Author Archives: Will Ing

Galliford Try has named Kris Hampson as its new chief financial officer. Hampson will join the contractor by September this year, moving from group financial controller at FTSE 100 pest-control firm Rentokil Initial. He replaces Andrew Duxbury, who is leaving Galliford Try to become chief financial officer at Persimmon. Hampson…

The chief executive of Wates has said the company is now politically “agnostic” and will not make any donations in the run-up to the general election. Wates gave £450,000 to the Conservative Party between 2001 and 2017, according to The Guardian – which also reported in 2018 that then chairman…

Wates has joined the handful of UK contractors that turn over more than £2bn, after reporting a 17.6 per cent increase in revenue to £2.1bn. The Surrey-headquartered company also posted a 43 per cent increase in pre-tax profit, from £33.7m to £44.9m, for the year to 31 December 2023. Its…

NG Bailey has been fined £135,000 after a subcontracted worker died at a site in Aberdeen. Alistair Hutton, 51, was struck by a metal lintel while navigating a mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) during the construction of the Baird Family Hospital. Hutton, who lived in Forfar, immediately lost consciousness and…

Wates has formally appointed a new managing director of its construction business. Steffan Battle has held the role in an interim capacity since October 2023, taking over from Mark Tant, who left the business after nine years in the post. Now Battle has been appointed to the job on a…

Mace has warned that some contractors are likely to aggressively cut bid prices as material and labour costs drop. In its latest quarterly report on the UK construction market, Mace’s consultancy arm said it expected tender-price growth of 2.5 per cent nationally and 2 per cent in London this year…

Crossrail was £4bn over budget and more than three years late, in part due to its client body not having enough powers, the Department for Transport (DfT) has said. The rail line, which runs from Berkshire to Essex via central London, finally opened in May 2022 at a cost of…

Newcastle-based Surgo Construction has entered administration. The regional contractor appointed administrators on 14 March, leaving former staff to seek new jobs elsewhere. The company had been trading for over 100 years, according to its website. Surgo turned over £14.4m in its last published financial accounts, for the year ending 31…

A Labour MP has called for women to be explicitly mentioned in the law about the provision of personal protective equipment at work – saying its absence has “significant real-world consequences”. Emma Hardy, MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle, said women “are not just smaller men”, and suggested…

Persimmon’s turnover dropped by £1.05bn last year amid torrid economic conditions for the housing market. The FTSE 100 housebuilder saw turnover drop 23 per cent to £2.77bn in 2023, while its pre-tax profit dropped by 52 per cent to £351.8m, according to annual results published via the London Stock Exchange…