News

Government departments are failing to regularly use project bank accounts (PBAs) on large construction projects, contrary to their own procurement rules, according to exclusive data obtained by Construction News. Cabinet Office procurement rules say PBAs should be used unless there are “compelling reasons” not to do so. However, since 1…

Ardmore has been named as main contractor on a £50m office retrofit job in central London. Client LS Estates has appointed the Islington-headquartered firm to its commercial project at 5 Chancery Lane. Work will involve retrofitting the existing six-storey building, located between Fleet Street and Holborn, to provide 105,600 square…

Reforms are needed to boost the number of electricians, which is essential for the UK to deliver on its pledge to become net zero by 2050, a new report has warned. The Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA) launched its Recharging Electrical Skills Charter at an event in the Houses of Parliament…

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…

A heroic crane operator who lifted a colleague to safety from a tower blaze in Reading said his “adrenaline was gone out the roof” during the rescue. Glen Edwards was lauded after saving the man’s life when a fire broke out last week at an 18-storey office tower being built…

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…

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has appointed Philip White to lead the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) on a permanent basis. White, the HSE’s director of building safety, took over as interim chief of the BSR when former head Peter Baker retired in April this year. Baker had led the…

The Building Safety Regulator has vowed to inspect all buildings with unsafe cladding in its first year of assessments. In its first strategic plan the regulator has said that by the end of its second year of operation, ending April 2025, it ought to have assessed about a fifth of…

Two former managing directors at collapsed contractor Buckingham have landed senior roles at Keltbray and John F Hunt Regeneration. Simon Walkley, who became group managing director at Buckingham shortly before it entered administration in September, joins Keltbray as managing director for rail in the firm’s infrastructure services division. Walkley steps…

Keltbray Energy, OCU and the Clancy Group have been chosen to carry out more than £1bn of upgrades to the electricity network in the South of England. Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said the three companies would carry out significant improvement works on separate parts of the network’s central…