Scottish Water puts firms on alert for £6.3bn framework
Scottish Water has set out plans to invite tenders in November for places on a framework to deliver a £6.3bn investment plan over 13 years.
The water company is looking for both civils infrastructure and MEICA asset delivery partners to deliver its control period SR27 and SR33 programmes of capital and operational works.
Works will include new assets, renewals, modifications, maintenance, refurbishments and enhancements to existing assets.
Successful bidders will be announced before April 2026. Scottish Water aims to deliver the programme of works under an Enterprise model of delivery. This bespoke contract will be based on the NEC4 Alliance model.
A bidders day will be held on 24 October 2024 in Glasgow at the Crowne Plaza, starting at 9am.
Subcontractors wanted across north London
The latest Marketplace Live event will take place at the StoneX Stadium, home of the Saracens Rugby Club on Thursday September 26 and will showcase work opportunities from the capital and nearby areas such as Buckinghamshire, Hertford, and Essex.
As well as Constructionline members, tickets for Marketplace Live are also available to the entire Once For All network, which includes Facilitiesline and Builders’ Profile.
Firms can register to attend here.
CITB launches online whistleblowing tool to improve levy ‘fairness’
An anonymous online reporting website has been launched by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) to stop contractors passing its levy onto subcontractors.
The reporting tool was created to gather evidence of firms deducting payments from the wages of subcontractors without their consent.
CITB is focused on maintaining a level playing field, where all Levy-registered employers contribute appropriately to industry training and development without shifting undue financial burdens onto often smaller businesses.
In highlighting the negative impact of passing on the Levy, CITB is encouraging industry-wide self-regulation with a cooperative effort to ensure fair practice.
Legacy jobs continue to blight Vinci’s UK numbers
While Vinci’s specialist contracting business Eurovia, highways maintenance business Ringway and Taylor Woodrow all had “exceptional” results with the firm adding that its three-year plan including getting an operating margin across each business unit of 2%.
Results filed for Vinci Construction UK, which includes its building, civils and FM businesses but not its Eurovia or highways divisions, show that pre-tax losses jumped from £43m to £51m last year on turnover up 7% to £1.3bn.
Meanwhile, the firm has appointed Emmanuel Costes as its new managing director for its major projects business in the UK and Ireland know as Grand Projects. He was previously area director for its HS2 project in Birmingham that it is carrying out with Balfour Beatty and Systra.
Quiet August for business failures adds to optimistic mood
What a difference a year makes. A total of 18 companies went into administration in August 2024, according to the latest monthly data from Creditsafe, less than half of August 2023’s toll of 44.
This August’s figure was the second-lowest monthly total since January 2023!
With Arcadis seeing growth coming by mid 2025 the future looks to be getting brighter for the UK construction sector.
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