Lendlease says sites will remain closed

Lendlease has said the suspension of work on its sites will remain in place for the immediate future.

The Google headquarters contractor put jobs on a 48 hour hold on Tuesday evening while it carried out a coronavirus safety review.

In a statement, the firm which is also working on the One Bishopsgate Plaza and 8 Bishopsgate tower schemes in the City of London, said: “Our regional leadership team have decided that operational work on our projects in the UK will remain on pause for the near term, so that we can continue to establish whether work is able to take place safely on those sites in line with government guidance on social distancing.

“Where practical we will restart work as soon as possible but our priority remains being able to operate safely at those projects. And we will continue to liaise with government, industry bodies and other stakeholders about how we can do so.”

The Google job was the first major scheme to be hit by a shutdown two weeks ago when a trade contractor on the job tested positive for coronavirus.

Yesterday, Mace said it was keeping its 48 hour suspension, also announced on Tuesday, in place until at least next Tuesday morning.

Government advice on social distancing is to keep 2m apart from colleagues.

But a number of firms have said this is proving impossible to enforce and have decided to close sites.