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TWO NORTH-EAST construction companies are reporting a surge in contracts, revenue and new jobs, amid signs that the beleaguered building trade is showing signs of recovery. Newcastle-based Shepherd Engineering Services (SES), has landed a double deal worth a combined £13m.  and Newton Aycliffe firm Finley Structures is on target to smash its record turnover. SES will provide full mechanical and electrical (M&E) services as part of the £200m transformation of Newcastle’s historic city-centre Stephenson Quarter. The company, which has offices in Darlington and York, will also provide all of the M&E services on the new Consett Academy and Leisure Centre in County Durham which forms part of a £40m investment into the former steel town. The deals come less than a year after…

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Estate agent Hamptons International says house price growth in greater London will cool to 3pc in 2015 from 15.5pc this year . Dramatic double-digit increases in London house prices will come to an abrupt halt next year, as anxiety around the general election and rising interest rates puts a severe dampener on growth, according to a report from Hamptons International. House price growth in greater London will cool from 15.5pc this year to just 3pc next year, according to the estate agent’s latest forecasts. Even the most sought after areas such as Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster will not be immune from the softening market; Hamptons believes growth in prime central London will weaken to 3pc in 2015 from 10pc this year. The research from Hamptons, which specialises in …

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A bankrupt building boss is serving 27 months in prison for a string of offences including fraud and running four separate building companies despite being disqualified as a director. . The conviction of Trevor Lawrence – also known as Trevor Fail – follows an initial investigation by the Insolvency Service and a full criminal investigation and prosecution by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS). Trevor Lawrence, 50, also pleaded guilty to acting as a director whilst a disqualified along with seven other related offences including three counts of fraud. He was sentenced on 14 July 2014 at Northampton Crown Court. The judge also disqualified him from acting as a director for seven years. Commenting on the sentence, BIS deputy chief investigating officer Ian West said: “This was a particularly blatant …

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Developer LXB properties is planning to start tendering next month for a major out-of-town retail and leisure scheme at Rushden Lakes, in Northamptonshire. The developer announced today that it had cleared all hurdles to planning and would now start the near 500,000 sq ft shopping and leisure complex early next year. Several contractors including BAM, Bowmer & Kirkland and McLaren had been in project talks but progress was being hampered by planning uncertainty. LXB received the green light from communities secretary Eric Pickles in June subject to a six-week period where further challenges were permitted. This has now passed and LXB Properties can go ahead with the retail park on a 244-acre plot of brownfield land next to the A45 Northampton Road. A spokesman said: “Pre-lets …

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Construction buyers are reporting the biggest boom in new job creation since their monthly surveys began back in 1997. The latest Markit/CIPS UK Construction PMI survey for July showed new job vacancies opening up at the fastest rate for 17 years. The index dipped slightly to 62.4 from 62.6 in June bu the headline figure has now posted above the 50.0 no-change threshold for 15 months running. July data also signalled the steepest rise in residential building activity since November 2003 while rates charged by subcontractors increased at a near-record pace. David Noble, Group Chief Executive Officer at the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply, said: “The house building sector is racing ahead this quarter with the fastest growth in construction of homes for over a decade. “The industry as a …

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A construction worker has been rescued after falling down a 19ft bore hole on an Aberdeenshire building site. The 25-year-old man was working on a Stewart Milne Homes site on the outskirts of Aberdeen when the incident happened yesterday afternoon. A fire crew and a line rescue specialist team managed to hoist him up from the 3 feet diameter bore hole. He is said to have suffered leg injuries as a result of the fall. The Stewart Milne Homes site at Sunnyside Farm in the village of Drumoak, is being developed with plans for 35 homes.

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Scientists have come up with a way of using noise cancelling technology for acoustic barriers alongside roads and railway lines. Sonobex Limited, a newly formed spin-out from Loughborough University, has funding from the Technology Strategy Board, to bring its SonoBarrier acoustic fences to market. The first CE mark prototypes are expected to be produced by February 2015, the company says. Sonobex uses a patented acoustic meta-material technology called sonic crystals, which are fabricated materials designed to control, direct and manipulate sound. Sonobex sonic crystal based noise reduction technology is a passive method that superimposes disturbing noise with scattered anti-acoustic noise to cancel out the disturbance. Designs are tuned to particular dominant frequencies to achieve significant reduction levels. Sonobex has a £358,000 budget for its project, …

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A CONSTRUCTION giant buying up large parts of London is lobbying Camden Council to a build skyscraper at the cost of the community, local residents warned yesterday. Supporters of the Save Swiss Cottage campaign have urged Camden to repeal Essential Living’s proposal to demolish the former Reuters building on 100 Avenue Road to build “long-term private rental” accommodation. The proposed area for redevelopment currently houses one of the few local green spaces, a community centre, Hampstead Theatre and the homes of local residents, including caring facilities for people with disabilities. Save Swiss Cottage member Sarah Gottlieb spoke to the Star about her fears over the construction, including its impact on the community and the inescapable ramping up of housing prices in the area. In her view the …

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Construction of a new £13.5m state of the art three-storey teaching block for Horsham’s Millais School has reached the half-way stage. Funded through West Sussex County Council’s School Capital Building Programme, the works will see a new teaching block to house specialist facilities for art, music and technology and new suites for maths and modern languages. Work started in October last year, and Willmott Dixon is currently on track to finish the second phase of works by November this year. Work is currently in the second of four phases and the team are working toward ultimate completion in November 2015. Headteacher Leon Nettley, chair of governors Liz Barnes, Willmott Dixon’s local managing director John Waterman, and project manager Matt Dubber, attended the event with several …

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Calls are growing to scrap the industry’s CIS tax scheme as HM Revenue & Customs launches consultation on reforms to the current system. Chancellor George Osborne conceded that changes to CIS were needed in his latest budget. The tax man is now calling on construction companies for their views on the scheme which is estimated to cost the industry £250m a year in administration. But industry experts believe the Government should be looking at scrapping CIS rather than just tinkering with the way it operates. Howard Royse, construction industry representative of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), said: “It is important that people working in the industry take this opportunity to tell HMRC exactly what they think of CIS. “We at ICAEW …

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