The proposal for the 20,000 sq m centre in Southwark, south London, was approved on Wednesday by the Trust’s board of directors, almost three years after a Laing O’Rourke-led consortium was selected as preferred bidder for the project, CN has learned.

The consortium is set to carry out the work after fending off bids from Bovis Lend Lease, Brookfield, Kier, Mace and Skanska in 2010.

The centre will be built at the corner of Great Maze Pond and Snowsfield and is scheduled for completion in 2016. The consortium also includes Stantec Anshen & Allen, Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners and Arup.

Business secretary Vince Cable is seeking assurances that new allegations of blacklisting will be “investigated thoroughly”.

Following last week’s parliamentary debate, which approved a motion put forward on blacklisting by Labour counterpart Chuka Umunna, Cable condemned the practice but said there would be no major new investigation unless evidence is produced that the practice is ongoing.

However, the business secretary yesterday wrote to Information Commissioner Christopher Graham seeking a meeting on how any new evidence will be dealt with and how this will be co-ordinated with the ongoing inquiry by the Scottish Affairs select committee.

For the specialty and subcontracting segment of the construction market, one challenge in the past has been meeting strict deadlines on tight budgets. With IT systems in place, subs and specialty contractors can more effectively meet the needs of the owners and general contractors.

These days, specialty contractors and subs have many new options to offer valued-added services to customers. At the AHR Expo, taking place January 28-30 in Dallas, Texas, a slew of technology announcements are targeted specifically at service and specialty contractors.

The deal from Network Rail will see more than 50km of railway electrified, as part of a wider £80m investment in the line between Cumbernauld and Scotland’s largest city.

As well as the main works, Carillion will also be lengthening the Cumbernauld station platforms and constructing a turnback facility at Springburn.

Leading UK construction company Berkeley Homes has selected the award winning BioSITE Systems for its duration of the prestigious residential and commercial development site at One Tower Bridge.

Architecturally designed by Squire & Partners, One Tower Bridge blends four subtly complementary styles across its eight buildings. With every property having been designed to reflect the needs and requirements of the most discerning of individuals. The main contractor, Berkeley Homes, selected the UK’s leading security firm, Acetech security and biometric specialists, BioSITE Systems, to manage the large workforce and enhance security throughout the project.

Electrical Contractors’ Insurance Company Ltd (ECIC) has developed a comprehensive package of insurance protection for roofers which is available to members of the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) and those registered as a CompetentRoofer.

Mr Umunna was expected to use today’s debate to say it was an “utter disgrace” that contractors who used TCA had not apologised for membership of the now closed organisation.

He was speaking the day after Sir Robert McAlpine non-executive director Cullum McAlpine admitted the firm had used TCA to vet employees for groundworks on the Olympic Park. The workers who were checked did not show up on TCA files, and Mr McAlpine said they were unaffected by the checks.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa) handed out gold, silver and bronze honours at the annual Alan Butler Awards, which recognise excellence and achievement of organisations within the Safety Groups UK movement.

Safety Groups UK is made up of around 70 local groups, which each consist of health and safety professionals who give up their free time to promote, share information and offer practical help to employers in their communities in a bid to prevent accidents and ill health at work.

Education and government organizations continue to refine critical businesses processes through the use of technology. While the move to use technology in these organizations is nothing new, the rate at which they make changes is beginning to accelerate. Is this an indication of more adoption to come in the year ahead?

One example is The New York State University Construction Fund (Fund), www.sucn.suny.edu, Albany, N.Y., announcing the use of e-Builder Enterprise from e-Builder, www.e-builder.net, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., as its new system for scheduling, budget management, and fiscal forecasting at both the project and program levels.

The group claims that “poor policy handling and illegal early cuts” led to a sudden slump in orders, cuts to profit margins, contract cancellations, damage to confidence, a surplus of inventory and thousands of redundancies.

All 17 individual claims are being consolidated by the High Court into a single claim against the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The case began as a £2.2m claim from three firms in July 2012, but has since ballooned.

Earlier this month it emerged that major contractor Breyer Group had become the most high-profile company to become embroiled in the row with DECC.