News

The Conservative Party’s election pledge to provide 100,000 new apprenticeships by 2029 has received a cold response. A leading construction academic dismissed the £885m plan as “nonsense”, while a senior executive at one contractor described it as “simply smoke and mirrors”. If it wins the 4 July general election, the…

Multinational manufacturer ArcelorMittal has warned a “catastrophic” planning decision will cut the UK’s access to concrete rebar steel by nearly a third. Chatham Docks in Kent, which is the firm’s only site producing the product, is set to close after Medway Council approved a project to develop a mixed-use scheme…

Galliford Try has picked up two UK government contracts worth a combined £101m. In a London Stock Exchange announcement this morning, the contractor said that its Building Southern business had sealed a £70m deal with the Home Office and Ministry of Justice to expand a disused immigration removal centre in…

Failed industry disruptor Urban Splash House is to go into liquidation, more than two years after collapsing into administration. The move marks the final step in the winding-up of the modular-build specialist, and could bring certain suppliers closer to receiving some of the cash they are owed. Spun out of…

The UK construction sector is at risk of inadvertently using Russian aluminium because of a gap in EU sanctions, a trade association has warned. Specifically, the EU has not sanctioned imports of aluminium slabs, ingots and billets, which make up about 85 per cent of the Russian aluminium imports to…

A decision on whether to move forward with the Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) road scheme has been pushed back until after the general election. The planning decision is now scheduled for 4 October “to allow appropriate time” for a new transport secretary to consider the plan post-election, said Mark Harper,…

Morgan Sindall Construction has landed a £60m contract to upgrade six hospitals in Essex. The contractor was appointed by Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust to carry out the work under the ProCure23 framework. The improvement programme will see a new community diagnostic centre built in Pitsea, part of…

A London council has announced it will finish building a leisure centre after the original contractor collapsed last year. Work stopped on the Platinum Jubilee Leisure Centre (CGI pictured) in West Drayton, west London, when the £665m-turnover Buckingham Group entered administration. Hillingdon Council said it would now “directly manage the…

Pre-tax profit at Masterson Holdings slumped last year amid reduced demand, material price increases and geopolitical conflicts. The Hertfordshire-based construction group and parent company of concrete-frame specialist Getjar said that while its financials remained strong, its order book was down, and it was projecting lower turnover and profit for the…

Former Morgan Sindall executive Robert Ogg has been appointed as managing director of Akela Construction. The Glasgow-based construction services group also announced the promotion of Will Payne to managing director of Akela Group’s ground engineering division. Ogg (pictured) served as managing director of Scottish infrastructure works at Morgan Sindall from…