Sec Group

Fifteen UK construction bodies have written to the UK Government to share serious concerns regarding the implementation of reverse VAT charges and have called for a delay in implementing the new rules.

The UK Government’s efforts to address the practice of late payments and the commitment to change the culture of unfair treatment of SMEs and illegal practices have been welcomed by the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group (SEC Group), but the trade body said there is still more to

The Scottish Government has failed to prevent SMEs in the construction supply chain from suffering from poor payment performance, according to a new industry survey.

A Scottish construction trade body is calling on construction procurers in local authorities to protect retention monies belonging to SMEs in their supply chains. The Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group Scotland is also asking Scottish councils to be more proactive in checking that suppl

The collapse of Welsh construction firm Dawnus has been compared to the demise of Carillion by a group of the country’s subcontractors. The Swansea-based company fell into administration this week.

The Scottish Government has announced that the threshold for using project bank accounts (PBAs) has reduced from £4.1 million to £2m. Since 31 October 2016 PBAs have been mandated for use by Scottish Government bodies.

SME firms in Northern Ireland’s construction industry have heaped praise on the country’s project bank account (PBA) initiative. Driven by Construction and Procurement Delivery (CPD), the procurement authority in Northern Ireland, the PBAs lead to shorter payment times and ensure that pa

A ten minute rule bill was proposed yesterday which called for payments on government and public authority contracts to be made through a ‘project bank account’ system. Debbie Abrahams MP’s bill - titled Public Sector Supply Chains (Project Bank Accounts) Bill – aims to help

The Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group Scotland has welcomed an announcement by the Scottish Government to consult on curbing the abuse of the retention system. Business minister Jamie Hepburn revealed that cash retentions in the construction industry will be among the issues consi

Moves by the UK Cabinet Office to exclude late payers from government contracts have been applauded by the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group (SEC Group). The contractor representative body said that such measures were “long overdue” and urged the government to act upon it.

The Specialist Engineering Contractors’ (SEC) Group – representing the largest sector in UK construction (by value) – has welcomed support from Lord Adonis, past chairman of the UK Infrastructure Commission, for reform of the construction industry’s payment practices. In a statement advocati

The decision of Build UK to publicise the payment performance of its leading member companies has caused consternation among the construction sector. Figures published by the trade body revealed that not one of its top 24 contractor members pays supply chain invoices within an average of 30 days.

The Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group (SEC Group) has welcomed a report from the House of Commons public accounts committee on the procurement of strategic suppliers by the UK government. The report follows an inquiry carried out by the committee in the wake of the Carillion collapse.

The decision by Network Rail to mandate 28-day payments to its supply chain and the introduction of Project Bank Accounts (PBAs) have been welcomed by the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group (SEC Group). The trade body said it was “encouraging” to see Network Rail take the next steps in

MPs have launched a scathing attack on directors at collapsed construction giant Carillion who they believe should face disqualification for being too busy “stuffing their mouths with gold” to worry about employees. In the final report of an inquiry into the spectacular failure of the company, t