Construction news

• Wates boosts paternity leave to 12 weeks

  17-06-2024 08:12 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Wates Group has enhanced its paternity leave policy from eight weeks to 12 weeks paid leave for new fathers.
  Employees can take leave anytime within the first two years of the child being born or adopted in flexible blocks.
  The benefit is available from day one of working with Wates alongside maternity, shared parental leave and adoption and surrogacy policies.Nikunj Upadhyay, Group Inclusion and Diversity Director at Wates, said: “I am delighted that we are continuing to improve our famil
  
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• Huge fire hits Staines resi towers site

  26-06-2024 18:05 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Surrey Fire and Rescue Service battled a major blaze at a residential tower under construction in Staines, Surrey on Wednesday.
  Huge plumes of smoke were spotted pouring from the top floor of a new apartment complex being built in the town centre.
  The fire was bought under control within a few hours but road closures were still in place throughout the afternoon.Three site workers were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene while one builder was taken to hospital.Huge fire broken out in Staine
  
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• Third contractor appointed to finish Wokingham apartments

  26-06-2024 14:45 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Wokingham Borough Council has appointed a third contractor to finish the Carnival Place residential development after the first two went bust.
  Original contractor Mid Group went into administration in 2022 while building the 55-apartment scheme.
  The council then appointed Geoffrey Osborne to finish the job but they also went under in April.Now Newbury based Feltham Construction has been drafted-in to finally finish the job.
  The apartments sit opposite the Carnival Hub in which opened in the summ
  
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• Sunderland film studio enabling works out to bid

  26-06-2024 08:59 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Sunderland City Council will invite bids next month for the £15m enabling works package to prepare the former Crown Works shipyard site for a major film and TV studio scheme.
  FulwellCain Studios, a joint venture between global entertainment company Fulwell 73 and Cain International, aims to build the £475m Crown Works Studios on land stretching up from Pallion Shipyard on the banks of the river Wear.
  It gained planning back in the spring and now the council will make the site shovel
  
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• Invisible Connections acquired by concrete giant Terwa

  26-06-2024 08:57 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Oxfordshire based Invisible Connections has become part of the global Terwa Construction Group.
  Invisible Connections supplies the concrete construction industry with ‘unseen’ telescopic connection systems for precast stairs and landings, beams, and columns.
  Terwa is a leader in developing, producing and distributing a comprehensive range of products for the construction and precast concrete industry.Edwin Scheeve, CEO of Terwa, said: “The addition of Invisible Connections to t
  
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• J Coffey passes £200m turnover milestone

  26-06-2024 08:37 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Harrow-based contractor J Coffey Construction delivered record revenue last year up by just over a quarter top £218m helped by a major data centre job.
  Proftaibility also improved with pre-tax profit rising to £6.5m in the year to September 2023 from £4.6m previously.
  But while margins edged up to 3.4%, it remained below the pre-pandemic average performance of around 7%.The business, which mainly specialises in substructure, superstructure and structural alterations, underwent
  
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• Red wins £50m Westminster office job

  26-06-2024 08:28 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Developer Tellon Capital has picked RED Construction to deliver a £200m office scheme in the heart of Westminster.
  The £50m building project, known as 40 Broadway, will rise to 8 storeys and span more than 130,000 sq ft with rooftop views across St James’s Park, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.
  The front of the building will feature a natural stone façade on the Broadway elevation with projecting full-length feature windows.
  Rooftop terrace on top of the t
  
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• Costain JV wins £65m brace of water treatment upgrades

  26-06-2024 08:27 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Southern Water has awarded Costain’s joint venture with MWH Treatment a £65m bundle of sewage and water treatment works upgrades.
  The work will run until late 2025 and will see the CMDP joint venture improve the resilience of the local water supply and upgrade wastewater treatment works at Testwood near Southampton, and Burham in Kent.
  Both sites will see major renovation, refurbishment and expansion of existing assets to cope with rising demand for drinking water and increasing volu
  
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• BAM plans another round of construction redundancies

  25-06-2024 15:00 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  BAM has started anther round of redundancies at its construction division.
  The Enquirer revealed in March that up to 40 jobs were at risk as BAM started consultation on job losses at its London and Western regions.
  The contractor confirmed this is a separate round of cuts with a similar number of jobs at risk across the Northern and London offices.A BAM spokesperson said: “Like all businesses we need to be flexible and adapt to current market conditions.
  “Within the construction sect
  
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• Caddick wins £10m Manchester college extension

  25-06-2024 09:17 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Caddick Construction has bagged a £10m deal to build a 24,000 sq ft extension at Loreto Sixth Form College in Hulme, Manchester.
  The new three-storey campus building for Loreto College will be constructed on Moss Road West adjacent to the existing campus on Chichester Road South.
  The new building will sit alongside the existing college building, with facilities to enhance the learning environment and curriculum delivery. These include 20 classrooms, a lecture theatre with a seating capacit
  
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• ARJ Construction went down owing £9m to supply chain

  25-06-2024 09:03 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Hertfordshire based contractor ARJ Construction went into administration owing more than £9m to subcontractors and suppliers.
  The scale of the Stevenage based firm’s debts are revealed in an update from administrators at FRP Advisory who took over the business in April.
  ARJ had been in business since 1991 specialising in projects from £10m to £60m across the South East in the residential, healthcare, education and commercial sectors.FRP said the firm had enjoyed a signifi
  
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• Eastern Green Link 1 looking for local suppliers

  25-06-2024 08:54 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Eastern Green Link 1 is inviting local suppliers to learn about the project’s supply chain opportunities at an upcoming ‘Meet the Buyer’ event in County Durham on Wednesday 3 July.
  The drop-in event, which will take place at Seaham Hall, aims to connect potential suppliers from across the Seaham area, County Durham and the North East with EGL1’s main works contractors Metlen, Murphy Group, GE Vernova and Prysmian.
  EGL1 is a two-gigawatt high voltage direct current electri
  
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• Green insulation firm buys flooring contractor

  25-06-2024 08:26 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Insulation manufacturer and installer energystore has acquired a majority share in Scottish specialist flooring contractor Advanced Traditional Screeding (ATS).
  Energystore designs, manufactures, and installs insulation systems for floors, walls and roofs and is the leading supplier of high-performance EPS (expanded polystyrene) bead insulation products to the UK and Irish construction industry.
  Fife-based ATS was established in 2014 and works with commercial customers across Scotland and the re
  
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• CBRE and T&T to combine project management arms

  25-06-2024 00:13 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  US giant CBRE has decided to combine its project management businesses with that of its majority-owned Turner and Townsend consultancy.
  The move to merge the two PM divisions will create a $3bn business employing more than 2,000 staff across 60 countries.
  CBRE bought a 60% controlling stake in the 75-year-old T&T nearly three years ago for £960m.
  The new deal to merge the PM businesses will see CBRE up its stake to 70% in the new Turner & Townsend/CBRE Project Management entity rel
  
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• Ray O’Rourke to step down as chief executive next week

  24-06-2024 18:13 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Industry veteran Ray O’Rourke will step down as chief executive of the contracting business he founded five decades ago at the end of this month.
  He will hand over the reins to his son Cathal O’Rourke, a graduate civil engineer who ran the Australian arm of the group for over a decade, and recently returned to the UK to become chief operating officer.
  Ray founded the business as a regionally based formwork and concrete specialist in 1977. He has been at the forefront of introducing m
  
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• Ray O’Rourke steps down as chief executive

  24-06-2024 18:13 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Industry veteran Ray O’Rourke will step down as chief executive of the contracting group he founded five decades ago at the end of this week.
  He will hand over the reins to his son Cathal O’Rourke, a graduate civil engineer who ran the Australian arm of the group for over a decade, and returned to the UK a year ago to become chief operating officer.
  Laing O’Rourke founder Ray (left) hands the reins to son Cathal
  Ray, aged 77, founded the business as a Essex-based formwork and c
  
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• Multiplex starts London 36-storey ‘hanging gardens’ tower

  24-06-2024 10:18 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Insurance giant AXA has given main contractor Multiplex the go-ahead to start main works on its 650,000 sq ft 50 Fenchurch Street office tower in the City of London.
  Kelbray finished enabling work last month allowing piling to get underway on what will be one of the lowest carbon and most biodiverse high-rise towers in the country.
  Designed by architect Eric Parry, the building will give the impression of a hanging garden across the facade, pioneering extensive urban greening in the Square Mile.
  
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• Changing of the guard at HBF

  24-06-2024 09:47 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Long-standing Home Builders Federation Chief Executive Stewart Baseley is stepping back to become Chairman of the home building industry trade body.
  He will be replaced next month by Neil Jefferson, who has been Managing Director of the federation since early 2020.
  Baseley said: “I am delighted that the Board has promoted Neil to be the new Chief Executive of HBF. I firmly believe he is the right person to lead the organisation for many years to come, and that now is the best time to make
  
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• Birmingham to pick five firms for £265m homes retrofit plan

  24-06-2024 09:08 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Birmingham City Council is planning to appoint up to five specialist contractors to deliver a £265m programme of energy efficiency upgrades to 3,000 homes a year in the city.
  In an unusual step, the council said it also aims to charge the selected firms an annual fee.
  This charge would cover the council’s costs in targeting and promoting Energy Company Obligations and the Great British Insulation Scheme-funded measures in Birmingham.
  It would also verify household eligibility, sign d
  
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• Developer CLS to advance major new Vauxhall scheme

  24-06-2024 09:06 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  London developer CLS has confirmed it will proceed with a major new residential and student rooms scheme at its Spring Gardens site in Vauxhall, London.
  The Citadel Place scheme will replace existing low-rise office buildings built in the 1990s that are due to be vacated in 2026. A major part of the site is presently home to the National Crime Agency.
  CLS has partnered with architectural firm Allies and Morrison to design Citadel Place.The plans include building 180-200 new homes and a purpose-b
  
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• Tarmac trials electric tipper truck

  24-06-2024 08:52 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Tarmac is trialling an all-electric tipper truck as the industry’s move towards greener machinery gathers pace.
  The truck will be looked-at over the next couple of months to “evaluate its performance in practical operation as well as its range when loaded to assess how the benefits of the technology can be maximised going forward.”
  Tarmac is working with London-based electric truck manufacturer Tevva alongside Brit-Tipp – who completed the first electric tipper body integ
  
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• Subdued market sees profit warning from SIG

  24-06-2024 08:29 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Insulation and building products supplier SIG issued a profit warning to the city today as continued weaker trading in May and June pushed back the timing of an anticipated market recover.
  SIG operates across Europe and subdues trading was most marked in the end markets of its UK Interiors business, France and Germany.
  The firm said demand was more robust at the UK exteriors business but “group sales overall were weaker than expected in May and June to date.”SIG said: “Given th
  
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• Arup and Binnies to design Abingdon reservoir

  24-06-2024 08:06 via constructionenquirer.com
  Thames Water has picked an Arup/Binnies joint venture to draw up the engineering designs for a new reservoir south of Oxford, near Abingdon.
  Plans for the £1.5bn reservoir known as SESRO (South East Strategic Reservoir Option) would secure water supplies to 15 million customers in the Thames Water, Southern Water and Affinity Water catchments from 2040.  
  Should Thames Water secure government approval for the reservoir, as part of its draft Water Resource Management Plan, Arup Binnies
  
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• Early bond release key to averting industry surety crisis

  21-06-2024 09:07 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  The construction bond market squeeze will force clients and contractors to rethink their working practices.
  Where client variations take project work above agreed contract values, bonds should be released and then rewritten to cover the smaller balance of extra work required.This would free-up needed capacity in the market said bond broker DRS Bond Management.
  A shortage of available bond capacity is now threatening to delay project starts.
  The situation has been building up to crisis point over
  
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• Lidl looking for new contractors for store building plans

  21-06-2024 09:00 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Supermarket giant Lidl is looking for contractors across the country to help build hundreds of new stores.
  It is hosting a series of events across the country next month to meet new firms.
  Members of the Lidl GB property and construction team will be hosting the events in Newcastle, Glasgow, Birmingham and Southampton.They will provide contractors with the chance to learn about opportunities to work with Lidl, whilst gaining insight into the discounter’s structure, processes and requiremen
  
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• Utility firm GTC revvs up for ground source heat pump era

  21-06-2024 08:46 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  The UK’s largest installer of last mile multi-utility networks GTC has struck a deal with ground source heat pump maker Kensa Group to solve house builders’ headaches over the boiler ban next year.The two have teamed up to deliver a low-cost renewable heating and cooling solution that could supply tens of thousands of new homes a year.This new alignment comes as the market prepares to deliver an alternative to gas. Gas boilers will be banned in new build developments from next year u
  
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• Utility firm GTC revs up for ground source heat pump era

  21-06-2024 08:46 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  The UK’s largest installer of last mile multi-utility networks GTC has struck a deal with ground source heat pump maker Kensa Group to solve house builders’ headaches over the boiler ban next year.
  The two have teamed up to deliver a low-cost renewable heating and cooling solution that could supply tens of thousands of new homes a year.
  This new alignment comes as the market prepares to deliver an alternative to gas. Gas boilers will be banned in new build developments from next year
  
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• Over 1000 building safety cladding retrofits completed

  21-06-2024 08:44 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  The industry has just completed a quarter of the total building safety cladding retrofits needed to comply with new regulations brought in after the Grenfell disaster.
  Latest Government figures show contractors have now reclad 1,088 (25%) of the 4,374 buildings identified as unsafe seven years after 72 died in the Grenfell Tower fire.
  Despite a slow start, the speed of remediation works on recorded buildings of 11m and over is at last speeding up.Overall, 2,066 buildings (47%) have either starte
  
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• Steel import delays make Rangers miss kick-off

  20-06-2024 17:41 via constructionenquirer.com
  Construction delays on an upgrade to Ibrox mean Rangers will have to move their opening fixtures away from the famous stadium at the start of next season in August.
  The club confirmed problems with an upgrade to the Copland Stand where a new wheelchair-accesible section is being created and a new cantilever constructed with almost 1,000 new seats.
  Delays with imported steel from Asia have caused the problems.In a statement on Thursday the club confirmed: Rangers has recently been advised of a de
  
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• Amey switches kit supplier to Speedy from HSS

  20-06-2024 12:07 via constructionenquirer.com
  
  Speedy Hire has replaced HSS as the main plant and equipment hirer to Amey in a deal worth up to £25m a year.
  HSS made a stock exchange announcement earlier this month confirming its largest customer Amey had decided to switch suppliers after nine years.
  Under the new deal Speedy will provide non-operated plant hire to Amey’s operations on a range of sector contracts including rail, highways and public estates.A significant proportion of kit will consist of eco-products including H-P
  
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