Skills

A neurodiverse workforce can ‘literally think differently’. And with construction's skills crisis set to be exacerbated by Brexit and the COVID-19 crisis, James Wilmore speaks to the experts who see a potential talent pool and opportunity for the industry to grasp

The fastest construction activity decline on record prompted swift action from contractors. This morning, Costain revealed details of its desperate search for investment as Morgan Sindall bolstered its pile of cash. Thousands of employees at the two companies have already been furloughed as part of coronavirus-related contingency measures. With the financial…

Leaders and managers at all levels now find themselves under pressure to take action in the most extraordinary circumstances, where even decades of experience may leave them feeling ill-equipped. To try to assist, editor Lem Bingley seeks insight from a trio of experts who have made leadership their vocation

Project: Springfield campus – School of Architecture and Built Environment Client: University of Wolverhampton Contractor: ISG Contract value: £26m Contract type: Pagabo Framework Architect: Associated Architects Start date: October 2018 Completion: May 2020 At an old brewery site in Wolverhampton, an excavator chugs across the rubble, raising its bucket to…

Mentoring has become a hot topic in the construction industry and it seems there isn’t an event that goes by where it isn’t mentioned. Some go so far as making it the theme of the event. But the question I’ve been considering lately is: what exactly is a mentor and…

Construction News gets a first-hand experience of how a new innovation has been designed to alleviate pain and stress while laying new roads

The government’s post-Brexit immigration proposals have earned mixed reviews from the construction sector. Interviewing Morgan Sindall chief executive John Morgan over the phone this morning, I could almost hear his shrugging shoulders when I broached the topic: “I don’t know how others feel, but we feel relatively relaxed about it,”…

The scaffolding sector has a robust training curriculum in place, but recent changes to the CITB and difficulty in attracting instructors means that access is limited

Media coverage of scaffolding in the past year has not tended to show the sector in a positive light. A structural collapse on a busy street and the hospitalisation of a Crossrail worker due to poorly erected scaffolding are just two example of stories that have not helped to boost the…

The UK construction industry is being crippled by a reputation crisis. From divisions over HS2 and continued concerns about Crossrail delivery, to a deepening productivity problem, construction and engineering is under constant scrutiny from media, policy makers and the wider public. The impact this perception of the industry is having…