Construction News
12 July 2012
View all stories from this issue.
-
£200m-£300m MoD contract up for grabs
The Ministry of Defence is seeking a contractor or joint venture for £200m-£300m worth of developments on two sites in Surrey in Hampshire. -
£4.2bn "rail revolution" announced
The government has announced a “rail revolution”, with a £4.2bn investment in Britain’s rail network today, focused on the North of England, Wales and the Midlands. -
£50m highways deal on offer
A highways and environmental services contract worth up to £50m is to be let in Kent. -
A14 improvement go-ahead after two years
A shortened version of the original A14 upgrade has been approved by ministers. -
Accommodating for success
George Downing Construction is defying the downturn with its focus on student accommodation -
Airbus contract wins for Miller
Miller Construction has won work worth £37m from aircraft manufacturer Airbus at Filton, near Bristol. -
Aussie gas job for Laing O'Rourke
Laing O’Rourke has won a massive gas processing contract in Australia. -
Australia hospital job for Lend Lease
Lend Lease is to build a 738-bed hospital in Australia’s Sunshine Coast. -
Balfour Beatty in London roads win
Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering has won an £11m TfL contract. -
Balfour Beatty wins £23m rail and road contracts
Balfour Beatty has won work in Scotland worth up to £23m. -
Barking supermarket gets go-ahead
Bouygues Development has gained planning permission for a major redevelopment in Barking, east London. -
Bidder chosen to convert Olympic media centres
First neighbourhood developer to be named while four in the running for Olympic Stadium. -
Billions set to flow into infrastructure
Contractors have welcomed a £31 billion boost to two major UK growth markets - in the same week the government announced it would use its balance sheet to guarantee up to £40bn of infrastructure projects. -
Billions tomorrow – but what about today?
Ofgem’s commitment to a £22 billion pipeline in UK infrastructure upgrades this week was welcome, given the confusion currently surrounding private investment. -
Birmingham A452 tenders sought
Birmingham City Council is looking for contractor to design and build a road scheme worth up to £9m. -
Bridge to make way for Primark
Developers plan a £40m extension to Milton Keynes’ listed shopping centre. -
Carillion, Balfour and Costain welcome government infra guarantees
Leading infrastructure contractors Costain, Balfour Beatty and Carillion have welcomed the government plans to guarantee £40 billion worth of infrastructure projects. -
Clegg signals help for stalled social housing
Stalled housing association new build schemes could be unlocked with government help. -
CPA downgrades construction forecasts as growth stalled until 2014
Construction output is set for a 5.8 per cent decline over 2012 and 2013, according to the latest forecasts from the Construction Products Association. -
DECC to reduce pre-construction risk through FiTs
The Department of Energy and Climate Change will offer Feed-in Tariff guarantees before construction, to installers of wind and PV introducing through a preliminary accreditation system. -
Download Contract Leads – 16 July 2012
Download the latest contract leads here -
Download Contract Leads - 23 July 2012
Download the latest contract leads here. -
Energy mandarin quits amid FiTs furore
The permanent secretary to the Department for Energy and Climate Change has resigned amid rumours of fierce skirmishes with the treasury. -
Experts doubt projects ready for Osborne's 'guarantee'
Pipeline of ‘shovel ready’ schemes in doubt. -
Finance queries stalled housing guarantee
A series of complex financial issues are understood to lie behind the dropping of last week’s expected announcement on government guarantees for financing social housing construction. -
First eco-town project gets green light
The NW Bicester project’s first phase has been given the go-ahead. -
Geography job in Leeds
The University of Leeds has a £9.5m job on offer to relocate its geography department. -
Go-ahead for Peabody £120m Clapham deal
Social landlord Peabody has gained planning permission for 639 homes in west London. -
Government launches guarantees to kick-start £40bn of infrastructure projects
The government will use its balance sheet to guarantee up to £40 billion worth of projects from the 500 schemes in the National Infrastructure Plan, providing the industry with the kick-start it has been calling for. -
Greater visibility of investment will help us meet demand
For an industry that is facing an uncertain outlook for workload, energy regulator Ofgem’s announcement that £22 billion will be spent upgrading the country’s power networks may have provided a crumb of comfort. -
HS2 and Heathrow fight political battle
Construction of the High Speed 2 rail line would mean £32 billion-worth of work, while adding a third runway at Heathrow would generate an additional £9bn. -
Hyde to seek maintenance bids
Hyde Housing Association is set to procure up to £55 million a year of work. -
Industry insolvencies down, says Experian
The rate of construction industry insolvencies fell over the past year, credit data firm Experian has said. -
IUK calls for water investment overhaul and rolling work pipeline
Thousands of jobs and billions of pounds could be saved if the water industry follows a set of recommendations to address the stop-start cycle of investment, Infrastructure UK claimed today. -
Kier Homes joins New Buy
Housebuilder Kier Homes has joined the New Buy mortgage guarantee scheme. -
Labour flirts with rail nationalisation
Shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle today hinted that a Labour government would consider re-nationalising the railways. -
Legal action threat over Cyntra collapse
Aggrieved industry creditors may take legal action and call in the National Audit Office over the collapse of a major social housing procurement framework. -
London focus boosts Ardmore turnover by one-third
Ardmore Construction grew turnover by one-third in its 2011 financial year after focussing on projects in central London. -
Mace reports rise in revenue and profits in 2011
Shard and Olympics contractor Mace saw a rise in revenue and pre-tax profit in 2011. -
Mace to hit £1 billion turnover by end of 2012
Mace is set to hit a £1 billion turnover by the end of the 2012 calendar year, it said today. -
Major firms hit by supply chain fraud
The UK’s top construction firms are losing more than £800 million every year to supply chain fraud, it was claimed this week. -
Manchester highways frameworks offered
Councils in and around Greater Manchester are letting four framework contracts for highways works. -
Medical sale for Morgan Sindall as £23.9m raised
Morgan Sindall Group has raised £23.9m to invest in new projects by selling various medical interests. -
Miller in double student win
Miller Construction has won contracts to build student accommodation in York and Birmingham. -
Network Rail bosses pocket £900,000 in 'golden handcuffs'
Three directors at taxpayer-backed Network Rail are to be awarded £300,000 each in one-off retention payments, despite one director failing to meet his targets. -
Northants housing win for Apollo
Keepmoat’s Apollo operation has won a repairs and maintenance contract worth up to £56m over 10 years. -
Now is the time 'to be bolder', says Morgan Sindall MD
Morgan Sindall’s managing director Graham Shennan has welcomed a £31 billion boost to two major UK growth markets - and said now is the time for the country to be bolder about how it tackles UK infrastructure. -
Nuclear deals "behind closed doors" could damage low-carbon plans
Perceptions that decisions on nuclear contracts for difference are being made “behind closed doors” could be “hugely damaging” to the UK’s low-carbon plans, according to a new report. -
ODA chief defends Olympic construction marketing ban
The chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority said the restriction on firms publicising their involvement in the games’ construction work is “not the straitjacket it sometimes is portrayed to be”. -
Ofgem reveals £22bn infrastructure investment plan
Proposals by gas and electricity regulator ‘could create around 7,000 jobs, mainly in the construction supply chain’. -
Plan proposed as infrastructure reform push builds momentum
An industry-led plan to reform the way UK infrastructure is built is under way after a meeting of the UK’s biggest clients, contractors and government officials. -
Project called "a disaster waiting to happen" provides contractor guidance
Two complex questions have been clarified for contractors in a colourful dispute over a project called “a disaster waiting to happen” by a judge. -
RJ McLeod wins £8.5m Scottish contract
RJ McLeod has won an £8.5m contract as part of ‘Helix’, a £41m transformation of central Scotland, aimed at turning 100 acres between Falkirk and Grangemouth into a parkland, lagoon and events space with two 30-meter high horse’s heads. -
Roofers offered 10 years in Parliament
The houses of lords and commons are looking for a £60m new roof. -
Sellafield seeks firms for waste plant
Contractors interested in a £1.2bn nuclear project have been asked to attend an industry day at Sellafield next month. -
SFT to release subcontractor bidder data
The Scottish Futures Trust will release subcontractor data for successful and unsuccessful bidders for its construction projects next year for the first time. -
Shopfitting saved as Chorley firm enters administration
A 65-year-old contracting firm in Chorley has gone into administration. -
Six vie for 2012 RIBA Stirling Prize
The Olympic Stadium and Belfast’s Lyric Theatre are among six shortlisted projects for this year’s 2012 RIBA Stirling Prize. -
Skanska UK profits up despite fall in revenue
Skanska UK saw a 9.2 per cent increase in operating profit in the first six months of 2012, despite a 15.6 per cent fall in revenue, it said today. -
Solar installations plummet by more than half
Photovoltaic installations since the last round of cuts to Feed-in Tariffs have declined by more than 50 per cent, CN analysis shows. -
Team sought for military museum
The National Army Museum is seeking a design and build team to redevelop its Chelsea premises. -
Third of SMEs are cutting jobs
The Federation of Master Builders has released a survey which has found that over a third of small and medium-sized firms are making employment cuts. -
Treasury says 230 projects could be 'unlocked' through guarantees
The Treasury is estimating that more than 230 projects could be ‘unlocked’ through its UK Guarantees scheme in the next three years, it told CN today. -
Trio recruited as Aecom 'bucks trend'
Three new directors have joined construction and property consultant Aecom’s European cost and project management group. -
UK displaced in Turner & Townsend growth
Consultancy Turner & Townsend has seen its revenue and pre-tax profit soar in an “exceptional” year. -
UK gets offshore wind boost through Dong, Siemens deal
Dong Energy and Siemens Energy have signed an agreement that will see 300 offshore wind turbines of 6MW each installed at Dong offshore wind farms between 2014 and 2017.




