News

Altrad and Kaefer have landed places on a £180m deal at Sellafield. Sellafield Programme and Project Partners (PPP) has appointed the specialists to deliver access solutions, insulation and painting services on major projects at the nuclear decommissioning site. The framework is worth £90m to each of the companies over a…

Sir Robert McAlpine has been appointed on a preconstruction services agreement for a new £4bn battery cell manufacturing facility in Somerset. Client Agratas, part of Indian multinational Tata, today (22 July) named the contractor as its delivery partner for the first building on its site near Bridgwater. So-called Building One…

A bill to settle contractual or financial disputes faster will proceed under the new Labour government, after it took advice from the Law Commission. The Arbitration Bill will continue through parliament following the King’s Speech earlier this week. It was introduced to parliament by the previous Conservative government last November and…

The asbestos removal industry is finally making progress towards protecting female workers from predatory behaviour, campaigners have said. Asbestos analysts, whose job is to independently check the substance has been removed properly from buildings, have warned for years that industry and regulator policies are leaving them at risk of sexual…

Industry figures have called for clarity around product-marking regulations after the government signalled it may allow alignment with European standards to continue. This week’s King’s Speech, the first under Sir Keir Starmer's premiership, contained plans to bring forward a Product Safety and Metrology Bill. Background papers published after the speech…

Construction insolvencies are expected to remain high until the impact of the new government’s plans for homes and infrastructure is felt, commentators have said. New figures released today (19 July) show that construction remained the worst-hit sector for insolvencies in the year to May 2024, as in April. This was…

Graham has hailed its latest financial results as a “strong performance” after reporting almost identical revenue and profit figures to its previous year. The contractor’s turnover increased by 2.8 per cent to £1.13bn in the year to 31 March 2024, while its pre-tax profit slipped by £300,000 to £14.8m. Graham’s…

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…

Suppliers have said they are confident they can meet any extra demand for materials generated by the government’s ambition to increase housebuilding and infrastructure activity. Industry experts said there would not be an immediate increase in demand on supply chains but added that suppliers were ready to step up activity.…

Kier has more than doubled its net cash, it revealed in a trading update on Thursday morning (18 July). At the end of its latest financial year, for the 12 months to 30 June 2024, the contractor’s net cash hit £165m, up from £64m in 2023. The update continues the…