Author name: Natasha Solomon

Joanna Rees is a partner at law firm Blake Morgan The collapse of ISG in September created waves across the UK’s construction industry. It served as a painful reminder of the knock-on effects that insolvency can have throughout the supply chain, and the challenges it creates in both the private and public sector. A contractor […]

The construction sector is facing an “opaque” 2025, as increased building costs and mortgage rates hold back its recovery. In light of the latest official statistics on insolvency rates, analysts warned of “further issues to be addressed” before the sector’s business failure rate falls. The Insolvency Service said the construction industry suffered the second largest

A Northern Irish fit-out firm involved in high-profile jobs, including London’s Claridge’s hotel, has been bought out of administration. Pure Fitout, based in Newtownabbey, had been under “severe financial strain” and was forced to appoint administrators earlier this month. The company blamed a set of “substantial unpaid invoices” for its troubles, adding that it entered

A failure to look beyond historical statistics on construction product safety when regulating the market could lead to an “accumulation of deaths”, the government has been warned. A report commissioned by the Office for Product Safety and Standards, published on Monday (20 January), says that relying solely on incident data could produce “unacceptable” outcomes. The

The Welsh Government has alerted contractors to a forthcoming £130m bridge-replacement deal. Ministers in Wales published a prior information notice for the A494 River Dee Bridge contract, which set out that formal procurement is expected to get underway in May for the scheme to replace the “vital” structure. The A494 carries traffic between Dolgellau within

At least five massive hospital construction projects, initially earmarked for completion by 2030, will not get underway before 2037. Under fresh plans, health secretary Wes Streeting revealed a phased approach to deliver the remaining schemes in the previous Conservative government’s New Hospital Programme (NHP). Projects will get underway in waves, starting with three relatively small

Kier’s share price soared by more than 6 per cent this morning after the construction, property and support services giant announced a buyback scheme. The value of a share in the Salford-headquartered firm rose from 138.4p at 5pm on Monday, 20 January, to 147.2p just after 8am on Tuesday. It followed the firm’s announcement at

Forth Holdings has boosted its turnover and profit. The Scottish construction support firm posted income of £265.4m for the 12 months to 31 August 2024, up 14 per cent on the year before. It also recorded a pre-tax profit on ordinary activities of £20.9m, up from £13.6m. The company’s pre-tax profit margin grew from 5.1

The extent of losses racked up by modular builder TopHat have been laid bare, after the firm confirmed it ceased trading before Christmas. The Derby-based company published two sets of accounts last Thursday (16 January), showing that it plunged £53.8m into the red in the year to 31 October 2023. TopHat Corporate posted a £7.5m

An appeal court judge has thrown out an “opportunistic” and “cynical” challenge by a payroll firm over its eligibility for Construction Industry Training Board grant payments. Hudson Contract Services (now known as Knot Builders) had challenged a February 2024 High Court ruling that found it was not eligible for the majority of grant it argued