Balfour Beatty buys Bristol construction firm - 31-08-2007 - 11:18

Construction company Balfour Beatty has bought a Bristol building firm to increase it's presence in the south-west of England and in Scotland.

The construction giant paid £52 million for Cowlin, which was established in 1834 and employs 300 staff and 150 workers directly.

With offices in Bristol, Cardiff, Plymouth and Yeovil, Cowlin secured contracts of more than £160 million in a region that Balfour Beatty wanted to expand into.

Cowlin, established in 1834, constructs in the healthcare, commercial, education and housing sectors.

Balfour Beatty chief executive Ian Tyler said: "The acquisition of Cowlin Group adds to our leading position in regional UK building markets by establishing a strong base in an area where we currently have only a limited presence.

"It is well-established in its regional design and build, construction and refurbishment markets and has a strong management team which has made excellent progress in growing the business over recent years."

26 per cent drop in construction apprenticeships - 31-08-2007 - 11:16

The much predicted skills shortage could be worse than expected judging by falling figures of apprenticeship placements in the construction industry.

ConsructionSkills, an employer-led skills and training body said that there was a 26 per cent drop in the number of apprenticeships offered within the construction industry from last year to this year.

With more than 50,000 hopefuls expected to apply for 7,000 apprenticeships, 86 per cent of the candidates wishing to get into construction this way will be turned down.

According to the body, which offers employers £9,400 to take on an apprentice, some 87,000 new recruits a year for the next four years are needed to meet demand.
Max Hamps, apprenticeship director at ConstructionSkills, told the Building website: "ConstructionSkills has faced one of its most difficult employer recruitment years. We are at risk of a severe skills shortage in the future."

But Max Hamps, spokesman for the Construction Confederation attributed the dip to the peaks and troughs of the recruitment cycle.

Balfour Beatty boosts orderbook - 23-08-2007 - 13:41

Construction company Balfour Beatty's orderbook surged ahead to a record total of £10.6 billion, despite its Metronet setback.

The company, which reported pre-tax losses of £52 million for the six months to June following writing down the value of its stake in the London Underground maintenance group, saw its orderbook grow by £1.5 billion.

While the Metronet issues affected its profits, the company is otherwise healthy and growing, achieving a £100 million cash-in-hand increase to £480 million.

Before taking into account the exceptional losses accrued through the underground maintenance group, the building and building management division of Balfour Beatty contributed £30 million to profit, while civil and specialist engineering added £26 million.

Chief executive Ian Tyler said: "It is pleasing to report a first half-year of strong profit growth, coupled with a strengthening of our cash position and growth in our orderbook.

"With workloads continuing to increase, projects progressing well and a full six months contribution from Balfour Beatty Construction US, we anticipate further good progress in the second half of the year."

Arup to draw up zero-carbon building code - 06-08-2007 - 12:28

Arup and the British Research Establishment (BRE) are to cooperate with the government to help draw up a new sustainability code for non-domestic buildings.

A code for sustainable homes already exists but at the request of the communities department, the UK Green Building Council (GBC) is organising companies to research a similar code for non-domestic buildings.

The sustainable homes code, which was launched last year, established guidelines to help construction companies achieve the goal of zero-carbon buildings by 2016.

It was drawn up with industry consensus and now industry will be involved in the next stage.

"The aim is to get a consensus from the industry. We have to start at the baseline and look at pragmatic ways of achieving zero carbon," said Chris Twinn, Arup's director of sustainable buildings, who is working with the GBC on the proposals.

Paul King, the chief executive of the GBC said that the council thought that the target could be achieved in ten years, which is sooner than government estimates of up to 15.

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Best for parents construction employers named - 06-08-2007 - 11:04

parents in the construction and engineering sector in a Guardian survey.

The survey, which was based on information provided by the companies themselves, found a total of five firms including Arup as being above average at providing incentive for parents.

According to the newspaper, companies in the industry often announce the need to include more women in the workforce and so it was interesting to see what incentives they provided.

The survey discovered that the sector is a "mediocre performer" overall, though there are some bright sparks.

Bovis, which made it into the top six best employers for parents across all industries, has a workforce which is 22 per cent women and offers women who have been at the firm for 26 weeks, 26 weeks full pay and contractual benefits maternity leave.

After that they get statutory maternity pay of 13 weeks and a returning bonus of three months salary.

The newspaper also highlighted Arup's career-break option which allows new mothers to take a two year break before returning to work.

Rogers Stirk Harbour joined Bovis Lend Lease UK in the best in sector rank, while Arup, WS Atkins and Serco all achieved above average ratings.

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Downside up demolition - 03-08-2007 - 11:17

Buildings are usually demolished from the top down but one London construction is coming down from the bottom.

The old P&O building on Leadenhall Street, which is being demolished to make way for the 736-foot-high Leadenhall Building, is undergoing a bizarre transformation in which its lower floors are being taken out from underneath the rest of the building.

British Land, the developer building Lord Rogers' new skyscraper - which is nicknamed the cheese grater - on the old site, explained that this is the first building ever to be taken down in this way.

This is because, unlike other buildings which are supported on columns, the floors hang from a beam at roof level which is supported by the central concrete core.

Only four buildings in London have been constructed in this fashion.

Mathew White, the project director, explained to the Daily Mail: "When you demolish the building you have to take the weight off the structure first, from the bottom up.

"Eventually the beam will be deconstructed at roof level, leaving the core, which will be demolished from the top."

Construction orders up - 02-08-2007 - 16:52

Growth in UK construction orders was up three per cent in the 12 months to June compared to a year ago, according to new figures.

Data released by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, show that although year on year figures are up, they represent a dip in growth from May.

The report attributed the slight drop to a fall in demand for private housing, where orders were down two per cent.

However, orders in the second quarter of 2007 were still five per cent higher than they were in the final quarter of 2006, with the government putting the growth down to increases in private commercial, public non-housing and private housing orders.

Meanwhile, the Olympics are set to usher in a period of accelerated construction.

Following the completion of the acquisition of the site for the Olympic Park, work has begun on the first construction bridge at the site which will allow construction vehicles across the site.

The 24-metre temporary bridge connects the Olympic VeloPark and the media centre, while arching over the River Lea.