NEWSBRIEF

taywood in £69m sewage treatment jv

Taylor Woodrow has teamed with Black and Veatch in a £69m design and construction sewage treatment deal. The Taywood jv will work with Balfour Maunsell, Broadway Malyan and Thames Water's engineering and operational teams at the new works in Reading, Berkshire.

workload rise in second quarter

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' (RICS) second quarter 2001 survey has shown a continuing rise in workload with members reporting that many home owners are choosing to refurbish or extend their existing properties instead of move. "The wider picture shows an industry in good health, despite the cloudy economic outlook," said RICS chief economist Miltan Khatri.

hbg starts £22m reading office job

HBG Construction has begun work on a £22m design and build contract which involves the development of two office buildings and a public square at Forbury Square in Reading, Berkshire. The firm has also been selected as preferred bidder to design a £15m National Ice Skating Centre in Sheffield's Lower Don Valley.

ballast to rebuild city house for £15m

Ballast Construction will increase its Cambridge presence when it reconstructs City House, a 10,000m2 office building, for £15m for property group Unex. Work to the offices includes a new brickwork envelope, raised floors and suspended ceilings.

amec to build scottish courage centre

Amec is to design and build a 25,630m2 regional distribution centre for an undisclosed amount for Scottish Courage, the UK beer division of Scottish & Newcastle, on a 142ha site at Wakefield Europort in Yorkshire. The purpose-built factory is due for completion in March 2002. Up to 350 staff will be based at the new facility.

whitefriars to use project contract

Whitefriars Housing Group will use the new Project Partnering Contract 2000, created by City law firm Trowers & Hamlins, in a £240m housing stock repair and improvement project covering over 20,000 homes in Coventry. The group has brought in Carillion Housing and Wates Construction for the five-year project Whitefriars, which has run Coventry's 20,000-plus former council homes since last year, said partnering is the only solution with such a massive works programme.

project managers and surveyors win

In the north east, project managers and quantity surveyors have had the highest salary growth, according to a survey by Durham-based recruitment consultancy Contract Construction Services. The report said that between 1990 and 2001 the average yearly wage for a project manager (aged 30 to 40 years) has gone up from between £25,000 and £30,000 to between £33,000 and £38,000. Similarly, quantity surveyors have experienced a rise from up to £23,000 a year to £30,000 a year.

on the move

Morgan Sindall's office fit-out specialist Overbury has appointed Stuart Cook as divisional managing director. John Burnett, chief executive of Clugston Construction, has been made an executive director of the Clugston Group's main board. David Dennison, managing director of DM Engineering (NI), is now vice president of the Electrical Contractors' Association. Paul Brough has been appointed site manager at Bellway Homes' new Saxon Place development in Sandbach.