Technology

Private equity (PE) outfit Duke Street Capital has announced the acquisition of modular offsite building specialist McAvoy for an undisclosed sum. The Northern Ireland-based contractor was sold by Blantyre Capital, another PE firm. Founded in 1972, McAvoy designs, manufactures and rents modular buildings across the UK and Ireland in the…

Dan Pollard is production director at modular manufacturing firm Thurston Group By 2040, modular construction won’t be the ‘alternative’ approach to building. As I see it, it will be the industry standard. The shift is already under way, but over the next two decades, I believe we’ll see modular manufacturing…

The Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO) has launched a £500m framework for the supply and hire of modular buildings using modern methods of construction. The framework is designed to meet demand for offsite solutions across the UK. It includes 15 lots (see boxout) covering the purchase and rental of buildings for…

Two major US companies have unveiled plans to invest billions of pounds into UK data centre infrastructure during a state visit by US president Donald Trump. Microsoft has committed $30bn (£23.5bn) to expanding its UK cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure from 2025 to 2028. The company said in a statement…

Will Cavendish is a global digital services leader at consultancy Arup Spending on artificial intelligence development is setting records, and new AI models are being released almost daily. These are powerful tools – but are they the tools we need? “Governments, take note: if we want to meet climate targets…

Robert Lemming is managing director for public sector and life sciences at Mace Group Life sciences construction has emerged as one of the UK’s fastest-growing specialist sectors. Development is booming across the Golden Triangle of London, Oxford and Cambridge, as well as emerging clusters in Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh and Cardiff.…

Fourteen modular construction firms have won places on an £80m public sector framework in Scotland. The Scottish Procurement Alliance (SPA), via its parent organisation LHC Procurement Group, has appointed suppliers across four workstreams covering the design, supply, installation and hire of permanent and temporary modular buildings. The modular framework, known…

A total of 27 firms have won a place on a new four-year framework agreement for modular buildings, offering NHS trusts and public sector bodies a route to procure buildings valued from below £5m to above £25m. The Modular Buildings 3 framework from NHS Shared Business Services runs from 12…

Paul Devlin is chief executive of Causeway Technologies You unwrap your Christmas present and – thanks to an exceedingly generous relative – find yourself the proud possessor of a Stradivarius violin. You admire the exquisite, polished maplewood body and draw your vintage bow across its strings… and what comes out…

Offsite specialist contractor Reds10 has appointed a new trio of managing directors to lead its defence, public sector and manufacturing operations as part of a strategy to grow revenue to £500m. Phil Cook, Joe Shepherd and Ryan Geldard have each been promoted to managing director roles covering Reds10’s core divisions. In…