Severfield Rowen completes Olympic Stadium ring of steel

Contractor Severfield Rowen has welded in the final piece of external structural steelwork to complete the outer shell of the main Olympic stadium.

Construction of the outer shell, including roof sections, was finished Thursday, 14 months after work started and three years before the start of the games.

The first of the 85-tonne steel sections of the roof was lifted into place at the end of January 2009, and now all 28 sections are in place more than a month earlier than originally planned.

The 80,000-seat stadium will host the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field competition.

ODA chairman John Armitt said the Olympics will be delivered within the budget despite the "external shocks" caused the recession.

"We have hit all, and exceeded some, of the ten Milestones we set ourselves last year and we are on track and within budget."

Ardmore wins to boost turnover

Lovell wins £24m social housing deal

Morgan Sindall's social housing division Lovell has won a ВЈ24m deal to refurbish 2,200 homes for Three Oaks Housing in Blaby, Wiltshire.

The contractor will install new kitchens, bathrooms and heating systems, plus electrical upgrading and external environmental and security work.

Lovell will refurbish the homes to better than Decent Homes standard.

 

Ardmore wins to boost turnover

Enforcement notices served against 17 blacklisting companies

The Information Commisioner today said it will serve enforcement notices against the 17 companies who paid convicted blacklister Ian Kerr for information on construction workers.

Kerr was fined £5,000 today at Knutsford Crown Court, after his company The Consulting Association (TCA) ran a secret database on 3,213 construction workers and traded their personal details for profit. The operation ran from the 1970s until the Information Commissioner's Office seized the information from TCA’s premises on 2 March 2009.

The ICO said it uncovered evidence that named construction firms which subscribed to Kerr’s system for a ВЈ3,000 annual fee. Companies could add information to the system and pay ВЈ2.20 for details held on individuals. Invoices to construction firms for up to ВЈ7,500 were seized during the raid. 

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The ICO said it has written to these firms with preliminary enforcement notices which outline that they unfairly obtained personal data from Ian Kerr.

Formal enforcement action will follow shortly, subject to any representations made by the companies.

The court also heard today that construction firms paid TCA ВЈ478,937 between April 2006 and February 2009.

David Smith, Deputy Information Commissioner, said: “Ian Kerr colluded with construction firms for many years flouting the Data Protection Act and ignoring people’s privacy rights. Trading people’s personal details in this way is unlawful and we are determined to stamp out this type of activity.

"Kerr’s covert operation denied people their information rights under the Data Protection Act. We all have important rights under the Act that enable us to check what information is held about us and to make sure it is accurate.”

"The Data Protection Act clearly states that organisations must be open about how they process personal information and in most cases those processing personal information must register with the ICO."

Following the ICO’s investigation, Kerr’s system was closed down and TCA ceased trading. The ICO has received over 1,827 enquiries from members of the public and as a result over 120 individuals who appeared on the database have now had their information returned to them.

The ICO said that there are no punishments available for breaches of the data protection principles, which is why it chose only to prosecute Ian Kerr for failing to notify as a data controller.

However, this option is not available to the ICO regarding the 17 construction firms. Penalties are being introduced next April, but are not yet in force. The type of conduct engaged in by Kerr and some construction firms is likely to incur a fine in future.

£500m Teesport power plan agreed

Balfour Beatty celebrates topping CJ50 for table 2008

Balfour Beatty Construction Scottish and Southern managing director Bob Clarke (right) has been presented with a bottle of champagne by Causeway's James Atkinson in recognition of its success in 2008.

The firm won ВЈ3.3bn worth of work in 2008, over ВЈ800m more than its nearest rival Laing O'Rourke.

It recorded strong overall growth in 2008, driven by its performance in the public and infrastructure sectors. In fact, its iron grip on the top spot was further strengthened by the Government's plan to bring forward public spending in order to kickstart the economy.

With Laing O'Rourke hot on its heels in November Balfour Beatty pulled away having won the ВЈ365m dualling project on the A46 between Newark and Widmerpool in December.

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Despite the well-publicised economic worries, last year wasn't just a good year for Balfour Beatty, it proved to be positive for all contractors making up the CJ50. Total new orders did not hit the heights of 2007 - when ВЈ32.7bn worth of work was let - but it was still the second best year in CJ50 history, just ВЈ2bn short at ВЈ30.7bn.

In a year when Building Schools for the Future schemes finally started to come through, other public non-housing work accounted for 30% of the 2008 total, up from 24% in 2007. Infrastructure was also up, accounting for a quarter of work let in 2008, compared to 21% in both 2006 and 2007.

Social housing remained steady at 15% in 2008, a slight drop from 17% in 2007 but evidence that the Decent Homes programme continues to provide a drip-feed of work. Perhaps unsurprisingly, private commercial orders were down 7% on the previous year, dropping back to the same share as 2006 at 28% and private industrial orders fell 1% to 2%.

Monthly CJ50 tables.

The CJ50 contracts league 12 month table.

Ardmore wins to boost turnover

£500m Teesport power plan agreed

Plans for a new ВЈ500m Renewable Energy Plant at Teesport moved a step closer today as the Government granted the scheme consent under the Electricity Act.

The scheme proposed by MGT Power will be one of the largest-ever biomass plants to be built in the world.

Backers of the scheme are now securing funding and are hoping to have the plant operational by 2012.

Chris Moore, Director of MGT Power said: "The Government’s consent is welcome news as we are at an advanced stage with forestry establishment for fuel sourcing, and power plant procurement.

"We can now mandate our banks, conclude the financing and reach agreement with our preferred technology bidders. We are moving towards an early construction start with a high degree of confidence.

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"Other similarly sized biomass plants are proposed in other parts of the country but our Teesport project is currently two years ahead of the pack and likely to be one of the first to be operational. It comes at a time when replacement UK energy generation capacity is urgently needed. We will continue to work closely with Redcar & Cleveland Council as well as PD Ports, the owners of Teesport, Renew Tees Valley and the local Trade Unions to complete the project."

The plant will create 600 jobs during the three year construction period.

The biomass feedstock for the Tees Renewable Energy Plant will be sourced from certified sustainable forestry projects developed by the MGT team and partners in North and South America and the Baltic States.

These projects will provide clean burning woodchip, which delivers 95% greenhouse gas savings in comparison to coal or natural gas through the life cycle and will not use high quality land suitable for food crops.

Ardmore wins to boost turnover

Extra cash for nuclear suppliers

The Government set-out its first investments from the ВЈ405m Low Carbon Industrial Strategy fund today.

Among the first beneficiaries will be suppliers to the tidal energy, wind and nuclear power industries.

Key initial investments include:

Up to £60m to capitalise on Britain’s wave and tidal sector strengths, including investment in Wave Hub – the development of a significant demonstration and testing facility off the Cornish coast – and other funding to make the South West Britain’s first Low Carbon Economic Area.

Up to ВЈ15m capital investment in order to establish a Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre consisting of a consortium of manufacturers from the UK nuclear supply chain and universities.

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A ВЈ4m expansion of the Manufacturing Advisory Service, to provide more specialist advice to manufacturers on competing for low carbon opportunities, including support for suppliers for the civil nuclear industry.

Up to ВЈ10m for the accelerated deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Up to ВЈ120m to support the development of a British based offshore wind industry. 

Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said: "There is no high carbon future. But if the transition to low carbon is inevitable, what is not inevitable is that we use the transition as a chance to develop new jobs, new industries here in Britain. This strategy builds on the New Industry New Jobs approach, outlining the strategic role the government will play alongside the private sector, to make the most of the potential benefits for innovation, growth and job creation in the UK.

"Low carbon and environmental goods and services are already worth ВЈ3 trillion to the global economy, and in the UK employ nearly 900,000 directly and through the supply chain. With the sector set to grow by over 4% per annum over the next six years we must do all we can to support British businesses and workers in benefitting. Today we are announcing the first investments under the ВЈ405M funding allocated in the budget. We must ensure that we equip businesses and the workforce with the capabilities and skills to take advantage of the potential benefits as the world moves towards a low carbon future."

Kier trading ‘in line with market expectations’

OHOB profit falls 24%

Building contractors and civil engineers O'Halloran and O'Brien (OHOB) has seen its pre-tax profit fall almost 24% on a slightly reduced turnover of ВЈ51m for 2008/09.

Despite the fall, the company said in its annual results for the year to 31 March 2009, that it had an 'excellent year' although trading conditions had been difficult.

OHOB, which was formed in 1972 and is now under the sole ownership of Tom O'Brien, offers concrete frame services, highways works, remediation and regeneration, and housing infrastructure.

The highest-paid director at the company took a 7% pay cut from ВЈ205,340 to ВЈ190,619 for the year.

Net funds at the business as at 31 March increased to ВЈ1.9m, from ВЈ803,495 in the previous year.

Ardmore wins to boost turnover