Supply Chain

In this week’s supply-chain round-up, we look at construction firms’ woes with cashflow issues. There is also an update on material prices, which are increasing, while Leeds looks likely to become an inflation hotspot. Equals Money: cashflow issues for construction firms One in five UK manufacturing and construction businesses are…

Leeds is set to be the UK city hit hardest by construction cost inflation, a report by Turner & Townsend (T&T) has warned. The annual international construction market survey from the consultant found London was the 10th most expensive city to build in over the past year, with an average…

The UK government has extended steel tariffs for a further two years as part of its “international legal obligations”, trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan has said.  The steel tariffs were put in place prior to the UK leaving the European Union to tackle what the government describes as dumping, whereby countries…

Construction material prices have soared by more than a fifth since the start of this year, according to the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), which has warned of further “significant” rises to key products in 2022. Average inflation for products so far this year has reached 23 per cent, the CLC…

Labour shortages in the construction industry are a bigger headache than disruption to materials, suppliers have warned. Speaking at CN’s ‘Decarbonising Construction’ event earlier this month, Structural Timber Association (STA) chief executive Andrew Carpenter said the problem with stocks of materials was not as great as long-term issues surrounding the…

As the built environment tussles with a skills shortage, questions have again been asked about what the sector is doing to boost the number of women working in it. Two million women have joined the construction workforce over the last decade, while the number working in engineering has grown by…

Sadiq Khan has admitted that meeting a long-standing target for the construction of affordable homes in London is looking “very difficult”. The capital’s mayor cited the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the UK’s withdrawal from the EU as he set out the challenges of ramping up housebuilding. Khan secured…

JRL Group’s revenue increased last year, but its profit dipped because of inflationary pressures. The Hertfordshire-based firm turned over £610m in the year to 31 December 2020, which was a 7.1 per cent rise on the £570m it made during the previous year, when the pandemic affected its projects. However,…

Operations on the £100bn High Speed 2 project have been disrupted by this week’s rail strikes, forcing material deliveries to be rescheduled. Tens of thousands of rail workers started industrial action yesterday, and are due to strike again on Thursday and Saturday this week over a disagreement on pay and…

More than 350 construction firms have defaulted on their COVID loans at least once. Around 2.5 per cent of all the construction firms who claimed COVID loans have defaulted on repayments, which could foreshadow a wave of administrations. The warning comes from accountancy firm Price Bailey, which compiled the research…