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Balfour Beatty has announced the extent of financial problems affecting its construction arm, claiming a trading loss of £391 million for 2014. This dreadful slump has had a significant knock on effect on Balfour Beatty as a whole, resulting in a £59 million loss on the company’s £8.4 billion turnover last year. Under new management […]
Nominated for the Building Awards Small Project of the Year 2015, Alfriston Swimming Pool, designed by Duggan Morris Architects, is an imaginative construction. Built to house a new swimming pool for Alfriston School, a state-funded facility for girls aged 11-16 with moderate learning difficulties, this striking creation melds the beautiful with the functional, resulting in an extraordinary space […]
Hello! Welcome back to another fortnight full of practical projects to get stuck into! With the weather looking a little more spring like, you have the perfect excuse to get out in the garden and down to the shed to create something cracking. Why not make… A folding pendant knife A pallet coffee table A pallet laptop […]
Congratulations! You’re ready to go solo and embark on a career that you’ve built with your own two hands. But setting up as a self employed tradesperson can feel like a daunting prospect if it’s your first time around the block. From accounts and insurance, to taxation, it can feel like there’s a whole heap of stuff you […]
Construction and development solutions provider GB Building is poised to enter administration after a select set of staff were informed that the company has filed a notice of intention to go into administration. Top and mid-level staff, alongside the company’s securities teams were told of the impending issue on Wednesday 4th March. Security staff began securing a number of […]
There may be renewed cause for optimism in the construction sector this month as the UK’s second largest house builder, Taylor Wimpey, claims that the difficult building cost rises, which saw costs burgeon by 5% last year, may have finally hit their peak. This week, Taylor Wimpey chief executive Pete Redfern announced impressive annual profits […]
Shortlisted for the 2015 Building Magazine Project of the Year and the Riba Stirling Prize, the London School of Economics’ (LSE) new Saw Swee Hock student centre is a redbrick university building with a twist. Well, more than a twist… This incredible, angular building is the multi-faceted and incredibly textural creation of Irish architects O’Donnell + Tuomey, working […]
Hello practical sorts! From tables and chairs, to candles and doll houses, we’ve rounded up some of our favourite craft projects of the fortnight to give you something great to make this weekend. Roll up your sleeves and make: • A rustic table • Beer bottle candle holders • One board chairs • An A frame dolls […]
What’s in a name? Well, quite a lot actually. If you’re setting up shop as a self-employed tradesperson, you need a name that ticks all of the right boxes but doesn’t step on any toes. Choosing a name for your business is harder than you think. There’s a difficult tightrope to walk between sounding boring, confusing potential […]
In 2014, this amazing construction narrowly lost out on the Construction News Awards’ Project of the Year (under £1 million) to Maggie’s Cancer Centre in Aberdeen. Built to complement The Globe’s existing open air stage, the Playhouse was designed and constructed using authentic Jacobean plans and craftsmanship. The great William Shakespeare wrote many of his […]
The UK Government looks likely to give trade bodies the power to challenge late payments and unfairly long payment terms set by large contractors. This is welcome news in the same week which saw the Specialist Engineering Contractor’s Group (SEC) release a manifesto detailing the construction industry’s biggest priorities. Tackling rife late payment by big, […]
Do you find keeping track of clients, contacts, meetings, appointments and essential tasks tricky? Not missing a beat isn’t easy for busy tradespeople. After all, if it’s not sorting stuff with your supplier, it’s a last minute call from an important customer… But if there’s one thing technology’s great for, it’s keeping track of where […]
