October 18, 2019

Goodman further develops Andover Business Park as key supply chain location with up to 362,000 sq ft of industrial and distribution space +

Goodman will offer design and build opportunities for Andover Business Park’s final 16-acre plot, capable of delivering up to 362,000 sq ft of bespoke industrial and distribution space. Launch of Plot 5 follows sale of final roadside plots, adding to the Park’s excellent on-site amenities  Customers will join the Co-operative

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Could we become a zero emissions nation?

The UK has set an ambitious target to become a zero emissions nation by 2050. If it can be achieved, this would make the UK the cleanest country in the world in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. 31 years certainly seems like a long time to achieve this, but is

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Interserve to Develop Centre in Oldham

Interserve to Develop Centre in Oldham

Interserve has been chosen by Oldham Council to develop a £13 million centre for culture, arts, history and entertainment. The OMA centre will integrate the town’s existing Victorian Grade 2-listed former library and its current arts centre, and will substantially enhance the town’s cultural offering. OMA will showcase the story

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Innovative Linear Drainage on M6

Innovative Linear Drainage on M6

Stanton Bonna worked with Kier to develop an offsite linear drainage system on M6 J13 to J15, Stafford with Aqua-SlotTM Drain. Key Benefits: · Rapid Installation · Reduced waste · Minimal people interface · Not weather dependent Through the early stages of the Highways England M6 J13-15 scheme, Kier Highways engineering and efficiencies teams

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Latest Issue
Issue 323 : Dec 2024

October 18, 2019

Goodman further develops Andover Business Park as key supply chain location with up to 362,000 sq ft of industrial and distribution space +

Goodman will offer design and build opportunities for Andover Business Park’s final 16-acre plot, capable of delivering up to 362,000 sq ft of bespoke industrial and distribution space. Launch of Plot 5 follows sale of final roadside plots, adding to the Park’s excellent on-site amenities  Customers will join the Co-operative Group and Rich Products in strategic location  With a population of 12.7 million people within a two hour drivetime1, Andover Business Park meets the demand for strategically-located industrial and distribution space in reach of both the South East and West of the UK. Alongside the opportunity to access this prime consumer base, which amounts to a combined spending power of £282 billion, customers will benefit from a growing employment pool, with the local population set to increase by 50% by 20312.  The Park is already home to the Co-operative Group’s regional distribution centre and global bakery firm Rich Products, which opened a 15-acre site in June 2019 in a move to consolidate its UK production facilities.  Goodman has also recently seen the sale of two roadside plots at Andover Business Park, with van leasing company Abacus and 24 hour gym, PureGym, both set to start on site imminently. The latter will add to a suite of amenities – including a Travelodge hotel, Costa drive-thru and Marston’s Inn – helping customers attract and retain their workforces.  Charles Crossland, Managing Director, Goodman UK, said “Just two miles from Andover town centre and benefitting from direct access to the A303, the site reflects Goodman’s commitment to providing strategically-located warehouse space and high-quality environments to work – with the park offering not only job opportunities but facilities to match.”   Appointed agents at Andover Business Park are JLL, Savills and Myddelton & Major. For more information about business prospects in Andover Business Park and Plot 5, please visit the website for more more details.

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Could we become a zero emissions nation?

The UK has set an ambitious target to become a zero emissions nation by 2050. If it can be achieved, this would make the UK the cleanest country in the world in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. 31 years certainly seems like a long time to achieve this, but is this goal attainable at all? Currently, the figures are not too pleasing. As of October 2018, the UK had an annual greenhouse emission of around 500 million tonnes of CO2. The government has received advice from the Committee on Climate Change regarding reducing this to zero, after a UN report highlighted the urgent need to cut carbon emissions entirely in order to prevent catastrophic climate change. In an interview with BBC News, the UK’s climate minister Claire Perry said: “The report was a really stark and sober piece of work — a good piece of work. Now we know what the goal is, and we know what some of the levers are. “But for me, the constant question is: what is the cost and who’s going to bear that, both in the UK and in the global economy. The question is: what does government need to do, where can the private sector come in, and what technologies will come through?” VW service provider, Vindis, has investigated the issue in further detail, looking into the actions that need to take place in order for this goal to be achieved. Swapping our vehicle To meet a target to scrap petrol and diesel cars by 2040, the government is already making moves to clean up the air by cleaning up on the roads. While we may be a couple of decades away from seeing this ban come into force, it appears that an increasing number of British motorists are already exploring what’s available when it comes to alternative-fuel or LPG vehicles. There are some drivers that are already making the swap. In fact, Next Green Car has reported that the number of new registrations of plug-in cars jumped from just 3,500 in 2013 to over 195,000 as of the end of January 2019. Furthermore, figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders highlighted that electric car sales across the UK has shifted from only close to 500 being registered each month in the early part of 2014 to an average of 5,000 per month throughout 2018. Because of the growing interest in these vehicles, the UK is also making infrastructural changes. While the UK’s network of electric vehicle charging points was recorded in at just a few hundred units as of 2011, there had been more than 5,800 charging locations, 9,800 charging devices and 16,700 connectors installed by June 2018. We may still be quite a while away from seeing all vehicles on the roads of the UK being run on alternative fuels — the latest vehicle data from the SMMT stated that the car registrations market share for January 2019 was 64.08 per cent petrol, 29.08 per cent diesel and 6.84 per cent alternative-fuel vehicles, for example — but it appears that things are at least moving in the right direction. Making the greener switch It’s fair to say that low-carbon alternatives could be the way forward if we’re to realistically meet our target. It appears the nation is already assisting in this area too. In figures compiled by Imperial College London and reported on by The Guardian, the capacity of renewable energy in the UK surpassed that of fossil fuels for the first time. With the amount of renewable capacity trebling in the same five-year period that fossil fuels decreased by one-third, the capacity of biomass, hydropower, solar and wind power hit 41.9 gigawatts and the capacity of gas, coal and oil-fired power plants recorded in at 41.2 gigawatts between July and September. Imperial College London’s Dr Iain Staffell, who led the research, said: “Britain’s power system is slowly but surely walking away from fossil fuels, and [the quarter between July and September] saw a major milestone on the journey.” We’re already paving the way for change. The UK has set standards such as being powered for three days straight without the use of coal in 2018. This was before a report from Imperial College London which was commissioned by Drax suggested that coal supplied only 1.3 per cent of Britain’s entire use of electricity during the second quarter of 2018 — furnaces based at coal-fired power stations throughout the country were completely unused for 12 days in June last year too. Better insulation Sometimes changes need to be made inside the home too. According to a BBC News article from February 2017, the UK was needing to cut carbon emissions by 80 per cent between the date that the piece was published and 2050. What’s more, a third of those carbon emissions had been recorded from heating draughty buildings across the nation. A negative impact is arising from these badly insulated homes. Experts from the Green Building Council — a group of leading construction firms — stated in a report sent to Parliament that 25 million existing homes will not currently meet the insulation standards being enforced in the mid-century and will need to be refurbished to the highest standards. According to calculations, these findings mean that the rate of refurbishment stood at a rate of 1.4 homes needing to be worked on every minute as of the beginning of 2017. Understandably, this work will help cut carbon emissions, but it can also help with other areas too. The Green Building Council’s head Julie Hirigoyen explains: “People will have warmer homes and lower bills; they will live longer, happier lives; we will be able to address climate change and carbon emissions. “We will also be creating many thousands of jobs and exporting our best skills in innovation.” To meet the 2050 target is a bold ambition. Fortunately, some of the examples covered in this article does at least suggest that efforts are being made to ensure the

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Interserve to Develop Centre in Oldham

Interserve to Develop Centre in Oldham

Interserve has been chosen by Oldham Council to develop a £13 million centre for culture, arts, history and entertainment. The OMA centre will integrate the town’s existing Victorian Grade 2-listed former library and its current arts centre, and will substantially enhance the town’s cultural offering. OMA will showcase the story of Oldham’s past from its time as the cotton spinning capital of the world to the present day, with gallery spaces, archives and public research rooms. The venue will house the borough’s fulsome collection of objects and artworks and will increase public access to heritage assets. Councillor Sean Fielding, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economy and Enterprise, said: “This is another great step in the regeneration of our town centre and our plans to make Oldham a cultural destination. “Interserve has a strong track record in delivering similar projects to a high standard and were responsible for restoring the Corn Exchange in Manchester. I am confident that it will produce a great building which reflects our proud history and heritage, but also adds the modern touches needed to reflect the needs of society today.” Phil Shaw, Divisional Director at Interserve Construction, said: “Our team has significant experience of working on historic buildings like Oldham’s Victorian library and we will be bringing our expertise and capabilities to the project by adding a contemporary and modern addition to the building while respecting its architectural heritage.”

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Innovative Linear Drainage on M6

Innovative Linear Drainage on M6

Stanton Bonna worked with Kier to develop an offsite linear drainage system on M6 J13 to J15, Stafford with Aqua-SlotTM Drain. Key Benefits: · Rapid Installation · Reduced waste · Minimal people interface · Not weather dependent Through the early stages of the Highways England M6 J13-15 scheme, Kier Highways engineering and efficiencies teams considered several different options for offsite manufacture, one of the projects developed was the use of a Precast Concrete Aqua-SlotTM Drain. Challenge Early on it became apparent that the largest risk to the use of this innovative product would be the production programme with the scheme needing over 31km, exceeding current manufacturing capacity. This required both Area team, Client and Design team input early in the discussion, allowing a production programme that aligned to the scheme’s needs. Benefits · Traditional slip-forming of slot can be problematic, particularly in a live highway environment where concrete delivery is key to success but is often delayed by weather conditions, network congestion and crucially site logistics. · By using precast, the units can be laid out in advance and laying can commence as soon as a sufficient formation bed is prepared. Laying can continue in most weather conditions. · Rapid installation achieving outputs in excess of 200m per day per three-person gang · Factory made units are high quality to tight tolerances and CE marked · Sump unit and incorporated ironwork means that once the unit is laid there is virtually no other follow up work required · Reduced waste as this method removes the need for any wet casting or cutting out to form outlets · Reduced workforce around the operation minimising People Plant Interface · Ability to change work fronts with minimal impact if blockers are identified or there are unforeseen issues, this provides greater flexibility · No need for saw cuts as the product naturally features joints minimising HAVS issues “In the first weeks of laying, outputs were better than expected and we are very pleased with the product. Any reduction in trades and numbers in what is a very constrained environment has to be seen as a positive,” commented Richard French (Project Director M6 13-15). The Figures · 14km of Aqua-SlotTM in Central Reservation · 17km of Aqua-SlotTM in the verges · 55 linear metres per lorry load · 200m installed per day · 1.4t unit weight, 2.5m long units · Rodding access point every 25m · Bedded on Type 1 and regulating sand layer · Design support from Kier Highways engineering · Socket and spigot with gasket to ensure correct jointing and alignment · EN1433 compliant, D400 & CE Marked

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