Author Archives: Ian Weinfass

Local government commissioners have warned that the government’s withdrawal of funding for a £600m PFI highways contract, won by Kier, is likely to damage a bankrupt council’s ability to turn its finances around. On 30 November, the Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed it was ending its funding support for the…

Kier Group will return to the FTSE 250 Index later this month after a five-year absence. London Stock Exchange indices producer FTSE Russell announced on Wednesday (28 February) that the contractor would re-enter its mid-cap list on 18 March after the implementation of its next review. The FTSE 250 contains…

NG Bailey has announced the departure of chief executive David Hurcomb after 14 years at the helm. Hurcomb will retire in May and be replaced by Jonathan Stockton, currently chief operating officer at the mechanical & electrical (M&E) contractor. Hurcomb joined the then £464m-turnover NG Bailey in 2010 from Havelock…

Builders merchants, scaffolders and a subsidiary of a large main contractor are among firms named by the government for failing to pay the minimum wage. More than 500 companies have been named after investigations by HMRC found that between 2015 and 2023 they had breached the National Minimum Wage Act.…

A coalition of built environment groups have said the government’s net-zero housing plans do not go far enough. Low Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI), a network of 1,000 professionals in the sector, says the Future Homes Standard could see housing built to lower environmental standards than today. The Department for Levelling…

Administrators for Britishvolt are speaking to new potential buyers after the company that struck a deal to buy it one year ago failed to pay what it owes. Britishvolt, which planned to build a £3.8bn vehicle-battery plant in Cambois, near Blyth, Northumberland, went into administration in January 2023. Weeks later,…

Police officers have carried out new interviews in the criminal investigation into the fatal building collapse at Didcot Power Station. Tomorrow marks the eighth anniversary of the tragedy. Four men – Michael Collings, Ken Cresswell, Christopher Huxtable and John Shaw – died after the boiler house at the disused coal-fired…

A payroll firm involved in a long-running dispute with the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) over £8m of levy payments has lost large parts of its latest legal battle. In 2018, the CITB assessed that Hudson Contract Services (now known as Knot Builders) owed £27.4m (later revised to £7.96m) in…

Profit has fallen sharply at MJ Gleeson amid continued pressure on the housing market. The housebuilder saw pre-tax profit fall to £7.2m in the six months to 31 December 2023, down from £16.1m in the same period in 2022. Its revenue fell from £171m in the second half of 2022…

Sir Robert McAlpine has announced the sudden departure of chief executive Paul Hamer, and that he will be replaced with former Lendlease Europe boss Neil Martin. A statement shared by the contractor on Friday (16 February) said that Martin will start in post on Monday (19 February) and is joining…