Time and date
CONSTRUCTION DIRECTORY
UK Construction News Archive for July 2010
30/07/2010
An architect's practice and a construction company involved in a Somerset development have today been fined a total of £195,000 following a fatality on the site. Express Park Construction Company Limited (EPCC), of Harley Street, London, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Sa
30/07/2010
A new two-pool leisure and fitness centre, to replace Forest Hill Pools on Dartmouth Road, has been approved by Lewisham Council Planning Committee. The facility is Lewisham's fourth new leisure centre development to be approved in recent years. A new leisure complex was opened in Downham in 2007,
30/07/2010
Morgan Sindall has handed over the keys to the new Transforming Education Needs (TEN) Centre at Harrop Fold Specialist Arts College in Hilton Lane, Worsley, Manchester. The completion marks the end of a three-and-a-half-year partnership between Morgan Sindall, Salford City Council and the College,
30/07/2010
Shepherd Construction has been awarded a £16.5 million contract to build a new research facility for the University of Liverpool . The 5950m² Apex facility will be built on land adjacent to the University's Bioscience Building and once complete, will accommodate 600 researchers who will support the
30/07/2010
Sisk has won a £13.8 million project to fit out a new distribution warehouse and office facility for Co-Op (part of the Co-operative Group) in Newhouse, near Motherwell, Scotland. Owing to a programme of network development, the Co-Op Food Supply Chain Logistics has built a new 503,000ft2 composite
30/07/2010
British architectural firm Benoy has announced the signings of three new high-profile contracts for the Company in India. The landmark developments will deliver world-class shopping, leisure, luxury lifestyle and exclusive residential living, enhancing the quality of urban life in India. Specialis
30/07/2010
The Qualifications Credit Framework (QCF) being introduced throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland is intended to make the national qualifications system simpler to understand and use and offers employers and learners greater choice to access the right qualifications for their needs. Also, i
30/07/2010
Work has begun on the extensive low carbon refurbishment of the Edward Woods Estate near Shepherd's Bush in London. The project involves renovation of three 24 storey towers of this 1960's social housing development rather than have them demolished and replaced. The £12.2 million refurbishment o
29/07/2010
Social housing group Connaught has agreed an additional £15 million short-term overdraft facility with a deferral of interest with its bankers. The cash strapped firm said earlier this week that its debt was soaring and it would breach its banking covenants by the end of the year. Chairman Roy Gar
29/07/2010
A quarry operator was today fined £30,000 after a 30-tonne wheel loader vehicle overturned and slid almost 16ft down a sand stockpile. Humberside Aggregates and Excavations Ltd, of Newport Road, North Cave, East Yorkshire, was also ordered to pay £10,590 in costs after pleading guilty to three sepa
29/07/2010
Home buyers can access more information about their new home without having to pay for the information, the government announced today. The law is being changed to stop people being charged a £22 fee for a personal search of the Local Land Charges Register. This move is intended to make key environ
29/07/2010
UK house prices fell by 0.5 % in July, the first time since February according to the Nationwide. This takes the average house price to £169,347 and the annual rate of inflation slips back to 6.6% Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said: "So far in 2010, demand from homebuyers has made
29/07/2010
Swansea's Urban Village is set to benefit from £600,000 funding from the Welsh Assembly government's Strategic Regeneration Area programme, Deputy Minister for Housing and Regeneration, Jocelyn Davies has announced. Coastal Housing Group's £7 million plan, which is designed to regenerate the High S
29/07/2010
The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) today welcomed Home Secretary Theresa May's intention to review the tools used to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB). Speaking at the Coin Street Community Centre in London today she said that it was time to 'turn the system on its head'. Joanne Kent-Smit
29/07/2010
Kier Southern and Hampshire Police Authority have celebrated a topping out ceremony at Southampton's cutting-edge, £30 million new operational command unit. The ceremony was marked with the placing of the final stone panel in the entrance area and speeches by Chief Constable Alex Marshall, Hampshi
29/07/2010
Cold Control, the award winning refrigeration and air conditioning specialists, were selected as the preferred contractor for the design, specification and installation of all the cooling requirements for the first two London based restaurants for a brand new concept in healthy Asian eating. The S
28/07/2010
Cuts in public sector spending are threatening previous signs of recovery in the construction industry according to the latest Nationalist Specialist Contractors Council (NSCC) State of Trade Survey. Although the results for the second quarter of 2010 show Specialist Contractors reporting increas
28/07/2010
The amount of construction work being commissioned from small building companies has continued to decline for the tenth consecutive quarter, according to the latest State of Trade Survey from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). However, there are signs that the continual fall in workloads may
28/07/2010
Work is about to begin on a £2 million affordable housing development to provide much needed affordable homes for people with a local connection to Marlborough in the South Hams. Hastoe Housing Association is building 17 homes for rent on a former allotment site next to Charnwood in Malborough near
28/07/2010
British Gas have announced profits of £585 million for the first half of the year - a rise of 98%. Centrica, which owns British Gas, has attributed the rise to the cold winter, as well as the addition of 223,000 new residential customers following the cut in gas bills in February. There had been a
28/07/2010
A £2.2 million scheme to help over 1,200 employees boost their skills and support Pembrokeshire's growing energy sector has been announced by Science, Innovation and Skills Deputy Minister, Lesley Griffiths. The Pembrokeshire Energy Sector Training project will help workers get the training needed
28/07/2010
World-renowned mountaineer and Lancaster University Vice Chancellor Sir Chris Bonnington recently witnessed work in progress at the university's new sports centre which is being built by Galliford Try. Sir Chris saw first-hand how the university's sport facilities are taking shape which when comple
28/07/2010
Kevin Willetts has been appointed to the Board of Lovell as Director of Business Development. He joins the company from national building and maintenance specialist Rok and brings extensive experience gained during a 27-year career in social housing. In his new position, based at Lovell head offic
28/07/2010
Weston Decorating Specialists has just launched their new corporate website at
27/07/2010
The Financial Services authority (FSA) is probing integrated services provider Connaught after its shares dropped by 75%. The City watchdog is investigating whether Connaught failed to disclose its terrible financial situation to investors ahead of last months shock profits warning. The social hou
27/07/2010
Gatwick Airport has awarded a significant contract worth £16.5 million to VINCI Construction UK, to transform the airport's South Terminal forecourt . The three-year transformation, which began in June last year, will provide a welcoming and spacious entrance for passengers arriving at the South Te
27/07/2010
Over £500 million worth of supermarket construction projects have begun on site so far this year (to June), with supermarket projects accounting for 69% of this figure according to Glenigan. "Retail looks likely to deliver badly needed growth prospects in construction over the next eighteen months
27/07/2010
A successful Northern Ireland civil engineering and construction firm, SIAC, which has a base just off south Belfast's Boucher Road, has scooped a €450 million contract to build a 35km motorway in Poland. The motorway will run from Kryz to Debica and is scheduled to be completed within the next two
27/07/2010
Housing Minster Grant Shapps has set out further steps for all new homes to be zero carbon from 2016. Rather than a top-down prescriptive approach, the plans outlined by Mr Shapps aim to give councils and developers much more flexibility to decide how to meet the ambitious eco-standards. The Mini
27/07/2010
Liverpool City Council is carrying out a 'call for sites' exercise to help update the evidence base for its Local Development Framework (LDF) and inform future planning policy. Landowners, developers, businesses and the public are invited to submit sites that they think would be suitable for develo
27/07/2010
The National Audit Office (NAO) has concluded that, by setting up an Infrastructure Financing Unit, HM Treasury helped reactivate the lending market for private finance projects which was putting government PFI programmes in doubt as a result of the credit crisis. While the extra finance costs for p
27/07/2010
Plans for the first development phase of the former RAF Locking site, approved recently by North Somerset Council,will provide a catalyst for the development of 6,000 sq ft of office accommodation, 100 new homes, a 14,000 sq ft office building and a 30,000 sq ft Innovation Centre. The site, which h
26/07/2010
There has been considerable progress on a much-anticipated, multi-million pound project to build the UK's longest road tunnel under land. Roads Minister Mike Penning has seen at first hand progress on the A3 Hindhead bypass project when he was driven through the whole length of the new 1.2-mile tun
26/07/2010
The building industry's top apprentices have been honoured at National Construction College's (NCC) East Award Ceremony. The annual graduation ceremony was held at the College’' East campus in King's Lynn, Norfolk. The NCC, which is the largest construction training provider in Europe, helped more
26/07/2010
Campion School in Bugbrooke unveiled its new library this week. The reveal ceremony marked the end of a five-day makeover of the school's old library. The new design is based on ideas from children at the school who won a makeover competition. The competition was organised by the British Council f
26/07/2010
Preparations are underway for work on a £48 million development at Durham University. Contracts have been exchanged between the University and its appointed construction partner, Laing O'Rourke, and work will begin at the end of this month. The new development, which is positioned at the edge of t
26/07/2010
More than half a million people could be added to housing waiting lists – and 283,000 construction industry jobs lost or not created – if the government slashes the affordable housebuilding budget by 40%, a leading campaign group has warned. The National Housing Federation said ministers, who are l
26/07/2010
JCB has won a huge order, including 42 tracked and wheeled excavators, from one of the country's leading plant hire firms. The multi-million pound deal has been secured with London-based Lynch Plant Hire and includes a fleet of 20 JS220 and 20 JS130 tracked excavator models in addition to two wheel
26/07/2010
A firm that specialises in the provision of social housing cross the UK has been hit hard on the Stock Market after it said it had identified an "urgent" need for extra funds. Shares in Exeter-based social housing firm Connaught have slumped 76% after news that debt levels were expected to be worse
26/07/2010
More than 750,000 people are at risk of losing their homes in London and the south east because of caps being introduced on housing benefit from April next year, according to a campaign group. The National Housing Federation says that the benefit cuts could effectively force low income families out
23/07/2010
A new Housing Pact published today calls for the government to prioritise investment in housing, preserve quality standards for all tenants and support reforms that promote mobility. In return, the Housing Pact promises sector-wide innovation that can help deliver more homes with less public money,
23/07/2010
Work on a £2.2 million flood defence scheme to protect Exeter's water supply has begun. A 600-metre long steel sheet piled wall, ranging from 1.5 metres to 2.4 metres high, will be built around Pynes Water Treatment Works at Upton Pyne, near Exeter, to protect the site should the nearby River Exe f
23/07/2010
Willmott Dixon has been appointed by Circle Anglia for two new housing projects worth over £20 million that will create 194 new homes. The largest is the £16.4 million contract for Bell Green, located in Sydenham, Lewisham, which will see Willmott Dixon design and build accommodation providing 156
23/07/2010
Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Alison Richard, and Laing O’Rourke Chairman and Chief Executive Ray O’Rourke Laing O’Rourke and The University of Cambridge have announced the creation of a new multi-disciplinary academic centre of excellence to advance the engineering profession and leverag
23/07/2010
Crossrail's pledge to create lasting skills and employment for Londoners was boosted by the launch of their Skills and Employment Strategy at City Hall. Up to 14,000 people will be employed at the peak of construction of the railway between 2013 and 2015 giving Londoners the chance to build and be
23/07/2010
New items are on the way in our Art Deco Door Furniture range.
23/07/2010
Construction union UCATT have welcomed the decision by the Welsh Assembly, to introduce powers that will allow the suspension of the Right to Buy of council homes. Nick Blundell, Regional Secretary for UCATT Wales and South West, said: "This is an important first step in the campaign to reduce the
23/07/2010
Right Choice Orangeries & Conservatories the Northwest's only true Orangery & Conservatory specialist, have added to its spectacular portfolio of projects by completing this High Spec Orangery project in Chorley, Lancashire. Dedicated solely to the design, supply and installation of the highest qua
23/07/2010
Having successfully operated in the UK for some time, Water Network Solutions took the decision last year to launch Solutions de Réseau d’Eau, a sister company in France. The UK market has seen an increase in the use of water leak detection companies in recent times, both by homeowners and commerci
23/07/2010
JCB is continuing its investment in global excavator production capability with the opening of its newest factory in Brazil where the first 20 tonne machine has just rolled off the line. The JS200LC tracked excavator has been bought by Jorcal Engenharia E Construções S/A, a company based in Sao Pa
22/07/2010
Local construction managers attended a mock trial in mid July to help them understand how important good health and safety is, by seeing first hand what can happen when things go wrong and a worker is injured. In the 'pretend' criminal trial at Northampton's Sessions House Court, both the company
22/07/2010
One of the biggest library redevelopments in the UK has been given the green light. After four years of planning, the 'PFI' contract for the £50m renovation of Liverpool Central Library was formally signed and immediately hailed as 'the best news this year' by Liverpool City Council. The 150-year-
22/07/2010
A new agreement has been signed between the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and ConstructionSkills to recognise a series of NVQs for access to membership. The agreement between ConstructionSkills and the CIOB covers a range of both existing National Qualification Framework (NQF) NVQ qualific
22/07/2010
The association that represents local government agencies across England and Wales has published shock figures that show a multi-million pound 'waste' on foot of national school rebuilding project cancellations. The Local Government Association (LGA) believes more than £203 million has been spent b
22/07/2010
Planning guidance aimed at boosting the rural economy and increasing the provision of affordable housing has been launched by Welsh Environment Minister, Jane Davidson. The Minister was at the Royal Welsh Show to launch Technical Advice Note 6 (TAN 6) – Planning for Sustainable Rural Communities.
22/07/2010
A scheme to improve safety and reduce congestion at the A449/M54 Junction 2 roundabout near Wolverhampton is nearing completion. The traffic lights will be commissioned on Sunday 25th July. The roundabout had been identified by the Highways Agency as a top priority for improvements due to the high
22/07/2010
A bid to construct a major retail project in Liverpool will not now go ahead after it was revealed that the supermarket chain Tesco announced it would not appeal a legal decision regarding its plans at Great Homer Street. This follows discussions with Liverpool City Council (LCC) regarding the fut
22/07/2010
A South Down-based joinery sub-contractor has won a £5m contract to fit out a restaurant for celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal. Newry's MJM won the contract for the new restaurant to be based in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hyde Park, London. Last year the MJM Group launched its new London based
21/07/2010
In rare good news this week, it has emerged that the huge steel manufacturer, Corus is hiring new staff at its two Speciality Steel factories in Yorkshire. Some 154 people are to be recruited, barely a year after the Stocksbridge and Rotherham plants faced closure. The positive news came despite t
21/07/2010
Builders are being warned again of the deadly dangers of contact with asbestos - this time on an international scale. Banned or restricted in more than 50 countries, white asbestos continues to be widely used in China, India, Russia and Brazil, and many developing nations, according to Dangers in t
21/07/2010
Leading social housing contractor Kier Building Maintenance has won a prestigious Business in the Community (BITC) Award for helping thousands of teenagers across the Yorkshire region into work with its successful work experience programmes. The repairs and maintenance organisation was presented wi
21/07/2010
A top provider of equipment rental and support services has appointed a new Group Marketing Director. Steve McIntyre joins Speedy, a successful business with clients across the construction, infrastructure, industrial, manufacturing and facilities management sectors, following a five-year spell as
21/07/2010
An industrial group specialising in secure power supply, control and security of low voltage electrical energy, for the industrial and services sectors, Socomec, has published the latest edition of the uninterruptible power supply technical manual, Selection Guide. The guide includes the new produc
21/07/2010
Mezzanine floors are a great way to increase your available square footage and Romstor are able to supply Mezzanine flooring for all types of different applications providing innovative solutions. If you have a high ceiling warehouse you can even install multi level mezzanine floors to maximise you
21/07/2010
A Co Antrim-based construction group has won a major contract in Liverpool to oversee the fit out a new museum. Ballymena's Patton Group, which recently scooped 'gongs' at the Irish News Workplace & Employment Awards in Belfast, is beginning work at the new museum in the famous port city. The cont
21/07/2010
Proposals to develop environmentally sustainable, community-owned housing on land owned by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) are to be delivered by a partnership led by TV presenter Kevin McCloud. The national housing and regeneration agency has announced it has identified Hab Oakus, a joint v
21/07/2010
Smoke, heat, evacuation and natural ventilation solutions are to be more accessible to the trade than before with news that Build.co.uk is adding leading firm, Building Profiles to its widely consulted directory. A company spokesman said that the directory is "helping us offer customers the most up
20/07/2010
Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure Group, has announced today that Balfour Beatty WorkPlace has signed the Southampton Highways Service Partnership contract with Southampton City Council. The £100 million partnership, which is scheduled to commence on 1 October 2010, is initially for
20/07/2010
Hundreds of teachers have protested at Parliament over the decision to axe a £55 million school building programme in England. More than 700 projects have been halted, following Education Secretary Michael Gove's announcement two weeks ago that the Building Schools for the Future programme was bein
20/07/2010
Almost 85,000 planned homes have been scrapped by councils across England in the wake of the Government's decision to axe regional housebuilding targets, according to a campaign group. An independent report, commissioned by the National Housing Federation, found many town halls have substantially r
20/07/2010
There are opportunities for apprenticeships in engineering that are for real 'high-flyers' Business Secretary Vince Cable visited the Farnborough International Airshow and called on young people to pursue a career in aerospace. Vince Cable made the opening speech of the show at the Sustainable Aer
20/07/2010
Employment figures published by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) show that the construction workforce on the Olympic Park is approaching its peak. There are now 6,450 people are working on the Olympic and a further 2,909 people working on the Olympic Village. Almost 250 apprentices have been p
20/07/2010
The leading builder, Willmott Dixon is providing support and advice to help young entrepreneurs win a share of £1.6 million on offer from Spark to develop ideas for preventing and combating homelessness. This is the first year that businesses competing for the money will receive support from the pr
20/07/2010
North-East based installer Hawthorns Windows has completed a complex Edwardian style installation at South Lodge of Slaley Hall; a stunning baronial style hotel set in the beautiful Northumbrian countryside. Hawthorns, founded by Alfie Hawthorn in 1989, was approached by De Vere Resorts, the owner
20/07/2010
BMB Weatherproof Canopies Ltd – ukBMB – offers a full range of Weather & Safety Protection solutions for Fork Trucks. Having over 20 years of manufacturing experience in the Fork Truck industry ukBMB have gained a wealth of knowledge and experience to meet the requirements of an ever demanding ma
19/07/2010
A roofer was seriously injured after plunging almost six metres when a scaffolding platform in Bridlington collapsed. Local self-employed contractor Stephen Martin fell from the roofline of a domestic two-storey property on St Aiden Road, in Bridlington, on 17 April 2009 when the scaffold beneath h
19/07/2010
Education projects accounted for almost 19 per cent of all UK construction project starts in the last 18 months, according to Glenigan. The cancellation of the Building Schools for the Future programme (BSF), worth £55bn means 715 schools around England and Wales will not be built or refurbished. F
19/07/2010
Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, has announced that Mansell, the UK construction services business, has been appointed as one of three contractors to a £220 million four-year framework for the London Borough of Hackney and Hackney Homes’ Decent Homes programme. Mansell’s shar
19/07/2010
Young farmers face being priced out of the countryside by a chronic shortage of affordable housing, threatening the future of countryside life, a coalition of leading farming and housing groups has warned. The National Housing Federation, the National Farmers' Union (NFU) and the National Federatio
19/07/2010
A date has finally been set to begin the demolition of Gateshead's iconic multi storey car park. Gateshead Council and Spenhill, the regeneration subsidiary of Tesco has confirmed that demolition will begin on Monday 26th July 2010. Gateshead Council and Spenhill recently signed a formal agreement
19/07/2010
The professional body for people working in housing is calling for a re-examination of the way social housing is allocated in England. With increasing levels of demand and less than half the homes needed being built change is needed, the Chartered Institute of Housing said. In a new report, CIH s
19/07/2010
A new housing development is creating some of the city's greenest affordable homes along with construction apprenticeships and training placements for local people. City-based housing regeneration specialist Lovell is building the Windrush Court development in Chapeltown Road, Leeds LS7, for Unit
19/07/2010
Phoenix Roofing Company has won a prestigious contract with Lovells for the roofing on the Green Street, Blue Sky Living Project.The unique new development will consist of 38 sustainable, high quality, low energy contemporary homes. The low U-Value of the building and involvement of Solar panels hi
19/07/2010
Szerelmey, the stonework and restoration specialist, has recently been awarded a £420,000 internal stone finishing and flooring contract at Coworth Park Hotel, Ascot, Berkshire. Szerelmey has been appointed to apply Italian calacatta marble finishes to 30 bathrooms in the country hotel. The work co
09/07/2010
Lambeth Council's planning committee has given the green light to a major £114 million regeneration private finance initiative (PFI) housing scheme. The project will transform the outdated Myatt's Field North housing estate in Brixton into a modern state-of-the-art example of sustainable community
09/07/2010
Designs for totally new £20 million buildings for Ormiston Bushfield Academy have been approved by Peterborough City Council's planning and environmental protection committee. Now city council education officials are working with academy governors and staff, Ormiston Education, the Department for E
09/07/2010
Lend Lease Europe with the London Borough of Southwark Council have finalised the terms for the £1.5 billion regeneration of Elephant & Castle. The 15 year project is one of the most significant schemes of its type in Europe, comprising over 300,000 square metres of new build, mixed-use developmen
09/07/2010
Construction and property workers are more likely than any other profession to turn to drink as a way of coping with work stress, a new survey has shown. The survey of 3000 people, by leading healthcare cash plan provider, Medicash, revealed that 47% of those in the industry, five times more than
09/07/2010
Alexandra Park in Whalley Range is in line to receive £2 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for its restoration. Manchester City Council's first round bid, which outlines the proposals for the park's improvement, has been successful in beating off tough competition to progress to the seco
09/07/2010
Kier North East has signed a £46 million contract with Northumberland County Council to deliver three new buildings for the Northumberland Church of England Academy, sponsored by the Duke of Northumberland and the Church of England Diocese of Newcastle. Work has begun on all three of the campuses,
09/07/2010
EDF Energy has awarded Faithful+Gould a professional services consultancy agreement to support its UK Nuclear New Build project. The initial three-year deal will see Faithful+Gould providing quantity surveyor and contract management support in the areas of procurement and contract management. The
09/07/2010
A major North-East company, Able UK, has announced multi-million pound plans for a 1,630 metre quay at the South Humber Gateway which will create over 5,000 new jobs. The quay will be one of the largest in the UK and the £400m investment will make the Humber the centre of the UK's offshore wind ind
09/07/2010
Mick George provides a wide range of groundwork contracting services using its extensive fleet of plant and trucks. With a range of plant to deal with any type of excavation plant operatives are highly experienced and fully trained. Mick George Skips provide the vehicles for haulage and the landfi
09/07/2010
Harland Simon UPS has been appointed as a Value Added Reseller (VAR) and is confident that its new partnership with Emerson Network Power will offer our customers a more comprehensive solution especially in the current green and competitive market, as the new products being released by Emerson Netwo
08/07/2010
Education Secretary Michael Gove has apologised for errors in information released in a list of school building projects. The list contained at least 25 mistakes, and schools who believed they would get new buildings have been cancelled. The error has affected schools in Derby, Sandwell, Northampt
08/07/2010
Kier London signed a contract with Watford Borough Council that will see building work begin on the Watford Colosseum next month. Elected Mayor Dorothy Thornhill said: "I am very happy we have taken the next step to putting Watford Colosseum on the map! Residents are very clear about wanting to see
08/07/2010
Quintain Estates & Development has released the first details of the next phase of Wembley City, covering the 14 acres of land surrounding the new Brent Civic Centre, to the west of Olympic Way. The plans, which go on display at a public exhibition at the Wembley Plaza Hotel on 14 July, will creat
08/07/2010
The National Housing Federation has cautiously welcomed the Government's decision to reduce the level of cuts to the 2010/11 Communities and Local Government (CLG) budget,by around £400m. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander announced yesterday that only £220m will be cut from the CLG bu
08/07/2010
Nine in ten people want to see greater transparency around how energy prices are calculated, according to Which? Which? also found that four in five people (83%) think there should be a Bank of England-style base rate for energy prices so they can compare their tariff to it and see whether they are
08/07/2010
More than 200 apprentices have started work for real at railway depots across Britain after completing their first year at Europe's largest engineering training facility at HMS Sultan in Hampshire. The apprentices specialise in track, signalling and telecoms, electrification and plant, property w
08/07/2010
Manchester based specialist fit-out company, Clarke Gough, has won a top award at the Cheshire Local Authority Built in Quality Awards. The prestigious awards recognise those who have achieved excellent standards of workmanship, delivering outstanding build quality to clients. At the awards ceremo
08/07/2010
The latest edition of the uninterruptible power supply technical manual, Selection Guide, is now available from SOCOMEC UPS. The guide includes the new products launched earlier this year, Masterys IP+ and DMX 800-900 kVA, and compliments the recently launched 2010 UPS catalogue. The Selection
08/07/2010
Make Me Dugouts have designed and manufactured football dugouts for 'The Tanners' at Leatherhead Football Club for the Fetcham Grove ground. We were contacted to supply an adaption to our curved 12 man team shelter through provision of a sponsorship panel to the front of the dugouts, see our custom
08/07/2010
Great looking, healthy gardens don't just happen, they take a lot of planning and care. Juggling aesthetics alongside practical considerations has never been easy but Sankey, the UK's leading manufacturer of garden and horticultural products, has ensured that practicality and design merge seamlessly
08/07/2010
Ferrari is pleased to announce of its Jet Fan range for tunnel and car park ventilation. The range is certified for smoke applications to EN12101-3 (400 degrees celsius for 2 hours); additionally also for Hazardous Area applications according to ATEX EN13463-1 and EN1127-1. The main features are a
07/07/2010
Plans for a £40 million total rebuild of Stanground College and £20 million improvements at Orton Longueville School in Peterborough have been axed due to a government decision to stop the national Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. The budget cuts have also cancelled a £20 million pr
07/07/2010
A new document setting out the vision for meeting housing needs across Bristol for the next five years has been launched. Titled, 'My Home is my Springboard for Life', the strategy sets out the three main themes as well as key actions. The strategy recognises the difficulty of the current economic
07/07/2010
An old industrial brownfield site in Ebbw Vale in Wales is turning pink this month as the Eisteddfod's iconic pink pavillion has started to be erected for this year's Blaenau Gwent and Heads of the Valleys National Eisteddfod. The Eisteddfod is being held at The Works, the site of the former Steelw
07/07/2010
United Utilities has announced it will impose a hosepipe ban following the driest start to a year since its records began. It is the first hosepipe ban in the North West for 14 years. The ban will come into force on Friday 9 July at 6am. The ban will apply to all its customers in the North West, w
07/07/2010
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, officially opened Travelodge's 400th hotel at Waterloo and also joined in the party with contractor Sisk, to celebrate the hotel chain's 25th anniversary. John Sisk & Son Ltd (Sisk), one of the largest construction groups in the UK and Ireland, carried out the c
07/07/2010
Young people in west Hull are celebrating the start of the construction of a purpose built Youth Centre next to St John's Church on St.George's Road. The new facility, which will be known as 'Network - Young People's Centre' (NYPC), is replacing a derelict church hall and will serve the needs of ov
07/07/2010
Lovell has scooped three British Safety Council International Safety Awards for schemes in London and the South East of England. The awards are for a housing modernisation programme in north London for Homes for Haringey; a housing improvement programme in east London for Hackney Homes and a housin
07/07/2010
The image shows a 1000mm diameter opening being diamond drilled through a 1m thick reservoir wall in Clitheroe. Reinforcement in the wall was 50mm diameter high yield steel bar. The section of concrete removed weighed in at 2000 kg and required the use of a crane to lift it clear of the work area.
07/07/2010
The "back from black" beam process is an applied water based process that gives beams their natural look without the need for sand blasting, mechanical or chemical stripping with NO mess, dust or the need to redecorate or repair plaster. The process was developed by company director Penny Penny sev
07/07/2010
Classic Formai Ltd, suppliers and installers of natural stone for construction and civil engineering projects in the UK, have helped complete a £1.3 million contract for Hermes Real Estate Investment Management Ltd. Classic Formai covered an internal 2 story feature wall, reception floor, external
06/07/2010
It's not just the economy that is being cut-back as there's to be less fuss and 'red tape' around planning applications across the UK. Proposals for simplifying the planning and consents environment, encouraging development and growth and cutting the amount of bureaucracy faced by business and gove
06/07/2010
Major electrical retailer Comet Group has been fined £75,000 following the death of a contractor who fell through a roof light at its Wrexham store. Paul Alker, 33, of Brynteg, near Wrexham, was working for a roofing contractor and was on the roof of the Comet store on Mount Street when he stepped
06/07/2010
Morgan Sindall has been chosen for an £8.1 million contract to deliver a high-quality academic building for Teesside University. The project will see the Durham-based firm construct a five-storey undergraduate and postgraduate teaching facility at the university's Darlington campus. The new buildi
06/07/2010
The first phase of the latest major new development in the Aylesbury Vale area got underway on yesterday 5 July when contractors began work on the Berryfields site, north-west of Aylesbury town centre. When complete, Berryfields will accommodate 3,000 homes, community facilities and areas for emplo
06/07/2010
A new planning application for a primary and secondary radar installation at Kent International Airport has been received by Thanet District Council. The application is for a radar that would be 32.5 metres tall, with radio antennae and lightning conductor fitted to it. It would be located along th
06/07/2010
BAM, one of the UK's largest education contractors, has urged the Government to work with the industry to assess how to deliver cuts to the BSF programme that do not hit the UK's educational needs. Responding to the Government's announcement to cancel 58 Building Schools for the Future (BSF) projec
06/07/2010
Housing Minister Grant Shapps has welcomed the confirmation of £390 million to build over 8,500 homes. The cash will be used to meet some of the spending commitments made by the previous administration whose funding was reliant on underspending across Whitehall. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Dan
06/07/2010
All joinery from Robert J Turner & Company is purpose made to client specifications. Competitively priced and constructed with traditional methods, much of the company's bespoke architectural joinery is installed into period or listed buildings, matching existing joinery but complying with modern bu
06/07/2010
GeoMEM Ltd, the independent reseller of Earth Science software, tools and instruments has announced that it has been appointed as a UK and Ireland representative for DAT instruments. GeoMEM will now sell and support DAT instruments’ data acquisition devices and drilling automation systems and soft
06/07/2010
Flooding can occur form many sources including groundwater, storm water run-off, blocked drains and sewers (sewer flooding) and river rise etc. Often it is not possible to prevent flooding but in areas that are prone to flooding a few additional tens of minutes warning can make all the difference w
05/07/2010
The government is expected to axe a £5 billion scheme to rebuild 700 schools. Education Secretary Michael Gove will announce the cuts over the next five years by putting on hold the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, set up by Labour. The government currently spends £3 million on the
05/07/2010
Two companies have been fined after a worker was injured falling through a roof light causing a fractured vertebra and narrowly missing machinery blades following a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Adam Phillips Plant Hire and Contractors Ltd of Laity Moor, Ponsanooth p
05/07/2010
Skanska has been awarded the contract to design and construct a new prison in London. The contract amount is £100 million, which will be included in second-quarter order bookings. The contract was signed with BWP Project Services Ltd, an investment vehicle 100 per cent managed by Barclays Infrast
05/07/2010
Arsonists endangered their own lives and also the electricity supply to Central Networks customers by setting fire to a substation in Cotgrave, Nottinghamshire. Engineers attended the scene on Hollygate Industrial Park following a call from the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, with engineer
05/07/2010
The final timber panels have been fitted into place on the London 2012 Velodrome's roof, making the building water-tight and allowing work to continue inside ready for the cycling track installation this autumn. The venue's cable-net roof was lifted into place earlier this year to form the distinct
05/07/2010
Brutal cuts in housing benefit, announced last week in the Budget, will put more than 200,000 people across Britain at risk of homelessness, according to a campaign group. The National Housing Federation warned that plans to cut Housing Benefit by 10% for people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for 1
05/07/2010
A G Cranes Limited are pleased to announce the launch of their new web site
05/07/2010
Szerelmey, the stonework and restoration specialist, has recently been awarded a £540,000 internal stone finishing and flooring contract at Coworth Park Spa, Ascot, Berkshire. Szerelmey has been appointed to apply internal stone finishes to the new Spa building’s swimming pool, its treatment rooms,
02/07/2010
June's Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index for construction showed continued growth, but at a slower pace. New orders were still being recorded, though unemployment still stayed at the same level as concerns over public spending cuts and VAT increases dampened enthusiasm. June's reading was repo
02/07/2010
Maintenance work is to be carried out on five bridges at the southern end of the M11. Expansion joints, which allow bridges and viaducts to safely expand and contract with temperature changes, will be replaced between junctions 4 (Woodford) and 5 (Loughton). Sections of the road will also be resurf
02/07/2010
Landlords should be given greater powers to influence the fees charged by Insolvency Practitioners (IPs) according to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), a report the British Property Federation (BPF) welcomes. The OFT agreed that unsecured creditors such as landlords are disadvantaged in insolvency
02/07/2010
Lovell is set for a major expansion of its housing maintenance business with the acquisition of Powerminster Gleeson Services (Powerminster) from M J Gleeson Group. All Powerminster's contracts, and the company's 178-strong workforce, will transfer to Lovell Respond, the Lovell response maintenanc
02/07/2010
A turf cutting ceremony took place to celebrate the official start of work on site at Southampton's new facility, the Eastpoint Conference and Community Centre. Contractors Kier Southern joined trustees of the centre for the ceremony which saw Eastpoint company secretary, Jean Roost, delivering an
02/07/2010
Construction union UCATT, asbestos support groups and other unions exposed Canada's asbestos record by holding a protest yesterday (July 1st) outside Canada House. The protest was designed to coincide with the official celebrations to mark Canada Day. Despite Britain finally banning the use of asb
02/07/2010
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has welcomed the decision by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government not to grant planning permission for a development at the Ram Brewery site in Wandsworth. HSE advised Wandsworth Council against granting planning permission for the develo
02/07/2010
A Yorkshire based company has developed a virtually silent AC system for broadcast and post production studios. Silentair have designed a system with an operational noise level of under 15dB even at maximum fan speed. This ducted AC system is very different to normal AC cooling solutions, as it doe
01/07/2010
Unite the union has called for 'an immediate, independent and comprehensive inquiry' into the death of one of its members at the Lindsey oil refinery, Lincolnshire. The 24 year-old man, whose name has not been released, died after a fire and explosion at the North Killingholme plant on Tuesday. Un
01/07/2010
Public services provider Amey has acquired the national rail consultancy of WYG Engineering Limited (WYG). The agreement sees Amey secure almost 100 skilled professionals, ranging from specialist designers and senior managers as well as a portfolio of existing contracts from WYG including a number
01/07/2010
Gatwick Airport, this week, hosted an official handover event to mark the completion of the new inter-terminal shuttle. Bombardier Transportation, Costain Group and Vinci Construction presented the keys to Gatwick's Stewart Wingate, Chief Executive Officer and Ray Melee, Projects Director. For Gat
01/07/2010
Morgan Sindall has won a £15.6 million contract to upgrade student accommodation at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in North Mymms, Hertfordshire. The company is in the process of demolishing existing accommodation at Northumberland Hall, built in the 1960s, to make way for 205 en-suite bedrooms
01/07/2010
Householders just need to say 'No' to rogue traders, this is the advice given by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) to all householders as part of this week's National Rogue Traders Week. Trading Standards estimate that over £170 million is stolen every year from nearly 90,000 unsuspecting hom
01/07/2010
Professor Paddy Gray has been elected as the new President of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) for the next year. He is the first housing professional from Ireland to take up this prestigious post and the first academic. As President, Professor Gray will have a high-profile role in represen
01/07/2010
Mapei's Mapeproof 1K Turbo is a rapid drying polyurethane surface membrane. Substrates treated with Mapeproof 1K Turbo become more consistent, harder and resistant to abrasion once it has cured, providing the optimal surface to receive flooring. Correctly applied, Mapeproof 1K Turbo eliminates subse
01/07/2010
POD Retail Displays is one of the leading suppliers of glass display cabinets on the internet. From glass showcases to wall mounted glass cases to counters, they have a wide range of display cabinets for shop fitting. The focus of the retail range has been on practical quality
