Author Archives: Kerry Lorimer

Losses have been scaled back at Legal & General’s modular business as the firm continues to wind down. According to newly released financial information, it recorded a loss before taxation last year of £9.4m as operating costs diminished in the wake of the decision two years ago to cease production.…

Profit at Tarmac has shrunk by more than two thirds against a backdrop of delays in public infrastructure and weakened residential demand. The building materials giant recorded a profit before tax of £51.8m, down substantially from £168.1m the previous year, while turnover dropped from £2bn to £1.9bn over the same…

Trading in HSS Hire Group has resumed after the firm announced a major strategic shift that will see it offload its struggling hire service company to a private equity firm in the wake of a £130m loss. And in a separate deal worth £35m, Speedy Hire will become the primary…

Morgan Sindall Construction has become the second construction business to receive accreditation under a scheme to improve quality management in the built environment. The firm won certification under BS 99001, a standard designed to help the sector implement the requirements of the Building Safety Act while boosting regulatory compliance, cutting…

Businesses have been urged to futureproof their workforces ahead of the withdrawal of a key source of apprenticeship funding next year. From January, funding will be scrapped for level-seven apprenticeships – equivalent to a master’s degree – for anyone aged 22 or over, with resources redirected to lower levels, where…

Plant hire and haulage firm L Lynch has launched a labour-supply arm in the wake of robust results showing a rise in pre-tax profit. The move will see the Hertfordshire-based outfit provide highly skilled and semi-skilled operatives to tier one and two contractors. It said the expansion of its portfolio…

A single set of net zero construction standards aims to end the bewilderment caused by myriad sector benchmarks – and put a stop to greenwashing

A long-delayed highway improvement scheme in East Sussex dubbed in Parliament a “road to nowhere” is now due to be completed later this summer. The Queensway Gateway Road in St Leonards was initially slated for completion in 2016 but has been dogged by delays, most recently because of the need…

Kingspan is to face an antitrust probe over its proposed acquisition of steel cladding provider Coverworld. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had decided to investigate the transaction and was inviting comments on its potential impact on competition. The invitation to comment was the first part of its…

The refurbishment of Edinburgh’s iconic North Bridge is expected to continue until next summer, with costs spiralling five-fold after “significantly more deterioration” than expected was discovered in the structure. Balfour Beatty was appointed seven years ago to carry out repairs to the Grade A-listed bridge, built in 1897 to link…