Firms to continue to trade independently until CMA queries resolved
The hotly-anticipated £2.5bn merger of Barratt and Redrow completed in part this week, after a Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) condition for approval was waived.
The CMA also has until 18 October to accept proposals from the two developers over previous concerns raised over local competition in Shropshire, thereby avoiding a full Phase 2 investigation and clearing the way for the merger to take place.
An initial enforcement order, applied for by the CMA, prevents full integration of the two businesses until the CMA’s inquiry is completed. This includes changing the name of the company to Barratt Redrow and appointing Matthew Pratt to the combined group board.
On Thursday Barratt officially took ownership of Redrow’s shares, with the smaller firm removed from listing on financial markets.
Applications open for Women into Home Building programme
The Home Builders Federation has launched the fifth cohort of its Women into Home Building programme, launched in January 2023 to attract more women into site management roles.
Currently, women represent only 16% of the construction workforce, with 4% in site management roles.
Having women in onsite leadership roles expands perspectives, introduces different leadership styles and boosts creativity, so we’re pleased to be working with our members once again to deliver the Women into Home Building programme.
Neil Jefferson, CEO, Home Builders Federation
The launch comes as Women into Construction ceased trading after 16 years, citing a “challenging economic climate for both the charitable and construction sectors”.
The organisation closes having helped 4,700 women with in-depth support, 3,000 to complete industry training, 1,300 to complete work placements and 1,300 women to gain employment.
We know that there is still much to be done to transform diversity in the Construction industry, and we are proud of all that we have achieved over the past 16 years.
Kath Moore, Managing Director, Women into Construction
Construction insolvencies rise again, but rate slows
Data published by the Government’s Insolvency Service this week revealed that 2024 has seen the lowest annual increase in construction insolvencies since 2021.
Despite the sector experiencing the highest number of insolvencies for the fourth year running, figures show that the increase is slowing.
Just over 4,300 construction firms went out of business in the UK over the twelve months to June 2024; an increase of 0.5% on June 2023 and 35.4% higher than January 2020, reports Noble Francis, Economics Director at the CPA, on LinkedIn.
There have been over 10,600 construction firms lost since 2021; meanwhile, the construction industry has lost 385,000 workers since the first quarter of 2019.
However, an employee retention report by equity management platform Vestd has found that the construction and property industry has the second-highest tenure in the UK, with employees remaining at the same firm for an average of 4.4 years.
The only industry with a longer average employment tenure is the manufacturing industry, at 5.3 years. The all-industry UK average is 3.7 years.
This could be due to the demographic within the construction industry; 64.8% of workers are aged over 41, according to data from the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, with older people tending to move less frequently between jobs.
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