Articles by Date : January 08 2007 - January 14 2007

Balfour Beatty's forward orderbook 20% higher at £9bn
Balfour Beatty’s forward orderbook has climbed to £9bn. The figure is 20% higher than it was 12 months ago. more
(12 January 2007 16:00)

Skanska scoops £64m Crown Place office contract
Skanska has scooped a £64m deal to build an office complex at Crown Place in London for developer Greycoat Crown Place Partnership. more
(12 January 2007 09:59)

Sales through the roof at SIG
SIG, the supplier of insulation, roofing, and interior products, has announced record sales and profits for 2006. In a trading statement the firm.... more
(11 January 2007 16:11)

Norwest Holst confirms Stradform acquisition
Norwest Holst has confirmed that it has acquired Cardiff-based contractor Fifehead, the holding company of Stradform for an undisclosed sum. more
(11 January 2007 14:10)

Brown & Mason's turnover climbs to £20m
Brown & Mason, the demolition contractor, has made a pre-tax profit of £640,000 (£690,000). more
(11 January 2007 14:00)

Consortium reaches financial close on £76m schools PPP
A consortium comprising of Cyril Sweett, Carillion & HBOS has reached financial close on the 30-year, £76m South Ayrshire PPP schools scheme. more
(11 January 2007 11:30)

New orders to November hold steady
New construction orders were worth £11.1bn in the three months to November, representing a 2% increase compared with the same period a year ago. more
(11 January 2007 10:30)

MBO at asbestos removal specialist Shield Environmental Services
Julian House has led a management buy-out of Shield Environmental Services, the asbestos removal specialist based in Bristol. more
(11 January 2007 10:00)

Interserve's 2006 performance trimmed by £11m hit
Interserve has announced that while it traded strongly during 2006, the year’s financial results have been hampered by exceptional items – with the.... more
(11 January 2007 10:00)

Diment appointed FMB director general
Richard Diment has been appointed director general of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). more
(11 January 2007 09:29)

Mansell wins £41.5m eco-homes scheme
Mansell has sealed a £41.5m, four year contract with Metropolitan Housing Partnership project to design and construct 345 environmentally-friendly.... more
(10 January 2007 16:00)

Taywood confident despite US housing problems
Taylor Woodrow says that its 2006 financial results are at the “top end of expectations, after making a provision against our North America land.... more
(10 January 2007 09:00)

Tough market may mean poor service
Industry analyst warns that customer service may suffer in 2007. more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Five hit with fines over death fall
A Manchester demolition contractor was among five parties ordered to pay a total fine of £87,000 and £57,228 costs, following the death of an.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Constructing Better Health plans for national roll-out
Constructing Better Health (CBH), the industry-backed occupational health initiative, has set out its plans for how a national roll-out will be.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Pihl & Son nets Danish first with schools win
Contractor wins £110m Aberdeen PPP deal and closes in on Liverpool museum job. Pihl & Son has become the first Danish contractor to chalk up.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

NR to streamline rail renewals operation
As part of a £150m cost-saving move, Network Rail will reduce renewals firms to four. Network Rail (NR) is risking contractor apathy, say rail.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Cleveland Bridge gets green light to appeal over Wembley Stadium
Cleveland Bridge has been given the go-ahead to appeal in its multi-million pound legal battle over the new £757m Wembley Stadium more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Spillard supplies rear-view safety
Spillard Safety Systems has supplied removable rear-view systems for the excavators and telehandlers at Friel Construction. more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Thwaites rolls out 10t Alldrive forward tipper
Dumper specialist Thwaites has introduced production versions of its 10t Alldrive forward-tip machine. more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Government accused of logging 'greenwash'
Environmental groups slam government for approving 'unsustainable' timber products. more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

10 big issues construction will face in 2007 (News analysis)
If you thought 2006 was bad for red tape, there's plenty more on the way this year. Will Mann sifts through the worst of it. Topics include: new CIS,.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Vandalism threatens site workers' safety
Housing developer Britannia Developments says saboteurs are putting workers' lives at risk by tampering with machinery on a building site in.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

News in brief: 10 January 2007 (p3)
News on… Henry Boot, Family Mosaic Housing, The Scottish Executive, Craven District Council, The Highways Agency, Dale & Valley Homes, Lafarge and.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Five bid for Olympic power station
Five firms are set to pick up the tender paperwork for the design and build of a key 132/11kv electrical substation within the Olympic Park planned.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Milton Keynes scaffold death inquest reopens
An inquest into the death of worker John Robinson following the Milton Keynes scaffolding collapse last April is due to reopen on 22 January and will.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

News in brief: 10 January 2007 (p4)
With sories on… ISG Jackson, Linpave Building, Rosser & Russell Building Services, Local authority construction workers, Crispin & Borst, British.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Material concerns for homes code
While welcoming the principles of the new Code for Sustainable Homes, the Construction Products Association has expressed disappointment that it does.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Three in line for £200m Scottish PPP roads deal
Three groups are gearing up to pitch for a £200m PPP roads deal north of the border. Transport Scotland's project to upgrade the M80, one of the.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Four firms plug into £2bn EDF Energy revamp work
Four outfits are to take a share of the first phase of more than £2bn-worth of network revamp schemes being rolled out by EDF Energy. more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Gleeson chief earns permanent status
Stand-in chief executive Wallwork impresses board with £87m reduction of debt. more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Cemex fails in carbon emissions challenge
Cemex UK has failed in a High Court challenge to meet a limit imposed by the government on its carbon dioxide emissions and the way the government.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Laggers urged to accept employers' 21% pay deal
Laggers in the thermal insulation contracting sector are voting again this month on a proposed three-year pay deal, worth a total of 21%, after.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

NSCC welcomes new Fair Payment Charter
The National Specialist Contr-actors' Council (NSCC) has welcomed new best practice, to be adopted by public-sector clients, that recommends payment.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Cape's good hope for Interserve fades
Interserve has confirmed that rival contractor Cape made a move for its industrial services division - but nothing came of it and Cape is apparently.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Gleeson bags Leeds mixed-use deal
Gleeson Building has taken a £17.2m deal for a mixed-use development in Leeds. more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

SMEs get set for Olympic race
The Chartered Institute of Building and the South East Centre for the Built Environment are running a training programme, Bidding for Gold, to help.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Confusion over CSCS card enforcement
There was confusion this week over how effective the Major Contractors Group (MCG) has been in enforcing the use of valid CSCS cards, as up to 12,000.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Wainhomes brought back down to earth by council
A luxury housing development is set to be bulldozed after it was built 5ft higher than permitted. more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Streetlighting procurement revamp
The government's £694m privately financed (PFI) streetlighting programme is to test drive a new form of procurement, which, if it proves successful,.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

£750m invested in local hospitals
Government's new Community Venture model set to deliver 20 community hospitals. more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Editor's comment: What we want for 2007
Welcome back, and a happy new year from everyone at Contract Journal and contractjournal.com. New year is the traditional time to produce some.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Lost planning appeal spells trouble for NCC
National Construction College could be forced to scale down following local council's rejection of plans. more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Concrete stands firm over cost model study
With reference to Derek Tordoff's questioning of the use of short spans for cost model studies of commercial buildings (CJ 6 December), more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Construction recognised in New Year honours
Stef Stefanou, chairman of John Doyle Group, and Peter Rogers, Stanhope director, were among the construction industry-related players to be.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Letter: Ditching PFIs may be a 'logical conclusion'
I was extremely concerned about inferences in your article under the front page headline 'Health scare for PFIs' (CJ 6 December)... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Sustainability: time for action
Sir, I applaud the efforts of WRAP and the Strategic Forum (SF) to reduce waste and improve the use of resources within the construction industry... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Share sales secure £1m-plus windfalls
John Severs, managing director of Severfield-Rowen, and Duncan Davidson, chairman of Persimmon, have each secured more than a million in cash as a.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Demolition firms face hike in disposal costs
Demolition contractors face a massive escalation in waste disposal costs after 2008, the National Federation of Demolition Contractors (NFDC) has.... more
(10 January 2007 00:00)

Industry fraud may cost Games £250m
Experts estimate that fraud could cost the Olympics around 5% of its projected £5bn bill. more
(10 January 2007 00:00)