Financial

More than four in five specialists say that late payments from main contractors have impacted their mental health, according to Construction News’ payment survey. The figure is revealed today in the the results of a major survey by CN of construction subcontractors’ experiences of retentions and payment practices. The survey,…

Bachy Soletanche Holdings (Europe) has added more than £100m to its turnover in a year. The Lancashire-headquartered ground engineering specialist posted income of £221.6m for the 12 months ending 31 December 2022 – up 91 per cent from the year before. Pre-tax profit was up 87 per cent over the…

Late payment and retentions are set to remain headaches for the construction sector thanks to the government’s half-hearted efforts to drive change To its credit, the UK government has long acknowledged the construction industry’s problems with late payment and retentions. Key policy interventions in 2010, 2014 and 2017 claimed to…

Late payment and retentions have long been a blight on the industry. An exclusive Construction News survey of subcontractors shows the problem is ruining not only companies, but lives “I’ve had that two-o’clock-in-the-morning thing where your imagination is running wild – you can’t sleep as you’re stressing,” the director of…

Laing O’Rourke’s chief financial officer has denied there are any further skeletons in the company's closet after a legacy Australian job cost the contractor £193m last year. This week, the UK’s largest private contractor reported a £288m loss before tax, driven by provisions, legal costs and a write-off relating to…

Michael J Lonsdale owed more than £120m when it collapsed, Construction News can reveal. The Berkshire-headquartered mechanical & electrical (M&E) specialist went into administration in October, after 36 years of trading. A new report by administrators from Begbies Traynor has revealed that the firm owed trade creditors £65m, employees £3.4m…

Renew Holdings is close to turning over £1bn following a record year. The Leeds-based civils contractor posted income of £960.9m for the 12 months to 30 September this year. That is up 13 per cent from the prior year and marks a third successive period of significant growth since the…

The government has released details of the likely information that large contractors will have to publish about their retentions. Business secretary Kemi Badenoch announced in October that major construction companies will be forced to report key details about the retentions they hold as part of a crackdown on poor payment…

Main contractor Colmore Tang has entered voluntary liquidation after being hit by a winding up order from HMRC. The Birmingham-headquartered firm, which turned over £95m in the year to 31 May 2018, had been downsizing since the pandemic hit and since 2021 had not generated enough revenue to be required…

Firms looking to win significant government contracts will have to show they pay invoices within 30 days, it has been announced. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said this week that in order to help small businesses, Whitehall procurement rules will be strengthened to speed up large companies’ payments to their supply chains.…