Supply Chain

Steel giant Severfield has issued a profit warning, blaming a delayed “large project” and hits to client confidence. In a trading update published on Monday (3 March), the firm said the UK’s market conditions “have shown no signs of improvement” in recent months, as pricing remained tight and project opportunities…

Hundreds of construction firms have signed up to take part in a legal claim against firms involved in a trucking cartel - with others being encouraged to get involved, according to the action's organiser. The Road Haulage Association (RHA) – which represents coach, van and haulage firms in the UK…

A formwork specialist has been cleared of breaking the law by making payments to a labour agency whose supply chain had been involved in tax fraud. First Tier Tax tribunal judge Michael Blackwell and tribunal member Gill Hunter overturned an unspecified financial penalty issued in 2022 by HMRC to Cheema…

Construction industry figures have welcomed plans for a new national steel strategy, but have called for the government to back up its warm words with action. At the weekend, the Department for Business and Trade opened a consultation on devising a strategy for the UK steel sector, with mooted options…

The government must take “urgent action” to ensure there are enough workers to deliver the UK’s green transition, its own infrastructure watchdog has said. In a report published this morning (21 February), the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) said skills shortages “pose a significant challenge for the deliverability of the energy…

Ministers have ordered public bodies to increase their procurement spending on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A national procurement policy statement published by the Cabinet Office last week said in-scope contracting authorities should “maximise” the proportion of their budgets directed to SMEs and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs). Public…

Concrete contractor LGW Group has acquired supplier Multi-Crete Concrete & Concrete Pumping. The deal, announced last week, sees the Bristol company take control of the Gloucestershire firm from former owners Simon Robinson and Jason Bowen. LGW works across the south of England and Wales. Its brands include Wright Minimix, Bristol…

The entire portfolio of a building company’s modular assets has been put up for auction. More than 500 lots including a 2021 Stour Twin Column Welding Cell and 2020 ABB IRB 8700 Foundry Plus articulated robotic handling arm are available to buy. Asset disposal company BPI said the items represented…

More than 40 per cent of respondents in a new construction sector survey believe changes to procurement law next week will not deliver value for money on public projects. The report, undertaken by multidisciplinary consultancy Pick Everard, surveyed attitudes ahead of the 2023 Procurement Act’s implementation on 24 February. Among…

An insulation firm has launched a judicial review of the decision by Grenfell Tower’s council to ban it from future projects. Siderise Insulation Ltd, which manufactured some of the cavity barriers used on Grenfell Tower’s refurbishment in 2015-16, was banned from future work in the Royal Borough of Kensington and…