News

Administrators of collapsed plant hirer Hewden have failed to find a buyer for the firm’s large crane fleet. Joint administrator Ernst & Young have now been forced to appoint auctioneers for a major fire sale of the large crane fleet and thousands of other items of construction equipment. All of Hewden’s plant assets are expected to take around four months to offload slowing down the recovery of funds for creditors of the ex-hire firm, which has been renamed HS Realisations in administration. The first of a series of planned auctions organised by Euro Auctions will start this month. The first be held in the south west of England on the 18-20 January, first at Redruth, then Newton Abbott followed by Swansea. The unreserved auctions of excavators, dumpers…

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Eight Features All Successful Construction Companies Have in Common There are countless construction and civil engineering companies out there, but not all are equal and if you’re thinking about a career in construction (and the economy needs you!), then here’s what you should look for in a prospective employer. A company with a vision Everyone needs a vision, a plan, an aim and a focus so if the company you’re looking at wants to develop an award-winning set of environmental practices, for example, it could be the right one for you. The Lagan Construction Group from Northern Ireland recently won an environmental award, so awards and plaudits are definite things to look for. A company with a clear leadership plan Leadership isn’t just about dishing …

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Prequalification of firms will start in February for £150m worth of construction work for the planned light railway system for Luton Airport Arup will design and procure the 2.2km light rail scheme The 2.2 km long guided mass rapid transit passenger system will run between two purpose-built stations, heading out from Stirling Place, close to Luton Airport Parkway station, to the airport terminal. It will be broken down into two main packages Civils work worth up to £115m will include viaducts, embankments, cut and cover works and station platforms. Some of the works will be within the airside sections of the airport. The track, rolling stock and associated systems package will be subject to a separate contract worth up to £35m to be awarded…

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Car maker Jaguar Land Rover has submitted plans to develop a vast logistics hub on a green field site next to its Solihull plant. The near 1m sq ft logistics operations centre will be used to receive and store parts for its Solihull production plant, which assembles Range Rover and Land Rover models. The scheme also includes 40,000 sq ft of offices space and a triple deck car park with 1,150 spaces. The site located on green belt consists of eight fields located near Solihull Football Club on Damson Parkway and is bounded to the north by Birmingham International Airport. Plans drawn up by architect Ridge & Partners provide for a 17m high main building, spanned by a series of pitched roofs covered in photovoltaics. It will offer 78 HGV…

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Highways England has released video footage of construction workers chasing a motorist through a closed motorway site. The shocking CCTV pictures come as Highways England revealed that four drivers a month are entering closed sections of road in the Manchester smart motorway scheme to either overtake traffic on the motorway or avoid using diversion routes. The footage shows a driver ignoring an overnight slip road closure at junction 11 of the M60 at Eccles, where he is seen being chased through the construction area by angry road workers. Drivers are now being warned that they could be prosecuted if they ignore road closures, and electronic signs at the side of the motorway are also being used to display the message ‘Don’t ignore road closures. CCTV in operation.’…

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A construction company and its managing director have been prosecuted for operating an unsafe site during the conversion of a building in Bollington. Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court heard how the conditions on the site, where a former pub was being changed into two houses, were so poor it prompted a a member of public to complain to the local authority. The HSE inspected the site and had to stop all the work on the building as the conditions were so dangerous and putting workers lives at immediate risk. In total HSE inspectors served three prohibition notices and two improvements notices for safety failings including work at height issues, missing floorings with no protection and health failings including the provision of welfare facilities with running water. Inspectors…

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In the Autumn Statement the chancellor, Philip Hammond announced new government policies to tackle the housing challenges the UK faces. One of the biggest changes for the buy-to-let sector was that letting agent fees will be scrapped. The ban will help struggling renters, as the average cost of these fees is £340 per tenant. As a result of the new ban,  stocks of Foxton’s and Countrywide fell sharply. However, there has been concerns in the industry that the fees could be passed on to landlords, who are already facing the upcoming ‘tax attack’ in April 2017. Experts fear landlords will be left to foot the bill, as estate agents will raise fees to make their money back. As a result landlords could be forced to raise …

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Managing construction projects is no small feat. With 1000s of action items to handle, timelines to be met and projects to be delivered, the question many project managers face is, “is my team working as effectively as possible?” In efforts to help you answer that question, we asked over 30 experienced project managers in the construction industry about how they spend their time on the job, their best advice for managing their team, and how they know when their team is performing to its full potential. How do Project Managers Spend Their Time? Many in the workforce agree that email occupies a significant amount of time spent during the workday. This article from Huffington Post found that workers spend 3.2 hours on average on work emails per day. …

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Irish petrol forecourt firm Applegreen is planning major motorway service stations on the M42 near Birmingham and M3 near Basingstoke. Subject to planning, the largest scheme will be built at junction 4 of the M42 near Shirley and will boast a rolling ‘green roof’ on the main amenity building. The location of the 21.5-acre site means Applegreen plans to deliver a very compact scheme that does not require building significant new access road infrastructure in the Green Belt. Under the plans, drawn up by architect Axis, the main parking area will cater for over 600 cars and 70 HGVs with separate fuel and parking for trucks and coaches. A new pedestrian bridge over the M42 will also be required. Applegreen is expanding its operations after a successful IPO in June…

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Laing O’Rourke is calling for the introduction of construction GCSEs and A-levels in a bid to solve the industry’s skills crisis. The suggestion is part of a ten-point plan put forward by the contractor in a report launched today. O’Rourke wants to see the introduction of GCSEs and A-levels in Design, Engineer and Construct (DEC). Schoolchildren can currently learn DEC as part of the curriculum but the existing qualifications are not recognised by many universities. And only 42 schools out of a possible 3,401 state-funded secondary schools in England offer the DEC curriculum. O’Rourke said: “The government has the opportunity to work with the industry to create GCSEs and A-levels in DEC and incentivise schools and colleges to offer them to pupils and students…

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