News

Mercedes-Benz has revealed its first pick-up truck – the hotly anticipated Mercedes-Benz X-Class which will be available in Europe from November at a price of 37,294 Euro.  The Mercedes-Benz X-Class is said to push the boundaries of the modern pick-up – designed to be used as a rugged, all-terrain pickup but also as a vehicle for urban lifestyles and families. The …

The construction industry must do more to ensure health and safety compliance and avoid incidents, according to specialist training provider Develop Training Limited (DTL). The company’s comments follow publications of the Health & Safety Executive’s annual workplace fatality figures, which revealed that across the UK, more than 135 workers were fatally injured between April 2016 and March 2017 with the …

London contractor Meadows WR LLP (MWR) has been fined after a 60 year-old man fell off a ladder, through an opening and down to the lower floor of a house in St Albans. St Albans Crown Court heard how the 60-year-old man, Mr Kundi, died three years after the incident. MWR contracted him to part demolish and refurbish a property …

Following ENGIE’s recent move into the UK home energy market ­ the energy and services company has announced it will provide smart heating controls from PassivSystems to customers choosing its new three-year fixed ENGIE Control tariff. The controls, which are part of the PassivLiving HEAT service, will provide homeowners with the ability to regulate their living space and water heating …

Women Count 2017, the second annual report by the Pipeline, has tracked and analysed the number of women on Executive Committees of FTSE 350 companies and has found that progress on gender diversity in senior roles has regressed. With only 16% of members on Executive Committees being women, the same percentage as 2016, there has been no progress. Also, more …

Somerset’s Joe Stradling has won the prestigious title of Redland Apprentice of the Year against stiff competition as one of ten of the country’s best roofing apprentices. In a West Country double, Cornishman Tom Knight was awarded Highly Commended, a category created to acknowledge how close he was to the top award. Joe, who works West Country Tiling in Frome, …

Home owners should book in their builder at least four months before their project begins or risk working with a cowboy, new research from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has revealed. The research also shows that many consumers don’t ask their builders for essentials such as a contract or references when embarking upon a major piece of building work. …

Dryrod damp-proofing rods from Safeguard Europe, the damp-proofing specialist, have been accredited by the German WTA organisation.

A London based roofing company has been fined after a 56-year old worker fell through two storeys onto a concrete floor.

A self-appointed Essex tax adviser, who instructed his clients on how to fraudulently claim £1.5m in tax repayments, has been jailed for five years.

You worked overtime for the new customer who was keen to have it finished on time, and sent your invoice promptly. Now you’re working on your next job, and need payment for the last one. The weeks tick by and no payment arrives. You call, text and email – nothing. Then you send a strongly worded letter, and the response …

Balfour Beatty believes the construction site of 2050 will be in stark contrast to what we see today – predicting it will be human-free with work moved off-site, remote control of machinery and new materials and techniques exploited to improve cost, safety and efficiency. The international infrastructure group has laid out its vision in its paper “Innovation 2050: A Digital …

Two South West based companies have been fined after a 44-year old woman was struck by scaffolding. Weymouth Magistrates’ Court heard how employees of Carter Training Ltd were using a mobile crane on the building project in Queen Mothers Square, Poundbury, Dorchester when the attachment holding 500 scaffolding fittings weighing 2kg each was turned on its side emptying all contents …

The UK Government has been urged to scrap its approach to deregulation of health and safety legislation in the light of the Grenfell Tower blaze. In an open letter to Prime Minister Theresa May, over 70 leading organisations and figures from the UK’s safety and health profession have jointly called for a political sea change in attitude towards health and …

The South East may have been enjoying a heatwave, but builders visiting DW Nye on Monday 19th June were getting ready for winter by finding out about the latest products on offer including a new waterproofing system that can be applied to roofs in as low as -5 degrees celcius. In the first of a series of demo days being …

Ten of the country’s best roofing apprentices are gearing up for the two-day final that will see one of them awarded the title of Redland Apprentice of the Year.

The UK retirement housebuilder, McCarthy and Stone, is inviting people across the country to celebrate the heritage skills of older people throughout it’s developments across a number of regions in June and July. The event comes alongside McCarthy and Stone’s 40th year celebrations. In January, at the start of its anniversary year, McCarthy and Stone pledged its support for Royal …

A civil engineering company (R M Contractors Limited aka RMC), and a contractor working on behalf of a tree surgery company Complete Tree Services (CTS) have been sentenced after a member of the public was injured by fencing wire. Redditch Magistrates’ Court heard a member of the public was in her garden, when she was sprayed with pieces of fencing …

Shocked witnesses have described seeing people jump from as high as the 15th floor of Grenfell Tower in London as flames engulfed the building last night. Over 200 firefighters attended the 27-storey building near Ladbroke Grove just after 1.15am as fire tore through the block of flats.The cause of the fire is still unknown but according to witness accounts there …