House-builder Persimmon has seen an 8% upswing in forward sales revenue so far this year and a 12% increase in customer site visits. Persimmon shareholders meet today for their annual general meeting. In a trading statement the board said business was good but would be better but for continued planning
Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Fri, Apr 1st 2016 Jewers Doors have just completed the installation of forty six Swift fast acting, bi-fold doors for nine new London Fire Brigade (LFB) stations under a £51.5 million Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project constructed
A pub worker has been sentenced for illegally installing a gas boiler at a flat in Torquay. Published: 21 April, 2016 Geoffrey Voss, aged 59, who works as a barman at a pub in Torquay, installed the gas pipework and gas boiler at a flat on Old Torwood Road, Torquay
Andy Spetch from British Sugar TOPSOIL gave Nicky Burridge the Student Design – Commercial award during the sixth annual awards ceremony of the Society of Garden Designers, held on Friday, the 2nd of February. The company sponsored the award under its ‘HortLoam’ premier planting soil brand, which is becoming increasingly
The new sophisticated door furniture range, Horizon, has just been launched by A Perry & Co Ltd. Created from premium solid forged brass components, the exclusive range comes with a superior finish for extended life, a 25 year mechanical guarantee, and a modern classic design. The Horizon products include door
Pie, the tech company bringing end-to-end visibility to fleet management solutions, today announced it will launch its official, digital London Lorry Route Approver (LLRA) app, next month. The LLRA app will sync direct with Pie’s popular LLRA routing engine, currently the most up to date and comprehensive HGV routing system
Makita has harnessed the impressive power of the incredibly successful 18v Brushless motor to reduce the back-breaking task of pushing a fully laden wheelbarrow across a rocky, bumpy building site, a muddy commercial garden or rough pasture towards a favourite fishing lake! In-wheel Brushless motor drives up to 3.5 km/h
Keyline is continuing to celebrate its employees’ commitment and dedication by presenting long-service awards to those who have been with the company for a number of years. Employees are recognised after completing five years with the company, and then every five years thereafter. Each member of staff is presented with
A new smartphone app, Trackunit On, developed by Trackunit, a leader in the design, development, and deployment of fleet management systems, will enable fleet owners and equipment rental companies to be on top of their machines and operators’ health. Trackunit On is a smart solution that allows operators to log
House-builder Persimmon has seen an 8% upswing in forward sales revenue so far this year and a 12% increase in customer site visits. Persimmon shareholders meet today for their annual general meeting. In a trading statement the board said business was good but would be better but for continued planning delays. It said: “We brought forward a healthy order book into 2016 and our strong sales performance over the period has resulted in total forward sales revenue, including legal completions taken so far in 2016, being 8% higher than last year at £2.15bn (2015: £2.00bn). Our weekly private sales rate per site over this period was 6% ahead of last year. We have 7,598 new homes sold forward into the private sale market for 2016 with an average selling price of c. £220,000, an increase of 5.8% over the prior year. “We are currently developing 370 active outlets across the UK, having opened 75 of the 100 new sites planned for the first half of the year. The group continues to build new homes on all sites where an implementable detailed planning consent has been secured. Planning delays continue to erode the total number of active outlets being developed by the industry, hindering the drive to increase the volume of newly built homes delivered to the market. We are working hard to increase our active outlet numbers towards c.400 by the end of 2016 and will continue to focus on increasing our output to meet market demand.” This article was published on 14 Apr 2016 (last updated on 14 Apr 2016). Source link
Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Fri, Apr 1st 2016 Jewers Doors have just completed the installation of forty six Swift fast acting, bi-fold doors for nine new London Fire Brigade (LFB) stations under a £51.5 million Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project constructed by Blue3 consortium, comprising Kier and DIF Infrastructure. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday “LFB have been specifying bi-folding doors to all new and refurbishment projects for over 25 years, and Jewers have been supplying a large proportion of those projects, so Swift doors were first choice for Kier on this 28 year PFI project.” commented Mark Jewers, Director of Jewers Doors. “The Swift door opens fully in less than 7 seconds, making them ideal for fire stations where appliances need to exit rapidly under ‘blue light’ emergency response conditions. That’s less than half the time it takes for typical vertical lifting doors to open.” Swift doors are designed with safety and security as standard. Leading edges of the door are fitted with full height pressure sensitive edges, so if a door meets any resistance during closing, it immediately stops and reverses. In addition, photocell beams inside and outside, create a safe area around the door which greatly reduces the risk of an impact ever occurring. In the event of power failure, each door can be instantly and effortlessly opened by hand in around 2 seconds. Jewers added, “The sideways opening action and the large vision panel within each door leaf provides the fire appliance driver full visibility of the door position and the street outside, to exit the bay safety at all times. With vertical lifting doors, it is difficult to judge when there is sufficient height clearance, and in an emergency situation, it’s not unknown for the appliance to hit the bottom of the door before it’s fully open, resulting in downtime, costly repairs to the door and often the fire engine.” Manufactured as a single piece construction, Swift door panels are fully insulated with CFC-free foam materials to optimise thermal efficiency and reduce noise pollution by 25dB. Options for partial or fully glazed doors are available. The new fire stations at Mitcham, Old Kent Road, Plaistow, Orpington and Dagenham are now in full service and the remaining four stations at Leytonstone, Shadwell, Purley and Dockhead are due for completion in early 2016. ends Editor NotesHi- res images available on request More about Jewers DoorsEstablished in 1983 and still a family run business, Jewers Doors is a world-leading supplier of industrial doors operating from a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Bedfordshire. With over 50 highly skilled and experienced staff, the core of the business is design, manufacture, installation and repair of industrial door solutions across all industrial sectors. The Phoenix range of doors are designed for medium to large industrial applications, while the Esavian range is recognised as one of the world’s leading range of aircraft hanger doors. Incorporating the very latest concepts and technologies, Jewers Doors have been installed not only in the UK, but also throughout the world including Europe, Middle and Far East and New Zealand. Source link
A pub worker has been sentenced for illegally installing a gas boiler at a flat in Torquay. Published: 21 April, 2016 Geoffrey Voss, aged 59, who works as a barman at a pub in Torquay, installed the gas pipework and gas boiler at a flat on Old Torwood Road, Torquay despite holding no competencies in gas work and having never been registered with Gas Safe Register. Mr Voss’s illegal gas work came to light when the homeowner repeatedly asked him for the commissioning documentation for the new gas boiler that he had installed, Newton Abbot Magistrates’ Court heard on 20 April. Mr Voss never produced the document and the home owner then raised his concerns with Gas Safe Register. During the HSE investigation Mr Voss admitted that he had not commissioned the gas boiler after he had installed it. Such commissioning should have included tests to ensure that the boiler wasn’t producing high levels of carbon monoxide, but he left the boiler working without the tests being undertaken, putting the homeowner at risk from deadly carbon monoxide poisoning. Geoffrey Voss of South Street, Torquay, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3(3) and 33(1)(c) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations and was sentenced to 36 weeks imprisonment suspended for 2 years and ordered to pay £757 in costs. HSE inspector Simon Jones said: “Only engineers with the correct competencies and who are registered with Gas Safe can legally carry out gas work and it is fortunate no-one was harmed as a result of Mr Voss’s illegal work. “Once a gas boiler has been installed it should always be properly commissioned to ensure that it is operating safely. In this case Mr Voss did no such safety checks after his illegal work, leaving it to chance that there would not be a risk of fire, explosion or carbon monoxide poisoning.” For further information on domestic gas safety issues visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/. Picture caption: All Gas Safe Registered engineers should carry their registration card with them at all times Source link
Andy Spetch from British Sugar TOPSOIL gave Nicky Burridge the Student Design – Commercial award during the sixth annual awards ceremony of the Society of Garden Designers, held on Friday, the 2nd of February. The company sponsored the award under its ‘HortLoam’ premier planting soil brand, which is becoming increasingly popular among garden designers for perennial, shrub, tree, and vegetable planting schemes. Nicky is a recent graduate that has received a Distinction for her Diploma in Garden Design from the London College of Garden Design. She holds a BSc in 3D Design and an MSc in Light and Lightning, having previously worked as a lightning designer for many years before returning to study at the London College of Garden Design. Currently, she is running nb lightning and landscapes, combining both her expertise in lightning with the passion for garden design. “I am delighted that Nicky’s submission for the SGD Awards received such glowing praise from the judges and I wish her and her new lighting and landscape design venture every success in the future. This year’s SGD student awards highlighted the calibre of those entering the garden design industry and British Sugar TOPSOIL is proud to once again play its part in bringing their talent to the notice of the wider industry and public,” said after the event Andy Spetch, National TOPSOIL Manager. British Sugar TOPSOIL is the largest supplier of quality TOPSOIL in the UK, with products including Landscape20, HortLoam, and Sports & Turf, being successfully used by the amenity, construction, and landscaping industries. British Sugar is the leading supplier for the British and Irish food and beverage markets. It operated four manufacturing plants across East Midlands and East Anglia, employing approximately 1,400 permanent and contract staff at its facilities, while supporting up to 9,500 UK jobs in the wider economy. British Sugar invests in innovation, with £2 million every year going towards development, education, and research.
The new sophisticated door furniture range, Horizon, has just been launched by A Perry & Co Ltd. Created from premium solid forged brass components, the exclusive range comes with a superior finish for extended life, a 25 year mechanical guarantee, and a modern classic design. The Horizon products include door knockers, lever on rose door handles, escutcheons, and handles, all delivering precision engineering. A Perry has transformed the traditional concept of a door lever into a sophisticated decoration of a door, manufactured in a way that the force goes into the body of the door rather than the handle, avoiding wear and damage. “We anticipated the launch of the Horizon range for some time to ensure it pushed the boundaries of quality and design in this sector. We understood that the market needed high quality yet stylish door furniture products and Horizon is just that. We believe these products are going to lead a revolutionary change in the ironmongery sector. We have devoted our team’s experience to offer customers a 25-year mechanical guarantee, which cements our leadership position in the market and further reinforces the products’ high quality, performance and extended life,” said Ian Dunnaker, Company Director. All of the Horizon products are suitable for 35mm to 44mm door thicknesses and some of them include: Casoria door handle, which is on round rose and finished in satin nickel, Faenza, a classically designed door lever, Giotto, a simple door lever with curves, and Modica door handle, which has chiseled edges and contrasting finishes. A Perry & Co is a leading independent, family-owned British manufacturer and supplier that challenges industry standards and creates professional merchandising and POS options to complement the door furniture range. The Horizon range meets Perry’s ‘green’ commitment and comes in a recyclable and reusable packaging.
Pie, the tech company bringing end-to-end visibility to fleet management solutions, today announced it will launch its official, digital London Lorry Route Approver (LLRA) app, next month. The LLRA app will sync direct with Pie’s popular LLRA routing engine, currently the most up to date and comprehensive HGV routing system available. The announcement is the first major product update from the company since it rebranded from ‘Pie Mapping’ to ‘Pie’ in March last year to reflect its wider vision of revolutionising the freight industry with a holistic solution for planning, tracking, visibility, efficiency and compliance. The app still boasts all the features of the current cloud-based LLRA, such as generating HGV compliant routes (tailored to the vehicle size, avoiding various width, weight and height restrictions) as well as securing instant, automatic approval from local councils. It also uses Mapbox and OpenStreetMap technology to deliver real-time, compliant routes with live traffic conditions and turn-by-turn instructions, as well as send alerts when the driver goes off a London Lorry Control Scheme (LLCS) compliant route. This eliminates the chance of a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN), an offence that can cost up to £500 for a first time, and £800 or more for a second. Being a mobile app, it has the added benefit of empowering drivers to plan routes straight from their vehicles, rather than using the LLRA routing engine from a computer and printing off a map or directions. As well as this, its brand new ‘Live Map’ function lets users know where vehicles are at any moment in time, which is useful when co-ordinating fleets. Pie’s 250+ customers that currently use its LLRA (including DPD, Superdrug, Next and Co-op) will be offered the new app after its release, to give them the best possible HGV planning and journey experience. Pie’s CEO, Stuart Hill said: “While we’re immensely proud of the heritage of the LLRA, we recognise that the future of fleet transport is in mobile. We’re excited to be launching our LLRA app – our entry level product – and will be following it up with a suite of other innovative software products later this year. Pie continues to strive to modernise the freight industry in a way no-one else has and pursue its vision of delivering holistic fleet management solutions that drive efficiencies and lower costs.” In 2016 Pie (then Pie Mapping) was acquired by DPD after winning DPD’s technology incubator scheme, Last Mile Labs the previous year. Since then the company has grown, appointing CEO Stuart Hill (replacing Freddie Talberg in March 2017), as well as making senior hires from the likes of MetaPack and TomTom. The London Lorry Route Approver app is currently going through final testing in beta mode and will also be compliant for nation-wide routes (not just London routes) upon its release. It will available on Android and iOS with an individual charge per user, per month. To coincide with the app launch the LLRA routing engine will also receive an update in line with the new Pie branding and product information. For further information, please visit http://www.londonlorryrouteapprover.com/
Makita has harnessed the impressive power of the incredibly successful 18v Brushless motor to reduce the back-breaking task of pushing a fully laden wheelbarrow across a rocky, bumpy building site, a muddy commercial garden or rough pasture towards a favourite fishing lake! In-wheel Brushless motor drives up to 3.5 km/h (2.2 m/h) 130kg max load up to 12° incline Adjustable chassis with pipe frame or bucket frame option In fact, designed principally to reduce the physical demands in the construction industry the new Makita DCU180Z will prove popular in many operating fields. Capable of carrying 130kg of blocks on the tubular frame, or similar amount of ballast in the barrow bin option, this power-assisted wheelbarrow has the Brushless motor integrated into the front wheel to ensure the maximum possible traction to the heavily ribbed agri-tyre. This barrow has two forward speeds: Hi up to 3.5 km/h, Lo 1.5 km/h, and powered reverse of 1.0 km/h and will climb a 12° maximum incline. Main braking is provided by the front disc brake controlled by the hand lever on the steering handles. The wheelbarrow weighs just 32.5kg, is ready to work with handles that can be adjusted to three height levels for operator comfort and also fold for easy storage. The detachable rear trailing wheels with kick down brake can be adjusted from a width of 480mm to 760mm which further improves stability and reduces operator effort. Powered by any of the Makita 18v LXT Lithium-Ion batteries used to power Britain’s number 1 professional power tool range, the new Makita DCU180Z power-assisted wheelbarrow has soft start to ease the load away; constant speed control; twin LED driving lights and locking brake lever for maximum site safety. For site security an individual ignition lock key is provided. Previous walk-behind powered site platforms can cost several thousand pounds but the new Makita powered wheelbarrow will prove particularly attractive in relation to price competitiveness and rugged performance. The DCU180Z is a body only machine which is available with a choice of optional accessories which includes the pipe frame set and bucket frame set. For more news and product information about Makita UK please visit www.makitauk.com. Follow us on Twitter @MakitaUK, Facebook.com/makitauk and google.com/+makitauk
Keyline is continuing to celebrate its employees’ commitment and dedication by presenting long-service awards to those who have been with the company for a number of years. Employees are recognised after completing five years with the company, and then every five years thereafter. Each member of staff is presented with Keyline’s long service pin and certificate, and also receives vouchers for the company’s internal employee rewards scheme, which can be used online to purchase items from a choice of over 1,000 different outlets. Those who were recently presented with long-service awards are: Barry Latimer, Sales Office Manager at Keyline Manchester – 15 years Christ Durrant, Keyline Taunton’s Branch Manager – 10 years Lee Darwin, a fitter and driver in Keyline Sheffield’s tool hire department – 10 years Andrew Corbett, Branch Manager at Keyline’s Preston branch – 10 years Paul Beaman, Managing Director at Keyline, commented: “We have an amazing team and it’s always a pleasure to honour the hard work and loyalty of those who have been with us for many years. We pride ourselves on having branch teams who are highly knowledgeable and are able to offer exceptional technical assistance to our customers, and our long-service awards are our way of saying thank you to our staff.”
A new smartphone app, Trackunit On, developed by Trackunit, a leader in the design, development, and deployment of fleet management systems, will enable fleet owners and equipment rental companies to be on top of their machines and operators’ health. Trackunit On is a smart solution that allows operators to log and track start-up routines and service and maintenance requirements, providing them with a checklist to make sure that service requirements are up to date, equipment passes all pre-checks, and reports of any visual damage can be submitted. The app can also help with the on-site safety, which is a major concern in the industry. It protects equipment operators by reducing the chance of faulty and unsafe equipment being used. It also keeps track of all hours worked and the equipment operated. The repair process can be streamlined so service technicians can bring machines to full operational condition quickly and with lower costs. “Trackunit On shows how telematics can help the digitization of the construction industry in a convenient and intelligent way, using the smartphones in everyone’s pockets. Our technology links equipment rental companies and fleet owners to operators and equipment to increase safety and productivity while reducing downtime and costs,” said Joergen Raguse, CEO of Trackunit. Trackunit On is available as a subscription service and can benefit machine owners and rental companies, as well as their equipment, by constantly monitoring the condition and use of the machines, which will impact on its lifecycle, cost of ownership, and residual value. Used together with Trackunit Raw and Trackunit’s industry-leading cloud environment – Iris – Trackunit provides a complete and comprehensive fleet management system for the construction industry. Trackunit is among the world’s leading companies in the Industrial Internet of Things with a focus on innovative solutions to players within building, construction and industry. Trackunit develops and provides solutions for the entire value chain, from machine manufacturers, machine dealers, machine landlords, contractors for operators. Trackunit services its customers directly from its headquarters in Denmark and through subsidiaries in Sweden, Norway, France, Holland, Germany, England and the United States of America.
