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Construction 1998
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The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
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The government is to favour the expansion of existing towns on main transport routes in order to cater for the 5m new homes required over the next 25 years, as opposed to the construction of new towns and villages. 31-Dec-1998 The government has announced plans to spend £17m on the refurbishment of Scottish prisons, in order to reduce overcrowding and increase security. 23-Dec-1998 National Britannia is forming an alliance with the environmental and ground engineering specialist Wimtec Environmental, enabling them to provide a complete range of environmental risk management services. 21-Dec-1998 Hanson is planning to spend about £180m on acquisitions next year, and is particularly interested in aggregates and concrete pipes in the US and bricks and aggregate recycling in Europe and Asia. 18-Dec-1998 Taylor Woodrow has won a £10m contract to build a glass factory at Selby for Saint Gobain UK. 17-Dec-1998 Kingspan has launched a £37m bid for Hewetson, the Hull-based flooring products company. 17-Dec-1998 Tarmac and Aggregate Industries have unexpectedly called off their merger talks due to disagreement over the management structure of a combined group. 15-Dec-1998 Nationwide Access is relocating three of its access equipment depots to larger sites in Southampton, Stoke and Plymouth. 11-Dec-1998 The number of households installing air conditioning systems is forecast to rise from 25,000 to 350,000 by 2018, according to the Building Services Research & Information Association. 11-Dec-1998 WS Atkins has called off merger talks with P&O's construction division Bovis, although the companies have identified a number of areas where they can work together. 11-Dec-1998 Chap has opened a £1m sand and gravel quarry at Methlick in Scotland, creating 12 new jobs. 08-Dec-1998 Mansell, the construction company, has called off a planned reverse takeover of YJ Lovell, due to a fall in its market valuation. 05-Dec-1998 Bennett Homes, the East Anglian builder of retirement bungalows, is cutting 80 jobs following a reorganisation. 04-Dec-1998 AC Yule is to relocate its present plant in Livingston to larger premises nearby, and expects to create an additional 50 jobs as it expands its glass and architectural aluminium business in central Scotland. 02-Dec-1998 The government is to spend £354m on the regeneration of depressed coalfield communities in England, including new housing, training and social projects. 02-Dec-1998 Group 4 Tarmac has been selected as preferred bidder for a £40m prison in Onley, Warwickshire, while Premier Prison Services has been chosen for a £35m prison at Marchington, Staffordshire. 02-Dec-1998 Natural Building Materials has launched a £13m hostile takeover bid for Blockleys, the brickmaker. 02-Dec-1998 Rugby Group has announced a rationalisation programme that could result in the loss of about 400 joinery jobs in Doncaster and Gloucester. 01-Dec-1998 Aberdeen City Council is considering plans from CALA Homes for the construction of a £50m village near the Bridge of Don. 30-Nov-1998 Terex of the US is setting up a new distribution business in Watford to handle UK sales of mining equipment from its Motherwell plant. 27-Nov-1998 BPB is being investigated by the European Commission over allegations of anti-competitive practice in the plasterboard industry. 27-Nov-1998 English Heritage is to invest £35m in the regeneration of inner cities over the next three years, including unused industrial sites, fishing ports and seaside towns. 27-Nov-1998 John Mansfield, the small timber company, has launched a £272m hostile takeover bid for Marley, and if successful will sell off Marley's plastics and concrete divisions. 27-Nov-1998 White Young Green has acquired Building Services Design, the Cardiff-based mechanical and electrical consulting firm, for £0.7m. 26-Nov-1998 GAP Group of Glasgow is planning to open a plant and tool hire depot in every area of large population, and has just opened a £2m outlet in Aston, Birmingham. 26-Nov-1998 SGB is setting up a specialist rail division in order to win scaffolding contracts from Railtrack. 26-Nov-1998 WS Atkins is discussing the acquisition of Bovis Construction from P&O for about £350m. 25-Nov-1998 Allen is planning to open six more tool hire depots over the next six months. 24-Nov-1998 Urban Splash and Speke Garston Development Company are planning a £30m project to convert the former Bryant & May match factory on Merseyside into a business village, creating up to 1,000 jobs. 23-Nov-1998 Rugby Cement has confirmed that it will stop production at its Chinnor cement works near High Wycombe in January with the loss of 79 jobs. 20-Nov-1998 JCB, the excavator company, is to cut 90 jobs and this is expected to include losses at its Rocester headquarters as well as at some factories. 19-Nov-1998 Aggregate Industries has bought a concrete block factory at Woodville from Ensor of Manchester for £1m. 19-Nov-1998 WML Group is linking up with Rentokil Initial and Rotch Properties to form a property management business called Trident Management Solutions. 19-Nov-1998 Meyer International is reviewing the future of its Dutch builders merchant subsidiary, which could lead to a sale. 19-Nov-1998 Gregory Properties is planning to build a £20m call centre in Bradford that could create more than 1,500 jobs. 18-Nov-1998 Churchill Homes and JW Muir have submitted plans for a new development on the outskirts of Aberdeen that could create up to 3,000 jobs, including retail outlets, 1,000 houses, a business park and an industrial estate. 17-Nov-1998 Bardon Aggregates is linking up with English China Clays to increase aggregates production in Cornwall by processing material from ECC's Wheal Remfry site. 12-Nov-1998 Dean Group is to spin off its Dean Homes and Speymill pub refurbishment divisions into a new company called Artisan, while its building services division will be renamed Environment Property Services. 12-Nov-1998 Hammerson is selling its Canadian property portfolio to OMERS Realty, and will reinvest the £238m proceeds in the UK and continental Europe. 10-Nov-1998 Neptune Marina has unveiled plans for a docklands project in Ipswich, including a quayside restaurant, student accommodation, office units, retail space and boatyard facilities. 09-Nov-1998 The former mining community of Allerton Bywater in Yorkshire has been chosen by the government for a multi-million-pound investment to create the perfect village. 09-Nov-1998 Kvaerner is cutting 75 jobs at its Clydebank operation, and warned its 790 workers that more cuts could follow. 07-Nov-1998 Tarmac and Aggregate Industries are making progress on talks about a £1.6bn merger, and a deal could be announced before the end of the year. 06-Nov-1998 Amey is to merge its building, civil engineering and special projects operations into one division in order to save £1m and allow them to work together. 05-Nov-1998 Baldwins is opening crane hire depots in Aberdeen and Rochester. 05-Nov-1998 Butler Building Systems is to close its manufacturing facility in Kirkcaldy with the loss of 50 jobs, and production will be transferred to Hungary. 05-Nov-1998 Hayward Group, the Bournemouth-based contractor, is cutting a number of jobs as it moves its main operations to Southampton and Taunton. 05-Nov-1998 Haslam Homes is planning to expand its operations in the East Midlands by building 300 new homes a year and creating 80 jobs. 04-Nov-1998 Havant Borough Partnership is considering plans for a £3.2m business park in Havant, which will act as the home of the regional business advice centre. 04-Nov-1998 SIG, the insulation supplier valued at about £160m, is said to be open to a takeover bid following a failed attempt at a management buy-out. 04-Nov-1998 Bovis Construction has won a contract worth about £100m to build a car plant in France for Toyota. 04-Nov-1998 Rugby Joinery is to cut 100 jobs in Sheffield and Doncaster in order to concentrate the manufacturing of timber windows at its Melton Mowbray plant. 03-Nov-1998 Connaught of Exeter is planning to raise £3m in a share placing in order to expand its facilities management and building services business. 02-Nov-1998 Pilkington, the glass maker, is to cut a further 1,500 jobs worldwide in order to improve efficiency and save up to £50m a year. 30-Oct-1998 Maersk Contractors has won a contract from Shell to bring ashore 3,500 tonnes a year of rock cuttings from offshore drilling, for use in foundations for paths and roadways. 29-Oct-1998 Carlisle Holdings, the recruitment, contract cleaning and security services concern, is being floated on Aim as it prepares to build up a major UK support services business. 29-Oct-1998 Highbridge Properties and the Ashall Group have announced plans to build a major new business park next to the doomed Siemens plant on Tyneside, and up to 5,000 jobs could be created. 28-Oct-1998 Soltaire, the property services company, has launched a "buy-to-let" scheme in which it will select, let and manage properties on behalf of new landlords. 28-Oct-1998 Vale Royal Borough Council has unveiled a £100m regeneration plan for Northwich, which could create more than 2,000 jobs. 27-Oct-1998 Coventry City Council and Confederate Builders have announced plans for the £5.3m redevelopment of the former Courtaulds headquarters in Foleshill, in order to create a new office complex. 27-Oct-1998 John Laing is to merge its building, management contracting and civil engineering divisions in order to save about £7m a year, and is making a £26m provision to cover losses on building the new national stadium in Wales. 27-Oct-1998 Brighton & Hove Council is said to be considering plans for the construction of three waste incinerators in East Sussex, including one at Shoreham Harbour. 26-Oct-1998 Miller Group, the Edinburgh-based construction company, is to create a new division to concentrate on PFI and public-private sector partnership contracts. 26-Oct-1998 A large section of the former Waltham Airfield near Grimsby is being offered for sale for light industrial use, and the sale will be handled by Grimsby estate agents Bacons. 26-Oct-1998 Hyder has won preferred bidder status to upgrade and operate the Kinnegar waste-water works in Northern Ireland. 23-Oct-1998 Four regions - South Yorkshire, Merseyside, Cornwall and West Wales - are expected to qualify for up to £4bn in EU regional aid to help regenerate their communities between 2000 and 2006. 23-Oct-1998 Scout Moor Quarry in Edenfield, Lancashire, has won approval to expand the site in order to increase production of grit, sandstone and shale for the production of concrete products. 22-Oct-1998 Alfred McAlpine Slate is planning to expand its Oakeley quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog and is in negotiations for a new planning application. 22-Oct-1998 New environmental regulations are to be introduced at the end of next year that will require brick makers to fit limestone scrubbers to at least 40 kilns across the country. 22-Oct-1998 RMC Concrete has opened a new plant near Newton Abbot to produce the Readyfloor flooring system for new homes. 22-Oct-1998 British Gypsum is withdrawing from the floor screeds market due to falling prices. 22-Oct-1998 Southern Water is planning a £25m waste-water treatment project at Bexhill, and it is expected to award the contract to German process engineer Wabag and contractor Miller. 22-Oct-1998 The government has announced a further 30 private finance initiative projects worth a total of £4.25bn, including £730m for hospitals, £480m for schools, and new technology at the Crown Prosecution Service and the British Library. 22-Oct-1998 Dares Estates, the property company, is to raise £5m in a rights issue in order to reduce debt, and it is also planning to reduce its investment portfolio and change its name to Albemarle Property Investments. 22-Oct-1998 Wienerberger of Austria has bought a 30% stake in Ibstock for £92m, prompting speculation that a bidding contest may begin for the UK brick maker. 21-Oct-1998 Wolseley is considering plans to spend up to £300m on acquisitions to expand its building materials distribution business in continental Europe and the US. 21-Oct-1998 Regalian Properties and NFC have won planning permission for the 1.7m sq ft Bishopsbridge development in Paddington, London, which will include office, residential and commercial space. 20-Oct-1998 P&O and Chelsfield are selling their US joint venture property assets, including office and industrial buildings in Washington DC, Atlanta and Charlotte, to TrizecHahn of Canada for $287m. 20-Oct-1998 Blue Circle is to auction off its bathrooms division, which includes Armitage Shanks, for up to £200m. 20-Oct-1998 British Ceramic Tile has been set up as a new company to build a £24m tile factory in Cornwall, but the project is said to be dependent on the award of £5m of state aid. 19-Oct-1998 James R Knowles, the claims consultant, is planning to recruit more staff at offices throughout the country in order to cope with the increasing number of disputes in the construction industry. 15-Oct-1998 Allen is moving its building division into larger premises in Trafford Park, Manchester, following an increase in orders. 15-Oct-1998 Severn Trent Water is planning to build five sludge treatment plants in Long Eaton, Newthorpe, Stoke, Wolverhampton and Studley. 15-Oct-1998 Kingspan Building Products has created 50 new jobs at its plant in Holywell, North Wales, and invested £8m in a high-speed production line for roof and wall panels. 15-Oct-1998 Berkeley Group's plans to build a £17.5m millennium tower in Portsmouth have been rescued by the Millennium Commission's decision to redirect some of the funds from the £80m Renaissance of Portsmouth Harbour scheme. 15-Oct-1998 Ofwat has ordered water companies to reduce leaks by an average 16% by March 2000. 15-Oct-1998 Aram Resources is planning to build a £1m road surfacing material plant in Plymouth, creating up to 12 jobs. 15-Oct-1998 JCB is to lay off 130 temporary production staff at its construction equipment sites in Rocester, Cheadle, and Wrexham, due to a seasonal downturn and the global economic climate. 15-Oct-1998 Plans to create a 3.5 mile road tunnel under the Solent between Gosport and the Isle of Wight are being revived, and the idea will be presented to local councils on October 23. 15-Oct-1998 Rugby Estates, the property company, is considering plans for a management buy-out early next year. 14-Oct-1998 Scotia Water, a consortium of Saur and Bouygues, has been selected as the preferred bidder for a £50m project to build and operate a sewage treatment plant at Dalmuir near Glasgow. 13-Oct-1998 Cornwall County Council is to consult companies on how to spend up to £500m of EU regional aid, and a number of transport projects could be considered in order to improve railway infrastructure, roads, and Newquay airport. 13-Oct-1998 Tarmac is in merger discussions with Aggregate Industries, which would create a combined group with a strong position in the market for heavy building materials such as sand, gravel, rock and concrete. 13-Oct-1998 Greenline, the manufacturer of portable accommodation, has moved to purpose-built premises at Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, in order to allow for the company's continued expansion. 13-Oct-1998 Northern Ireland's Industrial Development Board has announced plans for a new 17,000 sq ft hi-tech service centre in Letterkenny, and is looking for a suitable tenant to create up to 250 jobs. 13-Oct-1998 John Laing Property has won approval from Plymouth City Council to redevelop 27 acres of land at Derriford, including retail units, a garden centre, restaurant, pub and fast-food unit. 12-Oct-1998 Cambridge New Town Corporation has been set up to promote a new proposal to build a town for 50,000 people near Cambridge, which could become the UK's first new town since 1970. 10-Oct-1998 The Treasury has re-opened negotiations with the Exchequer Partnership, made up of Bovis, Hambros and Stanhope, for the refurbishment of its listed Whitehall building. 09-Oct-1998 Taylor Woodrow is to cut 90 jobs in its Taymel, Taymech and Taywood divisions. 08-Oct-1998 Hills Electrical, the building services concern, is to continue to expand its nationwide network of regional centres, having just opened an office in Cardiff. 08-Oct-1998 Wates Construction has formed a specialist rail division in Crewe to expand its station refurbishment business. 08-Oct-1998 Rockwool is planning to buy the Queensferry rock mineral wool plant in North Wales from Owens Corning for undisclosed terms. 08-Oct-1998 Interior Services Group is looking to acquire a facilities management business and a number of potential targets have been identified. 08-Oct-1998 Hi-Reach Access has opened a new £1m depot in South Wales in order to expand its powered access business. 08-Oct-1998 Avery Berkel has set up a new subsidiary to specialise in the hiring out of weighbridges. 08-Oct-1998 The Foreign Office has chosen GSL, a consortium of Tarmac, Group 4 and British Telecom, as the preferred bidder to rebuild the GCHQ government communications headquarters in or near Cheltenham. 08-Oct-1998 British Land and Railtrack have won permission to build a 700,000 sq ft office block near Liverpool Street station in London. 06-Oct-1998 Up to 300 jobs are said to be under threat at the Health and Safety Laboratory in Sheffield because one of the four buildings on the site is in urgent need of repair. 06-Oct-1998 Newcastle City Council has unveiled plans to boost city centre shops and businesses over the next 20 years, funded by the sale of its share of Eldon Square - worth about £90m. 06-Oct-1998 Sonae of Portugal is to build a £70m chipboard factory in Knowsley on Merseyside, which will create 220 jobs. 05-Oct-1998 Construction work is expected to start early next year on a £45m industrial park at Newburn in Newcastle, which is expected to create up to 4,000 jobs. 05-Oct-1998 Alfred McAlpine is said to be discussing the sale of its US minerals and construction businesses for about £50m, which will leave it free to focus on UK building. 02-Oct-1998 Hewden Stuart is planning to set up a nationwide network of tool hire branches by making acquisitions in southern England. 01-Oct-1998 British Aerospace is discussing the sale of its Arlington Securities property business to a group of investors related to Prudential Insurance of the US, in a £250m deal. 01-Oct-1998 Planners in Hull have approved a £50m scheme to redevelop the Ferensway area, including a new rail and bus interchange, foodstore, theatre and retail outlets. 01-Oct-1998 Blue Circle is said to be planning to auction off Armitage Shanks, the bathroom fittings company, for up to £250m. 28-Sep-1998 Berkeley Group is planning a £50m redevelopment of a former defence site in Gosport, which will include a marina for large yachts, commercial premises and other leisure facilities, and up to 500 jobs could be created. 28-Sep-1998 Akeler is planning to invest £750m a year on the acquisition of properties in continental Europe in an attempt to become "the first pan-European office company which owns, develops and operates offices". 25-Sep-1998 Rymark Property Developments is planning a £50m residential and leisure project in Bournemouth, including a virtual reality complex, a fitness centre and restaurants. 25-Sep-1998 Fylde NHS Community Trust is to build a new 40-bed hospital and attached day centre, to replace Rossall Hospital. 25-Sep-1998 Shadsworth Industrial Estate in Blackburn is to be expanded with a £6m investment in new commercial buildings, and up to 700 jobs could be created. 25-Sep-1998 Hexham is to get a new 100-bed hospital to replace Hexham General, and construction work will start in a year's time. 25-Sep-1998 Dundee is to get a £6.7m ice rink, including a 2,350-seat stadium, bar, restaurant and hospitality suites, having received a lottery handout of £2m. 25-Sep-1998 CLS Holdings is planning to develop a £300m retail and leisure centre in Lambeth, London, including a dry-ski run, mountain bike trail and 10-screen cinema, and up to 3,000 jobs could be created. 25-Sep-1998 Bethell Group has acquired F&FS White and White Building Services for undisclosed terms. 24-Sep-1998 Tilbury Douglas is planning to expand its property maintenance business in the north of England into a nationwide service. 24-Sep-1998 The Central Sheffield University Hospitals NHS Trust has awarded a £16m contract to Henry Boot for the construction of an obstetrics unit at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital. 24-Sep-1998 Calp, the cut-glass producer, is to build an £11m distribution and office facility in Newcastle-under-Lyme. 24-Sep-1998 Gibson Acoustic Services, the Gloucester-based partitioning subcontractor, has been declared bankrupt with the loss of more than 50 jobs. 24-Sep-1998 The National House Building Council is setting up a new office near Cannon Street station in London in order to oversee projects in the capital. 24-Sep-1998 The Glasgow Science Centre is planning to set up a £33m discovery complex, including a 3D cinema and a 100m tall observation tower. 24-Sep-1998 Richardson Developments is planning a £35m redevelopment of the former Grants department store in Croydon, and the project will include a multiplex cinema, restaurants and nightclub. 24-Sep-1998 Tranville Developments is planning to build a superstore in Blackburn that could create up to 400 jobs. 24-Sep-1998 Huddersfield University is planning to build a £10m technology park at an unnamed location in Huddersfield, and up to 20 companies are expected to locate there. 24-Sep-1998 Apollo Leisure is planning to set up an annual movie festival and multiplex cinema in Torbay. 24-Sep-1998 Crest Nicholson Developments has won approval to demolish a 19th century music hall in Scarborough, to make way for a multi-million-pound shopping development. 24-Sep-1998 Rotrax, the building services company, is creating 30 jobs in Leeds with the launch of its fourth regional office in the city. 24-Sep-1998 Tarmac has announced plans to merge its UK and international civil engineering operations in order to reduce costs by up to £5m a year, following the government decision to cut back its road-building programme. 23-Sep-1998 The government and English Heritage have announced plans to reinstate the original landscape around Stonehenge by re-routing the roads, and a visitor's centre will be built a few miles away. 23-Sep-1998 Wilkinsons is to build a new department store in Swindon, creating 110 jobs. 23-Sep-1998 United Norwest Co-op is considering plans to set up of a Holiday Hypermarket in the Stoke area, and is also looking at other locations throughout the country. 23-Sep-1998 Swan Hunter has announced plans to build a £25m dry dock at Wallsend to improve its chance of winning a contract to build one of the Royal Navy's next generation aircraft carriers. 23-Sep-1998 The CityVision partnership in Hull is inviting construction companies worldwide to submit their ideas for an eye-catching structure in the city's port to make a lasting impact on visitors. 23-Sep-1998 Aberdeen's City Centre Partnership has announced plans for a further £60m to be invested in the city centre, and a number of retail and leisure developments are being considered. 23-Sep-1998 Halton Borough Council has announced plans for the £20m rejuvenation of Widnes town centre, including a 16,000 sq ft retail development. 22-Sep-1998 Anglo Haussmann Group has proposed plans for a £5m multiplex cinema and retailing complex in Gosport. 22-Sep-1998 William Davies Properties has won a contract to develop a new business park near the M1 outside Nottingham, which could create up to 4,000 jobs. 22-Sep-1998 Steel and Alloy Processing of West Bromwich is to set up a new £3m plant in Newton Aycliffe to make steel strip products, creating up to 40 jobs. 21-Sep-1998 St Modwen has announced plans to redevelop the centre of Newcastle-under-Lyme, including a new shopping mall for 35 stores. 21-Sep-1998 Masterskreen International, the Dungannon-based quarrying equipment company, is to create 36 jobs and expand its international marketing efforts through an alliance with Nordberg-Read. 21-Sep-1998 Richmond council in London is planning to sell off all its 7,500 council homes in order to save money on repairs. 21-Sep-1998 Palmer Capital Partners has been set up as a new venture capital company to invest in start-up property and other businesses. 18-Sep-1998 Zincshield, the Sunderland-based windows and doors company, has gone into liquidation. 18-Sep-1998 JCB is to lay off 49 contract workers at its factories in Rocester and Cheadle, due to a seasonal fall in demand for construction equipment. 18-Sep-1998 Hull Prison has submitted expansion plans to the city council, which would create up to 120 jobs. 18-Sep-1998 The government is planning to invest £800m in the regeneration of run-down housing estates, and will expect local communities to submit bids for the money. 17-Sep-1998 Wilson Bowden Properties has set up an office in Glasgow to co-ordinate a number of new projects in Scotland. 17-Sep-1998 Kinloch Engineering of Cumbria has set up a new company to provide tunnel lining services, using the Tunneline method of applying concrete. 17-Sep-1998 BPB is to close its unlined chipboard mill in Radcliffe, Manchester, with the loss of 285 jobs. 17-Sep-1998 Hertfordshire county council is planning to turn the scheme for 10,000 new homes near Stevenage into a testbed for environmentally friendly growth, under the name Garden City 21. 16-Sep-1998 Persimmon Homes, the housebuilder, is to set up a new regional HQ at Holmes Chapel as part of an expansion into South Cheshire and Staffordshire. 16-Sep-1998 P&O is said to be discussing the sale of its Bovis Construction business, thought to be worth about £350m, in order to focus on cruise holidays, investment and property. 15-Sep-1998 Wainhomes, the housebuilder, is planning to sell home furnishings and financial services to house buyers. 15-Sep-1998 Alfas Group has acquired Seal Strip, the Leicestershire-based building sealants business, and plans to expand plant capacity and the size of the sales force. 14-Sep-1998 Birse Construction is to cut 100 jobs as part of an ongoing programme to improve efficiency. 14-Sep-1998 Slough Estates has launched a £246m hostile takeover bid for Bilton, the south-east industrial property company. 12-Sep-1998 Pilkington's float glass plants in St Helens are facing strike action in protest over planned job cuts. 12-Sep-1998 Hanson is planning to spend up to £700m on acquisitions to expand its US building materials business. 11-Sep-1998 Heywood Williams is considering plans to sell its Dutch-based glass operations in order to focus on plastic door and window components. 11-Sep-1998 Nationwide Access, the powered access equipment supplier, has combined its Leeds and Wakefield depots at a new site in Leeds as part of an expansion programme. 10-Sep-1998 Kvaerner is to combine its engineering and construction activities into a single division called Engineering & Construction, with sales of £2.3bn. 10-Sep-1998 Galliford is setting up a maintenance division to enable it to offer building maintenance services to clients. 10-Sep-1998 Castlewyse, the merged plant operations of Tarmac and Bovis, has been renamed Maxxiom and seven depots are being closed in the restructuring. 10-Sep-1998 Rugby Group is considering plans to sell its US manufacturing and distribution businesses, and meanwhile it is looking to expand its cement and lime production operations in eastern Europe and Latin America. 10-Sep-1998 Caradon is looking to sell its lossmaking US and UK doors and windows operations, including the Everest double-glazing business, and Rugby Cement has already expressed an interest. 10-Sep-1998 Keller has acquired Denver Grouting Services of the US for £1.9m. 09-Sep-1998 Blue Circle Industries is to close cement plants near Plymouth and Ipswich with the loss of 250 jobs. 09-Sep-1998 Enterprise Properties is planning to build a two-storey technology management centre in the Ribble Valley, signalling the start of a £25m scheme to set up a business park which will create 1,000 jobs. 09-Sep-1998 Ibstock is to auction a 76% stake in Caima Ceramica e Servico, the Portuguese manufacturer of sanitary ware and roof tiles, and hopes to raise about £25m. 08-Sep-1998 FM Windows, the Northern Ireland double glazing firm, is seeking voluntary liquidation. 08-Sep-1998 John Laing has formed a joint venture company with Hyder called Laing Hyder, which will bid for private finance initiative building and accommodation projects. 07-Sep-1998 Hammerson is paying £60m for majority stakes in two French shopping centres and their management company, as part of a strategy to focus on the development of retail and office properties. 05-Sep-1998 Greenfield Park has won outline planning approval from Pendle Council to build a business and retail complex that will create 490 jobs. 04-Sep-1998 Marley, the building materials company, has decided against making large-scale acquisitions and will instead return £40m to investors in a share buy-back. 04-Sep-1998 CSC Forest Products is planning a £40m expansion at its plant in Cowie, Scotland, to increase MDF production by 50%. 03-Sep-1998 Lagan Group of Belfast is planning to build a £40m cement factory near Clonard in the Republic, creating 200 jobs. 02-Sep-1998 The government is to consider plans for a £13.7m "university of life" in Speke, which would include school, training and college facilities on one campus, catering for both children and adults. 02-Sep-1998 Bethell Group, the construction company, is to create 100 new jobs and double the size of its headquarters at the Europa Park in Stoneclough. 02-Sep-1998 CRH of Ireland is planning to spend up to £420m an acquisitions to expand its UK and European building materials business. 02-Sep-1998 The number of households in Scotland is forecast to increase by 10% from 2.136m in 1996 to 2.346m in 2010, with Aberdeenshire seeing a 20% growth, according to the Scottish Office's Household Projections for Scotland report. 01-Sep-1998 Avocet Hardware, the Yorkshire-based manufacturer of security products for doors and windows, is planning a £70m flotation on the stock market. 01-Sep-1998 Charterhouse, the investment bank, is paying £6m for a near-70% stake in the UK's biggest education project under the private finance initiative, which will involve the construction of five new schools around Falkirk and the provision of non-educational services. 01-Sep-1998 Blue Circle Industries is acquiring the remaining 50% of two Malaysian cement companies - Associated Pan Malaysia Cement and Pan Malaysia Cement Works Singapore - for £177m. 29-Aug-1998 Security Capital Global Realty of the US has acquired a majority stake in London & Henley, the UK company that specialises in rented residential property, for about £150m. 28-Aug-1998 Kingspan, the Irish building panels manufacturer, is looking to make acquisitions in central and eastern Europe and is prepared to spend up to £44m. 28-Aug-1998 Couves, the Newcastle-based firm of architects, has gone into liquidation with the loss of 26 jobs. 28-Aug-1998 Bovis Construction is looking for a major international partner, and has already been in discussions with a number of companies with the aim of becoming a major player in the world market. 27-Aug-1998 The City of Sunderland Partnership is bidding to bring the headquarters of the new University for Industry to Doxford International Business Park, which would result in 150 new jobs. 27-Aug-1998 Brandon Hire, the tool hire company, has acquired Amptool Hire for £0.6m, which will provide it with additional depots in Surrey and Kent. 26-Aug-1998 Citygrove Leisure has announced plans for the £30m redevelopment of Hove's King Alfred Leisure Centre into a major entertainment complex, including a 13-screen cinema, restaurants, a casino and a nightclub. 26-Aug-1998 Halifax is proposing a £70m scheme to redevelop part of Leeds city centre, including a 149-bedroom hotel, a 15-screen cinema, 30 shops, three leisure units, and five restaurants and bars. 26-Aug-1998 The Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise are planning to hand over 750 properties to the private sector in a 20-year contract that will require the successful bidder to provide them with serviced accommodation. 26-Aug-1998 Jarrett Construction of Bristol has gone into liquidation and 140 workers have been laid off. 25-Aug-1998 Galliford is setting up a rail division called Galliford Rail Projects, which will be based in Warrington and co-ordinate its station and bridge building work. 25-Aug-1998 Morgan Sindall is looking for partners to help it build small hospitals in the £3-4m price range. 25-Aug-1998 A consortium that includes Airport Group International and Bechtel has paid £110m for a 30-year concession to develop and manage Luton airport, and a new terminal will be built as part of a plan to increase capacity to 10m passengers in eight years time. 25-Aug-1998 Ennstone has acquired two quarries in Fife from Hewden Stuart for £1m. 19-Aug-1998 RMC is selling a number of cement facilities in Germany to Lafarge of France for £71m. 18-Aug-1998 Blue Circle Industries has acquired a further 33% of Republic Cement of the Philippines for £32m, taking its stake to 54%. 18-Aug-1998 Glasgow city council is considering plans to sell its entire housing stock to a housing association or non-profit-making company, in order to reduce debt and enable more money to be invested in improving the homes. 15-Aug-1998 Wiggins is planning a £100m leisure development at Fairlop Waters, east London, that would include a racecourse and create 1,000 jobs. 07-Aug-1998 Capital Shopping Centres is planning to build a £150m shopping centre and car park in Uxbridge, having acquired a 9.5 acre site from Royal & Sun Alliance. 07-Aug-1998 Costain is said to be in discussions that could lead to Skanska of Sweden acquiring a controlling stake in the troubled UK contractor. 07-Aug-1998 MEPC is to buy Heathrow Approach, the John Laing Property and Terrace Hill office development at Langley that will be completed by the end of 1999, for £28m. 05-Aug-1998 Morrison Construction is planning to triple the size of its international operations over the next five years in order to balance its exposure across a wider range of economies. 03-Aug-1998 Toprak of Turkey is to build a £45m factory at Deeside to make ceramic wall tiles and bathroom suites, creating 430 jobs. 30-Jul-1998 Birkby is to resume its property acquisitions programme and is particularly interested in buying redundant manufacturing premises and arcades of small shops in town centres. 30-Jul-1998 Property Partnerships, the Norwich-based property investment concern, is to sell the bulk of its property portfolio to a joint venture of GE Capital Real Estate and Equity Estates, and then enter voluntary liquidation. 29-Jul-1998 Four Seasons Hotels of Canada is expected to announce plans for a luxury hotel development at Canary Wharf in London. 25-Jul-1998 WS Atkins has won a £45m a year contract to provide maintenance services at 900 jobcentres. 25-Jul-1998 JCB Group is to set up a £37m plant in Savannah, Georgia, to make construction equipment, which will be its first US plant. 24-Jul-1998 The government has announced plans to invest a further £3.9bn on housing and £3bn on the regeneration of deprived areas in its attempt to tackle the problem of poor housing estates. 23-Jul-1998 Starwood Lodging Trust of the US is looking to develop a luxury hotel in Bloomsbury Square, London, and is in advanced negotiations to buy the site from Blackfriars Investments. 23-Jul-1998 Mitsubishi Estates has won planning permission for the redevelopment of Paternoster Square in London, which will result in the construction of office, retail and leisure space at the site alongside St Paul's Cathedral. 22-Jul-1998 Mitie Group is looking to expand its building services business by acquisition, and is particularly interested in the north-east of England in niche markets such as store refitting. 22-Jul-1998 Jarvis is in discussions to raise £500m from potential backers to invest in student accommodation, and intends to run the properties it acquires. 21-Jul-1998 National Westminster Bank has agreed the sale of London's International Finance Centre, previously known as NatWest Tower, to a consortium of Greycoat, Mercury Asset Management and Hermes Pensions Management, for £226m. 18-Jul-1998 The government-sponsored Construction Task Force has issued a series of recommendations for increasing the efficiency of the building sector, and is calling for a 10% yearly cut in construction time and costs and a 20% cut in accidents and defects on completion. 17-Jul-1998 Tarmac has increased its stake in WKSM, the Polish aggregates company, from 30% to 56%, and its holding is now worth £4.7m. 16-Jul-1998 Canary Wharf Ltd is planning to build another speculative office building in London's Docklands, having found a tenant for its latest project. 16-Jul-1998 The government has announced a review of public expenditure that will result in a 5.1% annual growth in spending on schools and a 4.7% growth in spending on the National Health Service. 15-Jul-1998 Ashtead Group is planning to open 100 new plant hire centres in the US over the next three years. 14-Jul-1998 The government has announced a package of measures aimed at creating 50,000 jobs in depressed coalfield communities, and the plans include the creation of a new trust that will work with the regional development agencies. 14-Jul-1998 Jarvis is considering plans to sell off some of its building materials operations, as well as some properties, in order to increase its focus on the transport sector. 13-Jul-1998 Heiton Holdings, the Irish construction group, is looking to spend up to £93m on acquisitions, and will target niche markets in the UK. 09-Jul-1998 Baldwins Industrial Services is planning to spend £10m on a diversification programme, which will include a move into the facilities management business, training in the use of cranes, and a decommissioning service for old oil rigs. 08-Jul-1998 The government has awarded private finance initiative contracts for the construction and operation of two new prisons, with UK Detention Services getting an 800-place prison near Salford, and Premier Prison Services a 400-place young offenders institution near Bristol. 08-Jul-1998 Slough Estates is in exclusive negotiations to buy a 73 hectare site next to Farnborough airfield from the Ministry of Defence, and is planning to build a £250m business park. 07-Jul-1998 Construction output is forecast to grow by just 1% in 1999, following a 3.3% growth rate in 1998, according to Construction Forecasting and Research. 07-Jul-1998 The leisure industry was the fastest growing market for the construction industry in 1997, with orders for cinemas, leisure centres, sports complexes and pubs rising from £1.4bn in 1996 to £1.85bn, according to a report from Building magazine and Market Tracking International. 07-Jul-1998 The government has announced a £40m school building programme, with 113 local education authorities being awarded up to £1.2m for additional classrooms. 04-Jul-1998 Norcros, the building materials company, is facing a possible hostile takeover bid from John Mansfield, the small timber company. 30-Jun-1998 BPB, the building materials group, is planning to open plants in six countries over the next year and may include Asia in its international expansion programme. 26-Jun-1998 Jarvis has been selected as preferred bidder for four private finance initiative contracts, including the construction of schools in London and Leeds. 24-Jun-1998 The government is expected to give the go-ahead next month for a £85m project to widen the M25 motorway near Heathrow, but most of the other road schemes proposed by the previous government will be axed. 20-Jun-1998 Wolseley is to merge its two heating and plumbing products businesses in the US in order to cut costs in response to cheap imports from Asia. 19-Jun-1998 Jones Lang Wootton is in merger discussions with LaSalle Partners of the US, which could result in the creation of the largest property advisory group in the world. 18-Jun-1998 The Ministry of Defence is looking to sell off 13,000 hectares of land as part of the strategic defence review, according to the National Audit Office. 17-Jun-1998 Ibstock, the building materials company, has sold its 56% stake in Companhia de Celulose do Caima of Portugal to three local banks for £17m. 17-Jun-1998 The Covesea consortium of Morrison Construction, Robertson Group Scotland and Royal Bank of Scotland, has won a £34m private finance initiative contract from the Defence Housing Executive to provide 279 houses for RAF Lossiemouth. 16-Jun-1998 National Westminster Bank is in discussions to sell London's International Finance Centre, formerly known as NatWest Tower, to a consortium that includes Greycoat, Hermes and Mercury Asset Management. 16-Jun-1998 Hammerson's has won planning permission for the £300m redevelopment of the Bull Ring shopping centre in Birmingham, and is now looking to sign up retailers. 12-Jun-1998 WS Atkins, the consulting engineer, is looking to spend £50m on acquisitions in order to offer complete business solutions to customers in its three core areas of transport, property services and industry. 12-Jun-1998 Anglian Group, the double glazing company, is planning to expand into new product areas by spending up to £100m on acquisitions in home improvements, garden centres and security systems. 10-Jun-1998 Blue Circle Industries is increasing its share of the Fillipino cement market to 18% with two share purchases at a cost of £42m, and it is now looking to expand in Malaysia and Thailand. 09-Jun-1998 Bovis has warned that 870 of the buildings it has built since 1994 may be hit by the millennium bug, which could result in problems for ventilation and heating systems, intruder alarms, and electricity connections. 06-Jun-1998 Construction output rose by 2.5% in the first quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter, and by 5% compared to the first quarter of last year, although there have since been signs of falling confidence, according to government figures. 06-Jun-1998 Pilkington is stepping up its restructuring programme as it strives to boost efficiency amidst falling prices in the glass market, and staff numbers are to be cut by 1,500 more than the 6,000 originally planned during the two years to March 1999. 05-Jun-1998 The government has finalised plans for the £7.7bn construction of a high-speed rail link between London and the Channel Tunnel, and the project will be undertaken in two stages with completion due in 2007. 04-Jun-1998 Healey & Baker, the property consultant, is in negotiations to merge with Cushman & Wakefield, its US associate. 04-Jun-1998 Glasgow council is planning a £136m private finance initiative to upgrade the city's secondary schools, and aims to put the scheme out to tender later this year. 03-Jun-1998 Baldwins Industrial Services, the crane hire company, is planning to raise £10m in a flotation in July in order to finance growth and reduce gearing. 02-Jun-1998 Wainhomes is looking to acquire another housebuilding business and is prepared to pay up to £70m. 02-Jun-1998 Metsec, the building materials and engineering concern, is being acquired by Voest-Alpine Stahl of Austria for £42m. 30-May-1998 CNC Properties is to acquire the £35m commercial property portfolio of Channel Hotels and Properties, which includes eight properties spread throughout the country. 29-May-1998 RMC Group is said to be looking to sell its Hall & Co builders merchant, which has 97 branches and could be worth up to £100m. 26-May-1998 Balfour Beatty has won contracts worth over £100m for the construction of a 9km section of the M60 Manchester Outer Ring Road and for the construction of a bridge in North Carolina. 23-May-1998 The government is to set up a database of "brownfield" sites that are available for building homes, in order to try to reduce the pressure on greenfield sites. 20-May-1998 Green Property of Dublin has launched a £146m hostile takeover bid for Trafford Park Estates, the industrial estate developer. 20-May-1998 MEPC has failed in its attempt to acquire Chesterfield Properties as the two companies could not agree a price. 20-May-1998 Construction output fell in the first quarter of this year, with only 19% of companies reporting an increase compared to 32% in the previous quarter, according to the Construction Confederation. 19-May-1998 JCB is planning to invest £30m in the creation of its first construction equipment manufacturing base in the US, and hopes to be producing up to 10,000 machines a year by early next decade. 15-May-1998 Keller Group has bought the Australian piling and ground treatment business of Franki Pacific Holdings for £3.5m. 13-May-1998 Prowting is looking to make acquisitions in order to expand its housebuilding operations. 08-May-1998 James R Knowles, the construction industry consultancy, is to raise about £4.5m from a flotation on Aim this summer, as it plans to expand its business in continental Europe. 05-May-1998 Pemberstone is buying the property portfolio of Homes for Tenants, which includes 358 rental properties, for £16m. 02-May-1998 Chesterton International, the property consultancy, has dropped plans for a reverse takeover of Summit Group as the benefits would not have been as great as previously thought. 30-Apr-1998 Frogmore Estates is to redevelop Manchester's Corn Exchange building as a 24-hour leisure and retail centre, and is looking for prospective tenants in preparation for next year's opening. 29-Apr-1998 The government has rejected calls for a rethink on the plan to build 10,000 homes on green belt land near Stevenage, and has urged Hertfordshire county council to adopt its structure plans quickly. 25-Apr-1998 Eskmuir, the property and investment company, is to raise over £30m in a flotation in May, and has indicated that it could spend up to £80m on acquisitions over the next two years. 25-Apr-1998 MEPC has sold its remaining US office and industrial properties to three US investment trusts for $369m. 25-Apr-1998 MEPC is said to have made a preliminary offer to acquire Chesterfield Properties, which is thought to worth about £160m. 25-Apr-1998 Security Capital Group of the US is looking to invest up to $2bn in the acquisition of European property companies, having already bought two unlisted UK companies and with talks going on to buy two more. 23-Apr-1998 MEPC is selling eight US shopping centres to General Growth Properties of Chicago for £522m, as part of a strategy to sell off its non-UK assets. 22-Apr-1998 White Young Green has acquired the Scottish unit of Peter Fraenkel & Partners, the consulting civil and structural engineer, for £0.2m. 21-Apr-1998 British Dredging, the building products company, is in discussions with an unnamed company that could lead to a takeover bid. 17-Apr-1998 The government is to involve the private sector in a £200m rescue package to cope with the backlog of repairs in 4,000 schools. 16-Apr-1998 City North, the London-based residential property group, is to raise £10m in a flotation next month in order to add to its property portfolio. 16-Apr-1998 SGB is expanding its powered access division by opening a new branch in Coventry and by ordering 349 additional aerial work platforms to bring the fleet total to 939. 15-Apr-1998 Bryant, the housebuilder, has raised £48m of long-term debt to pay off short-term borrowings and finance land purchases. 11-Apr-1998 The Serplan planning conference has put its support behind plans to build 914,300 houses across the south-east of England, including 87,500 in Berkshire - more than double the figure currently planned. 09-Apr-1998 The government has given the go-ahead for 10 more NHS hospitals to be built under the private finance initiative, including projects in London, Newcastle, Reading, Dudley and Coventry. 08-Apr-1998 Heywood Williams is to acquire two businesses for £62m - Kestrel and Spectus - in order to focus on its core windows and doors operation, while it is planning to sell its AutoWindscreens car windscreen division. 07-Apr-1998 The government has announced a range of measures to combat "cowboy" builders, including an agreed set of standards and a directory of reputable builders. 07-Apr-1998 Eskmuir, the property investment company, is planning a flotation later this year. 06-Apr-1998 Hampton Trust has won outline planning consent for the construction of a £300m leisure development in Birmingham, including a skyscraper, houses, offices, a hotel, a skating rink, a casino and a theatre. 03-Apr-1998 Hewden Stuart, the plant hire company, is planning to refocus its business away from low-margin activities towards the provision of outsourced services to large companies, and has already agreed the sale of its merchandising operations to management. 03-Apr-1998 Alfred McAlpine is prepared to sell its US civil engineering and construction operations, and it has already been approached by potential buyers. 02-Apr-1998 Hepworth, the building materials company, has announced plans for a £20m restructuring programme, which will include redundancies, the removal of obsolete plant, and the modernisation of the product line in its heating division. 01-Apr-1998 Blue Circle is looking to spend up to £500m on acquisitions and is particularly interested in expanding its presence in the building materials markets of Malaysia and the Philippines. 31-Mar-1998 Streamline, the road maintenance and building products concern, is in discussions with an unnamed potential bidder that could lead to an offer being made for the company. 31-Mar-1998 Blue Circle Industries is said to be negotiating the acquisition of a controlling stake in Herecles Cement of Greece as part of a plan to expand its cement business in continental Europe. 28-Mar-1998 BTR has sold its MBCI metal building components business in the US to NCI Building Systems for £330m, thereby reaching over 90% of its target for disposals. 27-Mar-1998 John Laing has paid £11m to acquire a 14.5% stake in Adelaide Airport, the consortium that has won a concession to operate two airports in South Australia. 27-Mar-1998 Taylor Woodrow has identified a number of unnamed potential acquisition targets in the housebuilding sector. 25-Mar-1998 Marley is looking to build up its building products business in central Europe, and has £100m to spend on acquisitions. 25-Mar-1998 Caradon is looking to sell its windows and doors activities in the UK and the US, which could raise up to £240m. 24-Mar-1998 Amey is in discussions to create a consortium to bid for concessions to operate sections of the London Underground infrastructure, and is also said to be looking to sell off its Amey Homes housebuilding business. 24-Mar-1998 John Laing is to merge its two US housebuilding operations into a joint venture with Watt Residential Partners of the US, and the combined business will be floated within three years. 19-Mar-1998 MEPC is taking a stake in Prestbury, the new property company, in part payment for the sale of £103m of 30 properties that are mainly industrial warehouses. 18-Mar-1998 Ennstone has sold its McQuiston Stone quarrying operation in Pennsylvania to Essroc Cement for £2.7m. 13-Mar-1998 BSS Group, the heating and plumbing distributor, has announced a further 100 redundancies from its branch network, as part of a £1.5m reorganisation following a fall in market prices. 10-Mar-1998 John Mowlem is launching a new operation called Skillbase to provide a nationwide 24-hour call-out home maintenance service, and it will initially be launched in the Midlands. 09-Mar-1998 Legend Court, a consortium of property developers, is planning to build a £500m leisure resort at Magor in south Wales, including hotels, rides and a convention centre. 05-Mar-1998 Lehman Brothers of the US is linking up with Thornfield Developments to work on combined retail and leisure developments in the UK, with the joint venture operating from offices in Leeds and London. 02-Mar-1998 Wates City of London is planning a rights issue to raise £60m to help fund the £300m redevelopment of the City Point office building in London. 28-Feb-1998 Taylor Woodrow is discussing the sale of its wind energy business to NEG Micon of Denmark, including two turbine manufacturing subsidiaries but not including its three wind farms. 25-Feb-1998 George Wimpey is planning to sell businesses worth £40m this year, including non-core activities in property and energy, in order to focus on housebuilding. 25-Feb-1998 Amec is restructuring its Fairclough Homes subsidiary to improve profitability, with the creation of a new south east regional division and the strengthening of its Midlands division. 25-Feb-1998 A government taskforce has begun to release details of how the construction industry can be improved through increased productivity and lower costs, with emphasis being placed on waste reduction, best practices, and an integrated supply chain. 17-Feb-1998 British Dredging, the building materials concern, is said to be facing an imminent takeover approach, possibly from Grafton which already holds a stake of about 30%. 12-Feb-1998 MEPC has sold off the majority of its Australian property portfolio for £204m, as it aims to focus on the UK property market. 12-Feb-1998 Taylor Woodrow Construction is to reorganise its worldwide business into five divisions - Europe Building, Europe Civil Engineering, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Worldwide Engineering. 11-Feb-1998 Wiggins Group has submitted plans for a £1bn retail, leisure and conference centre in Liverpool, that would be the tallest tower in Europe. 10-Feb-1998 Whinney Mackay-Lewis, the architecture and design group, has acquired Prime Estates and M&E Project Services, and is raising £1m in a share placing. 10-Feb-1998 The Cardiff Bay regeneration project is to get a £20m multimedia complex, with funding from the Welsh Development Agency, the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation and Frontier Media. 07-Feb-1998 BICC is to merge its Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering and Balfour Beatty International divisions to provide greater focus in the international projects market for work over £40m. 06-Feb-1998 BPB has acquired Gipsunion's gypsum quarry, block manufacturing and plasterboard distribution operations in Switzerland for £12.6m, but has also taken a £22m exceptional write-down following the sale of its Dutch cartonboard business. 05-Feb-1998 Hanson is in advanced talks to sell its Grove Crane manufacturing business to US buyers for £370m, and its UK commercial property interests to O&H for about £40m. 02-Feb-1998 South East Regional Investment is being created as an inward investment agency for south-east England, and will be based in Fleet, Hampshire. 02-Feb-1998 Brown & Root and Amec are in discussions with the government about the possibility of investing in London Underground, which could result in the two companies bidding for a concession to operate part of the infrastructure. 02-Feb-1998 Pilkington is linking up with Glaverbel of Belgium to build a £60m float glass plant in Spain. 31-Jan-1998 Richard Ellis, the property adviser, has accepted a £50m offer from Insignia Financial of the US for its core UK business, thereby rejecting a rival bid from CB Commercial. 30-Jan-1998 Swiss Reinsurance has bought the site of London's former Baltic Exchange from Trafalgar House for about £81m, subject to gaining planning permission to develop the site. 27-Jan-1998 J Saville Gordon is changing its name to Saville Gordon to complete its transformation from a metals company to a property company. 27-Jan-1998 The government is considering plans to tax homes built on greenfield sites, with the proceeds being used to regenerate inner cities. 26-Jan-1998 Capital & Income Group has bought the unfinished London Bridge City property in London for £70m, and plans a £500m office development there. 26-Jan-1998 Derwent Valley Holdings is acquiring a portfolio of 14 properties, mainly in London, from MEPC for £96m, which will increase its size by a third. 24-Jan-1998 Forvaltings Browallia of Sweden is increasing its stake in YJ Lovell from 14% to 29% in a reorganisation of the UK construction company's share structure that will extend its borrowing facilities. 24-Jan-1998 Ultraframe, the conservatory roofing company, has reached agreement to allow Deceuninck of Belgium to use the Ultraframe brand for its roofing systems. 22-Jan-1998 Town Centre Securities has expressed an interest in acquiring Ewart, the Belfast property company that is fighting an unwanted takeover offer from Dunloe House. 22-Jan-1998 Jarvis has reached agreement to undertake domestic property repairs for Royal & Sun Alliance policyholders, in a £26m three-year deal. 21-Jan-1998 A joint venture of Amec and the Building and Property Group has won a £160m contract to supply and manage the Department of Social Security's accommodation requirements in Newcastle. 20-Jan-1998 Ashtead, the plant hire company, has decided against listing in the US, but it has been opening new depots there at a faster rate than expected with 18 new offices in the last 10 months. 20-Jan-1998 The government has decided not to prevent the construction of up to 2,500 homes on greenbelt land near Newcastle upon Tyne, but protesters still have six weeks to mount a legal challenge. 20-Jan-1998 Mitie, the building services company, is to start up a landscape gardening business from scratch, rather than by acquisition. 20-Jan-1998 Ewart, the Belfast-based property company, is fighting a £21m takeover bid from Dunloe House of Dublin, which is aiming to form an all-Ireland group. 19-Jan-1998 BTR has appointed brokers for the potential £400m flotation in Australia of its building products business, which includes concrete pipes, railway sleepers, steel roofing and insulation. 15-Jan-1998 Berisford has won planning permission to build 650 homes at Felsted near Stansted airport, following a long-running battle with objectors who claim it will damage the environment and strain local infrastructure. 10-Jan-1998 Amey Facilities Management has had its headquarters raided by the Ministry of Defence police's fraud squad, who are investigating one of the company's maintenance contracts at a MoD site. 10-Jan-1998 Street Crane, the manufacturer of overhead hoists, is planning to treble its £4.5m-a-year exports by setting up partnerships with companies in countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Chile. 05-Jan-1998 Tarmac, Balfour Beatty and other construction companies, are said to be considering the idea of taking small equity stakes in London & Continental Railways in order to improve the chances of the high-speed rail link between London and the Channel tunnel being finished on time. 02-Jan-1998 The government is looking to sell the New Covent Garden fruit and vegetable market in London, and the price could be well over £20m if advance planning consent is obtained for mixed-use development. 02-Jan-1998 The information below comes from the UK Activity Report. 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