Supply Chain

Mace and Vinci are among a host of firms that have launched a new group aimed at driving residential retrofits at scale to meet net-zero targets.  The National Homes Decarbonisation Group (NHDG), which has 17 founding members, said it will focus on growing the retrofit supply chain, advising on government…

Wood and steel prices continued to fall in the first quarter of 2023, while the cost of cement and concrete rose, according to new data. A report into commodities prices released today by construction consultant Linesight said that materials requiring high energy input into manufacturing were suffering ongoing affordability challenges.…

Brickmaker Forterra has reported a revenue of £109m for the first four months of the year – a drop of 24 per cent compared with the same period in 2022, when revenue hit £143m. In a trading update, the firm added that it was expecting a 20 per cent fall…

Workers at Severfield’s headquarters complex in North Yorkshire are set to strike over ‘disappointing’ pay conditions. Steelworkers have planned three 24-hour strikes and three 12-hour strikes on Mondays and Fridays, backed by GMB Union. The strikes will cover a total of six days across three weeks, with 250 staff expected…

Government plans to standardise modern methods of construction (MMC) would remove barriers to innovation, one of the participants in a new initiative has told Construction News. Plans to establish a sector-wide standard for the construction industry would also encourage the wider use of modern building materials, equipment and techniques, said…

The Cabinet Office has reminded procurement chiefs that UK steel should be used on state-funded construction projects. The department has issued a procurement policy note (PPN) bringing together the various methods that seek to promote a “level playing field” for the domestically produced building material. The policy follows concerns that…

Steve Marr is compliance director at distributor SIG and interim CEO of Construction Product Information Ltd “It’s hard to build safe buildings without safe products,” said Geoffrey Brown of the Office for Product Safety and Standards at last month’s Building a Safer Future Conference. It’s hard to argue with that.…

HS2 helped construction activity rise in March, while materials availability massively improved, according to the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data. The rail megaproject was cited for the boost in civil engineering work – the fastest-rising category in the sector for the month, according to the survey compiled by S&P…

Keith Cooper asks how scaffolding specialists have managed to protect their profits, despite the headwinds of recent years From the outside, scaffolding firms seem as susceptible as any other construction specialist to the many challenges of recent years. The pandemic, huge hikes in the cost of materials and the chronic…

Materials chiefs have said construction costs will rise further without an overhaul of the rules governing suppliers. The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has demanded that the government act on 18 measures to develop the regulatory environment it insists the sector requires. Its report, Smart Regulation in the Mineral Products Sector,…