Articles by Date : February 02 2004 - February 08 2004

Scottish training council helps boost skills levels
Ongoing demands for more and more skilled craftsmen has seen a record number of apprentices come through the Scottish Building Apprenticeship and.... more
(06 February 2004 16:13)

Variation instructions
The South Holland Centre in Spalding, Lincolnshire, is a theatre and arts centre that puts on more than 100 shows a year, ranging from dance and jazz.... more
(06 February 2004 16:12)

Ashtead Group remains positive about the future
The Ashtead Group has reported a turnover for the six months to 31 October 2003 of £269.4m - down from £292.2m for the same period a year ago. more
(06 February 2004 16:11)

Genie launches TZ-50 trailer-mounted boom
Genie has launched a new trailer-mounted articulating boom, the TZ-50. more
(06 February 2004 16:09)

HSS is ready to 'set the pace' in tool hire
HSS is promising to "set the pace" in the tool hire market now it is an independent company (CJ 9 January). more
(06 February 2004 16:09)

Appeal court to rule on holiday pay decision
The Court of Appeal in London is due to issue a new ruling later this month on the legality of holiday pay being included as part of an inclusive or.... more
(06 February 2004 16:07)

Three vie for MoD Falklands deal
AWG is hoping to knock Interserve and Turner FM off their perches in a three-way contest for a £10m Ministry of Defence (MoD) deal. more
(06 February 2004 16:07)

Germany delays CE marking
The Construction Products Association has asked the government to investigate the result of a ballot held by the European Commission over delaying.... more
(06 February 2004 16:06)

£41m York Barbican job up for grabs
At least two contractors will share the spoils of a £41m scheme to redevelop the Barbican site in York. more
(06 February 2004 16:05)

Mowlem wins £17.3m Sheffield museum job
Mowlem is in the picture for a £17.3m deal from the Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust. more
(06 February 2004 16:04)

£75m pre-tax profit at Crest Nicholson
Crest Nicholson's operating margin of 15.9% puts the residential and mixed-use development company in the mid-performance band, according to John.... more
(06 February 2004 16:04)

Quarry body critical of CPRE's scaremongering
The Quarry Products Assoc-iation (QPA) has hit back at the Campaign to Protect Rural England's (CPRE) accusations that the industry is about to.... more
(06 February 2004 16:03)

HA's 'internal issues' will delay road deals
Contractors are becoming increasingly twitchy as the Highways Agency (HA) sits on more than £120m worth of work while it sorts out "internal issues".... more
(06 February 2004 16:02)

David Webster restructures
David Webster Group, the independent lighting specialist with an annual turnover of £56m, has restructured its businesses. more
(06 February 2004 16:02)

Regional lure brings Neall back to Jackson
Richard Neall is back in the hot seat at Jackson Civil Engineering. He has again taken over the reins as managing director, a post he held 15 months.... more
(06 February 2004 16:01)

DTI considers 450 job losses
The Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) has revealed that up to 650 staff could be relocated out of London and into the regions, and 450 staff made.... more
(06 February 2004 16:00)

Newcastle scales down highways job
Newcastle City Council has cut the highways partnering deal it first advertised 12 months ago by 90%. more
(06 February 2004 15:59)

Dew instigates new drugs test
Dew Pitchmastic has invested in a new drugs test to enforce its health and safety policies on site. more
(06 February 2004 15:59)

Carillion's £100m road project win
Carillion has beaten off five rivals, including an in-house contracting team, to take a highways maintenance deal worth nearly £100m in the.... more
(06 February 2004 15:58)

Mouchel wins three contracts worth £74m
Consultant Mouchel Parkman has bagged three deals, worth £74m in total. more
(06 February 2004 15:57)

Bath Spa painter says 'told you so'
Painting subcontractor EJ Manning has dived into the Bath Spa dispute with the damning claim that it told all parties the paint to be used in the.... more
(06 February 2004 15:57)

Carillion goes to court alone
A £30m magistrates' courts scheme in Bedfordshire is still in the melting pot - three years after three groups first pitched for the deal. more
(06 February 2004 15:56)

EA fined £170,000 after driver drowned
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has warned contractors to carry out proper planning and precautions before undertaking work near water. more
(06 February 2004 15:56)

Tube Lines ready to train
Tube Lines is to build a £7.5m training centre to tackle the severe shortage of specialist signalling engineers on London Underground. more
(06 February 2004 15:55)

Kier buys Lincolnshire housebuilder for £15m
Kier has bought Tudor Homes, a regional housebuilder operating mainly in south Lincolnshire for £15m. more
(06 February 2004 15:54)

Interserve offloads troubled Liverpool job to Enterprise
Interserve has finally completed the novation of its strike-hit contract for the repair and maintenance of Liverpool City Council's 21,000 council.... more
(06 February 2004 15:52)

Thames seeks £1bn extra for water mains
Contractors bidding for AMP 4 water contracts with Thames Water (TW) can expect an increase in workload of around £1bn over five years. more
(06 February 2004 15:51)

Staff to vote over HSE strike
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) is confident its staff will not strike as the row over pay rises continues. more
(06 February 2004 15:50)

Sale of Omnico clears way for Haymills MBO
The management buy-out (MBO) of Haymills Contracting is back on track thanks to last week's sale of Omnico, its builders' merchant subsidiary, and.... more
(06 February 2004 15:50)

Home buyers put quality of construction and finish first
New home buyers rate quality of construction and finish among the most important criteria when buying a home, closely followed by use of internal.... more
(06 February 2004 15:49)

Crane and Egan clash over use of e-auctions
Sir John Egan's public support of reverse auctions has been labelled as "flawed" by Rethinking Construction's chairman Alan Crane. more
(06 February 2004 15:49)

High demand set to expand NFB's partnering scheme
The National Federation of Builders (NFB) plans to establish its Construction Accredited Partner Scheme (CAPs) as a separate trading company with.... more
(06 February 2004 15:48)

Analysts urge Jarvis to change its name
Jarvis' financial and image problems mean the group "must change its name", according to analysts this week. more
(06 February 2004 15:47)

Third PFI social housing tranche attracts 19 bids
The third tranche of privately financed social housing schemes has got off to a strong start with 19 bids from councils vying for a slice of the.... more
(06 February 2004 15:47)

Bond issue for £2bn Colchester Barracks PFI
The delayed £2bn Colchester Barracks PFI scheme is expected to secure a bond issue this week, allowing the deal to reach financial close in around.... more
(06 February 2004 15:46)

Midlands hospital PFIs to be batched
The £300m Wolverhampton Hospitals scheme and the £117m Walsall Hospital PFI project are about to be batched, according to sources close to both of.... more
(06 February 2004 15:46)

Fairbriar staff are transferred
Fairbriar, the residential property developer, has made a loss of £750,000 (profit in the previous year was £3m) as group turnover dived to just £5m.... more
(06 February 2004 15:45)

Trading policy pays off
Build costs at Crest Nicholson have risen by 6% in the past year - with subcontract labour rates moving ahead as a result of the shortage of skilled.... more
(06 February 2004 15:44)

Spa-ing partners lose on points
The row between Bath & North East Somerset Council and Mowlem about substandard paint at Bath Spa rivals the vitriolic disagreement between the.... more
(06 February 2004 15:44)

Corus restarts sale of aluminium arm
Corus is preparing to restart the sale of its aluminium business, a disposal that was derailed last year by its Dutch workers' council. more
(06 February 2004 15:21)

Willmott Dixon secures £12.5m hospitals deal
Willmott Dixon has secured its second key-worker accommodation project for Thames Valley Housing Association with a £12.5m contract for 295 staff at.... more
(06 February 2004 15:04)

Kier subsidiary wins £5m Waitrose contract
Moss Construction, part of Kier Regional, has been awarded a near £5m project by Waitrose, the food retailing arm of the John Lewis Partnership. more
(06 February 2004 14:51)

Alfred McAlpine snaps up UK Power for £5.2m
Alfred McAlpine has completed the £5.2m purchase of UK Power Construction, an electrical services business specialising in the overhead lines.... more
(06 February 2004 14:17)

May Gurney gets £90m boost
May Gurney has picked up two contracts with Waste Recycling Group and Network Rail worth £90m in total. more
(06 February 2004 13:46)

CAP Aluminium wins £5m worth of contracts
CAP Aluminium, the UK's leading architectural glazing fabricator and installer, has won contracts in London worth more than £5m. more
(06 February 2004 13:00)

Kendall Machinery confirms place at SED 2004
Kendall Machinery UK Ltd has secured its position in the Site Equipment Zone at SED 2004. more
(06 February 2004 12:11)

Sutton quits Jarvis
Andrew Sutton has resigned from his post of chief executive of Jarvis' Accommodation Services division. more
(06 February 2004 10:13)

Amey's Sutherland moves to Lend Lease
Dougie Sutherland, managing director of Amey Ventures, is leaving Amey to head up Lend Lease's European PFI healthcare business. more
(05 February 2004 17:58)

Building Schools chief steps down
Robert Osbourne has resigned as acting chief executive of Partnerships for Schools (PfS), which oversees the government's £5.1bn Building Schools for.... more
(05 February 2004 12:51)

MoD eastern prime draws 'impressive' turnout
Defence Estates (DE) was impressed by the turnout at its industry day for the last of its regional prime contracts (RPC) worth more than £400m. more
(05 February 2004 11:06)