The Global Infrastructure Investment Index found the UK had improved when it came to attracting investment, having risen one place since last year and four places since 2012. The index ranks countries by their potential to attract investment in its annual report. Singapore remains the most attractive nation for investment, followed by Qatar and the UAE. Malaysia rose from seventh to fifth, while Sweden dropped from fifth to seventh. The USA is one place above the UK in eighth. Arcadis said the UK’s “stable and relatively low-risk nature of its business environment” were attracting investors, coupled with government support for major infrastructure projects like Crossrail 2 and HS2. But on delivery and removing infrastructure from party politics, it was less successful, with the “prolonged and politicised decision-making processes involved” described as a “barrier”. Arcadis also highlighted the impact of the EU referendum as a negative for the infrastructure market. It said: “Uncertainty created in the run-up to the vote has seen the deal flow slow as banks and contractors wait for the result. European firms, in particular, who are major investors in the UK are expected by some to respond negatively to an exit.” Arcadis UK infrastructure director Chris Pike said: “While it is positive that the UK has become more attractive to infrastructure investors over the last two years, we cannot afford to stand still. The government needs to provide long-term clarity over infrastructure policy and look at the over-prescriptive nature of regulation in several key sectors.” Mr Pike also questioned whether local authorities had the “ability” to take local plans through to fruition. He added: “Unless politicians address these concerns, we could potentially see the pool of international investors who are looking to invest in UK infrastructure reduce. This investment will certainly be needed if we are to provide the kind of infrastructure our country needs to continue to prosper.” Source link

London contractor HOC (UK) has gone into administration and been sold in a ‘prepack’ deal following last year’s dramatic turnover surge, as creditors aim to recover their money. On June 13, Opus Restructuring was appointed as the company’s administrator, with the £50,000 sale to Coppercast being made two days later, according to the latest report from creditors. The prepack is a mechanism which allows a firm to be sold as a going concern, with a sale agreed before entering administration and being conducted by the administrator. A spokesman for Opus said that Coppercast was in negotiations with clients of HOC on the continuation of the contracts who would be in a better position than the creditors if a supplier is “crucial to finishing the work”, as creditors would then find it difficult to recover the amount owed. Clients would be able to decide whether to use either Coppercast or an alternative contractor to complete the ongoing projects of HOC, he added. The report from Opus explained that Gary Ellis, who is a Director at Coppercast, is also a shareholder and director of GMSL, which in turn makes him a shareholder of HOC (UK)’s parent organisation HOC Group. A spokesman commented that this is not a ‘phoenix’ company, although there is a connection, and the directors have not bought it back. Hugh O’Connor formed HOC in 2010 and is described on the company’s website as being a build contractor who delivers high quality results through lean construction and a leading independent specialist designer. The report from Opus also showed that turnover for HOC saw a sharp rise from £4 million I 2010 to £24 million in 2014, before trebling to £76 million last year. 18 months ago the then company directors set up a team to manage the expansion of the business, but the report states that the firm became burdened with excessive fees and overheads as turnover increased.

Morgan Sindall has secured the contract for the construction of a £39.5 million project at Bournemouth University. The construction company will design and build the university’s new flagship building which will be used to train the next generation of healthcare professionals. Subject to planning permission, the landmark construction will be home to the University’s Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, with Morgan Sindall currently in advanced talks with the university on the development’s final plans. The facility will also be used to train paramedics, midwives and nurses, along with other health professionals and researchers. Situated at Lansdowne, the development site will provide more than 100,000 sq ft of new academic space which can be accessed by the local community and all students of Bournemouth University. Morgan Sindall’s area director, Jon Daines, commented that the firm is delighted to have reached the next stage of discussion with the university on the construction of the landmark project. He added that this latest investment marks the university’s ongoing commitment to investing in its campus and will give students a positive environment that will make sure the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences benefits from a modern, purpose built facility that will provide the top training standards for its students. The construction firm has also made a commitment to involve a number of training schemes and apprenticeships to create jobs for young people who are considering starting a career in the construction sector. The Southern Construction Framework appointed Morgan Sindall to run the project, which is available to all South of England public bodies to procure major building works. Morgan Sindall has also recently constructed a £1.1 million regeneration project of a science lab at the University of Exeter. The project was built in four phases and saw the firm modernise and refurbish areas of the Hatherly Laboratory Building.

While the stock market has enjoyed a recovery in recent days in the wake of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, there is still a difficult outlook for a number of sectors, including housebuilding. The sell off after the referendum was so severe that trading in firms listed in the FTSE 100 was suspended temporarily earlier in the week as the companies’ share prices were hit by double digit falls two days in a row. Since the referendum, housebuilders are off by 34% across the board, although one analyst believes that the fire sale has gone far enough and is imploring ‘brave’ investors to snap them up at the current discount prices. If the UK enters a slowdown economic period, Liberium believes that in the next year house prices will fall by about 3% and when analysts look at previous periods of falling house prices, they believe that this would knock 18% per share off the earnings of housebuilders and 20% from key stock target prices. As a result, a share price fall of 34% since last week is excessive in their opinion. In a report, they stated that the valuations across the sector are far more compelling, in particular with dividends still intact because of land banks and strong balance sheets. Their ‘buy’ recommendations were limited to three housebuilders in particular – Gleeson, Berkeley and Bellway, however they maintained ‘hold’ status on other major firms in the UK such as Taylor Wimpey, Redrow, Persimmon, Bovis and Barratt. Charlie Campbell of Liberium commented that the greatest risk is long term uncertainty, adding that in recent years buyers have delayed purchases for lesser reasons than the current levels experienced. The latest survey has found that 20% of Londoners are now less likely to sell their home following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union.