HS2’s London tunnels contractor, Skanksa Costain Strabag joint venture has lifted new TBM cutting heads into place as they prepare for the next stage of tunnelling under the capital. Major components of the first machine called Emily have now been lifted into the 25m deep ancillary shaft at the HS2 site in Ealing to prepare

Developer Landsec has submitted plans for its next big office scheme in London. The 20-storey mixed-use tower will replace Hill House, a 1970s concrete building on a site just North of Fleet Street. Should planning permission be granted, construction is expected to start in 2025. Three London contractors – Mace, Multiplex and Skanska – are

Bathroom pod makers have been hit by heavy losses as the modular construction market remains “brutal”. Specialist Elements Europe has just posted latest results showing a £5.7m pre-tax loss for the year to December 31 2022 on a turnover of £21.9m. Fellow pod maker Off Site Solutions made a pre-tax loss of £2.1m from a

Ballymore and Sainsbury’s have submitted plans for a major canalside neighbourhood at a large former gas works site in West London’s Ladbroke Grove area. The proposed new neighbourhood will provide over 2,500 homes, of which at least 500 will be affordable, plus two parks and a local high street with a reinstated, historic canal basin

Kier has decided to separate its London and Southern construction divisions into distinct operations again, just two years after merging the two business units. The U-turn sees former Morgan Sindall Northern Home Counties area director David Rowsell brought in as new managing director of Kier Construction London. Under Rowsell’s leadership, Kier Construction London will now

The UK arm of Dutch contractor Pellikaan Group is to start enabling works next month on a £33m project to build the new Epping leisure centre and swimming pool complex in Essex. The new centre will be located on Bakers Lane car park site and will provide a six-lane swimming pool, fitness suite, gym, studios,

Essex-based warehouse specialist Readie Construction has doubled in size since the owners sold to an employee-owned trust  over two years ago. The firm saw revenue jump 22% to £421m in the year to March 2023. Its expansion saw the business take on around 40 extra staff lifting head count to 260 staff. This compares with

House builder Vistry said it has held “productive discussions” with subcontractors over plans for 10% pay cuts on contracts. Vistry first floated the idea with subbies last month and has started holding meeting with suppliers in the last few weeks. In a trading update to the city today it said: “We appreciate the productive discussions

Forecasters have downgraded the expected construction recovery next year warning the industry is now set to remain in recession until the start of 2025. High interest rate will continue to drag down housing activity with infrastructure and even industrial activity expected to slide in 2024. The scale of next year’s contraction will be far less

Vinci’s UK business racked-up pre tax losses of £44.2m last year as problem contracts blew a hole in the accounts. Latest numbers filed at Companies House show the firm plunged into the red from a £23.6m profit last time as turnover for the year to December 31 2022 ticked-up to £1.28bn from £1.17bn. The biggest