As part of its continued commitment to helping make easier work of complex health and safety legislation, Bureau Veritas has launched a brand new package enabling customers to combine inspections in order to optimise efficiencies and, in turn, reduce costs. Now available nationwide, the Comply in One offering means customers
NATIONAL property developer Sladen Estates has announced the appointment of Mark Nicholson as a development director. Mark brings with him 15 years’ experience in the property industry, working across multiple sectors from industrial to residential, accruing particular success in the student accommodation sector. Mark said: “Sladen Estates is working on
Property chiefs are calling for the creation of an Olympic-style body to deliver the homes and infrastructure needed to create a supercluster within the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, warning that a lack of new housing, workspace and suitable infrastructure threatens to stifle growth in the region by pricing out talent and businesses.
Westcountry homebuilder Cavanna Homes has officially opened its Marketing Suite at Cales Reach in the South Somerset town of Wincanton and has already taken its first off-plan reservation. The new development, which is within walking distance to the historic town centre, will feature 60 two to four-bedroom homes, finished in
As part of its continued commitment to helping make easier work of complex health and safety legislation, Bureau Veritas has launched a brand new package enabling customers to combine inspections in order to optimise efficiencies and, in turn, reduce costs. Now available nationwide, the Comply in One offering means customers can benefit from combined inspections nationally across multi-site operations in order to ensure economies of scale along with the same level of technical excellence. Comply in One works whereby the Bureau Veritas team will work closely with a client to identify all areas of their compliance needs that are suitable for a combined approach and deliver the according solution. In the case where clients have various deadlines for services and locations, the team can even bring compliance inspections in line, or bend and flex delivery to reflect the risk profiles. For fast-moving businesses the commercial benefits include a typical 20%-30% cost saving compared to standalone inspections, reduced disruption, detailed holistic reporting helping to simplify analysis and the peace of mind afforded by full compliance in a shorter time. This is, of course, supported with the same best-in-class technical excellence. Ahead of the launch, Bureau Veritas invested heavily in upskilling all appropriate consultants to ensure a consistent pedigree of expertise in all individual remits. All assessments are subsequently independently audited and verified by the business’ technical, quality and risk division. Testament to the benefit of this innovative approach Comply in One was previously piloted at one of the UK’s leading high street banks which used five services including asbestos, fire, water, property compliance and even fabric condition survey. The result was compliance cost reductions of a fifth, while follow up verification on identified repair works meant that the number of clear reports increased by 30% over a five year period. This latest launch follows on from the previous introduction of Building in One; Bureau Veritas’ ground breaking cloud based software system that enables businesses to define, plan, schedule and monitor all regulatory compliance, and store documents in a centralised location using one, simple to use platform. The result is a true one-stop-shop for businesses seeking to try and make easier work of the increasingly complex compliance minefield. Vicky Shah, Retail and Hospitality Lead at Bureau Veritas, comments: “Amid the difficult current landscape, we know from talking to customers that they are already facing many challenges in terms of the turbulent economy, legislative upheaval and tight deadlines. With Comply in One, therefore, our remit is to lessen the compliance burden by enabling a combined approach in order to reduce disruption and, in turn, costs, while helping to ensure consistency of service. “As demonstrated in our work with one of the UK’s largest banks, this approach can make a huge difference not just in terms of efficiencies but hugely simplifying the entire compliance process – from initial inspection through to verification and ongoing monitoring – for all involved. We really see this approach, particularly when used with our complementary Building in One offer, as a game changer in the compliance sector and would actively encourage all customers to take advantage of this service today.” Comply in One is currently available in three flexible packages covering health and safety, electrical and fire safety. To find out more about Comply in One or Building in One from Bureau Veritas’ call 0345 600 1828 or visit www.bureauveritas.co.uk
NATIONAL property developer Sladen Estates has announced the appointment of Mark Nicholson as a development director. Mark brings with him 15 years’ experience in the property industry, working across multiple sectors from industrial to residential, accruing particular success in the student accommodation sector. Mark said: “Sladen Estates is working on some really transformative schemes at the moment and I’m thrilled to join the team at such an exciting time. I’m looking forward to drawing on my previous experience and contributing to the delivery of high standard developments throughout the UK.” Mark will be working with the development team on the delivery of developments across Sladen Estates’ portfolio, with particular focus on private rented sector (PRS), build-to-rent (BTR) and student accommodation. The company currently has a forward development portfolio of £800m, including HMRC’s new 276,600 sqft East Midlands regional centre at Unity Square, Nottingham. Nick Sladen, chief executive of Sladen Estates, said: “Mark’s experience speaks for itself and we’re very pleased to welcome him into our senior team as we expand and celebrate our 20th anniversary. We very much look forward to working with him on the delivery of various projects throughout the country.” Celebrating two decades in business this year, Sladen Estates is a commercial property development company operating nationally in the industrial, offices, retail, PRS and student accommodation sectors. For more information, please visit www.sladenestates.co.uk.
Property chiefs are calling for the creation of an Olympic-style body to deliver the homes and infrastructure needed to create a supercluster within the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, warning that a lack of new housing, workspace and suitable infrastructure threatens to stifle growth in the region by pricing out talent and businesses. The call for an Olympic-style delivery authority is one of the proposals put forward in the ‘Radical Regeneration Manifesto’ produced by property consultants Bidwells, architects Perkins and Will, and policy advisory business Blackstock Consulting. In total, the manifesto sets out sixteen policy recommendations to overhaul the tax and planning systems to make Britain a more attractive place to invest and develop. In Cambridge, houses prices soared by 73.4 per cent in the last decade, while in Oxford, prices have seen a 66.8 per cent increase. The success of the Arc’s knowledge-based economy, which has an annual GVA of £100bn, has also caused office rents to jump by 11.9% in the last year alone as companies vie for limited space. To guarantee the Arc’s future growth, twenty-five major investors and developers, including Legal & General, Barratt Developments, and Grosvenor, are calling for politicians to create a singular body responsible for delivering housing and infrastructure within the Arc – just as they did with the Olympics and the Docklands. This new body, which would bring together local councils and developers, would be responsible for delivering all new housing, transport links, social infrastructure and commercial space within the Arc, which covers three million people. The Olympic-style delivery authority, which will see the Arc’s thirty-one local authorities sit alongside developers to coordinate decision making and risk taking, will help streamline planning, making it easier to deliver and speed-up major projects such as the Oxford-Cambridge rail link and development more generally as well as giving investors greater certainty. This would help create a supercluster like California’s Silicon Valley with tech giants sitting alongside start-ups and university spinouts. Established in 2006, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) helped ensure the 2012 London Olympics and the games’ legacy were a success. Over a six-year period, the ODA led and coordinated the planning and construction of the Olympic Park, with eight new venues, a media centre complex, the Olympic and Paralympic athletes’ village, 250 acres of parklands, as well as new bridges, roads and energy infrastructure. The construction of the Park in East London was widely hailed as a success due to the ODA’s ability to remove the need for time-consuming negotiations with various local bodies. Instead, the overriding development entity encouraged collaboration between the five local councils that sat within the boroughs in which regeneration was taking place and developers, with strict and immovable deadlines for planning, financing and construction ensuring targets were met. The ODA was inspired by the success of the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) which was appointed powers to acquire and dispose of land to drive regeneration efforts. The LDDC also served as the development planning authority for the area and was further empowered in 1982 when the creation of an enterprise zone simplified planning rules and capital allowances. Patrick McMahon, senior partner at Bidwells, says: “At either end of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc are the two best universities in the world that collectively see some of the world’s most promising talent walk through its doors each year. But, while attracting top talent doesn’t seem to be a problem, retaining it certainly is. By delivering vital housing, infrastructure and cutting-edge science and tech facilities, the Oxford-Cambridge Arc’s knowledge-based economy can compete on the global stage while having significant knock-on effects for the rest of the UK through supporting industries and connecting businesses. But to do so, a long-term strategy that encourages public-private collaboration is crucial.”
Westcountry homebuilder Cavanna Homes has officially opened its Marketing Suite at Cales Reach in the South Somerset town of Wincanton and has already taken its first off-plan reservation. The new development, which is within walking distance to the historic town centre, will feature 60 two to four-bedroom homes, finished in red brick or crisp render with natural slate features, in keeping with the local area. Cales Reach is Cavanna Homes’ first development in the area and the first since the firm was awarded the UK’s Medium Housebuilder of the Year in the 2019 national Housebuilder Awards. Prices have just been released by the homebuilder and the first new homes are anticipated to be ready to move into by Spring 2020. The range of modern, detached and semi-detached energy-efficient homes are designed to suit a variety of home-seekers’ requirements and tastes, ranging from two-bedroom to four-bedroom family homes and townhouses. The first set of new homes released include a two-bedroom Rippon and three-bedroom Bracken and Steeperton house type, with prices starting from £215,000. Cales Reach is surrounded by orchards, hills and stunning panoramic views of Somerset. The development is also close to the A303 and Templecombe train station. Homebuilder Cavanna Homes has contributed £110,000 towards the extension of Wincanton County Primary School’s eight new classrooms. Paul Furner, Head of Sales and Marketing at Cavanna Homes, said: “We pride ourselves on working with our communities and understanding the areas in which we build, which is why our two Sales Advisors are local to the area and can provide people with brilliant advice on the best places to visit. “We’re proud to be named the UK’s Medium Housebuilder of the Year in the national Housebuilder Awards, recognising our commitment to “Building Brilliance” and high-quality new homes. “We’re very excited to launch Cales Reach and we look forward to welcoming people to discover our beautiful new homes in Somerset”. Melody Laitinen, Sales Advisor at Cales Reach, added: “We’re encouraging home-seekers to get in quick and reserve early before our new homes are snapped up. Reserving early also allows buyers to tailor their home with a choice of fixtures and fittings, including kitchen and bathroom tiles, to complement the beautifully styled and high-quality build. “We offer a number of buying schemes, including Move Assist, Part-Exchange and our show home leaseback scheme. So, if anyone is looking to move to this fantastic location, come and visit us to find out more.” Cales Reach is close to local shops, a village pub, Wincanton County Primary School, Kings Arthurs Community School, a doctor’s surgery and vet practice. There is also a monthly Farmers’ Market offering fresh produce, crafts and more. Wincanton is also home to a sports centre offering swimming, badminton, hockey and a fitness suite. The sports ground includes a football pitch, a rugby pitch, a cricket square and tennis courts. Wincanton Racecourse holds events throughout the year and features a 9-hole golf club on site.
