US giant CBRE has decided to combine its project management businesses with that of its majority-owned Turner and Townsend consultancy. The move to merge the two PM divisions will create a $3bn business employing more than 2,000 staff across 60 countries. CBRE bought a 60% controlling stake in the 75-year-old T&T nearly three years ago

Industry veteran Ray O’Rourke will step down as chief executive of the contracting business he founded five decades ago at the end of this month. He will hand over the reins to his son Cathal O’Rourke, a graduate civil engineer who ran the Australian arm of the group for over a decade, and recently returned

Insurance giant AXA has given main contractor Multiplex the go-ahead to start main works on its 650,000 sq ft 50 Fenchurch Street office tower in the City of London. Kelbray finished enabling work last month allowing piling to get underway on what will be one of the lowest carbon and most biodiverse high-rise towers in

Birmingham City Council is planning to appoint up to five specialist contractors to deliver a £265m programme of energy efficiency upgrades to 3,000 homes a year in the city. In an unusual step, the council said it also aims to charge the selected firms an annual fee. This charge would cover the council’s costs in

Insulation and building products supplier SIG issued a profit warning to the city today as continued weaker trading in May and June pushed back the timing of an anticipated market recover. SIG operates across Europe and subdues trading was most marked in the end markets of its UK Interiors business, France and Germany. The firm

Thames Water has picked an Arup/Binnies joint venture to draw up the engineering designs for a new reservoir south of Oxford, near Abingdon. Plans for the £1.5bn reservoir known as SESRO (South East Strategic Reservoir Option) would secure water supplies to 15 million customers in the Thames Water, Southern Water and Affinity Water catchments from

The construction bond market squeeze will force clients and contractors to rethink their working practices. Experts in the sector say clients must now release bonds earlier to free up capacity in the restricted market. Where client variations take project work above agreed contract values, bonds should be released and then rewritten to cover the smaller

The industry has just completed a quarter of the total building safety cladding retrofits needed to comply with new regulations brought in after the Grenfell disaster. Latest Government figures show contractors have now reclad 1,088 (25%) of the 4,374 buildings identified as unsafe seven years after 72 died in the Grenfell Tower fire. Despite a

Construction delays on an upgrade to Ibrox mean Rangers will have to move their opening fixtures away from the famous stadium at the start of next season in August. The club confirmed problems with an upgrade to the Copland Stand where a new wheelchair-accesible section is being created and a new cantilever constructed with almost

Speedy Hire has replaced HSS as the main plant and equipment hirer to Amey in a deal worth up to £25m a year. HSS made a stock exchange announcement earlier this month confirming its largest customer Amey had decided to switch suppliers after nine years. Under the new deal Speedy will provide non-operated plant hire