Costain

Costain has appointed a navy veteran to lead its newly combined defence and nuclear business. Bob Anstey, who had a 36-year career in the Royal Navy, will head up the division. Anstey’s long career in the armed forces led to him being awarded an OBE in 2020. Costain managing director…

The planned upgrade of a key section of the A66 has been deemed “poor value for money” by the Department for Transport (DfT) due to spiralling costs. The scheme to complete the dualling of the Northern Trans-Pennine route between the A1(M) at Scotch Corner and the M6 at Penrith is…

HS2’s decision to use a government electricity framework has cut the price it pays for energy by approximately 10 per cent. The multimillion-pound high-speed rail project opted to use a government framework to buy in the electricity it needs to power machinery used on phase one of the build, which…

Abida Lalani has been appointed to Costain's executive board, which now has a female majority. Lalani takes up the role of strategy and transformation director and started her new position earlier this month. It will see her focus on accelerating the implementation of the group's strategy across its four markets…

The government should appoint an infrastructure secretary to ensure stronger leadership on nationally significant projects across the UK, Costain’s chief executive has suggested. Speaking to Construction News, Alex Vaughan said a dedicated senior minister in the role would help to “join up” different government departments working on large-scale schemes. Vaughan…

Four big-name contractors have been appointed to a £1.3bn project to upgrade a key section of road in northern England. Balfour Beatty, Costain, Kier and Keltbray have signed an agreement to deliver the A66 Northern Trans-Pennine project. The deal will see the firms work together to dual remaining single-carriageway sections…

HS2 has fired up its first giant tunnel boring machine (TBM) in London. The 2,000-tonne piece of equipment, known as Sushila, was launched in Hillingdon on 6 October and will bore five miles towards Greenford in west London. Sushila will work on a 24-hour basis for the next 22 months,…

Costain and Mott MacDonald have been awarded a role on the £1.7bn A303 Stonehenge Tunnel scheme by National Highways. Plans for the A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down scheme would see a 3.2km tunnel built under the World Heritage Site, 50m away from the current route of the A303. National Highways…

Costain has named a Conservative peer as its new chair. Baroness Kate Rock will replace Paul Golby as chair on 1 December, after the group announced his intention to step down in March this year. Since 2020, Baroness Rock has occupied the role of senior independent director at geotechnical specialist…

Major contractors have a duty to support smaller firms to stop them going out of business, Costain’s chief executive has said. Speaking to Construction News after the publication of the group’s half-year results for the year ended 30 June 2022, Alex Vaughan said he was concerned for smaller suppliers navigating…