©AP The net debts of the largest Western oil companies have surged by a third over the past year, increasing their vulnerability to another fall in oil prices. The aggregate net debt of the 15 largest North American and European oil groups rose to $383bn at the end of March,
Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Tue, Sep 6th 2016 Dry-lining panels by Fermacell feature throughout the new IGMM complex building in Edinburgh. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday Gypsum fibreboard partitioning by specialist building panel manufacturer Fermacell was specified for
Steve Willis Training celebrates 10 years of business Published: 29 September, 2016 Steve Willis Training has been celebrating the tenth anniversary of its Portchester Training Centre in Hampshire with a Worcester boiler cake. Martyn Bridges, director of marketing and technical support at Worcester, Bosch Group, cut the ribbon at the
This is a simple question but one to which the London Housing Commission outlined several answers. At the launch, supported by Savills, of Building a new deal for London on Monday (7 March), mayoral candidates from the three main parties heard these proposed solutions loud and clear. An important message
More than 70% of property and construction businesses based in the UK view the tax system as unfavourable to the industry, according to the latest survey carried out by audit, tax and advisory company, Crowe Clark Whitehill. The report indicates that 68% of participants believe that Stamp Duty Land Tax
Leading insulation and interior building products distributor CCF is working closely with Celotex in partnership with local construction firm, Colmore Tang to help renovate the home of three year old cancer patient, Emily Cassidy, in the West Midlands. Emily’s house was in a dire state of disrepair and needed desperate
Interserve is targeting work on the Scottish highways network. The firm’s infrastructure boss Chris Tyerman said that the company was winning a number of highways jobs north of the border. He said that the Scottish highways market offered a range of opportunities for the business and that building a presence
Sodexo has secured a five year extension to its contract at Queen’s Hospital in Romford, Essex, worth £90 million. The service provider has been working with the hospital for the past 10 years, which is operated by Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT). Under the terms of
The amount of restaurant units in Manchester now stands at over 150, led by significantly strong growth from upmarket and casual dining operators which have doubled their supply in the city acros the last five year period, according to international real estate advisor Savills. In the last four years, 30
Aarsleff Ground Engineering has started its biggest ever UK project, installing piles for homeware retailer The Range’s new distribution centre in Avonmouth, Bristol. The £100 million big shed is being constructed by McLaren Construction for developer Stoford Properties. Work commenced on the site in July this year and Aarsleff is
©AP The net debts of the largest Western oil companies have surged by a third over the past year, increasing their vulnerability to another fall in oil prices. The aggregate net debt of the 15 largest North American and European oil groups rose to $383bn at the end of March, up $97bn from 12 months ago, according to company reports compiled by Bloomberg. More On this topic IN Oil & Gas Oil companies’ revenues have slumped as a result of the crash in crude prices that began in the summer of 2014. Although they have cut capital and operating costs sharply, most of them have had to borrow to finance their investment programmes and dividend payments. The debt surge was particularly sharp in the first quarter of this year, when oil prices dropped to a low of about $27 per barrel. Although interest rates are near record lows and oil prices have since recovered, ending last week at about $49, the increased indebtedness of the industry means it will face greater difficulties should oil prices slip back again. That would be likely to mean more job losses and investment cuts, as well as possibly dividend cuts and more defensive mergers and acquisitions. Part of the increase in oil debt over the past year is accounted for by the $19bn cash component of Royal Dutch Shell’s acquisition of BG Group. But all the large companies have reported sharp increases in their borrowings. ExxonMobil’s net debts rose to $38.3bn at the end of March from $27.6bn a year earlier, while BP’s rose to $30.6bn from $24.6bn over the same period. The rising debts and lowered expectations for future oil prices have prompted many credit rating agencies to downgrade oil companies, with Exxon last month losing its triple A grade from Standard & Poor’s. Although the rebound in oil prices is improving companies’ cash flows, and they are continuing to bear down on costs, they are still under financial strain with crude at present levels. Jason Bloom, director of commodity research at Invesco PowerShares, said: “Prices at these levels are a big problem, not just for the smaller exploration and production companies, but also for the majors.” Although ConocoPhillips in the US and Italy’s Eni have cut their dividends, most of the largest US and European oil companies have committed to maintaining their payouts to shareholders, limiting their ability to invest in future production. Philip Verleger, an energy economist, said: “The big companies that have been investing in high-cost projects like Kashagan [in Kazakhstan] or the deep waters off Brazil are going to be forced to cut back their investments to pay back their debts and cover their dividends.” That pressure has been reflected in oil companies making strategic shifts, such as Chevron’s move away from large developments that can take many years and billions of dollars to complete, towards smaller more flexible projects. BP has similarly said it is pulling back from expensive frontier exploration that can take a decade or more to pay off. In contrast, the total net debts of the midsized US exploration and production companies that led the shale revolution have been stable over the past year, as banks have pulled back from lending to them. This year, in spite of a strong rebound in high-yield energy debt prices since February, there has been very little junk bond issuance by US exploration and production companies. Parsley Energy’s $200m bond sale last week was the first high-yield offering from a US exploration and production company in 2016. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Source link
Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Tue, Sep 6th 2016 Dry-lining panels by Fermacell feature throughout the new IGMM complex building in Edinburgh. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday Gypsum fibreboard partitioning by specialist building panel manufacturer Fermacell was specified for a redeveloped research facility for a quadruplet of reasons at least, its fire and acoustic properties, robustness and weight bearing capabilities to name just a few. Some 5,000m2 of 12mm square-edged fermacell was used throughout the University of Edinburgh’s £11 million development of the Institute for Genetics and Molecular Medicine (IGMM) at the city’s Western General Hospital. It was specified by the city’s Oberlanders Architects LLP for the five-storey building which links three existing buildings in the complex – the Medical Research Council’s Human Genetics Unit, the Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, and the Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre – to form a world-class research facility. Frequent Fermacell specifiers, Oberlanders’ brief was to repurpose existing laboratories to enable expansion of IGMM research programmes. The project included dry-lab computational research space linked by a spiral stair within a dramatic south-facing, double-height space, dedicated lecture facilities (including a 180-person lecture theatre) and a social hub and café. The Western General Hospital campus in which the IGMM complex is located is an amalgamation of medical buildings built in the hospital grounds over the past 140 years, beginning with St Cuthbert’s Poorhouse which opened in 1868 and subsequently renamed a “hospital”. In contemporary contrast, the new IGMM building uses a steel frame allowing large clear spans internally. The main façade is essentially single aspect and has glass curtain walling to maximise natural daylight and create an appealing working environment. Brick is used extensively to provide solid book ends to the curtain walling. A spacious roof terrace with overhanging canopy is provided at top floor level, affording stunning views of the Edinburgh skyline. There were many landmark stages for the build in a live research/hospital environment with complex existing services to contend with. Oberlanders senior architect Rob Bunworth said: “Certainly the ability of the contractor to get the build wind- and water-tight against the sometimes harsh Scottish climate was a milestone, allowing the fermacell internal walling systems to progress apace.” The fermacell panels were installed by specialist sub-contractors ORR Fire Protection and Alexander Gatey for phase one main contractor BAM Construction and construction, refurbishment and maintenance contractor Clark Contracts. Rob Bunworth added: “The building has been an unqualified success. Key to this is delivering connectivity to the previously separate institutes as well as delivering on the client’s aspirations for bright, well-lit and appealing working environments. The building also delivers on the client briefing requirements by offering many informal study and breakout environments to help foster interdisciplinary crossover and synergy. “Our previous positive experience with fermacell on several education projects in the UK led us to use the range of partition products again due to its robustness and fire/acoustic properties. An additional benefit is fermacell’s weight bearing capacity without the requirement for additional lining or support, thus providing flexibility in locating shelving, fixtures and equipment internally during the fit-out phase of the project. “The project uses fermacell partition and independent wall lining systems extensively – all internal walls are fermacell. The large spans of fermacell partition systems are particularly visible to the large 17m-high central atrium linking the reception and foyer to the upper circulation areas. “The fermacell systems as utilised in the build allowed Oberlanders the flexibility to specify many different variations on partition types dealing with myriad fire and acoustic issues. Its robustness and severe duty rating, in addition to its loadbearing capacity, allowed for flexibility in our design response across the project.” He emphasised: “The internal wall components have stood up well alongside the other finishes on the project. Fermacell was able to achieve the height, performance criteria (fire and acoustic), surface finish and robustness characteristics to several demanding environments within the project.10mm deflection joints required for movement within the fermacell partition system have been specifically set out to provide a coordinated and ultimately pleasing grid pattern within the highly-visible four-storey atrium space located at the heart of the building.” ENDS Photo: Oberlanders Architects LLP (c) Michael Wolchover photographer Source link
Steve Willis Training celebrates 10 years of business Published: 29 September, 2016 Steve Willis Training has been celebrating the tenth anniversary of its Portchester Training Centre in Hampshire with a Worcester boiler cake. Martyn Bridges, director of marketing and technical support at Worcester, Bosch Group, cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony ten years ago, and came back again for cake cutting duties. He said: “As a very practical line of work, the heating and plumbing industry needs facilities like this to allow its engineers to benefit from hands-on training. Maintaining such a commitment to professional development for a decade is a great achievement and I’m sure plenty more plumbing and heating engineers will pass through the centre’s doors over the next decade and beyond.” The training centre said that having such a long-standing relationship with an industry supplier such as Worcester ensures that the training centre can provide the latest equipment and technologies for its trainees. In turn, engineers and apprentices become more skilled at working on Worcester appliances. Steve Willis, managing director of the training centre, said: “We have been working with Worcester for over 20 years, and their support has always been second to none. This allows us to keep our customers up to date with technological advancements in boilers and related industries.” Source link
This is a simple question but one to which the London Housing Commission outlined several answers. At the launch, supported by Savills, of Building a new deal for London on Monday (7 March), mayoral candidates from the three main parties heard these proposed solutions loud and clear. An important message for me was that, with fiscal freedom, London could double its delivery of new homes to 50,000 a year by 2020. The report advocates collaboration between the Greater London Authority and the city’s 33 boroughs to win a devolution deal from the Government, to give the capital more power over planning, taxes, borrowing and spending. While devolution is a longer-term goal of the report, of more immediate interest to the candidates to succeed Boris Johnson are some of the short-term measures the IPPR-led Commission proposes. My eye was caught in particular by the calls by Commission chair Lord Bob Kerslake to strike a deal with housing associations to double their annual housebuilding in the capital in exchange for more sites; to speed up the release of land identified as not in use by the London Land Commission; and for the new mayor to issue London-wide guidance on negotiating affordable housing with developers. The Commission’s proposals for more power for London are important because the scale of the challenge in the capital is unprecedented. As Lord Kerslake reminded us, average house prices, according to the latest figures from the Land Registry, are now £525,000 – some 45 per cent higher than they were before the financial crisis. Rents are also up, he said, by around 16 per cent to £1,400 a month, or £16,800 a year. The report suggests various ideas for the devolution ‘city deal’: • Give the mayor power to ‘call in’ boroughs if they fail to identify enough land for homes, or refuse too many applications to build new homes• Allow London to keep more of the stamp duty raised from homes in London, adjusting the rates over time• Devolve responsibility for setting planning fees to allow boroughs to charge higher fees, enabling them to speed up the planning process• Give local authorities the power to levy a discretionary tax on developers where agreed housebuilding targets have been missed As I’ve said, however, a devolution deal could not happen overnight, so the Commission suggests other actions to be taken more immediately. These steps could be taken by the new mayor regardless of the progress of any devolution negotiations with the Treasury. It was encouraging to hear the three main mayoral candidates who attended the launch of the Commission’s findings on Monday expressing their broad support. Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith said: ‘I agree with your report’s key findings. We need to keep a greater share of our tax…it is critical that we have a mayor that can get a good deal from government.’ Labour’s Sadiq Khan, who believes that the mayoral election is ‘a referendum on housing’, described the report as ‘a fantastic contribution to a very critical and crucial debate’. Lib Dem Caroline Pidgeon added: ‘I strongly agree with report’s central conclusion that building more homes and more affordable homes is the only way to create step change in supply need to improve affordability in the capital for the long term.’ While we can expect the mayoral race to be high on rhetoric, the London Housing Commission has produced some tangible, meticulously thought-out proposals, with a clear outline of how to put its theory into practice. The success of whichever measures the winning candidate adopts will hinge on much closer working between national and local government and the mayor and London Assembly. There is an opportunity for real collaboration to work towards achieving a sustainable, long-term housing strategy for London. The Commission’s report is packed full of good ideas – the question now is to what extent the mayoral candidates pick up the gauntlet that has been thrown down to them. Robert Grundy is Head of Housing at Savills Source link
More than 70% of property and construction businesses based in the UK view the tax system as unfavourable to the industry, according to the latest survey carried out by audit, tax and advisory company, Crowe Clark Whitehill. The report indicates that 68% of participants believe that Stamp Duty Land Tax is the largest tax barrier to growth for companies, while a further 12% perceive Capital Gains Tax as the biggest barrier. The report provides a market outlook for the industry over the next 12 months and saw an overwhelming expectation that residential new builds would be the London property most affected by the downturn in the market. While the housing crisis continues, this prediction increases the potential for the development of brownfield sites, followed by council owned property to manage demand. In fact, almost half of respondents believe that the redevelopment of brownfield sites will be the future of the London property market. Commenting on the findings, Stacy Eden, head of property and construction at Crowe, said that an overhaul of the tax system must be high on the agenda for the government as a reduction in the tax burden will fuel growth and encourage investment. She believes that cuts to SDLT should be the first step towards this, as we have already seen the negative impacts of the recent raises on the property market. Eden continued: “Simplification to the planning process to promote efficiency and initiatives to regulate the market are also required. Ensuring that brownfield sites are available for development is crucial – and there is clear demand for this within the industry. “Decisive action is needed as the lingering uncertainty from Brexit is hampering confidence. We need to ensure long-term international competitive of our market, and that Brexit does not reduce investment into real estate.” Crowe Clark Whitehill is a national audit, tax and advisory firm and the UK member of Crowe Horwath International, one of the largest global professional service organisations with 171 independent member firms operating from 671 offices around the world.
Leading insulation and interior building products distributor CCF is working closely with Celotex in partnership with local construction firm, Colmore Tang to help renovate the home of three year old cancer patient, Emily Cassidy, in the West Midlands. Emily’s house was in a dire state of disrepair and needed desperate attention in order to transform it into a safe and comfortable home for her whole family. As the interior structure of the building was in need of a complete makeover, CCF was approached by Colmore Tang to help jointly coordinate the efforts of all involved, in an attempt to upgrade the property. The scheme was initiated by Georgie Moseley, the founder of local charity, Help Harry Help Others. After a visit to Emily’s home, Georgie put a call out on Facebook to help her carry out the renovation work since the house had been left in a bad state by previous contractors, with wires hanging from the ceilings and a new-build extension that was deemed unsafe. Nick Whittaker, Framework Development Manager at CCF, commented: “We are always happy to get involved with such worthwhile causes like this one. Georgie Moseley has done a fantastic job in spearheading the renovation project and it’s been great to see local businesses working together to create such an impressive end result. We wish Emily a very speedy recovery.” The initiative received an overwhelming response from 40 firms, which meant that the work could be carried out while Emily and her family travelled to America, where she received life-saving proton beam therapy. CCF is one of the UK’s leading distributors of interior building products to the construction industry, supplying ceilings, dry lining, flooring, insulation, partitioning and fire protection materials. Our service and support, combined with a nationwide branch network and extensive fleet of vehicles ensure that the customer gets the materials they require, where and when they need them.
Interserve is targeting work on the Scottish highways network. The firm’s infrastructure boss Chris Tyerman said that the company was winning a number of highways jobs north of the border. He said that the Scottish highways market offered a range of opportunities for the business and that building a presence there was the “natural step to creating organic growth”. Mr Tyerman was appointed as Interserve’s infrastructure head in November 2014 following several years at Costain, where his roles included director of highways maintenance and deputy managing director. Interserve Construction Director, Ian Renhard, said at the time that Mr Tyerman’s appointment was part of the firm’s strategy to grow its infrastructure division, singling out highways work as a particularly important area of strategic planning for the business. In March last year, the firm made the decision to target the Scottish highways sector, with Interserve bidding for its first roads job in the early part of this year after “positive conversations with Transport Scotland and local authorities”, Mr Tyerman said. He continued: “When we look at what projects are attractive to us and we look at who the customer is and what the funding process is… and whether it sits in a range of projects that allows us to operate competently and comprehensively, there are certainly schemes in Scotland that fall within that assessment criteria and that is the reason why we have moved towards that market.” Interserve has already established itself in the highways sector in England by securing a series of local and strategic road contracts over the last two years. In June, it was chosen on four out of six of the highways lots for the £1.5bn North-east Procurement Organisation framework covering infrastructure work throughout the region. The company was also one of five businesses to be chosen in the medium-value lot of Highways England’s £5 billion Collaborative Delivery Framework for work up to £25 million.
Sodexo has secured a five year extension to its contract at Queen’s Hospital in Romford, Essex, worth £90 million. The service provider has been working with the hospital for the past 10 years, which is operated by Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT). Under the terms of the new contract, Sodexo will continue its provision of soft services, including patient dining, portering, waste management, cleaning, retail, reception, security, estates management and grounds maintenance. The new deal will also see Sodexo introduce a series of improvements to its services, which it insists will focus on “enhancing patient experience” and help to release clinical time to care for patients. The company will introduce a range of steam-cooked meals, which it says will offer freshness and a fast service. Sodexo is also to run a scheme to replace all curtains with antimicrobial, disposable alternatives which have been designed to help control the spread of disease. Director of Estates at BHRUT, Simon Mills, commented: “Delivering the highest quality of care possible to our patients is what we’re always working towards, so it’s been great to see some of the improvements Sodexo have made recently. These things can really make a difference and give our patients a better experience of staying in our hospital.” Sodexo is also currently in the second year of a five year FM contract at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, where it provides cleaning, portering, retail and private patient services throughout its five London hospitals: Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea Hospital, Hammersmith Hospital, Charing Cross Hospital, St Mary’s Hospital and the Western Eye Hospital.
The amount of restaurant units in Manchester now stands at over 150, led by significantly strong growth from upmarket and casual dining operators which have doubled their supply in the city acros the last five year period, according to international real estate advisor Savills. In the last four years, 30 new restaurant brands in these two categories have opened in the city, with 14 arriving since the start of this year, according to the group’s analysis. El Gato Negro, Grafene and Busaba are some of the restaurants included in the new arrivals over the last year. The new restaurants will form part of a wider thriving leisure scene in the city. Savills’ analysis of the city centre has shown there are now over 540 leisure units, including restaurants, bars, cafes, cinemas and other entertainment venues. Looking away from restaurants to consider the leisure sector on the whole, a total of 70 new operators have arrived in the city over the last four years, including 26 which have opened in 2016. Increasing demand for restaurant space has increased top rents in prime flagship locations to £40-50 per sq ft (£430-538 per sq m) in the third quarter of 2016, in comparison with £30-£40 per sq ft (£323-£431 per sq m) five years ago. John Agnew, retail and leisure director at Savills, said: “Manchester continues to be a major dining and leisure destination, and the city’s offer has grown significantly in recent years. Our analysis shows that aspirational brands feel at home in Manchester, with many new operators arriving to offer both casual dining and more upmarket experiences. There is truly something to suit every wallet and taste.” Savills says Deansgate, the Corn Exchange, Spinningfields, Piccadilly and King Street are among the most attractive locations in the city for major restaurant operators, while independent venues continue to favour the Northern Quarter.
Aarsleff Ground Engineering has started its biggest ever UK project, installing piles for homeware retailer The Range’s new distribution centre in Avonmouth, Bristol. The £100 million big shed is being constructed by McLaren Construction for developer Stoford Properties. Work commenced on the site in July this year and Aarsleff is installing more than 15,000 precast piles to support both the main slab and roof stanchions of the finished structure as well as several peripheral buildings, such as sprinkler tank bases. Most piles for the project will be 250mm section DPC, with the rest being 300mm piles, with ground conditions anticipated to be a significant depth of tidal flat deposits. The piles will be bearing onto Mercian Mudstone, which is typical of the strata suitable for a DPC approach. Aarsleff General Manager, Kevin Hague, commented: “This is the largest piling project that Aarsleff UK has ever undertaken in its 25-year history and is a tremendous vote of confidence in our precast piling solutions. “It is also our first project for McLaren Construction and given the scope of works it highlights the high degree of trust they have put in us, the result of our previous dealings with them and our industry reputation.” Aarsleff supported McLaren’s bid for the scheme to assess the potential cost implications of several loading scenarios for the formerly unconfirmed roof loadings. Aarsleff also highlighted the twin issues of both negative skin friction and the cost implications of using various joint types, to inform client-contractor negotiations. Earlier in the month, Aarsleff Ground Engineering took over A&J Geotechnical Services. Aarsleff managing director Chris Primett said: “The acquisition of A&J Geotechnical Services is a strategic move, which now allows Aarsleff to provide more diverse and comprehensive ground package solutions. He added: “A&J is a perfect fit for Aarsleff. Both companies have a vision of providing clients with a multidisciplinary offer where the best service, techniques and commercial offering is delivered by vastly experienced teams.”
