Articles by Date : August 26 2002 - September 01 2002

Council attacked over decision to use PPP
West Lothiam Council's decision to go for a 30-year, £45m PPP project on six of its schools has come under a fierce attack today (Friday) after it.... more
(30 August 2002 16:30)

Balfour's civil engineering arm gets new MD
Balfour Beatty, the international engineering, construction and services group has announced today (Friday) the appointment of Brian Osborne as.... more
(30 August 2002 16:29)

Hewden Stuart says crane hire will continue
Hewden Stuart has denied speculation that it is pulling out of crane hire. A statement issued by the company said: "The board can confirm that Hewden.... more
(30 August 2002 15:32)

Bovis profit up to £44m
Bovis Lend Lease (BLL) produced a profit after tax of £44m in the six months to 30 June, a third higher than in the same period a year ago. more
(30 August 2002 13:08)

Geoff Brewer of Brewer Consulting examines practical completion
It is often considered when an owner occupies or gains beneficial use of a building or facility, that occupation or use will amount to completion of.... more
(30 August 2002 13:07)

Sharing e-fficiencies
Mel Zuydam, Balfour Beatty's head of e-commerce, is working on four distinct B2B strands. These comprise e-collaboration, e-tendering, e-procurement.... more
(30 August 2002 13:06)

NFDC appoints first chief
The National Federation of Demolition Contractors (NFDC) has appointed Christine Macfarlane as its first ever chief executive. more
(30 August 2002 13:05)

Educating clients on minority merits
Clients, as well as contractors, will be involved in a new long-term strategy to encourage more women and ethnic minorities into construction. more
(30 August 2002 13:05)

A question of people
Rod Unger of 5 Dimensional Management examines the most valuable resource a company has - its people. This month he looks at managing people. more
(30 August 2002 13:03)

Rok continues growth with Llewellyn buyout
Rok Property Solutions has bought the family-owned Llewellyn Group for £16m. The move marks a further step in the transformation of Rok since the.... more
(30 August 2002 13:02)

Bluestone profit tumbles
Morgan Sindall's move to shoehorn six regional construction businesses into the single entity of Bluestone knocked the group's latest pre-tax profit.... more
(30 August 2002 13:01)

Sennebogen hits UK
The first Sennebogen 640R dragline in the UK has been delivered to Bardon Aggregates' (part of Aggregate Industries) wet dig sand and gravel quarry.... more
(30 August 2002 12:59)

Bids wanted for Stoke's £250m PFI hospital deal
Contractors and their partners are being invited to check in for a £250m private finance hospital deal in Stoke on Trent. more
(30 August 2002 12:58)

Irish firm set to get first Kobelco CKE2500 crane
Plant hire company O'Kane Brothers of Dungiven, Northern Ireland, is about to take delivery of the first Kobelco CKE2500 crawler crane with a 57.9m.... more
(30 August 2002 12:57)

Tadano Faun hits new heights with SuperDeck
Tadano Faun's new SuperDeck platform combines a large deck area with a self-propelled boom. more
(30 August 2002 12:57)

Cox looks to the past for future growth
Just three months after its management buyout from Andrews Sykes, Cox Plant has set its sights on returning to 1998 business levels in the next three.... more
(30 August 2002 12:56)

Miller joins site offices
Miller Construction is standardising its site office layouts to improve customer service, partnering and cost effectiveness. more
(30 August 2002 12:55)

OGC issues guide to managing risk
The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has warned that improved risk management is needed in public sector procurement to ensure that government.... more
(30 August 2002 12:52)

Work winners this week
Contracts Hotline is your at-a-glance digest of the latest contract awards around the UK. Data supplied by ABI Building Data. more
(30 August 2002 12:47)

SED sets up deals
Liebherr, Terex and Volvo have all announced deals that directly followed visits to SED. Millennium Lifting's proprietors, Andy and Jo-Anna Campbell,.... more
(30 August 2002 12:46)

Vermeer adds more to range
Vermeer's range continues to expand with the addition of two brush chippers, a short-rod directional drilling rig and the Interragator II, a ground.... more
(30 August 2002 12:45)

Vosper gunning for Army college work
Vosper Thorneycroft is going great guns in its bid to build an Army sixth-form college in Nottingham. The firm is expanding into the defence support.... more
(30 August 2002 12:45)

CITB advises on staff retention
The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) is launching a pilot series of one-day courses for contractors on how to retain their best.... more
(30 August 2002 12:44)

Suicide risk adds to site safety shame
Construction workers are more likely to commit suicide than any other occupational group, according to a recent regional health study. more
(30 August 2002 12:44)

Same standards for kit operators
Moves to establish common standards and a single competence card for plant operators received a boost on two fronts last week. more
(30 August 2002 12:43)

Stenoak subsidiary sunk by group chiefs
Creditors of a Stenoak subsidiary that went into voluntary liquidation last week as a result of the burden of cross-company guarantees have put the.... more
(30 August 2002 12:42)

HA to spend £140m on making A66 safer
The Highways Agency (HA) is to draw up plans to make the A66 in northern England a dual-carriageway in a project worth at least £140m to the.... more
(30 August 2002 12:42)

CEF wants NI register postponed
Northern Ireland's Construction Employers Federation (CEF) has called for a postponement of the introduction of Constructionline in the province.... more
(30 August 2002 12:41)

Big players target Newcastle tunnel
Contractors are eyeing what is set to be only the fourth major immersed tube tunnel to be built in Britain and Ireland. more
(30 August 2002 12:40)

Subbies' fury as Hanson fails to pass on HA pay
News that Hanson has pocketed a further £2m payment from the Highways Agency for valuation 8 (covering the period 6 May to 6 June) has infuriated.... more
(30 August 2002 12:39)

Directors' payout reduced as Carillion's share price falters
The potential £17m windfall for the founding directors and managers of Carillion has been blown away by the collapse in Carillion's share price over.... more
(30 August 2002 12:38)

'Amey boss needs to resign' for City confidence to return
It will take the resignation of Amey's chief executive Brian Staples before the City's confidence in the group returns, said one analyst on.... more
(30 August 2002 12:37)

Forum talks a success, says Rogers
Would-be chairman of the Strategic Forum Peter Rogers thinks his 'interview' last week with the Forum members went well. more
(30 August 2002 12:37)

Amec wins £140m DLR extension
An Amec/Royal Bank of Scotland consortium has been selected as the preferred bidder for the £140m private finance initiative contract to extend the.... more
(30 August 2002 12:36)

The pros and cons of going 'public'
The benefits of being a public limited company are well documented, with access to increased levels of funding being high on the list. So flotation.... more
(30 August 2002 12:36)

QM under fire over FENSA inspection fees
Quality Mark (QM) has come under a fresh attack this week with news that its members will now be required to pay inspection fees, potentially.... more
(30 August 2002 12:35)

Extra work generated by disabled
More work for contractors is on the cards if government proposals to improve disability access to new buildings get the green light. more
(30 August 2002 12:35)

Wild at heart
There have been a few changes in the building industry since Wildgoose Construction was founded in 1896 by present chairman John Wildgoose's.... more
(30 August 2002 12:33)

CPA extends remit to tools
The Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) has extended its remit into the tool hire sector with the establishment of a tool hire interest.... more
(30 August 2002 12:33)

Keller expects a flood of work across Europe
Keller, the building foundations specialist, anticipates more work following the recent floods in central Europe. more
(30 August 2002 12:32)

Warings wins £7.5m hotel contract
Warings has been awarded a £7.5m contract to design and build the first hotel, together with retail units at Gunwharf Quays - the Berkeley Group and.... more
(30 August 2002 12:04)

Benson puts Salvation Army job on film
Benson's Northern Home Counties division has installed a sitecam on a job in Luton to aid remote learning. more
(30 August 2002 11:57)

CITB levy income falls 7%
The Construction Industry Training Board's (CITB) levy income last year fell by 7% from £86.1m to £80.2m. more
(30 August 2002 11:53)

Babcock wins £100m armed forces contract
Babcock International Group has won a seven year contract for the procurement and delivery of electrical and electronic components for use by the.... more
(30 August 2002 09:49)

Work to demolish Wembley to start in two weeks
The Football Association (FA) has confirmed that the £700m redevelopment of Wembley stadium will begin within the next two weeks. more
(29 August 2002 15:48)

West Coast Mainline to close for four months
A large stretch of the cursed West Coast Mainline will have to be closed for up to four months next year to help speed up improvements, it has been.... more
(29 August 2002 12:06)

B&CE warns against stakeholder pension charge cap increase
Construction's main pension provider B&CE has today (Wednesday) warned against any government proposals to increase the 1% cap in stakeholder pension.... more
(29 August 2002 10:26)

Amec profits leap 7% to £41.6m
Amec's acquisition of energy and pipeline service provider SPIE and greater synergy within the group have led to a 7% in pre-tax profit for the.... more
(29 August 2002 10:09)

Suicide risk adds to site safety shame
Construction workers are more likely to commit suicide than any other occupational group, according to a recent regional health study. more
(29 August 2002 09:55)

Improvements to disabled access could lead to work bonanza
More work for contractors is on the cards if government proposals to improve disability access to new buildings get the green light. more
(28 August 2002 17:06)