Kier has been confirmed by the Ministry of Justice as the main contractor for the construction of a new prison at Wellingborough, in Northamptonshire. Scheduled to start next month, work on the 1,680-place category C resettlement development is due to be completed by autumn 2021. The new prison will be built
Brits travelling abroad reached a high in 2017 when 72.8 million left the UK for visits to other countries. This was a three per cent increase on the previous year. As a nation, we base our entire year around escaping from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and boarding
Some of us are natural born presenters, and when we stand up and take the mic, everyone knows to be silence. This is our time, and the audience listen, because they are confident that what is about to come is going to be the words that inspire a nation, inspire
Mechanical and electrical building services provider J S Wright has secured a £5m contract for the biggest phase of a £64m estate regeneration in London. The company, which has its head office in Birmingham and offices in Bristol and London, will design and build the mechanical services for no less
Bluestone National Park Resort today announces the opening date for its £7 million Dome – a groundbreaking ‘giant umbrella’ William McNamara CEO and Founder of Bluestone said: “This is the first of its kind in the UK which will create an additional 55 jobs and boost the local economy by
No matter what your company might be or where your residence is, there are very few people who don’t make use of a security company. It could be to stop shrinkage and shoplifting, it could be at a bank to keep robbers out, maybe it is bouncers at a club
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
Kier has been confirmed by the Ministry of Justice as the main contractor for the construction of a new prison at Wellingborough, in Northamptonshire. Scheduled to start next month, work on the 1,680-place category C resettlement development is due to be completed by autumn 2021. The new prison will be built on the same site as the former HMP Wellingborough, which closed in 2012. A price of £253 million (excluding VAT) for its design and construction has now been agreed with Kier, announced the minister. “I am committed to the building of up to 10,000 modern and decent prison places to replace old, expensive and unsuitable accommodation, and the start of work at Wellingborough is an important step forward. Providing offenders with decent conditions and regimes is absolutely key to turning their lives around and ultimately keeping the public safe,” commented Prisons minister Rory Stewart. The development at Wellingborough is part of the government’s Prison Estate Transformation Programme. Also part of the programme are another new facilitt at the former Glen Parva & Young Offender Institution (YOI) in Leicestershire and a new house block at HMP Stocken, in Rutland. “We’re very proud to have been appointed to deliver the new resettlement prison at Wellingborough and look forward to working closely with the MoJ and using our experience in new-build prison programmes to deliver first-class rehabilitation facilities,” added Mark Pengelly, executive director of Kier Major Projects.
Brits travelling abroad reached a high in 2017 when 72.8 million left the UK for visits to other countries. This was a three per cent increase on the previous year. As a nation, we base our entire year around escaping from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and boarding a plane. Whether it be for a weekend city break, a honeymoon, or that all-encompassing gap year – it is what we live for. In the UK, we often take for granted our ease in taking the opportunity to travel abroad, indulging in both foreign cuisine and constant sunshine. For some nationalities however, money isn’t the only factor which restricts them from hopping on a flight – their passport does. Did you know, some passports afford their holders more freedom and unrestricted international access than others? Donald J Trump slapping sanctions on Iran is only the tip of the iceberg, as throughout the world there are numerous countries, that due to international disputes do not allow access without a full visa. Making an assessment of how many countries a passport grants its holders visa free or visa on arrival access, Henley and Partners’ passport index is the official rank of the world’s most powerful passports. Here, with UK banner printing firm, Where the Trade Buys, we take a look at the world’s most valuable passports, and the agreements that have made them that way. Japan For the second consecutive time, Japan has claimed top spot, fighting off tough opposition from the likes of Singapore and South Korea. Citizens of the land of the rising sun are able to cross the border into 190 different countries, one more than their two aforementioned Asian counterparts. In 2017, Japanese citizens were granted visa-free travel to Myanmar, the state formerly known as Burma. The government in the state has requested however that tourists must have at least $1000 in the bank before entering. Approximately 100,000 Japanese visitors came to Myanmar, in most occasions the capital, Rangoon, in 2017. The most notable nations that Japan has visa-free access to that the UK doesn’t, are Iran, Mongolia and China. The latter of which, visitors must apply for visa on arrival. The UK Both Americans and Brit’s, who held joint-first position in 2015, have fell to sixth place. The two countries share the position with Austria, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Switzerland, allowing visa-free access to 185 nations, five behind that of Japan. Henley Chairman, Christian Kalin, notes how, “an open-door policy has the potential to contribute billions to the global economy, as well as creating significant employment opportunities.” The UK’s European Union membership has provided citizens with the ability to move freely throughout member states since the agreement’s infancy, however with the current situation, circumstances could so easily change. Previously boasting visa-free access to 186 countries, the introduction of e-visas in Turkey, which are required prior to arrival, the UK has slipped overall. It must be noted however, that since the passport index began in 2006, the UK has dramatically increased in access numbers, from 126. Interestingly, current plans exist to revert from red back to the traditional blue passport that the UK used prior to joining the EU, and if they were to do so, printing of these passports will be carried out in France. France and Germany The two European states sit join third, ranking just below Singapore and South Korea. In terms of their comparison to the UK, both countries can apply for a visa on arrival in Iran. On the alternative passport index powered by Arton, Germany ranks slightly higher than France, offering the visa on arrival service in both Pakistan and Mongolia. Various aspects will be taken into a consideration when a country is deciding whether to allow other nations visa-free access. For Germany, they have placed a particular level of emphasis on building relationships with foreign countries. UAE Despite being ranked by Arton as having the world’s strongest passport, the UAE comes in at 21st on Henley’s scale. The oil rich state’s attitude towards foreign affairs has seen it significantly climb in recent years, with Kalin suggesting how ‘this is not only a benefit to the UAE’s citizens, but also the wider international community’. Afghanistan and Iraq Both Iraqi and Afghani nationals prop up the bottom of the index, with their passports only allowing access to 30 countries respectively. Meanwhile, if you were to follow the Arton index, Iraq ranks slightly higher than Afghanistan with a score of 33, as opposed to Afghanistan’s 30. Iraqi’s have visa-free access to Ecuador and Malaysia, that its counterpart does not. It comes a no surprise that some of the world’s richest countries rank the highest in terms of their passport’s worth, while similarly the countries torn apart by war at the lower end of the charts. The UAE is also a fine example of a country who is committed to establishing the wealth of its passport. Sources: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/powerful-passports-2018/ https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2157754/myanmar-allow-visa-free-entry-japanese-and-korean-tourists https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/leisureandtourism/articles/traveltrends/2017 https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/3120448/four-passport-colours-meaning/ https://frontier.ac.uk/blog/2018/09/12/top-5-strongest-and-weakest-passports-in-the-world https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/jan/14/uk-passport-drops-to-sixth-in-global-power-index https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/most-powerful-passport-henley-index-2018/index.html https://www.passportindex.org/comparebyPassport.php?p1=uk&p2=fr&p3=de&fl=&s=yes
Some of us are natural born presenters, and when we stand up and take the mic, everyone knows to be silence. This is our time, and the audience listen, because they are confident that what is about to come is going to be the words that inspire a nation, inspire a generation, or help to start a revolution. Perhaps, as opposed to being like Mr Motivator, we are more like Mr Bean when we take the stage. For us, being asked to say a few words at a wedding is our idea of hell — slowly turning into a 2002 Marshal Mathers, ‘knees weak, arms heavy’. For those of us who are not natural-born presenters, a professional public speaking coach can help us develop the skills and confidence we need to command the attention of an audience. With the right guidance, anyone can learn to inspire, motivate, and persuade through public speaking. Standing up in front of a group of people and speaking doesn’t come naturally to most, but we are here to help. Here are your top ten tips to help you deliver the perfect presentation, without hearing the tumbleweed blow past. Seconds count Imagine you’re robbing a bank, you aren’t going to take the time to introduce yourself, you need to grab the attention of the teller and get out of there. A presentation is no different, get in, and with a piranha-like bite, you attack, ensuring your audience hones in. Often you are going to be using a digital presentation that will include your topic title, and they will already know your name. ‘Different’, in this circumstance, is detrimental. Understandable It may seem like a given, but the major failings of most speeches are that the audience simply cannot understand it. The best speeches in the history of time were delivered succinctly and weren’t overflowing with jargon. The biggest mistake one can make is to overcomplicate the language used — it doesn’t simply confuse the listener, but it will more than likely cause you to trip up as well. Why me? As much as we might not like to accept it, no one in life owes us anything — it is up to us to earn their attention. We cannot expect to warrant someone’s appreciation straight off the bat, simply because of who we are. They are going to give up their precious time to listen to us, but why should they? Tell them of your experience in the area, and reason why you are the one standing up to make the presentation as opposed to them. Attention If you are expecting your audience to pay attention to you, you need to pay attention to them. That said, learn your presentation, or at the very least, the basic structure beforehand. Yes, off-the-cuff might work for one in a thousand, but no one wants to listen to someone stumble their way through their presentation with Mr Blobby-like co-ordination. Rehearsing a handful of times in front of family, friends, or even the mirror, will give you the confidence to act upon their reactions, as opposed to aimlessly talking to a screen. Timing No one is here to suggest that a slide of a PowerPoint should take an hour, but if you try and rush through the first slide, by the second you will have lost all your audience in transit. Take a step back when you are initially planning your presentation: work out exactly how many ideas you wish to propose and assign an appropriate amount of time to each. Similarly, breathing can be incredibly under-rated — don’t starve yourself of oxygen. Emotion No one wants to walk out after a presentation and think, ‘well there goes half an hour of my life I’m never going to get back’. Therefore, add at least the tiniest portion of emotion. You don’t have to put in a performance deserving of an Oscar but showing your audience you are interested in what you’re speaking about is essential —if you don’t care, how can you expect them to? Obviously, we won’t always be tasked with speaking about a topic we would die for, but by racking your brain and coming up with why it’s important to you, you’ve certainly made a start. Gauge your audience Not many of us would have the same conversation with our mother and grandmother as we would do in the pub on a Saturday afternoon after football. The reason we don’t is because we can successfully take heed of our audience — and a presentation is no different. Jokes are often inappropriate in a presentation, but if you’re going to use them, at least make sure they are going to be understood. Imagery Using pictures and diagrams throughout your presentation can be a fantastic method of grabbing attention, as an overload of text can often prove to be challenging to divulge, particularly if it’s a large group. However, if you are going to go down the road of using images, make sure that they can be easily seen and interpreted. The sheer quality of a picture can act as a make or break for the entire success of your presentation. Tell a story This is something that many people will struggle to do — it requires a lot of creativity. Rather than telling jokes, this can be the perfect way to get your audience laughing, and for that, they will remember you. Your story can be whatever you want because it’s your story. Make the detail as extravagant as you like, just be confident that the content of the story relates to the purpose of your presentation. The end What the audience will hear at the end is the first thing they are going to remember afterwards. It is no surprise that the cliché of ‘going out with a bang’ has stuck around for so long — because if we don’t, we’ll be forgotten in a flash. Article provided by Where The Trade Buys, a print company offering professional
Mechanical and electrical building services provider J S Wright has secured a £5m contract for the biggest phase of a £64m estate regeneration in London. The company, which has its head office in Birmingham and offices in Bristol and London, will design and build the mechanical services for no less than 201 energy efficient affordable apartments within the latest fourth phase of New Union Wharf at Stewart Street on the Isle of Dogs. J S Wright was awarded the contract by developer Hill following its successful completion of the 114-home second and third phases of the new 399-home riverside development that will be managed by housing association L&Q. The design and build deal will involve installing a low-pressure hot water heating system and associated pipework to feed underfloor heating within each apartment, along with a cold-water plantroom and distribution network to deliver boosted cold water as part of the domestic hot and cold-water services. As accredited CIBSE Heat Network Consultants, J S Wright will also install a heat interface unit in each apartment to act as a bridge to deliver instant hot water on demand and hot water to the underfloor heating at low return temperatures. The company will also fit a mechanical ventilation heat recovery system that will use the outgoing air from each property to heat incoming fresh air, dry risers and sprinklers for fire protection, sanitary ware, and above-ground drainage. In addition, the company will provide building management controls including a pre-payment system for billing each apartment’s energy use. J S Wright will start work on site in August 2019 with completion scheduled for December 2021. J S Wright has equipped more than 1,500 new homes across London for Hill over the past three years. Current design and build projects for the developer include the first two phases of 580-home Fish Island Village in Hackney Wick, and Phase 1B of the 1,500-home Blackwall Reach development in Tower Hamlets. Phil Leech, the new Managing Director of J S Wright, said: “We are thrilled to have built up such an excellent partnership with a developer that is renowned for restoring vibrant communities with modern energy efficient housing.” Established in Birmingham in 1890, J S Wright designs, installs and maintains mechanical and electrical services for the hotel, residential, social housing, student accommodation, leisure and commercial sectors. The company recently launched a new residential maintenance company, Wright Maintenance Ltd, serving homeowners and property managers across London. The company was voted one of the UK’s Top Ten Specialist Contractors to Work For in the 2016 Construction Enquirer Awards and was a finalist in three categories in the 2018 H&V News Awards.
Bluestone National Park Resort today announces the opening date for its £7 million Dome – a groundbreaking ‘giant umbrella’ William McNamara CEO and Founder of Bluestone said: “This is the first of its kind in the UK which will create an additional 55 jobs and boost the local economy by more than £21m over 10 years”. Created with the help of a multitude of Welsh companies in line with Bluestone’s track record of supporting local suppliers and strengthening the Welsh economy. Serendome will open to guests at the family resort in Pembrokeshire, Wales on July 19th, 2019; representing a significant investment in the future of Wales’ tourism. The 7,000sqm area beneath the Dome, which measures 116m high and 77m wide, encompasses a massive playground for Free Range Fun for Bluestone’s guests. It will be a hub for entertainment; and at its heart will boast a 400-seat Amphitheatre, a live music and performance venue in a unique setting. Serendome will include exciting new activities for guests, including the impressive SkyWalk – a vertical adventure course like no other, built over seven towers and featuring 24 climbing stations. The build, which started in March 2018 has involved a number of contractors, overseen by the Bluestone Projects team. The umbrella itself is made from EFTE, a unique material used in some of the world’s most ambitious architectural projects. Liz Weedon, Head of Projects at Bluestone said: “Successful projects are delivered by great teams of people working together effectively and collaborating. “More than 300 people have been involved in the making of the Serendome from the architect to the bricklayers – each playing a vital role in the building of this innovative structure. William McNamara, added: “The biggest challenge has been to create a structure this size that isn’t actually a building. When you are under the Dome, it is an extraordinary place and like nothing else anyone has created before. We hope that Serendome proves to be another exciting draw for the thousands of visitors who stay with us and experience Pembrokeshire every year.” Roger Casey Associates Limited, Consulting Civil and Structural Engineers, said: “It’s been exciting working on such a unique project and great to have had the opportunity to work alongside other local companies.” William McNamara added: ”It has been a great privilege to have worked on this ground-breaking project with many multi-talented individuals. Our Bluestone guests are in for a real treat!”
No matter what your company might be or where your residence is, there are very few people who don’t make use of a security company. It could be to stop shrinkage and shoplifting, it could be at a bank to keep robbers out, maybe it is bouncers at a club or perhaps it is an armed-response solution at your home. The sad reality of the age that we live in is that crime is rife and that there are plenty of opportunists out there who will act in nefarious ways if they are given half a chance. But while security plays a very important role in our lives, there are probably as many bad partners out there as there are good ones. So, how do you find the right company to service your security needs? Here are a few questions that you should ask and angles that you should investigate, before you commit to a solution from which you cannot escape. Word of mouth Start by just asking around amongst friends and family. If you are looking for a company to protect your valuables or your nearest and dearest, then you need to make sure that they come with an impeccable reputation. So, if your goal is to find security companies in Sydney, engage with people in Sydney who have made use of the services of these outfits. Ask the right questions: what are their strengths? Do you get value for money? What hassles have you had? What are their response times like? You will very quickly be able to form a picture of who is good and who isn’t. Reviews online The online space is a great place to source information. Look at review sites and social media to see what people are saying. It can be quite easy to spot trends on online platforms. If there are repeat complaints about tardy response times, then you know what to expect. The advantage with sourcing information online is that the pool from which you are collecting your data is more diverse than if you are just asking amongst friends. It will be hard to find a business that has no bad reviews, bad reviews are inevitable, so don’t discount everyone who is negatively reviewed. Look rather at positive comments and how the companies themselves react to negative comments. Where are they based You should always try to find a locally based company as they have more to lose if things go wrong. Not in my backyard is an adage that is well used. It goes without saying that a security company will want to ensure that crime and bad things don’t happen near where they are based, so the closer they are based to you, the better. Meet their people Security jobs are quite easy to come by. You don’t necessarily need a plethora of qualifications. As a result, it means that almost anyone can get a gig in a uniform. But you need to meet the people who are going to be responsible for your valuables and make sure that they are a type of person you feel you can trust. Are they likeable or user friendly? If they tick those boxes, then you are good to go with them.
