Weekly round-up 20 August 2014

HS2 plans supply chain events, battery powered train trials and economy on the rise, all in this week's round-up.

  1. HS2 is running two new supply chain conferences this autumn. The one-day conferences will be held on Friday 17 October in London and on Thursday 23 October in Manchester. Sign up here 

  2. Atkins has been appointed by Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay  to act as the client’s engineer for its 320MW Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project in Wales. 

  3. The UK economy grew by 3.2% in the second quarter compared with the same period last year, slightly higher than the original ONS 3.1% estimate. The services sector - which accounts for around 78% of UK economic activity - grew 1% in the second quarter, the ONS added. The annual growth rate in the sector, 3.6%, was also its best performance in just over six years. Construction was flat in the period but this was an improvement on the original estimate that it had contracted by 0.5%. On an annual basis construction was estimated to have expanded by 4.8%. Construction accounts for 6.3% of economic activity in the UK. Inflation figure for July was 1.6% ONS said in a separate report, down from 1.9% in June.

  4. Britain’s first battery-powered train is undergoing on-track trials – a move which could ultimately lead to a fleet of battery-powered trains running on Britain’s rail network. Network Rail has successfully completed the retrofitting of its first battery-powered train and has now embarked upon a programme of trials at a test track in Derby, which will culminate with a series of high-speed tests at the Rail Innovation and Development Centre in Nottinghamshire later this year.

  5. Demand for new homes fell slightly in July, the first monthly decline since January 2013, while the supply of new properties coming onto the market increased for the second consecutive month, according to the July RICS Residential Market Survey. Prices are still projected to rise nationally over the next year and expected to increase by 2.6% on a 12 month view. 

  6. Pension deficits are highest in companies in the industrials sector according to actuary Barnett Waddingham.  In 2013, combined shortfalls of £9.8bn equated to 8% of companies’ value on the stock market.

  7. Total value of Gulf infrastructure projects is set to reach $86bn this year, according to construction intelligence firm Ventures Onsite, an increase of 78% on last year.  is expected to award contracts worth $26bn this year, compared with $9bn in 2013.

  8. Peter Brett Associates partner John Baker has been elected chairman of The West of England Local Enterprise Partnership’s Construction and Development Sector Group.

  9. Wilson James has been appointed as Heathrow Airports Logistics Integrator for the next five years. The firm has been construction logistics integrator at the airport since 2008. Former Morgan Sindall airports boss Peter Jacobs has also been appointed as non executive director to the business.

  10. Renewable energy technologies contributed nearly one fifth of the UK’s power mix in the first quarter of the year, as a result of high winds, rainfall, and a surge in new construction in the solar farm industry, according to new government figures. UK renewables saw a record quarter, producing 18.1 TWh, an increase of 43% on the same period in 2013.

If you would like to contact Jackie Whitelaw about this, or any other story, please email jackie.whitelaw@infrastructure-intelligence.com.