A leading safety training firm is building on its portfolio of services on offer at its North-east base with the introduction of new health and safety courses for construction personnel. Falck Safety Services UK (Falck), which has 32 training centres across the world including four UK sites in, Peterhead, Aberdeen,
Bracknell Forest Homes has unveiled new homes in Fleet with an opening event for residents, councillors and the house builders this week (November 18). The housing association’s development at the former Queen Elizabeth II Barracks in Church Crookham has 116 homes – 34 one bed, 23 two bed, 49 three
A YOUNG professional from leading independent management, design and construction consultancy, Pick Everard, is celebrating after receiving a prestigious national RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) award. Dipen Vanmali won the RICS Young Surveyor of the Year Award in the Building Surveying category ahead of a field of 13 candidates
Apprenticeships are high on the agenda for display specialist Octink, as the company puts a lot of emphasis on support for school and college leavers as they start out in their careers. Keen to give young people work experience and employability skills, and develop staff both for themselves and for
As a result of a recent contract, Helmsman e-Learning, the construction specific on-line health and safety course providers, have launched an e-Learning Academy ‘package’ for contractors who need to have training on large sites. International construction services company ISG, one of the UK’s Top 20 construction companies, asked Helmsman to
Construction in central London has added billions of pounds to the UK economy, new research commissioned by some of the city’s most powerful property developers has revealed. According to the study by consultancy Deloitte, construction activity in 11 inner-London boroughs added around £6.2bn to the economy in 2013. The report,
Network, one of London’s largest Housing Associations, has won ‘Housing Association of the Year – Bronze’ and ‘Best Starter Home – Bronze’ at the What House? Awards 2015, the housebuilding industry’s major annual awards ceremony. The awards, now in their 34th year, were presented in front of 1,700 of the
A leading safety training firm is building on its portfolio of services on offer at its North-east base with the introduction of new health and safety courses for construction personnel. Falck Safety Services UK (Falck), which has 32 training centres across the world including four UK sites in, Peterhead, Aberdeen, Montrose and Teesside, has opened up registration for four CITB approved construction safety courses from its training centre in Aberdeen. Expanding into the new market, the new courses will include Site Management Safety Training Scheme (SMSTS), Site Supervisor Safety Training Scheme (SSSTS) and both SMSTS and SSSTS refresher courses. The new courses are available for project managers, site managers, supervisors, business proprietors and client-based personnel working on UK Contractor Group (UKCG) sites. Valid for five years, the certifications will provide construction personnel with the knowledge and skills to ensure healthy and safety conditions for construction site employees, including the need for risk assessments and adequate communication on site. Managing director for Falck Safety Services UK, Colin Leyden, said: “As a leading safety training firm, we are always looking for means to develop our training offering; not only to implement modern training techniques into our current programmes, but also to expand into new markets. Although well known for delivering expert training within the oil and gas industry, we are also working in partnership with other key industries to help drive and implement the highest quality safety training. “The construction industry, similar to oil and gas industry, has recognised the need for competence throughout the workforce and Falck are committed to providing the necessary training for this sector, offering the same expert instructors and service levels that our core oil and gas customers receive. Falck already provides realistic training, in a safe and controlled environment, to more than 340,000 people each year within a range of industries including global oil and gas, shipping, renewable energy, military, maritime and aviation industries. For more information on the new construction courses on offer, visit http://www.falck.co.uk/safetyservices/ourcourses/construction/
Bracknell Forest Homes has unveiled new homes in Fleet with an opening event for residents, councillors and the house builders this week (November 18). The housing association’s development at the former Queen Elizabeth II Barracks in Church Crookham has 116 homes – 34 one bed, 23 two bed, 49 three bed, 10 four bed apartments and houses for rent and shared ownership. Caroline Titley, Chief Executive of Bracknell Forest Homes, commented: “We are very pleased to welcome customers to these new homes, which are a very important provision when there is a housing shortage. “The homes are high quality and offer mixed tenure of rent and shared ownership to help people get on the property ladder. “Bracknell Forest Homes is committed to providing more affordable homes for people who need them and has an exciting development programme. For the future.” Around 50 guests including Bracknell Forest Homes’ staff and Board members, Hart District Council staff, and Hart District and Parish councillors and Thames Valley Housing met with residents who recently moved in and looked at the new accommodation. New customer Shellie Martin said: “This is the first time I’ve lived in a Bracknell Forest Homes property. Everyone has been helpful which has made us settle in really quickly. The finish to the property itself is lovely as well.” The new homes at Oaklands and Woodlands in Crookham Park were built by Taylor Wimpey. Cllr Stephen Gorys, Cabinet Member for Housing at Hart District Council, added: ‘We are delighted to be working with Bracknell Forest homes on such high quality schemes within Hart district. I am sure these new homes will be greatly valued by future residents. My thanks go to all those involved in bringing about the development and implementation of this scheme.’ For more information about Bracknell Forest Homes’ developments, please visit www.bracknellforesthomes.org.uk/development
A YOUNG professional from leading independent management, design and construction consultancy, Pick Everard, is celebrating after receiving a prestigious national RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) award. Dipen Vanmali won the RICS Young Surveyor of the Year Award in the Building Surveying category ahead of a field of 13 candidates shortlisted from a national entry of candidates from some of the top surveying practices in the country. Dipen said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to have won this award. To have been in competition with so many high quality peers and then to be chosen as the winner has made me extremely proud. “Pick Everard is an excellent firm to work for and they have given me tremendous support during my career. I have been presented with the opportunity to work on many interesting and exciting projects with an excellent team of colleagues.” Dipen’s career achievements include a period as the chairman of the Leicestershire, Northamptonshire & Rutland (LN&R) RICS Matrics committee; he has been a key contributor to a series of industry fundraising events including for the LionHeart charity; and has dedicated himself to mentoring colleagues at Pick Everard to help them to achieve chartered status. Dipen has led or played a key role in a number of high profile and significant projects at Pick Everard. These include a retail scheme at the Old Square shopping centre in Walsall which is revitalising the town centre and numerous projects for the National Grid including the transformation an of an existing depot facility into a central hub with a state-of-the-art conference suite and welfare accommodation in Chesterfield. David Harris, national director at Pick Everard, said: “To win such a prestigious award is a wonderful achievement by Dipen. He is a well-deserved recipient and I would like to congratulate him wholeheartedly on his award. “At Pick Everard, we pride ourselves on the investment we put into our young professionals to ensure they have a range of training and development opportunities. Dipen’s award is an example of what can be achieved through a lot of hard work and dedication.” The RICS Matrics Young Surveyor of the Year Awards were open to all young surveyors aged 35 and under and the awards ceremony was held in London on 19 November.
Apprenticeships are high on the agenda for display specialist Octink, as the company puts a lot of emphasis on support for school and college leavers as they start out in their careers. Keen to give young people work experience and employability skills, and develop staff both for themselves and for the benefit of the company, it is an area of significant focus, and has been for many years. The company also backs local initiatives like Spark! to prepare people for working life and to enhance their employability through practical, accredited and inspiring work-related experiences. Mike Freely, Managing Director at Octink, comments: “The skills shortage and what industry can do about it has been very visible in recent months, and as a company we pride ourselves on being active in supporting young people and staff in their progression. We believe that everyone should have development plans, and embarking on an apprenticeship is a great way to kick start those plans, while also bringing talent and skills into the company.” Recent examples of where Octink has encouraged staff to develop include a school leaver who has just completed a signmaking apprenticeship, and an office junior who showed such initiative that Octink had no hesitation in enrolling her as an apprentice to complete an NVQ Level 2 in Business Administration. And it’s not just for young people – long standing staff member Mike Bains is embarking on a higher apprenticeship in construction operations management. Mike has worked at Octink for 15 years, and in this timeframe he has been given opportunities for development in nearly every area of the business. “As a long term employee, I can honestly say that Octink puts people at the heart of how it conducts business. Since I started out in the sign workshop all those years ago, whenever I have shown interest or an aptitude for a certain area of the business then the company has supported me and encouraged me to pursue those skills and obtain qualifications in that area. The higher apprenticeship that I am just starting will really help my career leap forward, with the option to extend it in 2016 to convert it to a full construction management degree,” says Mike. Mike Freely concludes, “We hope that our efforts to develop our staff and young people within our local community not only help them in their career paths, but also set a good example for all companies of our size. With more apprenticeship opportunities opening up in industry then hopefully the skills shortage will start to resolve.”
As a result of a recent contract, Helmsman e-Learning, the construction specific on-line health and safety course providers, have launched an e-Learning Academy ‘package’ for contractors who need to have training on large sites. International construction services company ISG, one of the UK’s Top 20 construction companies, asked Helmsman to set up a suite of e-learning for one of their largest construction projects based in Europe. The objectives are to ensure that everyone on site undertakes basic health and safety training, but also to offer a wide range of more advanced courses to address specific training requirements. Head of ISG’s Academy, Guy Fairweather, says: “Setting up an e-learning Academy for the site not only ensures that all operatives have consistent and high-quality health and safety training, but it also addresses a number of key objectives for our business. It offers free training to all site workers, which is recognised by labour unions and Local Authorities as highly beneficial to the wider construction industry, and helps ISG reduce our carbon footprint and increase operational efficiencies by moving away from less flexible classroom training.” Craig Hendleman, Business Development Manager for Helmsman e-Learning says “Having successfully put together a package for ISG, it occurred to us that there are many major projects where we could provide contractors with the same service. In the UK, Section 106 Agreements often contain requirements to train both operatives and the wider community and providing e-learning is a means of achieving this at very economical rates. It also accomplishes a Client’s Corporate Social Responsibility objectives and, because we deal with all of the administration, it causes no added burden on them.” Helmsman uses high-impact, video-based courses, many being RoSPA Approved but all of them are designed to bring home the impact of working safely. The e-Learning Academy will also give clients a comprehensive Learning Management System for recording purposes and there are possibilities of gaining CITB Training Grant towards the learning – and Helmsman, whose main business is managing the training for construction companies and running two large CITB Training Groups, are probably the only on-line learning provider that can help clients with such advice.
Construction in central London has added billions of pounds to the UK economy, new research commissioned by some of the city’s most powerful property developers has revealed. According to the study by consultancy Deloitte, construction activity in 11 inner-London boroughs added around £6.2bn to the economy in 2013. The report, Supporting development, enabling growth, pinpoints further contributions of £3.3bn in ‘indirect’ effects from demands on supply chains, and £2.9bn from ‘induced’ gains from increased household spending as a result of construction. “Property development is a major activity in London, drawing in investment and producing new architecture,” London School of Economics professor Tony Travers writes in the report. “The economic sectors which depend on the strength of construction extend from developers and architects through to crane manufacturers and brickmakers.” The research has been commissioned and released alongside a list of demands by the Westminster Property Association and the City Property Association, whose members claim 85 per cent of construction activity in inner London. In their “manifesto for the mayor”, the associations urge the successful candidate in next May’s mayoral elections to reverse a trend in the city centre that has seen commercial space replaced by residential units. Westminster alone has “lost” 4.4m sq ft of office space, according to the associations, which have extensive commercial interests in inner London. They argue the mayor should help tackle affordability by fighting to keep receipts from Right to Buy sales in the city. The associations also urge the next mayor to encourage the government to axe or relax borrowing limits on council housing budgets, a move they say will allow boroughs to build more homes. The new mayor should also help address the shortage of tradespeople, which the associations see as a “key reason for the lack of homes and office space”. “We call for the mayor to work with the associations and industry to help promote and co-ordinate the right training and support for young people and workers of all ages and backgrounds… to provide [them] with the skills… to build London’s future”, they said in a statement. City Property Association president Rob Samuel described central London as “the economic powerhouse” of the city and the “entire United Kingdom”. “Our manifesto for the next mayor outlines the key areas where we believe that our industry, and the mayor, can work together to deliver housing, office and leisure space for the capital to continue to thrive as a global city.”
Network, one of London’s largest Housing Associations, has won ‘Housing Association of the Year – Bronze’ and ‘Best Starter Home – Bronze’ at the What House? Awards 2015, the housebuilding industry’s major annual awards ceremony. The awards, now in their 34th year, were presented in front of 1,700 of the industry’s most senior figures at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Friday 20 November. Helen Evans, Chief Executive, Network Housing Group, said: “Network has restructured its governance and next year we will consolidate our legal structure to become a single organisation. The major changes we have made in the last 18 months have already significantly improved our all-round performance. Having more than doubled our surplus to £49 million and with the second largest housing grant allocation in London for 2015-18 we believe there is more we can do. “Network has an outstanding development function, which is based on the approach that we must do everything that we can to meet the housing crisis in London and the South East. Last year we developed more new homes than any other housing association in the country relative to the size of our existing stock. “Winning these awards is testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone at Network.” 243 Ealing Road (Best Starter Home – Bronze) is a joint venture between Network Housing Group and the What House? Housebuilder of the Year, Hill, which has transformed a neglected part of West London. The development is part of a wider £520 million regeneration project in Alperton, Brent. It comprises 441 apartments located alongside the Grand Union Canal, each with access to a private patio, terrace or balcony; eight distinct communal gardens, including an orchard, two play areas and an innovative sensory garden. The development is within 200 metres of Alperton’s Piccadilly Line station linking residents to the heart of London. For further details about 243 Ealing Road please see www.networkliving.co.uk
