Laing O’Rourke

Laing O’Rourke co-founder and deputy chair Des O’Rourke has died aged 75.  O’Rourke died on Wednesday (17 July) following a brief illness, according to a statement published by the company.  The statement said: “It is with deep sadness that Des O’Rourke’s family confirm his passing. “Des had been ill for…

Laing O’Rourke has announced that group chief executive Ray O’Rourke is to step down and hand over to his son. The tier one contractor announced today that the man who has run the firm since founding it in 1977 had given notice to the board of his intention to depart.…

Laing O’Rourke can continue with a claim for breach of contract against an adviser it employed on a defective PFI mental health hospital, a judge has ruled. The contractor is suing consultant Sweett for £20.4m over independent testing work carried out by cost and management firm Nisbet, which Sweett acquired…

National Grid has appointed five contractors including Laing O’Rourke and Morgan Sindall to deliver £9bn of work on its major upgrade of the electricity network. Morrison Energy Services, Murphy and a joint venture of Vinci subsidiaries Taylor Woodrow and Omexom complete the construction team for the Great Grid Partnership. They…

Laing O'Rourke is in line to build a major new facility as part of a £200m upgrade of health infrastructure in West Yorkshire. The contractor was named as preferred partner to deliver the design stage of a four-storey clinical building at Calderdale Royal Hospital. A new accident and emergency department…

Laing O’Rourke has denied claims from Unite that unqualified electricians are working unsupervised on the £555m Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium for Everton Football Club. The union warned of a risk of “catastrophic damage” occurring after allegedly seeing electricians-mate contracts stating that the junior workers may not be supervised. Electricians mates would usually…

Laing O’Rourke is looking to cut 60 jobs at its offsite factory in a bid to reduce operating costs. The contractor, whose latest financial results saw it plunge to a £288.1m loss on £3.3bn of turnover, blamed delays to projects for the latest round of redundancies. A spokesperson for its…

Laing O’Rourke will use modern methods of construction to create a training hub for the Army in Surrey. The contractor will deliver facilities for a non-infantry centre of excellence at Alexander Barracks in Pirbright. Laing O’Rourke is one of seven firms on the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) Strategic Alliance framework,…

Bouygues and Laing O’Rourke have been served warning notices by the nuclear regulator over fire-safety failures at Hinkley Point C. The contractors have each received enforcement notices relating to failings by their joint venture BYLOR JV. The Office for Nuclear Regulation also served notices to NNB Generation Company, a subsidiary…

Laing O’Rourke’s chief financial officer has denied there are any further skeletons in the company's closet after a legacy Australian job cost the contractor £193m last year. This week, the UK’s largest private contractor reported a £288m loss before tax, driven by provisions, legal costs and a write-off relating to…