News in brief

• Trade and investment minister Lord Digby Jones is urging UK businesses to consider investment in Mexico. A $250bn, five-year national infrastructure plan was introduced in the country in July last year, which he said could benefit UK firms involved in infrastructure, construction, public-private partnerships, ports, railways, airports and water. ‘There is a huge amount of business in this area still to be won,’ said Digby Jones.

• Scotland’s new £3.8m National Construction College opened last month in Paisley, near Glasgow. The purpose-built campus will deliver training for up to 160 apprentices and 6,000 adult learners every year. The facilities include 12 classrooms, conference and meeting facilities, 3000m2 of covered floorspace where trainees can get to grips with specialist trades, and the second largest scaffolding training centre in the UK.

• Europe’s tallest skyscraper, the 87-storey, 340m-high Federation Tower in Moscow will feature 5.2km of cast-iron rainwater and drainage equipment supplied by Hargreaves Foundry, based in Halifax, Yorkshire. The Federation Tower is due to be completed in 2010.

• The Electrical Contractors’ Association has announced that its Zero Accident Potential initiative has halved the number of reportable accidents in the electrical contracting industry in the six years since it was launched. Under the programme, the ECA provides free information, publications, events and workshops for members.

• Housing charity Shelter, the Town and Country Planning Association and developer BioRegional are leading a new coalition in support of eco-towns. The move follows reports that the government is scaling back the programme.