Financial

A major Midlands housing association has revealed it will shut down its loss-making offsite housing business after failing to find a buyer. Last September, GreenSquareAccord (GSA) announced plans to sell or close its subsidiary LoCaL Homes. However, in an update late last week, GSA confirmed it will close the business, which…

Investors and former directors of failed contractor Merit Group Services have launched a new modular construction business. Merit Industrialised Construction has been formed following an asset purchase completed through the administration process, which began when the Northumberland-based Merit Group and Merit Holdings collapsed in November 2025. The new business is…

Groundworks and civils contractor Caldwell Construction Ltd has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators as it scrambles to find a buyer and fend off creditors. The notice was filed yesterday (14 January). Founded in 2007, the firm specialises in delivering groundworks for housebuilders and developers in the Midlands,…

The family of the owner of a collapsed contractor have been ordered to pay a council’s £1m costs in full, years after losing a legal battle over a bus station job. Close relatives of the late owner of Thomas Barnes & Sons – which is now insolvent – unsuccessfully took…

Tender prices grew by 2.5 per cent in 2025, according to the latest data from the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS). The company said its expert panel of cost consultants estimated that tenders rose by 0.7 per cent between the third and fourth quarters of the year. It now expects…

Total output in the UK construction sector fell 1.1 per cent in the three months to November last year, compared with the previous three-month period. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the decrease was the largest quarterly drop since March 2023, when it went down by 1.4 per…

Services provided by companies linked to former leaders of the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) costing nearly £300,000 did not “represent market value”, according to the board. CCS’s accounts for the 12 months to 31 December 2024 show that during the year, the company made a pre-tax loss of £769,000 –…

Administrators for Henry Construction Projects say there could be sufficient funds to pay some of the £43m owed to its supply chain if legal proceedings are successful. In their latest progress report, joint administrators David Hudson and Geoffrey Rowley of FRP Advisory said they were aware of more than 5,000…

The administrators of Bowie Construction have warned unsecured creditors “it is not anticipated” that they will recover any money owed to them. In their latest progress report, Frank Wessely and Jo Leach from Quantuma said 101 claims totalling £1.7m of an estimated £4.5m total were received from unsecured creditors by December 2025.…

Stewart Milne’s administration process could take up to three years following an extension. The housebuilder was set to exit administration this month, but administrators at Teneo in December extended the process by a further year, to 7 January 2027. The company went under in January 2024 after several failed attempts…