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1 week ago | 
cepa.org | Joshua Stein
The Signal messaging app touts itself as a “state-of-the-art end-to-end encryption” that “keeps your conversations secure.” It adds, “we can’t read your messages or listen to your calls, and no one else can either.”That’s true – to a point. The recent addition of a journalist to a private group chat about military strikes on Yemen, that messaging is vulnerable to sharing contacts.
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2 weeks ago | 
ft.com | Joshua Stein
Like a plush flatulent Cerberus, the 7ft blue Fart Monster stood at the threshold to the New York Toy Fair.
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1 month ago | 
constructionnews.co.uk | Joshua Stein
More than 300 firms in the construction industry became insolvent in January as firms struggled to cope amid the “burden of expensive debt”. According to data released this morning by the Insolvency Service, 305 construction companies in England and Wales went under during the month – the second most of any industry and 15.7 per cent of all businesses that collapsed. Only the wholesale and retail motor trade recorded more insolvencies, at 312.
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1 month ago | 
constructionnews.co.uk | Joshua Stein
Public sector bodies abandoned one in six decarbonisation projects awarded funding through a £553m scheme, after “changes in the wider economic climate” took their toll. Public sector bodies that received funds from phase 3a of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) were forced to abandon 17 per cent of their projects, the latest report into public decarbonisation reveals.
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1 month ago | 
constructionnews.co.uk | Joshua Stein
Construction sector leaders, including Balfour Beatty chief executive Leo Quinn, have warned that US tariffs on the UK will raise prices and reduce demand for steel. Speaking yesterday (12 March) during a presentation on his company’s annual results, Quinn warned that main contractors will need to tread “very carefully” to decrease the impact of the steel tariffs on the supply chain.
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1 month ago | 
constructionnews.co.uk | Joshua Stein
Squibb Group’s liquidators say they have had “significant difficulty” finding millions of pounds worth of plant and other assets the firm said it owned before it went under. The contractor was wound up in the High Court in December 2023 following an aborted attempt to save the firm.
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1 month ago | 
constructionnews.co.uk | Joshua Stein
Kier surged to the top of the February leagues after it bagged two prison jobs worth a combined £800m. The contractor signed contracts worth a total of £961.9m, more than three times the value of deals won by its nearest competitor, according to construction data provider Glenigan. Of the 11 contracts Kier signed in February, the largest was a £683.8m job to build the new HMP Glasgow as a replacement for the ageing HMP Barlinnie.
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1 month ago | 
constructionnews.co.uk | Joshua Stein
Councils across the UK have abandoned projects involving modern methods of construction (MMC) amid issues around cost and quality, a UK parliamentary committee has heard. Many councils now have a “pretty negative view” of MMC projects and have done away with them entirely, Anna Clarke, director of policy and public affairs at the Housing Forum, said in an evidence session in Westminster on Tuesday (4 March).
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1 month ago | 
constructionnews.co.uk | Joshua Stein
Project starts in the leisure and office sectors have dipped as the construction sector waits for clarity on spending plans. And uncertainty around public spending on infrastructure and housing has also slowed activity across the UK, according to Glenigan’s latest monthly Construction Index. In the three months to February, site starts were down by 6 per cent, the analysis shows.
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1 month ago | 
constructionnews.co.uk | Joshua Stein
Its founders may be used to winning £100m-plus projects, but Glencar’s swift rise is down to jobs worth less than £10mGlencar’s latest annual results, released in January, revealed higher pre-tax profit from stable turnover for the year to 30 September 2024. The industrial and logistics contractor saw its profit rise from £3.4m to £4.7m, with turnover falling by £300,000 to £400.3m. Turnover soared from £160.4m in 2021 to £417.8m the following year.
