©Bloomberg The one imperative for US natural gas producers: deleverage as quickly as possible. Yet two situations this week show that easing a debt burden can take multiple forms with different outcomes for shareholders. In one case, SandRidge Energy filed for bankruptcy protection seeking to clear away nearly $4bn of
Business Stream has appointed Derek Hendry as its new director of strategy, strengthening of its senior team ahead of the English water market opening in 2017. Business Stream’s new director of strategy Derek Hendry Hendry will be based in the company’s Edinburgh head office, and will report in
A nice piece of business. RWE’s decision to separate its grids and renewables business from traditional generation has left it €3bn better off, and given it a 75 per cent stake in Germany’s most valuable utility. The question now is what becomes of the parent, whose debt is rated just
International real estate advisor Savills has retained its title as The Times Graduate Employer of Choice for Property for the tenth consecutive year. The firm has held this position since the category’s inception in 2007. The awards, which reflect the feedback from interviews of more than 18,000 final year students
Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Tue, Sep 6th 2016 New student accommodation at Newcastle University features 32,000 Welsh Slates. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday Some 32,000 Welsh Slates have been used to roof the £13 million development of new
The Lighting Industry Academy has launched their new course that will give information about the legislation around lighting products, Product Testing and Compliance Control of the lighting market. It is thought that this course is suitable for those in the industry that are unsure of all the different legislative requirements
An innovative scheme to attract more talent into the built environment sector is being extended after a successful first year. Last year Gateshead College teamed up with a powerful partnership of architects, designers, contractors and engineering specialists to launch PlanBEE in a bid to tackle an industry skills shortage. Together
R&M recommends: Avoid overheating, compute cleverly, calculate cabling precisely / Slimline patch cords are also suitable for Power over Ethernet Wetzikon, London – R&M, the globally active developer and provider of cabling systems for high-quality network infrastructures, based in Wetzikon, Switzerland, is facilitating the introduction of Power over Ethernet to
©Bloomberg The one imperative for US natural gas producers: deleverage as quickly as possible. Yet two situations this week show that easing a debt burden can take multiple forms with different outcomes for shareholders. In one case, SandRidge Energy filed for bankruptcy protection seeking to clear away nearly $4bn of debt. Not only will shareholders be wiped out but creditors are very likely to take a hit on their claims as well. The equity owners at two other gas explorers should have a happier outcome. Range Resources announced it would acquire rival Memorial Resource Development for $4.4bn in total value. Rather than writing off debt, the two will reduce this burden through an all-stock merger, smartly using equity value while it still exists. The mild optimism driving an oil price rally does not exist for natural gas. Daily US gas production of 80bn cubic feet per day in February was the second highest level ever. A warm winter hurt demand, so inventories are at record highs. The spot US gas price is off a third from the depressed $3 per million cubic feet seen a year ago. Despite cost cuts and fewer wells in production, output has boomed because of productivity gains. Weaker explorers have succumbed to bankruptcy — SandRidge is just one of a string of failures (shifting to oil production proved futile). Range and Memorial, with their acreages in the most productive shale regions, were not financially distressed. By acquiring all of Memorial’s earnings but paying for those only in shares, Range will see its debt to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation ratio fall from a testing 5 times to a safer 3.5 times. Range shares fell a tenth on Monday; its shareholders disliked the share issuance. Still, the augmented Range will have an equity value of $9bn. Miffed shareholders should understand that its prospects could be worse. Just ask the crushed shareholders over at SandRidge. Email the Lex team at lex@ft.com Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Source link
Business Stream has appointed Derek Hendry as its new director of strategy, strengthening of its senior team ahead of the English water market opening in 2017. Business Stream’s new director of strategy Derek Hendry Hendry will be based in the company’s Edinburgh head office, and will report in to its chief executive Johanna Dow. He will be responsible for around 30 staff and an operational budget of £4 million across technology, people management, business strategy and transformational change. Hendry joins Business Stream from Standard Life, where his most recent role has been leading change and transformation programmes on international assignments in Canada, China and Hong Kong. He previously held a number of leadership roles with the company in a variety of IT and business change projects across its pensions, operations and group functions. Before Standard Life, Derek worked in a range of leadership and project management positions with Aegon and Abbey National/Banco Santander. Dow said: “Derek joins us at a pivotal time for the business and the industry as a whole. Our recent acquisition from Southern Water doubles our customer base and gives us a strong foothold in the English market ahead of the market opening for next year. “Derek will lead our transformation activities as we prepare for market entry and continue to invest in systems and processes which will deliver service excellence for our customers across the UK.” Hendry said: “I’m looking forward to using my extensive change and project management experience to help Business Stream maximise the potential of the exciting opportunities ahead. “The company has a bold strategy and a culture of ambitious continuous improvement, both of which will be critical in meeting the competitive challenges ahead.” In May, Business Stream announced the appointment of Jo Mayes as its director of customer operations. Source link
A nice piece of business. RWE’s decision to separate its grids and renewables business from traditional generation has left it €3bn better off, and given it a 75 per cent stake in Germany’s most valuable utility. The question now is what becomes of the parent, whose debt is rated just above junk status. On Friday, shares in Innogy (reprising the name of a British company that RWE bought in 2002) closed at their IPO price of €36, giving the carved-out company an enterprise value of €40.7bn, more than nine times its forecast 2016 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. That is the highest multiple of any of the four German utilities. The demand for Innogy shares is unsurprising. The company gets three-fifths of its ebitda from running power grids, where returns tend to be regulated and often inflation-linked rather than dictated by the volatility of commodity prices. Another 20 per cent comes from renewables, a growth area. Unlike rival Eon, which also owns grids and renewable generation assets, Innogy is not carrying the can for nuclear decommissioning and storage costs. Its ability to raise capital is no longer constrained by the stretched balance sheet of its parent. For RWE, carving out Innogy was mostly about shoring up its finances: it raised about €3bn from the share issue. Its prognosis for the remaining group is downbeat, though: there was no dividend on the ordinary shares this year, and it is predicating full-year operating results “significantly below 2015” in four of its five business divisions. Uniper, the spun off vehicle for Eon’s conventional generation business, has so far told a more optimistic post-split story involving cash returns, recovery in Russia and growth in profits from “capacity mechanisms” where utilities are paid for a certain amount of spare capacity. RWE has done a fine job with Innogy; now it needs to think about its own investment case. Email the Lex team at lex@ft.com Sample the FT’s top stories for a week You select the topic, we deliver the news. Source link
International real estate advisor Savills has retained its title as The Times Graduate Employer of Choice for Property for the tenth consecutive year. The firm has held this position since the category’s inception in 2007. The awards, which reflect the feedback from interviews of more than 18,000 final year students was held on Wednesday 23rd March 2016 at Kings Place in London. Savills beat rivals JLL and Knight Frank, who were placed second and third respectively. Savills was also named 94th in the Times Top 100 employers this year, the only property company to make the list, which features Britain’s best known and most successful graduate employers. Mark Ridley, chief executive of Savills UK and Europe, says: “We are delighted to have won this award for the tenth year in a row and also to have made it on to such a prestigious list. We pride ourselves on providing a best in class programme, offering all our graduates practical and applicable experience that provides a foundation for the myriad of opportunities available to them within our global business. Developing talent is fundamental to our growth and development and this is reflected in our ongoing commitment to our graduate programme.” Ema Saunders, director of people development at Savills, adds: “We are very pleased to have been recognised as the Property Employer of Choice for ten consecutive years. We continue to look for diverse and ambitious individuals who will be the business leaders of tomorrow. Our commitment to providing opportunity, support and skills enables our graduates to shape their own careers and make an impact on the industry.” Source link
Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Tue, Sep 6th 2016 New student accommodation at Newcastle University features 32,000 Welsh Slates. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday Some 32,000 Welsh Slates have been used to roof the £13 million development of new student accommodation at Newcastle University. The 500mm x 300mm Penrhyn Heather Blues from the Lagan group company were used on Park Terrace, an exciting development situated in a prime location on campus, close to the city centre, in a Conservation area overlooking Newcastle’s Exhibition Park. Accommodation is spread over up to six floors with lift, on-site entry-phone systems and CCTV. The apartment blocks provide students with en-suite bedrooms in self-catered flats varying in size from six to 11 bedrooms. Each flat has a fully-equipped, contemporary kitchen and comfortable common area with Wi-Fi, flat-screen TV, on-site laundrette and bike storage. Together with the refurbishment of 10 period houses on Kensington Terrace, some 350 en-suite undergraduate bedrooms have been added to the university’s portfolio. The existing buildings on Park Terrace were demolished to make way for two new buildings including a mews block to the rear of the existing terraces. The project, under a novated design and build form of contract, comprises the construction of the building frame using a pre-fabricated structural framing system. The external finish of the buildings is largely traditional masonry and slate, similar to the buildings they replaced. Park Terrace was the first phase, with Kensington Terrace following a year later. Welsh Slate sales representative Alex Grant said: “The job was specified as second hand Welsh but due to the large amount required it was not possible to source enough material of quite the right quality and so new Welsh Slate was used, some 2,000m2 of it.” The Welsh Slates were installed by M&C Roofing for main contractor Graham Construction and were supplied by Burton Roofing Supplies. Kensington and Park Terrace received Highly Commended status at the Newcastle University Excellent Contractor Awards 2013. The award scheme recognises contractor excellence based on a range of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) assessed by the university. The project was nominated by Barry Cottrill, project engineer at the university, and Luke Gardner, senior project manager. ENDS Photograph © Steve Mayes Photography Source link
The Lighting Industry Academy has launched their new course that will give information about the legislation around lighting products, Product Testing and Compliance Control of the lighting market. It is thought that this course is suitable for those in the industry that are unsure of all the different legislative requirements before placing a lighting product on to the market. The course that is put on by The Lighting Industry Academy can be completed in a day and will cover in detail the different regulations and directives that are connected to the lighting markets. There are currently twelve different bit of legislation that are required before products go on to the markets which include the LVD, EMCD, RoHS and ERP. All of these requirements can have an impact on manufacturers, importers, and distributors of lighting products therefore it is imperative that those involved in the industry have the correct level of knowledge regarding the law around lighting. One the product complies with the requirements it then needs to undergo varying degrees of production control in order to make sure that all of the products are the same and all show conformity. The Lighting Industry Academy also has a Quality Assurance model in order to allow those in the industry to appreciate the importance for putting in to place the controls as well as making sure everything stays up to standard. Those on the course will also learn how this can affect the controls on imported goods. After the theoretical aspects of the course is complete those attending will enter the laboratories in order to allow hands on product testing which is an important part of the product conformity in the lighting industry. The attendees will be shown how to use the reliable Clare test equipment, that is the traditional way of carrying out product testing, and the HAL tester which is the cutting edge production electrical test equipment. Those on the course will have access to this modern equipment because of a partnership that has been formed between the Lighting Academy and Seaward Group.
An innovative scheme to attract more talent into the built environment sector is being extended after a successful first year. Last year Gateshead College teamed up with a powerful partnership of architects, designers, contractors and engineering specialists to launch PlanBEE in a bid to tackle an industry skills shortage. Together they developed a unique, flexible training programme designed to attract and retain the brightest new talent in the region, plug skills gaps, and create a more flexible workforce capable of working across various construction disciplines. An initial cohort of 13 students enrolled on the scheme last September and all have been retained having completed a Higher National Certificate (HNC) qualification. They will now work towards a Higher National Diploma (HND) in year two and an honours degree in year three and these qualifications will help them secure a guaranteed job on completion of the programme. Now a recruitment drive has begun to hire a second tranche of students, who will start on the programme this September. Rather than follow a traditional training model where students complete their qualifications while working in one company, PlanBEE gives trainees the chance to work across several companies and therefore gain a more rounded understanding of the built environment industry. Working with Gateshead College, the group has created a bespoke higher level skills programme that provides budding professionals with study and off-the-job training at the college’s construction facility on Team Valley, along with a job working with some of the region’s leading companies. It has been tailored specifically for and by the North East construction sector, providing students with a starting salary of £10,700 per year, a professional qualification and a guaranteed job opportunity on graduation. Established by Ryder Architecture, the scheme has already attracted some high-profile names, including Brims Construction, Sir Robert McAlpine, Xsite Architecture, Robertson, 3e Consulting, Cundall, Arup, FaulknerBrowns, Sadler Brown Architecture and Tolent. Matthew Hardman, 19, from Gateshead, initially spent time with Cundall and has been with Sunderland firm Brims Construction for the last few months. He said: “I was keen on a career in construction but was not sure what discipline I wanted to pursue and did not want to get to the end of university and realise I hadn’t really enjoyed my choice, while having amassed £30,000 of debts. “So I’m really pleased to have secured a place on this course through Gateshead College. My first placement was mainly office-based, learning CAD drawing and BIM and I’ve really enjoyed the site engineering experience with Brims including the quantity surveying side. This has definitely been the right choice of course for me.” Brims director Richard Wood said: “We are a fast-growing business and realise how important it is to play our part in nurturing the talent of the future. Matthew is the second placement we have had from PlanBEE and has been a great addition to our team. We look forward to welcoming more students to the company. “We initially became aware of and involved with PlanBEE following discussions with Mark Thompson of Ryder and so far it has been an excellent programme, which we hope inspires a new generation of bright, talented individuals to consider a rewarding career in construction. It is a real alternative to full time education; one that offers a future with no debt and a job offer on completion.” Chris Toon, deputy principal at Gateshead College, said: “Employers across the built environment industry have expressed a need for a greater convergence of skills that traditionally sit within the disciplines of architecture, urban planning, engineering, surveying and landscaping. The PlanBEE programme has been designed to equip students with valuable experience in all of these important subject areas. “This will help to provide industry with a pipeline of work-ready talent that enables companies to become more productive and competitive now and in the long run.” It will also assist the industry’s attempts to overcome a crippling skills shortage. A lack of skills is hindering construction firms’ efforts to service contracts, according to the latest Construction Market Survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Meanwhile, the Construction Skills Network’s most recent ‘Insight’ report has highlighted a growing skills shortage in the industry. The study identifies that an additional 179,000 UK construction jobs will need to be filled from 2017-2021 to meet rapid growth in demand for infrastructure and housebuilding across the country. Many of these new jobs are graduate level roles in technical, professional and management occupations, rather than traditional craft trades – and the need for higher-level skills is a challenge that PlanBEE aims to tackle. For more information about the programme, or to get involved, visit http://www.gateshead.ac.uk/planbee/ or contact Helen Whitfield at Ryder on 0191 269 5454.
R&M recommends: Avoid overheating, compute cleverly, calculate cabling precisely / Slimline patch cords are also suitable for Power over Ethernet Wetzikon, London – R&M, the globally active developer and provider of cabling systems for high-quality network infrastructures, based in Wetzikon, Switzerland, is facilitating the introduction of Power over Ethernet to data centers and large networks with planning tools. Power over Ethernet (PoE) is used to power Ethernet end devices, such as switches, using data cables instead of separately laid power cables. Network cables can, however, also heat up under the influence of electricity. This in turn results in an increase in attenuation which reduces the transmission range. IT planners, technicians and data center operators must therefore carefully plan how to reduce the heating up of cables before they introduce PoE – for example with shorter links or smaller cable bundles. R&M supports planning with handy calculation tables. In addition to the configurator for fixed cables which is already available, R&M now also offers a configurator for patch cords. The free tool can be downloaded from the web: https://www.rdm.com/Home/Products-Markets/Topics-in-Focus/Power-over-Ethernet. “Power over Ethernet is spreading increasingly. Data center operators are also using the major advantages this technology provides even though this does entail the challenge of keeping the cables cool. This is not only true of the thick cable bundles behind the racks, but also the patch cords on the front,” says R&M Product Manager Roger J. Karrer. The deciding factors: the cable cross section and the PoE performance levels used. Thin cables are more susceptible to heat but users are increasingly opting for more slimline patch cords to reduce the cable volume at the front of the rack and facilitate patching. For example, the new PoE-capable R&MthinLine patch cord range is very much in demand. Its slimline cables have a total cross section of just 3.8 mm or 4.5 mm and conductor diameters from AWG28 to AWG30. This is why R&MthinLine cords are more flexible than conventional ones. They are easy to lay in tighter bending radii and are simple to store in cable guides. Roger J. Karrer emphasizes: “This combination of PoE and thin patch cords pays particular attention to the possible increase in temperature and planners are given plenty of support by the PoE patch cord configurator from R&M.” The configurator calculates the end temperature to be expected in the patch cord bundle for each planned PoE performance level. These range from 15 watts to 4PPoE (4-Pair Power over Ethernet) with a 55 or 100 watt output. With 4PPoE up to half an ampere can flow via each twisted pair, which can cause overheating in long, very chunky cable bundles. The configurator takes ten parameters, such as room temperature and the volume of the cable bundles, into consideration. Planners can derive tolerances from these and see when critical temperatures will be reached in the patch cord bundles. About R&M R&M (Reichle & De-Massari AG) is a leading global producer of future-proof products and systems for communication and data networks. The company’s close collaboration with certified partners results in pioneering connectivity solutions in the sectors LAN, Public and Telecom Networks as well as Data Centers. The Swiss family company stands for innovation, quality, and proximity to customers. More information can be found at www.rdm.com
