News

The construction of a mass transit system between Bristol’s city centre and airport could begin within five years, according to the body tasked with driving the region’s growth. The exact type of transport system has yet to be decided by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), which has suggested…

 Sir Robert McAlpine has announced the “well-earned early retirement” of its chief people officer Karen Brookes, who stepped down last month after almost nine years at the firm. Her successor is Rachael Smith, who has been appointed as people and shared services director. Brookes “helped guide the business through some…

Kier Construction has been named as winner of a £35m contract to deliver the Southern Gateway scheme at Bristol Temple Meads station. Bristol Temple Quarter LLP has chosen Kier under an open procedure to act as main contractor on the project, which forms part of the wider Bristol Temple Quarter…

Emily King, industrialisation director at the NHS’s New Hospital Programme, will headline the launch of this year’s Inspiring Women in Construction and Engineering programme on a free webinar next month. Construction News, along with its sister magazines Ground Engineering and New Civil Engineer, have lined up King to speak at…

More than 100 workers have voted to strike at Severfield’s Bolton site after being denied a pay rise, trade union GMB has announced. It said that more than 90 per cent of GMB members employed as welders, platers and machine operators have backed industrial action at the company’s Lostock facility.…

Contractors seeking to do business with the City of Westminster will face more scrutiny and stricter safeguards following the collapse of Geoffrey Osborne. A report by the council’s Audit and Performance Committee on learning lessons from the firm’s demise said a number of robust measures had now been adopted. Geoffrey…

Grenfell Tower material producer Arconic has claimed it is immune from liability in a £2.73m High Court legal action over cladding used on three other London high-rises – because it is based in France. In September, Equans launched a £2.73m High Court claim against Arconic Architectural Products SAS alleging that…

A former Merit job to build hospital facilities in York is at a standstill, three months after the contractor called in administrators. The £8m job to build a two-storey facility at York Hospital (pictured), including a new surgical theatre and MRI suite, went silent when Merit appointed administrators in November.…

Annual construction output increased by 1.8 per cent in 2025 in the fifth consecutive year of annual growth, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). However, total output fell by 2.1 per cent in the final quarter (Q4) of the year compared with Q3, due…

Analysts are upgrading their profit predictions for Morgan Sindall after the firm issued an unscheduled trading update due to its fit-out division outperforming expectations. Under Article 17 of the Market Abuse Regulations, companies must disclose information directly concerning themselves to the stock market as soon as possible so that the…