Amey is trialling the use of sensors in gullies in Hampshire to prevent roads flooding. Above: Gulley inspection The idea is that instead of relying on routine inspection to check gully blockages, the sensors will detect the build-up of silt and rising water levels inside. The sensors feed data back
UK annual house price growth increased to 5.7% in March, taking the average price to £200,251 but the latest index also shows that the gap between north and south continues to widen. Annual house price growth recorded its strongest pace since February 2015 up from 4.8% the previous month while
The World Freight Terminal at Manchester Airport has welcomed two new companies and two customer renewals on the eve of its 30th anniversary. MAG Property, the development arm of airport operator Manchester Airports Group, has signed long-term leases with cleaning supplies firm Lime Supply and IT services provider Posilan. Lime
Ahead of the £1.3 billion prison building programme planned by the Ministry of Justice, a new study has outlined recommendations for reform to the way prison buildings are designed and operated. If implemented, the research suggests these changes could reduce assaults on staff by more than 50%, significantly reduce the
Wates Group has confirmed that Paul Chandler will become Group Managing Director of its Construction Group in the New Year. Chandler will join the firm from Skanska where he spent 34 years and was head of the company’s building operations in the UK. He replaces Wates veteran Dave Smith who
Home services marketplace, Plentific.com’s, latest consumer insight has found that four out of five UK homeowners (79%) do not ask to see evidence of VAT credentials when hiring a tradesman. Despite becoming more wary of cowboy tradesmen, most homeowners in the UK do not check the VAT credentials of tradesmen.
Amey is trialling the use of sensors in gullies in Hampshire to prevent roads flooding. Above: Gulley inspection The idea is that instead of relying on routine inspection to check gully blockages, the sensors will detect the build-up of silt and rising water levels inside. The sensors feed data back to a control centre via web-based, mapped, visualisation software. This way, time is not spent inspecting clean gullies and emergency call-outs for flooding can be averted. Amey account director Paul Anderson said: “This is exciting, new technology which should enable us to be much more proactive in terms of preventing gullies becoming flooded, as opposed to dealing with the issue in just a reactive way. We have installed 25 sensors in known ‘high risk’ gullies and are currently collecting information at these sites. If these sensors works as well as we hope they will, then it could lead to a radically different approach in Hampshire and elsewhere.” Hampshire County Council executive member for environment and transport, Rob Humby, said: “Heavy, intense rainfall can, as we all know, result in localised flooding, and keeping the water off the road surfaces is at the forefront of our highways work throughout the winter. These sensors should help us establish an inventory of each gully which will show us when and where we need to direct resources.” It is not the only interesting innovation involving Hampshire gullies: R&W Civil Engineering recycles the waste gathered from gullies to produce clean water, topsoil and aggregates. [See our previous report here.] Amey’s current seven-year term on Hampshire highways comes to an end in August 2017. The council has yet to announce whether it will be renewed. This article was published on 20 Oct 2016 (last updated on 20 Oct 2016). Source link
UK annual house price growth increased to 5.7% in March, taking the average price to £200,251 but the latest index also shows that the gap between north and south continues to widen. Annual house price growth recorded its strongest pace since February 2015 up from 4.8% the previous month while month on month home prices increased by 0.8%, according to the data from leading UK lender the Nationwide. Average house prices in England increased by 1.8% in the first quarter of 2016, and were up 7.7% year on year. This means that in cash terms, the gap in average prices between the South and the North of England now stands at nearly £163,000. Prices in the North are now less than half those in the South, a record low. ‘There has been a pickup in housing market activity in recent months, with the number of housing transactions and mortgage approvals rising strongly. This is likely to have been driven, at least in part, by upcoming changes to stamp duty on second homes, where buyers have brought forward purchases in order to avoid the additional tax liabilities,’ said Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist. ‘This temporary boost to demand against a backdrop of continued constrained supply is likely to have exerted upward pressure on prices and helped to lift the pace of annual price growth out of the fairly narrow range of 3% to 5% that has been prevailing since the summer,’ he explained. He pointed out that the pace of house price growth may moderate again once the stamp duty changes take effect in April. ‘However, it is possible that the recent pattern of strong employment growth, rising real earnings, low borrowing costs and constrained supply will keep the demand/supply balance tilted in favour of sellers and maintain pressure on price growth in the quarters ahead,’ he said. Gardner also pointed out that according to Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the stock of houses on estate agents’ books remains close to all-time lows on data extending back 30 years. The quarterly index, published at the same time, shows that regional house prices maintained the same broad trends prevailing in recent years with southern regions continuing to record significantly stronger rates of annual price growth, further widening regional disparities. The Outer Metropolitan was the strongest performing region in the first quarter of 2016, with average prices up 12.2% year on year. London was close behind, though it did record a slight moderation in its annual rate of growth to 11.5% from 12.2% the previous quarter. The North was the weakest performing region in England and the UK overall, with prices down 1.1% year on year. House price growth slowed sharply in Northern Ireland, with annual growth moderating to 1.8%, even though the price of a typical property is still 45% below the pre-crisis peak. Wales saw a lacklustre 1.7% year on year increase in prices, a slight pick-up compared with the previous quarter while Scotland recorded another small house price decline, with prices down 0.2% compared with the first quarter of 2015, the fourth such decline in succession. Average house prices in England increased by 1.8% in the first quarter of 2016, and were up 7.7% year on year. The gap in price growth between the South of England and the North widened further. Prices in Southern England, which includes the South West, Outer South East, Outer Metropolitan, London and East Anglia, were up 9.9% year on year, whilst in the West Midlands, the East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside, the North West and the North prices rose by just 1.8%. ‘One slight variation on this familiar theme was that, for only the fourth time in five years, London did not record the strongest rate of price growth, with the Outer Metropolitan region occupying the top spot in the first quarter of 2016,’ Gardner said. ‘Nevertheless, London still recorded the second fastest rate of growth, with prices reaching a new all-time high some 52% above pre-crisis levels compared with 9% for overall UK house prices,’ he explained. ‘Overall, the pace of house price growth generally moderates as you move from the south to the north of the country, with the North of England and Scotland actually recording modest house price declines in the first quarter, even though prices remain well below pre-crisis levels in those regions,’ he added. Rob Weaver, director of investments at property crowdfunding platform Property Partner, believes that the rush to meet the stamp duty deadline and avoid higher purchase costs was unquestionably reflected in the March house price data. ‘We may see a slight softening in activity over the next month or so, but cheap mortgages, growing wages, strong employment and the continuing issues around supply could mean average UK house prices continue to rise through 2016,’ he said. BOOKMARK THIS PAGE (What is this?) Source link
The World Freight Terminal at Manchester Airport has welcomed two new companies and two customer renewals on the eve of its 30th anniversary. MAG Property, the development arm of airport operator Manchester Airports Group, has signed long-term leases with cleaning supplies firm Lime Supply and IT services provider Posilan. Lime Supply has taken 581 sq ft at Building 308 on Avro Way and Posilan has moved into a 456 sq ft facility within the same building. Further, existing World Freight Terminal tenants MIQ Logistics and Evolution Time Critical have agreed to extend thee deals on their space at Building 308. Lime Supply MD Matt Burtinshaw said: “In logistics, location is everything. “Our new offices at Manchester World Freight Terminal are directly linked to the middle of the region’s motorway network, and adjacent to an international airport with global links.” Posilan MD Steve Daniels commented: “Having clients across the North West means that Manchester Airport is a perfect central location at which to base our key staff. “With the road connections we can be with clients quicker than before.” Matthew Bird, property manager of MAG Property, said: “It’s pleasing to see more companies see the advantage of locating at an airport. “Our focus at MAG Property is on providing the right kind of property and location to suit the individual needs of businesses and, in particular, those in industry sectors that benefit from airport locations. “I know that our occupiers old and new will all benefit from being at one of the best connected locations in the North West.” Established 30 years ago, Manchester’s World Freight Terminal today handles more than 100,000 tonnes of import and export freight and mail annually, across both passenger aircraft and freight-only aircraft.
Ahead of the £1.3 billion prison building programme planned by the Ministry of Justice, a new study has outlined recommendations for reform to the way prison buildings are designed and operated. If implemented, the research suggests these changes could reduce assaults on staff by more than 50%, significantly reduce the stress under which staff work, reduce overall lifecycle costs and see prisoners rehabilitated – cutting reoffending rates in England and Wales, which currently stand at some of the highest in Europe. In fact, figures show that just under half of all adult prisoners are likely to reoffend within one year of release at a cost to the tax payer of £13 billion a year. Compiled by a panel of expert criminologists and psychologists with input from charities, prisoners, victims and prison managers the new report, entitled ‘Rehabilitation by Design; Influencing Change in Prisoner Behaviour’, examines how reforming management methods and prison design could significantly improve that outlook. It asserts that the primary aim for any new prison programme must be to address the huge reoffending rate and suggests this could be achieved through the use of innovative yet cost effective changes to the built environment. It goes on to investigate the ways in which behavioural policies and clever design principles have benefited prison systems abroad, and how these initiatives could be successfully implemented in the UK. The report was presented to MPs, peers and industry experts recently in a reception at the House of Commons. It has been spearheaded by property and construction consultancy Gleeds and features contributions from a number of academics, including; Professor Keith Humphreys of the University of Stanford and Professor Yvonne Jewkes from the University of Brighton, with the support of management consultants PwC. Richard Steer, Chairman of Gleeds Worldwide, said: “This new study offers some fantastic insights into how we can maximise the opportunity presented by the proposed new build prisons programme. By reviewing the way in which we design and operate our facilities we have the chance to make some truly positive changes to the criminal justice system, reducing reoffending rates and making our prisons both safer and more efficient for inmates and staff.”
Wates Group has confirmed that Paul Chandler will become Group Managing Director of its Construction Group in the New Year. Chandler will join the firm from Skanska where he spent 34 years and was head of the company’s building operations in the UK. He replaces Wates veteran Dave Smith who will step down from the business after 32 years. Wates CEO, Andrew Davis, commented: “Paul has built an enviable reputation for delivering large and complex projects with a keen emphasis on operational excellence. “He also brings enormous experience in sustainability and diversity and inclusion, areas which we have always valued at Wates, and which are becoming increasingly important to our customers. “I am delighted that Paul has agreed to join the Wates team and look forward to working with him on the many opportunities ahead.” Chandler said: “I am delighted to be joining the Wates Group at an exciting time in its growth strategy. “Wates has a great reputation across a number of sectors with strong performance across all its operations. “I look forward to bringing my experience to bear on the next stage of the Construction Group’s development alongside my new colleagues.” Sir Robert McAlpine also confirmed some changes to senior roles with London Regional Manager Grant Findlay promoted to the national role of Head of Preconstruction for the Building Division. McAlpine also officially confirmed Paul Heather will be joining from Skanska to take on the London regional role. Last month it was announced that Chief Operating Officer Dave Smith will leave the company at the end of the year. In a statement the contractor said Smith would step down from the role, as well as group managing director of the firm’s construction group and his group board roles with immediate effect. He will leave the company at the end of the year.
Home services marketplace, Plentific.com’s, latest consumer insight has found that four out of five UK homeowners (79%) do not ask to see evidence of VAT credentials when hiring a tradesman. Despite becoming more wary of cowboy tradesmen, most homeowners in the UK do not check the VAT credentials of tradesmen. The HMRC estimates that £3.4 billion is uncollected every year from VAT fraud. While it is legal for a tradesman to not be VAT registered when earning under £83,000 a year, there are some that claim to be VAT registered so that they can charge customers higher prices. Although the VAT charge can appear on the bill, if the trade professional is not upfront with their credentials, they can keep the 20% fee. As a result, the homeowner is overcharged while also taking part in VAT fraud. Plentific’s study showed that homeowners aged 18-34 are twice as likely (41%) to ask to see their trade professional’s VAT credentials when compared to the UK’s average. Perhaps this generation are more cost-conscious and inclined to negotiate the final price. Londoners too are cautious, with 37% asking for evidence. This may be a consequence of the higher prices for London services, which caused the homeowners to be aware of additional expenses. Nottingham, on the other hand, appears to care the least, with just 12% saying they would ask to see the VAT credentials. Despite the variety of results throughout the UK, however, the majority of homeowners do not ask to see evidence of a trade professional’s VAT credentials. While it is not imperative to confirm a trade professional’s VAT number or even to hire a registered specialist, homeowners are more likely to get a better deal if they are registered. Spokesperson for Plentific, Stephen Jury, commented: “Homeowners are very cost-conscious, however according to our research; they’re unaware that they could be paying too much for their home improvements. By simply asking for a Pro’s VAT number and instantly confirming this online, you know you’re not being overcharged.”
