Plans for the opening of a private terminal at Manchester Airport, which will provide travelers with the experience of a private jet when flying on commercial airlines, have been unveiled. The new PremiAir terminal will be open to all passengers regardless of airline or destination, with prices starting at £50. Completely separate
Recofloor is celebrating in 2019 ten years since it started recycling waste vinyl flooring. The Take Back scheme was first set up back in 2009 by Altro and Polyflor and it has now recycled a total of 4,300 tonnes of waste vinyl material. “Plastics are hot news at the moment and
A slowdown in property transactions, with home buyers and sellers taking more caution amidst economic uncertainty, has been registered. This is due to the housing market being left in a state of lull because of diminishing demand among foreign buyers and pending Brexit negotiations. Compared to a year ago, homeowners
WoodFest comes to Sheffield in February with a focus on health and wellbeing, low carbon, circular economy, building performance, offsite construction and modular design. The month-long event will feature wood in design and construction throughout Sheffield and Yorkshire. The programme includes an exciting line-up of events, seminars, exhibitions and challenges
Multidisciplinary main contractor, Winvic Construction Ltd, announced its partnership with the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) yesterday, to offer graduates a training programme in order to gain the specialist skills, knowledge and professional approach required to practice as a civil engineer. The ICE Training Scheme forms part of an employee’s
The importance of sustainability to facilities management organisations continues to be very high, according to the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management’s (IWFM) 2018 Sustainability Survey. This year’s survey had 242 respondents. Four in 10 are at managing director and senior management level – the people who hold the most
Plans for the opening of a private terminal at Manchester Airport, which will provide travelers with the experience of a private jet when flying on commercial airlines, have been unveiled. The new PremiAir terminal will be open to all passengers regardless of airline or destination, with prices starting at £50. Completely separate to the airport’s existing three terminals, the new facility will cater to different services in line with individual passengers’ preferences. Passengers departing from the PremiAir terminal will be offered a personalised welcome, faster baggage processing, a lounge with complimentary food and drink, and a dedicated security channel. As part of the ‘private jet experience’, travelers will also be driven straight to their aircraft in a private car transfer. “By introducing PremiAir, we’re offering something unique for all of our passengers, and creating a completely new way to travel,” said Manchester Airport Group (MAG) airport services CEO Andrew Harrison. “It is something a large number of customers have been telling us for some time they would be interested in and we hope the services it will offer will appeal to a wide range of passengers, whether they are travelling for business, want to mark a special occasion or just want to add something different to their experience.” In addition, the PremiAir terminal will be available to incoming passengers as a standalone service or part of a round-trip booking. They will receive a car transfer direct from the plane and have access to a dedicated passport control service, as well as the PremiAir lounge. “The launch of PremiAir at Manchester Airport is the beginning of an exciting new project for MAG and we plan to assess opportunities to introduce it at other airport sites in the future,” added Andrew. Scheduled to become operational by the middle of this year, the private terminal is currently under construction on a site next to the Runway Visitor Park.
Recofloor is celebrating in 2019 ten years since it started recycling waste vinyl flooring. The Take Back scheme was first set up back in 2009 by Altro and Polyflor and it has now recycled a total of 4,300 tonnes of waste vinyl material. “Plastics are hot news at the moment and we are proud to be instrumental in recycling our waste vinyl flooring. We, as well as Altro, invest significant amounts of time, energy and money into the scheme,” said Bob Smith, Polyflor’s Technical Director. Barry Hall, Altro’s Manufacturing and Technical Director also commented: “Companies working with Recofloor are leading the way in terms of resource recovery and circular economy. This takeback scheme is helping Altro in terms of its sustainability programme and ambitious growth plans.” With more than 700 collectors throughout the UK and Ireland and more than 60 drop-off sites accepting waste vinyl flooring, the scheme sees smooth and safety vinyl offcuts and roll ends, uplifted smooth vinyl, luxury vinyl tiles (LVT) and loose lay being recycled back into new products, including flooring manufactured by Altro and Polyflor. “We are truly proud of our achievements over the past decade and certainly credit is due to all our members – flooring companies, contractors and distributors – who continue to work tirelessly to support the scheme. Everyone deserves a big pat on the back for their efforts and enthusiasm,” said Recofloor’s Project Officer Joe Gardner. Recofloor made an impact right from the beginning, winning several high-profile environmental and innovation awards for its recycling achievements within the scheme’s first five years. More than 450 tonnes were collected solely during 2011, and in 2013, the scheme was recognised with a Green Apple Gold Award for Environmental Best Practice. By the time Recofloor reached its fifth birthday in 2014, the scheme had toppled a 2,000-tonnes collection milestone. 2015 saw over 100 new members join Recofloor and by that year, the scheme had saved more than 2,000 tonnes of CO2. Further awards recognition was to come, including the Letsrecycle.com Award for Excellence in Recycling & Waste Management in 2016. The following year, Recofloor broke through the 3,000-tonnes collection total and had more than 1,500 Twitter followers.
A slowdown in property transactions, with home buyers and sellers taking more caution amidst economic uncertainty, has been registered. This is due to the housing market being left in a state of lull because of diminishing demand among foreign buyers and pending Brexit negotiations. Compared to a year ago, homeowners wanting to sell their property are finding themselves having to wait a lot longer and buyers are taking more time to make decisions. At the beginning of 2016 the average buyer took 53 minutes during the viewing process to make a decision on whether or not to buy a property. However, buyers this year took an average of 65 minutes to finalise their decision, with an average of 2.4 viewings. While in 2017 it took 96 days for the ‘sold’ sign to go up, it now takes 102 days. The buying process is also taking 23% longer than it did in January 2016, with 27% of buyers now asking to view a property three times before submitting an offer. Even when homeowners have found a potential buyer, more than a third of deals have fallen through. This is perhaps down to the lack of buyer confidence in the run up to Brexit negotiations. These failed deals have cost consumers an estimated £270 million a year. Slower property transactions have also affected buyers. News of falling house prices has been met with concern from those wanting to sell their property. A cautious approach by sellers hoping to make a profit has meant that buyers are finding their bids undermined through a practice called gazumping. Gazumping is where a seller retracts an offer after receiving a higher bid from someone else. This is especially becoming an issue in Sheffield, where more than a third of buyers have reported being victims of gazumping. The south east has been most affected by this housing market lull, with house prices in London falling by 0.8% over the course of last year. The UK’s capital now has the second-slowest property market, after Blackpool. The average property in the capital now takes 126 days to finalise a deal, 15 days longer than in 2017. Further still, houses in London worth more than £1m are taking a whopping 171 days to sell. The forecast for 2019 much depends on the outcome of Brexit. The sales market, especially within the south of England, is likely to remain as it is until a deal has been confirmed.
WoodFest comes to Sheffield in February with a focus on health and wellbeing, low carbon, circular economy, building performance, offsite construction and modular design. The month-long event will feature wood in design and construction throughout Sheffield and Yorkshire. The programme includes an exciting line-up of events, seminars, exhibitions and challenges celebrating the versatility and sustainability of building with wood, organised by the UK timber industry’s campaign, Wood for Good. Christiane Lellig, Wood for Good campaign director, said: “WoodFest Sheffield promises to offer a fantastic opportunity to bring all those involved with the built environment to explore what can be achieved when we work together.” “Each event is a chance to learn and share about the use of timber in architecture, particularly around health and wellbeing and offsite construction. It provides a platform to discover what’s happening in the region and to be inspired by timber design.” WoodFest kicks off on 7 February with Small Project / Big Challenge, an evening seminar with sustainability-focused Sheffield architects Paul Testa Architecture and Jon Carr Structural Design along with Sheffield University. They will discuss design and structural challenges with examples including the multi-award-winning Hen House. On 8 and 9 February TRADA will run its annual student challenge at Sheffield University for students of engineering, architecture, architectural technology, quantity surveying and landscape architecture. Judged by high profile engineers, architects and quantity surveyors, multi-disciplinary teams will compete in an intense 48-hour challenge to design an exemplary student accommodation predominantly from timber. On 21 February, Sheffield-based consultancy, Ollio, and experts from the Kollider projects will host a healthy building evening seminar along with a networking and drinks reception. A tour of timber door, window and stair manufacturer JELD-WEN’s production facilities will take place at 10am on 28 February. This will offer the chance to see first-hand how timber doors are made in the company’s Sheffield factory, from the timber arriving on-site through to the finished product leaving for distribution. The tour will include a presentation followed by a drinks reception for all attendees. Managing forests in a sustainable way is vital to protect these important ecosystems, reduce the impact of climate change and to preserve plant and animal species for the future. On 28 February, the PEFC (the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) will deliver a lunchtime CPD to explain how to procure sustainable timber and timber from sustainably managed forests. Further events include window-specialist Bereco hosting a CPD session on noise and health in the build environment at their Sheffield showroom. There will be a behind-the-scenes tour with Sheffield timber merchant Arnold Laver including a networking lunch, followed by an afternoon CPD. Visitors will have the opportunity to see their production facilities including roof truss manufacturing and its treatment plant. Striking examples of great architecture and design, such as the Hunt House – featured in The Modern Timber House in the UK book, will offer visits focussed on sustainability and wellbeing within the Sheffield region. This will be followed by an exhibition and further evening event on offsite construction and modular design at The Arts Tower. Keep checking the WoodFest Sheffield web page to book your place, find out more details, confirm dates and see further added events. Partners include: Arnold Laver; Bereco; Constructing Excellence Yorkshire & Humber; Halliday Clark Architects; IstructE; JELD-WEN; Paul Testa Architecture; PEFC UK; Sheffield University and TRADA. Book your place for any of the WoodFest Sheffield events here. www.woodforgood.com
Multidisciplinary main contractor, Winvic Construction Ltd, announced its partnership with the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) yesterday, to offer graduates a training programme in order to gain the specialist skills, knowledge and professional approach required to practice as a civil engineer. The ICE Training Scheme forms part of an employee’s 12 month initial professional development period, which bridges the gap between education and professional qualifications. The structured training will be delivered in-house by Winvic and this leads to sitting the EngTech (MICE) Professional Review as a stepping stone to onward progression to IEng or CEng status. The diverse and thorough framework is tailored in relation to the individual’s previous, and often very recent, education route, specialist discipline and desired future professional qualification. The Scheme’s content is overseen by ICE, ensuring quality and methods, in order to maintain the highest standards. Tim Reeve, Winvic Technical Director, commented: “We have always taken the personal and professional development of our employees very seriously but with a significant increase in staff over the last few years we felt it was time to offer even more support. Our 93 percent staff retention rate indicates that the individuals who join our team after completing an Undergraduate or Master’s Degree are with us for a long time to come; it’s the people that make our business thrive and we owe it to them to help them be the best they can be.” Winvic will provide each trainee with a supervising civil engineer (SCE) and a delegated engineer (DE who will be experienced ICE Members; their roles will be to support and mentor, helping the individual to become multi-skilled, possess good technical, communication, commercial, people and legal knowledge, and understand the implications of their work across these areas. HR and Training Manager at Winvic, Rebecca Schwarz, added: “We are thrilled that ICE – such an important body within the global construction industry – sees our commitment for developing our employees, and that we have been chosen as a training partner. Educational qualifications contribute hugely in giving people the required competencies, but some things just can’t be taught in the classroom, as our year in industry students so often tell us. Winvic’s new ICE Training Scheme will help to create the next wave of innovative, first-class engineers that also share Winvic’s esteemed values.” Cath Mansell, Membership Manager, Mid England said, “It is great for ICE to see new companies implementing the ICE Training Scheme. I know that Winvic have been working hard with Ray Hulse, ICE Membership Development Officer, to get this off the ground and it shows an impressive focus on the professional development of their staff.” For more information about joining Winvic, please visit our Careers page, or contact the HR Department. Vacancies can also be found on LinkedIn and Twitter pages.
The importance of sustainability to facilities management organisations continues to be very high, according to the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management’s (IWFM) 2018 Sustainability Survey. This year’s survey had 242 respondents. Four in 10 are at managing director and senior management level – the people who hold the most authority to promote the sustainability agenda. Of those surveyed, 31 per cent of respondents said it was extremely important; 35 per cent said it was very important; and 23 per cent said it was important. In total, 89 per cent rated sustainability as at least important – and only 11 per cent as not or not very important. To further underline sustainability’s importance to FM organisations, 71 per cent commented that governance support of sustainability in procurement activities is viewed as either extremely important (13 per cent), very important (27 per cent), or important (31 cent). In the past year 20 per cent of FMs have noted a considerable increase in the number of tenders with sustainability criteria; 42 per cent noticed there’s been some increase; and 38 per cent said there has been no change. Environmental considerations dominate the sustainability criteria on tender forms, with 48 per cent of respondents reporting these as the most frequent criteria. Just over a quarter (26 per cent) of respondents claimed tenders embrace equally a range of sustainability aspects with none given precedence. These aspects are: local economic considerations (16 per cent); social value (8 per cent); and ‘others’, which includes a mixture of sustainability, diversity and pay equality and environmental and economic (2 per cent). The importance of finding new approaches to sustainability is underlined by the latest report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which highlights once again the need for businesses to take urgent action to combat rising global temperatures.
