A government minister has urged construction firms to get involved with an expanded initiative aimed at tackling youth unemployment via funded training. Employment minister Alison McGovern said a revamped recruitment programme – the Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP) – is being scaled up to help address a labour shortfall that…
Three people have been arrested as part of a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into alleged £3m bribes linked to a Microsoft data centre project in the Netherlands. The SFO said the individuals were detained for questioning during dawn raids on five properties across London, Kent, Surrey and Somerset on…
After a series of roles in various sectors, Clive Dickin found his rhythm by returning to construction In 2017, National Access & Scaffolding Confederation (NASC) boss Clive Dickin was struggling to relax on a beach in the south of France. Following a spate of terrorism incidents, the pressures of his…
This story was written with AI assistance from Harmsworth Who is Harmsworth? The government has announced its intention to award the contract to demolish Grenfell Tower to the firm currently maintaining the site, without a competition. In a notice published today (25 April), the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local…
Wates has been given the job of repairing Parliament’s crumbling Victora Tower after the competitive tender process for the job failed for a second time. Construction News revealed in April 2024 that the tender for the then-£95m job had to be re-run after errors were made in documents used in the…
A judge has issued a warrant for the arrest of a construction firm director who failed to attend court to face charges of manslaughter plus health and safety breaches relating to a 2020 site death. Peter Clifford, formerly of Holland Road, Felixtowe, failed to turn up to Ipswich Crown Court…
UK construction firms shed staff in March at the fastest rate since October 2020, according to the latest S&P PMI monthly survey of leading firms. Today’s headline S&P Global UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed a third month of shrinking activity, although the pace slowed from the 57-month low…
Technology is changing. And so is Construction News. Our editorial team has been using artificial intelligence (AI) behind the scenes for some time now to summarise long reports and data as part of our research process, as well as produce some illustrations. But we have not used it to produce…
The construction skills funding package announced at the weekend totals £745m across the entire UK, Construction News has discovered, but three quarters of the cash will not be spent before April 2027. On Saturday night (22 March), the government trumpeted a £600m skills boost for the sector. However, Spring Statement…
Severfield chief executive Alan Dunsmore is to step down, the firm announced today, less than a month after the firm issued a profit warning. The UK’s largest steel contractor said that Dunsmore would leave the firm by mutual consent with the board after 15 years at the end of June.…
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