Civils

Stay ahead of your competitors with the latest news, opinion and analysis of civil engineering projects worked on by UK construction contractors.

Thinking a STEP ahead on nuclear

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The hunt is on for a contractor to build a complex prototype nuclear fusion plant in Nottinghamshire One major strand in the Labour Party’s general election manifesto is its proposal to set up a publicly owned company called Great British Energy to invest in clean and renewable energy. In its…

Election 24: How the parties are vowing to help construction

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CN looks into the main parties’ manifestos as the UK general election approaches As the UK prepares to vote on 4 July, how have the main political parties’ manifestos approached the construction sector? Infrastructure The Conservative manifesto criticised “frivolous legal challenges” against big infrastructure schemes, after a five-year term in…

United Living diversifies after funding boost

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Contractor United Living is expanding further into the infrastructure market As construction firms face significant financial pressure, diversification is an attractive option to spread business risk. This is easier said than done, of course, and is arguably more achievable by large firms with a strong capital base. A case in…

Election 24: Industry leaders plead for a return to stability

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As Rishi Sunak was picking out his skinniest suit for his big election announcement last week, political podcasters Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell were sitting on a stage 200 miles away in front of a packed audience of built-environment professionals. During the session, at Leeds’ UK Real Estate Investment and…

Bam primed for energy opportunities

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Bam COO John Wilkinson talks to CN about how the firm is set to capitalise on the government’s recently announced £775bn infrastructure pipeline The government’s long-awaited February publication of a pipeline of UK infrastructure projects included £775bn of planned investment up to 2032/33, with the energy sector expected to receive…

Civils action: infrastructure pipelines remain strong

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Despite short-term uncertainty and the HS2 cutback, there is no shortage of infrastructure work in the pipeline In September, as speculation around HS2 mounted, the leaders of 21 businesses wrote to prime minister Rishi Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt, urging them to commit to the second phase of the megaproject,…

10 projects to watch in 2024

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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…

CN’s top 10 features of 2023: safety, finance and project reports

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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,…

Contractors can help the public sector get projects off the ground

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Rebecca Hartshorn is the national framework director at John Sisk & Son The UK could easily find itself in a period of tumultuous politics in the near future, but it’s vitally important that public sector projects are able to continue as normally as possible. The potential for a change of…

How to make the business case for government money

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Mark Collins is executive director at Bentley Project Management With a general election coming in the next year or so, and the third round of levelling-up funding on the horizon, it’s crunch time for a host of major regeneration projects looking to squeeze the last remaining funds from the current…