Top Ten most read stories of 2021

It has been a challenging period for construction and a busy news year for SCN as readers were kept up to date with events from across the sector.

In a year impacted once again by the coronavirus, it is no surprise that news related to lockdown and site working conditions dominate the list.

Considerations into whether additional lockdown restrictions were needed for non-essential work in Scotland to help bring the number of coronavirus cases down in January (1st) then a subsequent tightening of the rules on tradesmen and women entering private homes during lockdown (2nd) topped the most read articles of 2021.

This was followed by the launch of new site operation guidance from Construction Scotland (3rd), which incidentally has been updated this week, and a call from Unite Scotland to instruct construction companies not linked to essential services to close with immediate effect after being informed of hundreds of construction workers travelling across Scotland potentially leading to cross-country infections.

Away from the coronavirus, Garroch Investments acquired Princes House in Glasgow and announced plans to demolish it to make way for a £75 million office block (5th), the former Bauhaus Hotel in Aberdeen was sold to a developer with plans to convert the property into student accommodation (7th) and plans were submitted to demolish a Dundee hotel to make way for a 54-bed care home (8th).

The biggest-ever fine for a wildlife crime was handed to Bellway in January for destroying a soprano pipistrelle roost at a construction site in 2017 (6th), the same month that an accident took the life of a construction worker on a building site in Dumfries & Galloway (9th).

Ogilvie Construction’s practical completion of a new Premier Inn hotel in Hamilton (10th) completed the list.

These were the best read stories (and number of pages views) during the year:

1. Non-essential construction work may stop to ‘radically reduce interactions’ (28,123)

2. Construction largely unaffected by tougher restrictions (21,291)

3. New safe operating guidance issued for construction sector (11,025)

4. Union criticises decision to maintain green light for non-essential construction (7,953)

5. Glasgow’s Princes House to be demolished for £75m office block (7,779)

6. Bellway Homes handed record fine for destroying bat roost (6,882)

7. Former 39-bed hotel in Aberdeen to be converted into student accommodation (5,989)

8. Care home application lodged for Broughty Ferry hotel site (5,707)

9. Falling mast kills worker on Annan building site (5,581)

10. New Premier Inn completed in Hamilton (5,254) 

SCN will return with a full daily news service on January 5.