Author Archives: Charlotte Banks

A new committee set up by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) does not contain any executives or trade bodies representing tier one contractors. The Industry Competence Committee (ICC) has 17 members, who largely work at professional bodies and consultancies. The committee will be headed by Jon Vanstone, chair of software…

MRP, the property development arm of McAleer & Rushe, has been selected as the master-development partner for the Weavers Cross regeneration scheme in Belfast. Translink, Northern Ireland’s public transport provider, selected the County Tyrone-based firm to lead private sector investment on the project. Weavers Cross will include up to 120,000…

Equans Regeneration has secured a £72 million contract to bring the Paragon Estate in Brentford, west London back into occupation between 2025 and 2026. Housing association Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) asked the complex’s 1,000 residents to leave their homes in October 2020 after safety checks carried out in the wake…

A quarter of construction workers consider themselves to be neurodiverse, according to a report by the National Federation of Builders (NFB). The figure is higher than that of the general public, among whom one in seven is estimated to have a neurodiverse condition. Neurodiversity refers to different thinking styles that…

Property developer Hines has started the procurement process for three new towers in central London. The firm submitted a planning application for 18 Blackfriars Road on Monday. Designed by architects Foster + Partners, the project will occupy a two-acre brownfield site next to the River Thames, near cultural landmarks such…

Royal Bam topped the monthly contractors’ league table in July for the first time since 2020, after it was chosen to build converter stations at each end of a £2bn undersea cable between Scotland and England. The firm was awarded £500m for its share of work on Eastern Green Link…

Wolverhampton City Council is set to establish a four-year housing-development framework that could generate work worth up to £1bn. The council will invite bids from local contractors to partner with them over the medium and long term to deliver new homes and estate regeneration across council-owned sites. In a prior-information…

The heads of two construction trade bodies have hit out after the High Court ruled that the Mayor of London’s planned expansion of the capital’s ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) was lawful. Following the ruling last Thursday, the expansion of ULEZ into all London boroughs will go ahead as planned on…

VolkerFitzpatrick has been awarded a £19m contract to build a highway bridge over a rail line in Surrey. The Ash Road Bridge project will allow for the decommissioning of a level crossing on the A323 Guildford Road ahead of increased rail use on the North Downs line. The Ash Level…