Author Archives: Charlotte Banks

An NHS trust has paused a £50m energy centre build after it deemed the prices contractors offered too high. In 2022, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust offered contractors the chance to bid for a new energy centre that would provide heat and power to its hospitals. A notice published…

Balfour Beatty has been fined for breaching lifting safety rules after a worker fell from a scissor lift to his death. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Igor Malka, 62, fell from the machinery in January 2020, sustaining fatal injuries. At the time, Malka had been working at…

Plans have been submitted for a major mixed-use development at Earls Court, west London, that would become one of the country’s largest regeneration schemes. Construction is due to start by the end of 2026 on the multi-billion, multi-decade project to redevelop the former Earls Court Exhibition Centre, which Keltbray demolished…

A coalition of businesses has called on the government to commit to the £9bn Lower Thames Crossing to avoid “another 15 years of uncertainty”. Contractors and construction trade bodies were among 73 organisations that signed a letter to the government – coordinated by trade body Logistics UK – supporting the…

The UK government has refused to bail out a landmark Belfast stadium affected by Buckingham Group’s collapse, after build costs more than doubled. Ministers told the Northern Ireland Executive on Friday (13 September) that it would no longer back the scheme due to a “significant risk that the stadium would…

The new Building Safety Regulator (BSR) had by the end of June extended nearly half of high-rise refurbishment applications beyond the eight-week time limit, a minister has revealed. In a written answer to parliament, building-safety minister Rushanara Ali also revealed that the BSR rejected more than two-fifths (42 per cent)…

Creditors of collapsed industrial specialist Readie Construction Limited are set to lose £43.1m, after claims rose by 65 per cent in value. In April, administrators from Begbies Traynor estimated unsecured creditors would bring £26.1m in claims. An update published on Friday (13 September) revealed that claims formally submitted totalled £17m…

Modular building provider Portakabin has reported an increase in turnover and a modest drop in profit after acquiring one of its major competitors. Turnover jumped 21 per cent to £476.1m in the financial year ending 31 December 2023, having been £393.4m in the previous year, while pre-tax profit dropped by…

Insurers could pull professional indemnity (PI) insurance coverage again if faced with an influx of claims under new post-Grenfell laws, a broker has warned.

The government will “very shortly” launch a consultation with private firms on its 10-year infrastructure strategy, a senior minister has announced. Speaking at a launch event for the Labour Infrastructure Forum yesterday (11 September), chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones trailed a consultation route for investors and businesses. Jones…