Government considers taking stake in Sizewell

Government considers taking stake in Sizewell

The planned Sizewell C nucelar power station in Suffolk The UK government has confirmed that it is to enter negotiations with EDF, the French state energy company, in relation to the Sizewell C project in Suffolk, in which EDF is the majority shareholder. China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CNG) owns 33% of the Hinkley Point…

GMI wins £70m Thorpe Park expansion

GMI wins £70m Thorpe Park expansion

Thorpe Park is growing Scarborough Group International (SGI) has secured planning consent from Leeds City Council for the development of a 133,118 sq ft headquarters building in addition to a nearby 60,000 sq ft building that was approved earlier this year. With site preparation now started at Thorpe Park, it has appointed GMI Construction to…

Campaigners issue roads policy challenge

Campaigners issue roads policy challenge

Transport Action Network (TAN) has applied for judicial review of transport secretary Grant Shapps’ decision not to review the national networks national policy statement in the wake of more recent legislation.  The national policy statement (NPS) was designated in 2014, before the 2015 Paris Agreement, which requires the UK to reduce carbon emissions, and before…

Bellway fined £600k for wildlife crime

Bellway fined £600k for wildlife crime

Pipistrelle bat (Drahkrub CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons) Bellway Homes admitted damaging or destroying a breeding site or resting place for bats at a construction site in Greenwich, following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police. The company was ordered to pay a fine of £600,000 with further costs of over £30,000. It is the…

Lack of Trustmark contractors hampering Green Homes Grant scheme

Lack of Trustmark contractors hampering Green Homes Grant scheme

The Green Homes Grant scheme gives homeowners a £5,000 grant to fund up to two-thirds of the cost of home improvement works that aid energy efficiency, such as insulation, double glazing or heat pumps. It opened on 30th September 2020 for an initial six months but has since been extended to March 2022. However, grants…

Robertson unveils progress on £31.5m ‘frigate factory’

Robertson unveils progress on £31.5m ‘frigate factory’

The Robertson Babcock team (left to right): Reid Gilmour, Liam Short, Andy Fleming, Kirsty Allan, David Cairns, Jim Smith, Chris Patterson, Peter Chambers and Andrew Melville Robertson Construction was appointed by Babcock, which will initially use the £31.5m facility at Rosyth for the delivery of five General Purpose Type 31 Frigates.  The 147m x 62m…

Regal London submits plans for £500m Docklands wharf scheme

Regal London submits plans for £500m Docklands wharf scheme

JTP Architects’ designs for Orchard Wharf Orchard Wharf, between the A13 and the Lower Lea Crossing, has been vacant for nearly 30 years. Regal London plans to bring the site back into use, with proposals for a mixed-use development “respecting the wharf’s history and heritage”. The plans outline three strands for the site, which would…

Modular house-builder falls into administration

Modular house-builder falls into administration

FI Modular delivered this social housing in Banbury for Cherwell District Council in 2017/18 Ashley House, parent company of Powys-based F1 Modular, secured a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) in July to protect it from creditors while negotiating a rescue. There were discussions with Midlands house-builder Piper Homes, involving a reverse takeover that would enable Piper…