Author Archives: Contributor

Lord Moylan is chair of the House of Lords Built Environment Committee Modern methods of construction (MMC) should be increasingly attractive, given their claims of being more efficient, addressing labour problems and the demonstrable success seen in commercial and high-rise buildings. However, we aren’t seeing the delivery of MMC housing…

Duncan Rudall is chief executive of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors You may be surprised to learn that 91 per cent of all those working in the built-environment industry have felt overwhelmed at some point in their careers. Indeed, underneath the constant banter and camaraderie that bring the UK’s…

Sam Barnes is a partner and national head of cost management at consultancy RLB UK Last year wasn’t the best of years to be a contractor. The last seven months of 2023 saw major contractors such as Henry Construction, Buckingham and Michael J Lonsdale go into administration, and in November,…

Emma Mottram is director of operations for social housing procurement consortium EN:Procure Procurement is an expensive game. Going by the latest government figures, one pound of public money in every three is spent on public procurement – totalling some £300bn per year. The Procurement Act 2023 comes into force later…

Client collaboration and stronger pipelines of work are key to solving an intractable workforce recruitment problem that continues to plague the industry, finds Mark Smulian On the panel Sylvia Cashman, senior manager, Mace Group Richie Hales, director, Turner & Townsend Ruth Hutchison, communications for major projects, Sellafield Ltd Elliott Murphy,…

Gerry Brannigan is a partner and forensic technical services growth development lead at consultancy HKA High capital costs and inflation are squeezing construction. Given the gloomy economic outlook for 2024 and beyond, the industry is braced for recession. “Learning lessons from distressed projects should be a starting point for all…

Christian Rowe is the managing director of Executive Compass When bidding into the public sector, small- and medium-sized construction businesses (SMEs) often feel they are at a competitive disadvantage, particularly given that most government contracts employ a fixed-cost pricing model. “It may be preferable to miss out on a contract…

Fiona Hodgson is chief executive of the Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation  In a move reflecting the complex interplay between environmental goals and practical realities, the Scottish Government has recently adjusted its timeline for phasing out fossil fuel boilers, setting a revised target date of 2028. This decision,…

Amelia Woodley is ESG director at Speedy Hire Net-zero targets are fast becoming a top prerequisite in construction-project tenders as the sector works on cutting emissions to hit the UK Government target for net zero by 2050. However, there also needs to be a parallel focus on the important role…

Project-starts and detailed planning approvals fell against the previous year and the previous quarter. More positively, main contract awards grew on both the preceding three months and a year ago. Infrastructure overview Totalling £2.339bn, civil engineering work starting on site during the three months to December fell 49 per cent…