Despite industry woes with regard to housing shortages, it has been reported that, at the end of 2015, housebuilding reached an all new high at the finish of 2015. Ending the year on a very positive note, figures from the DCLG highlight that, over the course of the final 3
One of the UK’s leading trade assocations for the construction industry, Build UK, has urged contractors to take more care before entering into contracts with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). During a review of the RIBA Concise Building Contract and the RIBA Domestic Building Contract, it was highlighted
The Range’s South of England distribution centre will get a massive 1.2m sq ft single unit to service its growing market presence after purchasing a 55-acre site at Central Park, the Delta Properties’ logistics development in Bristol. The unit forms part of grand plans by the company’s founders whose ambitions
A project is underway to develop new drones that go beyond surveillance and are capable of building structures with the use of 3D printing software. The team of scientists and engineers are looking to develop aerial robots that are able to fly into either remote locations or disaster zones, and
Recticel is no stranger to industry-leading solutions. Part of the international Recticel Group based in Belgium, its culture of innovation is well-founded while its in-house expertise continues to see it develop products that bring tangible benefits to the PIR market. Customers have become accustomed to reliable, cost effective solutions from
Apprenticeships play an integral role in supporting the future growth of the construction industry, helping organisations to expand their workforce whilst minimising costs and overcoming challenges across the industry with regard to skill shortages. Luckily, it appears that Scottish businesses are stepping up to the challenge, playing their part and
The Energy Intensive Users Group (EIUG) has called for the Carbon Price Floor to be scrapped or frozen beyond 2020 on the basis that it puts the UK at a disadvantage compared to the rest of Europe. The EIUG argues that rather than reducing carbon emissions overall, the carbon tax
Allison Enterprises recognises that consistency breeds confidence. With customers the focal point for this Perthshire-based fencing, landscaping and fabrication solutions provider, Allison has founded its reputation upon delivering the results client’s desire reliably and effectively, time and time again. A significant part of its success is its dedication to quality,
As property management goes, there are few businesses as broad and encompassing as Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). Specialising in all things property, and offering a range of services to suit any and all property owners, the company has gained local, national and international esteem and continues to satisfy its clients
Despite industry woes with regard to housing shortages, it has been reported that, at the end of 2015, housebuilding reached an all new high at the finish of 2015. Ending the year on a very positive note, figures from the DCLG highlight that, over the course of the final 3 months of the year, the building of new homes reached the highest levels achieved since the high points in 2008, with approximately 37,230 homes completed and a further 37,080 started in last year’s final quarter. As an overarching figure, the twelve months up to the end of 2015 incorporated the beginning of some 143,560 housing starts, which signified a notable increase on 2014, approximately 6% and over twice the figure reported in 2009. At the same, the number of completions over the course of 2015 also increased by some 21%, reaching 142,890 in total. Of specific note, the counties of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire were shown to perform very well in the housebuilding arena. In another report by the Home Builders Federation, it was also highlighted that more and more new homes were granted planning permission over the same quarter, with circa 59,845 homes in total giving the green light (a 12% increase from the previous year). These figures, combined with the number of new build projects being undertaken, highlight the hard work of developers in reducing the nation’s shortage of housing stock as well as the support of councils in opening up doors for them to do so. Brandon Lewis, Housing Minister highlighted the importance of promoting even more housebuilding around the UK, though it’s safe to say that these figures provide a great foundation from which the sector can build upon in the coming months, and years. With a highly ambitious plan in the works for the future of the housing sector, Brandon Lewis commented that they will be: “Doubling the housing budget so we can meet our ambition of delivering a million new homes.”
One of the UK’s leading trade assocations for the construction industry, Build UK, has urged contractors to take more care before entering into contracts with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). During a review of the RIBA Concise Building Contract and the RIBA Domestic Building Contract, it was highlighted that contractors were setting themselves up to take a large proportion of the financial risk. The small print means contractors are subject to potentially costly implications, including forfeiting the right to an EOT/additional payment if changes are made without the contract administrator being made aware within 10 days of the change instruction. Details of both time and cost implications must be forwarded by contractors under the two RIBA contracts. Greater awareness of the accompanying responsibilities and obligations is therefore required and, if in doubt, contractors should seek appropriate legal advice. The research was carried out by legislation expert and industry body, the Contractors Legal Group (CLG), of which Build UK is a member. The Concise Building Contract is designed for small-scale commercial building projects while the Domestic Building Contract covers the breadth of non-commercial work, including: new builds, extensions, renovations and maintenance. Following CLG’s review, Build UK also pointed out the lack of standard sub-contracts to go hand-in-hand with the RIBA contracts. For contractors reliant on their supply chain, RIBA’s contracts could therefore prove a costly learning curve. The trade association insisted that any and all sub-contracts should be clear and need to adhere with RIBA’s specific requirements. RIBA has since been made aware of the issues raised by CLG and Build UK. The organisation is currently reviewing the two contracts though its is not expected to published the revised versions until later this year. It is hoped the revisions will take into account the disproportionate risk contractors currently face and present a more financially viable alternative from which all parties can benefit.
The Range’s South of England distribution centre will get a massive 1.2m sq ft single unit to service its growing market presence after purchasing a 55-acre site at Central Park, the Delta Properties’ logistics development in Bristol. The unit forms part of grand plans by the company’s founders whose ambitions shows no signs of waning. To be completed by next year, the new distribution centre will provide more than 1,000 jobs to the local area after The Range co-founder Chris Dawson pledged more money to grow the business. Indeed, he will put £100m of his own money into the project which he believes will successfully support ambitious growth plans which include more stores and an increase in multi-channel activities. Dawson, who founded The Range in 1980 as an open air market trader, told reporters that he did the latest deal while sipping pina coladas on his favourite beach in Barbados. He was in the same spot when he purchased all the MFI stock a few years ago. He said the new distribution centre is part of his “non-stop” ambition and that it highlights another major step forward for this quickly developing business. Dawson’s success has seen him feature in the Sunday Times Rich List thanks to a cut-throat ethos on making a business as profitable as possible. From humble roots The Range has enjoyed significant expansion over the last few years. Today, it is recognised for its array of products across a number of departments which Dawson plans to increase in the next 12 to 24 months. Currently stores stock around 65,000 quality products in the mid-price range to help its customers develop their homes at affordable prices. The evolution of The Range has seen it diversify into manufacturing, waste management, property, dry cleaning and shop-fitting. It has also launched a financial management division with the introduction of The Money-range.
A project is underway to develop new drones that go beyond surveillance and are capable of building structures with the use of 3D printing software. The team of scientists and engineers are looking to develop aerial robots that are able to fly into either remote locations or disaster zones, and construct shelters and buildings using additive building manufacturing (ABM). Researchers from the University of Bath, Imperial College and University College London have come together for what will be a four-year colloborative project culminating in the creation of pioneering new drones for worldwide use. Despite ABM fundamentally transforming the industry and giving way to an age of 3D-printed development, the systems are ill-suited to construction in remote areas. Existing tools have historically been too large and too difficult to service, ruling them out of development in remote areas. Looking to address that challenge, the research project aims to develop an innovative ABM system capable of manufacturing shelters and bridges remotely. It will primarily comprise a swarm of drones that can conduct aerial surveys as well as assess and manufacture structures. With the use of autonomous robots, the team are hoping to significantly shrink ABM and, by doing more in the air, improve its mobility and appropriateness for complex builds. The drones would then act self-sufficiently, working together to assemble a build on site. Of course, the use of drones in the construction industry is already pronounced and the technologies have been used successfully for surveillance during the design stages of development. Despite re-purposing drone technology for actual construction, engineers will continue to make use of the robots’ surveying capabilities; the swarm will use complex Building Information Management (BIM) systems to scan and model the building and surrounding area. Imperial College London’s Dr Mirko Kovac from the Department of Aeronautics is leading the multimillion pound project. Billed as one the sector’s most exciting projects to date, it has already received in excess of £3.4m of funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and various other industrial partners.
Recticel is no stranger to industry-leading solutions. Part of the international Recticel Group based in Belgium, its culture of innovation is well-founded while its in-house expertise continues to see it develop products that bring tangible benefits to the PIR market. Customers have become accustomed to reliable, cost effective solutions from Recticel’s state of the art facility in Stoke which is certified under BS EN 1SO 9001:2008 and BS EN ISO 14001:2004 for its quality and environmental practices. Its reputation is built upon a technical knowledge like few others thanks to the experience of its in-house team, supporting clients on the best PIR insulation product for their needs. Its latest innovation is less a technology ground-breaker and more an initiative to offer better value. Its new u-value calculator has been produced to help those needing to establish the thermal performance of a building. It will be made freely available by Recticel. The product has wide coverage across Recticel’s portfolio which includes cavity walls, timber and steel-framed walls, floors, soffit lining applications and flat and pitched roofs. It has been specifically designed to provide quick access to accurate calculations of common instructions. Paul Forrester, Recticel technical specialist, called it a “user-friendly” enabler, citing the opportunity for users to gain calculations close to the standards required by the Competency Scheme without having an accredited contractor there to perform it themselves. He said Recticel supported the BBA’s benchmark for u-value calculation but acknowledged that customers at times want to carry out their own work. This latest product will enable users to get a quick “ready-reckoner” or experiment with different solutions to get a better u-value rating. The registration-free calculator is a modified version of the company’s own software. Recticel ensures that calculations comply with the latest regulations surrounding the built environment and carbon reduction programmes alongside providing advice on installation best practices and such elements as condensation risk analysis.
Apprenticeships play an integral role in supporting the future growth of the construction industry, helping organisations to expand their workforce whilst minimising costs and overcoming challenges across the industry with regard to skill shortages. Luckily, it appears that Scottish businesses are stepping up to the challenge, playing their part and have, as such, achieved a five-year high in the number of construction apprentices recruited in 2015. With circa 1,876 apprentices recruited over the course of the year, 2015 represents a great milestone in overcoming the skill shortages by bringing in new blood to the industry. These figures highlight a 32% increase in the number of apprentices taken back in 2011, which sat at 1,422, as reported by the CITB. The figures come shortly before Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2016, which is also set to encourage organisations to take on more apprentices as a method of bringing new staff into their organisations more easily, and more cost-effectively. Funding provided by the CITB is available for all employed apprentices, which sits at £10,250, and offers a much-needed line of support for smaller businesses keen to expand, yet without the cashflow required to recruit further staff. With an estimated 21,000 new staff expected to be required over the course of the coming five years, the funding, and apprenticeships as a whole, offers a simple and effective route for employers both small and large to secure and train new staff effectively. Further information on how organisations can secure apprentices, as well as information on how would-be apprentices can secure positions within the construction industry, can be found one the Go Construct website, heralded by CITB’s Strategic Partnerships Director, Ian Hughes as: “A fantastic resource for employers and apprentices to find out about the support available, and the wealth of careers on offer.” And with the growing need for skilled workers rising with every coming day, we can only expect this vital industry resource to be much-welcomed by the wider sector.
The Energy Intensive Users Group (EIUG) has called for the Carbon Price Floor to be scrapped or frozen beyond 2020 on the basis that it puts the UK at a disadvantage compared to the rest of Europe. The EIUG argues that rather than reducing carbon emissions overall, the carbon tax encourages production to be relocated away from the UK so that the emissions occur elsewhere, known as carbon leakage. Director of the Energy Intensive Users Group, Jeremy Nicholson, said “This measure doesn’t reduce emissions. It just means that more of the emissions reductions occur in the UK and less elsewhere in Europe.” The Carbon Price Floor, introduced in 2013, was designed to provide a top-up to the price of EU Allowances (EUAs), which trade under the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). The EU ETS is a cap and trade scheme that places a cap on emissions emitted from factories and power plants across the EU, which reduces over time. EUAs, which equate to one tonne of CO2, are issued to the level of the annual cap, and while some are issued freely to participants, others are auctioned. Participants must submit allowances equal to their emissions levels each year, and if more allowances are required, these can be purchased from participants with surplus allowances, or at auction. A higher carbon price makes low carbon technologies more viable as there is a value to the emissions saved. However, the design of the EU ETS has resulted in an excess of EUAs in the market, particularly during periods of reduced economic output. As a result, the price of EUAs has fallen, as can be seen in the chart below. A mechanism known as the Market Stability Reserve (MSR) will be introduced from 2019 as a measure to prevent the oversupply of allowances. This will be structured to automatically withdraw emission allowances from the market when oversupply exceeds a pre-defined limit and to release allowances when the surplus falls below a set amount. In the UK, the Carbon Price Floor was introduced in 2013 to act as a top up to EUA prices and so encourage carbon abatement while the price of EUAs was too low to do so. It is structured as follows: Carbon Price Floor = EUAs + Carbon Price Support (UK only additional tax for fossil fuels used in electricity generation) Carbon Price Support (CPS) rates are applied to fossil fuels used in electricity generation as a tax, which feeds through to consumers via the wholesale price of electricity. The CPS rates are scaled according to the carbon intensity of the fossil fuel used to generate. The intention was for the Carbon Price Floor to rise to £30 by 2020. However, it was not anticipated that EUA prices would fall as low as they have. As can be seen in the chart, prices have fallen from €16/tCO2 in mid-2011, when the scheme was announced, to just below €6.00/tCO2 this year. In 2014, it became apparent that if the floor price were to continue on its planned trajectory, that the UK would be faced with far greater carbon costs than the rest of Europe. Therefore, the rates were reformed in the 2014 budget and a cap was set at £18/tCO2 for 2016/17 to 2019/20, effectively freezing 2015/16 levels. CPS was not mentioned in the recent business energy efficiency tax review, and calls have been made for a decision to be made on its future in the upcoming 2016 budget, although low carbon generators and environmental groups support the tax. A Treasury spokesman has said that no decision has yet been made and that an announcement on rates beyond 2019/20 will be made in due course. By Nikki Wilson for Alfa Energy & BDC Magazine
Allison Enterprises recognises that consistency breeds confidence. With customers the focal point for this Perthshire-based fencing, landscaping and fabrication solutions provider, Allison has founded its reputation upon delivering the results client’s desire reliably and effectively, time and time again. A significant part of its success is its dedication to quality, an extension of which is the company’s robust health and safety practices. The nature of its work – which includes a broad spectrum of specialist fencing solutions, hard and soft landscaping, site clearance, tree works and ground works across Scotland and northern England – means operatives face a number of safety critical challenges on a daily basis. Indicative of Allison’s work ethic, the company values the health and wellbeing of its workforce as its chief priority. It has therefore continued to develop its policies and procedures in order to enhance its overall capability through health and safety best practice. While the commercial benefits of accreditation to such organisations as CHAS, Constructionline and Achilles are clear, Allison is rightly proud of its achievements says Debbie Priest, who oversees health and safety within the company, because it highlights how effective policies have been implemented across the business. Added to this by its ISO 9001accreditation, the company has proven that only the highest standards will do. “Having these accreditations is vital to winning work,” remarks Priest. “But it’s more than that because these audits highlight that you have the relevant training in place, that operatives are properly qualified, and that your procedures towards the wellbeing and safety of the your workforce are robust and effective.” Importantly, she adds: “It gives clients confidence in you as a business.” Allison has successfully utilised an external health and safety consultant to oversee its policies which are then managed by Priest internally with qualified Contracts Managers and Team Leaders monitoring day-to-day onsite. It’s a method that has worked well for the company which recently passed two Achilles audits (one specifically for tackling risk on the railways, and the other its construction-focused Building Confidence) without any non-conformances. These accreditations are an ideal way for a business to track its own performance on an annual basis, in turn helping it to better itself year-on-year. “One of the areas we’ve looked to improve recently is our safety checks on the various equipment we use, particularly making our inspections specific to each type of equipment,” says Priest. This has been complemented by additional day-to-day risk assessments that re-focus attention on safety to ensure it forms the cornerstone of the workforce’s thinking. It’s not easy, says Priest, as operatives want to go out in the morning and get the job done as quickly and professionally as they can. “What we try to instil is an approach that encourages them to take a step back in the morning; to make sure they are doing their daily briefing. We also brought in a policy called Take 5, which is effectively a daily mini risk assessment. It is about trying to encourage the thought process that says: health and safety is just as important as getting the job completed.” Internal training has increased to help staff while toolbox talks have enhanced safety awareness by making it less about paperwork and ticking boxes and more about its wider benefits to the implementation of an effective project. Such group discussions also evoke a more proactive interpretation of health and wellbeing by allowing staff to raise issues, ask questions, and put forward their own ideas. It’s evident that Allison Enterprises gives its staff the same respect its gives its customers. Internal development has created a work ethic based on pride, which has helped the company grow its stature, its client base and its reputation.
As property management goes, there are few businesses as broad and encompassing as Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). Specialising in all things property, and offering a range of services to suit any and all property owners, the company has gained local, national and international esteem and continues to satisfy its clients and, in turn, their tenants, with its winning formula of care and attention. Specialising in real estate services and investment management from the very beginning, JLL has enlarged and diversified both its ambitions and services to become much of a one-stop-shop in property and asset management. Made up of two distinct strands, its business-to-consumer arm and more recently established, business-to-business arm, the residential management team boasts a portfolio of over 3,000 properties across the UK and this figure continues to grow month on month. Within such a large portfolio of properties, lies a diverse range of clients and, thus, a resounding variation in expectation. JLL strives to understand each individual client’s needs from the outset, as Samuel Winnard, Head of London Residential Property Management at JLL, makes clear: “We’re not working to predetermined terms and conditions, we’re managing to different and individual expectations, and our philosophy involves getting to know landlords and what they require of us. We’ve acknowledged that landlords are increasing busy, and they don’t necessarily have the time to get to grips with their legal responsibilities in what is heavily-legislated sector. Our role is very much advisory and, with unrivalled understanding of the sector, we’re able to recommend approaches and strategies specific to each client.” The company extends this same emphasis on personalisation to tenants themselves; making a conscious effort to not only listen to, but incorporate the opinions of residents within its services. [premium_content level=”2″] For JLL, communication is paramount and, in a world where, as Winnard accurately describes it, “Everyone wants something done yesterday,” JLL is incredibly efficient and promotes positive relationships in order to best serve clients and tenants. JLL’s keen attention to both client and tenant is arguably most valuable when it comes to advising investors on the new wave of Private Rented Sector (PRS) schemes coming to the market. Having transitioned management of the a PRS block in East London in March 2015, the company has since increased the rental income of the scheme by approximately 20%, generating some £3m per annum. This comes as a result of JLL driving service improvements, implementing upgrades of communal spaces and the establishment of a cohesive, community feel through a variety of resident engagement exercises. As a further indication that JLL has the perfect mix of expertise for the PRS market the East London scheme has also seen void periods of less than one percent, and zero aged rent arrears Like most managing agents JLL, and their clients, rely upon third party contractors to deliver maintenance services and the company is incredibly discerning when selecting partners. “Anyone we work with is viewed as an extension of JLL,” explains Winnard. “It’s crucial that sub-contractors demonstrate they meet our expectations and can perform with the same diligence we do. We have long established relationships with a modest number of key sub-contractors who are trusted suppliers and have committed to our customer charter.” Not only adding value from an early stage, but maintaining a meticulous and attentive approach throughout the management of a property, JLL offers security on investment and a personal touch to asset management. Despite possessing global reach, the company has yet retained its bespoke, comprising service and, it’s with that, that JLL continues to have a strong foothold in the market. [/premium_content]
