News

After four years of investigation, police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have announced there will be no manslaughter charges in relation to the deaths of two demolition workers at a decommissioned steelworks. John Mackay, 49, and Tommy Williams, 65, died following an explosion at the former British Steel…

A supply chain firm has been ordered to pay a former staff member £22,000, after a tribunal cast doubt on its claims the ex-employee had pocketed cash by secretly hiring out its products. Concord Lifting Equipment (CLE), based in Wimbledon, south-west London, claimed that the former staff member had committed…

Industry figures have criticised Rishi Sunak for creating uncertainty and confusion after he pushed back climate targets on home insulation, boiler replacement and electric cars. Yesterday (20 September), the prime minister scrapped plans to force landlords to upgrade their properties to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C or above by 2025.…

A range of companies and trade bodies have launched a new coalition to promote diversity in the construction industry. The Construction Inclusion Coalition (CIC) has been established by chief executives at nine product manufacturers and building suppliers and two trade bodies: Aliaxis, Baxi, Bradfords, City Plumbing, Ibstock, Knauf, Travis Perkins,…

There was a sharp fall in contract awards and project starts in the three months to August, according to Glenigan’s latest Construction Review. Main contract awards averaged a total £7.69bn per month – a 37 per cent decline compared with the preceding three-month period and 27 per cent lower than…

The first phase of Edinburgh’s tram system was three years late and £300m over budget due to “a litany of avoidable failures”, a public inquiry has concluded. After nine years of investigation, the inquiry has published a damning final report that blames contractual mismanagement, design delays and onsite problems for…

Galliford Try has reported moderate increases in profit and turnover. The contractor turned over £1.39bn in the year to 30 June 2023, a 13 per cent increase on a year earlier. Revenue at its infrastructure arm grew substantially from £441.9m to £590.8m, while growth at the company’s larger building division…

The High Court has ordered a Welsh council to pay Alun Griffiths £3.3m – and dismissed its argument for postponing payment as “spurious”. In an earlier adjudication, Carmarthenshire County Council was found to have owed £3,316,487.55 to Alun Griffiths in relation to the contractor’s work on the A48 road. Carmarthenshire…

Tolent’s administrators have said the collapsed firm will be unable to pay most of its debts, leaving former staff £584,000 out of pocket. Interpath, the company appointed to oversee the administration of the companies in the Tolent group, also said that HM Revenue & Customs was also unlikely to recoup…

A new episode of First Site, Construction News’ monthly podcast sponsored by equipment-hire specialist Speedy Hire, was released this morning (20 September). To coincide with the release of our latest annual CN100 index of top-performing UK contractors*, CN deputy editor Ben Vogel is joined by two experts to discuss financial…