Sustained growth in London building upgrade activity has lifted office construction to a record high in the first three months of 2024. The volume under construction hit an all-time high of 16.4m sq ft across 127 schemes by March, according to the latest Deloitte London Office Crane Survey. Much was fed from work starts in

Specialist contractors in the mechanical, electrical and plumbing sectors are warning that ongoing systemic skills shortages are now holding back growth. The latest quarterly survey supported by the main electrotechnical sector trade bodies paints a picture of an overriding issue that has now been a serious concern for the last four quarters. The warning comes

Tata Chemicals Europe Limited has been fined £1.125m after a young father died following an incident while erecting a scaffold tower at a chemical plant in Northwich. Michael Densmore, from Halewood in Merseyside, died following complications to the wound he sustained after his right foot slipped into a trough containing a liquid chemical calcium hydroxide

Southern Water has picked a seven-strong consultant team to steer its £7.8bn investment programme for the AMP8 (2025-30) period. The professional services framework is one of three critical frameworks to be used for the programnme, with capital delivery and network services still to be decided. The framework, which runs for an initial five years with

Wates Construction managing director Paul Chandler is retiring at the end of this year, after a 42-year career in construction. The industry veteran joined Wates from Skanska in 2017 and grew the construction arm from around £700m to £1.3bn turnover, delivering profitable growth year on year. His decision to retire comes as Wates chief executive

Construction activity continued to rise in May with industry buyers reporting positive momentum across all sectors. The bellwether S&P Global UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 54.7 from 53.0 in April – the fastest rate growth rate in two years. For the first time since May 2022, all three monitored categories of house building,

Bouygues UK has been appointed lead contractor to design and build an £80m ambulatory diagnostic centre at West Middlesex University Hospital. The facility for by Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust will provide vital diagnostic and treatment services in cancer, renal and imaging for local residents in Hounslow, Richmond and Ealing. The project includes

Tendering is starting to refresh the line-up of firms for a major London and Home Counties schools framework for new build and retrofit work. London’s Haringey Borough Council is handling the procurement of the £3bn framework, which has been reshaped to allocate places for small and medium-sized firms as well as bigger players in the

Broadband network builder Openreach Limited has been fined £1.34m after an engineer died while trying to repair a telephone line. Alun Owen,32, from Bethesda, died after he slipped and fell into the River Aber in Abergwyngregyn and was swept away on 6 October 2020. An investigation by the HSE and North Wales Police found that

Road Sweeper Hire specialist went into administration owing its supply chain £4.3m. The firm’s debts are detailed in an update from administrator Alvarez & Marsal filed at Companies House. Administrators took charge of the firm in May and sold parts of the business for £2m to waste management contract Sweeptech in a pre-pack deal. Go