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Developer Capital & Counties has today confirmed that Keltbray will start demolition in February of the famous Earls Court exhibition halls in West London. The vast job is due to take 18 months to two years to complete, paving the way for major construction works to create a new 7,500-home neighbourhood. Sir Robert McAlpine and Keltbray have been on board as construction and demolition advisers on the vast project. The first phase of the £3bn Earls Court scheme at Lillie Square has been prelet and enabling works are almost complete. Lillie Square will consist of 808 homes and will sit next to four new neighbourhoods planned on 77 acres surrounding Earls Court exhibition halls. A contractor is yet to be confirmed for the first blocks at Lillie Square. The …

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A major row on Costain’s £400m Greater Manchester waste facilities contract over retentions and work defects has left a specialist fighting for survival. Preston waste engineering specialist TEG has suspended trading in its shares on the AIM market as it tries to negotiate further financial backing. The firm said it had been in talks with Costain for two years to release a £2.8m retention held by the main contractor. TEG won a £38m contract back in 2009 to provide four specialist composting facilities by 2011 as part of Europe’s largest waste PFI. But alleged design faults have delayed completion of the facilities which are due to handle 175,000 tonnes per annum of green and food waste. TEG has carried out remedial works for Costain in a programme …

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The deepening crisis among main contractors has been highlighted by new figures from Ernst & Young showing profit warnings are on the rise. Accountant EY tracks profit warnings from publicly listed firms and has warned that contractors are being punished on low margin legacy contracts as labour, material and subcontractor costs soar. Alan Hudson, EY’s head of restructuring for UK & Ireland, said: “Parts of the sector are under severe margin pressure in spite of – and in some instances because of – the strong recovery.” FTSE construction and materials companies issued five profit warnings in the third quarter of 2014, the highest quarterly total since Q2 2012. So far this year there have been nine profit warnings from six companies, already ahead of the total of seven …

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Lee Hutchinson of Mace has been crowned Construction Manager of the Year 2014. The Mace project director fought off strong competition to win the coveted title for his work on a new science building at St Paul’s School close to the River Thames in Barnes, southwest London. The project was completed on time and under budget to award-winning architectural standards despite being tendered and built at the height of the recession. Hugh Muirhead, project director at St Paul’s School said: “We always found Lee imaginative and disciplined in overcoming problems, with a refreshing openness and clarity in the way he worked with the team to keep the momentum going, always with an eye to our sensitivities and requirements. “I do not recall having worked with a better …

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The University of Leeds is on the hunt for main contractors to deliver two major upgrade jobs worth up to £25m. The biggest job coming up for grabs is the £16m refurbishment of the University’s grade II listed Edward Boyle Library. The original library building was completed in 1975, and was extended in the mid-1990?s. Works comprise full refurbishment of the study areas, replacement of M&E plant and roof coverings. Secondary glazing and some alterations to windows and glazing will be needed. Planning approval and listed building consent will be applied for in November, with tenders due to be issued to shortlisted contractors in mid-February 2015. Work on the 18-month programme is due to start at the end of June 2016. The University is also looking …

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Two Essex businessmen who evaded £2.5m in Corporation Tax and VAT in a fraud linked to the supply of labour to the rail construction industry have been jailed for 10 years. For seven years Michael Woodward, from Grays, Essex, failed to pay business taxes for the companies he ran. He lied about his company profits and created false invoices from bogus consultancy firms, controlled by his best friend and co-defendant Richard Ponsford from Ongar, Essex. Paul Barton, Assistant Director, Criminal Investigation, HMRC, said: “Woodward and Ponsford thought they had created the perfect crime, stealing millions from law-abiding taxpayers. “They thought their criminal actions would go undetected but they were wrong. They have lost their freedom which has been traded instead for time behind bars. “We …

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Taylor Wimpey has submitted a planning application for the first stage of a development that will see 500 new homes built on Moreton Hall, in Bury St Edmunds. The developer is seeking consent for the first of five build phases – for 100 homes north of Mount Road – with no more than 50 to be occupied before the completion of the Eastern Relief Road (ERR). It wants to build the houses to ‘stimulate funding for the construction’ of the ERR, but concerns remain about not having suitable infrastructure in place before the homes are occupied. Borough councillor Terry Buckle said: “I actually think the road ought to be put in before the houses and, if they build the houses, no-one should go in before the road is built….

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A crawler crane rigged with around 120 metres of boom and a back mast went over on a wind farm south of Lucknow, Ontario in Canada, on Wednesday. The crane fell while moving between turbines and thankfully there were no serious injuries. The crane’s crawlers sank into the soft ground Six people were working on the K2 Wind site at the time – which is located in a remote area to the west of Toronto – including the crane operator, and a number of ‘spotters’. The crane was moving over the wet and uneven ground when the tracks appear to have sunk at the back causing the crane to overturn backwards. The Ontario Ministry of Labour was notified, and is expected to launch an investigation. The crane …

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Measured surveys Nationwide and into Europe! Mobile CAD Surveying Solutions Ltd  can accommodate either a simple single property floor plan for a domestic or private customer to a complete schedule of buildings including whatever type of data collection the customer requires for a commercial customer. If you are an Architects or Surveyor and you require fast turn around building surveys, please give us a try! we currently work for dozens of architects and designers around the UK, where they haven’t the capacity or staff to handle their own surveys or where they just require someone to make sure the job is done right and first time. Currently we are working on many Commercial surveys around the country, with a number of domestic and Dimensional Property Surveys around …

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Wandsworth Council has granted planning for phase three of the Battersea Power Station redevelopment. The approval covers the south west corner of the site to create a new pedestrian high street running from Battersea Park Road to the power station building. It will be the main gateway to site from the south and include entrances to the new Northern Line tube station below. The scheme also includes a new pedestrian subway underneath Battersea Park Road, linking Stewards Road with the new power station development and providing another route into tube station. Phase three will include 1,305 homes including 103 which will be available for Wandsworth residents on low and middle incomes to rent at a reduced rate. To the  west of the new high street will be a distinctive …

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