Articles by Date : September 19 2005 - September 25 2005

Skanska wins £6.5m Network Rail contract
Skanska has secured a £6.5m contract with Network Rail to replace the Harthorpe Viaduct in South Lanarkshire. more
(23 September 2005 11:00)

Norwest Holst wins £7.8m warehouse contract
Norwest Holst Construction has been awarded a £7.8m contract by ProLogis Developments to construct a second warehouse and distribution facility at.... more
(22 September 2005 16:57)

Hardware Direct sitte launched in UK
A construction supply specialist has launched an on-line building supplies business, UK Hardware Direct. more
(22 September 2005 16:48)

Sustainable building a must to help environment
The UK could face its very own Hurricane Katrina if we don't wake up to more sustainable building, according to Stafford MP David Kidney. more
(22 September 2005 12:28)

Youngsters less respect for construction industry
Fewer younger people believe construction or engineering is a respected occupation, according to a new study. more
(22 September 2005 12:27)

Mowlem hits back at Bath Spa claims
Mowlem has denied that parts of Bath Spa are rusting and there are cracks in the building. more
(22 September 2005 12:26)

Mansell wins £35m schools deal
Mansell, the property and construction services business of Balfour Beatty, has been awarded a £35m contract under Argyll & Bute Council’s Public.... more
(22 September 2005 10:46)

Housing boosts Miller's profit
The Miller Group's housing division enjoyed a surge in profit in the first half of 2005 and helped the privately-owned Scottish group to a record.... more
(21 September 2005 23:00)

Keep the red flag flying
The Construction Plant-hire Association thinks the government could be opening a can of worms if some road-going plant equipment loses its right to.... more
(21 September 2005 22:00)

HA MAC contracts tie-in with local authorities
Roads contractors looking to secure the next round of Managing Agent Contractor (MAC) maintenance contracts with the Highways Agency (HA) will be.... more
(21 September 2005 22:00)

Lavack to lead buoyant Scots
Michael Levack, previously Mansell regional managing director, has been appointed chief executive of Scottish Building. more
(21 September 2005 22:00)

High and mighty
The UK telehandler market has been booming for the past five years and is forecast for annual growth of about 10% by the end of the year. Paul Howard.... more
(21 September 2005 22:00)

Editor's comment
These days everybody is driven by targets. Achieving margins, cutting costs, beating timescales, reducing headcount, meeting key performance.... more
(21 September 2005 22:00)

Natural born digger
As a 22-year-old, Chris Haughey had aspirations to run his own firm. In just six years, West Midlands-based CJ Haughey Construction has managed to.... more
(21 September 2005 22:00)

Learning to make NHS LIFT work for your firm's profit
With NHS LIFT taking off in England, and about to start in Scotland and Northern Ireland, getting the right information on the initiative is vital. more
(21 September 2005 21:00)

Cash-rich construction earns Kier 11m interest
The 1bn turnover in Kier's construction division produced an operating profit of 15m last year. And with the business being cash-positive to the tune.... more
(21 September 2005 21:00)

Site teams ignorant about timber rules
Site specifiers are failing to take notice of government guides on timber procurement, Jewson environmental manager for timber products Andrew Venman.... more
(21 September 2005 21:00)

Balfour Beatty scores a hat trick
Balfour Beatty scored a third month at the top of the chart in August. Commercial work proved by far the most lucrative sector last month, with.... more
(21 September 2005 21:00)

Anglian rethinks on plastic pipes
Anglian Water is talking to plastic pipe makers after a 10-year battle over materials took a step closer to being resolved last week. more
(21 September 2005 21:00)

Speedy Hire posts strong turnover hike
Speedy Hire enjoyed a strong start to the year as turnover increased 24% in the five months to 28 August. Underlying like-for-like tool hire turnover.... more
(21 September 2005 21:00)

New owners make service levels a priority at Gamble
The Gamble family has sold a controlling interest in the group to investment capitalists for an undisclosed sum. Peter Gamble has become chairman of.... more
(21 September 2005 21:00)

Hire Station reaps the benefits of changes
Vp's tool rental division, Hire Station, has returned to profit in the past six months. more
(21 September 2005 21:00)

Luffing all the way
Two crawler cranes working on the New Street Square project in central London have demonstrated that there is a viable and cost-effective.... more
(21 September 2005 21:00)

Powering ahead
In little more than a decade LCH Generators has become one of the UK's leading equipment rental specialists. Martin Cooper finds out how it all.... more
(21 September 2005 20:00)

ManuBuild gets EU funds
The ManuBuild consortium led by Corus has won 6.7m-worth of EU funding to bring about a "dramatic change" in the use of modern construction methods. more
(21 September 2005 20:00)

IT survey to reveal whether construction is cutting edge
Construction has long been regarded as an IT dinosaur - but is that a fair reflection of the industry? more
(21 September 2005 20:00)

New building regs an 'unmitigated disaster'
Manufacturers will find themselves involved in court battles over selling the wrong products, when the construction sector feels the pinch from new.... more
(21 September 2005 20:00)

Turnover up, profit down at Carey
Carey Group enjoyed a 20m rise in turnover to 110m in the 12 months to 31 March 2005. more
(21 September 2005 20:00)

Hek helps out at T5
Specialist contractor Schmidlin has used an unusual combination of machinery to allow it to install glazing panels and brise soleil on the inclined.... more
(21 September 2005 20:00)

Good times return for Interior Services
Interior Services Group's (ISG) latest annual financial results show a doubling in pre-tax profit. The improvement "marks the end of the recent.... more
(21 September 2005 20:00)

The state of play
The UK plant and tool hire market is in pretty good health at present. Leading industry analyst Market and Business Development (MBD) believes the.... more
(21 September 2005 20:00)

Styles & Wood's strategy reaps 2.3m profit
Styles & Wood's push to provide major retailers with a much wider range of services than just fit-out continues to bear dividends. more
(21 September 2005 19:00)

Bovis secures 400m double
Bovis Lend Lease has clocked up a brace of deals in London and Lancashire worth more than 400m in total. more
(21 September 2005 19:00)

UCATT hits out at laggardly Labour
UCATT general secretary Alan Ritchie has hit out at the government's lack of action in reviewing the law on employment status. more
(21 September 2005 19:00)

'Poor' BSF progress prompts CBI attack
The government's 5.1bn Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme is sluggish and in danger of running over budget, the Confederation of British.... more
(21 September 2005 18:00)

Industry forum aims to stamp out corruption
Engineering and consultancy groups have joined forces to eliminate corruption in the construction industry. more
(21 September 2005 18:00)

Fairclough buys Miller for 264m
Miller Group has acquired Fairclough Homes at a cost of 264m. The move transforms Miller into a top-10 player in the housebuilding sector with the.... more
(21 September 2005 18:00)

B&K plugs into 46m Dixons deal
Bowmer & Kirkland has plugged into 46m worth of work for electrical goods retailer Dixons. more
(21 September 2005 18:00)

BPB directors fight off 25m goodbye
Senior directors at BPB, the world's biggest plasterboard maker, are fighting hard to avoid being made 25m richer. more
(21 September 2005 18:00)

Scottish forum plans its own centre of excellence
Plans are in hand for the establishment of Scotland's own Construction Innovation and Excellence Centre. more
(21 September 2005 18:00)

'Massive exploitation' of migrant labour
Labour agencies are making vast profits out of the "massive exploitation" of migrant workers on construction sites, according to UCATT general.... more
(21 September 2005 18:00)

Opening moves over 2006 pay talks begin
The Construction Confederation (CC) and UCATT have been consulting their members over next summer's projected building and civil engineering pay.... more
(21 September 2005 18:00)

Laying down the law
Construction has always been a litigious industry, and with the rapid growth of the PFI and PPP market, contractors have never had more dealings with.... more
(21 September 2005 18:00)

The key to winning and keeping business-to-business customers
contractjournal.com newsletter: Brenda Stewart of Cape Consulting explains why finding out what keeps your customers happy can increase your business.... more
(21 September 2005 17:23)

Win an MP3 player in CJ's 2005 salary survey
Want to know whether you are being paid enough? And whether you could be earning more? The only way to find out is by being part of the Contract.... more
(21 September 2005 17:00)

Royal Bam reports 33m profit from UK
Dutch construction group Royal Bam's three operating companies in the UK and Ireland - HBG UK, Nuttall and Ascon - made a pre-tax profit of 33m in.... more
(21 September 2005 17:00)

Mowlem/Capita Symonds jv bags Cardiff roads scheme
A joint venture between Mowlem and Capita Symonds has hit the road for a 500m transport scheme centring on Cardiff. more
(21 September 2005 17:00)

Bardsley profit doubles a year after going solo
Bardsley Construction, which de-merged from Roland Bardsley Homes a year ago, has enjoyed a rise in profit in its first year as a stand-alone company. more
(21 September 2005 17:00)

'Sunshine directive' to go out in EU regs blitz
The Optical Radiation Directive, which could make contractors liable for the effect of sunlight damage to their workers, is expected to be scrapped.... more
(21 September 2005 16:00)

EC set to back England over rolled-up pay
European Commission appears to be backing the position of the English High Court that, under strict conditions, it is permissible within the Working.... more
(21 September 2005 16:00)