Articles by Date : July 23 2007 - July 29 2007

Newspaper roundup: 27 July
Round up of what the papers are saying about construction on Friday 27 July. more
(27 July 2007 10:15)

Skanska UK reports £16m interim profit
Skanska UK’s turnover in the first half of 2007 jumped by 44% to £610m. more
(26 July 2007 17:00)

Enterprise and Accord to merge
Enterprise and Accord have announced that they plan to merge. The move will create a support service business with a £1.1bn-a-year turnover. more
(26 July 2007 16:00)

Clark Contracts pre-tax profit dives to just £160,000
Clark Contracts’ latest financial results show a steep dive in profitability - the latest figure of £160,000 is less than a quarter of the pre-tax.... more
(26 July 2007 12:00)

HSE reveals 2006/07 construction death figures
Deaths in the construction industry rose by 28% from 60 to 77 in 2006/2007, according to Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures released today. more
(26 July 2007 10:55)

Lindum Group unveils record £5.9m pre-tax profit
Lindum Group’s turnover of £80m has left the Lincoln-based construction group with a record pre-tax profit of £5.9m. more
(26 July 2007 10:00)

Renew Holdings pays £6.8m for Seymour (Civil Engineering Contractors)
Renew has bought Seymour (Civil Engineering Contractors), which operates in the water sector, for £6.8m. more
(26 July 2007 09:00)

Hain asks for co-operation over construction fatalities
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Peter Hain will target deaths in the housebuilding and refurbishment sectors as part of a new safety forum.... more
(25 July 2007 13:51)

Newspaper roundup: 25 July 2007
News in the national newspapers on 25 July 2007 more
(25 July 2007 10:30)

May Gurney buys mobile telecomms maintenance specialist FDT Holdings
May Gurney has bought Manchester based mobile telecommunications inspection and maintenance specialist FDT Holdings for £3.5m. more
(25 July 2007 10:00)

Demolition firm fined £15,000 after labourers injured
Manchester Crown Court has fined Preston-based demolition company JW Ousby and Sons £15,000 after two of its workers were seriously injured when a.... more
(25 July 2007 09:32)

Kelly releases railway White Paper
The government today pledged to spend more than £10bn to cope with a 20% rise in passenger numbers by 2014 in its Delivering a Sustainable Railway.... more
(25 July 2007 08:44)

Freight Transport Association to produce load safety guidelines
The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has commissioned research into the safety of loads in vans with the aim of introducing a best practice guide..... more
(25 July 2007 01:01)

Gladedale increases turnover to £660m
Housebuilder consolidates its 16 different brands, pre-tax profit boosted to £85m. more
(25 July 2007 01:00)

Manitowoc pledges to tackle fake crane parts
Upon discovering counterfeit Potain parts, Manitowoc sets up internal task force. more
(25 July 2007 00:56)

Speedy sees revenue grow by 30%
Speedy has reported a 30% jump in first-quarter revenue compared with the same period last year. Income for the tool hire business increased by.... more
(25 July 2007 00:52)

Barhale to hire out tunnel boring kit
Tunnelling specialist Barhale Construction has started hiring out its tunnel boring machines (TBM) and other equipment to third parties. The company.... more
(25 July 2007 00:41)

Metronet crisis: What next for the Tube upgrade?
The demise of Metronet last week has left the future of the upgrading work on two-thirds of the London Underground system in confusion. A number of.... more
(25 July 2007 00:33)

German steel giant to enter UK market
A new company has been created by Germany's largest steel producer to sell construction systems in the UK and take advantage of the construction.... more
(25 July 2007 00:30)

Letters to the editor - 25 July 2007
Write to the editor at emma.penny@rbi.co.uk. more
(25 July 2007 00:29)

Morgan Utilities confirms staff suspension
Morgan Est has confirmed that a member of staff has been suspended in its Morgan Utilities division pending the findings of "a routine audit" of one.... more
(25 July 2007 00:29)

Steel sector lobbyists get no delay for Euro codes
Letter to British Precast head states government's position remains unchanged. more
(25 July 2007 00:28)

Warmafloor enlisted for military
Warmafloor is to supply systems for the redevelopment of military accommodation in Aldershot and across Salisbury Plain in what is believed to be the.... more
(25 July 2007 00:28)

Skanska/GrantRail team wins £67m DLR deal
A Skanska/GrantRail team has edged ahead of its only remaining rival, Hochtief, to take the main construction deal on part of a £238m project to.... more
(25 July 2007 00:25)

Interserve poised to build UK's first desalination plant
Thames Water is in negotiations with a UK contractor and Spanish specialist to tackle the first desalination plant to be built... more
(25 July 2007 00:23)

Construction delivers strong Q2 performance
Faster than expected growth in the UK economy during the second quarter of this year was partly fuelled by the continuing surge in construction. .... more
(25 July 2007 00:22)

Weaver bought by Norwest Holst
Weaver, the Midlands construction group, has been bought by Norwest Holst, part of Vinci. The deal forms part of Vinci's strategy of developing a.... more
(25 July 2007 00:22)

Five vie for delayed £23m Wakefield road deal
Five firms are pricing a massively delayed West Yorkshire road scheme, which has almost doubled in price since it surfaced seven years ago..... more
(25 July 2007 00:21)

Construction bosses reject Scots' apprentice system
Construction Confederation says lower levels of direct employment make it impractical. more
(25 July 2007 00:20)

McGregor fined for worker injury
McGregor Construction (Highlands) has been fined £9,000 at Fort William Sheriff Court after an employee was seriously injured while working on a.... more
(25 July 2007 00:16)

Contractors involved in bigger and fewer deals
Mergers and acquisitions involving UK contractors fell in number but increased in value over the past 12 months, according a PricewaterhouseCoopers.... more
(25 July 2007 00:13)

Laing JV to claim costs as Leicester PFI shelved
UHL NHS Trust cancels £711m hospital Pathway Project as preliminary costs rise £210m. more
(25 July 2007 00:11)

Focus on construction site security
Site security headaches run from racketeers with guns to kids playing on sites during the holidays. And the costs could be higher than you think, as.... more
(25 July 2007 00:11)

Connaught and Rok win £70m Gloucs housing revamp
Connaught and Rok win £70m Gloucs housing revamp Two contractors have homed in on a £70m housing revamp deal in south Gloucestershire. Connaught... more
(25 July 2007 00:09)

O'Rourke hires Heathrow chief as 'right-hand man'
Impressed with Laing O'Rourke at T5, Douglas says the job was 'too good to say no to'. more
(25 July 2007 00:07)

Comment: Keeping the waters at bay
As CJ went to press on Monday, the UK looked to be facing its worst floods for 60 years. In fact, the Environment Agency (EA) has already said that.... more
(25 July 2007 00:05)

Engineering employment rate up 25%
Total employment in engineering construction increased by 25% last year, according to the Engineering Construction... more
(25 July 2007 00:05)

Olympic Delivery Authority reveals £210m spend on Games so far
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) spent more than £210m in 2006-07 as preparations for the 2012 Games gathered pace, according to accounts.... more
(25 July 2007 00:02)

Lend Lease close to Elephant & Castle deal
Australian developer Lend Lease was due to clinch the development partner role for the £1.5bn plan to redevelop 68ha in Elephant and Castle, south.... more
(25 July 2007 00:01)

Legal Q&A: Contractor termination under JCT contracts
An invalid contract termination is potentially very serious for a contractor, as David Weare reports. more
(25 July 2007 00:00)

Legal regulation & policy commentary: arbitration agreements
James Levy takes a look at arbitration agreements and the right to consolidate related disputes. more
(25 July 2007 00:00)

Steel focus: Steel distribution goes high-tech
To make sure four computer-driven stacking cranes will operate correctly, the recently completed Automated Distribution Centre at the Corus.... more
(25 July 2007 00:00)

Design guidance for structural steelwork
The headache of incomplete design information is to be addressed by a guidance document to save structural steelwork engineers expensive late design.... more
(25 July 2007 00:00)

Race abuse victim wins £33k payout
A woman who suffered eight years of racial abuse at an electronics company in Essex has been awarded more than £33,000 in compensation by an.... more
(25 July 2007 00:00)

Steel focus: Aesthetics and sustainability boost steel
Order books are healthy and market share is at record levels: has the steel sector ever had it so good? James Stagg reports. more
(25 July 2007 00:00)

JCB increases profit by 35% to a record £149m
Profit at JCB increased by 35% to a record £149m in 2006, as turnover hit £1.75bn. Production climbed by more than 22% to 55,000 units. JCB said.... more
(25 July 2007 00:00)

Steel focus: Tackling corrosion
Taylor Woodrow's Technology Centre is leading the industry in the cathodic protection of steel-framed buildings. Justin Stanton takes a closer look. more
(25 July 2007 00:00)

Case law analysis: Late adjudicators' decisions
The enforcement of an adjudicator's decision apparently issued late and estoppel by silence. more
(25 July 2007 00:00)

ODA signs Olympic Stadium deal with Sir Robert McAlpine
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sir Robert McAlpine for construction of the Olympic stadium. more
(24 July 2007 14:25)

More reaction to the Housing Green Paper
More industry bodies have given a guarded welcome to the government’s housing green paper, which was announced yesterday by housing minister Yvette.... more
(24 July 2007 12:26)