In Focus: Latest UK Construction Industry News, May 2007

Posted by Steve Thomas on Monday, May 7, 2007

HBG tipped to bag Durham hospital project

A £40m contract to build a new hospital and mental healthcare facility in Durham looks likely to be awarded to HBG Construction. The deal will be under PFI and initially involve the demolition of existing office and administrative buildings occupying the site. Having undergone delays already, the works are due to begin this October, with the hospital’s opening scheduled for 2009.

Morrison claims £45m Yorkshire Water contract

Yorkshire Water has awarded Morrison Construction a three year contract for repair and maintenance of clean water supply systems across the region. The £45m contract covers a wide area of Eastern Yorkshire, including Doncaster and Selby. Works are due to begin in the coming weeks.

ISG set to step in for O’Rourke on Nido Spitalfields

With the recent withdrawal of Laing O’Rourke from the £100m Nido Spitalfields project, ISG InteriorExterior looks the most likely contender to take over the project. The project itself is the new build of a 35 storey building, which will contain 1,200 student rooms along with a number of private flats and some office space. Demolition works on site are scheduled to end this July, with the chosen contractor beginning construction immediately afterwards.

Bovis lead the race for office projects worth £100m

A pair of prestigious office developments in Central London worth £50m each both look set to be taken by Bovis Lend Lease. The first project is an 11-storey office tower for banking firm NM Rothschild. This building will replace existing offices owned by the same company; demolition of these offices will begin in June 2007, with the tower itself starting in April 2008. The second project is in the same area of London, involving construction of a 17-storey commercial building with retail space on the ground floor. Work on this scheme is also due to begin in June 2007, with completion scheduled for June 2009.

Wates in the lead for £45m London regeneration scheme

The £45m project in south-east London is the first phase of a £120m regeneration project. This first phase will see the construction of a large civic office building, along with a public library and a business centre. Should Wates finalise the contract, they are set to begin construction in September 2007, shortly after demolition works clear the site. The overall scheme covers a far broader range of development, including a huge Tesco store, around 1,000 new homes and many shops, bars, restaurants and other retail and leisure facilities.

HBG well into negotiations for £45m shopping centre deal

HBG seem the most likely contender to win a £45m shopping centre development project in Sheffield. With the contract’s award nearing (expected in July), little change is expected in the running for the deal. The project is part of a huge regeneration scheme worth over £1 billion to regenerate Sheffield, due to happen over the next 10 years. The Moor shopping area is already on of Sheffield’s primary retail areas, but has been showing signs of its age for some time. The new centre will house a larger number of retails units and a 250 stall indoor market and is due to begin soon after the contract’s award.