Financial

Dodd Group has reported a 23 per cent increase in revenue but said “inflationary and supply issues” had undermined margins. The Telford-headquartered contractor turned over £206.7m in the 12 months to 31 March 2023, up from £167.5m a year earlier. The company ranked 85th in the CN100 last year but…

The construction sector has begun the year with “very limited momentum” towards recovery after a difficult 2023, a senior industry analyst has said. Interest rates have plateaued since last August but remain high by historical levels at 5.25 per cent. This affects financing for construction projects by “making large upfront…

CJ O’Shea Group has reported an increased margin, as income from its development work outweighed a steep decline in construction profit. Newly released accounts for the north London-headquartered contractor, developer and plant-hire company show revenue fell to £133.5m in the 12 months to 31 March 2023, from £167m the year…

Mace is predicting weak growth to continue in 2024. The firm’s consultancy arm has warned that the Bank of England’s predictions of a flatlining economy, high interest rates and the fact that contractors have “already squeezed margins as far as they can go” means tender-price inflation will ease. In a…

10. How do we make modular buildings safer? More than eight months after fire-service leaders published a five-page document outlining a litany of concerns about modular buildings, and more than a year-and-a-half after safety body Cross-UK highlighted the potential for concealed spread of fire inside extensive cavities within such structures,…

Construction insolvencies in the past year were 36 per cent higher than before the pandemic, new statistics show. According to the latest figures from the Insolvency Service, 4,317 construction firms went out of business in the year to 31 October 2023. This was a jump of 9 per cent from…

10. M&E contractor enters administration In August, former Mears subsidiary Haydon Mechanical & Electrical went into administration. The London-based £66.2m-turnover firm had more than 100 employees but was experiencing cashflow problems and posted a £6.2m pre-tax loss in its final accounts for the 18 months to 31 December 2021. An…

The number of business failures in the construction sector soared this year, reflecting microeconomic factors as well as the general malaise in the UK economy. Some 312 construction firms went into administration between January and October – a 58 per cent year-on-year increase and far exceeding the 2022 full-year total…

Next year will see a “slow recovery” in construction, as financial pressures are set to continue for months, a senior industry analyst has told Construction News. Speaking in the latest episode of the CN First Site podcast, Kelly Boorman, national head of construction at audit and tax consultancy RSM UK,…

At a time when climate goals urgently demand innovative decarbonisation solutions, funding for green-tech startups in construction is evaporating Picture the scene: it’s 2050, and you’ve just signed a contract to build yet another flying-skateboard distribution centre. You compare materials sourced via the circular economy on an online database and…