News in Brief: October 2026

Major restoration and refurbishment works to the UK’s second longest pier at Southport have begun. Being led by AE Yates, the project will see the majority of the decking boards and timber joists replaced, along with extensive steelwork repairs.

MCR, owner of London’s iconic Grade II-listed BT Tower, has submitted a planning application to Camden Council to convert the 177m-tall structure into a 400-bed hotel. Designed by Orms Architects, the plans also include refurbishing the tower’s podium and the adjacent Howland Building.

Evans Randall Investors has appointed McLaughlin & Harvey to deliver its £70 million office development at Holborn Circus in central London. Replacing the existing Thavies Inn House, the new 10-storey building, designed by architect Wilkinson Eyre, will sit between New Fetter Lane and St Andrew Street.

McLaren Construction Midlands & North has started work at the Mountpark logistics development in Hinckley, a £48 million project close to the A5, which will provide two high-specification steel-framed warehouse distribution units totalling 71,752m2.

Princes Exchange, located in Leeds city centre, is being redeveloped into a new Grade A workspace and a dedicated hub for railway workers. The £40 million scheme is being undertaken by Willmott Dixon having been procured through the SCAPE Construction framework and delivered in partnership with rail regeneration experts Platform4.