Author Archives: Contributor

Jordan Connachie is managing director of Kori Construction The construction industry has been rocked by the number of reputable contractors forced to call in the administrators over recent years. Business failures in the sector reached 312 in the 10 months to October 2023, a 58 per cent increase compared with…

Chris Smith is head of specialist equipment at Aldermore As a lender, we stay close to the trends impacting the sectors we support, giving us a better understanding of our customers and the challenges affecting their businesses. The results of our latest SME Growth Index* uncovered the top priorities for…

Charlotte Dowson is an associate at law firm Bolt Burdon Kemp Construction work is physically demanding and inevitably accidents and injuries on construction sites do happen. Thankfully, more often than not the injuries that occur are minor and do not have lasting consequences. However, sometimes the injuries are serious and…

Colin Hamilton is head of MMC and sector director for health at ISG I’m no fan of a proliferation of acronyms, but there’s a serious point to this headline, which is around basic clarity and understanding – and more significantly about the future direction and reputation of the construction industry.…

Kenneth Wood is managing director of construction and real estate consultancy Drees & Sommer UK Anyone still mindful that expert pollsters made the wrong calls on both the outcome of the Brexit referendum and winner of the Donald Trump vs Hillary Clinton presidential election might be tempted to look to…

Paul Gandy is chief executive at Tilbury Douglas, vice president of the Chartered Institute of Building and serves on the board of Build UK as a contractor director As we enter a new year, it is a great time to take stock and think about the key priorities the construction industry…

Mark Lawrence is a partner at law firm Macfarlanes The Building Safety Act 2022 was the government’s long-awaited legislative response to the Grenfell Tower fire. It forms part of a wider package of regulatory and practical reform aimed at making high-risk residential buildings safer and ensuring that the responsibilities of…

Chris Doran and Daniel Barchet are partners at law firm Weightmans In 2023, the construction industry demonstrated strong resilience in the face of persistent pressure, economic fluctuation and a flurry of transformational legislative changes – leaving the industry rife with uncertainty that will likely persist as we head into the…

Which projects are likely to have the biggest impact on the industry in the year ahead? Keith Cooper reports Houses of Parliament Politicians and construction firms alike are standing by for more details on the beleaguered Palace of Westminster restoration. After more than 7,500 hours of surveys being carried out…

Graham Harle is chief executive of Gleeds Worldwide As we bid farewell to another year, I always look forward to seeing which words the various dictionaries select to sum up the preceding 12 months. I felt Collins’ choice of ‘permacrisis’ was particularly apt in 2022, the year of post-Covid economic…