Ownership of contractor Morrison Utility Services is transferring from one group of financial investors to another. First Reserve, a private equity and infrastructure investment firm exclusively focused on energy and utilities, has agreed to take over Morrison Utility Services (MUS) from Bregal Capital and Motion Equity Partners. The transaction is
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the world famous Ferrari sports car manufacturer. The most successful team in the history of Formula One, they having recorded 224 (and counting) race victories. The team has competed in every major world championship since 1950. A Formula One team is
Building materials firm Tarmac, part of the CRH group, has a new fleet of rail wagons operating out of its Mountsorrel Quarry in Leicestershire for delivering aggregates. Above: New rail wagons The 53 hoppers and 48 boxes, leased from French hire company Ermewa, each have the capability to haul more
Goodman has pre let the Hamburg III Logistics Centre at Moorburger Bogen in the Port of Hamburg to two big-name customers – logistics service provider B+S, who will be taking over 12,000 sqm of the new facility on the southern Elbe on 1 August 2018 and Kühne + Nagel, who will occupy 23,000
The pressure to meet an ever-increasing demand for school places is one that has been felt by local authorities across the UK for a number of years, with the requirement for places across primary, secondary and special education on the rise. The London Borough of Hounslow is one local authority
RCM, a major supplier of complete through-wall solutions, have announced their plans to exhibit at this year’s Timber Expo, part of the Construction Week UK exhibition held at the NEC in Birmingham between the 9th and 11th of October, for the second time running. Following on from last year’s huge
One of Canary Wharf’s spectacular high-rises, 20 Canada Square was subject to a crucial ceiling refurbishment by specialists SAS International. With 12 floors of commercial office space offering panoramic views of London’s financial district, the building’s contemporary finish optimises plenty of natural daylight from every angle. SAS has been a
Nottingham City Council has been asked to award a contract for the construction of the Broadmarsh Car Park and Bus Station scheme part of the £250 million regeneration of Nottingham city centre. Member sof the Council’s executive board will be asked at a meeting next week to approve the project
Ownership of contractor Morrison Utility Services is transferring from one group of financial investors to another. First Reserve, a private equity and infrastructure investment firm exclusively focused on energy and utilities, has agreed to take over Morrison Utility Services (MUS) from Bregal Capital and Motion Equity Partners. The transaction is subject to European Commission antitrust approval and is expected to close by November 2016. Bregal Capital and Motion Equity Partners acquired MUS in March 2008 from Anglian Water Group, investing alongside company management. MUS is one of the UK’s leading providers of infrastructure services to utilities, operating in the electricity, gas, water and telecommunication sectors. It has nearly 4,000 direct employees. Chief executive Charles Morrison said: “MUS has provided high quality services for over 27 years, whilst developing successful and long term relationships with our clients. As an organisation we pride ourselves on the ability to deliver safety, innovation and a quality service placing our clients’ customers at the heart of our business. The growth opportunities in our markets are significant on the back of continued long term investment in the UK’s infrastructure. We thank Bregal Capital and Motion Equity Partners for the great support they have provided to MUS since 2008 and very much look forward to forging a strong partnership with First Reserve during our next phase of growth.” Edmund Lazarus, managing partner of Bregal Capital, and Patrick Eisenchteter, managing partner of Motion Equity Partners, said: “It has been a pleasure supporting Charles and the team at MUS. Since our investment in the company, the team has achieved a huge amount, established the business as a utility market leader in all its key sectors and successfully grown revenues to over £600 million. This successful investment adds to our strong track record of working in partnership with management teams to create value. We wish the team every success as they continue to grow their company.” First Reserve managing directors Jeff Quake and Neil Hartley commented: “We believe MUS’s experienced team has demonstrated an excellent track record of providing best-in-class service with strong alignment to the needs of their customers. We are pleased to continue our model of partnering with what we believe are industry-leading management teams worldwide, and we look forward to supporting the company through a new phase of growth.” First Reserve president Alex Krueger added: “MUS represents an opportunity to invest in a diversified and resilient business which, in our view, is not directly exposed to commodity pricing. We expect the company’s long-term revenue visibility, defensible margins and ability to generate free cash flow will further diversify our private equity portfolio. First Reserve is pleased to be able to continue to identify, diligence and execute on what we believe are attractive opportunities to invest across the global energy value chain.” Debt financing has been fully underwritten by HSBC and Societe Generale. This article was published on 22 Jul 2016 (last updated on 22 Jul 2016). Source link
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the world famous Ferrari sports car manufacturer. The most successful team in the history of Formula One, they having recorded 224 (and counting) race victories. The team has competed in every major world championship since 1950. A Formula One team is driven by a culture of innovation at the highest levels where speed is the literal key to competitive advantage. It’s a place where results are concretely measured at each Grand Prix. Formula One racing represents the pinnacle in high performance automotive racing. Competitive on all levels, from engineering to the race, there’s no room for error, downtime or delays. “One of the founding elements of the Ferrari experience and success is the ability to make decisions very quickly, “ said Vittoro Boero chief information officer at Ferrari’s automotive division and its Formula One team. “At Ferrari we’re constantly working to push the limits, to break records.” Such speed and precision requires a technology infrastructure that is up to the task of being both flexible and reliable. The Ferrari data centres support the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One engineers by providing the high performance computing environment necessary to adapt and adjust quickly as data is gathered in real time during races and analyzed. The time given to respond to and accommodate new rules and restrictions from one competition to the next is often very short. The regulatory changes can range from technical directives during actual championship events to modifications in the car’s architecture. These changes need to be quickly reflected in Scuderia Ferrari’s working methods and IT support systems. As a result, the data centre physical infrastructure needs to be high performing, reliable, flexible and highly manageable. A data centre upgrade needed to enhance flexibility “The data center hosts solutions and systems are used by our engineers during races”, said Antonio Tornatore, head of process at Scuderia Ferrari. “This means that systems have to be totally reliable because during a race focus has to be entirely on the car and the race itself and not on the tools.” “We collect and analyse telemetry (remote monitoring of dozens of sensors in the car during an actual race), weather, and strategic data during races. We continuously process this data in real time in order to refine and constantly improve our performance. At the same time our IT team collects and processes system operation data for continuous performance tuning,” said Tornatore. “We needed to consolidate operations and introduce new technologies to our research and development data centre. Our engineering department wanted better performance and we needed to manage remotely. Our facility needed to be customisable, the rooms needed to be able to change their configuration easily. Because of all of the rules changes of the business, a modular type of data centre was required,” said Tornatore. “Working with Schneider Electric allowed us to create a very flexible data center infrastructure,” said Francesca Duri, chief technology officer of ICT. “Ferrari’s data centers were created primarily to host Formula One computation systems. They have to be flexible, modular, efficient and reliable. The qualities we were looking for in a data centre supplier we ended up finding them in Schneider Electric.” “System server and data centre reliability is very important to our Formula One success. For example, the most important systems in our data centre are the ones that calculate the car’s external aerodynamics. The results of the aerodynamic simulations must be ready in time for us to create the parts for the next Grand Prix,” said Duri. Data centres combine both reliability and innovation Ferrari commissioned its first Schneider Electric / APC data centre in 2004. That data centre was equipped with a cooling capacity of 20kW per rack. The InfraStruxure modular / scalable system, which still is available as a popular offering today, serves as the physical infrastructure supporting computational fluid dynamics platform and the simulations essential to the aerodynamic modeling of Ferrari’s championship Formula One cars. The “on-demand” architecture of InfraStruxure provides power, cooling, management and services in a rack-optimised design, which is scalable in accommodating server capacity. Such scalability eliminates much of the planning guesswork, reduces installation downtime risk, and allows for the optimisation of today’s high-density computing installations. The integrated cooling system consists of In-Row precision air conditioners, and high-efficiency Hot Aisle Containment Systems (HACS). Ferrari’s second data centre was built in 2015. A 300 square meter site was created to support Ferrari’s Formula One car design team. Like the earlier data centre, it is also equipped with high-efficiency cooling solutions, automatic static transfer switch (ATS) and hot aisle containment. This latest data centre was built with sustainability at its core, as it needed to comply with the strict sustainability measures now in place at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters. The two data centres allow the Ferrari Formula One racing teams to easily monitor, store and analyse the performance of each and every part of their cars on the test track, and during the competitions. This data allows the engineers to better understand every single aspect that comes into consideration when building the optimal car. They can also react quickly to the newly imposed rules and regulations. “The Schneider Electric solutions developed over the years have helped to meet our high precision flexibility and reliability needs,” said CIO Boero. “Those solutions allow us to achieve a high level of manageability. Once we adopted the latest Schneider Electric data center management platform, we were able to work in a more strategic and predictive way. In addition, if we need to intervene ‘on the fly’, to modify certain components, the Schneider Electric solution lets us do that with an extremely high degree of security and flexibility,” he said. Source link
Building materials firm Tarmac, part of the CRH group, has a new fleet of rail wagons operating out of its Mountsorrel Quarry in Leicestershire for delivering aggregates. Above: New rail wagons The 53 hoppers and 48 boxes, leased from French hire company Ermewa, each have the capability to haul more than 77 tonnes of material. They increase Tarmac’s train capacity by more than 15%. Chris Swan, senior manager rail and shipping at Tarmac, said: “The new rail fleet operating from Mountsorrel enhances our capacity to meet customer requirements for high quality construction materials and underlines Tarmac’s commitment to support more efficient, sustainable transport and a lower carbon built environment.” Approximately 60% of the aggregate produced at Mountsorrel is supplied by rail through sidings at Barrow upon Soar. Nationally, Tarmac transports nine million tonnes of material by rail across the UK each year. This article was published on 2 Sep 2016 (last updated on 2 Sep 2016). Source link
Goodman has pre let the Hamburg III Logistics Centre at Moorburger Bogen in the Port of Hamburg to two big-name customers – logistics service provider B+S, who will be taking over 12,000 sqm of the new facility on the southern Elbe on 1 August 2018 and Kühne + Nagel, who will occupy 23,000 sqm. The new logistics centre is already the group’s fourth major project in the region. The Hamburg III Logistics Centre has a total area of 35,000 sqm, highlighting Goodman’s strategy of developing flexible properties that suit the needs of clients in every industry. The project, as most of spaces developed by Goodman in Germany, is a brownfield conversion and its quality is emphasised by lofty hall heights of up to 12m and the light strips in the mezzanine areas. “Given that all customers are pursuing different objectives with their logistics properties, the best results are achieved if the buildings can be easily adapted to meet the individual needs of each customer. Businesses are asking for logistics facilities at short notice. We are actively responding by developing properties on a speculative basis, utilising our lengthy experience in building large-scale logistics complexes. That is why big-name businesses rely on our expertise,” said Christof Prange, Goodman Germany’s Head of Business Development. The location of the Logistics Centre, Moorburger Bogen, is a key logistics hub with excellent links with the A7 and A1 motorways and easy access to the Altenwerder, Burchardkai and Eurokai container terminals, around eight kilometres away. The 12,000 sqm logistics space will largely be used for contract logistics and e-commerce fulfilment by B+S, which has expanded its logistics space in Hamburg to 33,000 sqm. For its part, Kühne + Nagel is using the space for warehousing and distributing its customers’ goods. Kühne + Nagel is already renting 14 properties from the Goodman portfolio, 12 of which are in Europe, including two in Hamburg.
The pressure to meet an ever-increasing demand for school places is one that has been felt by local authorities across the UK for a number of years, with the requirement for places across primary, secondary and special education on the rise. The London Borough of Hounslow is one local authority that has proactively approached the challenge and worked with its partners to devise and deliver a solution. David Nisbet, partner at Pick Everard looks at the approach and its results so far. In 2012, Hounslow Council commissioned leading property, construction and infrastructure consultancy Pick Everard to deliver multiple new primary, secondary and special education needs school places over a five-year period within challenging cost parameters. The requirement for new school places in Hounslow is extensive and as such, a dedicated multidisciplinary team has been allocated to develop the new and improved facilities. The £300 million Capital Expansion Programme once completed will have delivered 3,000 new primary places, a further 5,000 in secondary education and 600 new SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) places. The story so far Since the Capital Expansion Programme was established, more than 6,000 school places have been created by the local authority: 2,840 primary school 2,820 secondary school 440 SEN Working in partnership, Pick Everard has contributed significantly to this successful outcome, with new buildings and extensions at 24 primary, infant and junior schools, and some selected secondary schools. Alongside this, the firm has also undertaken a programme of dedicated refurbishment and new build projects to expand nine of the borough’s existing SEND sites culminating in substantial new build, all through specialist schools. Facing unique challenges Unlike many traditional school expansion and improvement schemes, Hounslow presented the team with a series of unique challenges as a result of the borough’s location under the flight path for Heathrow Airport. At its busiest, one plane lands or takes off here approximately every minute – meaning potential disruption to the teaching and learning environments sitting below. Working in collaboration with our acoustic sub-consultants to undertake detailed surveys at each school to determine exactly what impact the aircraft noise has on each site and what measures must be employed to mitigate this to provide a high-quality learning environment. Findings from these early site investigations allowed us to develop an affordable yet flexible design concept, incorporating a highly insulated concrete structural envelope combined with a sophisticated ventilation strategy, balancing noise insulation with thermal comfort. This bespoke acoustic design was adapted and applied to the new buildings as well as pre-existing schools throughout the programme, demonstrating value for money while delivering top quality facilities for staff and pupils. The completed projects have all been designed to withstand the effects of the evolving environment and any impact it might bring on the schools such as the Heathrow Airport expansion. An innovative approach An important part of ensuring best value and devising the most appropriate solutions was delivering an innovative approach throughout. As well as assessing the most suitable route for each project – an extension or refurbishment, or a full new build – for each individual school requirement, we also worked to deliver savings through modern methods of construction. We also implemented BIM throughout the programme to achieve an integrated approach, advancing designs and increasing stakeholder engagement during the design. For example: BIM training through free workshops to help the client understand and use the data efficiently Producing 3D walkthroughs and visuals to share with key stakeholders Community benefits Engaging with and providing opportunities for the communities in which we work is priority for the team at Pick Everard and this programme is no different. As well as addressing the need for additional school places across Hounslow, the programme has also delivered a number of benefits for the local community. Some 30 per cent of the workforce involved in this series of projects lived within 40 miles of the site and the entire supply chain spend was delivered through SMEs – ensuring a positive economic impact locally. It is hoped that sports facilities included within school projects across the borough will be available for wider community use outside of school hours in addition to pupils and teachers during term time – creating an important legacy for local people and benefitting not only school children but their families and neighbours. Value engineering Building in value was vital for the London Borough of Hounslow, which needed to keep to strict budgets and timescales throughout the programme – and this needed to be balanced with the requirement to deliver high quality new teaching and learning spaces. As well as looking at ways to save money on the actual build costs – through developing a standardised palette of materials and considering various modern methods of construction – Pick Everard worked with the client to provide construction solutions that will deliver value through greater longevity and reduced maintenance during the whole building life. New build or extension? This was most clearly demonstrated when initial plans proposed an extension to Hounslow Town Primary School but, upon examining the project in further detail, it was identified that a new build scheme on an adjacent site would actually offer better value and provide a long-term solution to pupil provision for the local authority. Not only did this mean that the school could be delivered with less disruption, but it also acted as a catalyst for further projects, including a brand new music centre for the community to use. What next? Pick Everard is working with the London Borough of Hounslow into 2020, completing an estimated £120m of school projects across the borough. It is expected that this second phase will be completed in September 2020. The firm boasts significant experience in the education sector, especially within London having worked on hundreds of schools within the M25 boundary in recent years. For example, the firm completed ten primary school expansions and five master plans for projects within the London Borough of Richmond. Our expertise has allowed us to work in collaboration
RCM, a major supplier of complete through-wall solutions, have announced their plans to exhibit at this year’s Timber Expo, part of the Construction Week UK exhibition held at the NEC in Birmingham between the 9th and 11th of October, for the second time running. Following on from last year’s huge success, RCM are looking forward to a repeat performance at this year’s event. The 24 sqm eye-catching exhibition stand will feature RCM’s complete facades and building boards range, with samples to be taken away by visitors. Moreover, back by popular choice, the visually exciting display of Supertech Weatherboard will showcase again, featuring a full range of colours thereby giving visitors a good impression of the choices on offer. RCM will also be demonstrating eight revolving methods of through-wall solutions and two special fire-rated through-wall solutions, all consisting of a selection of portfolio materials. These modules can also be rotated, allowing visitors to look at the construction from several angles, providing a good understanding of how the different elements integrate to make up a truly effective through-wall solution. “RCM are once again looking forward to taking part in this prestigious event. Last year’s exhibition was a huge success for RCM and we have again been very busy with preparations for this years’ show. We hope to be able to replicate our success and hope visitors will like what we, as a company, can deliver. Please visit us at our stand located at T230,” said Ian Quinton, managing director at RCM. Timber Expo is the UK’s only timber show, covering a wide range of timber applications from timber frame and cladding to fixings and much more. Highlight at this year’s event include the latest products, innovations and developments across the sector. As well as attracting important visitors such as architects, merchants and housebuilders, all of timber’s governing bodies and associations will be present at the exhibition.
One of Canary Wharf’s spectacular high-rises, 20 Canada Square was subject to a crucial ceiling refurbishment by specialists SAS International. With 12 floors of commercial office space offering panoramic views of London’s financial district, the building’s contemporary finish optimises plenty of natural daylight from every angle. SAS has been a major supplier to the Canary Wharf vicinity since 1995, so the client, Brookfield Properties, desired SAS’ most sought-after and latest product to feature in 20 Canada Square’s new ceiling installation, SAS330i. In order to maintain its sleek interior and exterior, refurbishments are integral to the building’s overall aesthetic. SAS worked with the client to develop a unique ceiling containing fully integrated LED lighting. SAS ensures that all ceiling designs are built for the long-term; therefore, the new SAS330i system was installed alongside other large areas of SAS330 ceilings. SAS330i offers integrated lit c-profiles to enhance light throughout the floor. Other characteristics of the ceiling design include the floating edge trim TCA0862, which lightens the room even though the ceiling is enclosed in large floating islands. Overall, the ceiling generates buoyancy and brightness to increase the room’s impact whilst remaining efficient and practical. As this was a renovation of a post-modern building, there were certain challenges to overcome. The building’s complex floor plate contained curved corners and two large atriums, meaning SAS had to supply a combination of double and single lighting modules to create floating ceilings of different sizes. Although this added to the process, it ensured that every profile in each SAS330i ceiling fitted perfectly and was lit without any inconvenience. Other additions to the ceiling included the following: each 3m length of light was furnished with two DALI dimmable drivers to enable daylight energy saving where required. PIR sensors were installed to ensure energy is saved when the space is unoccupied, and plain c-profiles created a central service zone in order for integrated sprinkler systems to be allotted in the future. The 20 Canada Square refurbishment signifies SAS’ ability to meet the project’s aesthetic and performance requirements as well as showcasing how the company goes above and beyond to ensure clients’ expectations are exceeded.
Nottingham City Council has been asked to award a contract for the construction of the Broadmarsh Car Park and Bus Station scheme part of the £250 million regeneration of Nottingham city centre. Member sof the Council’s executive board will be asked at a meeting next week to approve the project and award a contract for construction. “This is an important milestone in the project that will enable this exciting development to be delivered,” said Council leader John Collins. “The positive impact of investment to date, such as the transport hub at the station, the latest tram extension and the transformation of Station Street, can already be seen in the form of renewed interest in the area and other, private developments coming forward.” The Broadmarsh Car Park and Bus Station scheme will also feature retail units and is part of the wider Broadmarsh programme that will deliver significant regeneration on the southern side of the city centre and complement intu’s redevelopment of the shopping centre. “Work began recently on the new Nottingham College and the castle refurbishment is now under way,” said Cllr Collins. “Moving ahead with the new car park and bus station development is the next piece of the jigsaw and can only further promote this regeneration momentum, bringing undoubted economic benefits to the city centre, and providing a high quality addition to the streetscape between the station and the city centre.” The Car Park development replaces the previous 1960s building, which was demolished earlier this year, offering a 1,341-spaces car park, a modern bus station and retail units in Carrington Street, Collin Street and along the concourse area fronting onto the bus station. The £250 million investment includes developments in the wider Broadmarsh area, such as the car park, bus station, shopping centre, college and castle. These developments are expected to create 3,000 jobs, £10 billion GVA uplift over ten years and attract around three million new visitor every year. The car park development alone is forecast to create more than 100 jobs and generate almost £3 million a year for the Nottingham economy.
