July 5, 2019

J S WRIGHT SECURES £4M CONTRACT FOR PARADISE BIRMINGHAM

Leading mechanical and electrical building services specialist J S Wright is to fit out the first phase of the Paradise Birmingham development. The company, which has its headquarters in Birmingham and an office in London, has been awarded a contract exceeding £4m by BAM Construction for the M&E infrastructure, basement

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Vivalda Group listed in London Stock Exchange Group’s ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ 2019 report for third year

Architectural cladding specialist Vivalda Group has been identified as one of London Stock Exchange Group’s ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ 2019. Despite the current economic uncertainly and the impact of the Grenfell Tower tragedy on the industry, Vivalda has continued to push for greater transparency and leadership within the cladding

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Latest Issue
Issue 323 : Dec 2024

July 5, 2019

J S WRIGHT SECURES £4M CONTRACT FOR PARADISE BIRMINGHAM

Leading mechanical and electrical building services specialist J S Wright is to fit out the first phase of the Paradise Birmingham development. The company, which has its headquarters in Birmingham and an office in London, has been awarded a contract exceeding £4m by BAM Construction for the M&E infrastructure, basement and external services for two new Grade A office buildings, One and Two Chamberlain Square. The wide-ranging mechanical works will include installing rainwater and above ground drainage, chilled water plant with distribution to serve neighbouring Birmingham Town Hall, and car park ventilation systems. J S Wright will also install commercial landlord systems including sprinklers, general ventilation services for the plant room and communal areas, and boosted mains cold water plant for distribution including landscape irrigation. All the services will be controlled by a central Building Management System (BMS). The electrical works will involve the installation, testing and commissioning of the mains distribution network, including an uninterruptible power system and commercial landlord switchboards, along with submain distribution cabling and small power distribution. J S Wright will also provide lighting and emergency lighting, access control, CCTV equipment, door security and fire alarms, and car park lighting. Work on site is scheduled for completion at the end of 2019. Phil Leech, Managing Director of J S Wright, said: “We are delighted that our expertise and experience in delivering M&E services to multi-million-pound regeneration projects, primarily in London and the Midlands, has resulted in a commission that will eventually transform our home city of Birmingham.” 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.

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Vivalda Group listed in London Stock Exchange Group’s ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ 2019 report for third year

Architectural cladding specialist Vivalda Group has been identified as one of London Stock Exchange Group’s ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ 2019. Despite the current economic uncertainly and the impact of the Grenfell Tower tragedy on the industry, Vivalda has continued to push for greater transparency and leadership within the cladding sector by maintaining its policy of supplying only non-combustible facades to high rise buildings. The £34m turnover company was founded in 1999 and has a strong track record of investment in both people and equipment. Working closely with building contractors and architects across the UK and Ireland, Vivalda has campaigned for a more robust, evidence-based test regime for cladding systems. A celebration of the UK’s fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium sized businesses (SMEs), the Stock Exchange award further confirms Vivalda’s enviable reputation as the UK’s largest independent supplier of high-performance cladding to buildings across the UK, Scotland and Ireland. With offices in nine locations, the business has pioneered the use of off-site fabrication within the construction supply chain – providing modular housing manufacturers with complete cladding solutions. Peter Johnson, chairman of Vivalda, said: “Our policy of supplying only certified, non-combustible claddings to high rise buildings has given our customers peace of mind by simplifying what was previously a complicated specification process. This has given us credibility, positioning us in the market to provide non-combustible cladding to the 400 high rise buildings that still require remediation work.” “Industry experts estimate that the total repair bill will be as high as £2bn as landlords strip off inferior cladding and replace with fully tested materials, providing long-overdue peace of mind to their anxious residents,” concluded Johnson. The business currently boasts an annual turnover of £34m and continues to outgrow construction industry norms, based on its uncompromising focus on product safety combined with added value services to both architects & contractors. Group chairman, Peter Johnson, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have had our efforts noticed by the LSE for a third year running. This recognition is a real feather in our cap and is a reflection of the hard work, dedication and passion demonstrated by Vivalda’s people up and down the country. We pride ourselves on going that extra mile for customers, supplying cut-to-size, fully prepared cladding that is both safe and aesthetically pleasing. “All of our fabrication facilities are equipped with the latest CNC cutting machines, dust extraction systems and our new delivery fleet conforms to the latest emissions standards – we believe that sustained profits only follow planned and long-term investment in people, skills and equipment.” To be selected for the list, businesses had to demonstrate not only positive revenue growth over the last three years but also outperform their sector peers. The result is a unique and varied list of the UK’s most dynamic companies. More details on the Companies to Inspire reports and methodology can be found online at www.1000companies.com.    David Schwimmer, CEO, London Stock Exchange Group, said: “Congratulations to all the companies selected for inclusion in the sixth edition of London Stock Exchange Group’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain report, which identifies the UK’s most dynamic SMEs. SMEs drive growth, innovation and job creation and are the lifeblood of the British economy. We believe that supporting the growth of these businesses is critical to the UK economy and the creation of a society that works for everyone.” A full searchable database of all of the companies along with a downloadable pdf of the publication can be found online at www.1000companies.com

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Manufacturer of high-performance construction fibres independent from now on

Low & Bonar has officially sold its division for high-performance construction fibres with the brand name Adfil to a new owner as from 1 July 2019. The “concrete lab” of the international concern can now carry on independently. With the same name and at the same location, but above all with a new, daring road map. “We want to significantly increase profitability within the first year,” say CEO Tom Winters and COO Ives Swennen, exuding ambition. It has long been a public secret that the international concern Low & Bonar wanted to cash in by selling its business unit for Adfil construction fibres in order to invest that money in divisions that would yield greater returns. Adfil stands for Anglo Danish Fibres Industry Limited, originally an English-Danish company with headquarters in Hull that produced patented microfibers. This was acquired by Low & Bonar in 2005 and subsequently integrated into its site at Zele Belgium. THE ABILITY TO FEND FOR ONESELF Since 2014, Low & Bonar have invested significant sums of money in new macro fibre capacities and a brand new concrete lab in Zele, East Flanders. This has resulted in the production of patented fibres which will ensure Adfil remain at the forefront of producing world class products. Due to other pressures on the business the international group decided to embark of selling Adfil resulting in the business having come under new control from 1st July 2019. The new owner is a private investor who has repeatedly invested successfully in companies in the past and who thinks in the long term. The daily management will be in the hands of CEO Tom Winters and COO Ives Swennen, who will both also become directors. The brand name Adfil will also become the name of the new entity, which, will remain in Zele. Apart from that, there is also a sales office in the United Kingdom, employing six technical sales staff. Tom Winters: “When we used to need money, we could ask for it within the group. Now we will have to fend for ourselves and provide for our own money. Our first major goal? To demonstrate improved profitability within one year. We also want to offer more service and, as an independent company, we will now be able to make more conscious choices about that.” MARKET IS RIPE FOR MACRO FIBRES Micro and macro synthetic fibres are increasingly being used to reinforce concrete, as a sustainable alternative and/or supplement for steel reinforcement or steel fibre concrete reinforcement. Adding synthetic fibres in the correct proportions makes steel mesh or steel fibres superfluous in many applications, such as in concrete interior and exterior hard standings. Until a few years ago, the construction sector was not at all tuned in to the enormous technical sophistication and potential of these polymer fibres. But gradually the market seems to be ripening for it. Winters: “Increasing numbers of concrete producers, engineering firms and contractors prefer synthetic fibres to conventional steel reinforcement. Those are also the three groups we are hoping to convince. Since the middle of last year, Adfil has become very active in Belgium, thanks in part to its having obtained so-called ATG certification. “We needed two years to carry out testing. Those tests were done using the worst possible concrete, in other words the worst case scenario. The ease of working with and the homogeneity of the concrete were thus proven under the most extreme conditions. Thanks to the certification, Belgian companies are now no longer forced to exclusively use steel for reinforcement. In Belgium, approximately 12 million cubic metres of concrete are poured each year, 95% of which is reinforced using steel mesh, so there is still a lot of potential for a better way to carry out reinforcement.” Meanwhile, Adfil has been working together with Interbeton, one of the bigger players in Belgium. NEW PRODUCTS, NEW APPLICATIONS Adfil now has a turnover of 15 million euros – the volumes are increasing month by month – and supplies its fibres directly to concrete plants or via preferred partners. The latter are commercial players who are co-investing in advance and are pushing their brand fully into the market. As many as 90% of Adfil’s customers are located outside of Belgium, but gradually the concrete plants in the Benelux are becoming attracted to its fibres. Synthetic fibre reinforcement still has a particularly large margin for growth, precisely because so many markets are still unexplored. The dosage (kilograms per cubic metre) is getting lower all the time, from 12 kg to the current 3 kg. Ives Swennen: “We try to innovate in every facet of the fibre: in colour, in bonding the fibre into the concrete and in all the mechanical properties such as impact resistance, tensile strength and stiffness. We want to distinguish ourselves by putting a product on the market that is not based purely on the properties of the fibres, but rather on their actual performance within concrete. In this way, after many external tests, we are now able to test the exact composition of concrete using our fibres for customers and thus to know exactly how it will perform.” The new owner recently decided to invest in additional sales staff who have both technical and commercial knowledge. In the future, Adfil also wants to reinvest more of its profits into the company. “Because we are now finally standing on our own two feet, we will not only grow step by step, but we also want to make our people happier. We are in the process of becoming a small but very flexible player, in which our employees will also combine various roles. That is why we really want to dedicate ourselves to job satisfaction, because we consider the person behind the employee to be of paramount importance”, they both conclude.

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