Supply Chain

Two North West councils are tendering for a £117m highways maintenance contract. Halton Borough Council and Warrington Borough Council, both in Cheshire, have notified firms of the six-year contract, which could potentially be extended to a 10-year job. This means the local authorities can extend the contract annually for up…

National Highways has demanded that its tier one contractors submit details of their anti-fraud policies as part of a crackdown on suspected malpractice on its contracts.  Malcolm Dare, executive director for commercial and procurement at National Highways, has given contractors two weeks to submit evidence of their own internal safeguards…

Construction output has reached a record high – growing by 1.5 per cent in May, largely thanks to new commercial work. Figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that output for all work increased to £15.1bn in May – the highest level since the body started publishing…

Public-sector framework provider Northwest Construction Hub is renewing a scheme for works in Manchester that could reach a value of £1.5bn. The high-value framework will replace the previous 2019 edition of the scheme and will launch next year, running until 2026. It comprises three lots, with the lowest value band…

A week is a long time in politics, as we have just experienced, but there was also plenty happening on the construction data front over the past seven days. Figures released by the government, major housebuilders and several research specialists have shed new light on the economic conditions the sector…

Aaron Baker is an investor at investment firm BGF There is little doubt that the last two years have thrown significant challenges at the construction industry. But, unlike many sectors, it has demonstrated real strength and depth by rebounding quickly from the impact of the pandemic, with most subsectors now…

Edinburgh Council insists its ambitions to build Scotland’s first Passivhaus school will not be watered down, despite “market conditions” hampering attempts to agree a final price for the flagship project. Councillors at the Scottish authority passed a motion agreeing to ensure the scheme at Currie Community High School retained its…

Concerns over the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war have forced down the construction sector’s growth, according to the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). The index, compiled by IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), registered a score of 52.6 in June, down from 56.4 in May. It…

Mike de Silva is head of sustainability at Clancy Group Taken together, the production of steel and concrete contribute as much as 16 per cent of global annual carbon emissions. This puts the construction industry in an optimal position to help drive the decarbonisation of both industries. Addressing the embodied…

Staff shortages and wage inflation are set to become bigger problems than material supplies in 2023, a key figure has warned contractors, as data firm Glenigan predicted a “challenging” period for the sector. Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) chief executive John Newcomb, who co-chairs the Construction Leadership Council’s (CLC) product availability…