Listed consulting engineer Waterman Group has reported a 50% rise in profits on revenue up 9% and beaten its three-year targets. For the year ended 30th June 2016, Waterman generated revenue of £91.3m (2015: £83.9m) and profit before tax of £4.3m (2015: £3.4m). The board had previously set targets for
REL has been selected to provide electrical services at an £11m technical skills centre, which is the first of its kind to be located at a major UK airport. Harlow College, in partnership with London Stansted Airport, is bringing forward the two-storey facility, which will be located on land made
Founder and managing director of mechanical and electrical engineering (M&E) consultancy Building Services Design (BSD), David White, talks through 2017, as well as his hopes for the coming year. The past 12 months have been huge for BSD as we celebrated 25 years in business and continued to thrive in
PLANS to transform an area of scrubland into premium student accommodation have been revealed by Leonard Design Architects following the announcement of successful planning permission. The development, located on the canal edge at Castle Wharf, has been designed by international architecture practice Leonard Design. The Nottingham headquartered firm was appointed
Rudridge has recognised two employees at its Gravesend branch for their long service to the company. Ian Kenward, Assistant Branch Manager, has celebrated 10 years of continued service at the civil engineering and groundwork material supplier. Having joined Rudridge in 2007, Ian was presented with the company’s long service award
Modular construction, using timber as a key element, is a credible solution to fast and sustainable house building. However, Metsä Wood believes that more needs to be done in terms of sharing knowledge and innovation in wood construction to further advance the use of this material in mainstream construction. In
Stantec, the leading global infrastructure design and delivery company, is today announcing the integration of MWH UK and MWH Treatment into the business. The completion of the integration now makes Stantec an established key player in the UK infrastructure market as well as marking a further expansion of their combined
Technology business owner and Managing Director Leanne Bonner-Cooke will be accepting her most prestigious award to date and adding the letters ‘MBE’ to the end of her name in 2018. Leanne who runs software development business Evolve-IT Consulting Ltd in The Midlands, recently discovered her name had been submitted to
The large construction company, Kier has been handed down a £1.8 million penalty following a road resurfacing death. The division of the major contractor has been fined following the death of one of its workers, who was fatally hit by a 96 kph contraflow while work was taking place to
Staff at pioneering roofing manufacturer Russell Roof Tiles have pulled out all the stops and raised an amazing £32,500 to help local vital services – close to its factories. Staff from Burton on Trent and Lochmaben have danced, hiked, run and quizzed their way to raising the cash. Russell’s monies
Listed consulting engineer Waterman Group has reported a 50% rise in profits on revenue up 9% and beaten its three-year targets. For the year ended 30th June 2016, Waterman generated revenue of £91.3m (2015: £83.9m) and profit before tax of £4.3m (2015: £3.4m). The board had previously set targets for the three years to 30th June 2016 of making £3.3m pre-tax profit and increasing return on capital employed to more than 20%. On the latter count, it delivered 47% in the past year. Chief executive Nick Taylor said: “Waterman is in excellent shape, having reported results which exceed its previously declared financial objectives.” He said: “Over the last three years, the group has delivered a six times increase in the annual dividend paid to shareholders to 3.0p from 0.5p and during the same period, after paying shareholders dividends of £1.4m, net funds have increased to £5.5m from £1.1m. “Our future aspiration remains to improve the group’s adjusted operating profit margin towards 6% over the next three years and to continue to increase our dividend payout consistent with the cash generative nature of the business.” This article was published on 10 Oct 2016 (last updated on 10 Oct 2016). Source link
REL has been selected to provide electrical services at an £11m technical skills centre, which is the first of its kind to be located at a major UK airport. Harlow College, in partnership with London Stansted Airport, is bringing forward the two-storey facility, which will be located on land made available by the airport. It will provide specialist further education tailored to fill skills gaps in engineering, business and finance and airport-related industries such as logistics and hospitality. Willmott Dixon is the main contractor for the new facility, which is scheduled to open in September 2018. Appointed by Kershaw Mechanical Services, REL will deliver all the electrical services, including power, lighting, security systems, access control, and data installation. “We’re looking forward to working with the team to help deliver this unique project, which will build the local skills base and support the airport’s future growth,” said Toby Buckley, REL’s managing director. “We’ve worked on many schools and colleges but this one is one of the most unusual in terms of the design and location. Situated in a former aircraft hangar right next to the runway, there is lots of double height space to contend with and both conventional teaching facilities as well as a workshop area, so power usage will be high. There will also be no natural ventilation, so all electrical services will need to be carefully co-ordinated with the extensive mechanical elements.” REL is due to start on site in January 2018 with all electrical work scheduled for completion in August 2018 in time for the new academic year.
Founder and managing director of mechanical and electrical engineering (M&E) consultancy Building Services Design (BSD), David White, talks through 2017, as well as his hopes for the coming year. The past 12 months have been huge for BSD as we celebrated 25 years in business and continued to thrive in an environment where the next challenge is always just around the corner. As always, we met it head on, overcame it and moved on with added strength and determination. It’s safe to say the industry has changed over the decades, and quite considerably since we opened our first office in Crowland, Lincolnshire, back in 1991. We have since grown nationally, boasting eight offices across the UK – London, Kettering, Birmingham, Manchester, Cambridge, Leicester, Nottingham and Derby – and turning over more than £6 million. This year has been extreme and the roller coaster ride reflects very much the nature of our industry. We have had set backs just like any business, but on the flipside, we have promoted three directors from within, which has strengthened our management team and increased unity within the company – a company culture upon which we were established and have flourished. We started the year by moving into our new Passivhaus head office, based in Kettering, after relocating from our previous headquarters in Corby, where we’d been located for almost 20 years. The carbon neutral building showcases what we do and provides a great working environment for our brilliant team, led by Shaun Gregory. It has exceeded expectations for everyone. We really went above and beyond to achieve the energy efficient building standards because of the benefits both for the environment and staff wellbeing. It’s also estimated we’ll save 60 per cent on our annual running costs. From a personal point of view, our new office is a piece of work that’s been really amazing for me to work on and now work within. It’s the first office space we’ve bought, built and designed ourselves, highlighting a real landmark for us as a business. Promotions have been aplenty, with Mark Dyer, a BSD stalwart of 16 years and Joel Sawyer both becoming directors of the Cambridge and Birmingham offices respectively. Mark and his Cambridge team have made great strides to get us back to our 2012 levels of work – surpassing this year’s targets and gathering real momentum in Cambridge and East Anglia. Joel has been supported in the Birmingham office by Jo Jones, who has also been promoted to associate director – the first woman in the business to take on the senior role. There are very few women in the industry and, at BSD, we are doing all we can to eliminate the stigma attached to construction and engineering being a ‘man’s job’. The Birmingham team are in the midst of relocating to a new, larger suite in Fort Dunlop ready for an extremely busy 2018 so I’m pleased to entrust the team in the safe hands of Joel and Jo. Sean Langton and Charlotte Glover have established BSD in Manchester and we are currently adding to a great team to cope with the new projects the office has secured. Craig Jackson and Eoin Hickey continue to head our London office and continue with their established team to deliver amazing results on a wide range of projects in the capital. As we move into 2018, we are excited by the extent of the high profile projects which are going through design and will enter construction during the New Year. As our reputation grows, we are attracting larger and more complex projects, allowing us to recruit, promote and develop new engineers for the future. Our core business is M&E; I set out to bring something different to the industry, something that wasn’t available in the 1990s – delivering quality, practical, sustainable and commercially-minded designs completed on time and to budget. This hasn’t changed and is something we keep in mind across every job – no matter the size or value. We rely heavily on the relationships we’ve formed over the years and I truly appreciate all of the friends we’ve made in the last 25 years – we’re looking forward to another fruitful year and an active construction industry which is prepared to weather whatever comes its way.
PLANS to transform an area of scrubland into premium student accommodation have been revealed by Leonard Design Architects following the announcement of successful planning permission. The development, located on the canal edge at Castle Wharf, has been designed by international architecture practice Leonard Design. The Nottingham headquartered firm was appointed to create three stunning student residences following significant investment from a London-based developer. The scheme is set to be completely car free, making use of the already established network of public transport links and the city’s super-cycle highway which link the universities and the QMC Hospital with the city centre and train station. The plans also offer neighbouring residents direct access to the waterfront for the first time. John Morgan, director at Leonard Design, said: “We are delighted to have secured planning consent for the development. It is a fantastic location for students and will rejuvenate a previously derelict patch of land and help to frame the street and improve this gateway into the city. “The scheme, which draws inspiration from the old canal buildings along the canal network, has been sensitively designed to work as a series of blocks with spaces in-between to enhance the public realm and allows access to the canal side and super-cycle highway. “The three different buildings within the scheme have also been designed so views across the canal are maintained. We worked very closely with the Local Planning Authority to develop a design which was sensitive and appropriate for the site” “Having previously been a resident of Park Rock, I’m particularly passionate about this development and making it a great place to live for both those already based here and those that could move here. Our goal is to create a real sense of community.” Andrew Astin, associate director at Indigo Planning, one of the UK’s largest independent planning consultancies, said: “The site is really interesting as it is a prime location on the canal edge with great surrounding amenities but has been left as scrubland for many years. “Leonard Design has delivered a great vision for the scheme, completely reimagining the site whilst drawing inspiration from the surrounding area to make sure the entire area benefits. They took the time to think about not only what the site needs but what the student residents would want, such as access to the super-cycle highway, and this is what makes the scheme so great.” Ben Tebbutt, director at Nottingham-based Box Property Consultants, said: “This is a very exciting project to be involved in and we are really looking forward to advising the client on their options moving forward now that planning has been confirmed. If any potential parties who require further information then please get in touch.” For further information visit www.leonarddesignarchitects.com or follow @leonard_design on Twitter.
Rudridge has recognised two employees at its Gravesend branch for their long service to the company. Ian Kenward, Assistant Branch Manager, has celebrated 10 years of continued service at the civil engineering and groundwork material supplier. Having joined Rudridge in 2007, Ian was presented with the company’s long service award and certificate by Regional Director Clive Summerfield. Estimator, Sally Elliott, joined the civil engineering and groundwork materials specialist in 2012 and was presented with the company’s pin and certificate by the Regional Sales Director Duane Long. Clive Summerfield praised Ian and Sally for their dedication and hard work. He said: “Congratulations to Ian and Sally, it’s a great achievement. I’d like to thank Ian for his help and support with the operations and stock work at our Gravesend branch. Ian’s years of management experience are important in supporting the team and ensuring our high levels of customer service are maintained. “Sally’s experience and determination are key to our sales success and I’d like to thank her for all the support she gives to our tender’s department. Her hard work is vital to the pipeline of future orders and it plays a massive role in ensuring customers continue to choose Rudridge.”
Modular construction, using timber as a key element, is a credible solution to fast and sustainable house building. However, Metsä Wood believes that more needs to be done in terms of sharing knowledge and innovation in wood construction to further advance the use of this material in mainstream construction. In order to help facilitate this process, Metsä Wood has launched its Open Source Wood initiative at www.opensourcewood.com. Metsä Wood’s Executive Vice President, Esa Kaikkonen, explains: “Not enough knowledge about modular wood design and building is shared, so wood construction remains niche. There is plenty of innovation but it is difficult to find, so Open Source Wood is our solution. We believe that with open collaboration the industry can achieve significant growth.” The potential of wood is undeniable and today, offsite construction has major aspirations. Prefabricated wood elements enable fast, efficient and environmentally sound design without reducing quality. Reports on the benefits of such a lean approach are compelling: In a study of companies that have applied lean construction methods, 84% report higher quality in construction and 80% experienced greater customer satisfaction.(1) The report also highlights that almost 70% of projects that used prefabricated elements had shorter schedules and 65% had decreased budgets. Timber prefab construction also reduces other inconveniences such as the constant unloading of building materials, as well as the amount of on-site waste and the need to transport it. Innovation in the house building sector is key, and offsite timber construction could be key in achieving the high volume of housing required in the UK. Using new and innovative products like Metsä Wood’s Kerto®LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber), homes constructed offsite can be turned around in a matter of weeks. Modern engineered wood products can be used for a variety of housing projects ranging from terraced and detached homes through to apartment blocks several stories high. Across Europe, timber prefab construction is already mainstream, yet here in the UK we seem to be slow on the uptake. However, the tide is slowly turning with a greater need to provide affordable, adaptable and ecological homes. Despite signs of progress, more needs to be done to help house builders, developers and planners better realise the potential that modern wood products can offer. It is hoped that the Open Source Wood project will help to highlight some of the innovative projects taking place across the globe and, through a collaborative approach, bring timber construction methods to the forefront of new house building in the UK.
Stantec, the leading global infrastructure design and delivery company, is today announcing the integration of MWH UK and MWH Treatment into the business. The completion of the integration now makes Stantec an established key player in the UK infrastructure market as well as marking a further expansion of their combined service offering in the UK. The change, effective from 1 January, means that MWH UK and MWH Treatment will now be known as Stantec and Stantec Treatment. This follows the merger in March 2016, which saw the creation of a combined business with 22,000 employees globally, across 400 locations, spanning six continents. The union of the two companies presents the UK business with an excellent opportunity to build on its reputation as a leader in the water sector and expand its expertise further into infrastructure, energy and resources, environmental services and buildings. Stantec believes that bringing this diverse technical excellence to bear will help it tackle the biggest challenges facing the utilities, infrastructure and built environment sectors. Stantec has identified four key areas that the industry will need to focus on in 2018 and beyond: Putting the customer first: designing with the community in mind, so that projects deliver the most benefits for communities and customers. Resilience: safeguarding infrastructure, environments and quality of life to meet the challenges of climate change, operational disruption and future shifts in population. Affordability: developing plans, programmes and solutions that are financially sustainable and affordable in the face of sponsors and regulators need to drive cost effective solutions for business, communities and the customer. Creativity and innovation: ensuring that latest ideas, processes, technologies and best practices are deployed in every project. Stantec will work with its clients and partners to tackle these four challenges collaboratively over the coming years. Cath Schefer, UK Managing Director of Stantec UK, said: “The move to Stantec is an important and exciting step forward for our business that has a 150 year history and a rich heritage. Throughout the integration process, it has been clear to all of us that Stantec and MWH values are very well aligned. “With infrastructure development high on the UK agenda, our ambition is to deploy our expertise across multiple sectors and be a part of the many new programmes and projects due to begin over coming years.” Paul Bresnan, Managing Director, Stantec Treatment, said, “We’ve worked hard to become a leading design & build organisation in the UK water sector, reaching this position by consistently delivering and outperforming for clients. This new development signals our ambition to build on this success. “We are already seeing the benefit of bringing together our combined knowledge and experience and we are confident that this will drive the growth of our UK business.”
Technology business owner and Managing Director Leanne Bonner-Cooke will be accepting her most prestigious award to date and adding the letters ‘MBE’ to the end of her name in 2018. Leanne who runs software development business Evolve-IT Consulting Ltd in The Midlands, recently discovered her name had been submitted to The Queen in a letter detailing her appointment as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the New Year 2018 Honours List, by order of The Prime Minister. Leanne will receive the MBE for Services to Women in Business, something she is extremely passionate about as a woman leading a technology business which provides software solutions and professional services to blue chip corporations. Evolve specialise in the Construction, Manufacturing, Retail and Health and safety industries. Recognised with a ‘Businesswoman of the Year’ award in 2017, and a trophy for ‘International Business of the Year’ amongst many others, Leanne isn’t unfamiliar with awards and accreditations in association with her successful enterprise grade software development business, celebrating its 11th year in 2018. However, being awarded an MBE is something Leanne had never dreamt of; “My husband and I were on holiday in Bali when we got the news, which was a welcome distraction as the volcano there was causing huge problems at the time – we thought we were going to be stuck there for a while. My Father sent me a message telling me I’d had a letter from the Home Office and a picture of the contents; I was thrilled with the news and had no idea I had been put forward, I couldn’t quite believe it.” Leanne has watched Evolve grow year after year in the last decade, watching technology trends come and go and worked with countless customers to improve business processes by introducing an Evolve custom-built solution. Constantly staying ahead of the technology curve is key to the success of official ‘Women-Owned’ Evolve and its Managing Director and her latest official royal recognition. As a ‘hands-on’ MD always looking for a new challenge, Leanne plans to break away their rebate management software solution, ‘e-Bate’, into a stand-alone business in 2018 and is already looking for investment: “We’ve done lots of research into the rebate space and we know there is a huge opportunity there. Nearly all large corporations have rebate deals between themselves and their suppliers, but we know there’s billions of pounds not being accounted for or claimed, through poor rebate management. e-Bate is an end-to-end rebate management solution that can recover and save our customers a lot of money. In fact, we believe they will see returns within the first 6 months. We think e-Bate has huge potential not just in our target markets, but far, far wider.” Leanne, also listed in the 2017 ‘BusinessCloud 101 Female Founders of Tech’ will attend a ceremony where she will be presented with her MBE in the next few months by The Queen, or in the name of Her Majesty. The New Year Honours have been presented to individuals for outstanding service to the community for over 127 years. As a pioneering woman in a technology business, the MBE title of ‘Services to Women in Business’ is fitting to Leanne’s professional achievements. Regularly attending inspirational talks and presenting to her peers and associates, Leanne has always done her best to give back to the business community and to help her fellow business people wherever she can. “I am very proud to be receiving an MBE; it feels surreal! I cannot wait to attend the ceremony and hopefully meet Her Majesty the Queen. This is definitely both my career and lifetime highlight.
The large construction company, Kier has been handed down a £1.8 million penalty following a road resurfacing death. The division of the major contractor has been fined following the death of one of its workers, who was fatally hit by a 96 kph contraflow while work was taking place to carry out repairs to a road surface in Suffolk. The Kier Subcontractor Sean Hegarty has also been fines a total of £75,000 as a part of this ruling due to their role in the accident. The incident took place on a stretch of the B106 to the north of Lidgate. The principal contractor for this repair work, Kier had employed Sean Hegarty to repair the road surface as a part of a contract that had been agreed with Suffolk Council Council. The accident took place on the 13th May 2014 and a Health and Safety Executive investigation that was carried out found that the Hegarty workers were using a road planer in order to remove the old tar from the southbound side of the road. On the northbound side of the road had traffic lights in place in order to control the direction of the traffic. During the repair work on the B106, a flatbed lorry driver saw a road worker lying in the road, he was taken to hospital but died from their injuries. It has been reported by Suffolk Police and the HSE that nobody witnessed the incident and although there is a possibility that there was a motor vehicle involved, they were not able to speculate. As a part of the investigation in to this incident,. The HSE found that both companies had been at fault as they had failed to design and plan the roadworks properly in order to ensure that road workers and members of the public could move safely around the road surfacing work that was being carried out without the risk of being hit by moving vehicles. Kier has pleaded guilty to the breach in Health and Safety regulation and has been fined £75,000 as well as £12,405. It is vital that planning for road repairs starts with planning and designing a system that will protect workers and members of the public from moving vehicles. The cones in the centre of the road at this Suffolk site were insufficient and allowed vehicles to pass the site at 96 kph close to workers with no safety zone due to lack of space on the site.
Staff at pioneering roofing manufacturer Russell Roof Tiles have pulled out all the stops and raised an amazing £32,500 to help local vital services – close to its factories. Staff from Burton on Trent and Lochmaben have danced, hiked, run and quizzed their way to raising the cash. Russell’s monies raised is being split equally between Shropshire.Staffordshire.Cheshire Blood Bikes and Dumfries and Galloway Blood Bikes. Both are volunteer-led, providing lifesaving medical supplies to NHS foundations, by transporting vital blood products, bone marrow, breast milk for premature babies and other life-critical supplies to local hospitals via motorbike, where every minute counts in helping seriously ill and injured patients. This takes Russell’s total fundraising efforts for the blood bikes to £56,000 across 2016 and 2017. Last year generous Russell Roof Tiles 170 staff at its three sites and suppliers raised an impressive £24,000 – smashing the original £20,000 target and enabling both charities to buy a much-needed new motorbike each. The money was raised by a wide range of fun and challenging fundraising activities. Most of the company’s 100 staff at its two Burton sites, on Wetmore Lane and Nicolson Way and its sister site in Lochmaben participated in some form or other. This included a gruelling 72-mile hike across Hadrian’s Wall, a ballroom dancing competition at Brewhouse Arts Centre “Dancing on the Tiles”, golfing activities and football matches. For the first time a Big Quiz evening, hosted at the Pirelli Stadium in Burton raised a remarkable £8,550. The event was a triumph, and included 48 teams included members from Russell’s parent company Crown Global Equity travelling from Texas, Mexico and Florida who joined local staff, customers and suppliers. Andrew Hayward, Managing Director at Russell Roof Tiles added: “I have been amazed and delighted to see the lengths that the staff have gone across all our three sites. I want to recognise the support of the families of our staff who have been a huge support, also so many of our suppliers and friends who have gone above and beyond this year. All to help these two amazing charities and their dedicated teams who work incredibly hard to provide a vital and lifesaving service.” Both charities operate 24/7 on a totally voluntarily basis and does not receive any government or local authority finance. Jeremy Cartwright, Chair of SSBB explained “We are totally dependent on donations and the goodwill of our volunteers to enable us to provide this important service to the NHS. We undertake over 5000 jobs a year covering over 200,000 miles which of course takes its toll on the bikes we use. This fantastic donation from Russell Roof Tiles will buy us a new bike and go a long way to help keep the service running. We are all extremely grateful to the staff of RRT for their tremendous and very creative efforts to raise this money for the charity.”