Supply Chain

Premier Forest Products has acquired National Timber Systems (NTS), safeguarding an initial 160 jobs following the collapse of its former parent company. NTS, a supplier of engineered timber products to housebuilders and the modular construction sector, was part of National Timber Group UK before both entered administration in late November.…

Seven subcontractors have temporarily laid off staff at Sellafield nuclear plant blaming the effect of ongoing industrial action. Workers from subcontractors Altrad, Enigma, Kaefer, Stobbarts and Design Grid began a new five-day round of strike action on Monday (15 December) over an ongoing pay dispute. The Engineering Construction Industry Association…

Plumbing and heating apprenticeship numbers in Scotland are set to fall sharply, as new research reveals one in three employers plan to stop recruiting, prompting fears of a widening skills gap across construction and building services. The warning, issued in a new report from the Scotland and Northern Ireland Plumbing…

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) says that industry needs to provide more evidence to stand any chance of getting the government to look again at inheritance tax (IHT) rules due to come into force in April. The sector has been unsettled by the planned changes to Business Property Relief (BPR),…

Van Elle has agreed to sell its Canadian subsidiary less than three years after entering the market, citing delays in rail investment. The groundworks firm said it will dispose of the entire share capital and assets of Van Elle Canada Inc to 1560169 B.C. Ltd, a special-purpose vehicle operating in…

Remediation of brownfield land needs boosting to vamp up near-stagnant materials sales, a leading trade body has said. Sales of building materials inched up 0.8 per cent in the year to September 2025, according to the latest Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI), compiled by the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF). The…

Construction materials specialist GRS has acquired the 23.7 per cent stake in its business held by Tarmac, ending a long-standing shareholding arrangement for an undisclosed sum. The buyout returns the company to full private ownership and will support expansion of its sustainable aggregates portfolio, digital materials platform and construction solutions…

A 188-year-old construction firm based in Manchester is the latest to become an employee-ownership trust (EOT). On Monday, Emanuel Whittaker announced it will be transitioning to an EOT, joining the likes of CN100 firms Gilbert Ash and John F Hunt. Financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed. The…

Unsecured creditors linked to a collapsed mechanical and electrical (M&E) specialist are “likely” to receive some sort of payout. The administrator for Hull-based Tucker Mechanical and Electrical Building Services said the firm owed £4.8m to more than 200 suppliers when it went under on 2 October. David Kemp, from insolvency…

Turnover at mechanical and electrical (M&E) specialist Jaguar Building Services has exceeded £100m for the first time. Jaguar also increased its pre-tax profit from £3.5m to £5.8m in the year to 31 March 2025, thanks to its “ever-expanding client pool” and expanding major projects portfolio. The London contractor expects to…