Author Archives: James Wilmore

With demand for data-centre capacity set to increase tenfold between 2018 and 2025, opportunities abound for contractors – whether it’s building new sites or upgrading existing facilities. James Wilmore looks at the potential and the challenges

Construction News reveals the payment performance of the largest contractors in the UK, and James Wilmore examines how well payment reporting rules are working

Crossrail must end its “expensive” tier-one contracts “as soon as possible” to control costs on the megaproject amid a potential £150m funding shortfall, MPs have said.  In a new report, politicians on the public accounts committee revealed that Crossrail spent around £56m a month between October 2020 and March 2021,…

NG Bailey’s largest division fell to a pre-tax loss of £10.2m in its last financial year, newly published accounts have revealed. The firm’s M&E design-and-build business, which accounts for more than half its turnover, said it was hit by “delays or cancellations of secured or potential projects”, site closures, access…

The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), which gives the government advice on projects, has been told it must support the transition to net-zero carbon emissions in its recommendations.  Chancellor Rishi Sunak wrote to NIC chair Sir John Armitt yesterday informing him of the new objective for the organisation. It comes after…

Industry figures have expressed dismay after the government’s long-delayed Integrated Rail Plan failed to materialise in today’s Budget and Spending Review.  The plan, which is due to set out how lines such as HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) will link up, was initially expected alongside today’s announcements.  However in…

Plans for a £100m mixed-use scheme to redevelop Holyhead waterfront in north Wales have been reworked and resubmitted after a previous application lapsed.  London-based listed developer Conygar has submitted new plans to Isle of Anglesey County Council for the long-mooted scheme, which includes a 250-berth marina along with 259 homes…

Southend United FC have received the planning go-ahead for a new 21,000-capacity stadium, 13 years after a previous application was approved.  A full planning application for the stadium on a 27-hectare site at Fossetts Farm was approved unanimously by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council’s development control committee on Monday.  The plans also…

The head of Tolent has been replaced with immediate effect after the group reported a loss last year partly blamed on COVID-19 issues.  Andy McLeod, who had been chief executive of the Gateshead-based firm since March 2018, will leave at the end of November, it announced today.  In a statement…

Sir Robert McAlpine is investigating an incident in which exterior panels dislodged from a new 23-storey Hilton hotel it is building as part of a multi-million-pound development.  A “small number” of exterior panels dislodged from the under-construction 189-room hotel in Woking, Surrey, last Wednesday. It led to a police cordon…