Articles by Date : June 02 2008 - June 08 2008

Director fined after subbie injured in fall
The director building firm has been fined after a subcontracted plasterer was badly injured when he fell 4m through a temporary timber handrail on.... more
(06 June 2008 16:14)

J Smart: Scotland buoyant - £8m profit on the cards
J Smart (Contractors) has issued a statement in advance of its annual results saying that short of any major surprise, there will be a profit of at.... more
(06 June 2008 16:00)

No more milking us for cash, subbies tell housebuilders
Subcontractors are hitting back at housebuilders who are squeezing their supply chains as the credit crunch bites. more
(06 June 2008 13:44)

Contractors urged to do a Sven
Infrastructure and PPP contractors are being urged to look at working in Mexico, where the government is planning to spend £250bn over the next five.... more
(06 June 2008 13:00)

Network Rail nets £1.2bn profit
Network Rail has posted a £1.2bn profit in its preliminary results for the year to 31 March 2008, up from £1bn in the previous year. more
(06 June 2008 12:07)

Daniel Contractors: turnover leaps to £240m
Daniel Contractors has continued to grow at a rapid rate of knots, the group’s latest £240m turnover being well ahead of the previous figure of £150m. more
(06 June 2008 12:00)

Crest Nicholson makes £70m pre-tax profit
Crest Nicholson, the housebuilder specialising in mixed-use communities, has made a £70m pre-tax profit. more
(06 June 2008 11:00)

MPs vote on power to veto infrastructure plans delayed
A vote to give ministers veto power on major planning applications has been delayed by two weeks. more
(06 June 2008 10:24)

Environmental concerns puts brakes on high speed rail upgrades
The government has ruled Britain will not get high speed rail upgrades or a dedicated new line between London and Scotland because of environmental.... more
(06 June 2008 10:18)

Bellway wields the axe - 250 to be made redundant
Housebuilder Bellway has confirmed that it is to make 250 of its employees redundant across the country, although none of its regional offices will.... more
(06 June 2008 10:15)

1000kg construction site bomb starts ticking
A massive World War Two bomb found by construction workers near the London Olympic site started ticking as the army tried to defuse it yesterday. more
(06 June 2008 09:38)

Wienerberger becomes latest to mothball factories
Wienerberger is to mothball two of its UK factories, with a loss of 80 jobs, as it becomes the latest brickmaker to scale back its operation as the.... more
(06 June 2008 09:29)

Unite Group unveils a £67m loss
Latest results from Unite Group, the UK’s largest operator of student accommodation, show a pre-tax loss of £67m. more
(06 June 2008 09:00)

Keepmoat reaches Considerate Constructors Scheme milestone
Keepmoat has become the first construction firm to register 1,000 sites with the Considerate Constructors Scheme, having signed up its first in July.... more
(05 June 2008 17:17)

Construction Industry Scheme - what you really need to know
The new Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) starts on 7 April 2007. But what do you really need to know? more
(05 June 2008 17:00)

Vp posts 39% rise in profit
Equipment rental firm Vp has unveiled a 39% rise in pre-tax profits to £20.2m, despite a downturn in the UK construction market. more
(05 June 2008 12:00)

OECD warns of major economic downturn
The British economy is headed for a major downswing that will see it grow even slower in 2009 than this year, the Organisation of Economic.... more
(05 June 2008 10:56)

1000s of wind farms to be built by 2014
Thousands of wind farms could be under construction in Britain within six years to meet government targets for renewable energy. more
(05 June 2008 10:44)

Top builders face emergency rights issues
Housebuilders could be forced into deeply discounted emergency rights issues before the end of the year, city analysts have warned. more
(05 June 2008 10:30)

SMEs make up 70% of Olympic work winners
SMEs have won more than two thirds (70%) of the £2bn-worth of Olympic contracts awarded so far, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has revealed. more
(05 June 2008 10:21)

Network Rail blasts funding settlement
Network Rail has hit out at proposed funding settlement from the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) which would force it to cut operating maintenance.... more
(05 June 2008 10:10)

Fairview Holdings unveils profit of £23m
Fairview, the housebuilder, made a pre-tax profit of £23m last year, representing a profit margin of 8.2%, down a tad on the previous year’s margin.... more
(05 June 2008 10:00)

Bellway: new figures show demand falling away
Bellway is the latest housebuilder to offer an insight into the dire state of the private residential market. more
(05 June 2008 10:00)

GSH Group to train more apprentices
GSH Group is stepping up its intake of heating and ventilation, service and maintenance engineers. more
(05 June 2008 09:00)

Balfour Beatty spends £60m on Californian acquisition
Balfour Beatty has spotted another bargain in America, spending £60m to snap up Barnhart, a construction management company based in California. more
(05 June 2008 09:00)

Kier announces departure of head of residential division
Kier has lost the head of its housing division. The group announced this morning that Michael O’Farrell’s has quit the post. He headed up Kier.... more
(05 June 2008 09:00)

Wall falls on Apprentice loser
A former contestant on this year's The Apprentice TV show has been hospitalised after a construction site wall fell on top of him. more
(04 June 2008 15:01)

Dawnus Construction doubles pre-tax profit to £1.7m
Dawnus, the Swansea-based contractor, has doubled its profits on the back of a 48% jump in turnover to £64m. more
(04 June 2008 15:00)

Construction unions and industrial relations: latest news
Latest news on industrial relations in the construction industry, including news from the big construction unions UCATT and Unite. more
(04 June 2008 14:19)

Spade Oak Construction makes 7.9% profit margin
Spade Oak, the asphalt surfacing contractor, has unveiled a sparkling profit margin of 7.9% as pre-tax profit lifted to £2.0m. more
(04 June 2008 14:00)

Builders and developers named in top 10 sexiest jobs
All their hard slog hefting heavy loads has paid off for builders, who have been named in the top 10 of sexiest professions. more
(04 June 2008 13:54)

Government fails its own sustainable procurement goals
The government has been accused of failing to meet its own sustainable procurement goals by putting cost before environmental concerns. more
(04 June 2008 12:32)

HBF fears 'unprecendented' slowdown to trigger economic crisis
The Home Builders Federation (HBF) has warned industry the “unprecedented” housing slowdown could trigger a dismal economic crisis. more
(04 June 2008 12:06)

Man killed in building collapse
A man has died following the collapse of a block of flats in West Bromwich. more
(04 June 2008 12:01)

ODA's CompeteFor system 'a waste of money'
The Olympic Delivery Authority's pre-qualification system is a "waste of our hard-earned taxpayers' money", a construction boss has claimed. more
(04 June 2008 11:37)

Online Green Guide to take over Europe
The BRE has plans to make its new online version of the Green Guide to Specification the most authoritative guide to environmental performance in.... more
(04 June 2008 11:20)

Ex McAlpine boss heading down under
Former Alfred McAlpine civils managing director Steve Smith is joining Australian giant Leighton Contractors. more
(04 June 2008 11:04)

Sale of Baggeridge Brick share keeps Michelmersh in the black
Michelmersh Brick Holdings has kept its head above water with an annual pre-tax profit of £254,000, thanks in large part to the sale of its.... more
(04 June 2008 11:00)

Tube Lines appoints new operations director
Tube Lines has appointed former Northern line boss Lee Jones as its new director of operations. more
(04 June 2008 10:40)

House of Lords to spend £100m on new offices
The House of Lords is planning to spend £100m on new offices opposite Parliament that will feature a wine cellar and art store. more
(04 June 2008 10:21)

ODA to spend £420m on Olympic village
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is set to plug a £420m gap to fund construction of the London 2012 Olympic village. more
(04 June 2008 10:12)

ConstructionSkills under fire for SmartCard delay
CSCS says heel-dragging has held up roll-out of the system. more
(04 June 2008 07:00)

Former Carillion employee who stole £750,000 of subbies' cash jailed
A former Carillion employee who bought a cruise, cars and gifts for her children with £750,000-worth of cash destined for subbies has been jailed for.... more
(04 June 2008 06:48)

National Construction Week bows out
The National Construction Week is being killed-off ten years after its launch to be replaced by a new "Construction Showcase" concept to attract new.... more
(04 June 2008 06:00)

Morgan Est buys Sennebogen 683 HD telescopic crawler crane
Morgan Est has become the first UK contractor to purchase a Sennebogen 683 HD telescopic crawler crane with twin winches and a high lift operator.... more
(04 June 2008 01:00)

Network Rail accuses TfL over Liverpool Street bridge fiasco
Investigation underway after bungled work on East London Line Extension results in 14-hour delays. more
(04 June 2008 00:00)

Dean and Dyball cleared on delay to Mitcham Eastfields station
Dean and Dyball is not being blamed over the delayed opening of Mitcham Eastfields station. more
(04 June 2008 00:00)

Imtech forced to 'guestimate' jobs as materials prices soar
Imtech Technical Services is having to "guestimate" copper and steel prices as the cost of commodities continues to soar. more
(04 June 2008 00:00)

T5: 300 electricians and plumbers still on the job
Army of M&E workers costing BAA more than £250k a week. more
(04 June 2008 00:00)

EDF moves into UK with Notts power station
A first venture into contracting in this country by the French EDF group at the £600m gas-fired West Burton power station is being seen as a possible.... more
(04 June 2008 00:00)