Articles by Date : July 09 2007 - July 15 2007

Latest construction tenders
Tenders and expressions of interest. more
(14 July 2007 16:56)

Inverness firm fined £9,000 after worker seriously injured
McGregor Construction (Highlands) has been fined £9,000 after an employee was seriously injured while working on a school perimeter fence. more
(13 July 2007 15:15)

Scott Wilson turnover 32% higher at £260m
Consultancy group Scott Wilson has enjoyed a 32% jump in turnover to £260m with the four acquisitions made during the financial year all said to be.... more
(13 July 2007 14:00)

Foreman Roberts, the building services consultancy, in £15m management buy-out
Stuart Alexander has led a £15m management buy-out of Foreman Roberts, the building services consultancy. more
(13 July 2007 12:00)

Croudace Homes unveils 50% lift in pre-tax profit to £9m
Croudace Homes has enjoyed a 50% rise in pre-tax profits to £9m. more
(13 July 2007 11:00)

Castleoak predicts £80m annual turnover within five years
Castleoak Care Partnerships, the care-home construction specialist, has enjoyed a rise in pre-tax profit to £1.3m (£800,000). more
(13 July 2007 10:51)

Kier anticipates chunky profits
Kier has issued a trading statement to report that pre-tax profits in the year to the end of June will be “ahead of current market expectations and.... more
(13 July 2007 10:00)

Bovis Lend Lease wins Most Considerate Constructor of the past 10 years title
Bovis Lend Lease was named the Most Considerate Constructor of the past 10 years at the Considerate Constructors Scheme Awards last night in the.... more
(13 July 2007 09:26)

Health & Safety Commission: Judith Hackitt to become chair
Judith Hackitt will take over as chair of the Health and Safety Commission in September when Sir Bill Callaghan retires from the role. more
(12 July 2007 14:34)

Land Securities buys Amec's Projects Investments business for £163.5m
Land Securities' property partnership business Land Securities Trillium (LST) has picked up Amec's healthcare, transport and education PFI interests.... more
(12 July 2007 14:00)

Norwest Holst wins landmark legal battle
Norwest Holst has won a landmark legal battle over adjudication provisions in the Construction Act. more
(12 July 2007 11:56)

Bouygues lined up for £152m Westminster BSF scheme
Bouygues looks set to be preferred bidder on Westminster City Council’s £152m Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme after knocking rival Wates.... more
(12 July 2007 09:00)

Brown hints at supercasino U-turn
Prime minister Gordon Brown has hinted the government may reverse its decision to build supercasinos across the UK.   Brown said he will.... more
(11 July 2007 17:35)

Toolbox talk on power tool safety in progress
Power tools are used extensively throughout the construction industry. And, unfortunately, they are also involved in a large and growing number of.... more
(11 July 2007 14:00)

Government plans to build three million homes in UK by 2020
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged that three million homes will be built in the UK by 2020 in a bid to boost supply and make housing more.... more
(11 July 2007 13:20)

Unions fight over 2012 employment agreement
UCATT, GMB and Unite fail to agree over a 100% directly employed Olympic workforce. more
(11 July 2007 09:00)

Editor's comment: Making the most of what we've got...
Being regarded as a "decent and diligent soul" is a good start if you're going to be looking after the UK's construction industry. And it's... more
(11 July 2007 08:46)

Staff laid off as Hennelly's sinks into administration
UCATT London regional secretary maintains that firm with such a colourful reputation is "no loss to the industry". more
(11 July 2007 08:15)

Balfour denies claims of 12-day IT lock-out
Balfour Beatty has played down rumours that major parts of its operations were locked out of the group's IT network for 12 working days as a result.... more
(11 July 2007 07:06)

JCB averts strike by back-tracking on monthly pay
JCB has averted the threat of industrial action by reversing its decision to move weekly-paid workers at three of its UK sites to monthly pay. .... more
(11 July 2007 06:00)

Bovis Lend Lease wins £75m capital project
Bovis Lend Lease has seen off three heavyweight rivals to clinch a £75m office and residential deal in central London for joint clients Capital &.... more
(11 July 2007 05:00)

Five chase £17m education deal in Newcastle
Five firms are hoping to graduate onto a £15m to £17m education deal in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The line-up for the University's Transport House.... more
(11 July 2007 05:00)

Lovell secures £40m Somerset housing project
Lovell has beaten Bovis Lend Lease in the final run-in for a £40m housing deal in Somerset. The job entails knocking down defective prefabricated.... more
(11 July 2007 04:02)

Nepotism threatens business expansion
Construction bosses are damaging their chances of growing their businesses by employing family members, according to a study by think tank The Tenon.... more
(11 July 2007 03:07)

Eight compete for £50m Midlands highways job
Winners expected in October for HA's Midlands Framework 3 maintenance deal. more
(11 July 2007 03:07)

Partnerships UK director wins Olympics finance job
Partnerships UK (PUK) finance director David Goldstone will play a key role in controlling costs on the London 2012 Olympics as the newly appointed.... more
(11 July 2007 02:24)

£12m Cromer Hospital scheme back on track
Bidding for the £12m Cromer Hospital scheme in Norfolk is on again after English Heritage (EH) dismissed attempts by preservationists to list the.... more
(11 July 2007 02:20)

Seven to share Thames Valley housing deal
Seven firms have been given the key to £60m-worth of housing work in London and the Home Counties for the Thames Valley Housing Association. .... more
(11 July 2007 01:45)

Polypipe buys Terrain
Polypipe has completed the acquisition of Terrain Drainage, the specialist in above-ground drainage in commercial applications. The piping and.... more
(11 July 2007 01:05)

Norfolk roads scheme to bypass bid process
Civils forms angry that £106.5m scheme looks like being given straight to May Gurney. more
(11 July 2007 01:00)

Smith leads MBO at Alpha Construction
Rob Smith has led a management buy-out of Alpha Construction, the civil engineering group based in Hilton, Derbyshire, where turnover in the current.... more
(11 July 2007 00:53)

Fears over workload of new construction minister
Industry leaders have warned that construction minister Stephen Timms will be overstretched after being given eight other sectors to juggle in his.... more
(11 July 2007 00:35)

Rebrand at Brett sees bosses take 25% stake
Group chairman Robert Brett (right) and construction MD Roger Maycock. Brett Group has given the four senior managers of its £30m-a-year.... more
(11 July 2007 00:30)

Legal commentary: Trying to get out of an 'unfair' decision
Why you need to be careful when entering into contracts with residential occupiers. more
(11 July 2007 00:29)

Eric Wright Group sees turnover rise to £160m
Eric Wright Group's turnover inched higher to £160m (£150m) last year, with pre-tax profit strengthening to £7.8m (£6.7m). The bulk of the.... more
(11 July 2007 00:26)

Legal Q&A: Who owns the float?
The 'time available for an activity in addition to its planned duration' - who does this belong to? more
(11 July 2007 00:21)

UCATT doubles trading surplus to make £2.3m
Construction union UCATT considerably strengthened its financial position last year by more than doubling its annual trading surplus to £2.3m..... more
(11 July 2007 00:17)

Osborne added to list for Network Rail work
Geoffrey Osborne's civil engineering division is the latest contractor to couple up to a £370m Network Rail framework deal. The scheme, known as.... more
(11 July 2007 00:17)

Tanfield Group makes £50m bid for Snorkel
The Tanfield Group, parent company of Upright Powered Access, has made a £50m bid to buy US-based Snorkel Holdings. Snorkel produces 3,400 machines... more
(11 July 2007 00:13)

Specialist contractors feel excluded from partnering
Clients urged to take the lead in ensuring partnering filters down entire supply chain. more
(11 July 2007 00:08)

Retrofit valve speeds up JCB 4CX backhoe slewing
JCB dealers can speed up the backhoe slewing on the latest 4CX models by replacing a spool valve. Owner operator Ian Taylor said the slewing of.... more
(11 July 2007 00:05)

PFI 'step change' helps Robertson to £14m profit
Bid costs are high but success rate runs at three out of every four schemes bid for. more
(11 July 2007 00:02)

Asphalt production hit by road funding slump
Under-investment in Britain's roads sees asphalt production drop 15% in 18 months. more
(11 July 2007 00:02)

Groenveld develops CCTV radar
Groenveld's latest reversing radar can be used as a stand-alone system or be integrated with on-board CCTV. "The system prompts operators to look at.... more
(11 July 2007 00:01)

Holloway White Allom: What it's like to work at
Steve Hobbs, HR manager, provides a snapshot of working life inside the company. more
(11 July 2007 00:00)

60 seconds on safety
Stuart Shirreff, health and safety consultant, RLF, talks to CJ. more
(11 July 2007 00:00)

The Foreman
Logo, what logo? Could it be the ODA has become a tad embarrassed by the infamously garish Olympics logo? Days after it was announced to a.... more
(11 July 2007 00:00)

Galliford Try Homes' Chris Coates: Rant!
While John Prescott may have only given permission to developers for green belt land to be built on under special circumstances, I would recommend.... more
(11 July 2007 00:00)

A-Plant offers delivery guarantee to customers
If an item is not delivered within an hour of the agreed time, the day's hire will be free. more
(11 July 2007 00:00)

Market for supermarkets
As the supermarket giants battle for market supremacy, contractors are reaping the benefits in an ever-increasing programme of new builds,.... more
(11 July 2007 00:00)