Clearbell Capital has appointed Savills as joint leasing agent at The Core in Bridge of Don, Aberdeen. The 30 acre (12 hectare) development site with capacity for up to 1.5 million sq ft (139,350 sq m) of business space is located at the gateway to Aberdeen’s ‘Energetica Corridor’, strategically equidistant
Gravity Fitness Limited, represented by international real estate advisor Savills, has secured a deal for its second indoor trampoline park in Yorkshire at St Stephen’s Shopping Centre, Hull. The operator has agreed a new 15-year lease for a 15,000 sq ft (1,394 sq m) second floor unit and will pay
Welsh Water has confirmed that it is to give a £32 million boost to its customers. The additional funding has been made available by the non-profit company to go towards projects aimed at benefiting its customers, as the firm announced its results. The £32 million figure is the equivalent of
Drivers who work for landscape products firm Marshalls are to stage a one day strike on Monday June 13 because of their long-running overtime pay dispute. The disagreement concerns the overtime payment disparity for the LGV drivers who deliver to customers from 14 different manufacturing sites around the country. For
The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has warned that apprenticeship schemes are to become endangered due to uncertainty regarding the new UK-wide Apprenticeship Levy for training. FMB Scotland has said that unless the Scottish government makes a commitment to ring fence the new training Levy, then the growth of apprentice
Property Butler has announced the launch of a new conveyancing and concierge service for estate agents. Part of Sort Limited, the firm revealed the proposition which is geared towards putting the estate agent in a powerful position by providing reasonable conveyancing services in the early stages of the purchase process.
The number of unannounced visits from Health & Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors to construction sites fell once again last year, with a drop of 4%. In total, 2015/16 saw 9,219 construction site inspections, in comparison with 9,656 the previous year. Over the last three years, the number of inspections carried
Clearbell Capital has appointed Savills as joint leasing agent at The Core in Bridge of Don, Aberdeen. The 30 acre (12 hectare) development site with capacity for up to 1.5 million sq ft (139,350 sq m) of business space is located at the gateway to Aberdeen’s ‘Energetica Corridor’, strategically equidistant from the airport, harbour and city centre with immediate access on to the A90. The Core offers superb quality, bespoke office, industrial, workshop, warehouse and leisure facility space of any size, tailored to suit. Existing occupiers on the park include Sonomatic, the market leader in the provision of advanced automated ultrasonic inspection services, and HVAC & Refrigeration Engineering Ltd. Development of the park’s first speculative industrial unit, extending to 27,000 sq ft (2,508 sq m), and including a dedicated service yard completed in May 2016. Dan Smith, director at Savills Scotland, comments: “We are extremely pleased to be appointed at The Core which is set to become a leading business location in Aberdeen. Bridge of Don has historically had an undersupply of unrestricted serviced employment land, and the majority of existing building stock is 20/30 years old. The Core will provide opportunity for high specification new builds, overlooking Aberdeen’s famous Balgownie Links and the North Sea. The development will be a game changer for this part of the City.” Savills is jointly instructed with JLL and Shepherd Chartered Surveyors. Source link
Gravity Fitness Limited, represented by international real estate advisor Savills, has secured a deal for its second indoor trampoline park in Yorkshire at St Stephen’s Shopping Centre, Hull. The operator has agreed a new 15-year lease for a 15,000 sq ft (1,394 sq m) second floor unit and will pay an annual rent of £100,000. The site, which is due to open in summer 2016, will be Gravity’s fifth venue following deals in Castleford, Maidstone, Norwich and Glasgow. Gravity has instructed Savills to secure additional spaces of 20,000 sq ft (1,858 sq m) or more in high footfall locations such as shopping centres, high streets and retail or leisure parks around the UK. Harvey Jenkinson of Gravity Fitness Limited comments: “We are pleased and excited to be opening our second trampoline park in Yorkshire following Gravity’s huge success at Xscape in Castleford. We have seen customers travelling for many miles to bounce with us and are looking forward to continuing our expansion.” Steve Henderson, retail director at Savills, adds: “Trampoline parks first became hugely popular in the US and are now taking the UK leisure scene by storm. We are pleased to have secured Gravity’s second venue in Yorkshire and currently have several more under offer across the UK.” The landlord was represented by Smith Young Ltd. Source link
Welsh Water has confirmed that it is to give a £32 million boost to its customers. The additional funding has been made available by the non-profit company to go towards projects aimed at benefiting its customers, as the firm announced its results. The £32 million figure is the equivalent of the dividends paid by other companies to its shareholders, but because of the firm’s ownership model, this surplus is put back into expenditure that will see customers reap the benefits. The cash will be used to give extra financial help for customers having difficulties paying their bills; to invest in more renewable energy generation schemes, improve services for areas suffering persistent water supply problems, and to contribute towards the funding of the new Llys y Fran visitor centre in Pembrokeshire. The £32 million sum will boost the firm’s existing £1.7 billion capital investment scheme for the next four year spell, and comes in off the back of a series of positive results for the water firm. During the year, Welsh Water posted an £18 million underlying profit, with operating costs just shy of £300 million and capital expenditure of £279 million. Robert Ayling, Chairman at Welsh Water, said that he was proud and pleased to be able to report the great shape the company is in after his 15 years of ownership, in both financial and operational terms. He said that the primary purpose of the firm is to produce the highest possible standards for customers at the lowest possible price. He believes that the firm’s non-shareholder ownership model is able to deliver that. Chris Jones, Chief Executive, said that the firm’s unique model of ownership enables them to use funds that would otherwise be paid to shareholders to benefit its customers. He says that this helps reduce costs, which in turn brings down the cost of customer bills and generates more energy on the firm’s own sites.
Drivers who work for landscape products firm Marshalls are to stage a one day strike on Monday June 13 because of their long-running overtime pay dispute. The disagreement concerns the overtime payment disparity for the LGV drivers who deliver to customers from 14 different manufacturing sites around the country. For any overtime worked, drivers are paid time and a third, whereas manufacturing employees receive time and a half. The UK’s biggest trade union, Unite, is representing the team of drivers and has warned that if the issue is not resolved then industrial action will escalate. The union notified two of Marshalls’ biggest customers, Jewson (over 600 branches) and Travis Perkins (almost 2,000 outlets) that they were likely to encounter disruption due to the strike. However, Marshalls said that it will prevent this from happening thanks to its contingency plans. John Allott, Unite national officer for construction and allied trades, said that the decision in favour of industrial action shows the Marshalls drivers feelings of anger regarding pay and the hostile attitude of the firm’s management. He added that workers didn’t want the situation to result in industrial action that will cause disruption to the firm’s two biggest clients. However, he insisted that in the face of such increasingly combative management, the union’s members have signalled their intention to take their fight for better pay and justice to the next level. Meanwhile, a Marshalls spokesperson commented that the firm is naturally disappointed that its HGV driver Unite members have decided to take strike action, especially when the firm has made attempts to communicate with them over the issues in question. The company insists that it offers very competitive packages for its drivers, with rates above the average pay rate for the industry. Along with attractive working patterns, the company says it has no difficulty in attracting drivers, many of which have been with Marshalls for many years.
The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has warned that apprenticeship schemes are to become endangered due to uncertainty regarding the new UK-wide Apprenticeship Levy for training. FMB Scotland has said that unless the Scottish government makes a commitment to ring fence the new training Levy, then the growth of apprentice schemes in Scotland will rapidly decrease. In 2015/16 the number of young people being enrolled into apprenticeship schemes surpassed its 25,000 target, with 25,818 apprentices starting. The Scottish government has pledged to raise the apprenticeship target to 30,000 in the next four years. In 2015/16, the number of apprentices starting their courses aged 16 to 24 was 79%, while the amount of starters at level three and above went up by 1% to 65%. More than 30% of Scottish apprenticeship starts were in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) frameworks, while 19% were specifically geared towards learning skills in the construction industry. 59% of apprenticeship starters were men, with 41% women. The figures were published by Skills Development Scotland (SDS). In response to the statistics, FMB Scotland Director, Gordon Nelson, said that while the rise in apprenticeship numbers makes for positive reading, the employment outcomes and quality of the schemes should be the most important consideration. He added that there are now concerns that the positive work could be undone if the Scottish government chooses not to re-invest funds raised by the new UK-wide Apprenticeship Levy. Mr Nelson said that there is a lack of direction from leaders in terms of showing how the Levy will be carried out in Scotland. The SDS report figures relate to modern apprenticeships that have a funding contribution from the public which has been administered by the SDS for the Scottish government. The latest ‘State of Trade’ survey by the FMB shows that almost half of SME employers are finding it hard to recruit carpenters, while more than a third are struggling to source plumbers.
Property Butler has announced the launch of a new conveyancing and concierge service for estate agents. Part of Sort Limited, the firm revealed the proposition which is geared towards putting the estate agent in a powerful position by providing reasonable conveyancing services in the early stages of the purchase process. The newly introduced service will make sure that clients are correctly represented by conveyancers from the very start of the house buying process. Property Butler, powered by SoftRefer, will provide agencies with a white labelled online portal to a select conveyancing panel. The new service will mean that estate agency advisers will be able to produce quotes accurate to the last penny, give online instructions and have the chance to access progress reports at any time of any day through their smartphone or tablet app or desktop. Property Butler will also offer a Fee Guard which will be free for clients to use and gives them peace of mind in terms of the upfront fees paid when purchasing a property. The Fee Guard system will cover disbursement costs for any unforeseen event up to a £1,500 value. Also on offer is the Concierge Service which will provide estate agencies with a bespoke service enabling them to pass referrals and allow the Property Butler team to make the most of the available opportunities. Tim Price will run the new service and he boasts an impressive estate agency career spanning 25 years, along with property market work with Legal & General and Parkers. He has also provided the industry with key ancillary services through The Live Organisation and ONN Financial. Mr Price commented that one of the most important parts of any property transaction is conveyancing, although this is historically slow with insufficient communication to customers from estate agents, resulting in poor sales pipeline control. He believe that this is why the Property Butler will strongly appeal to estate agents.
The number of unannounced visits from Health & Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors to construction sites fell once again last year, with a drop of 4%. In total, 2015/16 saw 9,219 construction site inspections, in comparison with 9,656 the previous year. Over the last three years, the number of inspections carried out by the HSE has fallen by 13% as 2012/13 saw the group make 10,577 inspections. The reduced number of inspections has come at a time when the construction sector is expanding on the whole and is booming in some parts of the UK. Therefore, the total number of sites that have been inspected has seen a significant reduction. Most UK regions saw a reduction in the number inspections over the course of the last year, with the South East seeing the biggest decline, where last year inspections fell by 26% and in the previous two years by 20%. The acting general secretary of the construction union UCATT, Brian Rye, said that these figures give a serious indication of how the HSE is finding it increasingly difficult to fulfil its requirements due to a starvation of resources. He said that lives, health and well being of construction workers are being endangered by the reduced number of inspections, which are conducted to prevent accidents and save lives. Last month, HSE leaders urged HGV drivers to adhere to basic safety procedures by applying parking brakes and using warning alarms after a 20-year-old worker was killed on site last year. Dale Pentney, a road worker, was crushed by an HGV tractor unit after it suddenly rolled backwards as the driver delivered materials for A21 road repairs in Kent, resulting in a suspended prison sentence for the driver. Following the incident, Melvyn Stancliffe, HSE inspector, said that the accident was completely avoidable and that companies must ensure that workers follow safety procedures to the letter.
