Supply Chain

Durham-based CA Group improved turnover and profitability last year, according to its latest accounts filed with Companies House. Turnover for the year ending 30 September 2023 reached £117.2m, compared with £107.5m in 2021/22. This was the third consecutive year of revenue growth for the firm since a downturn related to…

Small and medium-sized construction firms are finding it harder to access finance despite growing optimism over their prospects next year, a new survey shows. Quarterly research from business finance investment firm Bibby Financial Services (BFS) found that 58 per cent of construction SME business owners expected their order book to…

Inflationary pressures and higher interest rates failed to stop Essex-based D&B Scaffolding from posting higher revenue and profit for last year. Its latest accounts, covering the year ending 31 August 2023, show that turnover increased by 2.2 per cent from £18.5m to £18.9m. And pre-tax profit almost doubled from £1m…

Multinational manufacturer ArcelorMittal has warned a “catastrophic” planning decision will cut the UK’s access to concrete rebar steel by nearly a third. Chatham Docks in Kent, which is the firm’s only site producing the product, is set to close after Medway Council approved a project to develop a mixed-use scheme…

The UK construction sector is at risk of inadvertently using Russian aluminium because of a gap in EU sanctions, a trade association has warned. Specifically, the EU has not sanctioned imports of aluminium slabs, ingots and billets, which make up about 85 per cent of the Russian aluminium imports to…

The incoming government must beef up its Construction Playbook guidance to prevent its provisions from being “routinely ignored”, a leading trade body has said. The call was part of a Blueprint for Better Construction set out by the Finishes and Interiors Sector (FIS) ahead of the general election on 4…

Materials suppliers are struggling to protect themselves against bad debts as the insurance market shows signs of losing nerve in the wake of high-profile contractor failures. A survey of members of the British Merchants Federation (BMF) has revealed that almost a third (31.2 per cent) had been unable to access…

Plans have been submitted that will see Bow Goods Yard in Stratford become “the belly of London”, with the creation of a major new rail hub capable of transporting up to 3.5 million tonnes of construction material to sites across the capital. The Network Rail scheme will see the yard…

Kent-based scaffolding company Trad Scaffolding posted a 15 per cent uplift in its pre-tax profit and a positive outlook for the 12 months from August 2023. In accounts for the year ending 31 August 2023, released this week, the company recorded a pre-tax profit of £3.27m, representing a rise of…

Sales of key building materials have plummeted for a seventh consecutive quarter, an industry organisation has said. The Construction Products Association’s (CPA’s) latest State of Trade Survey showed that 36 per cent of heavy-side products manufacturers saw volumes drop in the first three months of 2024. This continued a slide…