Liverpool unveil £300m new stadium - 26-07-2007 - 11:08

Liverpool Football Club have revealed revised designs for their new £300 million stadium in Stanley Park.

The new stadium will fit 60,000 fans to begin with but has room to expand to hold 78,000, which would make it the largest of all Premiership club stadiums.

Designed with the famous noisy Kop in mind, one stand is a large 18,000-seater single tier whose acoustics have been carefully planned.

Focusing on recreating some of the features of Anfield Stadium means the new grounds is asymmetrical and as such different from most other modern grounds.

The new stadium, which is set for completion in 2010, was designed by HKS, the world's ninth largest architecture firm.

Construction of the state-of -the-art facility will create jobs for the area and has been designed to comply with planning regulations.

The pitch will be below ground level so that the building does not breach height restrictions around Stanley Park.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said: "We are Liverpool Football Club and we expect the best and this will be the best. I've played in some special stadiums but this is something special and it's so important that we are not seen to be copying off another club."

Skills shortage 'could scupper Olympic building' - 25-07-2007 - 11:17

Construction work for the 2012 London Olympics could be hindered by a "huge skills shortage" claimed a Liberal Democrat MP.

Just the day before the purchase went through for all the land necessary for the Olympic Park, MP Don Foster said a shortfall of skilled tradesmen could slow down building work.

He told MPs: "Britain is facing a huge skills shortage that could undermine the success of the Olympics."

Mr Foster, the LibDem culture spokesman, added: "We know that we need thousands more plumbers, electricians, bricklayers and many others."

He wondered: "What progress is being made to get the necessary training in place to make sure we have sufficient people with the skills so we're not held to ransom by unscrupulous contractors?"

London mayor Ken Livingstone yesterday praised the acquisition of the land for the Olympic Park and said that it had been completed "on time and on budget".

With demolition work set to commence now, Olympics minister Tessa Jowell sought to allay Mr Foster's fears.

She said there were schemes to provide local people with the skill to work on the project, while the goal was to train people to have high level of skills that would ensure the timely construction of the Olympic site.

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Welsh construction boom slows - 20-07-2007 - 11:57

Wales' construction boom has shown some signs of slowing down while still remaining strong and boosting construction jobs in the area, local newspaper Western Mail has reported.

Skilled workers and tradesmen are benefiting the most from the strength of the construction industry, with 29 per cent of respondents in the second quarter reported having difficulties in a recent survey, compared to 32 per cent in the first quarter.

This was in spite of the slight dip in growth in the Welsh industry.

Construction labour demand, on the other hand, is facing strong competition with increasing numbers of migrant workers from Eastern Europe, leading to slightly over half of surveyors expressing difficulties.

But confidence remains that the Welsh construction industry can only continue its recent trend given robust underlying fundamentals, with growth in the housing market and the wider economy.

"The immediate outlook for the construction industry is bright. The quarter's slight slowdown can be viewed as minimal because of last quarter's growth was so strong," said Cathy McLean, director of Rics Wales.

New major developments now underway such as St. David's 2 in Cardiff and the regeneration of Newport city centre are expected to make substantial contributions to the economy of Wales.

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Construction industry warned over safety record - 19-07-2007 - 12:10

The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is encouraging firms to take a number of safety measures to prevent serious injury and death occurring in the construction industry.

Firms offering construction jobs could avoid the "tragic and needless loss of life…if there was more thought given to safety and an inherent aversion to risk taking among people," said Irish labour affairs minister Billy Kelleher.

"This is one of the central messages the Authority is advocating. Everybody needs to think 'safety first'," he said, commenting on employers who potentially offer engineering jobs.

The authority is warning employers who provide construction jobs that the industry still contributes to a number of site deaths each year, despite improvements.

While just 12 people are believed to have died on sites last year compared to 23 the year previously, construction jobs cause more injuries which require at least three days of sick leave than any other industry.