Nexus buys Coleman Construction & Utilities for £5.4m

  30-10-2024 08:40 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Aim-listed Nexus has bought East Sussex-based Coleman Construction & Utilities for £5.4m.
  Nexus, which owns concrete contractor Tamdown, said the deal would take the business into key civil engineering sectors of water, rail, highways and marine.
  Established in 2000 by Barry Coleman, the business turned over £8.3m last year.
  Charles Sweeney, chief executive of Nexus, said: “The acquisition of Coleman presents an exciting opportunity for Nexus, diversifying into other critic
  
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• Wates starts £300m Gartree super prison job

  31-10-2024 15:13 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Wates has got the all-clear to start early works on a £300m new Category B super prison in Leicestershire.
  The project will deliver 1,700 prison places for the Ministry of Justice, with a focus on enabling rehabilitation of prisoners and delivering social value to the local community.
  Work is starting on land adjacent to the existing HMP Gartree, near Market Harborough.Wates will build seven four-storey house blocks, each containing around 245 prisoners, two big workshops and an educa
  
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• Major London offices to student rooms scheme approved

  31-10-2024 08:46 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Joint venture developers Dominus and Cheyne Capital have got the planning green light to convert offices in the Square Mile into a large student accommodation building containing over 850-beds.
  The underused office building at 65 Fleet Street, which were the former offices of law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringe, will be retrofitted and transformed to achieve a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’.
  The vast majority of the main structure will be reused and retained, while making the buildi
  
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• Skills card changes will mean fewer labourers

  31-10-2024 08:29 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Major changes to the CSCS skills card scheme will see fewer labourers on construction sites.
  The new regime will take effect from next February and will see the initial labourers card reduce from five years to two years.
  The move is designed to encourage new construction entrants to sign-up to the CSCS trainee red cards instead and continue their skills development rather than remain at labourer level.Garry Mortimer, Executive Director of Operations at CSCS Cards Limited said: “The compete
  
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• M Group Services buys MEICA contractor BGEN

  31-10-2024 01:45 via constructionenquirer.com
  M Group Services has bought £225m turnover engineering services contractor BGEN.
  The 1,500-staff-strong business headquartered in Warrington provides design, fabrication and installation of mechanical, electrical, HVAC and other building services.
  It was created from a management buyout from East Midlands Electricity in 1994 then named Boulting Group, and has steadily grown to operate from 14 locations across the UK, including regional offices and three off-site manufacturing facilities.
  E
  
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• Five road schemes worth £1.3bn axed

  30-10-2024 22:04 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  The Chancellor revealed in the Budget that five major roads schemes costing over £1.3bn have been scrapped after failing a further value for money test.
  The latest clutch of projects to be cancelled deals another blow to civil engineering contractors following the cancellation of the £1.7bn A303 Stonehenge tunnel and £350m A27 Arundel bypass in West Sussex.Cancelled projects
  Port of Liverpool access: A5036 Princess Way – cost up to £335m
  A358 Taunton to Southfields
  
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• Chancellor to fund HS2 tunnel to Euston

  30-10-2024 15:27 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Chancellor Rachel Reeve has confirmed funding to kickstart HS2 tunnelling  from Old Oak Common to Euston in a package of measures to invest in infrastructure.
  The Chancellor also committed an extra £700m for school building next year and £1bn to tackle the backlog of repairs and upgrades at the country’s hospitals.
  Reeves also said committed to releasing an extra £500m to deliver 5,000 more new affordable homes.The cash would be a top-up to the existing Affordable Ho
  
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• Budget: Chancellor to fund HS2 tunnels to Euston

  30-10-2024 15:27 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed funding to kickstart HS2 tunnelling from Old Oak Common to Euston in a package of measures to ramp up investment in infrastructure.
  The Chancellor also committed an extra £700m for school building next year and £1bn to tackle the backlog of repairs and upgrades at the country’s hospitals.
  Reeves also confirmed an already trailed extra £500m to deliver 5,000 more new affordable homes.The cash would be a top-up to the existing Affordab
  
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• Budget: Chancellor to fund HS2 tunnel to Euston

  30-10-2024 15:27 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed funding to kickstart HS2 tunnelling from Old Oak Common to Euston in a package of measures to ramp up investment in infrastructure.
  The Chancellor also committed an extra £700m for school building next year and £1bn to tackle the backlog of repairs and upgrades at the country’s hospitals.
  Reeves also confirmed an already trailed extra £500m to deliver 5,000 more new affordable homes.The cash would be a top-up to the existing Affordab
  
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• Wates hires former ISG fit-out chief to lead new team

  30-10-2024 13:37 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Wates has appointed Lee Phillips to head up a new team for Wates, focusing on commercial fit-out in London.
  The appointment expands Wates’ service offer in fit-out and refurbishment and positions the company for growth in this market.
  Phillips joins as a managing director and is building a specialist team with the expertise to deliver high-quality Category A and B fit-outs.
  He brings with him more than 30 years’ experience within the fit-out sector.In his previous role as managing di
  
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• VINCI Construction swoops for FM Conway

  30-10-2024 09:12 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  French construction giant Vinci Construction has struck a deal to buy civil engineering contractor FM Conway.
  The Kent-based £580m turnover business employs around 2,000 staff specialising in roadworks, civil engineering, asphalt and binders’ production as well as a range of specialist businesses covering water and drainage management, lighting, cabling and traffic management.
  VINCI said the integration of FM Conway would strengthen its position in the dynamic south-east England mark
  
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• Councils get £68m to clear brownfield sites

  30-10-2024 08:41 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Councils across the country have been promised £68m to clear brownfield sites for new housing.
  The cash will allow 54 councils to clear empty buildings, former car parks and industrial land to make way for 5,200 new homes.
  Funding through the Brownfield Land Release Fund will cover the cost of decontamination, clearing disused buildings or improving infrastructure such as internet, water and power.Some of the projects to benefit from the funding include:£2.9m to Manchester to unlock
  
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• United Living bolts on property upkeep firm Pilon

  30-10-2024 08:40 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  United Living Group has bought social housing property services contractor Pilon.
  Established 20 years ago, Pilon specialises in planned maintenance, compliance and refurbishment of assets owned and managed by social housing providers.
  The firm, which turned over nearly £40m last year generating a £2m profit, operates across London, the South East and Midlands and is currently contracted with eight of the G15 housing associations.
  PiLON will continue to operate independently, complem
  
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• Sheffield facade specialist bought by Swedish firm

  30-10-2024 08:23 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Cladding contractor Clear Line has been acquired by Swedish building envelope giant Fasadgruppen.
  Sheffield-based Clear Line has been in business since 1977 and has a current turnover of £49m employing 60 staff.
  Fasadgruppen is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and consists of more than 55 businesses in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.The Group runs a decentralised business model, where its subsidiaries continue to operate as before the acquisition, but with the opportunity to use shared grou
  
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• Willmott Dixon to build Oxford net zero council HQ

  30-10-2024 08:20 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Oxfordshire Country Council has picked Willmott Dixon to extend and net zero upgrade an existing building in Oxford to become its new headquarters building.
  The council is relocating from its current premises at County Hall in Oxford which will be sold off to fund the big office upgrade project at Speedwell Street.
  These Speedwell offices have for many years provided city centre accommodation for the council in addition to County Hall.Willmott Dixon will extend with extra floors and redevelop Sp
  
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• Private investor buys Midlands contractor MCS

  30-10-2024 08:20 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Midlands-based building contractor MCS Group has sold a majority stake to a London-based private investor in a deal valuing the business at £22m.
  RD Capital Partners has bought an 80% stake in the Warwick-based construction firm founded in 2003.
  The deal will see founder and CEO Keir Edmonds and the firm’s senior management team remain with the company and retain shareholdings in the business.MCS employs more than 60 staff and turns over more than £112m for clients in the autom
  
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• Midgard confirmed on £60m Golden Lane office contract

  29-10-2024 09:06 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  JRL-owned Midgard has been confirmed as main contractor on a major new office job in the City of London.
  The announcement comes as developer Castleforge successfully secured £115m in funding from investment manager Cheyne Capita for the  1 Golden Lane site where the office scheme will be known as UNO.
  The development is a Grade II listed site and was designed by Sidney Smith, the original architect of the Tate Britain. Its heritage features will be retained throughout construction, in
  
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• Phoenix subbies get pay less notices after ISG failure

  29-10-2024 08:44 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Subcontractors to building services specialist Phoenix ME are being hit with pay less notices in the wake of ISG’s collapse.
  London based Phoenix is a major creditor of ISG with the firm owed £20m by the defunct contractor’s fit-out arm alone.
  Phoenix issued a message to “valued members of our supply chain” last month assuring them that the company was “well prepared to handle the current situation.”But now some of those suppliers have been served with l
  
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• Van Elle buys Scottish specialist Albion Drilling for £3.5m

  29-10-2024 08:40 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Ground engineering contractor Van Elle has acquired Scottish piling and drilling specialist Albion Drilling for up to £3.5m.
  Based in Stirling, Albion brings a strong track record of delivering complex infrastructure projects across Scotland.
  Van Elle said Albion was a strategically aligned bolt-on acquisition that expanded its presence both geographically and in expertise in quarry and close-proximity blasting, marine drilling, ground stabilisation and rock anchoring.Albion managing direc
  
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• French PM and cost consultant Artelia buys Pick Everard

  29-10-2024 08:11 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  French project management and cost consultant Artelia has bought long-established UK multi-disciplinary consultant Pick Everard.
  The takeover of Pick Everad, which employs over 700 staff, will take Artelia’s UK workforce to almost 1,000 staff following smaller acquisition of Birmingham’s Austin Newport Group in 2020, and Suffolk-based Castons last March.
  For £70m turnover Pick Everard joining Artelia presents the opportunity to expand into new activities and markets.The Artelia
  
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• Go-ahead for West London 58-storey resi skyscraper

  28-10-2024 17:08 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Egyptian developer Aldau Developments has got the planning thumbs up for one of the capital’s tallest residential schemes in West London.
  Two towers rising to 58-storeys and 44-storeys will provide around 670 flats and a 90-room hotel at the Old Oak and Park Royal development zone in North Acton.
  The latest approved plan for 4 Portal Way is the second incarnation of the high-rise gateway scheme following approval of a slightly shorter double tower project designed by architect KPF three ye
  
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• Plans in for £200m Trafford Wharf scheme

  28-10-2024 15:11 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Plans have been lodged for 438 build-to-rent flats, 419 student beds, alongside a 24,100 sq ft academic facility at Trafford Wharf in Manchester.
  Developer Cole Waterhouse said the £200m scheme would be built at a two-acre site that was home to the former Hilti headquarters in Stretford.
  Designed by Chapman Taylor, the scheme would feature two build to rent towers rising to 21 storeys and 24 storeys.Purpose-built student accommodation would be spread across two block rising to 13 and 16 st
  
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• ISG Fit Out arm went down owing subbies £111m

  28-10-2024 09:12 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Administrators from ISG have identified another £111m in debts owed to suppliers from collapsed contractor’s ISG’s fit out division.
  A filing at companies house shows hundreds of subcontractors and suppliers owed cash ISG fit-out – with one electrical contractor alone owed more than £20m.
  The latest debts are on top of the £180m already identified at the defunct group’s other divisions.And the total is set to grow as subcontractors fear the debt levels a
  
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• ROCKWOOL buys Wetherby Building Systems

  28-10-2024 08:55 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Materials giant ROCKWOOL Group has acquired Manchester based insulation and render specialist Wetherby Building Systems Ltd
  Wetherby will become part of the ROCKWOOL Wall Systems organisation under the new nameWetherby Wall Systems.
  ROCKWOOL Group CEO Jes Munk Hansen said:  “This acquisition underlines ROCKWOOL’s commitment to further expanding our presence in the UK market and to continuing to transform the construction sector towards sustainable and non-combustible faça
  
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• Construction to grow 2.5% next year

  28-10-2024 08:52 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Construction forecasters are expecting the industry to rebound next year after a tough 18 months.
  Economists at the Construction Products Association said cautious optimism is returning to the industry, led by an improving outlook for private housing and hopes for infrastructure spending growth next year.
  Overall, total construction output is forecast to rise by 2.5% in 2025 and 3.8% in 2026 after falling by 2.9% this year.Autumn forecast highlights
  • Construction output falls by 2.9% in 20
  
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• Safer concrete pours after Balfour and O’Rourke trials

  28-10-2024 08:37 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Contractors can now make concrete pouring operations safer thanks to a new system developed during trials with Balfour Beatty and Laing O’Rourke company Select Plant Hire.
  The new attachments for concrete skips developed by Conquip Engineering Group remove the last lifting operation in the industry where a person needs to stand below a suspended load to operate the equipment.
  The extended flow gate handle can control the pour from a safer distance keeping operatives safely away from the su
  
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• Go-ahead for £88m York Coney Street Riverside

  28-10-2024 08:18 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Developer Helmsley Group’s proposals for a 250,000 sq ft mixed-use development on York’s waterfront have got the green light from planners.
  The Coney Street Masterplan, led by the York-based property specialist, will see the creation of £88m mixed-use retail, leisure, commercial and residential space along the River Ouse.
  Construction works for zone 2 to 4 are estimated at around £56m. This includes conversion of retained buildings and new build elements of 3 to 6 storeys
  
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• Kier lands £100m naval helicopter base rebuild

  28-10-2024 01:08 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Kier has landed a major four-year construction project to upgrade and expand facilities at the Royal Naval’s anti-submarine helicopter airbase at Culdrose in Cornwall.
  The £100m project near Helston on the Lizard Peninsula will replace and refurbish the 820 Naval Air Squadron hangars and associated office buildings, as well as the full replacement of the Engineering Training School.
  The project covers a combination of demolition, a new build within the same site footprint, and the re
  
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• Chancellor finds over £1bn for new schools and social homes

  28-10-2024 01:07 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce in Wednesday’s Budget an extra £550m next year to get the school building programme on track and an extra £500m to boost affordable housing.
  The extra spending on schools will lift next year’s school building programme spend up to £1.4bn.
  Her cash injection aims to get the 10-year rebuilding programme, unveiled by Boris Johnson in 2021, back on track towards delivering an originally promised 50 new schools a year.
  So far just 2
  
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• ISG collapse brings down lighting specialist

  25-10-2024 14:37 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  The collapse of ISG is being blamed for the fall into administration of a specialist lighting contractor.
  Forvis Mazars has been appointed as Joint Administrator of Cheltenham-based Seventynine Lighting Ltd which has been in business since 2006.
  The company has worked on a string of retail and commercial fit-outs as a lighting design and installation subcontractor.Following the insolvency of ISG in September 2024 Seventynine found itself with £2m in bad debt and its largest customer no lon
  
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