Online retailer CMO eyes £100m AIM listing in bid to disrupt building materials market June 25, 2021 Online-only building materials firm CMO is set to list on London’s AIM market next month, the company announced this morning. City A.M. understands that the Plymouth-headquartered outfit is likely to fetch a valuation of around £100m. CMO will be looking to follow in the footprints of fellow home improvement retailers Victorian Plumbing, which listed on [...]
Haulier shortage putting construction work ‘under enormous pressure’ June 23, 2021 A shortage of hauliers due to the UK’s departure from the EU and Covid testing rules is becoming a “critical nationwide problem” for the construction industry, which is already battling disrupted supply chains. Government advisory body the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) today said that a lack of drivers was now causing construction delays and pushing [...]
Brexit exodus: UK construction staff shortage leads to project delays and fewer new homes June 15, 2021 Construction industry experts warn that an exodus of skilled EU workers is increasingly leading to serious staff shortages and therefore damage the sector and delay a range of projects, primarily as a result of Brexit as well as Covid-19. The ONS said recently that the non-British resident population declined in the year through June 2020, [...]
UK to see ’employment boom’ as lockdown restrictions ease June 8, 2021 Employers plan a huge recruitment drive, fuelled by the easing of lockdown restrictions, according to a new report out this morning.
UK PMIs: Construction activity grows at fastest rate in nearly seven years June 4, 2021 Construction output grew at the fastest rate in nearly seven years in May as a record increase in new orders spurred on the industry. IHS Markit’s Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index jumped to 64.2 from 61.6 in April, its highest level since September 2014. The reading surpassed economists’ forecasts of 62.3, with anything over 50 signifying [...]
Big construction firms risk choking SMEs of key materials amid global shortages May 25, 2021 Big construction firms have today been warned that they risk choking smaller companies of essential building supplies amid the current global shortage of raw materials. The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) said that larger firms able to buy supplies in bulk were not yet feeling the pinch of the situation, which it said would get worse. [...]
London offices get facelift in lockdown despite pandemic May 17, 2021 New construction starts in London have jumped by one-fifth in the six months to March 2021, despite the pandemic and changing working practices, research by Deloitte has found. New office starts are up to 3.1 million square feet, Deloitte found, with 32 new schemes breaking ground during the six months. More than half (56%) of [...]
Kier looks to raise £241m from share placing May 13, 2021 Construction firm Kier today said that it would seek to raise £241m from the placing of 280m new shares in the FTSE 250 company. Priced at 85p per share, the raise will allow the infrastructure group to strengthen its balance sheet and refinance its existing borrowing facilities. Along with the sale of Kier Living, the [...]
Construction activity continues pacey growth but inflation fears loom May 7, 2021 UK construction activity continued its rapid growth in April, but the burst of activity saw the rate of input cost inflation rise to its highest levels since 1997. IHS Markit’s construction Purchasing Managers Index registered 61.6 last month, only fractionally below March’s record reading of 61.7. Any figure above 50.0 indicates an overall expansion of [...]
GDP data: UK construction ‘head and shoulders above other sectors’ in Covid recovery April 13, 2021 The construction sector is playing a key role as the fastest growing sector of the UK’s Covid-hit economy, according to analysts. The UK economy edged up 0.4 per cent in February as it rebounded from a January slump, helped by a 1.6 per cent rise in construction. The sector’s improvement was driven by growth in [...]