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London and the North East were the only places in the country to see home building registrations fall during the three months from February to April.  According to the latest NHBC figures, UK new homes registrations were unaffected by the run up to the election, increasing by 20% to 41,307 compared with the same period last year . But London saw a sharp fall of nearly 2,400 registrations, equating to a 30% drop over the period. The smaller North East regional fell by a similar percentage which amount6ed to a decline of 450 registration compared to the same period a year before. The latest figures suggest that the cooling in house prices in the Capital is now working through into fewer starts compared the exuberance of a years ago. Across …

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SDS Limited has been selected by the London Stock Exchange as one of this year’s ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’. SDS has been identified, from over 3,600 high-growth manufacturing companies in the UK, as having a unique capacity to innovate and create new jobs, in turn spearheading the revival of the UK economy. To be considered for inclusion, businesses must not only have demonstrated growth in revenue over the last 4 years, but have also significantly outperformed their industry peers. By showcasing the UK’s most dynamic companies, the recently announced LSE report highlights the importance of fast growing businesses to the future of the UK economy. Xavier Rolet, Chief Executive, London Stock Exchange Group, said: “This report is a significant part of London Stock Exchange’s broader campaign to …

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Amnesty International has said that progress to improve the rights of migrant workers building Qatar’s FIFA World Cup facilities is not being made fast enough. Though it is more than 12 months since Qatar’s government promised reforms to improve migrant labour rights, Amnesty said that only limited progress has been achieved in five of nine areas. The authorities have failed to make any improvements in the other four according to a scorecard briefing titled ‘Promising little, delivering less: Qatar and migrant labour abuse ahead of the 2022 Football World Cup’. “Qatar is failing migrant workers,” said Mustafa Qadri, Gulf migrant rights researcher at Amnesty International. “Last year the government made promises to improve migrant labour rights in Qatar, but in practice, there have been no significant advances in …

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The Merseylink construction consortium selected to deliver a new gateway project on the River Mersey has developed a new bridge. The trestle bridge will be used by heavy construction vehicles and sophisticated equipment purely as an access platform to the build site. A lifting section, which will be used to allow boats to pass up and down the river, is also due to be installed. The consortium is made up of three contractors, FCC Construcción, Kier Infrastructure & Overseas and Samsung Construction & Trading. The temporary bridge will be dismantled and removed completely when the new Mersey Gateway Bridge is in place. Richard Walker, Merserylink Project Director, said: “Completion of the trestle bridge marks another important milestone for the Mersey Gateway Project. “It will provide …

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Five firms have secured places for £10m-plus projects under Cambridgeshire County Council’s and Northamptonshire County Council’s shared services framework. They are among a total of 30 firms making the cut on a panel that will be used to deliver an estimated £500m-£1bn of work over four years. The Local Government Shared Services construction framework will be used for repairs and renovation, refurbishment, demolition, modular build, extensions and new build. LGSS Framework £100k – £1.5m £1.5m – £3m £3m – £6m £6m – £10m £10m plus Steele & Bray Jeakins Weir Wildgoose Kier Wates Borras Barnes Keepmoat Farrans John Graham T + B Lakehouse Seddon Willmott Dixon Galliford Try D Brown Ashe Lakehouse Bouygues Vinci Coulson Watson …

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Newly conducted research has discovered that nearly one quarter of registered individuals who work within the construction industry did not vote during last week’s general election, with the majority of these individuals blaming a lack of knowledge surrounding party policies behind their decision not to take to the ballot. After the news that an estimated 66.1 per cent of the electorate in Britain voted during last week’s general election, a team of researchers at a leading business insurance website in the UK has discovered that as many as one quarter of construction workers who were registered to vote last week, made the decision not to. The team at www.constructaquote.com polled a total of 2,159 individuals working across a range of industries within the construction sector for the purposes …

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Galliford Try has signed a deal with Shepherd Group to buy their Yorkshire housing assets. As reported recently, the deal will give Linden Homes’ a springboard to meet its targeted expansion by 2018. The sell-off comprises six current sites and five sites in planning, totalling a landbank of 515 plots. It is not known what will happen to the 60 staff at Shepherd Homes. It is the first disposal by Shepherd Group after the management reviewed its options for its seven main operating businesses. Latest 2014 accounts for the privately-owned group showed it struggled to perform with profit falling 40% to £11m from a turnover of £686m. Within this there were strong performances by Portakabin, Shepherd Engineering Services, Homes and FM, but Shepherd Construction and two businesses within Shepherd …

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Mobile CAD Surveying the Measured Building Surveying specialists have launched a new website this week to show off some of their recent work and surveying services. The Company are well known for carrying out specialist surveying projects and schedules of buildings to all types of premises around the UK and abroad for many blue chip clients and adding to their portfolio of clients and surveying services all the time, though it about time they launch a new website to better compliment their growing business, so mobcad is now launched. If you need any type of building surveying for whatever reason, they will be happy to help. A few reasons to use Mobile CAD Surveying Solutions Ltd:- Short lead in times usually less than 7 days Short drawing turn around …

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The European Commission has opened an anti-dumping investigation into Chinese imports of steel rebar. The investigation will look at the flood of imports of high fatigue performance rebar, which is coming into the UK at below market prices. Imports now account for half of the total steel used in construction and are undermining domestic steel manufacturing. European trade body EUROFER triggered the Commission investigation warning the situation was “no longer sustainable”. UK Steel, the body representing manufacturers, said it hoped the move would see a step-change for European procurement practices, reintroducing a level playing field for suppliers across the UK and Europe. Gareth Stace, Director of UK Steel, said: “UK steel members are encouraged by the Commission’s action to investigate our complaint that rebar from China is being dumped …

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Hundreds of subcontractors hit by the collapse of the GB Group are owed £39m. And administrators at BDO have conceded that trade suppliers are unlikely to see a penny of their cash The Enquirer has seen the administrator’s report in the wake of the firm’s failure in early March. It makes grim reading for subcontractors owed money for work on more than 40 former GB sites across the country. GB Group and GB Building Solutions crashed owing more than £100m in total. That figure includes £30m to unsecured trade creditors and a further £9m held in retentions. The companies also owed £18m to performance bond underwriters with the balance made up of inter-company debts and cross indemnities. BDO experts believe their will …

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