At a Glance
🏗️ Jones Bros wins a £46.5m balance-of-plant contract on the £100m Carno III wind farm in Powys, reinforcing civils demand from UK onshore renewables.
🚆 Kier is appointed main contractor for Network Rail’s £115m upgrade of Manchester Airport station, with works due to start in December 2026.
💰 September’s UK Construction PMI edges up to 46.1, signalling the slowest output contraction in eight months but continued weakness in housebuilding.
🌱 Policy proposals span a new flood-certificate pilot, a publicly owned “Great British Grid” and self-build grid connections, all aimed at reshaping risk and investment in networks.
⚙️ Strategic portfolio moves continue as Balfour Beatty exits its Hong Kong JV for £250m and BAM agrees a €504m acquisition to deepen energy and water infrastructure capability.
Today’s update: infrastructure work and policy reforms are increasingly carrying the weight of a construction market still in contraction, with civils and utilities offsetting deep residential weakness. At the same time, political signals around grids, water and resilience point to a more interventionist state in core network assets. Here’s what you need to know to stay ahead today.
Ongoing Stories
Returning to the theme of infrastructure as the sector’s stabiliser, new PMI and Glenigan data this week again underline that transport, utilities and data centre work are sustaining workloads as housing and commercial soften further. The latest numbers confirm that the much-discussed shift in the UK’s £530bn pipeline towards civils-heavy programmes is now clearly visible in live market conditions. (Sources: Ground News / S&P Global, Ground News / Glenigan)
Following earlier coverage of planning and grid reform, fresh proposals for a publicly owned “Great British Grid” and easier self-build connections add more detail on how Whitehall intends to accelerate energy infrastructure delivery. For contractors and investors, this continues the trend towards stronger central coordination of electricity networks alongside planning changes flagged in recent weeks. (Source: Burges Salmon)
Top 5 Headlines
🌱 Jones Bros secures £46.5m contract on £100m Carno III wind farm
Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK has been awarded a £46.5m infrastructure package on the £100m, 45MW Carno III onshore wind farm in Powys. The scheme is expected to power around 46,000 homes and avoid 65,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually once operational. The award underscores steady civils demand from UK onshore renewables at a time when wider construction output is under pressure. (Source: Ground News)
🚆 Kier wins £115m Manchester Airport station upgrade for Network Rail
Network Rail has appointed Kier as main contractor for a £115m upgrade of Manchester Airport rail station, including longer platforms and a revised track layout. Construction is due to begin in December 2026, with the works aimed at boosting capacity and reliability at a key multimodal hub. The project offers a significant multi-year rail and station improvement workload in the North West, aligned with broader airport-linked regeneration. (Source: Place North West)
💰 UK Construction PMI inches up but remains in contraction
The S&P Global UK Construction PMI rose to 46.1 in September 2026 from 44.3 in August, marking the slowest decline in output in eight months but remaining below the 50.0 growth threshold. Housebuilding is still the weakest-performing segment, while commercial and civil engineering workloads show smaller declines amid subdued new orders, weak client confidence, high interest rates and elevated energy costs. Returning today as a barometer of pipeline health, the data suggests near-term pressure on contractors’ order books even as infrastructure helps cushion the downturn. (Sources: Ground News, Ground News / S&P Global)
🌱 Great British Grid and grid-connection reforms signalled
Policy announcements point to the creation of a publicly owned “Great British Grid” within Great British Energy, intended to coordinate investment in electricity networks. Complementary reforms are proposed to allow more self-build grid connections, reducing reliance on private network operators and seeking to unblock connection queues. These moves would materially reshape the risk, ownership and delivery model for grid infrastructure, expanding opportunities for civils, electrical and EPC contractors tied into public-led programmes. (Source: Burges Salmon)
🏛️ Water and flood reforms target resilience and public control
Government is preparing a flood-certificate pilot scheme to improve access to property insurance and reduce premiums in high-risk areas, alongside water-sector reforms that would remove limits on public ownership of water and sewerage companies and expand intervention powers where performance or environmental standards are missed. The combination of insurance and ownership changes could alter how flood and water risk is priced and governed, influencing investment flows into flood defences and water infrastructure. (Sources: Law360, Burges Salmon)
Also in the News
🏗️ Landsec is increasing its stake in Kent’s Bluewater shopping centre by 10% for £95m, taking its ownership to 74% and signalling continued conviction in dominant retail destinations. (Source: Law360)
🏗️ Galliford Try has completed the structure of a 144-bedroom Hilton hotel in Wigan, part of Cityheart’s Fettlers regeneration scheme, with completion targeted for 2027 and adding to regional town-centre renewal. (Source: Place North West)
🚆 Plans for three floating dry docks at HM Naval Base Clyde, within a wider £15bn Faslane upgrade, could generate around £6bn in contracts, strengthening the long-term defence infrastructure pipeline. (Source: Burges Salmon)
🏛️ The Construction Leadership Council has launched its 2026 remediation survey, backed by MHCLG, to gather data on building safety remediation works across the sector. (Source: Construction Leadership Council)
💰 Balfour Beatty has agreed to sell its Hong Kong joint-venture stake to Jardine Matheson for £250m, while BAM will acquire pipeline contractor A.Hak for €504m, both moves sharpening focus on core UK/US and infrastructure markets. (Sources: Law360, Burges Salmon)
The Daily Build is written for people shaping the UK’s construction and infrastructure pipeline, from investment committees to site teams. If this briefing is useful, consider forwarding it to colleagues who need a fast view of what’s moving the market.