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August 23, 2022

Innovative affordable homes scheme proposed for Gateshead

Twenty large family homes would be built for the Gateshead Jewish community if a public / private partnership that is driving up the quality and choice of homes in the borough is given the go-ahead for its innovative proposal. The scheme is part of a wider initiative to build 58

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BDC 319 : Aug 2024

August 23, 2022

Bouygues UK celebrates reaching major milestone in third phase of £240 Million Hallsville Quarter

Bouygues UK has reached a key milestone in the third phase of Hallsville Quarter, the new town centre in London’s Canning Town. As the main contractor for this phase of development, the construction partner celebrated completing the structure of the build with a topping out ceremony on Wednesday 17th August, alongside Linkcity and One Housing Group. The £240m (GDV) Hallsville Quarter scheme is one of London’s biggest regeneration projects, and the third phase, expected to complete in 2024, will be the largest to date, more than doubling the number of new homes the scheme has delivered so far. Bouygues UK has been working closely with its property development sister company Linkcity, One Housing Group, Grainger and the London Borough of Newham to deliver Phase 3 which will include: 278 private rental homes situated across two blocks owned by Grainger, including 2,400m2 commercial space within the blocks 245 shared ownership (including 10 shared equity) 50 extra care 47 affordable rent (including 10 London affordable rent) 6,800m2 of commercial space owned by Linkcity which it intends to let and/or sell to a commercial investor. Download A computer generated image of Hallsville Quarter from Rathbone Street (c) HawkinsBrown This latest phase of the Hallsville Quarter development will also deliver an integrated health centre under an innovative new model with local health partners, 1,125m2 of business accommodation, a new basement car park for 143 vehicles, and new high-quality public spaces, including fountains and play areas. In total, the Hallsville Quarter development, which is part of the Canning Town and Custom House regeneration project, will provide 1,100 new homes, over 30,000m2 of leisure and retail space, and more than 2,975m2 of space for community facilities, as well as new public spaces, pedestrian links, cyclist provision and secure parking spaces. Gerald Farque, Bouygues UK Managing Director said, “It’s wonderful to be here to celebrate reaching this important milestone at Hallsville Quarter Phase 3, one of the most significant town centre regeneration projects.  I am particularly proud of our in-house civil works teams who have delivered, as with previous phases, the reinforced concrete frame. I would also like to congratulate the project team on their commitment to social value, in particular supporting local labour at each phase of this regeneration scheme.” Phillippa Prongué, Linkcity Managing Director said, “For over 10 years, Bouygues UK and Linkcity have been working closely with the London Borough of Newham to deliver the regeneration of Canning Town. It’s great to be here to celebrate reaching this stage of the build in a project which will transform this area of east London and help create a thriving centre. Congratulations to everyone involved in reaching this point.” Robert Marcantoni, Group Director of Development for One Housing (Part of Riverside) added, “One Housing are delighted to partner with Linkcity and Bouygues UK to provide over 300 much needed social homes within one of our key London boroughs. This milestone is a fantastic achievement and builds on the existing homes we have within this community. In this housing and cost of living crisis this 3rd Phase of Hallsville Quarter provides much needed affordable homes and delivers a 50 unit Extra Care Scheme where we will be providing support and personal care services to adults over 55 years old. Following the recent off-plan launch of our Shared Ownership homes, we have already had great interest and feedback and we look forward to the handover of these great affordable homes.”

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Innovative affordable homes scheme proposed for Gateshead

Twenty large family homes would be built for the Gateshead Jewish community if a public / private partnership that is driving up the quality and choice of homes in the borough is given the go-ahead for its innovative proposal. The scheme is part of a wider initiative to build 58 affordable properties on a piece of land which has stood empty for almost a decade because redevelopment costs were prohibitive. The Gateshead Regeneration Partnership (GRP) wants to use profits from the construction and private sale of around 50 houses elsewhere in the borough to part fund the project in Hyde Park Street. This would allow the development of the affordable homes on a 2.88 acre site which was, until 2013, occupied by back to back terraced housing.  And 20 of these new homes would be specially designed to meet the needs of the town’s Orthodox Jewish Community. GRP comprises Gateshead Council, construction and regeneration specialist Vistry Partnerships North East and affordable housing provider Home Group.  The proposal has been developed in conjunction with Homes England, Adler Housing – a registered provider of social housing under the Jewish Community Council of Gateshead – and Agudas Israel Housing Association. A planning application is being prepared for submission which, if approved, would allow the development of two to five bedroomed homes on the site of the former Hookergate School in High Spen, the profits from which would subsidise the Hyde Park Street project. Home Group would offer 38 of these for affordable rent, whilst Adler and Agudas Israel would take the 20 specially designed homes for Jewish residents.  In addition to being large enough to accommodate extended families, features in these homes include a room with a sukkah – a retractable roof, and kitchens compatible with observance of Kosher dietary practices including two sinks and sufficient counter space. Chaya Spitz, CEO with Agudas Israel Housing Association, said: “This carefully planned scheme comes after many years of joint working by our colleagues from Gateshead Regeneration Partnership and the local Jewish community.  We are delighted to be joining and hopefully enabling it to come to fruition.” Eli Halberstadt, chair of Adler Housing, commented: “We are delighted that the Gateshead Jewish community has the opportunity to provide high quality, bespoke housing which would provide ample living space for families. We are especially pleased to partner with Agudas Israel on this project.” Cllr. Martin Gannon, Leader of Gateshead Council, added: “I would welcome the development of much needed high quality housing in the area and I’m delighted that Gateshead Council is playing a positive role, working with the community on this initiative.” Andrew Rennie Development Director with Vistry Partnerships North East, commented: “It has been a long and complex process to align all the partners involved in the initiative, but it is pleasing to have been able to create an opportunity to meet the diverse housing needs of local people and unlock the potential of this piece of unused land.” Kitson Keen, Director of Development at Home Group, said: “The Gateshead Regeneration Partnership is a great example of collaborative working. And this latest initiative is another example of this. The progress we have made to date gives us absolute confidence that we’ll reach the targets we’ve set to deliver much needed affordable homes in the Gateshead borough.” GRP’s vision is to create around 2,500 new homes on 16 sites across the borough in a £350 million initiative.  To date around 450 have been built on eight sites. As well as improving housing quality and choice, the initiative is providing job and training opportunities – a minimum of 25% of which go to local people – and an economic uplift – a quarter of the supply budget is committed to businesses within the borough.

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PICK EVERARD SUPPORTING THE UK’S FIRST HVDC CABLE FACTORY IN SCOTLAND

PLANNING permission has been granted on a new manufacturing facility in Scotland – producing HVDC cables for what will be the world’s longest subsea infrastructure for the Morocco – UK power project. The infrastructure forms part of an ambitious initiative that will power seven million UK homes by 2030. Leading independent property, construction and infrastructure consultancy Pick Everard has been acting as lead consultant on the project, appointed by HVDC subsea cable manufacturer XLCC. The new facility, in Hunterston, North Ayrshire, will produce four 3,800km long cables, connecting solar and wind energy all the way from the Sahara to the UK, as part of the Xlinks project. Once operational, the brownfield site is expected to support up to 900 jobs, with thousands more generated in the wider supply chain. Santosh Patel, director at Pick Everard said: “We’re excited and proud to be involved in creating a new high tech green industry for the UK and supporting the drive towards Net Zero.” “From a manufacturing perspective, it will see undersea cables created to a length not previously seen, while consumers will be able to benefit from a much lower unit cost for their energy once the project is fully implemented. Net zero requires huge expansion of solar and wind to be a success, and XLCC stands to help deliver in this respect.” XLCC’s manufacturing operation in Hunterston will meet the UK’s growing demand for high-voltage, direct current (HVDC) power transmission. Landowners at Hunterston have thrown their support behind the scheme, with work transfer opportunities expected to be provided for local employees, following the decommissioning of Hunterston’s B power nuclear station after 46 years. As well as acting as lead consultant, Pick Everard has provided complete design services, as well as health and safety consultancy, BIM coordination and BREEAM assessments. Now, the firm is expected to continue to act in a technical advisory capacity, with construction on the new factory expected to commence in early 2023. Mark Colby, partner at Pick Everard, said: “We are focused on delivering better together with our cross-industry partners, achieving excellence in everything we do. This particular project sees us – together with the wider project team – delivering a scheme that benefits everyone from the local community through jobs to the whole planet through its sustainable elements.” Project director for XLCC, Alan Mathers, added: “We look forward to delivering a factory of great local and international importance for HVDC subsea cable. The UK will be positioned as a world leader in the green economy, with the site at Hunterston playing a key role in connecting cheap, green energy from renewables projects around the world.” Pick Everard employs more than 600 staff across its 15 offices, providing a range of project, cost, and design consultancy services. For more information, please visit https://www.pickeverard.co.uk.

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North West Scaffolding Firm Nominated for Prestigious Business of the Year Award

Commercial Scaffolding firm, Teal Scaffold, part of The Sovini Group, has been recognised as finalists for this year’s Liverpool Chamber of Commerce innovation in business awards. The awards are set to celebrate the outstanding achievements of local businesses who have driven their organisation forward throughout the year.  In July it was announced that Teal Scaffold was shortlisted for The Liverpool Chamber of Commerce small business of the year award (under 30 employees) for its commitment to innovation, skills development, and expertise in their industry. A number of prestigious projects in and around the North West, in addition to Teal Scaffold’s impressive business growth, places them firmly on the list of finalists for the respected award. Dan McGregor, Head of Operations said: “The rewards of being successful in business are clear-cut. To be recognised locally as an SME for the hard work of our team and the projects they have delivered is incredibly rewarding. This is an award that we would be delighted to win as it would recognise the professionalism and sheer determination that our highly skilled team has shown getting several large social housing projects successfully delivered”. The announcement for the innovation in business awards will follow a gala dinner at the historic venue – The World Museum, William Brown Street on Thursday 17th November. The collaboration marks the beginning of a new strategic partnership between the World Museum and The Liverpool Chamber. The evening will be full of celebration, pride and honour that will acknowledge and reward the achievements of local Liverpool businesses and individuals.You can vote for Teal scaffold by following this link-https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/LiverpoolChamberAwards2022. Voting closes on the 1st September.

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FHP boss cycling to raise money for ‘inspirational’ young people’s charity

The managing director of building services and engineering consultants FHP is getting on his bike to raise much needed funds for a charity that supports underprivileged youngsters. Tony Hewitt will be collaborating with former Chelsea FC, West Ham FC and England international footballer Joe Cole and his wife Carly’s 11 Foundation this September, joining forces with industry colleagues to cycle almost 200 miles from central London to Amsterdam. He will be part of the Pristine London Construction Group and London AC Ltd cycling team, aiming to raise at £1,000 on the back of the challenging three-day ‘Construction Tour – London to Amsterdam’ cycle ride in aid of OnSide and Future Youth Zone in Barking and Dagenham. The charity, which is supported by the 11 Foundation,  works  with at risk youngsters in the east end of London, ensuring that they have a safe place to go where they will be treated equally and provided with vital education and empowerment opportunities. This helps to boost their self-confidence and equip them with essential life skills needed to help secure a better future for themselves. Joe Cole will be riding along with construction industry professionals as they look to push themselves hard along a course starting in Central London, traversing through the Hook of Holland, Rotterdam and The Hague, before finally arriving in Amsterdam on 18 September. Tony , who is again collaborating with 11 Foundation to support a charity that undertakes life-changing work, said: “The past few years have been extremely tough for everybody and the social and economic impacts of lockdown are only now being realised, particularly on the personal development and social mobility of the UK’s vulnerable young people.  “Alongside my friends and construction industry colleagues, we want to highlight the criticality of a strong and effective youth service and raise money for initiatives to facilitate these improvements.  We are aiming to raise as much as possible for this important cause so any donation, large or small, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.” To support Tony’s fundraising visit  https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tony-hewitt5 More information about the 11 Foundation and its projects is available at www.11foundation.co.uk

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