Articles by Date : March 27 1995 - April 02 1995

Rhino Lift is heavy duty
Upright International claims its new range of heavy duty personnel lifts - Rhino Lifts - are a cheaper alternative to its existing range of.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

UK contracting makes œ3 million loss
Laing's contracting profits collapsed from œ11 million to œ2 million before interest in 1994. The HCI hospital cost the group dear,.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Bovis profits up in 1994 says P&O
Profits at Bovis Construction and Bovis Homes both increased in 1994 according to the latest figures from parent company P&O. Bovis Homes.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Kyle Stewart stems its flow of losses
Kyle Stewart continues to lose money, although the latest annual results show it stemmed the flow last year. Losses were œ1.5 million, œ1.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Medway tunnel structure nearly there
The structure of the Medway tunnel is now just a month away from completion following a series of major concrete pours by jv Tarmac HBM on the.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Contractors prepared for Condam
Contractors across the country have responded well to the imminent introduction of radical safety regulations by preparing in advance for the new.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Rule changes spark building boom
The construction industry looks set for a cornucopia of local authority and university building work as the Government changes the rules on.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Wet weather affects Kier profits
Operating profit at Kier slipped slightly in the half-year to 31 December 1994. Thanks to reduced interest receivable, it was down 5% from.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

All the work's a stage, says chippy
Calling all chippies - and for that matter brickies, sparkies and any other site worker. If you look your best on site, then you too could end up.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Job losses to come says Taywood boss
Major job cuts and heavy reorganisation are imminent at Taylor Woodrow Construction, which this week reported losses estimated by analysts to be as.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

VALUE FOR MONEY
The good news for the Building Employers Confederation is that in 1994 it achieved its strongest financial performance for more than five years,.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Agency fails to meet its own deadline
Claims by Highways Agency chief Lawrie Haynes that all 13 road schemes in the revised 1994-95 programme would be awarded by the end of March look.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Our past comes back to haunt us
BackBites was sent a newspaper clipping last week from the London Evening Standard. It included a rather interesting piece about private finance of.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

CITB resists foreign job vetting role
The Construction Industry Training Board has declined an invitation from the DTI to tender for its role in certifying the competence of UK.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Labour to tackle PFI risk
Labour's shadow Transport Secretary Michael Meacher has set out Labour's blueprint for its own private finance initiative and in doing so.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

HOT LINE
Kier has been awarded a œ15m contract for the main civil engineering works at the South Humber Bank CCGT power station on behalf of ABB Power.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Bristol bids for Lottery funds
Bristol has launched a œ65 million bid to win funds from the National Lottery and Millennium Fund to help construct its œ130 million.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Race against time for Latham law
The consultation period on legislation to underpin construction contracts could be as short as a month because of the tight legislative programme. .... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Engineering sector still in the doldrums
The serious recession in the engineering construction sector is showing no signs of improvement, according to the latest quarterly survey of the.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

œ250m retail plans for Southampton
Plans for a œ250 million retail development in Southampton have been announced by Imry Developments. The developer has put in a revised.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Trafalgar House pulls out of œ380 Hams Hall
Trafalgar House Business Parks has pulled out of the œ380 million project to construct a rail freight terminal distribution and manufacturing.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

LAs to cut road maintenance by œ100m
Local authorities will be forced to cut œ100 million from their maintenance budgets next year bringing the overall spending backlog to more.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Watts unveils just œ6.5m of road work
Road minister John Watts has announced 33 more schemes to improve the trunk road network and benefit local communities - but the schemes total just.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

œ542m for Scot homes
Scottish Homes is to invest œ367 million on new and improved housing for Scotland in the coming financial year. It expects to pull in a.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

BB wins Lincoln Uni build
Balfour Beatty has been awarded the œ11 million contract for the construction of Phase 1 of the University College of Lincolnshire. The.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Panorama backs CJ on water spend
More than œ200 million raised by the water companies to be spent on construction work has been deferred. The money has been used to boost the.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Electronic invoicing launched by majors
A new electronic information exchange system, to be launched by top contractors, is set to eliminate invoices on paper and have an impact on the.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Bluewater Pk begins Jan 96
Major construction work on the œ300 million Bluewater Park scheme, near Dartford in Kent is set to start in January 1996, according to.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Is there a red menace in the house?
Is BBC journalist John Humphrys irredeemably identified with left wing, anti-Government causes? Such is the impression left by Tory MP Jonathan.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Shanks accepts œ9m Scot offer
Contractor Shanks & McEwan has accepted œ9 million from the Scottish Office in settlement of its long-running dispute over extra costs on.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

œ30m build in Leeds for Kier
Kier is to build a œ30 million office development at Prince's Square in the heart of Leeds. The scheme is being developed by Teesland.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Bristol airport gets go-ahead
Bristol Airport's plan for a replacement œ14 million terminal has been given the go-ahead. The application was called in by both the.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Transport Debate is 'all talk', say civils
Contractors and road lobbyists have begun to express frustration and dissatisfaction with Transport Secretary Dr Brian Mawhinney's 'Great Transport.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

in brief
Balfour's Carroll retires Ian Carroll, a main board director of Balfour Beatty and chairman of its Balfour Kilpatrick subsidiary, has retired.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Mowlem turns in œ4.8m profits
Mowlem's privately funded London City airport narrowly missed making an operating profit last year. A provision of œ3.1 million for bad and.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Laing to build PFI portfolio
Laing is aiming to float a portfolio of privately funded schemes on the Stock Exchange, the company revealed last week. Chairman Martin Laing.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Blackpool's gold blend not so tasty
Looking for work? If you have a paintbrush, a head for heights, and a taste for seaside rock, then get over to Blackpool where a clash over colour.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Gleeson sees contracting profits drop
Gleeson Group's latest interim results, published last week, show a 25% drop in operating profits (to œ930,000) in the contracting and.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Kier & Tarmac shortlisted for PFI hospital
Kier and Tarmac have reached the final shortlist for the first major hospital to be procured under the private finance initiative - the œ50.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

M77 Mum may sue Wimpey
Contractor-protester relations on Wimpey's M77 site at Pollok, Glasgow, took another turn for the worse last week, when a tree felling session.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Bids invited for œ1bn WCML
Contractors have been given a much needed boost with the news that Railtrack is inviting tenders for œ1 billion-worth of projects on the West.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Small firms agree 3.5% pay rise
Smaller firms in membership with the Federation of Master Builders have agreed a 3.5% pay rise for operatives with effect from 19 June. George.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Birse fined over snapper's death
Birse Construction was fined œ20,000 following the death of Stuart Dunkin, a freelance photographer who was crushed when a 43t concrete beam.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Ucatt calls inquiry into ballot result
Lou Lewis has topped the poll in an election for a new leader of Ucatt's restructured super region covering London, the South and South East. .... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Original architect demolishes his office block
The most unpopular building in Leeds is coming crashing down with a little help from - surprisingly - Allan Lloyd-Davies, the original architect..... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Holloway White Allom wins Westminster builder award
Contractor Holloway White Allom has won the 'Best Small Site' award in Westminster's 1995 Considerate Builders Award for its site at New Bond.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Association claims TR34 fails floors
Sir, This Association has considered the practical implications of the new publication 'Concrete Industrial Ground Floors Ref TR34', in the newly.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Libraries face œ600m repair crisis
Just days after the publication of a survey revealing how much work was required to repair Britain's schools, a new study has found a similar.... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Battered BEC 'back in business'
The Building Employers Confederation is back in business and raring to go, according to Paul Shepherd, newly-appointed chairman of the BEC council..... more
(30 March 1995 00:00)

Clause worth fighting for
The case of W Hanson (Harrow) v Rapid Civil Engineering clearly illustrates the problems caused by the Romalpa clause of retention of title more
(30 March 1995 00:00)