April 4, 2017

CITB establishes landmark £6.5m Construction Wales Innovation Centre with UWTSD

A ground-breaking £6.5m Wales-wide agreement which will create construction training for 1,100 people per year was signed yesterday. The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and a consortium led by The University of Wales Trinity Saint David, will establish the Construction Wales Innovation Centre (CWIC) to offer state-of-the-art facilities and world-class

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6 Tips to Optimise Your Office Plan

Optimising your office plan today can save you time and money in the future. The layout of your floor plan can affect everything from employee engagement to productivity. Jobs and workplace structures are in a constant state of flux and it’s becoming difficult for companies to predict which job functions

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Swiss Developer R and M Produce New Cabling Range

The Swiss developer and provider of cabling systems, R&M has produced a new cabling range that fulfills European and international safety standards. The global developer develops their cabling for high-quality network infrastructures that are based in Wetzikon. This new product will meet the requirements laid out by European Construction Production

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Gala Film Night Hosted by the Film Critic Mark Kermode

A gala film night hosted by the film critic Mark Kermode was held by The British Safety Council. The film night was organized in order to show the contributions it has made over the last 60 years towards improving health and safety. The gala event took place in the Regen

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Issue 327 : Apr 2025

April 4, 2017

CITB establishes landmark £6.5m Construction Wales Innovation Centre with UWTSD

A ground-breaking £6.5m Wales-wide agreement which will create construction training for 1,100 people per year was signed yesterday. The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and a consortium led by The University of Wales Trinity Saint David, will establish the Construction Wales Innovation Centre (CWIC) to offer state-of-the-art facilities and world-class training for individuals and construction companies. With its proposed headquarters at the Swansea Waterfront Innovation Quarter, the CWIC will also have sites at colleges across Wales, including Coleg Sir Gâr and Coleg Ceredigion, which are part of the UWTSD Group, and Coleg Cambria in North Wales and Coleg y Cymoedd in South East Wales. Construction is due to begin towards the end of 2016 with the CWIC’s opening targeted for September 2018. Mark Bodger, Strategic Partnership Director for CITB Cymru Wales, said: “This landmark partnership will ensure we have the right skills in place meet our industry’s current and future needs. “This exciting new centre will be a major step forward for the construction industry in Wales and help it become a leader in digital and modern construction and the repair of traditional buildings and heritage sites.” Gerald Naylor, UWTSD Project Director, said: “We are looking forward to working with the CITB to develop a new model for delivering skills to the construction sector in Wales and beyond. “Working with our FE College partners across Wales we will develop a ‘Hub and Spoke’ framework that will enable companies to access training through a central point.” The “Hub” will be based at the University’s Swansea Waterfront Innovation Quarter and the “Spokes” will be located at the Wales-wide colleges listed above. The CITB and UWTSD collaboration will offer companies the facilities and expertise to test new concepts in construction training. It will: Be the first of its kind in Britain to provide applied research, training and consultancy through one partnership. Provide state-of-the-art facilities to allow students and businesses to learn best practice techniques. Offer a “rapid construction zone” to start innovative systems for bespoke tests such as structural performance. Donna Griffiths, Partnerships Manager at CITB, said: “The CWIC will, for the first time, deliver an integrated career pathway between craft, trade and professional construction occupations across the whole of Wales. “The CWIC will respond to the skills challenges Wales faces and help train the next generation of workers in construction.” Professor Medwin Hughes, DL, Vice-Chancellor, UWTSD added “The vision for the Swansea Waterfront Innovation Quarter is to create a neighbourhood where the University and its partners can work with industry to exploit opportunities that will not only benefit the region but will also deliver those benefits to the rest of Wales. This development is key to us achieving that vision”. Source link

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6 Tips to Optimise Your Office Plan

Optimising your office plan today can save you time and money in the future. The layout of your floor plan can affect everything from employee engagement to productivity. Jobs and workplace structures are in a constant state of flux and it’s becoming difficult for companies to predict which job functions there will be in the next few years. That’s why businesses are responding by creating workspaces with built-in flexibility and optimised office plans. Previously unheard of job roles have developed in response to technological advances, so companies need to optimise office plans and to adapt to new jobs and equipment. Here are some tips for optimising your company’s office plan. 1. Utilise Office Space Effective use of space enables you to reduce accommodation and utility costs, drive down your environmental footprint and improve working conditions. Our Space Planning & Design team can help you plan your space for maximum efficiency and cost control. Analysing how your staff actually use the space is a good step towards designing a workplace that increases staff satisfaction and productivity. In London, space is at a premium and businesses are finding new ways to optimise the space they have by utilising open plan hot-desking, multifunctional rooms with moveable partitions and innovative storage solutions. Integrated technology can really help with saving space and chairs, sofas and desks now feature hidden and discreet power points and wireless technology solves the problem of messy wires placed all over the office. Choose Comfortable Chairs and a Good Seating Plan Good seats designed for back support and mobility, combined with versatile furniture, are great tools for an optimised office space and seating plan. Where you seat people is vital for workplace productivity, so you need to think of this in terms of department, skill sets, personality, competition and the need for mentorship and supervision. Environmental factors, such as lighting and air conditioning, can impede on your perfect seating plan because no one wants to sit under an uncomfortably cold blast of air all day. Mix open and closed office spaces to suit different working styles and make sure you minimise distractions with sound absorbent furnishings and layout. Our award-winning design for Natixis’ Global Asset Management (NGAM) included adaptable furniture using bench desking, finished with acoustic screens. If optimised, the seating plan can be rearranged or adapted at any time, allowing business operations and workflow to proceed smoothly. 3. Encourage a Sense of Community The seating plan should allow for easy communication between staff and different departments. Modern offices are now designed predominantly to encourage collaboration, even in traditionally non-creative industries. Pockets of collaboration whether in private offices or in open spaces now encourage staff interaction. In fact, more office workers than ever now work on a consultancy basis or hot-desk, so workspaces need lots of temporary desks or touchdown spaces to accommodate them. These should be spread around with access to different departments to improve communications and a sense of belonging. The majority of NTT Data UK’s staff consist of consultants, so we designed their office space with hot-desking and collaboration in mind. Our designers used plenty of inviting bright colours, touchdown spaces, meeting rooms with folding walls and a choice of working areas. Create Multipurpose Spaces An innovative floor plan makes use of every single space from hallways to landings, and places furniture where hot-deskers can work and impromptu meetings can take place. Some creative companies strapped for space use open areas in the office to hold large meetings that allow staff to sit and participate from the stairs. Multipurpose spaces are being utilised by employers for everything from multimedia presentations to casual breakout areas. Bristol-based EMO & TRA are marketing and company branding agencies that were relocated under one roof, necessitating good communications. This involved fitting a new spiral staircase to link the companies, booths for group work and an open space with a blackboard that allows for brainstorming and collaborative work. Utilise Natural Light Good lighting in the workplace is vital; both too much and too little can have a negative impact. One thing that experts agree on is that natural light is best. Make sure your office has enough windows and if you don’t have enough windows, natural light can come from other sources such as skylights. Daylight aids our circadian rhythms (our own in-built clocks) to be in sync with our local environments, but today’s artificial environments can block this synchronisation. Therefore, it helps to get as much natural help with the process as possible. Bring Nature Inside The psychological benefits of bringing nature into the office have been well-documented. This can include anything from plenty of sunlight and plants in the office to water features and nature integrated into the office furniture and artwork. Helix Property, UK property management service providers, decided to set a good example to clients by filling their reception area and atrium with live planters, including in the back of seating. The modifications included the installation of a moss wall. If you’d like help with optimising your office plan, please contact Interactive Space.

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Swiss Developer R and M Produce New Cabling Range

The Swiss developer and provider of cabling systems, R&M has produced a new cabling range that fulfills European and international safety standards. The global developer develops their cabling for high-quality network infrastructures that are based in Wetzikon. This new product will meet the requirements laid out by European Construction Production Regulation. R&M have managed to meet these requirements ahead of time. The company has been working to label installation cables with the fire protection classification that is defined in the CPR. The pre-terminated cabling systems will also be receiving the appropriate labeling from the 1st July. It is the aim of the CPR to protect people in buildings from the effects of a fire in an emergency. Therefore, the focus of the Construction Production Regulation will be on making sure that the cables that are permanently installed in buildings must be tested and labelled. The fire behavior of these permanently installed cables must be noted from July 1st. Through this regulation, data and communication cable are going to be the most affected. Both copper and fiber optic cables will be impacted by the directive as well as pre-assembled cabling links if they will remain in the building permanently. R&M have already adjusted their cabling range in order to meet European and international safety, fire and health standards earlier than required. This means that the company’s cabling will be able to offer the market products for all fire protection classes. This could give them a competitive edge, having already worked to reach the regulation levels. Using the CPR, the EU makes the fire protection properties of each product comparable. However, each member state has to individually define the minimum fire class required depending on the application. This means that the requirements could still vary widely around Europe. It is advised that planners and installers check the local area requirements before specifying the fire class.

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Consortium Has Been Appointed in Order to Provide Advice Regarding North Norfolk District Council

A consortium has been appointed in order to provide advice regarding North Norfolk District Council’s property portfolio. The consortium is led by Gleeds, the property and construction consultancy and will be supported by CPMG and Pygott & Crone. The appointment has come as part of an innovative partnership that seeks to provide specialist advice for the North Norfolk Council. The appointment has come after the decision to take a more commercial approach for their current property portfolio with the intention to maximize their revenue and capital returns. It is thought that taking this more commercial stance will improve the council’s long term financial position. This improvement should deliver economic growth as well as improve the service delivery and allow the resources to be recycled and put in to front line services. The project will allow the companies in the consortium to make a significant contribution to the area and will be providing suggestions that will support the service delivery of the Council as well as encouraging future investments and regeneration to take place around the region. The review that has been created by the consortium ranges from commercial properties towards administrative buildings. The review has already created headline proposals for four different sites that have been discussed at a variety of different public meetings in the region. As the consortium continues its work, they will focus on the Council’s current assets which currently stands at an estimated 181 properties. CPMG is an AJ100 practice that is based in Nottingham and London and will be working with the consortium in order to assist the council with their more innovative design and architectural solutions. This project could be incredibly beneficial for the commercial future of North Norfolk. Pygott & Crone will provide the project with agency services and will also be taking on a review of the local market activity for the consortium. The project offers the company an opportunity to work with other companies as one force with the focus of improving North Norfolk.

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Gala Film Night Hosted by the Film Critic Mark Kermode

A gala film night hosted by the film critic Mark Kermode was held by The British Safety Council. The film night was organized in order to show the contributions it has made over the last 60 years towards improving health and safety. The gala event took place in the Regen Street cinema and the British Safety Council presented their recent achievements and the plans for the future in the style of a film festival. The event took place on the 23rd March, and is a celebration of the charity and membership organisation. The evening was launched in order to show the film British Safety Council at 60. The film shows the story of the start of the British Safety Council in 1957 as well as the significant growth that has been achieved by the campaigning organisation in order to transform the Health and Safety standards in Britain. The film uses long lost archival footage and focuses on James Tye, the founder of the organisation. The founder was considered charismatic although sometimes thought to be controversial as he attempted to improve health and safety during a period of time where hundreds of people were being killed each year at work, with inadequate and piecemeal laws there to protect the workers in Britain. The film will include footage of James Tye at work with campaigning and training, but will also show photographs of the founder with celebrities including Barbara Windsor. As part of the event, the guests were given a book entitled ‘Beware! Watchdog with fearsome bark’ which holds posters and other documents that have been commissioned over the years by the British Safety Council. The guests at the event also saw the launch of the competition to mark 60 years of the organisation. The guests watched the four finalists’ pieces as well as the winning piece by Juan Cruz-Hernández. The event will also look to the future of the council and how the gig economy and the ageing workforce can impact the future for the British Safety Council.

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