Specialist contractors have seen their margins and revenue fall for the first time in four years, analysis by Construction News has revealed. The construction sector has been hit by two damaging trends since the start of 2018. Corporate failures have been on the rise, with the collapse of Carillion and…
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London 2012: Five years on
27 July is a date firmly etched into the minds of many involved in UK construction. That was the day, five years ago, when the London 2012 Olympics launched onto the world stage at the brand new Olympic Stadium. The Games had been won just seven years previously when London…
Construction: The case for digital enablement
Digitally enabling frontline workers in the construction industry is seen as extremely or reasonably important, according to a new survey conducted by Construction News in association with Microsoft. The survey aims to better understand how digitisation can enhance rather than hinder remote workers and boost employee attraction, retention, and upskilling. The pace…
CN Specialists Index 2017
In a year where some of the construction industry’s biggest names have been hit by eye-watering losses, specialist contractors continue to buck the trend. If last year’s CN Specialists Index showed an industry where subcontractors were becoming increasingly selective in the projects they bid for, the 2017 Index highlights the…
Building the Northern Powerhouse
If you’ve been listening to government ministers lately, you could be forgiven for thinking that the region north of the Midlands has a new name: the Northern Powerhouse. The chancellor George Osborne’s plan to rebrand the North is part of his strategy to rebalance the UK economy. The move, by…
The CN100 2016
This year’s CN100 portrays an industry that has faced a difficult market for the best part of a decade. For some, hard work is beginning to show tangible rewards. But the past 12 months still represent the culmination of what has felt like a recession hangover for many contractors, with…
Is the industry ready for BIM Level 2?
The April BIM Level 2 mandate is upon us, meaning government departments now need to be ready and able to procure using BIM Level 2, and firms wishing to win work in this area need to be Level 2-ready. A second deadline of 3 October now looms large and marks…
Late payment: The state of the construction industry
There can be few more chronic and debilitating conditions ailing the construction industry than late payment. Constantly railed against, it remains an endemic feature of the sector. But how widespread is it and to what severity? Moreover, what are the effects and the perceived barriers to prompt payment, as well…
Stadiums: The challenges and opportunities
There are few construction projects that capture the imagination of the general public quite like a new stadium. Generally, these modern-day cathedrals of sport will be home to teams supported by hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of fans around the world, who all follow them closely and care greatly…
Breaking the glass ceiling: How we get more women to the top
Over 2.3m people work in the construction industry. More than two million of these workers are men; the remaining 295,000 are women. This yawning gender disparity has persisted even as awareness of the problem has increased. According to estimates in an Office for National Statistics report released in May 2018,…