Higgins Group has reported a 51% turnover increase to £315.1m for the year to 31 July 2025, with profit before tax rising to £1.05m and cash in the bank more than doubling to £24.9m while net debt fell by £20m to £14.7m. Higgins Partnerships delivered 189 homes across three new build projects in a predominantly “build year”, spent £7.3m on rectification works and holds remaining provisions of £3.9m. The group now carries a secured order book above £1.1bn and a development pipeline capable of generating over £600m.

Lower Thames Crossing has appointed Department for Transport director general for roads, places and environment Emma Ward as senior responsible owner, confirming a revised completion date of 2034 for the £10bn-plus scheme. The project will deliver a new dual three-lane road and 4.3km bored tunnel under the Thames between Kent and Essex, designed to relieve pressure on the Dartford Crossing. The SRO move signals tighter central oversight of programme risk, consenting and major civils procurement as National Highways pushes towards main works.

Britain’s civil engineering sector has recorded its first fall in workloads since the Covid-19 pandemic, with contractors warning that delayed decisions on major infrastructure schemes are feeding directly into order books. The dip, captured in the latest industry workload surveys, is emerging despite ongoing programmes in rail, strategic roads and water, signalling that smaller regional schemes and early‑stage design commissions are being paused or slowed. Firms report growing concern over pipeline visibility for 2026–27, affecting resource planning for geotechnical investigations, temporary works design and specialist ground engineering subcontractors.