Supply Chain

The hot conditions this summer have been blamed for a second consecutive drop in construction output. Monthly construction output declined by a further 0.8 per cent or £114m in July, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed. The contraction followed a 1.4 per cent fall in June, and marks…

Stanton Precast has announced the appointment of a new managing director. The company is producing precast concrete segments for a 2.5km “green tunnel” being built by HS2 in Northamptonshire, known as the Chiltern Tunnel. In August, assembly of the tunnel was paused after HS2 identified “quality issues” with some of…

Construction sites in central London can expect significant disruption from arrangements for the lying in state and state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has also warned in guidance issued to the industry that the public may be angered if sites keep working in sensitive locations.…

Roofing specialist Avonside has gone into administration, with 250 people at risk of losing their jobs. The firm was forced to appoint administrators this week after it saw its profits squeezed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Those issues were accentuated by a “margin squeeze, the impact of underperforming divisions and financial…

A strong focus on improving the energy efficiency of UK homes is vital to shield SMEs from the effects of increasing material and energy costs, construction leaders have argued. Yesterday, Liz Truss announced help for businesses against rising energy costs by pledging a six-month scheme to cap prices for both…

Fewer construction companies collapsed in August than in the previous month, but it was still more than the total that went under during the same time last year. A total of 20 contractors entered administration, three fewer than July’s total. Yet, despite a drop in month-on-month administrations, August’s total was…

Jacob Rees-Mogg has been named as the new business secretary by incoming prime minister Liz Truss amid a significant reshuffle of her cabinet, which also saw Kwasi Kwarteng become the new chancellor. The new PM’s inaugural cabinet has seen a number of loyalists and low-government, low-tax advocates given key roles,…

Contractors must take steps to protect themselves legally against unpredictable inflation-driven cost increases in labour and materials, lawyers have warned. Andrew Boccoli, a director in the commercial property department at Edinburgh law firm Lindsays, said the days of fixed-price contracts could be over as firms sought to protect themselves against…

The construction industry faces a “second wave” of inflation, as rising energy prices drive up wages and other costs, the boss of the world’s largest building-materials company has warned. Chief executive of Dublin-based CRH, Albert Manifold, said he was seeing a “second wave of cost increases” after Russia’s invasion of…

Reintroducing the red-diesel rebate would go some way towards combatting the “very significant, rapid price increases” seen across the building material sector, the Mineral Products Association (MPA) has argued. In a letter to chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, the MPA, which represents the aggregates and cement industries in the UK, demanded action…