Construction recorded 3,866 company insolvencies in England and Wales in the year to August, the highest total of any industry, despite a 2% annual fall.
The SAIA Education Foundation will open scholarship applications in January 2027, offering financial support for education, training and professional development across the US scaffold and access industry.
Revscaff Safety Systems has made a seven-figure investment in Layher equipment as the East Yorkshire business builds a new scaffolding operation alongside its established safety systems companies.
Construction recorded 3,866 company insolvencies in England and Wales in the year to August, the highest total of any industry, despite a 2% annual fall.
The SAIA Education Foundation will open scholarship applications in January 2027, offering financial support for education, training and professional development across the US scaffold and access industry.
Revscaff Safety Systems has made a seven-figure investment in Layher equipment as the East Yorkshire business builds a new scaffolding operation alongside its established safety systems companies.
Construction recorded 3,866 company insolvencies in England and Wales in the year to August, the highest total of any industry, despite a 2% annual fall.
The SAIA Education Foundation will open scholarship applications in January 2027, offering financial support for education, training and professional development across the US scaffold and access industry.
Revscaff Safety Systems has made a seven-figure investment in Layher equipment as the East Yorkshire business builds a new scaffolding operation alongside its established safety systems companies.
Construction recorded 3,866 company insolvencies in England and Wales in the year to August, the highest total of any industry, despite a 2% annual fall.
The SAIA Education Foundation will open scholarship applications in January 2027, offering financial support for education, training and professional development across the US scaffold and access industry.
Revscaff Safety Systems has made a seven-figure investment in Layher equipment as the East Yorkshire business builds a new scaffolding operation alongside its established safety systems companies.
A former Plymouth scaffolder who worked on Royal Navy ships at Devonport dockyard died from an asbestos-related cancer, an inquest has heard.
Denis Tapp worked at the dockyard between 1978 and 1984, erecting and dismantling scaffolding on warships including HMS Ark Royal and HMS Eagle.
He also worked around the dockyard’s blacksmith shop.
Plymouth Coroner’s Court heard the dockyard was a “very dusty place to work”, with asbestos dust released from lagging that had been removed from boiler pipes on ships and at land-based locations.
Mr Tapp later developed pleural mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive cancer affecting the lining around the lungs and chest wall.
He died in March 2025 at the age of 72.
The inquest heard Mr Tapp had instructed solicitors to pursue a civil compensation claim in connection with his asbestos exposure. He died before signing the legal statement required for the claim.
The coroner recorded that his death was caused by industrial diseases.
Mr Tapp’s case is another reminder of the long-term consequences of asbestos exposure for workers who spent their careers in shipbuilding, construction and associated trades.
Mesothelioma can develop decades after exposure, meaning illnesses linked to work carried out many years ago continue to emerge.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with Mr Tapp’s family and loved ones at this difficult time.”
Blencowe Scaffolding, one of the South of England’s longest established scaffolding contractors, has filed a notice of appointment to appoint an administrator.
The development was first reported by Construction Enquirer, which said the filing had been identified through Red Flag Alert’s monitoring of High Court construction insolvency applications.
Importantly, the filing does not mean the company has formally entered administration. At the time of publication, Blencowe Scaffolding remained listed as an active company on the Companies House register, with no appointment of administrators appearing in the publicly available filing history.
Founded in 1964 by Pat Blencowe, the family-run business has spent more than 60 years building a reputation across the commercial, industrial, heritage and specialist access sectors. The company operates from its headquarters in Salisbury, alongside depots in Basingstoke and Eastleigh.
Over the decades, Blencowe has delivered scaffolding and access solutions for several landmark projects across southern England. Among its most notable contracts was work at Winchester Cathedral, where the company provided specialist access to support conservation and restoration work at one of Europe’s largest medieval cathedrals.
The contractor has also been involved in a wide range of complex projects requiring temporary roofing, containment systems and specialist access solutions.
The latest accounts, covering the year ending 30 June 2025, show the company employed 55 people and held plant and equipment assets worth £7.6 million.
A notice of appointment to appoint an administrator provides a period of legal protection while options such as restructuring, refinancing, a sale of the business or a formal administration process are explored.
The new tool allows users to ask questions in their own words and search across the knowledge held by NASC and CISRS, rather than working through individual guidance documents or website pages.
It covers areas including TG20, SG4, technical standards, health and safety, training, competence and CISRS requirements.
Crucially, the assistant draws exclusively from NASC and CISRS material, including guidance available only to members and approved CISRS Centres.
Answers also direct users back to the original source material, allowing them to check the guidance themselves.
The system has been introduced to make the organisations’ existing library easier to navigate, particularly when users know the information they need but are unsure which document contains it.
For smaller scaffolding contractors without their own technical department, that could make a noticeable difference when trying to find guidance quickly.
Mark Collinson, Head of Technical at NASC, said: “The guidance has always been there, but knowing exactly where to look for it has not always been straightforward, particularly for smaller businesses without a dedicated technical resource.
“This gives members a much quicker route to the right information, and it always points back to the source document so you can check it for yourself.
“It is not a replacement for reading the guidance properly, but it makes finding the right part of it far easier.”
The distinction is an important one. The assistant is designed as a way into NASC and CISRS guidance rather than an alternative to the documents themselves.
It also avoids one of the more obvious problems with general-purpose AI tools by restricting its information source to material produced by NASC and CISRS.
The assistant is available now to NASC members and CISRS Centres.
Users can access it through the round icon in the bottom-right corner of either organisation’s website. The icon is red on the NASC website and orange on the CISRS website.
Alan Osborn has been made an honorary member of the Access Association of Canada (AAC), recognising his growing work to put mental health higher on the agenda across the international scaffolding and access industry.
The honour was announced in Nashville during the SAIA Annual Convention, where Osborn was invited to speak about mental health in construction and the practical steps companies can take to support the people working for them.
Loud, funny and instantly recognisable in his Dr. Scaffold hoodie, Osborn spent 30 years building scaffolds before moving into business ownership, consultancy and standards work. In recent years, he has become one of the trade’s most recognisable voices on mental health.
His Check Your Mate campaign encourages workers and managers to look out for colleagues, recognise changes in behaviour and have the confidence to start a conversation when something doesn’t seem right.
“Being made an honorary member of the AAC is a real privilege, but for me it’s about what we do next as an industry,” Osborn said.
“Recognition is welcome; action is vital. If Check Your Mate helps even one person feel able to speak up or one colleague spot the signs early, then it’s doing its job. The AAC is going to change the access industry in Canada.”
Speaking in Nashville, Osborn drew on something scaffolders already understand well: looking after the person working alongside you.
“In scaffolding and access, we’re brilliant at looking after each other when it comes to physical safety. We see a loose fitting or a risky set-up and we step in immediately. Mental health needs the same instinctive response,” he said.
“If something doesn’t look or feel right with a mate, that’s your cue to check in, not look away.”
Osborn spoke about the pressures that come with working in the trade, including long hours, travel, demanding programmes and high-risk sites. He also addressed the stigma that can still make people reluctant to admit when they are struggling.
It is a subject shaped by his own experience. Osborn has previously spoken openly about his personal struggles and about losing five people he describes as brothers from the scaffolding trade.
“The pressures on our workforce aren’t going away: tight programmes, long travel, demanding sites. What can change is how prepared we are to support people through those pressures,” he said.
“Check Your Mate is simply about giving everyone permission and confidence to start that conversation.”
Taking the message further
Osborn’s work has also received backing from Brandon Martin, President and Owner of InSite Software, who has been supporting his work and exploring how technology already used by scaffolding and access businesses could carry wellbeing prompts, training material and easier routes to support.
“Dr Osborn’s work aligns perfectly with where we believe the industry is heading,” Martin said. “Data, planning and software can help to design safer projects, but at the heart of every system are people. Supporting their mental health is not an add-on, it’s a core part of safety.”
InSite is looking at how wellbeing could be worked into the systems site teams already use during the working day.
“At InSite, we’re looking at how we can weave wellbeing into the everyday workflows our customers already use,” Martin said.
“If we can make it natural for site teams to receive prompts, access guidance, or flag concerns through the tools they’re in all day, then checking your mate becomes part of the process, not an extra task.”
Martin said the response in Nashville showed mental health was gaining a stronger place in conversations about safety across the wider access industry.
“When you have organisations like the AAC honouring Alan’s contribution, it sends a clear message: this isn’t a side issue. Mental health belongs in the same conversation as fall prevention, load management and design.”
For Osborn, much of the answer still comes back to people looking out for each other.
“I’ve seen first-hand that a five-minute chat on site can be more powerful than any poster or policy,” he said.
“When a supervisor or a colleague makes it clear that it’s okay to talk, the culture shifts. That’s the future of safety: PPE for the mind as well as the body.”
Martin believes technology can help make those conversations easier to start.
“I’m proud that InSite can play a small part in amplifying Check Your Mate,” he said. “Technology should serve people, not the other way round. If our software helps one supervisor start a conversation they might otherwise have avoided, that’s a win for us and, more importantly, for the person on the receiving end.”
The scaffolding and access contractor has recorded no reportable injuries since 2023 across its operations in the UK, Ireland, UAE, Saudi Arabia, the USA and mainland Europe.
Brogan Group said the 5 million-hour figure is the highest safety record achieved in the company’s history.
The milestone covers work carried out across a wide range of projects and regions, with the company crediting its health and safety teams, site management and operatives for maintaining the record.
Brogan said its approach has centred on planning, training, communication and day-to-day site management, with safety procedures applied across its international operations.
James Lewis, Brogan Group HSQE Director, said: “Reaching 5 million man-hours without a reportable injury is a significant achievement for Brogan Group. It is the result of the collective commitment of our people, who continue to make health and safety a priority every day.”
The company operates across several major construction markets and has continued to expand its international presence in recent years, making the Group-wide safety figure particularly notable given the number of regions covered.
The record now extends beyond 5 million working hours, with Brogan reporting no reportable injuries across the Group since 2023.
JR Scaffold has been awarded Gold status in the Ministry of Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) for its support of the Armed Forces community.
The award is the highest level within the scheme and recognises employers that maintain policies and working practices supporting serving personnel, Reservists, Veterans, service leavers, Cadet Force Adult Volunteers and military families.
For JR Scaffold, the award follows previous Bronze and Silver ERS recognition and continues the company’s work under the Armed Forces Covenant.
The company said its approach includes supporting veterans moving into civilian employment, creating opportunities for service leavers and providing flexibility for employees who continue to serve as Reservists.
John Horne, Managing Director of JR Scaffold, said: “We are immensely proud to have achieved Gold Award status through the Ministry of Defence Employer Recognition Scheme.
“This is a fantastic achievement for everyone across The JR Group and one that is particularly important to us as a business.
“Our journey through the ERS awards, from Bronze to Silver and now Gold, reflects our ongoing commitment to supporting the Armed Forces community.
“We recognise the valuable skills, experience and dedication that members of the Armed Forces community bring to the workplace.
“Whether that is supporting veterans as they transition into civilian employment, creating opportunities for those leaving the services, or accommodating colleagues who continue to serve as Reservists, we are dedicated to doing what we can to provide meaningful opportunities, and the flexibility people need.”
The Gold Award recognises JR Scaffold’s continued work to support members of the Armed Forces community through employment and workplace policies.
ScaffEx26 has completed its conference line-up ahead of the two-day industry event at Manchester Central on 10 and 11 September.
Hosted by journalist Sophie Long, the programme will bring contractors, clients, training specialists and industry bodies together for discussions covering some of the biggest issues currently facing scaffolding businesses.
Commercial pressures come under the spotlight on Thursday in Thriving in Uncertainty: Insights from Across the Supply Chain, a Question Time-style panel looking at fair payment, contract terms, workforce pressures and relationships between scaffolding contractors and clients.
The panel includes Richard Beresford of the National Federation of Builders, Danny Dwyer of PHD Access, Chris Abbey of Altrad UK, Rob Wright of Lindum Group and Fergus Harradence from the Department for Business and Trade.
Running a scaffolding company gets its own session later that day.
What Nobody Tells You About Starting Your Own Scaffolding Firm will see James Brierley of Rose System Scaffolding, Lee Marley and KAS Scaffolding directors Shane Wood and Adam Millgate discuss the realities of setting up and growing a business, including finance, contracts and company culture.
Recruitment follows with The Talent Crisis: Why You Need a Blend of Youth and Experience.
Danny Clarke of CITB, Donna Mulvihill of Altrad UK, Ashley Smith of R.A.S Scaffolding, Dan Wilson of MAR Scaffolding and Anne Pavey from the Department for Work and Pensions will examine routes into the industry and how contractors can widen the pool of people they recruit from.
Thursday will close with a project session looking behind the scenes at major scaffolding schemes.
GKR Scaffolding will present its work at 25 Canada Square in Canary Wharf, while BrandSafway will cover the Manchester Town Hall restoration. A further project is still to be confirmed.
Safety takes a larger role on Friday. Hiding in Plain Sight: The Hidden Risks of Getting It Wrong will examine fire, noise, dust and airborne contamination, with former HSE inspector Matt Greenly joined by Alice Thomson of 4-RAIL Services, Layher UK Managing Director Sean Pike and David Gilmore of ITP.
Training technology will then come under scrutiny in one of the programme’s more deliberately provocative sessions, Would You Trust a Scaffolder Trained on a Computer?
Martin Addison of Video Arts Group, Joanne Walker of CWIC Wales, NASC and CISRS Group CEO Clive Dickin and NETA’s Brian Ward will discuss blended learning and immersive technology, including where digital training can support practical instruction and where its limits should sit.
Friday’s technical programme will also turn to temporary roofing, with projects including the weather protection solution used at Huddinge municipal centre in Sweden.
AT-PAC’s Ruslan Potapov and Scaffco’s Tobias Bækhøj are among those due to speak, alongside Sean Pike of Layher UK and Alan Armstrong of Laidlaw Scaffolding.
The conference forms part of ScaffEx26, which combines the exhibition and conference at Manchester Central before the Scaffolding Excellence Awards on the evening of 11 September.
The awards will be hosted by comedian and broadcaster Dara Ó Briain. Registration for the ScaffEx26 conference and exhibition remains free.
The Oldbury-based health and safety training provider can now deliver PASMA courses covering the assembly, use, inspection and dismantling of aluminium scaffold towers.
The investment includes a dedicated training area at the company’s new centre and the recruitment of 3 specialist PASMA instructors.
PLT Training already delivers IPAF training for mobile elevating work platforms. The PASMA approval means the company can now cover 2 of the main equipment types used for work at height from the same training centre.
Operations director Kath Lang said the company’s move to its new premises had been central to securing accreditation.
“Relocation to our new training centre has been fundamental in the PASMA accreditation, giving us access to high-spec classrooms, the latest equipment and additional space to run the courses,” she said.
“To secure the internationally recognised standard, we had to be approved by a panel of associate members and successfully complete a full audit of our premises, while demonstrating that we have the industry knowledge in place.”
The company can initially deliver PASMA Low-Level Access, Towers for Users and a combined course covering both disciplines.
Towers for Users covers single-bay mobile access towers that can reach heights of up to 8m outdoors and 12m indoors.
PLT Training plans to add courses covering towers on stairs, towers with bridges and linked towers during the next 12 months.
The company said the courses are aimed at scaffolding contractors and other businesses whose employees regularly work at height, as well as schools, colleges and sports organisations.
PLT Training already works with Omega Scaffolding, Pro Scaff and Midland Metro. It estimates the expanded training offer could generate up to £500,000 in new contracts during the coming year.
“We have created 3 new roles for specialist PASMA instructors already and expect this to double as existing clients and new customers take advantage of our under-one-roof offer,” Lang said.
The new training centre supports more than 10,000 learners each year and has 6 purpose-built areas covering forklifts, work at height, manual handling, first aid and confined-space training.
PLT Training was founded by Nicc Bennett almost 20 years ago. The company now delivers more than 150 courses from its Oldbury centre and at more than 1,500 client sites across the UK.
Altrad has announced it will merge Generation Hire & Sales and TRAD UK into a single business operating as Altrad Hire & Sales from 1 September 2026.
The move brings together two of the UK’s best-known names in scaffolding and construction equipment hire under one brand, creating a business serving customers across the UK and Ireland through a combined branch network.
According to Altrad, the new business will supply a broad range of scaffolding, access equipment, temporary works, fencing, safety equipment, groundworks products and specialist construction equipment.
The company said the merger is intended to give customers easier access to equipment, technical support and specialist expertise while continuing investment in products and customer service.
The announcement follows a period of speculation within the industry after Altrad confirmed to suppliers last week that the two businesses would be brought together.
Mark Clifford, Managing Director of Generation Hire & Sales UK, said: “This is an exciting milestone for both businesses. Over the years, Generation Hire & Sales and TRAD UK have built strong reputations for service, expertise and client support.
“By combining these strengths under one brand, we can offer clients a broader and more connected range of solutions whilst maintaining the high standards they know and trust.”
The rebrand takes effect on 1 September, when Generation Hire & Sales and TRAD UK will begin operating as Altrad Hire & Sales.
The Scaffold & Access Industry Association has named the winners of its 2026 Project Awards at the President’s Gala in Nashville, Tennessee.
The ceremony closed the association’s annual convention, which drew 792 attendees to the JW Marriott Nashville. SAIA said the figure was 29% higher than its previous attendance record.
DH Glabe & Associates left the gala with two awards. The engineering firm won the Suspended Access category for its work on the SR-28 Pearl River Bridge and the Shoring category for the Honoli?i Stream Bridge in Hawaii.
BrandSafway also collected two awards.
The company won the Mast Driven Hoists and Platforms category for the US 181 Harbor Bridge project. It shared the Industrial Collaborative award with McCarthy Building Companies for work at Hangar One at Moffett Federal Airfield in California.
Hangar One is a vast former airship hangar built during the 1930s and remains one of the largest freestanding structures in the world.
The Commercial Collaborative award went to DH Charles Engineering and Performance Contracting Inc. for the SFO International Terminal project in San Francisco.
Fraco Products won the Innovation category for its work at 989 Sixth Avenue in New York, while Canadian contractor Skyline Scaffold Ltd. took the Supported Scaffold award for the Stal??w?as?m Bridge.
Gidish receives lifetime honour
The gala also included SAIA’s annual individual awards, decided through anonymous peer nominations and a vote of the association’s membership.
The night’s highest individual honour, the SAIA Lifetime Achievement Award, went to Harold Gidish of Sky Climber.
Gidish is a former SAIA president and has chaired the association’s Suspended Scaffold Council for more than 20 years. Nashville was his 48th consecutive SAIA convention.
“Everything I ever did was never for me,” Gidish told the room. “It was for us.”
David Johnson received the Coupling Pin Award, while Pat Connolly was inducted into the SAIA Hall of Fame.
The Victor Saleeby Award went to Wendy Larison and Safewaze was named Outstanding Company.
The evening closed with Matt Morgan being sworn in as SAIA’s 28th president. He succeeds Mike Bredl and will serve a two-year term.
The convention also drew visitors from outside North America. NASC chair David Brown was among the UK delegates, while representatives from 8 countries attended a board meeting of the International Access & Scaffolding Association during the week.
The 2027 SAIA Annual Convention & Exposition will be held at the JW Marriott Tampa Water Street in Tampa, Florida, from 9 to 12 August.
Full list of 2026 SAIA Project Award winners
Commercial Collaborative: DH Charles Engineering and Performance Contracting Inc., SFO International Terminal
Industrial Collaborative: BrandSafway and McCarthy Building Companies, Hangar One at Moffett Federal Airfield
Mast Driven Hoists and Platforms: BrandSafway, US 181 Harbor Bridge
Innovation: Fraco Products, 989 Sixth Avenue
Suspended Access: DH Glabe & Associates, SR-28 Pearl River Bridge
