The Week That Was - 15 May 2026

Welcome to the week that was, a round-up of key events in the construction sector over the last seven days.

A construction-focused King's Speech

A Late Payments Bill would limit payment terms to 60 days, give the Small Business Commissioner stronger powers, and focus on construction by banning withheld retention money.  Charging interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate will limit how long firms can dispute invoices and force late payers to explain how they will improve.  

Northern Powerhouse Rail plans would change the HS2 Crewe–Manchester Bill and deliver upgrades in phases to better link Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds. 

A Remediation Bill would make building product makers pay to fix unsafe cladding on buildings over 11m, set duties for building owners, and create a register of 11–18m buildings needing work. 

Plans also cover more social housing investment and major leasehold reform, including more commonhold, lower ground rents, and ending leasehold for new flats.

Read more here.

Tower Hamlets sounds out market on £500m housing upgrade

Tower Hamlets Council is sounding out the market ahead of a £500m programme of major housing works, forming a key strand of its 10-year capital investment plan. The borough plans to let eight contracts for upgrades across its housing stock, spanning refurbishment, fire safety measures, and electrical and plumbing improvements to multi-dwelling residential buildings.

The contracts are expected to run from October 2027 to November 2031, with options to extend through to November 2041.

Suppliers can get an early view of the council’s ambitions at a market engagement event on 16/06/2026 at Tower Hamlets Town Hall in Whitechapel, where officials will set out the vision, housing stock profile, indicative scopes and the likely procurement route.  The council expects to use the Competitive Flexible Procedure under the Procurement Act 2023 (subject to approvals).

Registration via the London Tenders Portal closes on 15/06/2026, with the tender expected on 03/08/2026.

Please find further information here.

Cyber fears rise in construction as Beazley flags low readiness and QBE warns ransomware can halt projects for 24 days

Nearly a third of construction and property leaders (32%) are worried about cyber security, according to leading insurer Beazley, which found the sector had the lowest confidence of nine industries surveyed. 

Beazley warns cyber risk has shifted from an IT problem to a systemic threat, with criminals using AI to run automated reconnaissance and highly convincing phishing at speed and scale, increasing the risk of ransomware that can shut down operations. 

Separately, QBE says ransomware is the construction sector’s biggest cyber threat, with each incident causing an average of 24 days’ downtime and reports a 410% year-on-year rise in IoT malware activity targeting the industry in 2025. 

Insurers and the National Cyber Security Centre are urging firms to build cyber resilience into project risk planning from the outset.

For further reading, please click here.

TfL awards contracts to Amey, Costain and Dragados for London's c.£700m infrastructure improvement framework

Transport for London's (TfL) infrastructure improvement framework is scheduled to run for a 2-year period, from 1 June 2026 until 31 May 2028, with an option to extend the framework by a further two years.

The improvement framework covers a broad range of multidisciplinary projects across London, with expected works to include capacity upgrades at both Elephant & Castle and South Kensington stations, further implementation of TfL's Step Free Access programme, amongst other additional improvement works across the city. TfL also confirmed additional projects could be added during the course of the 2-year initial framework term. 

The framework's contract award notice estimated the projects' total value to be between £500m and £700m and involved six tenders at the final stage, with TfL having adopted a competitive flexible procedure under the utilities regime for the procurement process. 

To find out more, please click here.

Glencar appointed main contractor for building £50m Minecraft World

Merlin Entertainment, the owner of Chessington World of Adventures, has named Glencar as main contractor for constructing the new attraction, with Minecraft World scheduled to open next year. 

Glencar commenced initial works on site in April 2026 and commented the project was a complex build, requiring large-scale foundations and careful co-ordination to ensure consistency with the existing theme park environment.  Works have now reached a key milestone, with structural steelwork underway and the attraction beginning to take shape ahead of the 2027 opening. 

The £50m project aims to create an immersive experience, bringing the Minecraft videogame to life.  Glencar commented: "it’s exactly the kind of project that plays to Glencar’s strengths – technically demanding, highly coordinated, and something a bit different."

For more information, please look here.

Disclaimer: The information in this publication is for guidance purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.  We attempt to ensure that the content is current as at the date of publication, but we do not guarantee that it remains up to date. You should seek legal or other professional advice before acting or relying on any of the content.

With thanks to Emma Donovan, Maddie Ward and Hannah Kendall.

If you have any queries please do get in contact with a member of the team, or your usual RPC contact.