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March 19, 2019

Dulux Starts New Partnership with Fearne Cotton

Dulux has launched a new partnership as part of its Colour of the Year 2019 initiative. The joint venture with author and broadcaster, Fearne Cotton, is designed to help homeowners embrace colour in their home. The collaboration with the TV personality will also help professional decorators communicate the best use

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Reposit Announces Built to Rent Partnership Agreement

Reposit, the company changing the way landlords, agents and tenants handle deposits, has announced its latest partnership with property management company Way of Life, providing all customers with an alternative to the tenancy deposit schemes. The InsurTech firm operating in the PropTech space, has also unveiled an extension of its

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Cembrit Installs Board at Twickenham Stadium

Cembrit was part of the recent redevelopment of the East Stand at Twickenham stadium as it installed its heavy duty board. The major redevelopment project was led by designed and architect KSS, who expanded the stand to offer six floors of stylish event space, including eight brand new facilities delivering a bespoke

Read More »

CENTIEL & G4S Facilities Management Team-up To Provide Critical Power Protection for Channel Islands’ UPS Installations

Leading UPS manufacturer, CENTIEL, has teamed-up with G4S Facilities Management to provide critical power protection services for clients based on the Channel Islands.   With CENTIEL’s 4th generation, three-phase, modular UPS system now successfully deployed in two data centers on Guernsey, G4S Facilities Management’s engineering staff are undergoing extensive technical training

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Demolition to kick-start new housing estate

The former warehouse facilities of Ridgeons building merchants on Cromwell Road, Cambridge will shortly be demolished, making way for a large new housing neighbourhood, as Cambridge City Council looks to increase council homes in the region. Local construction firm Mick George Ltd will imminently complete the demolition works on behalf

Read More »

Top Tips for Giving Your Home a Modern Makeover

When it comes to renovating your home, there are so many new and improved ways to give your home a modern touch whilst keeping the traditional, practical features that help to keep it functional whilst looking good too. Dependant on budgets, interior design nowadays has so many different features you

Read More »

Latest Issue

BDC 319 : Aug 2024

March 19, 2019

Dulux Starts New Partnership with Fearne Cotton

Dulux has launched a new partnership as part of its Colour of the Year 2019 initiative. The joint venture with author and broadcaster, Fearne Cotton, is designed to help homeowners embrace colour in their home. The collaboration with the TV personality will also help professional decorators communicate the best use of colour to their customers and encourage homeowners to embrace new, ‘on trend’ shades in their homes. The videos produced with Fearne talk about how to create stylish interiors and will act as a tool for professional painters and decorators to demonstrate how and why the Dulux Colour of the Year, Spiced Honey™️ and the supporting ColourFutures™️ 2019 palettes work so well in the home. “I’m fascinated by the science of colour and the power it has over mood and behaviour. Changing your home – your most personal space – has the power to create positive change in all areas of your life, from creating a space to think to empowering us to act. Spiced Honey™️ is about fostering a sense of positivity with the outside world again. It’s about letting the light in,” commented Fearne. 2019 marks the 16th year of the global ColourFutures™ annual trend forecast from Dulux Trade. An expert panel of colour designers, design specialists, trend forecasters, architects and editors from around the world joined together to capture a universal theme, resulting in a colour that suitably embodies our mood of the moment for the year ahead – leading to Spiced Honey™️ to represent 2019. “Supporting professional decorators is a key priority and we know that their customers are often seeking reassurance before they commit to a new colour in the home,” said Karen Wilkinson, Dulux Trade Marketing Lead. “Fearne Cotton is someone that the homeowner audience can really relate to and we hope that by partnering with her and producing assets for everyone to see and use, we’re making the job that little bit easier for painters and decorators, who pride themselves on giving every customer a brilliant finish.” “It’s not an easy job to convince proud homeowners to trust you to redecorate their most personal spaces, so anything we can do to help our professional decorators to do this is worthwhile. Helping our trades professionals communicate the added benefits of colour in the home will help them build their businesses and stand out from the competition,” Karen added.

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Reposit Announces Built to Rent Partnership Agreement

Reposit, the company changing the way landlords, agents and tenants handle deposits, has announced its latest partnership with property management company Way of Life, providing all customers with an alternative to the tenancy deposit schemes. The InsurTech firm operating in the PropTech space, has also unveiled an extension of its cover from six to eight weeks, covering all bases from rent arrears to cleaning and damages costs. Founded in 2015, Reposit is the creator of the growing deposit replacement sector in residential lettings, providing customers with an alternative to the standard tenancy deposit. Reposit eases cash flow problems for renters by enabling them to secure a property with just one week’s rent. Way of Life is a property management company currently managing over 550 homes in the UK, with another 300 launching this summer. Its customers enjoy a tailored service from point of enquiry, throughout their stay and until they move on to the next stage of their life. Way of Life customers are given the choice of purchasing a Reposit with just one week’s rent, plus an annual fee of £30 should they stay for more than one year in their home. Way of Life becomes a named beneficiary on the Reposit insurance policy and is protected for up to eight weeks’ rent, for anything a traditional tenancy deposit would have covered. “We want to offer an excellent level of service to our customers. Finding an alternative deposit option was always high on our agenda. After looking at the various deposit replacement offerings, we have chosen to partner up with Reposit to offer a viable option to our customers. It’s ease of integration into our services and the dedication towards compliance under FCA regulation and FSCS protection made the choice easy in the end,” said Way of Life’s Managing Director, Sowgol Zarinchang. Way of Life’s partnership with Reposit comes just before the opening of its new £37 million development in Birmingham, The Lansdowne, which comprises 206 apartments and more than 10,000 sq. ft of shared social spaces including a lounge with big-screen entertainment facilities, a quiet room, a broadband-equipped workspace, a fitness studio and a rentable private party room and kitchen. All customers are invited to choose a Reposit or traditional deposit when signing up. Reposit is also today announcing that it has increased its length of cover to eight weeks, the longest complete cover in the industry. A number unmatched by traditional deposits as government legislation for rent under £50,000 per year is capped at five weeks and six weeks for rent over £50,000. According to recent figures published by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, the average rental deposit in England and Wales is £1,041, whilst in London, it is typically £1,750. Reposit’s market research data of 1,000 tenants, found that 91 percent of tenants have paid a deposit, with 49 percent claiming they borrowed from family, loans or even payday loans. For people moving between properties, they are expected to provide the deposit for the new contract before an old deposit has been released, causing further cash flow problems and added stress.

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Cembrit Installs Board at Twickenham Stadium

Cembrit was part of the recent redevelopment of the East Stand at Twickenham stadium as it installed its heavy duty board. The major redevelopment project was led by designed and architect KSS, who expanded the stand to offer six floors of stylish event space, including eight brand new facilities delivering a bespoke hospitality experience for fans. Working on the interior design concept and delivery of the project were Wildfire London. The Cembrit HD heavy board was installed in the British Airways Rose Garden roof terrace on Level 5. The Hayes branch of Minster supplied the board, which is now located in the wings of the facility, as well as on the walls of the adjacent L5 concourse where impact resistance was important as crowds are moving in confined spaces. A lot of the wall finishes in the Rose Garden are also fixed through the Cembrit boards, including the brick slips behind the rotisserie section. “Cembrit’s robust and weather resistant HD boards provided us with flexibility and multipurpose utility in meeting the complex project requirements. Their technical advisors were also helpful and informative in pursuing the goals of the project,” commented Kenji Ikegaya, an architect at the practice. Cembrit HD (Heavy Duty) is a Class A2-s2, d0 fire rated high density building board comprising cement, cellulose and mineral fillers. It is ideal for ‘sealing’ buildings under construction as it is impact resistant and can be left exposed without additional treatment. HD is also extremely versatile and can be used as partitioning and is popular in offsite and SIPS construction as well as internal applications.

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NBS Chorus flies as Ryder become first to use the new specification platform

International design practice Ryder Architecture’s Newcastle and Vancouver teams have become one of the first practices to produce a specification in the cloud using NBS Chorus, the new flagship platform from NBS. The specification platform has not only provided Ryder with a new level of collaboration across its global business, but the cloud-technology has enabled the team to develop their specifications in the office, on-site, and even mid-flight from the UK to Canada. The two-year project is a heritage restoration site in Vancouver, St. Andrew’s Wesley United Church, so the choice to use NBS Chorus with its UK and Canadian content libraries was another benefit to the whole team. Adam James, principal of Ryder’s Vancouver team, said: “NBS Chorus is a welcome addition to Ryder’s digital toolkit of collaborative design tools. The data driven framework of Chorus allows us to rapidly specify building components and materials in manner that integrates with our existing building information modelling tools, while working in geographically distributed teams.” Aimed at those professionals who need to produce high quality specifications efficiently, NBS Chorus is a pioneering collaborative specification platform, which supports global design and construction. The use of cloud technology, ensures that those using the new platform have the latest software and global content at all times – including the latest standards and regulations. This offers an invaluable improvement in collaboration and efficiencies across whole teams, allowing the different players in a construction project to work in a single place, on the same data. The platform also enables users to integrate the model and the specification, which saves time and reduces the risk of information becoming out of sync. NBS CEO, Richard Waterhouse, said: “It’s not overstating it to say that the launch of NBS Chorus heralds a revolution in our business. “As we’ve seen from the results of our recent NBS Construction Technology Report, 63% of over 500 respondents are already using cloud technologies, and we want to ensure our customers are part of this digital disruption that’s happening across the industry. “It was a perfect fit for Ryder to be one of the first to use and complete a specification in NBS Chorus as they were involved in informing and developing the platform to ensure it provided the solution they needed – and I think it’s done exactly that.” NBS Chorus has also been developed with Uniclass 2015 as its native classification structure, and as set by BS EN ISO19650 and the UK National Annex, should be used as the classification structure on all BIM projects. With access to 24 hour support, NBS is reinforcing its message that it is ready to support global construction projects. Since announcing expansion across two continents in 2017, acquiring Canada-based Digicon and setting up in Australia, NBS has updated the NBS National BIM Library and BIM Object standard tools to include Canadian and Australian content. NBS, who provide technical information, specification and BIM tools to construction industry professionals as well as services for building product manufacturers recently announced a £31.8m investment from LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group.   To find out more about NBS visit www.theNBS.com

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CENTIEL & G4S Facilities Management Team-up To Provide Critical Power Protection for Channel Islands’ UPS Installations

Leading UPS manufacturer, CENTIEL, has teamed-up with G4S Facilities Management to provide critical power protection services for clients based on the Channel Islands.   With CENTIEL’s 4th generation, three-phase, modular UPS system now successfully deployed in two data centers on Guernsey, G4S Facilities Management’s engineering staff are undergoing extensive technical training to be able to provide first level support, PAN Island. Wayne McKane, critical power and HVAC engineer, G4S Facilities Management confirms: “We chose CENTIEL as our partner and trusted advisor to deliver these important projects as the company is a leading manufacturer at the very forefront of the industry.  At the start of 2018, we were looking for a truly modular solution to ensure efficient running and maintenance of systems within data centres, where our staff could be easily trained to exchange modules if required.  We were also looking for the very latest technology to ensure maximum availability combined with a low total cost of ownership and CENTIEL ticked all the boxes. “So far, only CumulusPowerTM, CENTIEL’s 4th Generation Modular UPS has been installed on the Islands,” continues McKane.  “However, the association between our two companies now means G4S will have access to CENTIEL’s full product range to fulfil the needs of our valued client base regardless of their size or power protection requirements.” Louis McGarry sales manager, CENTIEL confirms: “The G4S Facilities Management team visited our R&D facility and factory in Switzerland earlier last year as part of their selection process.  Dealing directly with a manufacturer can have numerous advantages in terms of speed of implementation and the replacement or supply of spare parts for example.  CENTIEL provides comprehensive training and ongoing support for our partners, plus we are planning numerous marketing and technical seminar ventures to showcase our industry leading product and joint service capabilities with G4S Facilities Management in the future.” CumulusPowerTM  known for its “9 nines” (99.9999999%) system availability and low total cost of ownership through its Maximum Efficiency Management (MEM) and low losses of energy, has now been installed in datacenters and comms rooms in over 60 countries across five continents.  More than 50 MW of critical power loads are now protected with CumulusPowerTM in locations across the world including:  the UK, Singapore, Australia, Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic and now the Channel Islands. For further information please see:  www.centiel.co.uk

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Demolition to kick-start new housing estate

The former warehouse facilities of Ridgeons building merchants on Cromwell Road, Cambridge will shortly be demolished, making way for a large new housing neighbourhood, as Cambridge City Council looks to increase council homes in the region. Local construction firm Mick George Ltd will imminently complete the demolition works on behalf of Hill Partnerships Ltd. It is understood that Mick George Ltd have made considered efforts within the scope of the works to recycle much of the demolition materials for re-use, minimising traffic congestion within the area. More than 200 new homes are set to be built, with as many as 90 allocated for Council accommodation. A mixture of apartment blocks and houses will be created, alongside a park running through the centre of the site, car parking, a community building and access to the Chisholm Trail cycle route also. The new homes will be developed by Cambridge Investment Partnership, which is an equal, 50:50 Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) between Cambridge City Council and Hill Investment Partnerships, set up to optimise the use of the council’s property through investment in residential, commercial, and other uses to achieve social and financial returns. The 3.3-hectare former Ridgeon’s site will enable the council to take a big step towards delivering its programme to build 500 new council homes in five years, using the £70m funding secured in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough devolution deal, in addition to its own resources. The development will include at least 40% of the new homes as social rented council homes, owned and managed by the council, and let to tenants on the housing needs register at rents no higher than the Local Housing Allowance. Michael George, Managing Director of Mick George Ltd commented: ‘’This is yet another major housing development in Cambridgeshire that we’re pleased to be working in conjunction with Hills Partnership Ltd. We’re pleased that contractors and developers are taking advantage of the multitude of services that our business offers, and subsequently reaping the rewards.’’

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Top Tips for Giving Your Home a Modern Makeover

When it comes to renovating your home, there are so many new and improved ways to give your home a modern touch whilst keeping the traditional, practical features that help to keep it functional whilst looking good too. Dependant on budgets, interior design nowadays has so many different features you can consider for your home, but the main thing to consider is what you want to do to your home and why. For rooms that simply need a little reviving, you can implement simple, cost-effective features that will brighten the room and add character. For the rooms that may need a little more TLC, there are some great ways to both create a whole new look as well as add value to your home too. Here’s how you can give your home the modern makeover it deserves and create a space that works well for you and your family. Windows and Doors One of the most important features in any home, that adds to both the look of the interiors and exteriors, are the windows and doors. It may seem like they don’t play much part in the overall look, but natural light is key for making your interiors look good, and your home will instantly be judged from the outside by the way the windows and doors complement the rest of the home. Whether you look at completely replacing your windows and doors, or you go for a cost-effective strategy of giving them a good clean and purchasing some new, stylish hardware for them, you can create a whole new look and make your home stand out from both the inside and out. Flooring, Walls and Ceiling Many homes today have incorporated wooden floorboards into their interiors, and this is working really well when it comes to creating a modern, contemporary look. Wooden floorboards are great for adding character to your home as well as creating a fresh look. Replacing carpet with floorboards can often add value to your home, as well as being much easier to maintain and keep clean. If you’re looking for to introduce floorboards into your home then going to your local timber merchants, such as Milford Building Supplies, will give you some inspiration on what will work for your home, as well as what’s on offer for you. Your walls are the one part of the home that create the instant feel and look. How you decorate your rooms is completely down to personal style, and your interiors reflect your personality. Decorating your home with colours that complement each other well will draw your home together beautifully and add a welcoming, homely feel. If you feel your walls are looking a little tired or dull, giving them a quick refresh will instantly lift the overall atmosphere and brighten up any room. Your ceiling is an area that is often overlooked or forgotten about, simply because it’s not as obvious as other elements of the home. Making sure your ceiling has a fresh layer of paint will keep the rooms bright and ensure that the room looks smart and finished. You don’t want a ceiling with patches or peeling paper as this can create a messy, unfinished look which will create the wrong atmosphere within your home. New Details When it comes to designing each room, adding some new features and details will certainly lift the atmosphere and give it a brand-new look. When you introduce a new feature to any room you can instantly see a change in the overall look of the room and add character. New hardware on door handles and cupboards is a great place to start. You’ll also find that investing in some new curtains or blinds will add a new look to your home, whilst also being a cost-efficient option. To keep with the modern theme, you may want to include some monochrome features such as artwork or sculptures that will add something extra to the interiors. Sticking to a theme is key, as this will bring your interiors together beautifully and reflect your personal style really well too.

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