News

Developer Brookfield is bringing forward plans for a new tall building at 1 Leadenhall in the City of London. Image of existing and planned central London towers, including 1 Leadenhall building The tower will rise to 37 floors, which will be a more modest office building compared to the scale of some of the more ambitious plans unveiled for the Square Mile. Architect Make has designed the 183m tower that will boast a public galley with views over the Leadenhall Market. The existing seven storey building on the 1 Leadenhall site, known as Leadenhall Court will be demolished over six months once approval is obtained. Under present plans work could start on the new tower as early as March 2018. Brookfield has gone out to public consultation with the plans ahead of submitting…

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After several months of decline, construction output bounced back in April rising 2.5% compared with March. All new work increased by 2.9% while repair and maintenance also increased 1.9%, despite growing fears in the industry that the EU referendum is slowing project starts. The latest output returns represented the largest month-on-month increase for over two years, although April activity remained 3.7% below a year ago. But the underlying three-month trend after several months of poorer figures showed output in the construction industry decreased by 2.1% against the previous period. Seasonally adjusted construction output since 2010 First quarter new order figures, which were also released today, were 1.2% down on both the previous quarter and the same period a year ago. Professor Noble Francis, Economics Director at the Construction Products Association, said:  “Today’s output…

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It has been repeatedly reported that the UK’s construction industry (housing construction in particular) was one of the first sectors to feel the full scale of the impact the recession bought with it, and was also one of the slowest when it came to recovering. While many other industries have been benefitting from a widening talent pool thanks to the ever advancing digital revolution, it seems that the construction industry is experiencing a tightening on the talent that is readily available. In 2014, the Construction News Barometer found that almost 90% of construction leaders said that the skills shortage was one of the top challenges that their business faced. 88% of leaders also thought that a lack of both skills and staff was a major concern for the …

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Subcontractors have been left holding £7.8m of unpaid bills following the failure of PHD1 Construction. Former PHD1 staff are now helping to build the £200m new Chinatown scheme in Liverpool The North West contractor fell into administration in April. PHD1 worked on a number of high profile sites across the region. An administrator’s report said clients started slowing payments to PHD1 which had a knock-on effect to its suppliers which resulted in a winding-up petition being issued. The administrator’s report said the company effectively ceased trading in February when it was working on six incomplete sites. The last set of results for PHD1 showed the firm made a pre-tax profit of £384,000 on a turnover of £22m for the year to…

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Job figures rising to a four-month high in May isn’t necessarily good news for the construction industry, according to One Way. An analysis by the construction and rail recruitment specialist found that the growth in the number of newly created jobs, outlined in the Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index, merely highlighted the worsening skills shortages that continue to impact the sector. This is made particularly concerning by the fact that rising job vacancies come at a time when industry output has slumped to a three-year low. Managing Director of One Way Paul Payne, comments. “On paper a rise in job vacancies should be great news for us, but when you consider the bigger picture it only highlights the growing skills shortages that the …

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The building boom is Manchester has been fired up further after two major schemes gained planning approval. The largest will see Balfour Beatty now start work later this year on the University of Manchester’s £350m engineering campus. The Manchester Engineering Campus Development will be one of the largest, single construction projects ever undertaken by a higher education institution in the UK. At 195m long, the development’s main building – MEC Hall – could easily accommodate Manchester’s tallest building, Beetham Tower, laid sideways. Architects Mecanoo designed the flagship project which will open in 2020 and bring together a multi-disciplinary engineering and scientific community and consolidate the University’s student campus around Oxford Road. Located opposite the National Graphene Institute on Booth Street East and adjacent to the Manchester Aquatics Centre, the new…

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A joint venture between Murphy and Hochtief has been named preferred bidder for the main tunnelling contract for the planned £2.4bn potash mine in North Yorkshire. Plan advances to mine the world’s largest deposit of potash Sirius Minerals, a fertilizer producer, hopes to start preparatory building work at the site near Whitby shortly, with the mine opening in 2021. A 23-mile tunnel will be built, so minerals can be transported to a processing plant on Teesside. The fertilizer producer also named Associated Mining Construction – formed from specialist firms within the Thyseen and Redpath group – as preferred bidder for shaft sinking at the mine site. The Murphy Hochtief joint venture will design and build the underground mineral transport system to link the mine with the materials…

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Henry Boot is enjoying continued growth at its construction division despite Government output figures claiming the industry is contracting. Figures from the Office of National Statistics showing that construction output in March fell by 3.6% month-on-month prompted a rash of gloomy headlines in national newspapers. But the numbers were questioned by expert construction forecasters. Now Henry Boot has added to the debate in its latest trading update to the City. The firm said: “Our Construction business has made a strong start to the year and expects to achieve targeted activity in 2016 and are already building the 2017 order book. “Encouragingly, and contrary to certain press comment regarding parts of the UK construction market, we are seeing improvements in both construction activity and the size of opportunities…

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New research by a money saving website in the UK has discovered that over one third of workers in Briton have to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at work at least twice a week. Furthermore it was found that on average Britons work 12 hours more per week than they are contracted too.  Workers across the country have admitted that they often find themselves consuming all three of their daily meals whilst at work, according to new research by a money saving website in the UK. The team at www.VoucherCodesPro.co.uk conducted the research as part of an ongoing study into the average Britons working day. A total of 2,015 UK-based workers aged 18 and over, all of whom stated they were in full-time work, …

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BLACKBURN, England, May, 2016 – Chubb Fire & Security Limited, a leading provider of security and fire-safety solutions for businesses and industry, held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new high-performance workspace in Blackburn. The project will transform Chubb’s existing Blackburn office campus into an advanced, integrated and sustainable space for Chubb, as well as UK affiliates of Otis Limited and Carrier Controls Limited, and serve as a showcase for the capabilities of all three brands. Chubb is a part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX). Alastair Reynolds, managing director of Chubb Fire & Security said, “This is an exciting day for our company. With this new building we are creating a safer, smarter and more sustainable environment that …

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