Author Archives: Jonathan Knott

A £250m framework covering new-builds in Scotland and Northern Ireland has failed to appoint a single firm after a two-month procurement process. An opportunity notice was published in August for the framework, which was intended to be used mainly for residential developments, including construction and design-and-build work. The tender included…

Building tender prices in Scotland have risen by 5 per cent in the past year, according to the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS). The BCIS’s newly-formed Scottish Tender Price Assessment Panel also said that tender prices in the country rose by 1.0 per cent on average over the third quarter…

The price of construction materials is continuing to fall, according to the latest government figures – but there are still concerns over “critical shortages” in key areas. In the latest figures from the Department for Business and Trade, the material-price index for all construction work fell by 1.8 per cent…

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) is urging the government to drop wording that it says would damage the construction sector from proposed legislation to reform R&D tax credits. Between January and March this year, the government consulted on merging the Research and Development Expenditure Credit (RDEC) and the small and…

Morgan Sindall has reported a “growing” workload in its latest trading update, as it predicted a full-year performance in line with its expectations. The firm said its total secured order book at 30 September was £9.1bn, an increase of 7 per cent from its previous year-end position and level with…

An ongoing drop in sales of mineral products underlines the scale of the challenges facing construction, a sector body has warned, adding that weak demand is likely to persist in 2024. In the third quarter (Q3) of 2023, there were “notable declines” in demand for ready-mixed concrete (15 per cent)…

Kier has been named as the preferred bidder for a restructured 11-year PFI contract to maintain Birmingham’s roads – but the move still requires government approval. The firm has maintained the city’s road network on an interim basis since 2020, after a previous deal with Amey collapsed. Amey was appointed…

McLaughlin & Harvey has been appointed as the main contractor on a “game-changing” learning quarter in Wolverhampton city centre. The £41m main build contract will include creating a new main campus for the City of Wolverhampton College within a group of Victorian and early Edwardian buildings in the city centre.…

Associated British Ports (ABP) is seeking expressions of interest from potential contractors for a project worth up to £170m to build a green energy terminal in Lincolnshire. In a prior information notice, ABP said it intends to appoint a lead contractor or consortium to construct the facility at the Port…

Bouygues Energies & Services (E&S) UK has has recorded a pre-tax profit for 2022, ending five successive years of losses. In its accounts covering the year to 31 December 2022, published by Companies House on 30 October, the UK construction-engineering subsidiary of French group Bouygues reported a pre-tax profit of…