Four out of 10 parents (42%) would not encourage their children aged 11 or over to pursue a career in the house-building industry, according to new research by the NHBC Foundation. Source link
Claims by estate agents that houses prices are rising excessively because of a shortage of bricks have been rubbished by brick producers themselves. The Brick Development Association, representing brick manufacturers in the UK, has described a report1 from the Centre for Economics & Business Research (CEBR) for the National Association
The Architecture Gallery, RIBA 22 September – 23 December 2016 This autumn the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) presents a new commission by multi-disciplinary artist Giles Round. Through extensive research of RIBA’s Collections and dialogue with contemporary practitioners, Round will create a site-specific installation for the Architecture Gallery that
The Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015 set out a long list of duties and responsibilities everyone involved in building design and construction has for upholding health and safety standards. What is not referred to explicitly is what to do when an accident takes place. Two way radio has long
A set of individuals dedicated to premium materials in the building and construction industry known as Alumasc (ALU.L) is very happy to declare the latest news on the contracts obtained by a company known as Levolux. This enterprise in the building and construction industry has enabled itself, based on Alumasc’s
The good news continues to seep into the press releases for Crest Nicholson, which wants to report that their Annual Integrated Report for the time between 2015 and 2016 has shown a healthy rise in revenue for them. Indeed, the corporation indicates that there has been a 24 per cent
In an age where employee satisfaction rates are not exactly the most encouraging figures on display at the moment, it is good to see that Novus Property Solutions at least are able to recognize the ongoing hard work of their staff and are committed to seeing that they get their
The recent Novus Property Solutions ceremony that has taken place is an event dedicated towards recognizing the ongoing efforts and achievements of the company over the course of the year. With the York office department being blessed with receiving the new Health and Safety award, it is evident from this
The popular touristic area of Brighton is witnessing a large amount of building shifts between companies that are deciding to have investments such as offices there, and the Charities Property Fund is the latest firm to set up an office there. Previously owned by Aviva, the International House located on
The area of Wokingham will be the latest area that R Collard will use to organize its waste disposal units which the Hampshire company specializes in, but this time with a difference. Indeed, this particular waste management plant will specialize in the recycling operations of metal material, thus indicating that
Four out of 10 parents (42%) would not encourage their children aged 11 or over to pursue a career in the house-building industry, according to new research by the NHBC Foundation. Source link
Claims by estate agents that houses prices are rising excessively because of a shortage of bricks have been rubbished by brick producers themselves. The Brick Development Association, representing brick manufacturers in the UK, has described a report1 from the Centre for Economics & Business Research (CEBR) for the National Association of Estate Agents as “out of date and unhelpful” According to the estate agents’ report, “a shortage of brick supply has been a contributing factor in rising house prices over the past decade, as growing demand continues to outstrip availability of housing. Even with willingness from contractors to build homes following Brexit, the UK’s construction sector would require a total of 1.4 billion bricks in order to resolve the housing shortage in the UK”. This is the equivalent of the total amount which would be needed to build all the houses in Leicestershire, the report says. The report states that two-thirds of small and medium-sized construction businesses faced a two-month wait for new brick orders last year, with almost a quarter waiting for up to four months and one in six (16%) waiting six to eight months. Mark Hayward, managing director of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) said: “We all know that the massive lack of supply in housing is an issue that needs resolving urgently. As well as freeing up more land to ensure we can build the right sort of houses in the right places, it’s crucial we have the right materials and skills to do so. It seems a simple consideration but the fact that we don’t have enough bricks to meet demand has a very real effect and holds up the process from beginning to end. We’re concerned that the impact of the EU Referendum means this problem could get worse as we rely on the import of brick components from the EU and of course many of our skilled labourers come from there too.” However, brick manufacturers said that CEBR was relying on out-of-date numbers and the picture had now significantly changed. Andrew Eagles, chief executive of the Brick Development Association, said: “This is a lazy analysis. The BDA represents 99% of the brick manufacturers in the UK. We can report with absolute authority that there is no shortage. “There has been a significant increase in brick production over the last 15 months and this is confirmed by the ONS statistics. The Construction Products Association, Builders Merchants Federation and major house builders also confirm that they have not seen any issues with brick supply in the last year. “The report for the NAEA citing a brick shortage is based on data from April 2015. This is 15 months out of date. It is misleading and damaging for the brick and construction industry. I find it astonishing that the CEBR felt it useful to release a report that was so out of date.” He added: “The challenges the brick industry faced in 2014 when there was a dramatic increase in housebuilding are now behind us and the industry is confident it can meet the growing demand for its products in housing and other construction projects.” Manufacturers increased production by nearly 10% last year to almost two billion bricks to meet the growing demand. This will be more than 30% higher than in 2010. In the second quarter of 2016, deliveries have been 10.4% higher than in the first quarter. The deliveries in June are also 7.4% higher than the figure predicted in May. These changes are significant, the BDA said, and point to the increased demand for bricks in the housing market, and other sectors. These results also correlate with statistics that show that 41,222 new homes were built in the UK in Q2, which is a 1% increase on the same period in 2015. This is also the highest number of houses built since Q4 of 2007, the BDA noted. 1. The NAEA’s Brick Campaign report can be found at www.naea.co.uk/media/1044993/bricks-report.pdf This article was published on 25 Aug 2016 (last updated on 25 Aug 2016). Source link
The Architecture Gallery, RIBA 22 September – 23 December 2016 This autumn the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) presents a new commission by multi-disciplinary artist Giles Round. Through extensive research of RIBA’s Collections and dialogue with contemporary practitioners, Round will create a site-specific installation for the Architecture Gallery that brings attention to one of the most familiar and unavoidable physical features of our everyday lives: the façade. The front of buildings reveals the intentions, functions and architectural periods and styles of our cities – or so it would seem on the surface. Often the use or function of a building is taken far beyond the original intentions of the architect and whilst the external appearance of the city may endure, its internal spaces are in a constant state of transformation. Inspired by the work of a wide range of architects represented in the RIBA Collections, from Michael Searles to Berthold Lubetkin and Venturi Scott Brown, Giles’ work will explore the tension between the inside and outside of buildings and our often deceptive understanding of cities by transforming RIBA and the use of the Architecture Gallery itself and display selected objects from the collection. Giles Round Giles works in the cross-over between art, architecture, craft and design. Previous projects and exhibitions of his have bridged graphics, design, art, architecture, interiors, and set design. He has created immersive installations in a multitude of settings from the home to galleries and outdoor spaces. The works range from small objects to large-scale sculpture, wallpapers and installation. A firm believer that design and architecture play an active role in well-being, Giles’ work uses these tactics to create immersive and thought-provoking viewer experiences. Press view The press view for the installation will take place at 9.30am at RIBA on Wednesday 21 September at 9.30am. RSVP to beatrice.cooke@riba.org The exhibition is sponsored by Wedge Group Galvanising and is supported by Cockayne – Grants for the Arts and The London Community Foundation. ENDS Notes to editors: 1. For further information contact Beatrice Cooke in the RIBA press office: beatrice.cooke@riba.org; 020 7307 3813. Images from the RIBA Collections that have inspired aspects of the installation can be downloaded here: https://riba.box.com/s/vm9bmve0oyh75950a9swjbjweixw3wbv 2. The Architecture Gallery at RIBA is open from 10am – 5pm Monday to Sunday and until 8pm every Tuesday. Free entrance. RIBA is at 66 Portland Place, London, W1B 1AD. Nearest tubes are Oxford Circus, Regent’s Park and Great Portland Street. The exhibition is part of a RIBA season of wide ranging events and workshops, designed for all ages and experience levels. For further information go to www.architecture.com/whatson 3. The Architecture Gallery opened in February 2014 in the RIBA’s Grade II* listed Art Deco HQ. Through regular, free exhibitions that explore the past, present and future of our built environment the gallery programme will help visitors discover and explore architecture. The gallery offers the opportunity for the RIBA to display its world class collections contained in the British Architectural Library. 4. About the exhibition sponsors: with nearly 150 years of history Wedge Group Galvanizing is the UK’s largest hot dip galvanizing organisation. They have 14 plants around the UK which are designed and equipped to set industry-leading standards for sustainability, low environmental impact and a quality finish. For further information go to: www.wedge-galv.co.uk 5. For further information about Cockayne – Grants for the Arts and The London Community Foundation go to: www.londoncf.org.uk 6. RIBA champions better buildings, communities and the environment through architecture and our members. www.architecture.com @RIBA 7. The RIBA is a registered charity and it relies on the generosity of individuals, companies, trusts and foundations to preserve its world-class collections, to maintain free public access to its exhibitions and develop a diverse and exciting public events programme. Posted on Monday 27th June 2016 Source link
The Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015 set out a long list of duties and responsibilities everyone involved in building design and construction has for upholding health and safety standards. What is not referred to explicitly is what to do when an accident takes place. Two way radio has long been used in construction to do the kinds of things the CDM calls for – namely, help people communicate effectively and coordinate efforts so everyone stays safe. But modern digital handheld radios offer much more, with a range of specialised features which provide additional security and peace of mind when operating on site. Emergency Button A core feature of standard models like the Motorola DP1400, an emergency button allows users to raise an alarm with a single touch. Alarms are broadcast to very radio in the network, increasing the likelihood of a fast response. Lone Worker This is a specialised monitoring feature which is intended to provide a safety net for individuals or small groups working away from colleagues. Once activated, the user has to check back in to the network at regular intervals, otherwise an alarm is raised. Man Down Man Down goes a step further than the one touch alarm of an Emergency Button, and will raise an alarm automatically if an unusual movement is detected such as a fall. This is a very useful feature for workers operating at height. GPS Best in class digital two way radio models like the Motorola DP4801 now regularly come with GPS enabled, meaning that when an alarm is raised, the location of the handset it was issued from can be pinpointed quickly. Want to learn more about using two way radio in construction? Click here to visit the Brentwood Communications website.
A set of individuals dedicated to premium materials in the building and construction industry known as Alumasc (ALU.L) is very happy to declare the latest news on the contracts obtained by a company known as Levolux. This enterprise in the building and construction industry has enabled itself, based on Alumasc’s report dated 31st January of this year, to secure itself three new contractual deals that will enable it to be able to provide the various parties involved with the appropriate balcony as well as balustrade set ups in the country. What this essentially boils down to is that the company itself will benefit from an injection of £5 million into its accounts that will keep it in the clean for the next two years of business in the industry. This is a huge security measure that will help the company to invest in even more contractual agreements and deals with businesses and will also act as something to fall back on if times prove to be tough given the EU backlash to the referendum that seems to be becoming a more and more inevitable eventuality. This therefore indicates the meteoric rise in Alumasc’s profit prospects and the company’s books have already increased in number of orders to a total of £32.9 million, which sets the company a new record that it has never achieved before now. This is therefore excellent news for Alumasc who have seen their revenues in the past few months increase by 17 per cent to a total of £50.7 million. All of these developments effectively indicate that the group itself is in fact far ahead compared in terms of its increased growth in profits as compared with the rest of market growth all around the United Kingdom and shows that Alumasc is outperforming its other peers in the building and construction sector, proving itself to be a prime example of how companies can do well in the industry and whose example ought to be followed, such as their ongoing commitment to growth and investment despite the warning clouds of Brexit.
The good news continues to seep into the press releases for Crest Nicholson, which wants to report that their Annual Integrated Report for the time between 2015 and 2016 has shown a healthy rise in revenue for them. Indeed, the corporation indicates that there has been a 24 per cent rise in the amount of revenue that it has managed to acquire over the course of the last financial year. This is excellent news for a company that has consistently proven to be able to meet targets and to forge good relations with a varied and colorful client base, and the rise in revenue by almost a quarter on the previous year indicates that they have yet again pulled the rabbit out of the hat and that the hard work of the Crest Nicholson team has paid off. It is an even more impressive fact to consider that the company has also as a result of this managed to achieve a target of £1 billion generated through sales and this is one thing that all members of the company can be extremely proud of. The final report of the 2015-2016 financial year also indicates that the company consistently invests itself in its future, and has devoted over £1 million towards an apprenticeship scheme for young individuals wanting to start out in the industry. Considering that there is a reported major worry that there are just not enough opportunities for young people anymore, it is nice to see that a company like Crest Nicholson is showing that it cares about younger generations and wants them to develop a future for themselves by working for the company. It is equally clear that the company cares about where it settles as well, and the report indicates that it has committed up to £144.7 million towards aspects of social housing as well as infrastructure in those areas of the United Kingdom where it has operated.
In an age where employee satisfaction rates are not exactly the most encouraging figures on display at the moment, it is good to see that Novus Property Solutions at least are able to recognize the ongoing hard work of their staff and are committed to seeing that they get their due rewards for the hard work that they commit to doing in order to ensure the pride and ongoing prosperity of Novus. In an event that celebrates the achievements of the various departments of the company, these awards have been taking place for the past three years and the staff turnout of more than 175 was very impressive and made for an unforgettable evening at the St George’s Park located in the area of Staffordshire. After a sterling speech from Fran Miller of Team Sky, the awards ceremony was kicked off in style with teams and individuals voting for the people that they felt had really stood out during the year. The awards themselves are a good way of seeing how old and new members to the company are recognized for their services and ongoing contributions to the advancement of Novus Property Solutions, with members ranging from Desmond Blackburn (who has been there for 40 years at the company as an interior decorator) to James Riley (who was awarded the Apprentice of the Year prize for his good all-round work at Novus). A whole range of other awards were handed out to various clients and associates , whilst there was even more recognition for the York office base of the company, which was the first department of the company to be coveted with the Safety Excellence prize category which had previously not been something that Novus felt merited the attention of being awarded. It is clear now however that having implemented this new category, Novus are determined to encourage their departments around the company to commit themselves more readily to implementing health and safety measures in the workplace.
The recent Novus Property Solutions ceremony that has taken place is an event dedicated towards recognizing the ongoing efforts and achievements of the company over the course of the year. With the York office department being blessed with receiving the new Health and Safety award, it is evident from this that Novus wants to emphasize a trajectory in its ethos that provides the safety, comfort and wellbeing of the company’s dedicated team of staff members, who were the reason for the awards ceremony in the first place anyway. Indeed, the chairman of the company Stuart Seddon expressed his pleasure that the awards ceremony went so swimmingly: the Employee Excellence Awards are indeed a fantastic way of bringing people from all over the company together in order to celebrate the wonderful achievements that the company has made over the years. Through the implementation of a various new number of initiatives and contractual agreements the company has increasingly proven itself to be one of the most hardworking and developing enterprises in the property and development trade. All in all, the decision to go ahead with the Employee Excellence Awards are a sobering reminder that no company or business could actually operate without the dedication and daily efforts of a good staff base, and something like the Novus Property Solutions awards are a good way of reminding individuals that without them, the company would simply not be where it is today. Stuart Seddon was adamant that the continued efforts and diligence of the dedicated workforce are the reason for these celebratory occasions to take place and that all who attended, whether they won a particular award or not, ought to give themselves a large pat on the back anyway for their hard work over the years. Indeed, with the implementation of new award categories such as safety this year, it is clear that Novus are hoping to credit more and more employees for the hard work and sense of wellbeing that they create every working day of every year.
The popular touristic area of Brighton is witnessing a large amount of building shifts between companies that are deciding to have investments such as offices there, and the Charities Property Fund is the latest firm to set up an office there. Previously owned by Aviva, the International House located on Queen’s Road in the seaside community’s area was acquired by the CPF at a cost of £11.2 million and this is a clear sign that it wishes to build on the successes of the area by moving there. Indeed, in the vicinity of the office area itself is the Brighton train station, thus making it a more than ideal location for those traveling to work. The fact that Brighton is such a popular investment where companies like to set up office bases there means that there is a lot of competition for the space itself and the CPF had to cough up a large amount of dough in order to be able to set up a base there in the first place. The fact that Permitted Development has meant that the wolfing up of territory in the Brighton area has hit an all-time high meant that the CPF needed to use a number of its financial resources to be able to invest there in the first place. Indeed, as Angy Benitz of the CPF explains, the fact that as of 2013 the city had sold around 800,000 square feet of its office areas meant that the CPF had to act quickly and efficiently in order to acquire the space off Aviva and beat other rival competitors wishing to settle there. Now that the company has its second office base in the area, this means that it is in a better position than it has ever been before to conduct its business in the south of England in the Brighton area.
The area of Wokingham will be the latest area that R Collard will use to organize its waste disposal units which the Hampshire company specializes in, but this time with a difference. Indeed, this particular waste management plant will specialize in the recycling operations of metal material, thus indicating that R Collard is well on the way to developing more and more sustainable and environmentally-friendly methods of waste disposal as the year goes by. Indeed, it is evident that by setting up this new site on Toutley Road in the vicinity of Wokingham, R Collard will not only be able to dispose metal materials and recycle them in an environmentally friendly way for their own building and construction operations, but will also be able to extend these services so that it will be able to enable other private contractors and companies in the area to have skip loads of metal that can be recycled rather than simply dumped in a land fill site where they take up space and are of no use to anybody. Through this, different types of metals used in the building and construction industry ranging from aluminium to copper-based metals will be recycled, and the Wokingham area is similarly ideal for R Collard to conduct its other operations in the South, where it has other Transfer Stations in the Hampshire, Surrey and Berkshire counties in places like Aldershot, Farnham and Reading. For the MD of R Collard, Robert Collard, this is an excellent investment in the future of metal recycling for the company as a whole and will also ensure that the firm is able to carry on conducting its excellent customer service skills as it has done so consistently in the past by keeping the metal recycling plant close to the R Collard client bases all around the South of England. The future of Metal Recycling for the company begins.
