Parr Facilities Management Limited has announced an exciting contract win to kick off 2020 after being named a trusted maintenance provider by Co-op across their Food and Funeralcare estate. The Maintenance Framework Agreement which will apply to Co-op sites across the UK and Northern Ireland will cover sites spanning across
The main aims of the Centre of Excellence are to provide opportunities in Temporary Works and Construction Method Engineering, with a postgraduate course available and targeted research projects with direct industry involvement. About The Centre of Excellence comprises a large number of academic staff across engineering disciplines who are committed
EQUITONE fibre cement facade material has passed the BS 8414 fire safety test – further securing its position as being safe to use in high-rise and high-risk buildings. The rigorous test, which was sponsored by TENMAT Ltd, evaluates whether a cladding system that is subjected to a fire breaking out
ceda is thrilled to reveal the hosts of Conference 2020. Peter Martin will once again be joining us as the Host of the Business Day, following the brilliant reception he has received at the event in previous years. One of the most authoritative and well known commentators in the hospitality
Welsh Government Minister Kirsty Williams visited Willowtown Primary school in Ebbw Vale to launch the GoConstruct Educate resources, which introduces the construction industry to the school curriculum in a bid to get more youngsters to consider a future career in construction. The Go Construct Educate Programme is a Construction Industry
Parr Facilities Management Limited has announced an exciting contract win to kick off 2020 after being named a trusted maintenance provider by Co-op across their Food and Funeralcare estate. The Maintenance Framework Agreement which will apply to Co-op sites across the UK and Northern Ireland will cover sites spanning across the North of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. A significant new client for this company on the rise, the partnership between Parr FM Limited and Co-op will encompass facilities management works across a diverse range of disciplines including fabric, mechanical and electrical management services as well as specialist services where required. Speaking on behalf of Parr Facilities Management Limited, Ivan Morley, Facilities Management Director, said, “Parr Facilities Management boasts a wealth of experience providing electrical and mechanical management services to retail, healthcare and hospitality sectors throughout the UK and Ireland. Winning another contract with one of the UK’s most trusted brands was certainly a highlight of 2019 and reinforces our continued growth across mainland UK. We look forward to supporting the team at Co-op sites across the UK and Northern Ireland beginning this month to enable them to maintain their excellent standard of customer satisfaction and experience.” Parr Facilities management launched in Belfast in 2007 and chose Greater Manchester as its base for their UK-wide operation. Systematic of Parr Facilities Managements recent growth, the organisation has invested heavily in new offices located in Bolton, staff and infrastructure across the UK, with an estimated 60% increase in its workforce over the past year to support a number of big business wins within its FM division including contracts with Co-op, BUPA & Whitbread. These contracts have contributed to a quadrupled turnover within this period of growth. Parr Facilities Management Limited currently employs over 100 members of staff across its Belfast and Manchester operational bases.
The main aims of the Centre of Excellence are to provide opportunities in Temporary Works and Construction Method Engineering, with a postgraduate course available and targeted research projects with direct industry involvement. About The Centre of Excellence comprises a large number of academic staff across engineering disciplines who are committed to addressing industry challenges associated with construction processes. This groups has many years of experience in providing insight into practical problems and have access to state-of-the-art testing facilities that allow exploration into simple and complex problems. People Research The main aim of the Centre of Excellence is to undertake research that will support the Temporary Works Forum (TWf) in driving “long-term change and waste reduction in the way we construct”. The Centre of Excellence at City, University of London, supported by the Temporary Works Forum (TWf), have two doctoral research projects on-going, please see the descriptions below: 1. Safety of Working Platforms for Tracked Plant Formed from Construction Demolition Waste. The key design criterion for working platform design is whether it can safely support the application of an extremely high monotonic load applied eccentrically through the tracks of plant. Thus, the design criterion is stability. The BRE guide idealises this load case as load acting over an equivalent area, rectangular in plan, which lies on layered ground. The depth of the upper layer, the working platform, is determined by assuming a punch through failure mechanism in this layer and conventional bearing capacity failure in the subgrade. Designers following this method then need to determine the appropriate angle of friction to be used in the calculation of the resistance of the platform material (construction demolition waste) to punching failure. The aim of this approach is to provide a conservative design method given that insufficient data exists. This research is being carried out by Greta Tanghetti under the supervision of Dr Richard Goodey. 2. The strength and stability of steel reinforcement cages in their temporary state. The contributing strength of a steel reinforcement cage to that of a reinforced concrete column, beam, slab or wall is well understood. However, the strength and stability of that same cage during its assembly, handling and whilst lifting into position prior concreting is not. Whilst a number of guidance documents exist for industry to consult, they contain no real guidance for their technical assessment. This poor understanding of the behaviour of these highly flexible structures, coupled with changing industrial practices involved with their construction, means that there continues to be accidents from stability collapses and tie failures during the temporary state. The aim of the project is to establish the strength and stability of reinforcement cages in their temporary state to make suitable recommendations and assessment methodologies to improve industry guidance and best practice leading to a safer construction environment. This research is being carried out by Konstantinos Kalfas under the supervision of Dr Brett McKinley. If you are interested in contributing to either of these projects please contact the Director of the Centre of Excellence Dr Andrew McNamara. Facilities Civil Engineering Laboratory We have access to an array of recently refurbished facilities, including exceptional laboratories. The Geotechnical Centrifuge Facility is the centrepiece of the Civil Engineering Laboratory which also accommodates a large flexible laboratory space used for centrifuge model preparation, model testing at 1g, concrete testing and teaching. Adjacent to this are concrete mixing and casting facilities, a temperature-controlled soil element testing laboratory and a concrete durability laboratory. Read more about the Civil Engineering Laboratory’s facilities Structures Laboratory In addition we have access to a Strong Floor and loading frames including new strong-wall being developed for lateral loading of column and tall structures. This particular facility has seen £800K investment in equipment for teaching and research including high flow computer controlled hydraulic loading for static, cyclic and dynamic & hybrid testing with ring-main, static compression up to 12MN and 50kN tension testing for steel materials. Wind Tunnel The Department of Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics have also initially agreed to the use of their Wind Tunnel Laboratory facilities. These are renowned for being newly upgraded and leading-edge facilities. Education New MSc in Temporary Works and Construction Method Engineering Our new MSc degree, the first and only of its kind in the UK, provides a specialist qualification for those involved in the design and construction of temporary works and addresses industry need for such a professional qualification. The Temporary Works Forum (TWf), which promotes best practice within the UK construction industry*, has designated City, University of London as a Centre of Excellence in Temporary Works and Construction Method Engineering and collaborated in the development and delivery of this new masters. For more information on our MSc degree please see our Post-graduate courses page or contact the Director of the Centre of Excellence Dr Andrew McNamara. The first cohort of students on the new MSc Temporary Works and Construction Method Engineering with Bill Hewlett, former chairman of the Temporary Works Forum and Andrew McNamara, programme director and director of the Centre of Excellence for Temporary Works and Construction Method Engineering.
EQUITONE fibre cement facade material has passed the BS 8414 fire safety test – further securing its position as being safe to use in high-rise and high-risk buildings. The rigorous test, which was sponsored by TENMAT Ltd, evaluates whether a cladding system that is subjected to a fire breaking out of an opening in an external wall will result in excessive fire spread up the outside of the building – creating a risk of the blaze re-entering the building at a higher level. BS 8414 tests are conducted in specialist laboratories and involve building a 9m high model wall, covering it in a cladding system and starting a fire at the bottom. It is important to note that the classification applies solely to the complete external facade system that has been tested. All EQUITONE materials comprehensively meet the fire performance classification A2-s1,d0 to EN 13501-1:2018 – meaning they do not contribute to the formation or spread of a fire. EQUITONE [natura] was the material used during the BS 8414 test and further reinforces EQUITONE’s long-standing commitment to ensuring its materials are safe and suitable to use. Martin Smithurst, technical manager at EQUITONE, said: “Building material combustibility is a key focal point during the specification stage so we are delighted that EQUITONE has passed the BS 8414 test, which strengthens its position as a robust material that does not contribute to the formation or spread of a fire. “The BS 8414 test is designed to simulate the response to a fire spilling out of a window – exposing the external facade to the fire to see how it spreads. It provides a rigorous assessment of cladding systems. As EQUITONE has passed the test, it is officially classified as being safe to use in high-rise and high-risk buildings. “When choosing facade materials that need to meet the demands of the current fire performance requirements, our dedicated technical and specification team can offer expert support to architects, designers and contractors – from the initial design concept through to build completion and beyond.” All EQUITONE materials have a life expectancy of at least 50 years and are available in a range of colours, finishes and fixing options, giving full creative scope. For more information on EQUITONE facade materials, visit www.equitone.com/en-gb.
ceda is thrilled to reveal the hosts of Conference 2020. Peter Martin will once again be joining us as the Host of the Business Day, following the brilliant reception he has received at the event in previous years. One of the most authoritative and well known commentators in the hospitality industry, Peter has more than 35 years experience in the Industry, as a columnist, editor, media owner, board consultant and market analyst. Conference attendees can also look forward to Peter’s annual ‘State of the Industry’ presentation, which has become a staple of the Business Day. He will be joined by Chriz Brazier, who will again act as Host for both Thursday’s informal networking dinner and Friday’s Gala and Awards Dinner, during which ceda’s Grand Prix Awards will be presented. A passionate supporter and advocate of the hospitality, foodservice and retail sectors, Chris is Group Event Director at a number of industry leading shows; Commercial Kitchen, Lunch! and Casual Dining. He comes to Conference with a wealth of insider industry knowledge. Adam Mason, ceda Director General, commented, “I’m really pleased that Chris and Martin, who have such in-depth knowledge of our industry, have agreed to join us once again. As we strive to make Conference 2020 the biggest and best ceda event to date, they were the obvious choices.” The ceda Conference is the premier event of the Catering Equipment Industry, attracting distributors, manufacturers and representatives of other associations representing major end user groups. The annual two-day event, held in association with cedabond and the Craft Guild of Chefs, will this year be taking place at the Majestic Hotel, Harrogate, on 23rd and 24th April. The first day features the ceda AGM and an informal networking dinner; the Business Day, on the Friday, is open to everyone within the catering equipment industry. ceda Partners and Members will be exhibiting and a number of world renowned speakers have been invited to discuss both industry-specific topics and more general business issues. There will also be a series of stimulating interactive seminars. Further information on speakers and exhibitors will be announced in the coming weeks.
Welsh Government Minister Kirsty Williams visited Willowtown Primary school in Ebbw Vale to launch the GoConstruct Educate resources, which introduces the construction industry to the school curriculum in a bid to get more youngsters to consider a future career in construction. The Go Construct Educate Programme is a Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) funded project awarded to major construction contractor Bouygues UK. CITB and Bouygues UK have worked with a consortium of partners from the construction industry, education sector, Careers Wales and learning technology company Aspire 2Be to develop the resources, which will be available to every school, teacher and pupil across Wales aged from five to 16. The GoConstruct Educate resources will cover numeracy, literacy and digital competency skills, and provision is also made for Welsh Baccalaureate and alternative education. Teachers will be provided with a series of contextualised learning projects which include an overview for each project, along with a set of progressive lesson plans and numerous interactive resources to use with each year group. The resources will all be available on Hwb, the education online platform which is available to all 1456 schools in Wales. As well as GoConstruct Educate, the other GoConstruct elements are Experience – where students use the much-loved game Minecraft to learn about building and planning; and GoConstruct Engage – in which construction professionals across a wide range of roles and business will visit schools to talk about their career pathway. Go Construct Engage links in to both projects to enable industry experts to come into the schools and bring the resources to life. On launching the resources, Minister for Education, Kirsty Williams said: “I’m grateful to the CITB and their partners for launching Go Construct – Experience, Educate and Engage resources, using these within the classroom and as part of work experience will help schools to recognise and utilise the opportunities the construction sector can offer our learners.” CITB Chief Executive Sarah Beale said: “CITB is delighted to have funded and co-developed Go Construct Educate in collaboration with Bouygues UK and a consortium of industry partners. “The programme is a milestone in Welsh education. It means construction modules will be part of the Welsh curriculum for the first time. Go Construct Educate will make the teaching of construction modern, informative and fun for all. It will mean boys, girls, teachers and parents in Wales fully consider the wide range of career opportunities in construction, thus helping industry with the skills challenges it faces.” Pupils at Willowtown Primary showed the Minister how they have been using some of the GoConstruct Educate resources to help them in class including constructing a bridge and using Minecraft to plan a building. Emma Thomas, acting Headteacher at Willowtown Primary school said: “We are very excited to host the launch of Go Construct Educate. We are proud to be a STEM learning network school and ensure a STEM rich focus is at the heart of all our topics. We want to future proof our learners and give them skills that will help them succeed. “Engaging with the Go Construct Educate project fits perfectly with our STEM ethos. We ran the Go Construct Educate project successfully across the school last year and found that it was an excellent way to engage with the new curriculum. The resources are clear and detailed for teachers to use and they are purposeful and interactive for the children.” Julie Timothy, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Bouygues UK South West and Wales said: “One of Bouygues UK’s core business aims is to highlight how diverse and dynamic the construction industry is, to fill a growing skills shortage and ensure that the industry has nurtured a talent pipeline for the future growth anticipated. “Go Construct Educate presented us with a fantastic opportunity to achieve some of those goals by introducing children to construction from a young age and change misconceptions about the industry as a whole. There are so many career paths and opportunities within this sector – including a massive 2,000 different job roles – and yet it’s not something pupils often hear about during school hours. “To that end, we want to make sure that the lesson plans and projects are progressive, digestible and above all else that they weave seamlessly into the new curriculum, making it as easy as possible for teachers to engage their students. “Bouygues UK is thrilled to be bringing GoConstruct Educate to schools across Wales, and with our official launch just around the corner, we’re really looking forward to seeing its impact on the Welsh construction industry for years to come.” Simon Pridham, Education and Performance Partner at Aspire 2Be said: “The investment CITB has assigned to Go Construct Experience, Educate and Engage in Wales is absolutely tremendous, this really is a game changer for schools in Wales. As a former Headteacher and Government Adviser, I wish these resources and opportunities had been available a number of years ago, when I was leading a school.” Aspire 2Be has been working in conjunction with Welsh Government to ensure that the GoConstruct lesson plans and any resources used are aligned with the new curriculum in Wales. This means that each module will be integrated in various school subjects, to align with the Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Maths (STEAM) and will cover the Six Areas of Learning and the Four Purposes. Ahead of its official launch, schoolchildren from all over Wales were invited to road-test the three GoConstruct Projects in ‘Buildathon’ events at Coleg Cambria in Deeside, Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli and Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. The pupils were assigned roles as project managers, architects and construction managers and were asked to design and build a rugby or cricket fan village using Minecraft. Former Wales rugby player Rupert Moon also attended these events to talk to the children about the importance of experiencing different careers from an early age.
