Sir Robert McAlpine

Bam Construct is set to start work on the £300m Gateshead Arena after taking over from fellow contractor Sir Robert McAlpine.  According to Gateshead Council, developer Ask Patrizia has instructed Bam Construct to begin preparatory works on the site, which lies between the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art and Sage…

Moves to adopt flexible-working schemes at the NHS show that construction can be accommodating in its work patterns, Sir Robert McAlpine chief executive Paul Hamer has said. The healthcare sector has done well to adopt some flexible-working arrangements, and is similar to construction as much of the work must be…

Sir Robert McAlpine is investigating an incident in which exterior panels dislodged from a new 23-storey Hilton hotel it is building as part of a multi-million-pound development.  A “small number” of exterior panels dislodged from the under-construction 189-room hotel in Woking, Surrey, last Wednesday. It led to a police cordon…

Multiplex is offering staff the option of four-day working weeks in a new flexible-working initiative that it hopes will improve the gender balance in the company. Its ‘Multiplex Flex’ initiative will provide staff with different options for flexible working. It includes early finishes on Fridays, four-day weeks, remote working and…

Three bidders have been shortlisted to deliver the £370m Solihull Interchange station for HS2. The firms in the running are Laing O’Rourke, Skanska and Unity (a joint venture between Sir Robert McAlpine, VolkerFitzpatrick and WSP). The contract is set to be awarded next year. All three bidders have already landed…

A revised planning application is to be submitted this week for a £75m concert hall in Edinburgh, which was delayed by a legal challenge in 2019. The Dunard Centre, a 1,000-capacity venue, was approved in April 2019 by the city council, with Sir Robert McAlpine named as contractor for the…

Kier, Sir Robert McAlpine and Multiplex are exploring possibilities to enable tradespeople and site-based staff to work flexibly, Construction News can reveal. Kier will soon start pilot programmes on three projects that will see workers, including tradespeople, try flexible-working options. The pilot will be run in association with flexible working…

Sir Robert McAlpine fell to a £26.8m loss in its 2019/20 financial results, largely due to an expected rush of litigation over defects on old projects. The company made a £14.8m provision because of issues uncovered in a risk review carried out “in response to the pandemic”, when the company…

Sir Robert McAlpine’s renovation of the Elizabeth Tower will face a further cost increase of up to £9m, due to disruptions linked to the coronavirus pandemic. The Big Ben tower project will now cost close to £89m, after work on the site stopped for four months from late March 2020,…

Sir Robert McAlpine has been appointed on a design-and-build contract for the £72.6m upgrade of mental health facilities in Northumberland. Working for the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, the firm will carry out upgrades to the Northgate, Ferdene and Bamburgh hospitals. At Northgate hospital in Morpeth (pictured),…