NATIONAL residential and commercial developer Godwin Developments today announces that it has submitted outline plans for the creation of up to 50 new family homes on land south of Ashby Road Central, in the Leicestershire town of Shepshed. The proposed scheme, which will be a mixture of house types, is
Works commence at the new £4 million speculative development Knight Property Group has appointed Clark Contracts as the main contractor on the second phase of speculative development at Langlands Commercial Park in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire. Works have commenced at the brand new £4 million property, which will comprise a
A retrofit service that helps people in Greater Manchester to eco-refurbish their homes is planning to train 3,500 builders, joiners, electricians and plumbers in green skills over the next five years with money raised via a £550,000 community share offer. The not-for-profit ‘People Powered Retrofit’ service is seeking investment from
Carbon Numbers, a leading Building Management Systems supplier and energy reduction specialist, has been announced as the winner of the Smart Buildings Award at the 2021 BCIA (Building Controls Industry Association) Awards. The BCIA Awards claims to be ‘the biggest and best awards in the controls and BEMS industry’ and
Peter Kelsey, the man who founded and led Designer Contracts to become the UK’s largest flooring contractor, has been honoured with an Outstanding Achievement in the Flooring Industry award. Announced at the Contract Flooring Journal’s 2021 awards ceremony, held at Coombe Abbey in Warwickshire on Friday (September 3), Peter was
Award-winning consulting engineering firm of Will Rudd Davidson has announced it is to open a Dublin office as it expands operations into Ireland. The move demonstrates the firm’s commitment to further business growth. The successful privately owned engineering consultancy employs over 80 staff in Scotland and the launch of the
Leading construction and fit out company, Gilbert-Ash has moved on site to commence work at a new 500-bedroom student hotel in the heart of Glasgow. The £50 million design and build contract will see the development of The Student Hotel (TSH) as part of a £300 million masterplan in the
NATIONAL residential and commercial developer Godwin Developments today announces that it has submitted outline plans for the creation of up to 50 new family homes on land south of Ashby Road Central, in the Leicestershire town of Shepshed. The proposed scheme, which will be a mixture of house types, is situated on a vacant site next to the established community on Crowson Close, and is allocated for housing in the emerging Charnwood Borough Council Local Plan. When built, the development will contribute toward the delivery of much needed, good quality family homes in the area, including affordable housing. It will provide parking for residents and cycle storage for every dwelling, as well as private gardens and attractive house frontages. The scheme will feature an extensively landscaped area facing onto Ashby Road Central, giving residents access to shared green space and adding to the appeal of the town. It will use native planting throughout and an attenuation pond to support sustainable drainage, while also retaining existing green boundaries for privacy and the promotion of biodiversity. As a part of the work to increase connections with the town of Shepshed, the proposals will improve footpaths, offering active forms of travel to new residents. The development is advantageously positioned along the main arterial route into Shepshed with a range of amenities – including local primary and secondary schools, shops, recreational facilities, a wide range of other services and local employment nearby. It lies just over half a mile from junction 23 of the M1 motorway and approximately three miles from Loughborough, the principal settlement in the Borough of Charnwood. Residents of the new development will benefit from access to local public transport routes, with bus stops a short distance away offering regular services to Shepshed, Loughborough and Leicester. Historic parks and gardens as well as Charnwood Forest and the National Forest are also within a short drive from the development. Ketan Patel, senior development manager at Godwin Developments, said: “Our proposals for a residential development at Ashby Road Central are a logical extension to the town of Shepshed that needs to build 2,331 new homes by 2037 to satisfy growing demand. This will be a high-quality scheme that we hope will not only meet the expectations of local residents and support the Council’s strategy for sustainable development but will also promote Shepshed further as a desirable place for people of all ages to settle in and become part of the local community.” Nick Harrison, planning director at Godwin Developments, added: “This application delivers on the emerging local plan allocation and successfully mitigates any potential adverse impacts of development consistent with the relevant provisions of the development plan. The planning balance weighs heavily in favour of this sustainable development which will assimilate well with the established neighbourhoods of Shepshed, facilitate the provision of new local infrastructure and support the continued vitality and viability of the town.”
Works commence at the new £4 million speculative development Knight Property Group has appointed Clark Contracts as the main contractor on the second phase of speculative development at Langlands Commercial Park in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire. Works have commenced at the brand new £4 million property, which will comprise a flexible 23,980 sq ft high-quality industrial warehouse, with 1,980 sq ft of office space, 10m eaves height, air conditioning to the offices, two electrically operated roller shutter doors and electric car charging points. With a target EPC rating of ‘A’, the main frame of the building is a steel portal frame construction and features high performance wall and roof cladding. There will be 20 car parking spaces, along with an extensive yard extending to 35,585 sq ft. The construction process will take seven months and is due for completion in April 2022. Howard Crawshaw, Managing Director of Knight Property Group said: “It is fantastic to see Clark Contracts start works at this development and we look forward to seeing it all taking shape over the next seven months. This next phase will see an initial site start consisting of excavations and the formation of foundations for the steelwork structure plus commencement of external works for yard and parking. “The continued strength of the industrial and logistics market in the central belt of Scotland and the enquiries thus far, particularly in Lanarkshire gave us confidence to push ahead speculatively with the second phase of this development.” Michael Scanlan, Director of Clark Contracts added: “We have extensive experience of industrial developments and are very excited to be appointed on this contract. We look forward to continuing our relationship with the team from Knight Property Group and delivering a high quality end product.” Langlands Commercial Park is located within the well-established Kelvin South and Langlands industrial areas of East Kilbride, adjacent to Sainsbury’s logistics facility. The site is prominently situated with excellent frontage to the A726 Strathaven Road, linking to the town centre and Hurlawcrook Road and has excellent connectivity to Scotland’s main motorway network serving central Scotland and beyond. Alan Gilkison, Partner at letting agent Ryden said: “Langlands provides an excellent location for businesses involved in the industrial and logistics sector and we anticipate strong interest in this development from a range of occupiers.” Ryden and Gerald Eve are joint agents for Knight Property Group at Langlands Commercial Park. The architect is Space Solutions. Click HERE for further information or visit: https://knightpropertygroup.co.uk/development/langlands-commercial-park-phase-4/
A retrofit service that helps people in Greater Manchester to eco-refurbish their homes is planning to train 3,500 builders, joiners, electricians and plumbers in green skills over the next five years with money raised via a £550,000 community share offer. The not-for-profit ‘People Powered Retrofit’ service is seeking investment from individual investors so it can scale up its specialist eco-renovation training and help the city region hit its 2038 net-zero carbon target. Although there is demand from householders to green their properties, there is a shortage of skilled, local contractors who can deliver the work. People Powered Retrofit is already a member of Mayor Andy Burnham’s Greater Manchester Retrofitting Task Force which aims to tackle this problem. In addition to developing new green jobs and skills, People Powered Retrofit plans to use the money raised to make 1,150 homes in the region more energy efficient by 2026, saving 2,700 tonnes of carbon. From as little as £250, anyone can become a part-owner of People Powered Retrofit which already works with hundreds of householders in Greater Manchester, giving them independent advice on finding trusted ‘green’ contractors and choosing the right eco-upgrades: from wall, floor or roof insulation to high performance windows and doors or draught-proofing works. Funds raised through the community share offer will also help the not-for-profit service to recruit extra retrofit advisors, co-ordinators and assessors and reach thousands more householders, supporting them to improve the energy performance of their homes. Jonathan Atkinson, People Powered Retrofit programme manager said: “Our homes are responsible for about 20% of the UK’s carbon emissions but to make properties more energy efficient, at scale, we need thousands more builders, installers and tradespeople with specialist green skills. Money raised through the community share offer will go towards skilling up this ‘green’ workforce.” Floor insulation contractor, Boris Afinogenov said: “The training I got through People Powered Retrofit convinced me to turn my woodwork hobby into work. They gave me access to information and to people connected with floor insulation. I also learnt about whole house insulation. They helped me to realise my ambitions, so I didn’t have to go back to my sales job.” Ethex CEO, Lisa Ashford said: “We’re very pleased to welcome People Powered Retrofit to the Ethex platform. Our investors love to use their money to fund impactful organisations like this to scale and grow, and this organisation is a great example of grassroots action to tackle climate change.” The People Powered Retrofit community share offer is open for investment until 30 November 2021. Investments start at £250 and go up to £55,000. Investments in the share offer target a 5% return. Visit https://www.ethex.org.uk/invest/people-powered-retrofit for more details. Investors should read the Community Share Offer document carefully, including the Terms and Conditions section, before making a decision to invest.
Carbon Numbers, a leading Building Management Systems supplier and energy reduction specialist, has been announced as the winner of the Smart Buildings Award at the 2021 BCIA (Building Controls Industry Association) Awards. The BCIA Awards claims to be ‘the biggest and best awards in the controls and BEMS industry’ and aims to recognise ‘innovation, product development, project delivery and great training’ in the sector. The Smart Buildings Award is awarded to ‘a manufacturer, installer or team in recognition of a project which demonstrates how smart technology has been used to enhance the user experience in a building or building complex.’ Carbon Numbers was announced as the winner for its work on the iconic Blizard Building at Queen Mary’s University London, a BEMs lighting and controls installation project that has delivered £135,438 in energy savings. Other finalists included Aberdeen Standard investments, Ecopilot in partnership with E.ON Control Solutions, amBX UK, Kelvin Control Engineers Ltd., and Econowise Drives and Controls. Commenting on the announcement, Managing Director of Carbon Numbers Caroline Fright, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be announced as the winner of the BCIA Smart Buildings Award. It is testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone associated with Carbon Numbers, not just on the Blizard Building project, but every project and client we work with. “The timing is perfect too as we celebrate Carbon Number’s ninth birthday this month. Since founding the company with my husband Neil in 2012, we have been on quite a journey to becoming the established, trusted brand that we are today. I would like to thank the BCIA for its recognition of our work; this award is for everyone that has helped us get to where we are today.” Founded in 2012, Carbon Numbers has offices based in Essex, London, Preston, and Aberdeen. The company offers clients an end-to-end solution in energy, BMS, lighting and metering services, helping a portfolio of high-profile clients including sports brands, educational facilities, car dealerships and legal firms achieve its target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. To find out more about Carbon Numbers, visit: https://carbonnumbers.co.uk/ To find out more about the BCIA, visit: https://bcia.co.uk/
Peter Kelsey, the man who founded and led Designer Contracts to become the UK’s largest flooring contractor, has been honoured with an Outstanding Achievement in the Flooring Industry award. Announced at the Contract Flooring Journal’s 2021 awards ceremony, held at Coombe Abbey in Warwickshire on Friday (September 3), Peter was described as a “giant of the UK flooring industry”. An audience of top industry executives heard that Peter had “ensured his company has survived the pandemic and thrived as well. He supports charities and he supports his own employees with mental health programmes during and after the pandemic. He is, everyone would recognise, a very decent man.” After first starting the business from his garage at home, Designer Contracts became an independent company 17 years ago and now employs more than 350 staff across 15 regions with an annual turnover in excess of £40m. Peter himself has some 45 years’ experience in the floorcoverings industry. The early part of his career was in multiple furnishing retailing, from store management to marketing director. In 1992 he started a contracts division for an international retail group. In 2004 the retail group went into administration and Peter bought the flooring division which had built into a £10m business. Designer Contracts has since quadrupled in size. As well as flooring, the company provides curtains and blinds, furniture and lighting, and operates a showhome interior design services division. It works with all the UK’s key new homes developers as well as supplying the social housing and care home sectors, educational establishments and public sector buildings. A personal commitment to sustainability has seen the company named ‘Take Back Partner of the Year’ four times in the Carpet Recycling UK (CRUK) annual awards. And Peter’s many charitable contributions – particularly to Ashgate Hospice in Chesterfield and the national children’s help line, ChildLine – have cemented his reputation as a philanthropic entrepreneur. Said Peter: “The award came as a total surprise – it was a secret that I simply wasn’t in on when I was asked by colleagues to attend the event! I’m incredibly proud of what the company has achieved but without the fantastic team that is Designer Contracts, we wouldn’t be where we are today – it really has been down to the hard work and dedication of a lot of people over many years.”
Award-winning consulting engineering firm of Will Rudd Davidson has announced it is to open a Dublin office as it expands operations into Ireland. The move demonstrates the firm’s commitment to further business growth. The successful privately owned engineering consultancy employs over 80 staff in Scotland and the launch of the new office will see the creation of eight new roles in the coming year, including the recruitment of two graduate engineers. The expansion comes at a time when investment in construction projects is high and the market is buoyant. The Will Rudd Davidson team has already secured engineering contracts in the data centre, residential and hotel/leisure sectors in the immediate area and throughout the country. Leading the Dublin and Irish team will be Glasgow’s Managing Director, MJ O’Shaughnessy, who will be supported by associate Shane McGowan. “With projects already underway in Ireland, and a healthy pipeline of work, it made sense to expand operations and commit fully to serving the market in Ireland. I am proud of my Irish heritage and it has always been an aspiration that Will Rudd Davidson would put down some roots here, so for me personally it is a hugely exciting move,” said MJ O’Shaughnessy. “The expansion of Will Rudd Davidson is testament to the incredible work the whole team delivers and this is driving us forward to realise new opportunities. Already we’re experiencing a very positive year, securing a wide range of projects across the UK and Ireland in a variety of sectors including the growing energy sector.” The new office, located in Dublin’s Grand Canal Dock district, along with satellite offices in Letrim and Limerick, will cover work throughout the whole country and will provide full civil, structural and conservation engineering and project management services across a wide range of sectors for the consulting engineering firm.
Leading construction and fit out company, Gilbert-Ash has moved on site to commence work at a new 500-bedroom student hotel in the heart of Glasgow. The £50 million design and build contract will see the development of The Student Hotel (TSH) as part of a £300 million masterplan in the Merchant City area. TSH currently owns and operates 15 hotels across Europe in cities including Amsterdam, Berlin, Florence, Bologna, Vienna, with a further dozen sites under development. The Glasgow TSH development is their first in the UK and marks Gilbert-Ash’s first project in Scotland for a decade. Works include hotel accommodation, co‐living and co‐working spaces, a bar and restaurant, conference rooms and fitness centre. External works comprise landscaped open spaces and accessible walkways with a new public square at its heart. TSH states that its mission is to “create boundary-blurring spaces where students, travellers, mobile professionals, creative nomads and enterprising minds can connect and thrive in smart design co-living and co-working spaces”. The Student Hotel construction signals the first phase of Candleriggs Square which will eventually see the development of a mixed-use scheme combining homes, offices, hotel, restaurants and local amenities along with landscaped open spaces and walkways and a public square. Gilbert-Ash Managing Director, Ray Hutchinson said the Glasgow project, which is earmarked for completion in July 2023, is a welcome return to Scotland for the award-winning company. “We’re delighted to be working once again in Scotland and proud to be delivering the first TSH development in the UK. We have a reputation for constructing landmark buildings and this innovative development in the centre of Glasgow has the ability to re-write the handbook on how student accommodation is constructed. Gilbert-Ash has extensive experience of working in both the hotel and student accommodation sectors, so this project really excites us,” said Ray. “In Belfast we have just completed the landmark Merchant Square development for PwC. The Grade A office space delivers a hybrid and flexible working environment where remote and office working unites. TSH offers a similar hybrid approach to hospitality. This development allows for great flexibility and Gilbert-Ash has the experience and expertise to bring these plans to life.” Gilbert-Ash attributes its continued success to its ‘As One’ approach and its unique working culture and family environment as an employee-owned company. It continues to complete a broad portfolio of successful construction projects across sectors including arts and culture, workplace, hotels and leisure, education, science and technology, retail, residential and student accommodation.
