News · page 6

By the time it is news, the hiring has already started.

Market moves, contract awards and hiring signals across UK construction, and what each one means for your career.

Friday 28 August

Nuclear

Halton's Sizewell C win shows the Hinkley to Sizewell skills bridge working

A South Wales manufacturer has landed a major HVAC contract on Sizewell C on the back of its Hinkley Point C work. It's a live example of nuclear experience carrying straight from one new-build project to the next.

What it means If you're an M&E design engineer, HVAC specialist or quality and compliance professional with nuclear safety case experience, South Wales and the wider Bristol Channel corridor is where that experience is currently in demand, not just…

Read and comment →

Thursday 27 August

News

Bouygues' £64m Crawley school job shows where SRP work is heading

Bouygues UK has won a £64m contract to rebuild Holy Trinity CofE Secondary School in Crawley while pupils stay on site, one of hundreds of projects still to come through the government's School Rebuilding Programme.

What it means For site managers and project managers, live-school delivery is a specific skill set worth having on your CV: managing safeguarding requirements, phased handovers, and construction traffic around a working school timetable is a different…

Read and comment →
Housing

£725m repairs framework hands work to 75 firms, and a mould specialism

Procurement for Housing has named 75 contractors on a three-year, £725m responsive repairs and voids framework, with new dedicated lots for damp, mould and pest control. It is a hiring signal for the surveyors and contract managers who run this side of social housing.

What it means This is a strong signal for anyone working in social housing repairs and asset management, particularly building surveyors.

Read and comment →
Housing

Scape's £8bn framework bid opens a four-year pipeline of work

Scape has opened bidding on an £8bn national construction framework running to 2031, with a dedicated £2bn lot for housing and retrofit. Here is what the shortlist will mean for site and commercial teams once contractors are named next summer.

What it means If you are a bid manager, pre-construction lead or commercial director at a mid-tier or major contractor, this is worth tracking now rather than waiting for the July 2027 announcement.

Read and comment →
News

BAM appoints ex-Robertson director to lead its Scotland business

BAM UK & Ireland has brought in Robertson Construction Group's executive technical director to run its Scotland operation from September. It is a reminder that senior technical talent still moves between Scotland's biggest contractors.

What it means For anyone at director or associate director level inside a Scottish contractor, this is a live example of the route upward: build a track record across engineering, commercial and operational delivery at one major player, and a rival will…

Read and comment →
News

OHOB's profit rise signals the high-rise residential logjam is clearing

O'Halloran & O'Brien's turnover fell by a fifth but profit still rose 15%, and the group says it is Building Safety Act delays finally starting to clear that will unlock the next wave of work. Here is what it means for high-rise site teams.

What it means If you have spent the last two years watching high-rise residential schemes stall at the point where they should have gone on site, this is the clearest signal yet that the freeze is ending.

Read and comment →

Tuesday 25 August

Data centres

Winvic grows headcount 11% as turnover holds above £1bn

Winvic's turnover stayed above £1bn and its workforce grew by 11%, even as insolvencies rise elsewhere in the market, a sign the industrial and data centre boom is still hiring.

What it means If you're a QS, project manager or site manager watching the housing and general building side of the market contract, industrial and data centre delivery is one of the few corners still actively recruiting.

Read and comment →
Water

Costain's £150m Thames Water deal shows where AMP8 jobs are landing

Costain has been appointed to a £150m wastewater upgrade programme for Thames Water, one of the clearest signs yet that the industry's five-year AMP8 investment cycle is converting into site-level contracts. It is worth tracking closely if you work in water or want to move into it.

What it means If you are a cost manager, site engineer or MEICA specialist with wastewater experience, this is a live signal rather than a forecast.

Read and comment →
Nuclear

Universal's £5bn Bedford resort gets the green light to build

Ministers have committed £1.3bn to the transport and infrastructure works needed to unlock Universal's £5bn theme park resort in Bedfordshire, with enabling works already under way. It is one of the largest non-nuclear, non-rail construction programmes in the UK pipeline, and most of the workforce is expected to be hired locally.

What it means The build is expected to support around 20,000 construction jobs at its peak, with more than 5,000 workers on site at once, and the project has said it expects roughly 80% of that workforce to come from Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Luton…

Read and comment →
Insolvency

Ardmore's collapse leaves subcontractors £5.1m short, more claims looming

A new administrators' report shows subcontractors will lose £5.1m from Ardmore Construction Group's collapse, with the door still open to £300m of further claims tied to the firm's defect history.

What it means If you're a commercial manager, QS or contracts director working with subcontractors on live schemes, this is a case study worth keeping in your back pocket for supply chain risk conversations.

Read and comment →
News

SCAPE's £8.5bn defence framework opens a new route into secure construction

SCAPE has launched its first dedicated framework for defence and complex environments work, worth £8.5bn, opening a specialist route for contractors and professionals with the clearances to deliver on secure sites.

What it means If you hold, or could realistically obtain, security clearance at SC level or above, this framework is worth watching closely over the next few months as the six upper-lot places get decided.

Read and comment →
Nuclear

Amey's 600-role recruitment drive is a live hiring signal, not a forecast

Amey Consulting is recruiting around 600 professionals over the next 18 months across highways, energy and nuclear, with 200 hires targeted this year and a further 100 graduates and apprentices joining in September. For anyone weighing a move in those markets, this is demand you can act on now.

What it means If you are a highways, energy or nuclear engineer, or a project delivery professional with experience in any of those sectors, this is a genuine, current vacancy pipeline rather than a hint to watch for later.

Read and comment →

Friday 21 August

News

Wates pulls its new operations chief straight from Willmott Dixon's top table

Wates Construction has appointed Roger Forsdyke, previously chief operating officer of Willmott Dixon's interiors business, as UK operations director from 1 September, the latest sign that top-tier contractors are hiring their senior operational leadership from each other.

What it means If you're a regional director, operations manager or senior project lead at Wates, expect a structural review over the coming months as Forsdyke settles in, which is usually the moment when internal reporting lines and regional boundaries…

Read and comment →
Data centres

Laing O'Rourke and HMJV land £1bn grid jobs feeding London's data centre boom

National Grid has awarded the main construction packages on its £1bn North West London Upgrade to Laing O'Rourke and a Hochtief Murphy joint venture, a scheme built to connect five new data centres that will need a heavy civils and M&E workforce for years to come.

What it means This is a good moment to take electrical and power infrastructure experience seriously if you have it, or to go and get some if you don't.

Read and comment →

Thursday 20 August

Insolvency

Insolvencies rise for a second month, what to check before your next move

Construction company failures rose for the second month running in July, official data shows, with the sector still accounting for the highest share of UK business collapses. Here's how to read that risk before you sign anywhere.

What it means If you're weighing an offer from a contractor you don't know well, this is the month to ask harder questions before you sign: how is growth funded, what does the order book look like beyond twelve months, and does the business carry bank…

Read and comment →