All Building articles in 1999 Issue 21
View all stories from this issue.
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News
Cowlin profit drops 34% to £473 000
Cowlin Construction s pre-tax profit fell 34% to £473 000 in the year to September 1998, compared with £718 000 in the previous year. The privately owned, Cardiff-based contractor saw a slowdown despite an increase in turnover from £32.2m to £46.9m in the same period. It ...
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News
Loadsamoney is back as plasterers' rates hit £120
Day rates for finishing trades soar from £80-90 as contractors rush to meet millennium deadlines.
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News
32 electricians laid off at opera house
M&E contractor Balfour Kilpatrick prepares to face industrial tribunals as sparks claim it did not follow correct redundancy procedures.
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News
McAlpine’s success down to PFI deals
Privately owned contractor s profit leaps 116%, with turnover climbing 38% on the back of major private finance projects.
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Comment
Let’s be Candide
The optimist says this is the best of all possible worlds; the pessimist fears this is true. Either way, the PFI is doing OK.
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Features
Why can’t we help ourselves?
The Rights of Third Parties Bill is working its way through parliament. If applied, it will be hugely helpful to construction. Unfortunately, the industry s atavistic response has been to fight it tooth and nail.
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News
Action stations for MOD prime contracts
Ministry of Defence on the brink of advertising four projects in which one firm has total control.
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News
Adapt or die, Egan tells QSs
Quantity Surveyors will become redundant unless they find a new role, Sir John Egan said last week. The BAA chief told honours degree students in quantity surveying at Westminster University that it was vital that construction followed the car industry s example of using computer simulation and that this would ...
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News
Amec launches supplier partnering scheme
Amec has followed the lead set by major clients and launched a scheme to form partnering arrangements with key suppliers and subcontractors. Amec hopes the strategic partners initiative will improve efficiency and lead to cost savings. It plans to achieve these by developing ...
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Features
Appointments
Contractors Andy Smith , previously with Laing Construction, has been appointed business development manager at Midas Construction. Andrew Clarke has joined Luff Construction to head its new division, Luff Heritage. Margaret Chelton joins the firm as marketing and PR executive. Terry Day has been appointed managing ...
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News
Cautious approval from industry
Major Contractors Group director Jennie Price applauds Denham's pledge to rethink "two to the wire" bidding.
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Features
No need to argue
Disputes review boards, often used for international contracts, could reach the parts adjudicators can't on domestic contracts.
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News
Artisan plans spree
Commercial and leisure industry contractor Artisan UK says it is on the look-out for mergers and acquisitions in a bid to become a major player in the specialist contracting market. The building services company, which floated on the Alternative Investment Market in 1998 after demerging from Environmental Property Services, ...
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News
Post Office axes consultants to create select list
£250m-a-year client to cut number of consultants it uses in bid to reduce construction costs.
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News
Berkeley buys Battersea site
Berkeley Homes has purchased Battersea Wharf, a 7 ha site next to the disused Battersea Power Station in south London. It is understood that Berkeley plans to build a mixed-use scheme on the site. The plan comprises 400 dwellings, including social housing, retail units, a hotel and a nightclub.
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News
Miller outfoxed in Cala battle
Miller will hear today whether its £94m bid for housebuilder Cala has been thrown into doubt over a technicality. The takeover panel ruled this week that Miller could not increase its 200p-a-share offer if Cala s management buyout vehicle, Dotterel, or another bidder, makes an equal bid for the company. ...
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Features
First born
The first completed PFI healthcare facility is no blockbuster, but staff describe the £3.5m community hospital conversion as a five-star establishment .
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News
Housebuilders question brownfield database
Firms believe government has underestimated amount of used land available for new homes.
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Comment
Ringing the changes
The industry is moving forward, despite protests to the contrary. Now it is our publicity that needs shifting up a gear.
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News
Discontent in the CIOB
Discontent is growing in the Chartered Institute of Building over structural changes carried out last year. John Tibbitts, newly elected chairman of the Hertfordshire branch of the CIOB, has written to the president and senior officers describing changes to the constitution as inappropriate. The letter, obtained by Building, is particularly ...