When I became CN’s editor in 2017 I wrote about this title's need to challenge and improve UK construction. I said we would be a powerful voice for the sector at a time of great change. Two years on, and eight years after I joined as a reporter, I am proud…
Author Archives: Tom Fitzpatrick
Davies needs Kier staff to buy into his plan
Kier has today unveiled a fresh attempt to try and reduce debt, shore up its balance sheet and ensure it doesn't suffer the same fate that this week befell yet another top 100 contractor in Shaylor Group. Its share price hit record lows on Friday on news it would sell…
In pictures: Inspire Me Leeds takes on taboos
It was a full house at the Marriott Hotel in Leeds where Construction News' latest Inspire Me workshop was held. Keltbray head of training Holly Price kicked things off with a talk on how she got to where she has in an industry where she was once the sole demolition…
Inspire Me Leeds: Career steps and changing cultures
"How many years do you have left to work?" It was a question posed by Skills4UK managing director Jayne Little that provoked much laughter and mirth at CN’s Inspire Me event in Leeds this morning. As we were encouraged to write down the number of years to retirement at 67,…
Housing minister quits Tory leadership race
Kit Malthouse has pulled out from the Conservative Party leadership race, just nine days after declaring he was standing as a candidate. The housing minister announced on Twitter that there was an "appetite for the contest to be over quickly", and that it was right for him to withdraw. He…
Qatar deaths point to more than ‘tragedy’
Worker conditions on the Qatar 2022 World Cup came under the spotlight again this week when the country’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy released its fourth workers’ welfare progress report. It referenced one fatality: a 23-year-old Nepali scaffolder, Tej Narayan Tharu, was working on the upper tier of a…
McLaren public sector lead Keith Rayner departs
The man tasked with spearheading McLaren's push into the public sector has left the firm little more than a year after joining from Bam. Keith Rayner told Construction News the decision was an amicable one, with him wanting to spend more time closer to his Yorkshire home, rather than in…
Tory leadership candidates: #MoreBetterFaster?
Housing minister Kit Malthouse likes to use the hashtag #MoreBetterFaster on Twitter to celebrate announcements of new units being built. Yesterday, though, the preferred hashtag changed to #JobHouseSchool as Mr Malthouse used an interview with The Sun to become the latest candidate in an already crowded field vying to replace…
Theresa May quits as prime minister: Reaction and comment
The prime minister has announced she will resign on June 7. Theresa May said today she would quit in a fortnight, triggering a fight to succeed her with Boris Johnson the current favourite. The move is likely to have major implications for the construction industry, with the future of HS2,…
Success is a shared experience
An ICE survey has found British adults are far more likely to judge the relative success of an infrastructure project on its regeneration of communities than on its cost. Almost a third of adults surveyed by YouGov point to community regeneration as the most important factor in a project’s success,…