Multiplex has challenged itself to employ woman-led teams on 10% of its projects by 2025 and shift to a 5-day working week on sites.

The moves are being rolled out to challenge what it sees as deeply rooted inequities in construction.

A new 10-year social equity transformation business strategy aims to lead by example, tackling lack of female leadership, structural racism, excessive hours, and supply chain abuse.

Multiplex also plans to roll out flexible working to all sites next year, and implement a maximum 14-hour day door-to-door policy.

Within the supply chain, Multiplex is committing to 35-day payment and aims to channel a third of spend to SMEs.

Callum Tuckett, Multiplex’s UK managing director, said: “As one of the largest industries in the world, construction has considerable scope to lead the way and implement the changes necessary to contribute towards reducing inequality and building more inclusive societies.”

“We believe there is an urgent need to recalibrate, to ensure a coordinated and well-planned response, with social equity integrated into our decarbonisation roadmap and at the very heart of our approach to ESG.“

“Our strategy lays out very clearly the actions we are going to take as a business but also, and more importantly, how we will be trying to influence our supply chain, our clients and wider industry stakeholders to maximise our collective impacts and ensure that no one is left behind.”

Its four strategic pillars to address significant social challenges include: health, safety and wellbeing; diversity, inclusion, and respect; socio-economic value, and respecting communities.

‘Leave no one behind’ strategy to tackle inequality and injustice

By 2022

Implementing flexible working across 100% of project sitesIntroducing a maximum 14-hour day door-to-door policy50% of all graduate intakes will be femaleAchieving an average of 35 days to pay suppliers100% of projects to carry out initial community engagement within 6 weeks of contract award

By 2025

Five-day working week on sitesZero exposure to diesel emissions from plant on 100% of projectsAt least 10% of projects to be led by a female team member33% spend with SMEsReducing the socio-economic talent gap by providing 50 work placements to disadvantaged groups to address income inequalityInvest in green skills and training, by providing 5 green job opportunities10% reduction in labour churn in their first tier100% of all first-tier supply chain paying the Real Living Wage

By 2030

Measuring and tracking musculoskeletal health impact on 100% of the workforce30% of our executive leadership team to be female or from an ethnically diverse background100% of key materials to be screened for human rights risksProviding 45 new roles per £100m turnover (approx. 439 new entrants and apprentices/year)40% increase in directly employed labour per £1m spent

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Consultant Currie & Brown is undergoing major leadership change as group chairman David Broomer retires this month after 51 years at the business.

Group chief executive officer Euan McEwan is also retiring at the end of this year.

Broomer became a partner in 1980 – the youngest partner in the company’s history – and in 1999 moved into the role of group managing director. Since October 2008 he has held the position of chairman.

McEwan will be succeeded as group chief executive officer by Alan Manuel, who has been chief operating officer, Europe and UK since 2016 when Currie & Brown acquired Sweett Group.

Nick Gray joins Currie & Brown to lead the Europe and UK business. He joins from Faithful+Gould where he was regional lead for the North, Scotland and Ireland business.

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BAM’s building and civils operations have teamed up to bid successfully for the new southern entrance project at Sunderland’s railway station.

In a rare collaboration between the BAM Nuttall and the BAM Construction business, both firms will work together paving the way for possible closer working on further station and railway upgrades.

Preparatory works are due to begin in early 2022, with demolition of the existing entrance clearing the way for the construction of the £26m statement building, which will overlook Market Square.

The new entrance features a large glass wrap-around design, and will include a new ticket office and reception, public toilets, retail space and cafes, comfortable waiting areas.

It is the first part of a six-year programme that will see the northern entrance of the station reimagined and platform-level works carrield out to increase the capacity of the station, with four tracks and four platforms to separate Nexus and Metro from mainline services.

Working in partnership with Network Rail, Nexus, Grand Central and Northern Rail, Sunderland City Council is driving this project as the first stage of redevelopment of the whole station.

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Royal BAM has rejigged its operational structure to concentrate on just two dedicated growth businesses in the UK and Ireland, and the Netherlands.

Its remaining businesses in Germany and Belgium will be managed for value with operational cuts and divestments.

Royal BAM will also set its sights on investing to become a top-three contractor in the UK and Ireland as part of the new business focus.

This new structure will replace the existing group business lines, which were split down construction, property and civil engineering disciplines.

Former Royal BAM Group civil engineering divison chief operating officer John Wilkinson will now take responsibility for the activities in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Wilkinson joined BAM a year ago from international consultant SNC-Lavalin where he was president of infrastructure, based in Montreal, Canada.

Before that held senior positions with Laing O’Rourke, Kier and May Gurney, respectively as managing director UK Infrastructure, executive director Services and managing director.

The new reporting structure, which comes into effect from January, will effectively unite the BAM Construction building business and Bam Nuttall civil engineering operation under one senior executive for the first time.

In a statement this morning the board said: “With this new organisational structure, BAM will enhance its effectiveness and focus on growth, leveraging its top-3 market positions in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

“This change will also contribute to faster development of innovative solutions, supporting BAM’s clients to improve their sustainability and lower their carbon footprint.”

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A subsidiary of Stewart Milne Group overseeing the planned construction of 3,100 homes near Aberdeen has gone into administration.

FRP Advisory is now running Countesswells Development Limited (CDL) which was overseeing work at the Countesswells new town.

Around 900 homes and several commercial properties and community facilities have been built or are under construction on the site.

A spokeswoman for CDL told the Press & Journal: “We are extremely disappointed that CDL, set up to deliver Countesswells, one of the most visionary and environmentally pioneering new communities in the UK, has been placed into administration.

“We firmly believe in the future of the project and will, of course, co-operate fully with the administrators to help ensure that the vision, which many people share for Countesswells, is realised.

“In the meantime, all existing construction work on the affordable homes at Countesswells will continue, and these homes will be completed and ready to move into as planned.”

Joint administrator Tom MacLennan said: “Our immediate priority will be to secure the site and finalise current construction, including completion of much-needed affordable housing projects.

“We will be reviewing the various land bank assets in line with the development plans and will work closely with the various stakeholders on the future development of the site.”

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Miller Homes has been fined £200,000 after polluting a Huddersfield watercourse for more than 1km.

The house builder appeared at Leeds Magistrates’ Court this week where it pleaded guilty to polluting a tributary of Grimescar Dyke with silt at Lindley Park on 8 February 2018.

It was fined £200,000, ordered to pay costs of more than £8,500 and a victim surcharge of £170.

The court heard that Miller Homes Limited purchased the land for a residential housing development in 2012. The site includes a series of tanks and lagoons for flood prevention measures.

Following reports of discolouration of Grimescar Dyke on 8 February 2018, an Environment Agency investigation traced the source of the silt pollution to an underground tank on the Miller Homes site, which is part of the development’s flood prevention measures.

Miller Homes said they had the site drainage infrastructure cleared by a contractor and this activity could have potentially impacted on the discharge from the tank.

The silt discharge impacted Grimescar Dyke for at least 1.2km. Silt pollution is hazardous to fish, blocking their gills and damaging breeding grounds. It can also damage the habitats that aquatic insects, vital food for a number of species, depend on.

Andy Swettenham, Environment Management Team Leader for the Environment Agency, said: “Miller Homes Limited did not follow its own management procedures, put in place after a previous conviction.

“Their own procedures dictate that the site should have a site specific Environment Plan and associated Surface Water Management Plan. These plans did exist but were not sufficient to prevent the pollution.

“This case emphasises the need not only for companies to have a comprehensive water management and pollution prevention plan in place but also to ensure it is fully implemented and all activities on site are properly supervised and monitored.

“If a member of the public had not reported this to us then the impact of the pollution could have been far worse.”

Miller Homes Limited was previously fined £100,000 in 2016 for a similar offence in 2013 at the same site, after which it developed its companywide management procedures.

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The country’s leading steelwork contractor is boasting a record UK and Europe order book of £393m after a stronger than expected first half of trading.

Alan Dunsmore, Severdfield chief executive officer, said despite material price and labour supply challenges the order book gave the firm good visibility through to the full year 2023.

The growth in the order book was driven by the new stadium for Everton FC, two large and various smaller distribution facilities in the UK, a waste-to-energy facility, new HS2 bridge packages and other bridge awards reflecting investment in infrastructure by Highways England and Network Rail.

He said tendering activity in UK and Europe remained very encouraging and with the firm’s pipeline of opportunities spanning a wide range of sectors demonstrating the benefits of both the strategic acquisitions and the organic investments we have made in recent years.

Pre-tax profit was up 20% to £7.9m from revenue up 5% to £195.9m in first half trading.

Dunsmore said: “We are making strong progress in our Indian business and are well-placed to capitalise on this exciting market opportunity as the economy recovers from the pandemic and construction continues to transition from concrete to steel.

“We continue to be mindful of industry-wide supply chain pressures for both us and our clients which are, in some instances, impacting material costs and availability.

“This includes certain steel products, in part reflecting a price of steel which, although stabilising recently, has nearly doubled over the past year.

“While not immune to this, the impact has been managed without any significant disruption to operations, and the group is managing these pressures through contractual protection, operating efficiencies and by forward purchasing as appropriate, leveraging the roup’s scale and supply chain and subcontract management strengths.”

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GMI Construction Group has lured Gary Oates back to the business to take up the newly-created role of North East operations director.

Oates who left GMI Construction just over five years ago to join specialist industrial contractor TSL Projects where he became project director.

He previously spent more than 16 years with GMI, starting as a site manager before progressing to contracts manager.

He returns to lead the north east growth strategy from a new Teesside office. He is also joined by new North East commercial manager Paul Raine, who joins from Leeds-based Torsion Group.

Gary Oates (left) takes north east operation director role supported by Paul Raine, new commercial manager.

Lee Powell, divisional managing director, said: “Both these appointments underline our commitment to the North East and we are resolved to play a greater role in creating jobs and generating economic prosperity.

“Gary is highly experienced and committed and, as such, is the right person to lead our North East division and grow this business in a region that is already enjoying the benefits of the levelling up agenda. We’re also delighted to welcome Paul to the team, who brings with him extensive commercial knowledge.

“GMI Construction Group has a long association with the North East and has been involved in several high-profile developments, allowing it to build a strong relationship with local suppliers and sub-contractors.”

This month, GMI will start work on a £30m contract to construct 362,600 sq. ft of commercial units as part of the first phase of the Hillthorn Business Park development at Washington, near Sunderland.

Appointed lead contractor by client Legal & General, GMI is due to complete the seven units, ranging in size from 21,000 sq. ft to 83,000 sq. ft, by September 2022.

It is part of a £60m two-phased development designed to stimulate economic growth by supporting the needs of industrial, advanced manufacturing, storage, and distribution businesses in the area.

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Wiltshire Council has put firms on alert for a fresh bid contest to deliver up to £300m worth of highways maintenance over the next five to ten years.

Present delivery contractor Ringways was drafted in to maintain the highways network for five years after a bust-up between Balfour Beatty Living and the council in 2016.

Ahead of starting the bid contest in April next year, Wiltshire Council is planning a suppliers engagement day at the end of this month to discuss options for re-tendering of the Term Highways Maintenance Service contract to start on 1st April 2023.

Current average annual spend through the contract is £15m, with potential for this to increase with additional capital funding.

The contract will be for the provision of a highways maintenance service to undertake a programme of maintenance and improvements of the highways and roads network or other council land in Wiltshire and associated infrastructure.

The successful contractor will be expected to work alongside the authority to help it achieve its commitment to becoming carbon natural by 2030.

Supplier engagement day details

Bidders day will start at 10.00 on the 29 November 2021 and will take place (via Webinar on Teams)

This contract will be for 5 years with a possible further 5 years extension after year 4.

Suppliers interested in attending should email [email protected]  for further event details.

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Contractor Farrans and a security specialist have been fined a total of £868,800 after a site guard froze to death on a remote windfarm job in Ayrshire.

Ayr Sheriff Court heard that just after midnight on 22 January 2018, Ronald (Ronnie) Alexander, a 74-year-old security guard employed by Corporate Service Management Limited, was found by Police Scotland’s Mountain Rescue Team at Afton Windfarm, near New Cumnock.

He was found lying face down and hypothermic, in deep snow and died later that day having never regained consciousness.

Corporate Service Management Limited was contracted by Northstone (NI) Limited, who trade as Farrans, to provide security for the site.

Following a site visit by the managing director and operations director of Corporate Service Management, it was agreed that two guards would be required because it was known that mobile phone signals offsite were very poor.

Around lunchtime on 21 January, as forecast, the weather deteriorated resulting in deep drifts on the road to the site from New Cumnock, and the road between the gatehouse where Alexander worked and the site compound where his colleague was stationed.

Although mobile phone communications were known to be poor and inconsistent at the site there was no landline. Two-way radios were available, but these could only be used for the guards to speak with each other and not offsite.

An HSE investigation found that when preparing their emergency weather plan, Northstone (NI) Ltd had failed to include those times when nobody from the company would be present at the site.

The company also failed to ensure there was a back-up generator at either of the guard’s locations to ensure that their welfare area would have heating and lighting should the main generator fail, despite this having occurred on several occasions previously.

Northstone (NI) Ltd did not ensure that Alexander or his colleague had a reliable means of calling for help.

At around 5pm, Alexander’s colleague managed to obtain a signal on his mobile phone and reported to Corporate Service Management’s control room that not only had the generator failed, but that the only means of transporting the men offsite, a 4×4 vehicle, had become trapped in the deep snow at the site compound.

Despite this, Corporate Service Management did not call the emergency services until after 9pm.

Corporate Service Management’s emergency plan relied on there being effective communication between the guards and their control room, however they failed to provide this or to make sure that Northstone (NI) Ltd had provided this at the site.

Northstone (NI) Limited of Belfast pleaded guilty to safety breaches and was fined £768,000.

Corporate Service Management Limited of Glasgow also pleaded guilty and was fined £100,800.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Gerard Muir said: “This incident could so easily have been avoided had either company ensured that a suitable assessment had been made of the risk to those working at the site in poor weather, that suitable and sufficient means had been provided for the guards to communicate offsite, and that back-up generators had been provided, particularly when they knew how often the main generator had failed.

“By simply carrying out these correct control measures and ensuring safe working practices at this site, this tragic event could have been avoided.

“Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.”