Author Archives: Ian Weinfass

The continued use of retentions in the construction industry is contributing to company failures, a meeting of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has heard. Newly released minutes from a November meeting show that Isabel Coman, a director at Transport for London and CLC board member, described the issue as one…

National Infrastructure Commission boss Sir John Armitt has been appointed to the board of the company that owns Tilbury Douglas, Construction News can reveal. Armitt was appointed a non-executive director of TD Bidco one day after last week's announcement that he had been granted another term as chair of the…

Russia's invasion of Ukraine could push up the price of materials used on UK construction projects, analysts have warned. Graham Robinson, global infrastructure and construction lead at forecasting business Oxford Economics, told Construction News that the war could add to cost inflation for contractors. A number of countries have imposed…

The number of administrations in the construction industry dropped to the lowest level for seven months in January. There were 12 administrations in the first month of 2022, according to data collected by Creditsafe. This was the lowest rate since June 2021, when seven failures were recorded, and reversed the…

Exclusive: The average tenure of a construction minister is notoriously short, but freshly appointed Lee Rowley has clear ambitions. He aims to speak up on behalf of an industry he also hopes to hear more from, he tells Ian Weinfass

Tier-one bosses have called for both subcontractors and Whitehall to help increase diversity in the industry. Galliford Try CEO Bill Hocking told the Construction News Summit that senior leaders have been on “a crusade” for years to get more diversity into their businesses. While he claimed younger-aged employees at his…

A tax on residential development work to help fund remedial building-safety works will be set at 4 per cent, the chancellor has announced. In his Autumn Budget and Spending Review speech, Rishi Sunak revealed the tax will be levied on developers with profit of more than £25m: “We’re confirming £5bn…

The government is planning to cut down the number of frameworks used by departments in a move it says will help reduce administration. The measure will be implemented gradually following an examination of the existing ones, Cabinet Office crown representative Phil Brookes told Construction News. A review “with a view…

The construction industry in Scotland is working to identify how contractors can help society adapt to a post-virus world, according to the chair of the body liaising with the Scottish Government during the crisis. Alan Wilson, chair of the Construction Industry Coronavirus (CICV) Forum, told Construction News that the group…

Aecom is to cut up to 500 jobs in the UK and Ireland as a result of the coronavirus crisis. The consultant announced the redundancies, which will form part of a restructure, just two days after the sudden departure of chief executive David Barwell and chief operating officer Bill Quarterman…