Mr Carnegie, who has been with the company for 17 years and became COO in January, said the industry is “very male, pale and stale” and “the workforce does not reflect the wider community”.  “It is incumbent on those who are leaders of business to ensure that we move with society,” he said. “Promoting the right values from the top is desperately important. We have an obligation to reach out to minorities, to help make our sector reflective of the wider community in which we operate in, which it is not.” Mr Carnegie said that as a gay man in a senior management role, he feels an obligation to “be more visible that I might want to be”. “When I go to industry events, I have always made a point of ensuring that Michael, my husband, is there. I am conscious of the fact that we are very much in the minority,” he said. Speaking from personal experience, Mr Carnegie said that coming out at work was “a doddle” in comparison to coming out to his family and friends. He said he had been “very fortunate” that he hadn’t felt the need to hide and called for more people who have had similar experiences to speak up.  However, he said he was “not quite as open as I might have been” at the start of his career.  “Occasionally, I felt uncomfortable and I would feel unsettled if somebody asked me, ‘Are you gay?’” he said. “I would never have hidden it. But I wouldn’t necessarily have offered it up.” Mr Carnegie added that the industry has an “obligation not to allow prejudice to perpetuate”. He said: “People need to be positive role models, we need to call people out when they are being ignorant and we need to deal with prejudice through education.”  In reference to the survey, Mr Carnegie said that it is important in order to “shine a light” on the experiences that LGBT workers in the industry are having and that the survey “should form a basis” for the sector to understand more about the challenges that people are facing. Looking to the future, Mr Carnegie said there is still a “long way to go” but that he is “genuinely positive” about the direction the industry is heading in. “When I go to meetings within the sector with competitive companies, suppliers, contractors and public sector partners, I think the mood is in the right place for positive change. “I feel positive about what the future will look like.”  Source link

Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Tue, Oct 18th 2016 Natural Welsh Slates feature on a new £3 million primary school in Scotland. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday A contemporary take on the traditional Scottish vernacular has been topped with roofing by Welsh Slate, part of the Lagan Group. Some 1,000m2 or 19,000 Penrhyn Heather Blue Celtic-grade 500mm by 300mm natural slates were specified by South Lanarkshire Council for the new £3 million Abington Primary School, the authority’s fifth project using Welsh Slate. Welsh Slate had been used previously on Lamington and Leadhills primary schools and Lanark Memorial Hall and is currently being used on West Coats primary school. Architect Chris Green, of South Lanarkshire’s housing and technical resources department, said: “We liked the colour and the quality of finish and the fact there is no rusting or staining. We have used it previously when looking to get a matching slate for the Scottish ballachulish slate which is no longer mined. “Slate roofs with stone and rendered walls are in keeping with the local vernacular. Slate roofs with painted timber open eaves is a traditional detail seen on many buildings in the local area.” At Abington, the Welsh slates were installed by Braisby Roofing for main contractor CCG (Campbell Construction Group) who completed within 44 weeks. The 25˚ duo-pitched roof required a larger slate size than usual to give the necessary overlap. The new school is part of South Lanarkshire’s £800 million school modernisation programme and was constructed on land adjacent to the former school building to offer new, enhanced facilities for pupils in their first years of primary education. A total of two classrooms are provided alongside a separate space for nursery pupils. New office facilities are provided for faculty staff as well as a dual-function gymnasium. This gymnasium space has been designed to be utilised as both an indoor sports areas as well as operating as a dining room during the lunch hour. Out of school hours, the space operates as a community hub with high-specification lighting and sound equipment installed to the stage area at the rear of the hall. Externally, pupils have ample playground space adjacent to a fully-enclosed, all-weather sports pitch. Abington utilised a CCG off-site manufactured closed-panel timber solution for the construction, inclusive of windows, doors, insulation and service zones. Locally-sourced stone was used for the exterior alongside a specially-designed entrance that utilises different colours of glazing to create a unique atmosphere for pupils in the main hallway. The building also has solar PV panels and a ground source heat pump that further enhances the energy efficiency of the building.   Source link

According to new research by conveyancing services provider, My Home Move, the majority of Greater London home buyers (57%) are happy to stay within the capital. Having analysed the home-moving habits of 26,000 people over a five year period, My Home Move also discovered that the boroughs of Croydon, Kingston-on-Thames and Watford proved the most popular to move to for those who chose to stay within the capital – all locations in zones five and six which have been ear-marked for regeneration. Those who already owned homes in Watford, Croydon and Twickenham demonstrated their loyalty to their postcodes, choosing to benefit from staying local by buying new homes in their current neighbourhoods. Doug Crawford, CEO of My Home Move said: “London has always been a centre for social and economic migration and as such we would expect the pace of the property market to reflect this. During this period it accounted for 14%* of all homes sale in the UK. However, as prices have risen across the capital, home movers have been forced to look outside zones one to four where they can get more home for their money. By choosing locations like Croydon, where an average priced home costs half of that in somewhere like Hammersmith, savvy Londoners can take advantage of up-and-coming locations with good travel links to the city.” For those who chose to move out of the London area (43%), locations in the East of England and South East became the go-to destinations, as prices across the capital rocketed by 44%. Chelmsford, Southend-on-Sea and Tonbridge topped the list, offering movers from the capital more property for their pound, as prices across Essex and Kent rose in comparison, by only 20%. Commenting further, Doug Crawford, said: “As the capital’s jobs market returned to health following the recession, house prices rose astronomically – meaning that for those looking to make their money work harder for them, while staying close to London for work, the costs of buying inside the M25 have become too prohibitive. The East of England and South East have become the destination for social migration, as people have opted to buy in towns like Chelmsford and Colchester where an average priced home costs around £220,000 compared to nearly half a million in London. In fact, during the past five years Chelmsford has become the place to relocate to – for as some would say, the only way is Essex!” Source link

©Reuters José Antonio Meade, Mexico’s finance minister José Antonio Meade, Mexico’s new finance minister, has ramped up the country’s two-year-old austerity drive in his 2017 budget, pledging spending cuts and a return to a primary surplus for the first time since 2008. The 2017 cuts add up to almost 240bn pesos ($12.9bn), well above the 169bn pesos in belt-tightening already announced for this year, and cuts of 124bn pesos last year. More On this topic IN Americas Finance Mr Meade, who only took up the post on Wednesday after Luis Videgaray resigned over last week’s disastrous visit by Donald Trump, told reporters the spending cuts would come from state oil company Pemex, cuts in government personnel, and from slashing government operating costs by about a fifth. A hefty burden — about 100bn pesos — of the cuts will come from Pemex. Mr Meade, who only had about 30 hours to digest the package before presenting it to Congress, said Mexico’s oil production is expected to be 1.9m barrels per day, its lowest level in nearly 40 years. The budget forecast growth of between 2 and 3 per cent for next year. The government and central bank have repeatedly pared their forecasts after a collapse in oil prices, a slow economic pick-up in the US, with which the Mexican economy is closely entwined, and weakness in the industrial sector that contributed to Mexico’s economy contracting in the second quarter for the first time since 2013. Mr Meade, a widely respected technocrat who held the finance portfolio in 2011-12, is tasked with boosting growth while taming worrying rises in Mexico’s debt — something that has prompted sovereign ratings downgrades. He highlighted a planned primary surplus equivalent to 0.4 per cent of gross domestic product and a public sector borrowing requirement of 2.9 per cent of GDP, which he said was on the way to achieving an official goal of 2.5 per cent by the end of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s term in 2018. This is a responsible package that sends the signals that markets expect – José Antonio Meade “This is a responsible package that sends the signals that markets expect,” said Mr Meade, The budget also targets inflation of 3 per cent and an exchange rate of 18.2 to the dollar. The peso has slumped to historic lows in recent months, on uncertainty about timing of US rate increases and the US election, though the currency has since stabilised. Mr Videgaray, the president’s closest aide, quit despite defending to the hilt the meeting he had engineered with the Republican candidate whose racist rhetoric and vow to build a border wall has outraged Mexicans.  Mr Trump on Wednesday claimed Mr Videgaray’s scalp as a trophy that proved “how well we did” on the Mexico trip. By Thursday, he had made an abrupt about-face on Twitter, lauding the “brilliant finance minister and wonderful man” he said Mexico had lost. “With Luis, Mexico and the United States would have made wonderful deals together — where both Mexico and the US would have benefited,” he tweeted. 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

A major new event focusing on smart solutions in the electrical industry has been launched by Voltimum UK, in association with the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA). Entitled SMART TECH LIVE, the unique one-day seminar will help explain the commercial advantages the Internet of Things (IoT) can bring to electrical contractors.  SMART TECH LIVE is being held in Central London on May 27 this year. It provides an opportunity to learn about the smart technologies that are changing the lives of consumers across the world – as well as those of the contractors, manufacturers and suppliers who are designing, making, selling and installing them. “Over the last few years the IoT has transformed the face of the electrical industry more than any development since the days of Thomas Edison, when electricity became an essential tool for modern life. Keeping track of the latest products and innovations, and making informed choices on which will be key for consumers and which might turn out to be expensive flashes in the pan, is increasingly time-consuming”, comments Eddie Embleton, MD Voltimum UK & Ireland. Embleton continues: “The idea behind SMART TECH LIVE is that taking just one day out of a busy schedule can give you everything you need to know about the technologies that will be shaping the next few years. Industry experts will join the biggest manufacturers, associations and educators to guide you through the business opportunities available – making sure that by the time you leave at the end of the day you will have new expertise you can take advantage of straight away to boost your business and increase your bottom line.” The event, which includes sessions about the rise of IoT, lighting, smart energy efficiency, and low impact housing, will be opened by ECA Chief Executive Steve Bratt. Steve Bratt comments: “SMART TECH LIVE is the event for electrical and other building services engineering contractors who not only want to get ahead of the game, but who want to understand how the game is changing. Delegates are likely to gain valuable insights into which technologies are poised to shake up the domestic and commercial marketplace, and which will deliver the biggest business opportunities for contractors. “With developments ranging from smart energy saving and renewables, to smart fire and security, new waves of home automation, smart remote actuation and the harnessing of ‘big data’, there’s probably never been a better opportunity for contractors to diversify their business, and find new and higher margin business”, Bratt concludes. Key note speaker Jerry Hamilton of Tesla UK will describe his vision of the future and how energy storage will be pivotal to the radical changes in the next few years, and the day will conclude with an Industry Leaders’ Panel Discussion about training, business opportunities and security.  There will also be refreshments and opportunities for networking throughout the day. Other speakers include: Christian Schiemann (ABB), Richard Hayward (Legrand), Paul Collins (NICEIC), Bob Harris (eco building developer), Leigh Bowen (50 Degrees North Architects), Steve Martin (ECA), and Simon Buddle (CEDIA). Smart Tech Live takes place in the Grand Connaught Rooms, Covent Garden, London, on May 27. Spaces are limited and cost £50 (free to ECA Members). To book your place, please click HERE. Source link

The owner of a textiles firm has been prosecuted after failing to demonstrate that up-to-date insurance was in place. Merthyr Magistrates’ Court heard that William Cuthbert trading as BC Shirts, failed to provide evidence of Employer’s Liability Compulsory Insurance (ELCI) to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) over a period of six months. William Cuthbert, trading as BC Shirts, of Unit 4, Oaklands Business Park, Ferndale, Rhondda Cynon Taf was charged with breaching the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 and was fined £1000 in total and ordered to pay costs of £9,143.35. Speaking after the case HSE Inspector Wayne Williams said: “Failure to provide suitable insurance puts workers at risk of not being adequately compensated in the event of an injury or illness sustained whilst at their place of work” Information on ELCI requirements can be found here: http://www.hse.gov.uk/simple-health-safety/get.htm Notes to Editors: The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement hse.gov.uk More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk/ Further HSE news releases are available at press.hse.gov.uk. Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases. Source link