The government has attempted to address the construction industry skills shortage with a £22m cash injection which will bring training to construction sites and therefore allowing learners to apply their knowledge in a real-world environment. The multi-million-pound Construction Skills Fund has been announced by skills minister Anne Milton with 158,000 new construction jobs expected to […]
Constructionnews.co.uk, as part of their week long industry skills challenge, have discovered how fresh data and political investigations are shedding more and more light on the impact Brexit is having and will have on workforces. Brexit negotiations have moved forward yet at the same time seem to have produced little real progress. Despite Theresa May’s ‘deal’ […]
Recently revised data from AMA Research indicates that total construction output increased by 8% in 2017 compared with 2016, to reach a total value of £163.5bn. In terms of value, new work accounts for the largest share, with output growth having been particularly strong in the residential new work segment, which saw growth of 14% […]
Prime minister Theresa May has given another indication that the government is set to ban combustible cladding on high-rise buildings. The government has already placed the possibility of such a ban under review, with housing secretary James Brokenshire announcing the move just hours after the publication last week of the Hackitt Review, which stopped short […]
The use of robots in the construction industry is forecast to grow considerably over the next five years, according to new research. Valued at $76.6mn in 2018, the construction robot market will more than double in size to $166mn by 2023, growing at around 17% a year. The report, by MarketsandMarkets, says that the growth […]
While no one would deny that the building and construction sector faced a challenging first quarter, figures just released in the BMF’s Builders Merchants Building Index (BMBI) show continued growth, albeit at a slower rate. Sales value growth in Q 1 2018 was up +0.4% in absolute terms and up +2.0% per trading day on […]
A pilot scheme is underway at the mixed-use Abbey Area redevelopment in Camden to use reusable water bottles instead of plastic cups, where Wates is building 141 homes as well as additional retail and commercial spaces. Reusable bottles have been distributed to the entire workforce who can use fresh water stations to fill them up. Previously, the […]
Major Japanese contractor Shimizu Corporation is carrying out trials of autonomously controlled construction robots. The trials are run inside the Robot Laboratory at Shimizu’s Institute of Technology in Etchujima Tokyo. The robots, developed by Shimizu, play various roles, such as conveying materials horizontally, welding steel columns or installing ceiling boards. They will be deployed to […]
Scientists say a greener, stronger and more durable concrete made using “wonder-material” graphene could revolutionise the construction industry. Graphene is a form of carbon first reliably produced at the University of Manchester by researchers in 2004, work which led to two Nobel prizes. It is made up of a single layer of carbon atoms […]
UK Construction Week is launching a new initiative for 2018 to help the industry compete for talent and improve recruitment. It will do this by taking role models in the industry and elevating their profile and their story in a nationwide publicity campaign through trade and consumer media. Nathan Garnett, Event Director for UKCW explains: […]