Supply Chain

Peers have accused the government of acting too slowly on cash retentions, as a minister shut down suggestions that there should be a statutory ban on the practice. Export minister Lord Offord of Garvel argued against suggestions from peers to increase government intervention in eliminating cash retentions. Retention payments – typically…

A plant-hire company has successfully challenged HM Revenue and Customs over value-added tax on red diesel, a decision its trade association has said could have far-reaching consequences for the industry. Glasgow-based GAP Group appealed HMRC’s decision to tax the red diesel in its plant machinery from March 2017 to March…

L&G is suing a contractor, architect and structural engineer over alleged defects at an Aberdeen city centre office block. The seven storey Union Plaza building, currently let to several companies including Deloitte, was built by Stewart Milne Group and completed in 2008. It was owned by a Stewart Milne Group…

Paul Reeve is director of corporate social responsibility at the Electrical Contractors' Association Designers and other professionals across the built environment are steadily improving the measurement of embodied carbon in their construction specifications. But now, engineering-services contractors tendering for public sector and commercial work are also being asked about the…

HMRC has criticised the behaviour of two insolvency practitioners who oversaw an aborted attempt to save Squibb Group in the run-up to its demise. Louise Baxter and Dominik Thiel-Czerwinke, from insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor, had been nominated to implement a proposed company voluntary arrangement (CVA) that would have created a…

Demolition firm Squibb Group was wound up in the High Court this morning, bringing to an end 75 years of trading. The axe fell during a hearing in the Insolvency and Companies Court that had originally been due to hear an application for administration submitted by the firm’s directors. However,…

More than four in five specialists say that late payments from main contractors have impacted their mental health, according to Construction News’ payment survey. The figure is revealed today in the the results of a major survey by CN of construction subcontractors’ experiences of retentions and payment practices. The survey,…

Government departments are failing to regularly use project bank accounts (PBAs) on large construction projects, contrary to their own procurement rules, according to exclusive data obtained by Construction News. Cabinet Office procurement rules say PBAs should be used unless there are “compelling reasons” not to do so. However, since 1…

Late payment and retentions have long been a blight on the industry. An exclusive Construction News survey of subcontractors shows the problem is ruining not only companies, but lives “I’ve had that two-o’clock-in-the-morning thing where your imagination is running wild – you can’t sleep as you’re stressing,” the director of…

Reforms are needed to boost the number of electricians, which is essential for the UK to deliver on its pledge to become net zero by 2050, a new report has warned. The Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA) launched its Recharging Electrical Skills Charter at an event in the Houses of Parliament…