Supply Chain

The chief executive of brick supplier Forterra is to step down at the company after a decade at the helm. Stephen Harrison has announced plans to leave early next year, with the brickmaker now starting the process of finding a successor. Commenting on his departure, Harrison said: “After ten years…

Rudi Klein (pictured left) is a barrister and Stephen Woodward is a risk management consultant. Klein was formerly chief executive of the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group, which campaigned for 20 years to reform payment retentions in construction The construction industry has long had a problem with diversity of thinking. Too…

A bespoke taskforce to assess the health of the UK’s current and future supply chain must be established to protect manufacturers against unpredictable “economic shocks”, industry leaders have warned. Manufacturing experts have called for a cross-industry and government group to assess the country’s “supply chain resilience and capabilities” now and…

As a low-carbon material, timber has a big role to play in achieving net zero, but fire-safety concerns and a lack of testing are holding back its use. Greg Pitcher reports

The industry is facing significant market volatility and construction leaders will require new solutions to remain competitive. Working practices have changed, and solutions to some of the industry’s most pressing issues will come from collaboration and innovation with supply-chain partners. To help contractors work with suppliers more efficiently, Construction News is launching…

Construction leaders have warned that some timber products which are being sourced from the Far East could be illegal to import. The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has warned that Far East imports of birch plywood come from Russian logs and are therefore deemed illegal in the UK. Supplies of the…

Major contractors including Mace, Skanska and Sir Robert McAlpine have released a plan to boost productivity in the construction sector. The framework, published yesterday by not-for-profit group Be the Business, outlines seven steps which contractors, particularly in the private sector, could take to boost their productivity. They include early engagement…

Pagabo has announced the winners on its £1.1bn demolition and land preparation framework. The majority of the 29 named firms specialise in demolition. However, the likes of Keltbray, Vinci and Arcadis are also included on the framework. (See full list of winners below.) The framework, which is Pagabo’s first dedicated…

Andy Williamson is commercial director at construction products distributor SIG The speed that products and practices will change in the construction sector is set for an exhilarating acceleration, but it won’t be painless, because the driving forces are price inflation, energy insecurity and disrupted global supply chains. If the last…

A total of 22 construction-related businesses went into administration in April. This comes after 31 firms went under in February and 24 in March. While the number of firms filing for administration has fallen, compared with the past two months, Sterling Advisory’s insolvency practitioner, Emily Ball, has suggested the decline…