The High Court has enforced an £8.7m adjudication award in favour of Coventry & Warwickshire Development Partnership over alleged overpayments linked to the collapsed contractor Buckingham Group on a Coventry earthworks project. The court rejected Avison Young’s attempt to resist enforcement and granted summary judgment.
The article examines how major construction clients and contractors are using the CLOCS standard to reduce road risks from construction logistics, prompted in part by fatal cycling collisions in Oxford. The University of Oxford has said contractors bidding for its major pipeline will need to follow CLOCS best practice, reflecting a wider push to improve safety for vulnerable road users around construction traffic.
The article argues that revised public procurement social value rules, including a minimum 20% weighting for contracts of £5m and above, could improve economic and community outcomes if implemented carefully. It warns that the forthcoming guidance must avoid reducing social value to easily counted metrics and should recognise regional supply chains, specialist SMEs and broader capability in infrastructure delivery.
The City of London Corporation has begun procurement for £66m of mechanical, electrical, demolition and structural works at the Barbican Centre. These packages sit within the wider £176m Barbican Renewal Programme, which will refurbish the occupied Grade II-listed Brutalist arts complex.
HMRC has launched a targeted crackdown on payroll fraud in the construction sector, focusing on criminal umbrella companies and labour supply chains in Liverpool and Manchester. Legal commentators say contractors should strengthen due diligence because HMRC may pursue unpaid tax further up the chain where red flags should have been identified.
Henmead, parent company of Eric Wright Group, reported higher turnover and pre-tax profit in its latest audited accounts, alongside increased cash balances and headcount. The company said performance was supported by operational efficiencies, a diversified business mix and a strong contracting pipeline, while noting that Building Safety Act requirements continue to lengthen preconstruction periods on large residential schemes.
Codi Group has launched a £750m, four-year Welsh housing construction framework covering new-build housing and refurbishment work, with up to 48 principal contractors to be appointed across six lots. The framework is due to start in April 2027 and will be available to Codi Group and partner housing organisations for call-off contracts across Wales.
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a contractor for the final phase of its RAAC failsafe programme, with around 18 months remaining on a seven-year effort to make the estate safe. The works, valued at about £6.5m, will involve roof re-covering and additional steel and timber supports rather than removal of the RAAC itself, while a replacement hospital remains part of the national New Hospital Programme.
The article argues that subcontractors are absorbing significant hidden costs through compliance administration, evidence gathering and reporting, rather than through direct delivery work. It highlights low technology adoption in construction and uses Trail Group as an example of how automating compliance processes can reduce overheads, speed up reporting and support cashflow and growth.
The outgoing interim chief construction adviser has called on clients and funders to take primary responsibility for competence and safety across the built environment. Her final report argues that while stronger standards and smarter regulation are important, lasting improvement depends on behaviours, accountability and avoiding cost or programme pressures that undermine building safety.
Two construction firms have been fined a combined total of more than £1m after a worker died when an unsupported 3-metre trench collapsed at a demolition site in Banstead, Surrey. The Health and Safety Executive and Surrey Police found that basic excavation safety measures were not in place, including trench support and proper spoil placement.
The CMA says the UK’s £19bn-a-year road and rail infrastructure market is being constrained more by fragmented planning, funding and procurement than by a shortage of contractors. It argues for longer-term sector planning, multi-year funding, better coordination between public bodies and more consistent, data-driven procurement practices to improve delivery and reduce bid-rigging risk.
