High tech pothole repairs get £200m funding boost

Extra funding is being released for high tech techniques for road maintenance and pothole repairs.

Councils in England will be given a share of more than £200 million including £151 million to reward examples of improved practice.

The Department for Transport will fund early stage research into new surface materials or pothole repair techniques such as 3D printing.

A digital hub will also be set up for experts to share and develop innovations.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “It is now up to highways authorities to innovate and use new technologies to solve the problem.”

Current innovations include north-east Lincolnshire where the council and partner ENGIE have introduced a new heat and recycle system which mixes new and existing surfaces to create a thermo-bond and reduce the potential for weak points which let in water, creating potholes.

As the technique recycles the existing surface, no waste is taken to landfill.

The government has already announced it will be providing £23m for trials of new technologies to develop pothole-free roads, such as using kinetic energy to heat surfaces, recycling plastic waste into a harder-wearing surface or installing sensors to predicts where issues might occur.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/01/high-tech-pothole-repairs-get-200m-funding-boost/

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Sisk to finish £15m Dawnus Manchester road job

John Sisk & Son has been confirmed as replacement contractor to oversee the completion of the £15m Manchester-Salford Inner Relief Road.

Since civils contractor Dawnus collapsed Manchester highways maintenance staff have been doing work laying kerbs and surfacing pavements to ensure the site was ready for the new main contractor to get underway.

Sisk will start to mobilise on site this week to resuming full work as soon as possible on the Regent Road works.

Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “This has been a challenging situation but I am glad that it has been resolved so quickly and that this vital work is now getting back on track.

“We recognise that it’s been frustrating for motorists during this brief period of uncertainty but despite the complexities involved, the good news is that we’ve only lost a short amount of time and do not anticipate significant delay, if any, to the original project timetable.”

 

Administrators were called in at Swansea-based Dawnus just over two weeks ago.

Since then Welsh civil engineering contractor Griffiths has also secured a former project to re-start work on the stalled £12m transformation of a key Swansea city centre route.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/01/sisk-to-finish-15m-dawnus-manchester-road-job/

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Union claims £1m back-pay victory for HS2 workers

HS2 joint venture partners Costain and Skanska have pledged back-pay to hundreds of workers at the Euston site in London to settle a row about overtime pay rates and holiday entitlement.

Construction union Unite secured a commitment from the joint venture after its labour only supplier, Bowercross Construction, was exposed for failing to pay around 200 workers on enabling works the correct overtime rates and deprived them of correct holiday entitlement.

Unite said this meant that workers were on average being underpaid by over £100 a week. The union estimates the final back-pay bill could be over £1m.

The issue came to a head last week when Unite revealed that it had obtained multiple payslips from workers that proved they were not being paid in accordance with the project framework agreement,  signed by unions and HS2 in April 2016.

A Costain Skanska joint venture spokesperson said: “Costain Skanska JV  uses approved suppliers to provide labour to some of our sites on the HS2 enabling works programme.

“The workers in question are paid via PAYE and receive full employment rights, which include a minimum of the London Living Wage, EU holiday and sick pay and welfare benefits.

“We have looked into Unite’s report concerning the industry agreement rate for overtime and weekend duty, as well as holiday entitlement. The company concerned has been instructed to remedy this with immediate effect so that we meet our required standards.”

It added: “CSJV remains keen to maintain a working dialogue with Unite to ensure that its members’ views are considered and any concerns can be addressed swiftly.

“We have offered Unite access to site inductions where they can recruit members, as well as a suitable meeting room for recruitment and member engagement purposes, so that people working on our sites can choose how to spend their break times.”

 

It is the second time unions and BCL and CSJV have clashed.

Last autumn Unite discovered that contrary to the agreement, BCL was not paying £1.49 a week per worker to provide the correct accident and death benefit cover.

When the CSJV was challenged on this matter it not only assured Unite that the issue had been resolved but also confirmed they had conducted an extensive audit costing £60,000 of its subcontractors and all other matters were in order.

Unite national officer Jerry Swain, said: “CSJV had no option once the scandal of the underpayments was revealed by Unite to immediately ensure the correct rates are paid.

“Questions remain about who knew and for how long; workers were being underpaid and exploited.

“The commitment to not only pay the correct rates but also ensures that everyone who has been underpaid will receive the correct back pay, demonstrated the value of unions.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/03/31/union-claims-1m-back-pay-victory-for-hs2-workers/

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Enquirer hits nearly two million page views in March

March was a bumper month for the Enquirer with a record number of visitors generating nearly two million page views.

Google Analytics reproduced above show the site enjoyed more than 1.9 million page views last month from over 379,000 unique users.

Huge traffic volumes make the Enquirer the biggest online news service in the construction and building sector as the industry turns to us for the stories that matter.

Our advertisers are also benefiting from the massive industry reach enjoyed by the Enquirer.

March figures show adverts on the site were clicked on more than 12,500 times during the month generating over 260 hours viewing time of advertisers’ websites by our readers.

To discuss how the Enquirer can promote your products and services talk to Jenny Martin on email jenny.martin@constructionenquirer.com or Tel: 07803 523 339.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/01/enquirer-hits-nearly-two-million-page-views-in-march/

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Lovell on the lookout for new subcontractors

Lovell is hosting a meet the buyer event later this month in a bit to boost its supply chain in West Wales.

Lovell wants to hear from contractors covering the region from Swansea to Fishguard, including Mid Wales.

Regional managing director James Duffett said: “Our continuing growth across the region has led to an ever-increasing number of exciting projects.

“We are very interested in meeting supply chain partners with the relevant experience and expertise to work with us on high-quality new homes schemes.”

In South Wales and the South West, the company’s regional forward order book to 2021 exceeds £200m with developments planned throughout the area,

Duffett added: “The Meet the Buyer event is an excellent opportunity to get to know our team and our approach to partnership working.

“We are always keen to hear from people with the right skills who want to work with us. As a business, we are a firm believer in creating benefits for local people and businesses in the areas where we operate.

“Providing the chance for local firms and individuals to work with us on our award-winning schemes is a big part of that community commitment.”

Major schemes currently include landmark west Cardiff development The Mill and Ymyl Yr Afon – a £25m, 153-home development at the former site of the Merthyr Vale Colliery near Merthyr Tydfil.

The Meet the Buyer event is free and firms looking to attend should register in advance here.

It will be held from 10am to 2pm on Monday April 29 at The Towers Hotel & Spa, near Swansea (M4, J42).

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/01/lovell-on-the-lookout-for-new-subcontractors/

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New methodology enables solid state lighting to measure and self-adjust based on conditions

Researchers announce a two-pronged approach to both measure and self-adjust the spectral power distributions (SPDs) of LED lighting systems. Their methodology demonstrates the system’s ability to maintain consistency and stability over an extended period of time.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190329130155.htm

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New way of designing systems against correlated disruptions uses negative probability

Until now, systems engineers have struggled with the problem of planning for disaster impacts that are linked by correlation – like those of earthquakes and tsunamis – because of the cumbersome calculations necessary to precisely quantify the probabilities of all possible combinations of disruption occurrences. Now researchers have developed a new method for designing and optimizing systems subject to correlated disruptions.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190328173719.htm

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Researchers investigate complex uranium oxides with help from CADES resources

To accelerate the process of identifying novel uranium oxide phases, researchers studied 4,600 different potential crystal structures of uranium oxide compositions on Metis, a CADES high-performance computing cluster. An improved understanding of uranium oxides, which fuel the vast majority of the U.S. nuclear power fleet, could lead to the development of improved fuels or waste storage materials.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190328150910.htm

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Ernest Park lands key role on £36m micro living job

Ernest Park Limited has been appointed Construction Manager on the £36m office to micro living conversion at York House, Wembley, North West London.

Due for completion in late 2020, the 14,500 m2 development is being delivered for York House GP Property and includes 368 Micro Living Units with communal amenities and Commercial Office space.

The project win represents a significant step in the steady progression of Ernest Park, formed in 2013 by childhood friends Michael Devereux and Neilus McCarthy.

The company said: “Ernest Park’s Management Board are delighted to be appointed as Construction Managers for the conversion of York House, a building steeped in its own history, within the iconic locale of Wembley.

“The appointment demonstrates the continued success of the values upon which our business is based – openness, honesty and transparency – and is further validation of our in-house approach in creating the right blend of Construction Management and Trade Contracting on our commissions where appropriate, thus delivering clients with a balanced risk profile on project delivery.

“Due for completion in 2020 it is the latest appointment for the business since it commenced trading in 2014 and provides opportunity to underpin our very important existing and future trading relationships with clients and supply chain partners, all of whom are integral to who we are and what we do.

“Projects such as York House have driven the business’ growth objectives forward, and we have responded with significant re-investment right across it.

“Our Corporate Vision is to create and sustain a trusted culture and brand, acting in absolute partnership with all stakeholders, delivered in a lean and responsible manner we are delighted that York House GP Limited have helped us fulfil that vision.”

York House’s conversion will include major strip out works, off site manufacture of bespoke micro living units, high rise extension and cladding works.

The project started on site in early 2019, with completion due in late 2020.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/03/31/ernest-park-lands-key-role-on-36m-micro-living-site/

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Engineering for high-speed devices

A research team from the University of Delaware has developed cutting-edge technology for photonics devices that could enable faster communications between phones and computers.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190329134756.htm

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Making waves: Researchers shed light on how cilia work

Scientists have found the most efficient length for cilia, the tiny hair-like structures designed to sweep out the body’s fluids, cells and microbes to stay healthy.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190329134754.htm

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Collett transports giant girders to Vinci M20 job

Collett has delivered six giant paired plate girders for Severfield as part of the Highways England M20 Junction Improvement Scheme where VINCI is main contractor.

Each of the six loads originated at Severfield’s structural steel facility in Bolton, and were transported 290 miles to the Kent M20 Junction 10a development.

Each of the six plate girders were 41m long requiring 6-axle and 5-axle bogie trailers with turntables to successfully navigate the route.

Each of the paired plate girders were loaded to Collett’s bogie trailers at the Severfield site utilising a 500 Tonne mobile crane before departing under Greater Manchester Police Escorts.

The overall Highways England project is to create a new interchange junction 700 metres East of Junction 10 over the M20 and a dual carriageway link road to the existing A2070 Bad Munstereifel Road.

Construction on the project also includes a replacement pedestrian footbridge and a connection to the A20 Hythe Road.

The development is now underway with the junction and link road expected to be open to traffic in Autumn 2019 and the full scheme completion by Summer 2020.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/03/29/collett-transports-giant-girders-to-vinci-m20-job/

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Online marketplace makes recruiting temp workers easier

A new online marketplace of recruitment agencies is helping to make life easier for contractors looking to find temporary workers.

TempaGoGo has more than 100 vetted agencies nationwide on the platform and has already helped hundreds of companies recruit temporary staff.

Companies can work seamlessly with multiple agencies at the same time, from their desktop in the office or via their mobile phones on site, to find candidates in minutes.

TempaGoGo director Phil Pegden said: “Recruiting contractors and temporary construction workers is a great way for construction companies to deal with economic uncertainty and address short-term skill shortages.

“But with more than 11,000 temporary recruitment agencies in the UK, including more than 1,000 in construction and engineering alone, temp recruitment can be an obstacle course.

“Nowadays, everything is done online: booking flights, comparing insurance, finding houses – everything, but temp recruitment!

“So much time is wasted: you have to find agencies, call them one by one, hope they have available, suitable and sensibly priced candidates… without mentioning submitting those timesheets by fax!”.

The startup company has just won the “Innovator of the Year” Award from Hounslow Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Heathrow, and the coveted West London “Startup of the Year” Award.

It received seed-funding earlier this year to pursue its mission to take the pain away from temp agency recruitment.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/03/29/online-marketplace-makes-recruiting-temp-workers-easier/

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Tiny optical elements could one day replace traditional refractive lenses

A research team has developed tiny optical elements from metal nanoparticles and a polymer that one day could replace traditional refractive lenses to realize portable imaging systems and optoelectronic devices.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190328150702.htm

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Ferrovial Agroman battles to stem UK losses

The UK operation of Spanish civil engineering contractor Ferrovial Agroman is still fighting to curb losses.

Latest published accounts for the business, which had contracts on Crossrail and the Northern Line Tube extension and is presently working on Thames Tideway and HS2, show the firm suffered a £13m loss last year.

The result is an improvement on 2017 when the Agroman business in the UK was rocked by a £30m loss due to problem contracts.

Finance director Andres Blanco Diez, said: “The losses are a result of the performance of specific highways and water projects. Aviation and rail projects have performed to expectation generating the positive margins anticipated at their respective stage of completion.”

He added: “The company’s financial goals for 2019 and beyond continue to be to grow the order book and net cash balance, increase revenue and improve operating margin.”

At year-end Agroman’s UK order book had increased a little to £691m, due to client-approved changes and additional works instructed on existing contracts.

Revenue in 2018 fell back 11% to £296m, made up of £121m from rail work, £94m in water and £56m in aviation.

The business presently employs just over 450 staff.

The result marks another tough year for parent group Ferrovial in the UK. It is trying to sell its services contractor, Amey, after several years of losses. Last month Ferrovial revealed it had slashed the book value of the firm by £660m to just £88m, due to changing sentiment in the UK services market.

Amey is embroiled in a major row with Birmingham City Council over its £2.7bn highways maintenance contract.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/03/29/ferrovial-agroman-battles-to-stem-uk-losses/

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Workers not paid at building services giant George Birchall

Charles Edward lands Scalpel fit-out deal

Expanding contractor Charles Edward Limited has landed a major fit-out deal in the Scalpel skyscraper on Lime Street in the City of London.

The 27,000 sq ft Cat B fit out contract is for National Australia Bank across levels nine and ten of the tower.

Charles Edward’s London Division fought off competition from six rival firms to land the deal.

The firm used its in-house design team to create a unique office environment for the bank.

Work on the £4m contract is due to start imminently and take 22 weeks to complete.

Zoe Moss, Divisional Director at Charles Edward said: “I couldn’t be more proud of the team to secure such a prestigious fit out for such a fantastic client; we look forward to nailing the delivery.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/03/29/charles-edward-lands-scalpel-fit-out-deal/

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North East housing body unveils £1bn spend plan

Thirteen, the largest housing association in the North East plans to spend more than £1bn improving and building new homes over the next five years.

The 2019-2024 programme will see £411m improving up to 20,000 homes, upgrading roofs, kitchens, bathrooms, windows, doors and energy efficient boilers. Nearly £400m will be used to build 3,000 affordable and shared ownership homes, including £58m to build 700 new independent living places for people with specialist needs.

A further £59m will be allocated to build 298 market sale homes, with profit reinvested back into its social purposes. The balance will be ploughed into 300 apprenticeship for local people.

Ian Wardle, chief executive at Thirteen said “Our customers are at the heart of what we do. Two of our top priorities are delivering quality places to live and a great customer experience. In the past year alone, we have invested £31m into improving our neighbourhoods, £29m into developing new homes and carried out over 150,000 repairs as part of an ongoing programme.

“We will now deliver a £1bn investment over the next five years to improve our customer’s homes, their local neighbourhoods and their services, as well as delivering new affordable homes.”

The housing association bought Hartlepool-based building contractor Gus Robinson Developments to help with housing delivery at the end of last year. The £25m turnover north east builder employs around 50 people.

Thirteen Housing has also selected four other delivery partners: Esh Construction; Galliford Try Partnerships; Engie; and Mears to deliver larger schemes worth more than £7.5m.

The housing association is presently tendering a demolition framework worth around £5m, with one preferred contractor and four other selected to carry out housing clearance over the next four years.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/03/29/north-east-housing-body-unveils-1bn-spend-plan/

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Brexit uncertainty stalls housing starts at 165,000 a year

Housing starts stagnated at 165,160 in 2018, despite Government efforts to pump up housing supply to achieve its flaunted building target of 300,000 homes by the mid-2020s.

After steadily growing in recent years from a trough of around 75,000 in 2009, starts have now stalled at the 165,000 level for two years, according to the Government’s own figures.

The plateau is being blamed on Brexit uncertainty. And other indicators for new home registrations in the first few months of 2019 suggest starts could have peaked, ending nearly a decade of slow but steady growth.

Last quarter of 2018 recent trend figures recorded private new build starts down 9% from the previous quarter, but completions edged up by 2%. Starts by housing associations are 11% lower compared to the last quarter, but completions are up by 4%.

Total completions matched starts at 165,090, an increase of 1% compared with last year.

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Annual starts and completions

The latest figures suggest that Government will struggle to achieve higher completions unless it can spark local authority housing delivery.

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Post war housing completions by tenure

More up-to-date figures for NHBC starts suggest housing starts may well have peaked.

For the rolling quarter, between December and February 34,199 new homes registrations fell 2%. During this period private registrations sector fell -13% against last year while the smaller affordable homes sector rose by just over a third, offsetting the provate sector fall.

Against the slight decrease overall in registrations, half of the 12 UK regions experienced some growth in this period, including London (+17%), the North West (+11%) and the South East (+9%).

NHBC Chief Executive Steve Wood said: “Continuing the trend from January we are seeing strong numbers in the affordable sector but an understandable drop in the private sector amid the ongoing Brexit uncertainty.

NHBC – UK Registrations by region
England – Regions	Dec 18 – Feb 19	YOY change
NORTH EAST	1,040	-24%
NORTH WEST & MERSEYSIDE	4,128	11%
YORKSHIRE & HUMBERSIDE	2,220	-4%
WEST MIDLANDS	3,190	3%
EAST MIDLANDS	2,448	-29%
EASTERN	3,098	-25%
SOUTH WEST	3,043	2%
LONDON	4,594	17%
SOUTH EAST	6,220	9%
TOTAL ENGLAND	29,981	-2%
SCOTLAND	2,201	-1%
WALES	1,075	-12%
NORTHERN IRELAND & ISLE OF MAN	942	52%
TOTAL UK	34,199	-1.5%

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/03/28/brexit-uncertainty-stalls-housing-starts-at-165000-a-year/

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Biomedical engineers grow cardiac patches to help people recover from heart attacks

A little goes a long way. Tiny blood vessels are essential for regenerative engineering and a team led by engineers has detailed innovative methods to ensure highly aligned, dense and mature microvasculature in engineered tissue that can be used for cardiac patches.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190328112533.htm

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Engineers craft the basic building block for electrospun nanofibers

Imagine wounds that heal without scars. It’s possible with electrospun nanofibers. A team has streamlined the tissue scaffold production process, cutting out time spent removing toxic solvents and chemicals. Using a unique blend of polymers, they hope to speed up biomedical engineering prototyping using identical materials for a range of tests.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190327161252.htm

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A rubber computer eliminates the last hard components from soft robots

A new rubber computer combines the feel of a human hand with the thought process of an electronic computer, replacing the last hard components in soft robots. Now, soft robotics can travel where metals and electronics cannot – like high-radiation disaster areas, outer-space, and deep underwater – and turn invisible to the naked eye or even sonar detection.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190325151041.htm

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Designer organelles bring new functionalities into cells

For the first time, scientists have engineered the complex biological process of translation into a designer organelle in a living mammalian cell. Researchers used this technique to create a membraneless organelle that can build proteins from natural and synthetic amino acids carrying new functionality.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190328150808.htm

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Autonomous car learns to handle unknown conditions

In order to make autonomous cars navigate more safely in difficult conditions – like icy roads – researchers are developing new control systems that learn from real-world driving experiences while leveraging insights from physics.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190327142024.htm

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Two boys arrested after Southampton construction site inferno

Hampshire Police have arrested an 11-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy on suspicion of arson in connection with a major fire at a construction site in Southampton on Tuesday.

The blaze destroyed a timber frame building under construction and took more than 70 firefighters to get it under control.

Police had previously released an image of three people seen on the roof of the building prior to the fire starting.

These people have since been identified and have been eliminated from the investigation.

The two boys arrested are both from Southampton and remain in police custody.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/03/28/two-boys-arrested-after-southampton-construction-site-inferno/

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Engie to renovate four Coatbridge tower blocks

North Lanarkshire Council has picked regeneration specialist Engie to renovate four 16-storey housing blocks in Coatbridge.

Significant renovation work worth £18.5m will take place at Blairgrove and Merryston Towers, as well as Glen Court and Millbrae Court.

Engie will carry out essential structural repairs, energy efficiency measures and upgrades to communal areas.

The scope of works will include roof repairs, new windows and cladding systems, fitting individual flat sprinklers and new fire doors.

Engie has confirmed the application of a long-term investment approach, which will see the company work with the council and other local community groups and enterprises to establish additional community investment that will enrich lives. This will also include employment and training opportunities for local people and businesses throughout the duration of the build.

Brian Pettigrew, regional managing director for ENGIE’s Places & Communities division, said: “The programme of improvement works will improve the visual appearance of the blocks, as well as offering a safer and more sustainable home for residents.

“This project is hugely important to us and, as with all of our regeneration projects across the UK, we are committed to scoping out wider local community investment and training opportunities that create sustainable places for everyone to work and live in.

Work on the four blocks in Coatbridge is scheduled to begin in May this year to complete the work by May 2020.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/03/28/engie-to-renovate-four-coatbridge-tower-blocks/

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Graham wins £18m Carlisle cancer centre

Graham has been awarded an £18.3m contract to design and construct the new cancer centre at Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle for North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust.

The project was awarded through the Procure22 framework and will see Graham deliver an 18-bay chemotherapy suite, a three-bed bay for day patients, two LINAC bunkers and a CT scanner suite.

The work will also see new consultation and examination rooms, clinical planning and mould rooms and additional space for support staff.

Demolition of the Cumberland Infirmary’s eyesore tower block will be completed next month to clear the way.

Keith Hayes, Healthcare Director for Graham, said the project was currently in the design phase, with work expected to start in the summer and complete in January 2021.

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Services delivered in the new facility will include radiotherapy, day-case chemotherapy, oncology late phase clinical trials and oncology outpatient clinics.

As part of the new facility modular dry interlocking blocks will be used in the construction of the LINAC bunkers to provide protection from radiation outside of the bunkers.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/03/28/graham-wins-18m-carlisle-cancer-centre/

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Surge in water work boosts results at nmcn

A surge in water projects has helped nmcn boost profits and turnover despite difficult market conditions.

Results for the year to December 31 2018 show revenue up to £340.4m from £291.7m last time as pre-tax profits increased to £6m from £1m.

The company’s cash position also strengthened by £16.35m with a year-end balance of £33.35m as its average payment period for suppliers improved to 38 days.

Nmcn – which was formerly known as North Midland Construction – said it has largely resolved all legacy contract disputes and is “well positioned to take advantage of the increase in infrastructure spending plans.”

It said: “The UK construction industry is struggling to keep up with the demand to maintain the existing infrastructure and the need for investment to support future economic growth.

“The Group has established positions in these markets and is well situated to take advantage of the potential for further growth as well as the challenges faced by many high profile troubled competitors in the industry.”

Business poured in at the water division where turnover rose to £244.5m from £170.5m thanks to major infrastructure schemes and framework business including the AMP6 programme.

The Built Environment division saw turnover dip to £95.8m from £131.8m as it made an operating loss of £95,000 due to a problem Telecoms contract.

A restructure of the division is currently underway.

Chief Executive John Homer said: “These results demonstrate further advancement against the targets in our strategic plan.

“They mark the achievement of a respectable milestone on headline key performance measures and provide a solid platform for further progress.

“Our performance on cash management is particularly pleasing, with a strong year-end balance and net cash throughout the year. The strength of our ongoing operations allows us to continue to exercise rigour in the work that we chose to take on.

“There are positive signs of continued opportunities for us to grow in our chosen market sectors.

“Our forward order book is just over 90% of anticipated revenue for the year ahead with a healthy pipeline of future opportunities available.

“The future trading prospects look positive as we continue to progress our strategic plan. Our people remain the overarching differentiator and the driver for continued success. We will maintain our investment in the development of our talent pool.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/03/28/surge-in-water-work-boosts-results-at-nmcn/

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