Vinci and Sir Robert McAlpine are set to go ahead with the £105m build of a new National Rehabilitation Centre at Nottingham University Hospital. The 70-bed facility has had funding approved by the government as part of the national New Hospital Programme. The facility will combine patient care with research…
Author Archives: Catherine Moore
M&E specialist’s profit soars after extended reporting period
Halsion grew its turnover and saw its pre-tax profit more than double in its latest set of financial results, although this was partly due to an extended reporting period covering the 18 months ending 30 September 2022. The mechanical and electrical (M&E) specialist reported a £7.3m pre-tax profit in its…
Mace wins work on ‘world’s most powerful laser’ facility
Mace is set to work on a facility near Oxford that will house the world's most powerful laser. Under a preconstruction services agreement (PCSA) with the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Mace will lead a team to extend and partially refurbish the Central Laser Facility (CLF) in the Rutherford…
Former Carillion boss handed director ban
Former Carillion chief executive Richard Howson has been banned from being a director for eight years. Howson served as chief executive of the contractor - the second-biggest in the UK before it collapsed in 2018 - between December 2011 and July 2017. The Insolvency Service, which is overseeing the liquidation…
HS2 scale-back creates ‘chilling effect’
Contractors involved in Phase one of HS2 have expressed their dissatisfaction at prime minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to cancel Phase two of the project, while emphasising the need for effective delivery of the government's alternative rail investment plans. Mace Group chief executive Mark Reynolds, who also co-chairs the Construction Leadership…
Silvertown Tunnel cost rises by £2m
The cost of the Silvertown Tunnel has crept up again, this time by £2m to £179m, according to Transport for London (TfL). The cost overrun and delay have been revealed in an agenda document for TfL’s next Programmes and Investment Committee meeting on 5 October. At the previous committee meeting…
Network North: where will HS2 funds be redirected?
Major northern rail lines are among dozens of schemes that will benefit from the redirection of HS2 funds, after prime minister Rishi Sunak confirmed that the mega-project will be scaled back. During his Conservative Party Conference speech in Manchester, Sunak said “every single penny” saved by scrapping the Birmingham to…
Galliford Try creates new procurement role
Galliford Try has appointed Andrew Spencer to the newly created role of supply chain and procurement director. Spencer joins the business from Skanska, and has more than 25 years’ experience in construction. He will become the functional head of supply chain and procurement professionals across the business, reporting to technical…
Equipment firm loses unfair dismissal case amid theft allegations
A supply chain firm has been ordered to pay a former staff member £22,000, after a tribunal cast doubt on its claims the ex-employee had pocketed cash by secretly hiring out its products. Concord Lifting Equipment (CLE), based in Wimbledon, south-west London, claimed that the former staff member had committed…
Coalition launched to promote diversity in construction
A range of companies and trade bodies have launched a new coalition to promote diversity in the construction industry. The Construction Inclusion Coalition (CIC) has been established by chief executives at nine product manufacturers and building suppliers and two trade bodies: Aliaxis, Baxi, Bradfords, City Plumbing, Ibstock, Knauf, Travis Perkins,…