Guhring has completed the steel framework of its new UK headquarters at the Advanced Manufacturing Hub (AMH) in Aston, Birmingham. The global tool manufacturer purchased 3.5 acres (1.41 hectares) of development land at the scheme from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and Birmingham City Council last year, in a
Procter Contracts has opened a new office in South West England in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, to serve its growing client base. Architects and main contractors working in the area can now single source automatic gates, fencing, railings, and street furniture from a regional supplier. The new office is located at
Terry Cooper has just been appointed as Energy Assets Utilities’ (EAU) new Operations Director for the South. EAU is one of the UK’s leading multi-utility network construction companies, providing gas, electricity and water utility networks for residential and industrial/commercial markets. Terry will now oversee the operational delivery of all site
Hill, the UK’s third largest privately owned and family controlled house builder, has secured a £200 million five-year credit facility, which will support its plans to grow joint venture and long-term regeneration work and expand its current land bank. This additional credit will generate revenues of more than £1 billion
The UK’s biggest contractor, Balfour Beatty, has exceeded market expectations with a pre-tax profit for the year to December 2017 of £165 million, more than the double of the previous year. This news signals a return to industry-standard margins on revenue of £8.2 billion. The construction division of Balfour Beatty
Galbraith, Scotland’s leading independent property consultancy, has partnered up with Roxburghe Estates on a project that aims to bring six empty properties back into use. The former farm cottages at Cessford that await restoration work have received a 40% grant funding though the Scottish Government’s Rural Housing Fund. “We are
Guhring has completed the steel framework of its new UK headquarters at the Advanced Manufacturing Hub (AMH) in Aston, Birmingham. The global tool manufacturer purchased 3.5 acres (1.41 hectares) of development land at the scheme from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and Birmingham City Council last year, in a deal secured by Savills. German-owned Guhring, which supplies brands including BMW, Ford, JLR and BAE Systems, is developing a c.50,000 sq ft (4,645 sq m) factory at the AMH which is due for completion in January 2017. The new facility will accommodate R&D and the full manufacturing process, some of which was previously located in Castle Bromwich where Gurhing has been based since 1990. Guhring was the second occupier to commit to the AMH, following HydraForce Hydraulics which completed a 120,000 sq ft (11,148 sq m) European headquarters at the site in summer 2015. Additionally, Trebor Developments, in conjunction with Aviva Investors, is bringing forward the first speculative development at the scheme after planning consent for a 94,500 sq ft (8,779 sq m) facility known as ‘Apollo’ was granted in May this year. Charlie Spicer, industrial director at Savills, comments: “The completion of the steel framework is a significant milestone for Guhring’s facility and the progression of the AMH as a whole. Construction of the first speculative development, Apollo, started last week which is a further sign of the scheme’s growing maturity.” Mike Dinsdale, managing director at Guhring, adds: “Searching for the right site in the right location had been a time consuming and business delaying activity until the AMH became available. With construction well under way, our staff are eagerly looking forward to relocating to a purpose built, high tech facility in this famous area of the city which is now being transformed.” Savills is marketing further plots at the AMH which can accommodate units of up to 150,000 sq ft (13,935 sq m). The scheme benefits from a Local Development Order which grants planning consent for manufacturing, light industrial and R&D. New occupiers can choose their own development partners and may be able to take advantage of assistance with funding grants, space planning and building design, subject to criteria. Source link
Procter Contracts has opened a new office in South West England in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, to serve its growing client base. Architects and main contractors working in the area can now single source automatic gates, fencing, railings, and street furniture from a regional supplier. The new office is located at The Hive Business Centre in Weston-super-Mare, with Steve Spaven, Senior Business Development Manager, leading the operation and Lee Harvey, together with a team of local staff, supporting clients and handling new enquiries. Technical and logistical backup is also available from Procter’s design, manufacturing, and installation teams from Bedwas (South Wales), Garforth (Yorkshire) and Brentwood (Essex). “I am delighted that the new office is already thriving, with a growing base of satisfied clients and a wealth of new projects in the pipeline. Previously we have served the South West from our other bases, but having a dedicated office in the South West is proving highly beneficial to our clients in that region,” commented Jeremy Procter, Chairman of the Procter Bros Group. Procter Contracts has seen an unprecedented growth in the South West during the past two years through a combination of loyal existing clients and new ones. Recent contracts have been completed for major construction groups such as Costain, Kier, Morgan Sindall, Willmott Dixon and Midas, in projects that included the supply and installation of standard and bespoke products a park-and- ride scheme, the Avonmouth Concrete Plant, multi-storey car parks and various education projects. Procter Contracts is a business unit within Procter Bros Ltd, which can trace its roots back to 1740. The three areas in which Procter Contracts specialises are fencing, automatic gates and street furniture. As well as offering a range of standard products, Procter Contracts has the design and manufacturing capability to create bespoke products. With all projects, the priorities are quality and customer service.
Terry Cooper has just been appointed as Energy Assets Utilities’ (EAU) new Operations Director for the South. EAU is one of the UK’s leading multi-utility network construction companies, providing gas, electricity and water utility networks for residential and industrial/commercial markets. Terry will now oversee the operational delivery of all site works throughout England and Wales. With an experience of over 27 years, Terry has worked his way up from the position of Water Engineers through a number of management roles before taking up the position of Operations Manager. During the last four and a half years he has worked as Utilities Manager in the Middle East on the Qatar Rail underground metro. At EAU, Terry will take responsibility for end to end delivery of site works, providing support from project design right through to execution, whilst building relationships and supporting sub-contractors along the way. “I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to work in such a challenging market for EAU, which is a very well-regarded and leading provider of multi-utility networks. EAU is highly professional and I am very much looking forward to being part of a forward-thinking and dynamic management team,” said Terry. Energy Assets provides metering and related services in the I&C segment of the utility market and is the largest independent provider of I&C gas metering services in Britain, by number of assets owned and managed. The Group offers utility suppliers and end-user consumers of energy a broad spectrum of expert multi-utility metering services, from the provision and management of new and replacement meters through its Meter Asset Management division to the delivery of multi-utility networks – including gas, electricity and water – through Energy Assets Utilities. It also enables customers to collect and analyse energy consumption data and provides a suite of control technologies to help drive energy efficiency and carbon reduction.
Hill, the UK’s third largest privately owned and family controlled house builder, has secured a £200 million five-year credit facility, which will support its plans to grow joint venture and long-term regeneration work and expand its current land bank. This additional credit will generate revenues of more than £1 billion a year by the end of 2023. In addition, Hill will also be hiring 20% more staff as it seeks to deliver on its ambitious plans. “Since founding the company almost 20 years ago, we have made significant strides and are proud to have established ourselves as a major player in the UK housebuilding sector,” said Andy Hill, Chief Executive. “Both 2016 and 2017 were landmark years for our corporate development and this new financing facility gives us headroom to further invest in new opportunities, with a particular focus on joint ventures and regeneration.” He further added that “To enable us to scale up, we’ll be recruiting an additional 20% more staff this year as we seek to bolster our skills internally and deliver more distinctive, quality homes across London and the South East.” Last year Hill partnered up with a number of property businesses, including Peabody, delivering together 580 new homes at Fish Island Village in London’s Hackney Wick, and Marshall Group, with whom it will deliver 500 new homes in the heart of Cambridge. Currently, Hill has a total pipeline of 5,200 homes across London and the South East of England. Its annual turnover increased by 20% in 2016 to £367 million. “This commitment from four major high street lenders is a sign of the confidence that the banks have in our ability to build on our current success and to continue to deliver outstanding results over the next five years,” concluded Andy Hill.
The UK’s biggest contractor, Balfour Beatty, has exceeded market expectations with a pre-tax profit for the year to December 2017 of £165 million, more than the double of the previous year. This news signals a return to industry-standard margins on revenue of £8.2 billion. The construction division of Balfour Beatty is back in profit and the balance sheet now looks to be on a much more sustainable footing. This turnaround of events comes after a turbulent period, which saw the contractor record losses for a third consecutive year in 2015 that led to major changes in leadership and the company’s interests in the Middle East, investment markets and PPP deals being sold off. “To find the reasons behind these results you just have to look at why Carillion failed. Its collapse was a failure of leadership. They had their opportunity to spot the problems, but didn’t. We had our own road to Damascus moment. At one point we were shedding something like £600m in cash in a year, which is an astonishing amount of money, but we simplified the business, focused on core markets of the UK, US and Hong Kong and upgraded our leadership; 80% of our top team are now new and we promoted a lot of good people,” said CEO Leo Quinn, who was brought in to implement a shake-up. Quinn also said that the company is now more circumspect when it comes to pricing. However, this doesn’t mean that Balfour Beatty will be committing to not being the lowest bidder: “Unfortunately with the way things are, when you win, by default it means you’ve bid the lowest. But that doesn’t mean you’ve bid too low. We’re looking for work that gives good returns and allows us to provide our skills and value,” Quinn said. What Balfour Beatty is seeking is a bottom number of 5%: “Industry has to see it and price for it, on their capability; and we’re already seeing that from a top row of contractors. Going down some new routes that surrender our competitiveness is not the answer. It costs money to retain that level of expertise,” concluded Quinn.
Galbraith, Scotland’s leading independent property consultancy, has partnered up with Roxburghe Estates on a project that aims to bring six empty properties back into use. The former farm cottages at Cessford that await restoration work have received a 40% grant funding though the Scottish Government’s Rural Housing Fund. “We are delighted to be assisting Roxburghe Estates with the construction management of this exciting project to bring the cottages back into the local housing market. Having lain empty for a long period this is a significant boost to the local area, with the properties being offered at affordable rents on completion,” said Martin Cassels, Partner and Head of the building surveying division at Galbraith. “We are also pleased to be assisting the Estate on wider strategic building surveying services and projects, supporting the new Head of Building and well established in-house team as the Estate’s refurbishment, maintenance and repair programme expands,” he added. Roxburghe Estates directly employees 170 staff, provides 250 affordable houses and makes available land and buildings for community uses and activities. Roddy Jackson, Factor of Roxburghe Estates, also commented on the project, saying: “We are pleased to have the assistance of Galbraith’s building surveying team on this project, and across the wider Estate, using their knowledge and resources to complement our well established and respected team.” Galbraith is an independent property consultancy employing over 225 staff in offices across Scotland including Aberdeen, Ayr, Castle Douglas, Cupar, Edinburgh, Elgin, Galashiels, Inverness, Kelso, Perth and Stirling, offering local knowledge, national expertise and enjoying international reach. The firm is Scotland’s largest and leading rural consultancy managing and providing advice on farm, forestry, land and estate interests on over three million acres. Galbraith provides the full range of property consulting services across the residential, commercial, rural and renewable energy sectors throughout Scotland and northern England.
