M&A

The number of business failures in the construction sector soared this year, reflecting microeconomic factors as well as the general malaise in the UK economy. Some 312 construction firms went into administration between January and October – a 58 per cent year-on-year increase and far exceeding the 2022 full-year total…

At a time when climate goals urgently demand innovative decarbonisation solutions, funding for green-tech startups in construction is evaporating Picture the scene: it’s 2050, and you’ve just signed a contract to build yet another flying-skateboard distribution centre. You compare materials sourced via the circular economy on an online database and…

Late payment and retentions are set to remain headaches for the construction sector thanks to the government’s half-hearted efforts to drive change To its credit, the UK government has long acknowledged the construction industry’s problems with late payment and retentions. Key policy interventions in 2010, 2014 and 2017 claimed to…

Late payment and retentions have long been a blight on the industry. An exclusive Construction News survey of subcontractors shows the problem is ruining not only companies, but lives “I’ve had that two-o’clock-in-the-morning thing where your imagination is running wild – you can’t sleep as you’re stressing,” the director of…

Construction News research reveals a 30 per cent hike in the average annual package for the 20 best-paid contractor plc executives Amid the continuing cost-of-living crisis, executive pay remains a contentious issue for the general public. In August, the High Pay Centre (HPC) revealed in its annual survey that average…

Mark Collins is executive director at Bentley Project Management With a general election coming in the next year or so, and the third round of levelling-up funding on the horizon, it’s crunch time for a host of major regeneration projects looking to squeeze the last remaining funds from the current…

The combined revenue figure from our seven specialisms is promising. But the mood darkens when you look at profits and margins The latest annual Construction News Specialists Index depicts a strong overall revenue performance from the top 10 contractors in seven sectors: concrete, demolition, envelope, ground engineering, mechanical and electrical…

By Keith Cooper All bar two of the leading steel specialists saw their revenues surge in their latest annual accounts, amid a continuing recovery from Covid-19 and material-cost inflation. However, pre-tax profit margins for this year’s top 10 were static at 4.1 per cent. Big turnover boosts were recorded by…

By Keith Cooper This year’s index shows that inflationary pressures squeezed scaffolding firms’ revenues, profits and margins. The median pre-tax margin for the top 10 scaffolding specialists has fallen to 5 per cent against 6.7 per cent for the firms listed in the 2022 index. However, the top 10 firms…

Demand for electric-vehicle charging, renewable energy connections, grid upgrades and electric heating schemes are all providing a healthy pipeline of work for mechanical and electrical (M&E) specialists. Aggregate revenue among the largest 10 firms in the sector has risen by 13 per cent, from £2.68bn to £3.04bn, in this year’s…