Author Archives: Catrin Picton

Dan Williams has been appointed as the new managing director of Skanska UK’s building services operating unit. He moves up from his current role as operations director and replaces Adam McDonald, who has been promoted to executive vice president with strategic responsibility for Skanska UK’s building and building services businesses.…

Offsite production of the first of 68 precast concrete piers to support HS2's Thame Valley modular viaduct has begun. The UK subsidiary of Spanish firm Pacadar started manufacturing the piers yesterday (18 May) at an offsite factory (pictured) on the Isle of Grain. The 880-metre-long modular viaduct near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire,…

Housebuilder and contractor Durkan has made a £9.3m pre-tax loss due to fire safety remediation costs. The Hertfordshire-based company has undertaken a review of all of its completed buildings in relation to cladding and combustible materials, fire stopping, workmanship, defects, and regulatory compliance more generally. As a result of the…

Two company directors have been jailed and fined £1.6m for the deaths of five agency workers following the collapse of a 45-tonne wall at a metal recycling site in Birmingham. Wayne Anthony Hawkeswood and Graham John Woodhouse both received nine-month custodial sentences on 15 May, after a five-week trial at…

Sureserve has reported an increase in both profit and turnover – and confirmed its £214m takeover, which is expected to complete in July. In the six months to 31 March, the housing-maintenance group made a profit of £6.7m – an increase of 55.8 per cent on the equivalent period a…

A collapsed specialist groundwork company is set to pay compensation to its former employees, who were not consulted properly before being made redundant. Ellicon Construction, which was based in the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, entered administration in summer 2022 after 20 years of trading, making 52 staff redundant. The family-run…

Workers at Severfield’s headquarters complex in North Yorkshire are set to strike over ‘disappointing’ pay conditions. Steelworkers have planned three 24-hour strikes and three 12-hour strikes on Mondays and Fridays, backed by GMB Union. The strikes will cover a total of six days across three weeks, with 250 staff expected…

Public contracting authorities are now allowed to use the Common Assessment Standard (CAS) following a government update to procurement rules. CAS, developed by Build UK, is an industry-agreed set of questions and corresponding assessment standards for the prequalification of suppliers. A public procurement notice (PPN) issued by the Cabinet Office…

A Conservative backbencher has called for a new legally binding code of conduct for developers carrying out cladding remediation. Introducing the Cladding Remediation Works (Code of Practice) Bill in the House of Commons on 9 May, Ipswich MP Tom Hunt (pictured) said: “Now is the time to bring in a…

FM Conway has acquired Essex-based Flowline and its 164 employees from administration. Specialist drainage contractor Flowline appointed administrators from PwC on Friday (5 May), when it was renamed F (Realisations) 2023 Limited. The immediate sale of Flowline at 2.57am on Friday means all of the company’s 164 employees have transferred…