Pro Landscaper launches a new guide for biodiversity net gain (BNG), offering practical guidelines and comprehensive insight on the new government legislation. The guide looks to offer practical insights into the rules and regulations of BNG, following its rollout...
Pro Landscaper iQ
‘One million tradespeople can’t afford to run their vehicles’
Last week’s Budget saw the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt unveiling plans to maintain the 5p cut in fuel duty for a further 12 months as inflation remains high – saving the average driver £100 next year. Whilst the freeze in fuel duty is a much-needed measure for...

BMF confirms Mike Tattam as commercial director
Mike Tattam has been appointed commercial director for the Builders Merchants Federation with effect from 1 April 2023. Tattam has a career spanning over 35 years working with manufacturer brands in senior commercial roles. He brings experience across heavyside and lightside sectors, and with national and independent merchants as well as...

Balfour Beatty secures c.£90m Fife College campus contract
Balfour Beatty today announces that it has been awarded a c.£90m contract by Fife College for the design and construction of a new learning campus in Dunfermline, Scotland. Balfour Beatty will be responsible for the delivery of three interlinking buildings spanning over 20,000m2, which will house state-of-the-art teaching facilities and learning...

Wates to build 334 new mixed-tenure homes in Barking and Dagenham
Wates has been appointed by Be First to build 334 new homes as part of an £874m regeneration of the Gascoigne Estate in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. This will be the third project Wates has undertaken for Be First in the area, having recently completed 201 homes at Gascoigne West Phase 1. The £142m Gascoigne East Phase 3B scheme...

Living Wall industry launches Best Practice Guidance to allow architects to specify with confidence
The Living Wall industry has launched a Best Practice Guide for designers, specifiers and architects to provide clarity on the latest National Building Regulations. On 1 June 2022 the government introduced a new framework to further strengthen and clarify building regulations and fire risk guidance as part of wider reforms to building safety....

UK Landscape Barometer: October 2022 findings
There has been a steady fall in enquires this year, similar to that of the lack of confidence in the industry. However, as the year comes to a close, we are seeing 6% of our respondents gain confidence in just one month (from 10% of respondents feeling more confident in November 2022 to 16% in December 2022). Enquiries are also slowly going up,...

UK Landscape Barometer: September 2022 findings
Confidence has taken another dive across the sectors compared to the previous month, but even more so compared to the same time last year, when confidence appeared to be on the up. Design and build seems to have taken the biggest hit during September 2022. All respondents in this sector reported that their turnover had decreased from the...

Carbon calculators won’t solve construction’s carbon problem says Soben
Global construction consultancy, Soben, is calling for industry-wide improvements to how carbon is calculated and reduced, as it launches a new Carbon Cost Management service. Led by ex-Bouygues Energies & Services UK sustainability lead, Dr Bonahis Oko, Soben's challenge comes at a time of increasing pressure on the industry to focus its net...

‘No need to panic as housing market remains strong’, says expanding housebuilder
Widespread panic was unnecessarily spread throughout the UK as predictions that the housing market would suffer in the current economic climate were ‘way wide of the mark’, it has been claimed. This was the opinion of Nicky Gordon, the managing director of rapidly expanding Cumbrian housebuilder Genesis Homes, who has been buoyed by recent...

Construction to start on £26m industrial park at Botany Bay
When complete, the scheme will deliver 33 units for light industrial and commercial use across 405,000 sq ft and a drive-thru food outlet. FI Real Estate Management received planning permission for the development from Chorley Borough Council in July and the development will be the largest ever built by their construction arm, FI Construction. FI...

Green light for Cripplegate House refurbishment plan
The City of London Corporation’s Planning and Transportation Committee has resolved to approve the refurbishment and extension of Cripplegate House, which will create 15,471 square metres of high-quality, Grade A flexible office floorspace together with a new community and cultural space. The refurbished and extended building at 1 Golden Lane –...

Work on public square underway as part £200m regeneration scheme
Work is underway on a new public square next to the #BuiltByGMI apartment block at the £200m Becketwell regeneration project in Derby city centre. GMI Construction were joined by developers St James Securities as well as representatives from Derby City Council, D2N2, and other key stakeholders at a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the start of...

UK Landscape Barometer: August 2022 findings
The number of factors contributing to the lack of confidence within the landscaping industry keeps growing; the cost-of-living crisis, the threat of recession, the summer heat waves and overall uncertainty from clients themselves. Yet despite all of this, turnover remains steady with 50% of respondents reporting no change compared to last year...

Planning approval welcomed for a site on the outskirts of Swindon
Wessex region has welcomed Swindon Council’s green light for 113 new homes on land in South Marston on the edge of Swindon. Planning approval was given for the Catsbrain Farm site at a meeting of the Council’s planning committee on Tuesday 11th October. The development will include a mixture of semi-detached, terraced and detached homes, which...

Willmott Dixon to deliver £30m new homes and community facilities for London Borough of Brent
Willmott Dixon’s housing workload in London is increasing after the London Borough of Brent appointed the company to build 55 affordable homes as well as two community centres. The work will be delivered under two contracts with a combined valued of over £30m. The largest is the £17.3m Brent Indian Centre project, which involves demolition of an...

These are the areas that have seen the highest increase in house prices in the past decade
New research shows the UK areas with the highest increase in property prices in the past decade with Waltham Forest in London taking the top spot, with a house price increase of 113.6% over the last ten years. The study conducted by online trading platform, CMC Markets, analysed house price data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for...

Selco gives staff £2.5m boost for cost-of-living crisis
Selco is to unveil a £2.5m boost for its colleagues to help them deal with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Selco will provide 96% of its 3,000 colleagues with a payment of £750 spread over five months. The scheme will run from November until March, with £150 payments per individual each month, and has been implemented as a direct response to...

Balfour Beatty appointed as sole contractor to Scape Civil Engineering frameworks worth up to a combined value of £4 billion
Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, today announces that it has been appointed as the sole contractor to both the SCAPE Civil Engineering framework, covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the SCAPE Scotland Civil Engineering framework, covering the entirety of Scotland. The frameworks are worth up to £3.25 billion...

Homes England makes cornerstone investment in new development finance fund
Homes England, alongside Greater Manchester Pension Fund, clients of listed wealth manager Mattioli Woods and other private institutional investors, have committed £80m to the Initial Close of the Newstead SME Real Estate Lending Fund (RELF). The Fund is to be managed by specialist fund manager Newstead Capital and the intention is to grow the...

HS2: One million cubic metres of chalk from Chiltern tunnels used for landscaping
Align JV is using chalk excavated from the High Speed 2 Chiltern tunnels to create grassland habitats in the Chiltern Hills. The environmental project on High Speed 2’s (HS2’s) largest construction site reached the 1M.m3 milestone this week. The chalk has been laid out around the south portal of the tunnels. In total, around 2.6M.m3 of chalk will...

Peel L&P prepares TraffordCity site for Therme Manchester
Plans to start work on the UK’s first city-based wellbeing resort, Therme Manchester, at TraffordCity have progressed this week with preparations to clear the current EventCity site. Regeneration business Peel L&P has submitted plans to Trafford Council to demolish the 28,000 square metre former EventCity conference and exhibition space on...

Kier appointed to deliver £17m mental health facility at Lowther Road in Islington
Kier has been awarded a contract by Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust to deliver a new £17m mental health facility at 1 Lowther Road in Islington, London. Appointed through the Procure Partnerships Framework, the project forms the first integrated community mental health facility in the Trust’s St Pancras Transformation programme. Works...

Mace appointed to deliver fully electric over-station Moorgate Crossrail development
International construction and consultancy company Mace has been appointed principal contractor by Aviva Investors and Allianz Real Estate at the partnership’s 101 Moorgate project in the City of London. The over-station development, which will sit above Moorgate station’s Hammersmith & City line, at the heart of the new Elizabeth Line...

HG Construction to deliver second retirement village for Elysian Residences
HG Construction has been named as the main contractor for Elysian Residences’ new retirement village scheme in Tunbridge Wells, which is being developed in a joint venture with Octopus Real Estate. Located close to Tunbridge Wells town centre, the new urban retirement village will comprise three luxury apartment buildings with 89 apartments....

£161m to transform Oxford station, bringing faster journeys to thousands
Oxford station is set for a £161m revamp, which will deliver quicker journeys, increased freight and passenger services and a brand new fully accessible entrance. Announced today (17 August 2022), by Rail Minister Wendy Morton, the upgrades will be completed by 2024 and have been specifically designed to improve passenger experience, better...

HS2 reveals first rural footbridge design
HS2 has revealed the first images of the bridges that will carry rural footpaths and bridleways across the new high speed railway as it passes through Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and West Northants. Made of weathering steel, the sides of the lightweight bridges will lean outwards to maximise views of the sky and improve the experience of people...
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