Ninety per cent of businesses would provide demand side response (DSR) if it did not adversely affect their operations. A total of 87 per cent of the 73 per cent of businesses that do not currently provide DSR said they would be interested in earning revenue from DSR if it did not affect their operation. Of the 200 end-users polled in a new survey by Energyst, sponsored by National Grid and several DSR aggregators, the top reasons cited for not considering DSR participation are a belief that equipment and processes are not suitable (39 per cent) and fear of disruption (37 per cent). 28 per cent said they did not understand the market well enough to make a decision while 24 per cent think return on investment is insufficient. Of the 27 per cent that do provide DSR, 76 per cent use on-site, while 59 per cent also switch off or turn down consumption. Only 14 per cent provide purely turndown DSR. Last week union GMB slammed DSR as “fanciful nonsense”, urging the government to finalise plans for Hinkley Point C. Flexitricity hit back, insisting the mechanism is “vital” for UK energy security regardless. Source link

Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Mon, Apr 25th 2016 North East civil engineering firm The Owen Pugh Group has bolstered its finance team with the appointment of a new Finance Director and a new Finance Manager. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday North East civil engineering firm The Owen Pugh Group has bolstered its finance team with the appointment of a new Finance Director and a new Finance Manager. Richard Lowery, who boasts a 28 year career in finance, steps into the director role having undertaken an interim position for the North Tyneside headquartered firm for the past five months.  With a wealth of experience in a contracting environment in both oil and gas and construction, Richard worked most recently with companies including Soil Machine Dynamics, Cussins Homes and O’Brien Waste Recycling Solutions.Richard will play a key role in taking forward Owen Pugh, which celebrates 70 years in business this year, into its next stage of growth by working with the board on the development of business strategy, monitoring and forecasting business performance, developing new systems and procedures and managing relationships with key funders. Commenting on the appointment, he said: “I am thrilled to have been appointed to the permanent FD role at what is a very exciting time for Owen Pugh.  It is undergoing significant structural changes that will ensure it is well-placed to capitalise on a wealth of opportunities across its full scope of civil engineering services. I will support the operational side of the business, to maintain clarity and transparency during the transition phase and beyond, and to ensure that tight financial control is maintained throughout. “Owen Pugh operates in a challenging business environment and in order to succeed we need to pull together.  I am greatly encouraged by my experience so far and I look forward to working with my colleagues across the Group to achieve our ambitions.” Richard joins Geoff Brown, who recently joined the company as the Finance Manager for Owen Pugh Services, and Michelle Pope who assumed the role of Finance Manager for the Contracting Businesses a year ago.  Geoff has over 35 years’ experience in finance from a diverse range of organisations including advanced manufacturing, retail, travel, local authorities and the care sector.  Previous employers include South Tyneside Council, TRW Automotive and Executive Care. Geoff commented: “I am delighted to be working with Owen Pugh Group and I look forward to applying the benefit of the experiences I have gained elsewhere throughout my career.  A key objective for me will be to lead and develop my team using a continuous improvement methodology which will allow us to provide the highest level of support to our business operations.” Michelle has over 25 years’ experience in finance roles within a diverse range of sectors, including Contracting, Construction, Manufacturing, Housing, Local Authority and Education.  Previous employers include Rolls Royce, Pharmacia Searle, Tarmac, South Tyneside Council, South Tyneside Homes, Homes for Northumberland, Engie (GDF Suez) and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. During the last six months Owen Pugh has secured work on a string of high-profile projects including a long term car park extension for Newcastle Airport; a biomass power station project near Cramlington; a range of housing developments for the likes of Gentoo, Miller, Story and Bellway; and major highway infrastructure schemes in North Tyneside on behalf of Capita and Kier. The scope of work delivered by Owen Pugh ranges from road and bridge construction, ports, harbours and sea defences, industrial facilities and office parks to urban renewal and environmental improvements, land reclamation, remediation and environmentally sensitive schemes.  The company, which employs 420 staff across its business, operates from five sites in Dudley, Cramlington, Blaydon, Middlesbrough, and Marsden Quarry in South Tyneside.    Source link

Two enterprises, One Way and The Clear Company, are keen to promote greater levels of worker equality in the construction industry and have urged members of the industry to consider this a top priority for 2017. One of the reasons it seems for the apparent shortage in skills supply that is of a great concern to businesses in the building and construction industry is the high level of unequal representation among overwhelmingly male workers. It has been discovered that only 11 per cent of members of the building and construction workforce are women. As if this were not enough of an alarming statistic, it was equally found that only a single one per cent of onsite employees were women. As Mister Paul Payne the MD of One Way suggests, the fact that 61 per cent building companies around the country are concerned with the shortage of skilled workers is not merely due to a single socio-economic factor that is the lack of investment in the trade. It is also due to the social stigma that accompanies women working in the building and construction industry: such a tiny figure of women working in construction is clearly a sign that social attitudes need to change in order for the construction workforce in Britain to be revitalized. One Way have in fact initiated a #GirlsAllowed initiative on social media already and it is the hope that this project will encourage more women studying in the country to consider the building and construction industries as a career path for themselves. Similarly, Ms Katie Headley of The Clear Company, a firm that specializes in diversifying all too exclusive industries around the country, is adamant that something needs to be done by way of changing social attitudes towards women who choose construction as a way of life. Truthfulness and changes to attitudes, she explains, are what is key to solving the problem of shortages in the building and construction industry in Britain.