Author Archives: Ian Weinfass

Making sure firms and workers are competent to carry out construction projects is one of the biggest post-Grenfell initiatives in the sector. CN investigates the progress to date In the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, Dame Judith Hackitt’s seminal report Building a Safer Future highlighted a construction industry that…

It’s hard to identify and expensive to fix. But something needs to be done about aerated concrete In July 2018, a primary school was forced to close unexpectedly after its roof collapsed. Fortunately it was a Saturday evening and the structure at Singlewell Primary School in Gravesend, Kent, was above…

Hertfordshire-based firm Jarvis Contracting has appointed administrators and made 70 staff redundant. The £43.8m-turnover company was based in Harpenden and worked in the residential, health, industrial and education sectors. A statement from administrators at Verulam Advisory blamed unsustainable contract terms for its downfall. “The company has suffered adverse market conditions…

Travis Perkins has predicted that price inflation will carry on throughout what it says will be a “challenging” 2023. In its financial results for the year to 31 December 2022, the UK’s largest builders merchant said that, although inflation was moderating, it did not anticipate any “notable deflation” in manufactured…

A group of 57 Conservative MPs, including Boris Johnson, have written to prime minister Rishi Sunak calling on the government to commit to fund two more nuclear power projects, it has been reported. According to the Times, the group warned that there was a “damaging gap in our nuclear capabilities…

Glencar Construction has more than doubled its turnover to put it among the country’s biggest contractors. The Hertfordshire-headquartered company, formed in 2016 by ex-McLaren staff, saw its revenue grow to £417.8m in the year to 30 September 2022, from £160.4m the year before. The firm, which has only been large…

Milestone Infrastructure has landed a Suffolk highways contract worth up to £1bn. Suffolk County Council named the contractor, which was Skanska UK’s infrastructure services division until its acquisition by M Group Services, on the 20-year deal. Kier formerly held the local authority’s highways contract, but its performance was criticised by…

Quintain and John Sisk & Son have secured a new legal order to keep trespassers off cranes overlooking Wembley Stadium. Sisk is delivering a new £220m neighbourhood called North East Lands at Wembley Park in north London. It will eventually include more than 2,000 new homes, public realm and a…

As the investigation into the deaths of four men at a decommissioned power station enters its eighth year, Ian Weinfass speaks to some of those still affected by the tragedy and asks why the industry has received no guidance since Sadie Cresswell has been waiting for seven years to find…

The cost of building Hinkley Point C could reach £32.7bn, EDF has revealed. In its annual report and accounts, the French energy giant said that due to inflation, the cost of building the nuclear power station may rise 28 per cent higher than the £25bn-£26bn it announced last year. In…