Laing O’Rourke founder and chief executive Ray O’Rourke is planning to list the business on the stock exchange within the next three years.

O’Rourke revealed the timeline to take the country’s largest private contractor public in an interview with the Financial Times.

He said: “We will float the company in a few years’ time. By 2024 we will be in good shape.”

Latest results for the firm showed pre-tax profit jumped nearly 40% to £46m in the year to March 2020, despite revenue dipping 11% to £2.4bn.

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A worker was crushed under a lift this week at BAM Construction’s Johnnie Walker Experience site in Edinburgh.

The victim is being treated in hospital for broken ribs after the accident on Tuesday at the site where BAM is building a whisky tourist attraction for drinks giant Diageo.

A Diageo spokeswoman told the BBC: “Unfortunately a subcontractor to our principal construction partner was involved in an incident on site, becoming trapped when commissioning a low-level lift.

“Thankfully, due to quick actions of co-workers on site, the person was released quickly and given prompt first aid. The person concerned is currently in hospital with broken ribs and our thoughts are with him and his well-being.

“Our principal contractor and Diageo take the health and safety management of the site extremely seriously and all the necessary investigations are being carried out. We cannot comment further at this stage.”

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Industry leaders have welcomed confirmation that the Government has postponed planned changes to product marking rules.

As part of Brexit changes were due to come into force on 1 January 2022 that would require products that had previously had CE markings shift across to the new United Kingdom Conformity Assessed (UKCA) mark.

But the industry had sounded the alarm over whether the sector was ready for the change following  uncertainty about availability and capacity of testing for products under

the new regime.

The Government has now backed-down allowing CE marked products to be sold in the UK for a further 12 months with the deadline pushed back to January 1 2023.

James Talman Chief Executive of the National Federation of Roofing Contractors said: “At a time when we are facing some of the worst material availability and inflation in living memory, this announcement will come as a welcome relief for manufacturers and merchants.

“We have been telling the government that the 1st January 2022 deadline was not feasible for some time, with many products simply unable to receive certification by the deadline.

“I am glad that the message has now got through. This extra time will provide much-needed breathing space for supplies to undertake the necessary tests and acquire the correct paperwork.

“The government should now work with industry to ensure the supply chain is fully prepared for the new 2023 deadline, particularly smaller firms, so we do not face similar problems in the future.”

Construction Leadership Council co-chair Andy Mitchell added: “Given the widespread pressures on product supply, we welcome this pragmatic decision by the Government

to extend the deadline for CE-marked products.”

“However even with this extension, it will still be very challenging to ensure that the  whole sector is ready for the new date, given the need to drive major increases in testing capacity.

“It is vital that industry continues to work with the Government to address these issues, ensuring that we don’t just postpone the crisis by 12 months, but instead establish a

robust testing and marking regime to ensure the continued safety and performance of the products that we use”.

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Housing association Peabody has appointed Durkan to begin construction of a housing scheme in Lambeth, south London.

Over the next three years, Durkan will construct 134 new homes and over 45,000 square metres of commercial space at Higgs Yard, a former industrial site at Loughborough Junction.

Designed by PRP Architects, the scheme represents an £85m investment into the area and will be 50% affordable homes.

It is the largest single development which Loughborough Junction has seen since the Loughborough Estate was built in the 1950s.

Construction on the site is due to begin this Autumn, with completion planned for early 2024.

Tom Williamson, Senior Development Manager at Peabody, said previous plans had been reworked for a better mix of one, two and three-bed homes and incorporate a communal landscaped podium deck at the heart of the development and a roof terrace sitting on the 17th floor.

Ryann Peterson, Head of Bid Management at Durkan, said: Durkan is pleased to have been successful in securing and finalising the contract to deliver Higgs Yard.

This is a very exciting time for us as a business.  We’re very much looking forward to continue building on our relationship with Peabody and maximising the potential of this fantastic development.” 

Scape has named its seven favoured contractors to deliver up to £14bn of projects through its next-generation suite of construction frameworks.

Graham, Kier, McLaughlin & Harvey, Mace, Morgan Sindall, Sisk and Willmott Dixon have been appointed to deliver the Scape Construction framework for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, worth up to £12bn.

In addition, Morgan Sindall, Kier and McLaughlin & Harvey will also deliver the £2bn Scotland Construction framework. Each partner will be supported by an extensive local supply chain.

The overhaul of Scape frameworks sees previous incumbents Lendlease, Robertson and Wates drop out, making way for new commers Mace, Sisk and Graham

Scape frameworks – total spend £14bn

England, Wales & Northern Ireland – Project value £75m+

Mace, John Sisk

England & Wales – Project value: £7.5m – £75m

Morgan Sindall, Willmott Dixon

England & Wales – Project value: up to £7.5m

Kier, Morgan Sindall

Northern Ireland  – Project value: £7.5m – £75m

McLaughlin & Harvey

Northern Ireland  – Project value: up to £7.5m

Graham

Scotland – Project value £7.5m-plus

McLaughlin & Harvey, Morgan Sindall

Scotland – Project value up to £7.5m

Kier, Morgan Sindall

The four-year net zero-ready public works frameworks will accelerate the delivery of new-build and refurbishment projects of all values from September 2021 and 2025.

With close alignment to the government’s Construction Playbook and a focus on climate action response via the built environment, the suite of frameworks is intended to offer a better way to build and refurbish the public estate, whilst stimulating local economic activity.

The frameworks have been carefully designed to enable clients to benefit from industry transformation, with consideration towards digital construction, platform design and modern methods of construction.

Clients to benefit from several innovative features

A unique parallel lotting structure, offering a choice of two contractors while retaining the free early engagement and direct award.A new lifecycle contract form, supporting clients with energy conservation and the operational efficiency and performance of their assets beyond the construction phase for up to five years. The new feature, which completes the frameworks’ ‘net zero ready’ offer, will help to build and validate a client’s business case for low carbon buildings, and address the historic performance gap between design and in-use building performance.A new commercial model that includes a standard pricing template for greater transparency. Contractors will also commit to 19-day (or better) payment terms for their supply chain partners.Enhanced tailoring of project KPIs and success criteria for every project, leveraging the Construction Innovation Hub’s Value Toolkit to define success for the client.Support from SCAPE’s dedicated framework management team, with performance in delivery measured against market-leading benchmarks for environmental performance, sustainability, social value and the use of local supply chains.

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Homes England has injected £40m of funding into retirement homes developer Audley Group’s planned Watford Riverwell scheme in Hertfordshire.

The loan is one of the first for the older living sector from the £4.5bn Home Building Fund and will accelerate the construction of 255 mid-market retirement homes.

Balfour Beatty has secured a £68m contract from Audley Group for the mix of one- and two- bedroom apartments.

The firm will also lead the delivery of communal facilities that include swimming pool, restaurant, a health club and a multi-purpose village hall that will be surrounded with green spaces and parking.

Balfour Beatty will manufacture 180 apartment balconies offsite, thereby reducing the risk of working at height and improve the overall project efficiency.

The early works at the site are already underway and the main construction works are slated to be completed in 2023.

Peter Denton, Chief Executive at Homes England, said: “Our loan directly addresses market funding challenges due to the pandemic and highlights our commitment to ensuring diverse communities.”

Nick Sanderson, CEO, Audley Group said: “The transaction with Homes England is an important milestone for the retirement living sector.

“A coming of age. Government backing underlines the importance placed on increasing provision in the retirement living sector and developing more innovative housing solutions.

“Our aspiration to transform retirement is shared with both Homes England and BlackRock Real Assets and this will be the focus as we look to the future.”

Mayfield’s first Retirement Village will be built near Watford General Hospital.

The development is a cornerstone to the wider Riverwell regeneration scheme in what is a priority location for the agency, allowing it to help deliver more ambitious plans.

The project also incorporates elements of Modern Methods of Construction, covering build and project management activities.

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Buckingham Group Contracting has just started demolition work to clear the way for a £30m ice skating centre in London’s Lee Valley.

The project designed by Faulkner Browns will replace the 34-year old Lee Valley Ice Centre with two Olympic size rinks.

The centre would be the first twin-pad venue in the south of England, and will also feature a new gym and exercise studio.

Lee Valley Regional Park Authority is promoting the scheme, which will be built in two phases to maintain an open ice rink at the site at all times during construction.

The consultant team includes structural and civil engineer Expedition and MEP engineer Max Fordham.

The proposed building will have an 80,000 sq ft footprint and rise 10.5m in height.

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Highways England is switching to use of warm mix asphalts as standard in the push towards net zero carbon emissions.

The material has been in limited use since 2015 but required a special application for use from the supply chain.

Highways England is now asking all those involved in the construction and maintenance of the strategic road network, particularly designers and main contractors, to utilise warm mix asphalts as standard.

WMA technologies can offer enhanced efficiencies and lower production carbon, with CO2 savings of up to 15% when compared to conventional hot mix asphalts.

Produced at temperatures up to 40°C lower than the 190°C needed for traditional asphalts the decision promises big benefits.

If all production in the UK switched to WMAs, it would save around 61,000 tonnes of CO2e a year, the equivalent of cutting around 300m miles of car journeys.

It would also help save up to £70m a year through an increase in shift outputs and can be recycled back into new asphalts, preventing waste.

Malcolm Dare, executive director of Commercial and Procurement at Highways England, said: “This is a big step forward for Highways England that allows us to not only achieve huge efficiency savings but also reduce carbon as we strive for net zero.

“We are altering our way of working to encourage and enable the use of warm mix asphalts as standard across the supply chain, which has efficiency, sustainability, and health and safety benefits while not compromising performance.”

WMAs account for significant volumes worldwide – almost 40% of asphalt production in the USA and over 15% in France.

But WMAs remain under-utilised in the UK, where they currently represent less than 4% of overall asphalt production.

Paul Gott, Project Sponsor from Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, said: “We are delighted that we’ve formed a group from across the supply chain who are focused on embedding carbon reduction measures across Highways England’s schemes.

“Warm mix asphalt is the first carbon efficiency project on the groups extensive carbon reduction plan, which is evolving and already identifies several short, medium and longer-term goals.”

Tim Jordan, Project Delivery Lead from Balfour Beatty added: “We are proud to be working collaboratively with both Highways England and our industry partners to drive meaningful, sustainable change in the supply chain as we work towards a net-zero future.”

Malcom Simms, Director of the Mineral Products Association, added: “We and members have been working closely with Highways England for a number of years to provide the evidence of the benefits of Warm Mix Asphalts, in order to give specifiers the confidence to make a shift to these solutions.”

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Blackpool-based Fox Brothers has bought North West civil engineer and highways contractor J J O’Grady to further extend its range of services.

Established in 2006, Preston-based J J O’Grady has a track record of working with local authorities, housing developers and civil engineering contractors.

Under the terms of the deal, J J O’Grady continues to trade under its own name within the Fox Group of companies.

Established in 1932, Fox employs around 80 staff and specialises in the supply and haulage of aggregates, recycled materials, muck-shift, earthworks and civil engineering projects. Last year revenues totalled £16m, slipping from £22m because of Covid.

Fox director John Flood said: “The acquisition makes perfect strategic sense for our business as  J J O’Grady adds several different services and different customers, including local authorities.

“It has an excellent reputation, and we believe it has a great deal of potential to grow.

“We will be able to offer clients a more complete solution from site preparation through to highways and street maintenance.

“Our focus is on providing a single-source solution for local authorities, housebuilders, infrastructure, construction and civils contractors.”

Founder Seamus O’Grady will stay in the business, which continues day-to-day operations from its base at Lostock Hall.

Flood added “We would like to thank our non-executive director, Owen McLaughlin, for his support through the acquisition process.”

In September 2020  Fox acquired Clive Hurt (Plant Hire) to create the largest provider of haulage and plant hire services in Lancashire, with a 180-strong fleet of wagons and over 400 items of plant and machinery.

Flood added: “We will continue to look  for other opportunities to expand our services.”

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Sir Robert McAlpine’s managing director of the London business, Paul Heather, has suddenly left the business.

Heather joined McAlpine from Skanska nearly five years ago, where he had been working as managing director of its succesful London and the South East team.

A source told the Enquirer: “We suddenly got an email saying he was leaving the business, nothing else.”

He will be replaced by Alison Cox, who was McApines’s executibve director of engineering and technical services, the first woman to undertake the Director of Engineering and Technical Services role in the company’s 150-year history.

Before herBefore her appointment to the executive board in January, Cox was project director on McAlpine’s high profile Battersea Power Station Phase 3A project.

A McAlpine spokesperson said: “We can confirm that Alison Cox is assuming responsibility for our London region with immediate effect. We have no further comment to make at this time.”