May - 2021

Hanson forced to cut bagged cement allocations

Material giant Hanson is being forced to cut allocations of bagged cement to main customers as shortages deepen. The firm also revealed it is actively looking to increase capacity by importing cement. Although it warned that this could prove difficult in the current circumstances because the increase in demand was global and shipping availability was poor. In a statement to customers Andrew Simpson, packed products director, said: “We implemented a packed cement allocation in

Brickwork contractors facing mortar rationing

Brickwork contractors are warning projects could grind to a halt because of rationing of bulk mortar supplies in the face of deepening cement shortages. Bulk mortar suppliers have been put on allocation by major cement suppliers limiting their ability to manufacture and supply. One dry mortar supplier Remix temporarily stopped taking orders this week although it hopes to get back on track next week. Another big industry supplier Euromix has written to customers warning of dis

Steelwork firms rocked by second big price hike this month

British Steel has slapped on its biggest single price rise so far for structural steel sending another shockwave through the market. The producer is raising structural steel prices by £100 a tonne with immediate effect, marking the second hike this month alone. At the start of May, prices rose by £50 a tonne. Then a week ago British Steel said it would temporarily not be taking fresh orders blaming extreme demand. With the price of structural steelwork going through the roof,

120-tonne bridge beam falls onto Leeds highway

A huge concrete bridge beam that had just been lifted by crane onto a transporter trailer toppled onto a Leeds highway on Friday night. The 120-tonne beam was being lifted on Balfour Beatty’s A64 flyover replacement project in the city centre. The section of bridge was due to be transported away to be broken up ahead of new steel beams being installed above Regent Street. Leeds City Council said: “A concrete section of the demolished bridge was being lifted onto a specialist

Builder jailed after failing to report serious site injury

A builder has been sentenced to almost six months in prison after failing to report an accident on site that led to a worker having his leg amputated. Paul Adams, of Surrey Conversions, has been sentenced to 24 weeks in custody after a worker on his site who hadn’t been trained on using an excavator suffered severe leg injuries when the digger tipped over during construction work. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Adams failed to report the incident as he wa

Rise in construction output leads to record high cost inflation

Construction output increased in April, but builders faced the sharpest rise in cost inflations since 1997 UK construction companies signalled a strong increase in output volumes during April, with continued recoveries seen in civil engineering activity, commercial work and housebuilding. Workloads were boosted by the fastest rise in overall new orders since September 2014. However, demand and supply imbalances led to input cost inflation reaching its highest rate since the s

Construction underway on Birmingham’s first smart building

Construction work for Birmingham’s first smart-enabled building, Enterprise Wharf, is now underway at the Innovation Birmingham Campus The development of Enterprise Wharf by Bruntwood SciTech is a joint venture between Bruntwood and Legal & General. This venture marks the expansion of the region’s leading digital and tech campus, which is already home to an established cluster of more than 150 businesses working in high growth areas such as fintech, proptech, edtech, 5G and V

Urgent action needed to ‘plug black hole in construction pension saving’

The majority of construction workers are not saving for retirement, creating a ‘destitute generation of future pensioners’, research by Unite has found Following a freedom of information request to the Department of Work and Pensions, the government has revealed that official estimates show that 797,000 employees in the construction sector are paying into a pension of any form. This is from a total construction workforce of 2.225 million (which is divided between 1,507 employ