Savills has expanded its licensed leisure team with appointment of Siân Tunney and Paul Breen who will both based at the firm’s Margaret Street head office in London. Siân and Paul have joined from CBRE and both previously worked at Colliers International. At Savills Siân will be focussing on valuations
House price sentiment falls but households remain positive The impact of uncertainty in the wake of the Brexit vote is clear from the HPSI index reading for July, especially in light of the relative strength of sentiment in the run-up to the vote The latest Knight Frank and
Browser does not support script. Contact us The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) today announced the creation of a new bursary scheme supporting students of architecture looking to embark on an RIBA-validated Part 2 course within the UK. The newly created RIBA Part 2 Bursaries scheme will be the
Builders’ merchant group Wolseley has announced plans for a £100m restructuring, involving the closure of 80 branches and the loss of 800 jobs. The turnaround and repositioning strategy of Wolseley UK is designed to deliver ‘a step change in operational efficiency and consistency’. The restructuring only affects Wolseley’s plumbing &
Jonathan Hyndman of Rosling King, a limited liability partnership enterprise, has been investigating the different factors that come into play when employees in the construction industry, frustrated by the fact that they have not been paid, decide to suspend or terminate their contracted duties to their employer. This is clearly
Gavin Barwell MP will have visited the bustling Port of Tilbury in the past few days, which is witnessing a great deal more of activity than usual because it is in fact being extended in order to allow for it to grow and prosper to even greater heights than ever
The building and construction contracting company known as Catleoak has finished its involvement with Retirement Villages to get Elmbridge Manor ready to open its doors to the new retirement community that will be able to benefit from the new space for retirement. Before December 2016, Castleoak and Retirement Villages worked
The Manufacturing Technology Center is pleased to announce that it has implemented a new A-Team that will be able to put investment and development at the forefront of the construction industry in Britain. The fact that the age of digitalization and the advances of technology in the field will require
Construction and property company Gleeds, which successfully operates in a number of other countries, has welcomed a new number of personnel through its doors in order to improve and expand the future of its infrastructure from its headquarters in the city of London. Mark Syrett will be the new Director
Savills has expanded its licensed leisure team with appointment of Siân Tunney and Paul Breen who will both based at the firm’s Margaret Street head office in London. Siân and Paul have joined from CBRE and both previously worked at Colliers International. At Savills Siân will be focussing on valuations including large pub company portfolios and landlord and tenant/professional work. Paul will continue to deal with wide ranging sales, letting and acquisition instructions especially in central London. Kevin Marsh, head of licensed leisure at Savills, comments: “Siân and Paul bring with them a wealth of experience that will further strengthen our licensed leisure team at Savills and our ability to provide a full service offering to our clients nationwide. “The pub sector has really developed over the past few years with strong interest from investors and more competition to secure the prime assets, and we expect this to continue as the leisure market grows.” Key clients for the licensed leisure division include Enterprise Inns, Greene King, Punch Taverns, Fuller Smith and Turner, Young’s, Mitchells and Butlers, Natwest, RBS and Santander. Savills now has a team of 21 specialising in the pub and restaurant sectors. Source link
House price sentiment falls but households remain positive The impact of uncertainty in the wake of the Brexit vote is clear from the HPSI index reading for July, especially in light of the relative strength of sentiment in the run-up to the vote The latest Knight Frank and IHS Markit’s house price sentiment data covers July and provides the first indication of household sentiment on property prices since the EU referendum, with households across all price bands and tenures surveyed between the 14th and 18th of July. According to the latest results, households across the UK perceived that the value of their home slipped in July with respondents in nine of the 11 regions covered by the index believing prices fell over the course of the month. However, the future HPSI remains in positive territory – households expect the value of their home to rise over the next 12 months, but at the most modest rate since October 2012. Households in the South of England are more confident about price rises than those in the North of England, Scotland or Wales. Gráinne Gilmore, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said: “The impact of uncertainty in the wake of the Brexit vote is clear from the HPSI index reading for July, especially in light of the relative strength of sentiment in the run-up to the vote. Although there has been a marked drop in the index, the readings are hovering around the ‘no-change’ mark, similar to levels in 2012/2013. As well as geographical variations, there are wide differences in expectations depending on age-groups, with those aged over-55 expecting the value of their home to dip over the next 12 months as well as those aged 18 to 24. All other age-groups expect prices to rise modestly.” Tim Moore, senior economist at IHS Markit, said: “The surge in economic uncertainty after the EU referendum weighed heavily on UK house price sentiment during July. The current prices index signalled the greatest month to month loss of momentum for at least seven-and-a-half years. Despite a sizeable fall since June, the latest reading signalled that house price sentiment was at a level last seen in early 2013 and only marginally downbeat overall. Households across all UK regions also indicated a sharp recalibration of their property price expectations for the next 12 months, led by those living in London and the South East. Before the EU referendum, more than five times as many UK households (43%) expected a year-ahead rise in property values as those that forecast a reduction (8%). By contrast, there is now a fairly even split between individuals expecting a rise in property values (26%) and those anticipating a decline over the next 12 months (23%). While it is too early to evaluate the full impact of the EU referendum on the UK property market, it is already clear that heightened uncertainty has cast a shadow over household sentiment. At the same time, fundamental imbalances between housing supply and demand have not changed materially, while lending conditions remain supportive. Nonetheless, a sharp jolt to consumer confidence in July has impacted swiftly on UK households’ perception of their property value, and this is also a signal that price expectations could remain highly sensitive to economic and political developments over the months ahead.” Source link
Browser does not support script. Contact us The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) today announced the creation of a new bursary scheme supporting students of architecture looking to embark on an RIBA-validated Part 2 course within the UK. The newly created RIBA Part 2 Bursaries scheme will be the most generous award made to students in financial need. In 2015, up to five bursaries of £6,000 will be available to support five Part-2 students for the academic years 2015/16 and 2016/17. Successful students will receive £1,000 a term throughout their Part 2 course (for up to a maximum of six terms). These bursaries build on the portfolio of postgraduate funding already available, namely the RIBA Wren Insurance Association Scholarships and the RIBA AHR Stephen Williams Scholarship. RIBA President Stephen Hodder said: “We are delighted to add these bursaries to the RIBA’s portfolio of funding schemes, and I would strongly urge any student considering undertaking a Part 2 course in 2015 and facing financial hardship to apply. Alongside the RIBA Student Hardship Funds, these grants will help to support our future generation of architects.” Chair of the RIBA Education Trust Funds Committee, Andy Beard said: “The RIBA Education Trust Funds committee are keen to address the dropout rate from Part 1 to Part 2 by assisting potential students whose circumstances make it difficult for them to afford a Part 2 course. We believe that consequently this bursary scheme will go some way to promoting greater diversity within the profession. Research has shown that £1,000 a term can make a real difference to the lives of some students.” For more information and details of how to apply, please visit www.architecture.com/Part2bursaries. The deadline for receipt of applications is Monday 15 December 2014. ENDS Notes to editors For further press information contact Howard Crosskey in the RIBA Press Office: 020 7307 3761 howard.crosskey@riba.org For more information and details of how to apply, please visit www.architecture.com/Part2bursaries. For queries on how to apply, contact Hayley Russell hayley.russell@riba.org 020 7307 3678 The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) champions better buildings, communities and the environment through architecture and our members www.architecture.com – follow us on Twitter for regular RIBA updates www.twitter.com/RIBA Posted on Wednesday 1st October 2014 Source link
Builders’ merchant group Wolseley has announced plans for a £100m restructuring, involving the closure of 80 branches and the loss of 800 jobs. The turnaround and repositioning strategy of Wolseley UK is designed to deliver ‘a step change in operational efficiency and consistency’. The restructuring only affects Wolseley’s plumbing & heating operations; the civils, utilities and infrastructure businesses in the UK are unaffected. The plumbing & heating business is to be restructured into a local network of approximately 450 branches and a national network of around 80 larger branches, open seven days a week The next step is a period of consultation with employees at affected sites. “Overall, the reorganisation will take two to three years to complete and is expected to deliver annualised cost savings of £25m to £30m,” the company said. “It is too early to provide details of which branches will close, either by region or brand identity.” However, the Worcester distribution centre is likely to be closed. “The reorganisation of our logistics and supply chain network, which we plan to complete over the next two years, will result in lower overall capacity requirements in our UK supply chain,” the company said. “This will enable us to operate from three regional distribution centres in the UK instead of four which will significantly reduce our operating costs. On this basis, we propose to assess the feasibility of our Worcester DC as the changes in our plan are put in place.” Patrick Headon, managing director of Wolseley UK, said: “We have put the customer at the heart of this review with the aim of making Wolseley the first choice specialist merchant in our chosen markets. We have a great business in the UK and there are continued opportunities for growth. I’m confident the transformation programme will drive better customer service and employee engagement and improve our financial returns. “The trends in our profitability have been disappointing and we need to take action to improve our customer proposition and the efficiency of our business. We have an outstanding team made up of hard working and dedicated people across the UK and we are very conscious of the impact this transformation of the business will have on some of them. We are therefore committed to carrying out this programme as sensitively as possible, using voluntary means to achieve the proposed headcount reductions wherever possible. Over time I’m confident our proposals will benefit both our colleagues in the UK and the customers they serve every day.” Wolseley generated £1,996m revenues from its UK activities in the year to 31st July 2016, up just 0.5% on 2015. Trading profit for the year was £74m, down 17.8% on the previous year. By contracts Wolseley’s US operations saw revenues grow 6.2% to £9,456m for the year and trading profit by a similar percentage to £775m. Group chief executive John Martin said: “Ferguson, our core US business which generates over 80% of the group’s trading profit, performed well and achieved good growth in residential and commercial markets, partly offset by weakness in industrial markets. Commodity deflation, principally in the US, reduced the group’s growth rate by 1.5%. Ferguson continues to be the main priority for organic expansion and bolt-on acquisitions. “Our review of UK operational strategy has identified opportunities to transform our customer propositions whilst simplifying our branch network and supporting logistics facilities to greatly improve service levels, drive availability and choice for customers and generate better returns for shareholders. Regrettably this will result in job losses which we will handle sensitively and minimise through redeployment and attrition as far as possible. “Like-for-like revenue growth in the new financial year has been 1.5% for the group and 4.5% in the US. Demand across our markets remains mixed, with some uncertainty in the economic outlook. We will remain vigilant in controlling our costs to protect profitability while investing in attractive opportunities for profitable growth. We are confident that Wolseley will make further progress in the year ahead.” This article was published on 27 Sep 2016 (last updated on 27 Sep 2016). Source link
Jonathan Hyndman of Rosling King, a limited liability partnership enterprise, has been investigating the different factors that come into play when employees in the construction industry, frustrated by the fact that they have not been paid, decide to suspend or terminate their contracted duties to their employer. This is clearly an increasing problem in the building and construction industry that merits attention and caution on the behalf of employees frustrated by the delay of their pay and they need to remain cautious in the way that they handle the employer that is not paying them on time. As frustrating and lengthy process this might be, this is so as to ensure that the party in question does not end up causing more harm to themselves when a legal summons is made by the employer. Tread carefully, frustrated underpaid and what is more delayed workers of Great Britain: I understand your plight and urge you to follow Jonathan Hyman’s words of guidance. First of all, it is necessary for the unpaid party to first inform their employer in writing that they intend to suspend their duties. Seven days’ notice is then required in order to await a response from the employer: if there is none, suspension may be the next step to take. But Hyndman is adamant that the small print in the contract (or any other contract for that matter) must be read very carefully to be sure that there are no legal positions that the employee has broken by enforcing their own suspension from work. Since the majority of work contracts contain information about what procedures ought to be taken, it therefore depends entirely on the details contained within the contract itself. Terminating one’s contract for good follows a similar procedure: the small print must be read as failure to do so can result in the employer taking serious legal steps against the worker.
Gavin Barwell MP will have visited the bustling Port of Tilbury in the past few days, which is witnessing a great deal more of activity than usual because it is in fact being extended in order to allow for it to grow and prosper to even greater heights than ever before. In the past decade, the location itself has increased its capacity for volume size by twice the amount that it had originally been set to, and the Minister has been informed of the huge amount of building and construction materials that it receives and deals with. Indeed, last year the Port of Tilbury witnessed the handling of more than 40 million bricks which would be transported to the appropriate venues in the land in order to provide more housing developments for the citizens of this country. Indeed, it is clear that the Port has had to expand and be built upon in order to cope with the increasing demand of raw construction materials that it receives through its gateways. With an investment project totaling £1 billion, Gavin Barwell MP was impressed to find out that part of those funds were used to create a 152 acre port space below the level of the water known as Tilbury 2. Charles Hammond the Group CEO of Forth Ports was pleased with the MP’s visit and wanted to emphasize the huge amount of growth and expansion that has been implemented into the port as well as the surrounding area of Tilbury itself in order to ensure the future of the location as one of the major players in the reception and delivery of goods to and from all parts of the land. It is evident that with a new Amazon UK warehouse also in the process of being built, Gavin Barwell MP was impressed with the amount of land development that is occurring in the area and is hopeful that it will continue to grow and expand in the future.
The building and construction contracting company known as Catleoak has finished its involvement with Retirement Villages to get Elmbridge Manor ready to open its doors to the new retirement community that will be able to benefit from the new space for retirement. Before December 2016, Castleoak and Retirement Villages worked extremely hard together in order to ensure that the stately location in Surrey would be able to suit the needs and conditions of the new residents that would come through its doors. Indeed, with the implementation of 19 brand new accommodation locations for residents, it is evident that the site will be ideal for those wanting to retire to a life of peace, calm and monetary luxury. Elmbridge Manor will equally contain such resources as a bar and food outlet, as well as a library, surgery and many other meet-and-greet facilities in order to ensure that the lives of its new residents are as comfortable as possible. This will also ensure that the Cranleigh community where the Surrey manor is based will be able to benefit from an influx of greater work opportunities for its population, who will be able to work in the new retirement home and is therefore also good news for the community’s ongoing prosperity and infrastructure. Of course, the work never ends for Castleoak, who have now embarked on yet another building development in the location, this time to implement the construction of some 20 brand new apartment spaces for future residents. James Player of Castleoak is also very pleased that the company has worked well and diligently with Retirement Villages in order to deliver the necessary building projects that are the pride and joy of the company. It is clear that the collaboration with Retirement Villages has been an enjoyable and fruitful one and it is hoped that they will continue to collaborate with the same ease on the future projects on Elmbridge Manor.
The Manufacturing Technology Center is pleased to announce that it has implemented a new A-Team that will be able to put investment and development at the forefront of the construction industry in Britain. The fact that the age of digitalization and the advances of technology in the field will require a very experienced and knowledgeable team of individuals to work out what the building industry can do to improve itself and grow in the new age of the 21st Century. The new squad will include Phil Cartwright, Susan Hone-Brookes and Trudi Sully who are all experienced individuals in board membership and management of the building and construction industries in this country. It is evident that they will be able to use their vast range of experience and management capabilities to ensure that the focus of the building industry remains on developing a solid infrastructure for itself so that it can conduct its business transactions as smoothly and in as efficient and sustainable a way as possible. This initiative is part of the Manufacturing Technology Center’s desire to continue to ensure that the building, design and construction industry has a solid footing in the uncertain world market of today and it is important that it first establishes a firm bedrock of an infrastructure so that it can then continue to develop and prosper as effectively and as safely as possible. With the country’s governing forces passing a strategy for building businesses to achieve greater sustainability and reduce their impact on the environment by the year 2025, MTC’s development of a new team of individuals specially dedicated towards this subject should enable businesses to see 2025 as an achievable target. Naming this plan “Working Together: Transforming Construction,” it is evident that they are very concerned with achieving what the government has demanded them to do. Through the joint efforts of Messrs Cartwright, Hone-Brooks and Sully, this can be transformed from a government pipe dream into a foreseeable reality.
Construction and property company Gleeds, which successfully operates in a number of other countries, has welcomed a new number of personnel through its doors in order to improve and expand the future of its infrastructure from its headquarters in the city of London. Mark Syrett will be the new Director in charge of improving and ensuring the successful developments of the rail department of Gleeds from his presence in the London office. With more than a quarter of a Century’s worth of experience in the building and construction sector of this country, it is clear that he will bring the knowledge and expertise to the table and will ensure that the Gleeds rail department continues to grow and expand its revenue. Indeed, this aspect of Gleeds’ services has seen a 25 per cent rise in revenue in the course of the last year and it is evident that it will need a directing force of Mark Syrett’s capabilities to continue to do so in the current financial and economic climate in Britain. Enter from stage right Richard Golding, who also will be the latest addition to the Gleeds rail team, this time as an Associate Director. Having worked for 40 years with such large transport and logistics companies such as Network Rail, Richard Golding is an ideal addition to the Gleeds team and his responsibilities will include dealing with other logistics companies such as HS2 as well as the Department for Transport. Through this, the company will be able to assert itself as one of the leading building and construction businesses with a strong infrastructure to boot that will help increase its annual revenue to even greater heights. Similarly, Richard Greer of Gleeds Worldwide has explained that with the government’s intentional investment of 1.2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product towards the infrastructure it is hoped that both Mark Syrett and Richard Golding will be able to use their skills and expertise to use this opportunity to the advantage of Gleeds.
