Financial

Infrastructure and property services contractor United Living generated £453m of revenue in just eight months, according to its latest accounts. Audited figures, covering the eight months to 31 March 2024, also revealed that the firm made a pre-tax loss of £5.7m. Directors said the diversified group had benefited from "tailwinds…

Construction output growth dropped back in October as high borrowing costs dampened new orders in all sectors. Overall, output in the construction sector came in at 54.3, a drop from September’s 57.2 figure – a two-and a half year record high, according to October’s S&P Global UK Construction Purchasing Managers’…

A glazing and aluminium facade specialist had no net cash when administrators were appointed six months ago. Architectural Glass and Aluminium Ltd (ARGLA), which went under in April, held cash in the bank. But it owed a Coronavirus Bounce Back loan, which cancelled out its entire cash pot. In its…

M Group Services has acquired a technical engineering solutions business with more than 1,500 staff.  The infrastructure services group has paid an undisclosed sum for BGEN, a Warrington-headquartered company that specialises in building services in sectors including water, pharmaceuticals, industrial and energy.  BGEN made a £15m pre-tax profit from a…

Nine major construction firms could be missing crucial internal audit functions that are key to identifying financial risks to firms and the industry itself, a leading auditing body has said. Of the top 30 firms in the UK construction sector, nine “may be operating without internal audit capabilities”, the chief…

FM Conway has reported increased turnover and profit, days after announcing its sale to Vinci.  The Kent-headquartered highways specialist recorded an 8 per cent increase in turnover to £579.8m for the year ending 31 March 2024, while its pre-tax profit almost doubled to £29.4m.  In a strategic report accompanying the…

Kajima is nearly free of millions of pounds of wind-down provisions associated with its former construction business in the UK. The Japanese firm, which announced its gradual departure from the UK construction market in 2005, spent £6.5m on “onerous commitments” in the UK sector over the course of 2023, according…

A steel fabricator in Kent has become the latest construction firm to make the transition to an employee ownership trust (EOT). The move took place last Tuesday (29 October), Hythe-based Nusteel Structures Ltd announced in a LinkedIn post three days later. The firm said that becoming an EOT was necessary…

Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the construction sector intensified before today's Budget, with multiple deals announced. These include CN 100 firms, a Nordic cladding group and an AIM-listed housebuilding specialist. One expert told Construction News that he believed "100 per cent" that the  flurry of M&A activity reflects concerns…

Vinci Construction is to acquire infrastructure services business FM Conway, one of the biggest family-owned firms in the construction industry. Highways specialist FM Conway will be bought for an undisclosed sum after it signed a share purchase agreement with Vinci’s UK construction business this week. FM Conway said in a…