Published Tuesday 28 July 2026 · By the JustEng team
Welcome to today’s briefing. Results season, a £25bn water framework and a major defence contract dominate the news — here is what is happening across UK engineering and construction, and what it means for engineering recruitment and vacancies across the country.
Morgan Sindall posts record half-year profits
Morgan Sindall reported adjusted pre-tax profits up 21% to £116.1m for the first half of 2026, on revenue up 8% to £2,562m, with fit out and construction leading the growth (The Construction Index). Fit-out arm Overbury grew revenue and operating profit by 19%, while Morgan Sindall Construction lifted revenue 18% to £742m, and the group raised its medium-term profit targets.
Hiring angle: When a top-ten contractor upgrades its targets, candidate demand follows — expect sustained competition for site managers, design coordinators and commercial staff, and a busier market for engineering jobs UK-wide as rivals fight to match its fit-out and construction growth.
Severn Trent’s £25bn frameworks set to lift civil engineering vacancies
Severn Trent is preparing pre-market engagement for a new generation of capital design and delivery frameworks worth up to £25bn over the next 8–15 years across the Midlands, spanning AMP9 to AMP11, with procurement expected to start in early 2027 (Construction News). The frameworks are intended to engage everyone from international contractors to regional SMEs.
Hiring angle: AMP8 has already stretched the water sector’s talent pool, and a pipeline of this size will deepen the talent shortage — firms positioning for bids should be engaging a specialist civil engineering recruitment partner now rather than competing for scarce civil engineering vacancies candidates in 2027.
McLaughlin & Harvey wins £100m Rolls-Royce combat air facility
McLaughlin & Harvey has been appointed to build a £100m-plus combat air research and manufacturing facility for Rolls-Royce at its Gipsy Patch Lane site in Bristol, with construction due to start later this year (Construction News). The digitally connected building will combine research, testing, manufacturing and assembly for future combat air products.
Hiring angle: Advanced defence facilities need heavy, complex frames and services, feeding demand for structural engineer jobs and building services roles in the South West — see our structural engineering recruitment page and salary guide for where pay is heading.
Jacobs to steer planning for UK small modular reactors
Great British Energy – Nuclear has appointed Jacobs, supported by planning consultancy Quod, to provide planning and consenting services for proposed small modular reactor projects, with initial work at Gwyndod (formerly Wylfa) and Oldbury-on-Severn (New Civil Engineer). The commission covers consent applications, stakeholder engagement and transport assessments.
Hiring angle: The nuclear new-build pipeline — Sizewell C plus SMRs — is one of the fastest-growing sources of engineering vacancies, and employers are increasingly headhunting civil, mechanical and planning specialists with nuclear experience rather than waiting for applications.
Construction insolvencies still running above 3,800 a year
The rolling annual total of construction insolvencies in England and Wales has passed 3,800, with the Insolvency Service recording 3,805 failures in the sector in the 12 months to June — around 17% of all insolvencies (Construction News). June alone saw 309 firms fail, up 4% on May.
Hiring angle: Insolvency releases good people into the market at short notice, and candidates are prioritising financially stable employers — a specialist recruitment agency can help firms hire quickly and discreetly when a competitor fails; browse live engineering jobs or talk to us about hiring.
JustEng is a specialist engineering recruitment agency for the UK built environment, headhunting hard-to-find civil, structural, fire and façade engineers. Looking for your next role? Submit your CV. Hiring? Register your vacancy today.