Sheffield interiors company, Wisewood Interiors, has shut down after being hit hard by a bad debt. The firm was established in 2010 and serviced construction contracts throughout the UK for major supermarkets. Managing Director Andrew Hartley established the company as a provider of drylining, suspended ceilings and partitions and had enjoyed success in securing contracts with national retailers such as The Co-Op, Tesco, Lidl and Aldi. However, Lisa Hogg and Kelly Burton of Sheffield business turnaround experts Wilson Field, were appointed as joint administrators on November 21. They advised that the best course of action was to close down the six year old business, based on Wisewood Road in Sheffield, with all seven jobs set to be lost. Director and Insolvency Practitioner at Wilson Field, Kelly Burton commented: “Historically, the company offered its services to a range of retailers but suffered from a sizeable bad debt. “The director took advice from Wilson Field with the business being forced to close.” Operating on a national basis and based in Sheffield, Wisewood Interiors was established to provide a competitive suspended ceiling service to private customers and main contractors, with an emphasis on reliability and quality. The company soon expanded to cover extra core activities. Among these were all interior drywall systems, together with traditional hand applied and machine applied projection plaster and render systems. Meanwhile, a campaign to save Sheffield’s derelict Old Town Hall and Courtrooms has been given a funding boost. Friends of the Old Town Hall campaigned for two years to save and restore the Grade II-listed Waingate building, which has been on and off the property market. The group has been awarded £7,700 Lottery funding to set up a charitable trust and help preserve the building. Chairperson Valerie Bayliss said Sheffield’s origins were on that site. Ms Bayliss said: “The original settlement was down by the confluence of the Rivers Don and Sheaf, with the castle from the 13th to the 17th centuries. “Old maps show Sheffield began in this patch and spread out over the centuries.”

Construction buyers are reporting a surge in workloads, with the strongest rise in activity last month since March. The Markit/CIPS UK Construction PMI ticked-up from 52.6 in October to 52.8 in November. Any reading above 50 represents a growing market. For the first time in half a year, commercial work improved, though input cost inflation raced ahead to a five and a half year high. Group Chief Executive Officer at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, David Noble, commented: “The sector was on a firmer footing this month, as a slight uptick in overall activity and the strongest level of new business growth since March, resulted in more stability after a summer of uncertainty at the time of the EU vote. “Purchasing activity grew at its fastest pace since the beginning of the year as stronger workflows and tenders materialising into actual projects prompted increased levels of stock building. “This resulted in a sluggish response from suppliers, with the fastest lengthening of delivery times since June, as pressure on capacity and low stocks impacted on demand. “The impact of the weaker pound was widely felt in November, with cost inflation the strongest since early 2011. “Higher prices were reported for a number of materials including bricks, blocks and slate, as businesses struggled with managing costs. “Yet, in spite of this grip on precious margins, headcounts were increased and demand for subcontractors was also sustained.” However, manufacturing activity in the UK registered an unexpected decline in November due to a weak pound that is driving price pressures, industry data showed on Thursday. In a report, market research group Markit said that its UK manufacturing PMI fell to a seasonally adjusted 53.4 last month from a reading of 54.2 in October. Analysts had expected the index to increase to 54.5 in November. On the index, a reading above 50.0 indicates industry expansion, below indicates contraction.

The value of new construction contracts awarded in the UK fell by 24% in November. Data collected by the Builders’ Conference shows that the total value of all new construction contracts awarded last month was £3.36 billion, in comparison with £4.4 billion in October, which is a fall of almost a quarter. A similar rate of decline is seen when compared with the number of contracts awarded in the previous year, with the total value of new construction contracts signed in November last year standing at £4.37 billion. The slowdown in November has had an impact on the rolling year total for the BCLive league table, which at this time last year stood at a record-breaking £57 billion. Today, it is down by 23% to £43.8 billion. Graham Construction topped the league for November, with a £192.5 million total haul. The biggest of these was a £150 million order for the refurbishment and construction of several civic buildings for the London Borough of Barnet. However, the table was close at the top. Sir Robert McAlpine came in a close second with a combined £184m of orders, including a £100m order from Nikal for the construction of five blocks of flats at Birmingham’s Exchange Square. Galliford Try came in third place with £180.2 million. Neil Edwards, Chief Executive of Builders Conference, said: “The industry now enters the Christmas season and a month shortened by festive holidays and slowed by the usual round of office parties. So there is unlikely to be any last minute rally that will allow a gloomy year to end on anything other than a gloomy note. “And sadly, that gloom looks set to stick around like the hangover and expanded waistline that is part and parcel of the Christmas festivities. In 2015, the BCLive league table identified – on average – 850 new tenders each month. In 2016, that average has plummeted to 650. Projecting forward, that threatens to throw up a very tough start to the New Year.”

The Bamber Bridge-headquartered group behind construction business Conlon has seen its turnover rise past £55m with executive chairman Michael Conlon saying that revenues have been boosted by several larger projects including work on a major hospital building. Conlon Holdings has posted a turnover of £55.3m in the year ending 30 April 2016 according to its latest set of accounts, up by 27 per cent on a year earlier. Of this, £54.3m came from the construction sector. Pre-tax profits climbed by 154 per cent to £4.1m over the same period. Conlon (pictured above) said: “Mostly that turnover growth was due to some larger projects that came in, including a £15m hospital building (pictured top) at Ashford in Kent and lots of work through the Education Funding Agency. This is part of a long-term strategy that we have to get and stay on frameworks. “We’re lucky enough to be the only SME on the Education Funding Agency framework, which has been very good for the business in terms of turnover and helping us gain further specialisms in education. “The current financial year has been going very well too. We’re on target for £50m+ again this year.” Conlon, which also won the contract to work on the iconic Preston Bus Station, was founded by five Conlon brothers in 1961. Meanwhile, Conlon Construction has begun working on a ground-breaking £40 million Hertfordshire hospital. The firm has kicked off the 65 week project for the new private hospital in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. The two storey facility is being built on a four acre site close to the University of Hertfordshire’s College Lane Campus. It has been commissioned by One Healthcare and was designed by Manning Elliott. The hospital will have spaces for 21 beds, three of which will be designated for critical care three ultra clean ventilation (UCV) theatres, 14 day-case pods, two treatment rooms and 10 outpatient consulting rooms.

Construction work is underway on a new £15 million teaching centre at the University of Nottingham, in the latest of a number of new buildings being constructed at the university. The building will span 5,000 sq m and will stand next to Hallward Library at the University Park campus and will be made up of teaching rooms, collaborative lecture theatre, performing arts space, social learning hub and staff offices. Architecture firm Make has designed the building, while the project will be managed by international property and construction consultancy Gleeds. The development is set to be finished by the end of next year and was commissioned as part of a £500 million capital investment plan for the university. Gleeds director based in Nottingham, James Marshall, commented: “The new facilities seek to provide an improved educational experience and, once complete, will help to attract both national and international students to the city of Nottingham. “We are delighted to be involved in this project and look forward to see the ambitious plans come to fruition.” David Patterson, partner at Make added: “This will be a beautiful building on a beautiful campus. “We are aiming to create an inspiring environment for both students and teachers and one which will accommodate current and future demands for light, vibrant, student-focused spaces.” The University Park will span 300 acres and is the biggest of the four campuses and is widely regarded as one of the most attractive in the UK. Chief estates and facilities officer at the University of Nottingham, Chris Jagger, said the new building would correct the imbalance of teaching facilities on University Park at present. He added: “This building includes both traditional seminar rooms and lecture theatres but also spaces for informal and small group learning. “It will be technology-enabled to deliver the latest innovations in teaching practice and to provide the best learning experience for our students.”