16 September 2016 | Jamie Harris Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in London has extended its contract with service provider ISS in a deal worth up to £10 million. The five-year contract, which is an extension of the original 2009 deal and has an option for a further
A new smart-control energy system which links wind-generated energy to home heating systems has received £1.2 million funding from the Scottish government. The Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre Development Trust (REWDT) received the money for its Heat Smart Orkney project from the Scottish government’s Local Energy Fund. Around
Browser does not support script. Contact us The Royal Institute of British Architects has today announced the West Midlands shortlist for its annual Awards. Following the success of the Library of Birmingham in 2014 and Middleport Pottery in 2015, the Awards have become the benchmark in identifying the best new
Caterpillar admitted on Friday that their business in Brazil has suffered as a result of political turmoil, and the recession in the country becoming difficult to navigate efficiently and successfully. The Chief Financial Officer for the company said that the company cut its profit forecasts and saw another cut in its
Illegal gas work at a flat in Torquay has landed a pub worker in hot water. Geoffrey Voss illegally installed a gas boiler and gas pipework at a flat in Torquay. Geoffrey, 59, was working in a pub in Torquay before illegally installing a gas boiler in a property on
Most recently, the most prominent coastal investigation study has begun alongside the Welsh coast. Incorporating everything from mathematical modelling, the monitoring of water quality and field surveys, the study exists to provide the DCWW and Natural Resources Wales with the knowledge essential to better protecting Welsh coastal waters, not solely
Following on from the recent success of Breedon Aggregates in increasing profits by almost 50% last year, in addition to the company’s potential acquisition of Hope Construction Materials, it has been announced that the organisation’s Chief Executive, Pat Ward clearly sees continuation in the brand’s success, procuring some 150,000 shares
In this day and age, providing a physical service is no longer considered to be quite enough. Regardless of industry, it is increasingly the case that organisations can be seen to value partnerships as of near-equal import to other areas of service provision. Why, you might ask? Most specifically, this
16 September 2016 | Jamie Harris Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in London has extended its contract with service provider ISS in a deal worth up to £10 million. The five-year contract, which is an extension of the original 2009 deal and has an option for a further two-year extension, will see ISS continue to provide healthcare cleaning services at the specialist hospital. The renewed contract also includes manned guarding services. Dean Gornall, Moorfields’ head of facilities, said: “The ISS submission with a strong local leadership presence allowed the tendering panel to conclude that ISS were the right company to manage these services. Moorfields looks forward to continuing a successful and productive partnership.” The win follows recent contract awards for ISS at Hitachi Rail Europe, Middlesex University, and Arun Council in West Sussex. Last month, it reported organic revenue growth of 3.8 per cent for the first half of 2016. Group CEO Jeff Gravenhorst was confident of continued growth, despite uncertainty in the market, and despite total revenue growth decreasing by 1 per cent, which the business attributes to currency effects. Source link
A new smart-control energy system which links wind-generated energy to home heating systems has received £1.2 million funding from the Scottish government. The Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre Development Trust (REWDT) received the money for its Heat Smart Orkney project from the Scottish government’s Local Energy Fund. Around 100 residents in the Orkney Islands will trial the new scheme, which diverts excess renewable electricity that cannot feed into the grid from wind turbines to newly installed heating devices in their homes. REWDT project manager Michelle Koster said: “Orkney has the highest levels of fuel poverty in Scotland and the electricity grid regularly has to be curtailed, meaning the community-owned turbine in Rousay is turned off. “Providing the ability to divert otherwise curtailed energy into secondary heating devices installed in homes seems an obvious solution.” The energy efficient heating devices are linked to a cloud control centre and as the turbine receives a curtailment signal the cloud control centre will switch on. The heating devices and the additional electricity used by the devices will be metered and a rebate paid to the householder from the additional income received by the turbine. The funding boost came as the Scottish government awarded more than £10 million to support nine large-scale, low-carbon energy projects across the country, with the aim of developing local energy systems. Source link
Browser does not support script. Contact us The Royal Institute of British Architects has today announced the West Midlands shortlist for its annual Awards. Following the success of the Library of Birmingham in 2014 and Middleport Pottery in 2015, the Awards have become the benchmark in identifying the best new Architecture in the West Midlands. The eight shortlisted buildings are: Assay Office Birmingham by Glazzard Architects Birmingham New Street Station by AZPML Chattock Gardens, Solihull by Khoury Architects McIntyre House, Birmingham by Associated Architects Redhill, Worcestershire by Glazzard Architects School Yard, Birmingham by Bryant Priest Newman Architects The Master’s House, Ledbury by Butler Hegarty Architects Whiteacres, Warwickshire by Emma Vergette Jonathan Hines, Chairman of the Judging Panel commented: “The jury was impressed by the overall standard of quality of the buildings submitted this year. The range of buildings, from residential projects to a major infrastructure scheme, was quite striking and made our job a challenging one. Congratulations to all who have been shortlisted and we look forward to announcing the winners in April.” All shortlisted buildings will be assessed by a regional jury and the winners of RIBA West Midlands Awards will be announced on 28 April 2016. Regional winners will also be considered for a coveted RIBA National Award in recognition of their architectural excellence, which will be announced in June. The shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building of the year will be drawn from the RIBA National Award-winning buildings later in the year. ENDS Notes to editors: For further press information and access to high res press images please contact Matthew Dobson matthew.dobson@riba.org 07501 466655 or Gursharan Kaur gursharan.kaur@riba.org 07989 079896 High resolutions images of the buildings that have been shortlisted for an RIBA West Midlands Award can be viewed here. Please note, all images must be fully credited The RIBA Awards 2016 are kindly sponsored by 4. RIBA Awards have been running continuously since 1966 and are judged and presented locally. No matter the shape, size, budget or location, RIBA award winning schemes set the standard for great architecture all across the country. RIBA awards are for buildings in the UK by RIBA Chartered Architects and RIBA International Fellows 5.The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) champions better buildings, communities and the environment through architecture and our members. www.architecture.com Posted on Wednesday 2nd March 2016 Source link
Caterpillar admitted on Friday that their business in Brazil has suffered as a result of political turmoil, and the recession in the country becoming difficult to navigate efficiently and successfully. The Chief Financial Officer for the company said that the company cut its profit forecasts and saw another cut in its full-year sales. Bradley Halverson said Caterpillar, the world’s largest seller of construction and mining equipment has no weathered the recession as well as they hoped. The companies saw sales plummet in the first quarter by over 25%, while earnings fell 77% to 46 cents per share. In total Latin American sales 43% with major influences being Brazil and Mexico, low oil prices are hitting demands for their mining equipment. Brazil is currently in its deepest recession in decades, the toil it has taken on exports has seen a slump in all purchases across the industry. In an interview with The Financial Times, Mr Halverson stated that the future was not looking up, the business has not endured well and that Fiscal reforms are needed and more co-operation from political parties was needed to see any improvement. Caterpillar are not the only multinational enterprise that is stating concerns in the Brazilian market, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have also suggested that the market in the country was currently causing them specific concerns. Caterpillar is facing its fourth year of falling sales and has seen issues come to light across many countries and changing economies, all of whom are seeing big changes in their markets, these include but are not limited to Brazil, China and Russia. All of which are seeing a decline in sales in machinery, however, the company says it has seen signs of improvement in China and some areas of Europe. However, these improvements have not been enough to halter the decline in sales. In comparison the company is optimistic for other countries that have felt the force of the recession, further enforcing the need for political interest in the area. Mr Halverson stated that it was optimistic for improvements in the US.
Illegal gas work at a flat in Torquay has landed a pub worker in hot water. Geoffrey Voss illegally installed a gas boiler and gas pipework at a flat in Torquay. Geoffrey, 59, was working in a pub in Torquay before illegally installing a gas boiler in a property on Old Torwood Road. Voss holds no competencies in the area of gas work and has never held any competences in gas work and has not registered with the Gas Safe Register, he was sentenced for his illegal installation and illegal activities after he was investigated heavily by the Health & Safety Executive. As a result of the investigation Geoffrey admitted that he had not followed the strict guidelines in regards to the health and safety of the gas fitting, both in installation and follow up, including testing to ensure that he boiler wasn’t omitting carbon monoxide, something that could <insert> putting the homeowner in potential life threatening danger. Mr Voss’s case was heard at Newton Abbot Magistrates’ Court, after the homeowner asked for the legal documentation for the new gas boiler, after Mr Voss repeatedly ignored these requests the home owner contacted the Gas Safe Register with his concerns. Voss, pleaded guilty to 2 breaches of regulations, and resulted in 36 weeks imprisonment, and told to pay costs of £757. The breaches were Regulation 3 (3) and 33(1)(C) of the Gas Safety Regulations. Simon Jones, HSE Inspector stressed in a statement after the hearing about the importance of engineers with the appropriate training and registrations carrying out gas work. It was only a matter of fortune that no-one was harmed as a result as illegal work that has not been properly commissioned can result in risk of explosion, carbon monoxide poisoning or fire.
Most recently, the most prominent coastal investigation study has begun alongside the Welsh coast. Incorporating everything from mathematical modelling, the monitoring of water quality and field surveys, the study exists to provide the DCWW and Natural Resources Wales with the knowledge essential to better protecting Welsh coastal waters, not solely today, but tomorrow and into the future. The study itself, which is expected to be finished by the close of 2017’s first quarter, will see members of the DCWW Capital Delivery Alliance pursuing a schedule of works across 49 Welsh coastal sites as part of a project totalling in at a value of circa £8m. For the study, members of the alliance will create computerised models of Welsh coastal waters, then carrying out studies on bathing as well as of shellfish water to better assess how and where investment will be needed to sustain, or improve, water quality levels along the Welsh coast. Although the alliance already maintains considerable in-house expertise, to best ensure accuracy and proficiency in the study, partnerships have also been made with specialists in the field, including water consultant, Intertek, as well as APEM, Fugro and CREH to assist in the delivery of the study. As explained by alliance member, Mott MacDonald Bentley’s Project Manager, Mark Dives, the project will see a variety of innovative techniques for the survey as well as some of the latest specialist coastal survey technology ever used. This will include state of the art modelling and microbial tracers, pollutant transport and the simulation of coastal dynamics. He explained: “The sheer scale of the task in hand – to gather a huge amount of historic data to feed the study and drive a substantial survey programme to gather new data – in the time available will provide a big challenge.” Yet, despite the challenges laid out, Mark Dives remains sure that the alliance will be able to complete the study in a safe and efficient manner as well as find a sustainable outcome which can benefit both customers of the DCWW and the wider environment.
Following on from the recent success of Breedon Aggregates in increasing profits by almost 50% last year, in addition to the company’s potential acquisition of Hope Construction Materials, it has been announced that the organisation’s Chief Executive, Pat Ward clearly sees continuation in the brand’s success, procuring some 150,000 shares in the company at a rate of 70p – a deal which is heralded as quite a safe investment given the company’s recent, and predicted success. The move signifies Pat Ward’s first investment made into Breedon Aggregates, which will complement the vast number of shares he has recently been presented with as part of the group’s performance share plan; a total of 709,219 shares being provided to Pat Ward, 531,914 shares to Chairman, Peter Tom, and 425,531 shares provided to Finance Director, Rob Wood. Now, more than ever, certainly seems like a good time to invest into Breedon Aggregates, with predictions seeing the company grow almost twofold should the acquisition of Hope Construction Materials follow through. And while the deal is presently facing concerns as to reduced competition in the mixed-concrete market, it would seem that Breedon Aggregates had already foreseen this and may be prepared to sacrifice a portion of its concrete production capacity to enable the deal to continue. Should the deal continue, it is expected that Breedon Aggregates will become something of a powerhouse in the industry and, while regulation will require the company to downsize somewhat to maintain a level of competitiveness in the wider industry, this will still see Breedon Aggregates maintain a sizeable share in the market for the production of mixed-concrete. Also with Hope Construction Materials only recently launching its very own, branded range of product, the company may very well see the acquisition of a very strong product portfolio from Hope Construction Materials which will only cement the company’s future prosperity in the market for mixed-concrete products.
In this day and age, providing a physical service is no longer considered to be quite enough. Regardless of industry, it is increasingly the case that organisations can be seen to value partnerships as of near-equal import to other areas of service provision. Why, you might ask? Most specifically, this could be attributed to an increased need for contractor management to ensure that all works are being provided in a manner that suits the overall vision of any given project, yet, there are many other contributing factors to consider also. Through works being provided simply as-is, with no communication of discussion, it is entirely possible that such works will be completed adequately; at the same time, however, this can often not be the case. As organisations increasingly recognise the level of concise expertise maintained within the supply chain, the want for tapping into such specialist expertise so too, grows – this being most aptly due to a perceived lack of expertise in comparison; or at least, in that specific area of work. While a project may look feasible from the top, the need for specific details in a project, such as architecture, design, mechanical works and more, to then be checked, is of increasing import. In fact, it could be argued that it is of incredible import that any issues of challenges perceived in such works be highlighted at the soonest possible stage to ensure a minimisation of any delays or complications in the project itself. Yet, this can only be achieved in one way – communication. Through proper communication between prime and sub contractor, organisations can see their own expertise and capacity expanded considerably with specialist expertise. This, however, can only be assured should such a subcontractors be involved at the very earliest stages of any given project, which is the very reason why organisations are increasingly seen to develop such partnerships whereby a supply chain isn’t just about the supply of material, or service, but of partnership in the deliver of a project. As such, the development of partnerships is nigh-on essential to the effective delivery of modern projects.
