Long reads

In a difficult housebuilding market, SMEs appear to be struggling much more than volume builders. CN explores what can be done to support smaller firms It is no exaggeration to say that the contribution made to housing delivery in the UK by SMEs has collapsed in recent decades. According to…

A decade has passed since the Modern Slavery Act became law. CN examines how far the industry has – or hasn’t – changed There is a popular concept in criminology called routine activity theory. It posits that the ideal environment for criminals to offend is when the opportunity and the…

With the government set to announce details on a generation of new towns, CN visits the UK’s only 21st-century ‘garden city’ A former police station in north Kent is the best spot to contemplate the most successful new settlement the UK has delivered this century. From their converted office at…

Construction leaders are calling on clients to stop placing more risk on contractors by amending standard contracts. CN examines what drives the practice and how it might be reined in It’s not unusual for details of amendments to construction contracts to run to the same 100-page length as the original…

Detectives investigating the Didcot Power Station collapse in which four men died have said the probe is entering its “latter stages”, as the ninth anniversary of the tragedy approaches. Coleman & Company employees Ken Cresswell, 57, Chris Huxtable, 34, John Shaw, 61, and Mick Collings, 53, died when the 10-storey…

Discovery of a latent building safety threat suggests gaps in the government’s knowledge of its building stock In December 2023, a section of concrete blockwork fell through a suspended ceiling at Fordley Primary School, landing on the floor of a classroom. Hours before the school closed for the Christmas holidays,…

TRAINING UP 5,000 additional new construction apprenticeships were announced by the government on 22 November. Dr David Crosthwaite, chief economist at the Building Cost Information Service, said: “In terms of the numbers, 5,000 apprenticeships a year will not be enough to cover those expected to retire/leave the industry annually, so…

A roundtable hosted by CN and Gleeds gathered a group of experts to discuss the challenges of delivering more nuclear power in the UK. Topics included how to overcome pipeline uncertainty and inspiring the engineers of the future On the panel Graeme Bellingham, consultant, Bellingham Services Stuart Bridges, operations director…

Family-run construction firms are warning that planned changes to inheritance tax will have a ‘seismic’ impact on their businesses Samantha was five when her dad started his housebuilding firm from scratch about 40 years ago, in the northern town where they lived. She describes him as a workaholic who “risked…

Which individuals are likely to have the biggest impact on the industry in the year ahead? Sarah Jones Sarah Jones, MP for Croydon West, was appointed construction minister following Labour’s general election win in July. She served as shadow housing minister between 2018 and 2020, and has been an outspoken…