News

A construction boss who “blatantly” abused a Covid-period financial support scheme has been hit with a 10-year director ban. Marcel Ion, a 39-year-old from Bromley in South London, now needs court consent to promote, form or manage a company until 1 May 2034, the Insolvency Service announced yesterday. In June…

A plant-hire trade body has criticised “stringent and inflexible” police enforcement of road embargo times, ahead of a guidance review next month. Plant-hire companies are avoiding certain areas for fear of harsh police enforcement, the Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) warned yesterday in a letter to transport secretary Mark Harper. Road…

Construction output fell in March for the second consecutive month, according to the latest official figures. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), released this morning, shows a 0.4 per cent fall in productivity across the sector, following a 1.9 per cent drop in February. “Anecdotal evidence received from…

TopHat managing director Andrew Shepherd is to leave the troubled modular housebuilder, it has emerged. The former Laing O’Rourke chief posted on professional networking site LinkedIn that he would be “moving on to a new challenge”. TopHat announced in February that it was consulting on up to 70 job cuts,…

Ringway Infrastructure Services has secured a second term as roads maintenance and response contractor in Milton Keynes. The company, part of Vinci subsidiary Eurovia UK, will continue delivering highways services in the Buckinghamshire city for at least another eight years. Ringway became Milton Keynes City Council’s service delivery partner in…

Graham is set to deliver a £60m redevelopment of one corner of the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground. The Northern Irish contractor was appointed by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) to transform the Tavern and Allen stands at the famous north London arena. The project will add more than 1,000 seats…

Northumbrian Water has added 33 firms including Esh Construction, Galliford Try and Keltbray to its growing army of suppliers to deliver £3.6bn of projects in the second half of this decade. The utility giant appointed the contractors (see box below for full list) across an 11-lot framework that will be…

Network Rail has named a raft of big-name contractors on a panel to deliver £3.5bn of infrastructure works in the East of England. The operating body appointed 15 firms including Morgan Sindall, Amey and Bam to its Eastern Routes Partnership (ERP). The framework will deliver key infrastructure improvement works throughout…

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…

Rolls-Royce has appointed Balfour Beatty as construction partner to double the size of an industrial complex used for key components of nuclear attack submarines. The aerospace and defence manufacturer selected the contractor to deliver expansion of its Raynesway site in Derby in line with increased demand from the Ministry of…