CNinsight - industry and company dataConstruction News
17 November 2011
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Affordable Homes contracts top £1bn
The Homes and Communities Agency has now signed contracts under the Affordable Homes Programme worth over £1 billion. -
Autumn Statement: Chancellor puts finishing touches to construction plan
The government is gearing up to make a raft of announcements it hopes will have a radical impact on the health of the construction industry. -
Autumn Statement: Doubt cast over pension backing for £50bn of infrastructure work
Government plans to use private sources of money such as pension funds to finance £50 billion of infrastructure development will only be successful if the public purse takes all the risk on investments, it has been claimed. -
Autumn Statement: Industry wishlist names 72 projects to ‘unlock’
The construction industry has submitted a list to the government of 72 projects worth tens of billions of pounds it would most like to see “unlocked”. -
Autumn Statement: Mortgage scheme could boost housing by 30pc
Government plans to introduce a guarantee for up to 100,000 new mortgages at up to 95 per cent of the property value could boost housing completions by 30 per cent, initial estimates suggest. -
Autumn Statement: Road and rail can provide economic and carbon wins
EC Harris head of transportation Mark Prior -
Babcock JV to lead £2.6bn clean up of Dounreay nuclear site
A joint venture led by Babcock has been selected as preferred bidder to demolish and clean up the Dounreay nuclear site in Scotland. -
BIM Blog: Transfer words into action
Loads of interesting topics came up at the Autodesk BIM 2011 conference (16 November), but there was something that stood out from the start. -
BIM helps Bam save on arena job
BIM helped Bam Construction to save £350,000 on the £60 million Leeds Arena, according to director Chris Gilmour. -
BIM to appear in tender documents in spring
Contractors will see BIM requirements in public sector tender notices from March 2012, with the Ministry of Justice likely to be the first government department to test a project. -
Budget hotels sector bucks the trend
Talk of the squeezed middle rings particularly true in the hotel sector. While the wealthy still have cash to spend on luxury hotels, business and leisure travellers have moved away from the mid-market (three to four-star) and into the budget sector. -
Cameron brightens gloomy Q3 outlook, says RICS
Construction workloads were flat in the third quarter of 2011 while expectations were gloomy before the government’s announcements on housing market support. -
CBI forecasts construction export growth
Construction has the greatest potential for export growth among the service sectors, a report from the CBI says. -
Chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander's address to the NHBC
Good afternoon, and thank you for inviting me to speak here today. It’s a pleasure to speak with so many people, from a variety of sectors, all of which critical to our housing market, and all of which vital to our economic recovery. -
Construction Parliamentary Update - 21 November 2011
A round-up of all the construction news from Westminster this week, brought to you by the Madano Partnership -
Contractors sought for £130 million new build framework
North West housing association collective, Procure Plus, has issued a tender notice for a £130 million new build framework. -
Crossrail names winners of £625m Farringdon and Whitechapel station works
Crossrail has confirmed the winners of the main construction contracts for Farringdon and Whitechapel stations, believed to be worth around £625 million. -
CSCS chief: ‘I can no longer work with chairman’
Brian Adams accuses Trevor Walker of ‘unacceptable behaviour’ and asks for ‘intermediary’ in dealings between the two. -
Download Contract Leads - 21 November 2011
Download the latest contract leads here -
Government promises £14bn Green Deal investment over 10 years
The government’s Green Deal will create around 65,000 insulation and construction jobs by 2015 and attract £14 billion investment in a decade, energy secretary Chris Huhne has said. -
Government to commit £200m to Green Deal incentives
Chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has said the Chancellor’s autumn statement next week will deliver a £200m incentive boost for take-up of the Green Deal. -
Gratte Brothers condemn “reckless” sparks protestors
Gratte Brothers has called on Unite and the Joint Industry Board to condemn a “violent” protest at its headquarters this morning regarding the proposed BESNA agreement. -
Green Deal: Industry certainty and SME support lacking
Questions remain over the government’s long-term commitment to the Green Deal and support of SME builders, despite the launch of the long-awaited government consultation. -
Hats and shovels at the ready
It was great to start the week seeing David Cameron and Nick Clegg on a construction site. Hats off to them. -
Highways Agency review says five-year spending plan and wide-ranging reform needed
The government has been urged to create a new, independent board to oversee new five-year work pipelines and cost efficiencies of £200 million each year for the UK’s strategic roads. -
HMRC arrests 16 in £4.3m building VAT fraud probe
Sixteen people were arrested in dawn raids on Thursday as part of an investigation into a suspected £4.3 million construction VAT fraud. -
Homeserve sales up by 25pc
Repairs specialist Homeserve saw revenue increase by 25 per cent in the six months to 30 September. -
Housing strategy contains no figures on new right to buy
The government’s housing strategy contains no figures on the number of new homes that will be built to replace those sold under proposed changes to social housing tenants’ right to buy. -
Housing Strategy: Headline proposals feel 'short term'
EC Harris head of strategic research Simon Rawlinson -
Housing strategy: Lack of SME support criticised, £400m fund welcomed
The industry has offered the government’s housing strategy a mixed reception, welcoming a £400m Get Britain Building scheme, but criticising a lack of detail and support for SMEs. -
Infrastracture boosts project starts
Construction project starts increased 6 per cent year-on-year for the three months to October due to 79 per cent growth in infrastructure and utilities project starts, the latest Glenigan Index shows. -
Johnson to launch HGV probe after seven cyclist deaths
Mayor of London Boris Johnson is launching a probe into the operation of heavy goods vehicles by the construction industry as part of a road safety campaign. -
Kier to cut 50 jobs in Sheffield
Kier is planning to cut 50 jobs at the repairs and maintenance division it runs in partnership with Sheffield City Council. -
LEPs take early lead on regional regeneration
In October last year the government introduced Local Enterprise Partnerships to loud sighs of disappointment. The new bodies, which replaced the well-funded Regional Development Agencies, appeared to have little or no power and even less money. -
London Underground seeks contractors for £500m Bank station upgrade
London Underground has issued a tender notice looking for firms to offer “innovative ideas” in a £500 million revamp of Bank station in the City of London. -
Long road to recovery for health sector
The six firms sharing a slice of the £640 million of work under the ProCure21+ framework this year have reaped awards from virtually the only show in town. -
Majority of City offices owned by foreign investors
Foreign investors now own more than half of all offices in the City of London, according to a new report by Development Securities. -
Mayor invests £23m in riot-hit Croydon
Boris Johnson has confirmed plans to invest £23 million in the regeneration of riot-hit Croydon. -
Miller wins Middlesbrough College contract
Middlesbrough College has appointed Miller Construction to build a new £6.8 million sixth form college. -
Mortgage guarantees at heart of housing plan
Prime Minister David Cameron will today announce plans to underwrite mortgages for new-build homes in a bid to boost the ailing housing market. -
Mortgage guarantees attract flood of interest for Barratt
More than a hundred people signed up to take advantage of a new 95 per cent mortgage product via Barratt Development’s website within hours of the government housing strategy being published. -
Network Rail on course to make ambitious savings as investment rises
Network Rail intensified its capital programme in the first six months of 2011, increasing works by 20 per cent to £2 billion compared with the same period last year. -
New Zealand seeks UK builders
New Zealand is reaching out to British construction workers to rebuild its shattered infrastructure after February’s earthquake. -
Outsourcing boom boosts Mitie
A succession of large “transformational contract” wins have helped Mitie grow its turnover by nearly 6 per cent. -
Planning begins for £30m Aberdeen business park
A £30 million extension to an Aberdeen business park looks set to progress after a pre-planning application for a 20-acre site was submitted. -
Procure Plus chief: Greater need for SME support in housing strategy
Laying the Foundations: A Housing Strategy for England goes some way in addressing the challenges faced by both the private and social housing markets, writes Procure Plus chief executive Mike Brogan. -
Renew sales rise 23pc as engineering shift pays off
Renew saw revenue climb by 23 per cent in the six months to 30 September as its shift to engineering services paid off. -
Search for the new priority schools chief begins
The Department for Education has begun its search for a head of the schools capital programme to oversee a budget of £4.5 billion in 2012. -
Shepherd's profits climb
Shepherd Group made a pre-tax profit of £31.5 million in the year to July 2011, almost doubling the total for the previous year. -
Solar campaigners march on Westminster to get FiTs answers
Solar campaigners have been demonstrating against Feed-in Tarrif cuts in Westminster today ahead of a meeting with MPs. -
The government must sweep away the barriers to recovery
Ever since it came to power, the government has focused its efforts on achieving economic growth. -
The reasons behind our CRC league table success
Midland Quarry Products managing director Simon Willis -
UCL proposes new campus in Olympic regen scheme
University College London and the London Borough of Newham are looking into creating a new campus for UCL as part of the Olympic regeneration plans for Newham. -
UK faces economic paralysis without Thames airport, Johnson claims
The nation faces “increasing economic paralysis” unless a new hub airport is built in the south east of England, Boris Johnson has warned. -
Vinci wins £46m Tesco West Brom complex
Vinci has won a £46 million contract to build a new retail and leisure development in the centre of West Bromwich for Tesco. -
We will restart the housing market and get the nation building again
Prime Minister David Cameron’s speech to the CBI’s 2011 annual conference -
Welsh Assembly £90 million infrastructure boost
The Welsh Assembly has committed almost £90 million to infrastructure projects over the next three years. -
What does the CRC league table mean for the construction industry?
WSP environment and energy consultant James Patterson -
Why I'm taking the solar fight to government
Consulting engineering firm Encraft’s managing director Matthew Rhodes -
Willmott Dixon wins £33m Redcar leisure facility
Willmott Dixon will begin construction of a £33m leisure, business support and community facility in Redcar early next year after it was chosen to build the project under the Scape framework. -
York uni needs contractor for £100m expansion
The University of York is looking for a contractor for a potential £100 million expansion of its campus.
