Author Archives: Charlotte Banks

Dragados has been named as the preferred bidder to build a £100m freight terminal in Lincolnshire. The Spanish firm was appointed to the first stage of a two-stage contract to design and build a facility for roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ships at the Port of Immingham on the Humber Estuary. The first…

A coalition of 11 industry bodies have called for political parties to commit to regulating embodied carbon ahead of the general election. The Chartered Institution of Building (CIOB) and Construction Industry Council (CIC) are among those who signed a policy paper asking party leaders to contain in their manifestos an…

Homes England didn’t know what it was doing when it invested in collapsed housebuilders Ilke and House by Urban Splash, Conservative peer Lord Daniel Moylan has suggested in an interview with Construction News. Moylan was speaking after the House of Lords Built Environment Committee, which he chairs, concluded its inquiry…

A House of Lords committee has criticised the government for lacking a clear strategy on its investment in modern methods of construction (MMC). The Lords’ Built Environment Committee said in a report published this morning (26 January) that the government had “too easily accepted” that the way to encourage MMC…

The redevelopment of two hospitals in the Scottish Highlands has been put on hold after the Scottish government froze hospital construction spending for two years. NHS Highland has confirmed that the £160m redevelopment of Lochaber’s and Caithness’s health facilities, led by Balfour Beatty, will not go ahead for the foreseeable…

EDF has estimated that Hinkley Point C could cost up to £46bn and take another four years to complete. The French state-owned client said that the first reactor will not be in use until at least 2029, two years later than the most recent 2027 goal, and could take until…

Brickability has bought cladding and roofing contractor Topek Southern Ltd (TSL) in a deal worth up to £48m. The building-materials specialist said the move would expand its cladding installation and remediation capabilities across the country, complementing its acquisition of Group Topek Holdings in October. The deal consists of a £27.3m…

Thousands of construction workers at energy sites have called off strike action after accepting a pay rise of more than 17 per cent over two years. 3,000 engineering construction workers at Sellafield nuclear facility and Stanlow, Fawley, Valero, Grangemouth and Mossmorran oil refineries were due to walk out in a…

Google has started construction work on a $1bn (£790m) data centre in Hertfordshire. The new development is being built on a 33-acre site in Waltham Cross, which Google acquired in 2020. The company has not named any contractors working on the site or explained what construction works it has now…

Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) has been found in two more prisons, with the Ministry of Justice expecting to spend around £900,000 on remediation. The collapse-risk concrete has now been identified in HMP Leyhill, a category D prison in Gloucestershire, as well as HMP Parkhurst, a category B premises that…