Construction companies sharply curtailed their activity on repair and maintenance work in August in one of the few concrete signs of falling output after the EU referendum. Official figures on Friday showed output in the construction industry down 1.5 per cent in August compared with July, with the decline unlikely to be just a monthly blip because production in the latest three months between June and August was also lower, by 1.3 per cent compared with the previous quarter. But the figures reveal little about the overall effect of Brexit on the economy over the summer because construction accounts for only 6 per cent of the UK economy. The official construction figures have also been stripped of the “national statistics” quality status by the UK statistics authority after concerns about their reliability. Chris Williamson of IHS Markit said the weak figures “put the sector on course for its worst quarter for four years and at risk of heading back into recession”, but held out the hope of a better September given a rebound in surveys of the sector that month. New construction work was down marginally in August but has been broadly flat for the year, while there has been a marked decline in recorded repairs and maintenance. The largest drop in output came in the repair and maintenance of public housing, following the continued squeeze on the budgets of local authorities and housing associations with such activity 14.5 per cent lower in August than a year earlier. Infrastructure also showed a sharp decline in August, although that reversed an equally large increase in July. Almost all of the components of new work — housing, infrastructure and other work — have been flat for most of the past year, although there has been a sharp decline in the construction of new public housing. The one exception is private industrial construction, where output was down 13.1 per cent in August compared with a year earlier. With a weight in national income of only 6 per cent, a similar decline over the third quarter would represent a drag of 0.08 percentage points on the economy-wide growth rate, significant but unlikely to dominate the growth figures due out on October 27. Samuel Tombs of Pantheon Macroeconomics said the construction weakness would be unlikely to derail the official figures for the whole economy. “A robust increase in services output, however, still looks set to ensure that GDP grows by about 0.5 per cent, greatly exceeding the MPC’s original expectation of zero growth,” he said. The Office for National Statistics warned against strong conclusions from the data given that the infrastructure component was volatile. “Monthly construction data can be quite erratic, though, so we would warn against trying to read too much into one set of figures,” it said in a statement. Sample the FT’s top stories for a week You select the topic, we deliver the news. Source link

©Bloomberg Siemens has agreed to pay €3.75 a share in cash to shareholders of Spanish renewables group Gamesa, as part of a deal that will see their wind businesses combined to form the world’s biggest builder of turbines, valued at about €10bn. Under the terms of the deal, which the two companies have been discussing since the start of the year, the combined entity will be 59 per cent owned by the German industrial group. Once merged, the business will be listed and headquartered in Spain, and is expected to have an order backlog of about €20bn, annual revenues of €9.3bn and operating profit of €839m. The deal is estimated to lead to annual earnings synergies of roughly €230m, before interest and tax. Siemens’ €3.75-a-share cash payment represents 26 per cent of Gamesa’s share price on January 28, before the talks were disclosed. Gamesa’s shares were suspended in Spain on Friday. They closed at €15.475 on Thursday. Ignacio Martín, executive chairman of Gamesa, said: “The merger with Siemens constitutes recognition for the work performed by the company in recent years and evidences our commitment to generating value in the long term by creating significant synergies and extending the horizon of our profitable growth.” He predicted the combined group would become the dominant player in wind turbine construction. “Today, we are embarking on a new era, creating, alongside Siemens, a world-leading wind player,” he told investors. “We will continue to work as before, albeit as part of a stronger company and with an enhanced ability to offer all of our customers end-to-end solutions.” Siemens and Gamesa began talks after a round of consolidation in the energy sector including General Electric’s purchase of Alstom’s energy business and a merger between Germany’s Nordex and Spanish rival Acciona Wind Power. Before their deal talks, Siemens had a 9.5 per cent share of the global wind turbine market, according to data from FTI Consulting, which made it the second-biggest manufacturer after Denmark’s Vestas, which had a share of nearly 12 per cent. But Gamesa’s 4.5 per cent market share put it behind other large players, such as China’s Goldwind, which has been expanding internationally into fast-growing renewable energy markets in Latin America, as well as the US and Europe. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Source link

Issue A supermarket banned a customer from taking his foldaway bicycle into store for health and safety reasons. Panel opinion This is clearly a myth as health and safety at work law does not prohibit taking folding up bicycles into retail premises. It’s refreshing to see those who used ‘elf and safety’ as an excuse to tell their customer ‘on your bike’ back-pedalling, holding their hands up and admitting this was clearly inappropriate. Source link

Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the world famous Ferrari sports car manufacturer. The most successful team in the history of Formula One, they having recorded 224 (and counting) race victories. The team has competed in every major world championship since 1950. A Formula One team is driven by a culture of innovation at the highest levels where speed is the literal key to competitive advantage. It’s a place where results are concretely measured at each Grand Prix. Formula One racing represents the pinnacle in high performance automotive racing. Competitive on all levels, from engineering to the race, there’s no room for error, downtime or delays. “One of the founding elements of the Ferrari experience and success is the ability to make decisions very quickly, “ said Vittoro Boero chief information officer at Ferrari’s automotive division and its Formula One team. “At Ferrari we’re constantly working to push the limits, to break records.” Such speed and precision requires a technology infrastructure that is up to the task of being both flexible and reliable. The Ferrari data centres support the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One engineers by providing the high performance computing environment necessary to adapt and adjust quickly as data is gathered in real time during races and analyzed. The time given to respond to and accommodate new rules and restrictions from one competition to the next is often very short. The regulatory changes can range from technical directives during actual championship events to modifications in the car’s architecture. These changes need to be quickly reflected in Scuderia Ferrari’s working methods and IT support systems. As a result, the data centre physical infrastructure needs to be high performing, reliable, flexible and highly manageable. A data centre upgrade needed to enhance flexibility “The data center hosts solutions and systems are used by our engineers during races”, said Antonio Tornatore, head of process at Scuderia Ferrari. “This means that systems have to be totally reliable because during a race focus has to be entirely on the car and the race itself and not on the tools.” “We collect and analyse telemetry (remote monitoring of dozens of sensors in the car during an actual race), weather, and strategic data during races. We continuously process this data in real time in order to refine and constantly improve our performance. At the same time our IT team collects and processes system operation data for continuous performance tuning,” said Tornatore. “We needed to consolidate operations and introduce new technologies to our research and development data centre. Our engineering department wanted better performance and we needed to manage remotely. Our facility needed to be customisable, the rooms needed to be able to change their configuration easily. Because of all of the rules changes of the business, a modular type of data centre was required,” said Tornatore. “Working with Schneider Electric allowed us to create a very flexible data center infrastructure,” said Francesca Duri, chief technology officer of ICT. “Ferrari’s data centers were created primarily to host Formula One computation systems. They have to be flexible, modular, efficient and reliable. The qualities we were looking for in a data centre supplier we ended up finding them in Schneider Electric.” “System server and data centre reliability is very important to our Formula One success. For example, the most important systems in our data centre are the ones that calculate the car’s external aerodynamics. The results of the aerodynamic simulations must be ready in time for us to create the parts for the next Grand Prix,” said Duri. Data centres combine both reliability and innovation Ferrari commissioned its first Schneider Electric / APC data centre in 2004. That data centre was equipped with a cooling capacity of 20kW per rack. The InfraStruxure modular / scalable system, which still is available as a popular offering today, serves as the physical infrastructure supporting computational fluid dynamics platform and the simulations essential to the aerodynamic modeling of Ferrari’s championship Formula One cars. The “on-demand” architecture of InfraStruxure provides power, cooling, management and services in a rack-optimised design, which is scalable in accommodating server capacity. Such scalability eliminates much of the planning guesswork, reduces installation downtime risk, and allows for the optimisation of today’s high-density computing installations. The integrated cooling system consists of In-Row precision air conditioners, and high-efficiency Hot Aisle Containment Systems (HACS). Ferrari’s second data centre was built in 2015. A 300 square meter site was created to support Ferrari’s Formula One car design team. Like the earlier data centre, it is also equipped with high-efficiency cooling solutions, automatic static transfer switch (ATS) and hot aisle containment. This latest data centre was built with sustainability at its core, as it needed to comply with the strict sustainability measures now in place at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters. The two data centres allow the Ferrari Formula One racing teams to easily monitor, store and analyse the performance of each and every part of their cars on the test track, and during the competitions. This data allows the engineers to better understand every single aspect that comes into consideration when building the optimal car. They can also react quickly to the newly imposed rules and regulations. “The Schneider Electric solutions developed over the years have helped to meet our high precision flexibility and reliability needs,” said CIO Boero. “Those solutions allow us to achieve a high level of manageability. Once we adopted the latest Schneider Electric data center management platform, we were able to work in a more strategic and predictive way. In addition, if we need to intervene ‘on the fly’, to modify certain components, the Schneider Electric solution lets us do that with an extremely high degree of security and flexibility,” he said. Source link

The 2016 SkillElectric heats have got off to a flying start with three talented electricians taking top spots around England and Wales.   After scoring most highly in a challenging five-hour mock installation that tested the full range of their electrical abilities, the winners were named as: •    English Midlands – Ben Brookes, 24, Stoke on Trent College/Hanning  •    Wales – Garin Long, 19, Coleg Gwent/CTE Electrical •    Southern England – Michael Pemberton, 22, Petroc Tiverton Campus Once all regional heats have been completed, the highest scoring competitors from across the UK will go forward to the grand final at The Skills Show, being held 16-19 November at the Birmingham NEC. At the event, competitors will face a gruelling three-day task in the quest to be named SkillElectric UK champion. Iain Macdonald, CEO of industry charity NET, WorldSkills 2016 Competition Partner, said: “SkillElectric provides an opportunity for the best in our industry to showcase their abilities and the level of skill and technical excellence required to work as an electrician. This is hugely important at a time when the industry is in need of new blood, and more young people are considering the vocational route when they leave school. Ben, Garin and Michael have done brilliantly to win their regional heats – and I wish them all the best for their future careers.” Speaking on behalf of WorldSkills UK Competitions, Dr Neil Bentley said: “I offer my congratulations to Ben, Garin and Michael and wish them the best of luck. “WorldSkills UK Competitions are proven to enhance a person’s apprenticeship or training programme by enabling them to develop key character and employability skills.  By using knowledge gained from competing nationally and internationally, we know we are working to benchmarks that will equip more young people with the right skills to help UK businesses better compete globally.” Steve Brawley, CEO of the Joint Industry Board (JIB), who are the premium sponsor for SkillElectric 2016, said: “The JIB administers the Electrotechnical Certification Scheme (ECS) which accredits electricians who achieve the industry standard through their qualifications and experience. Every SkillElectric their performance and look forward to welcoming them as gold card Electricians.” SkillElectric is organised by WorldSkills and NET. Competitors at the UK final have a chance to go forward and represent their country at the biennial WorldSkills event – the world’s largest skills competition. The next event takes place in 2019 in Kazan, where one of the previous SkillElectric finalists will be representing the UK electrical industry. For more information visit: http://worldskillsuk.org/worldskills-uk-competitions/find-a-competition   Source link

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today (3 September) announced that its flagship professional event aimed at small architectural practices, Guerrilla Tactics, sponsored by Kiwa BDA is to return for its twelfth year on 10-11 November 2015 with the theme ‘Client Perspectives’. Under the joint Creative Directorship of Esther Everett and Eleanor Fawcett, heads of the Design and Physical Regeneration team at the London Legacy Development Corporation, this two-day conference held at the RIBA in London will deliver a package of advice and guidance that develops essential business skills for both growing practices and those cementing their existing market position and client base. Esther Everett and Eleanor Fawcett said: “We’re thrilled to launch such a varied but focussed programme of talks and sessions for this year’s Guerrilla Tactics. We feel that ‘Client Perspectives’ will offer real and current insight into the client’s perspective on projects and the profession.” With presentations from industry leaders, the event will include a ‘Live Pitch’ session and a Mentoring Speed Dating event, introducing delegates to a high-profile range of mentors including leading clients and contractors. Day two will comprise of a full day of 30 CPD seminars covering all ten RIBA Core Curriculum topics, with sessions from expert practitioners across a range of issues. The full 2015 Guerrilla Tactics event programme is at www.architecture.com/GuerrillaTactics2015 – Ends – Notes to editors 1. For more information on Guerrilla Tactics, members of the press should contact: Gagandeep Bedi, Press Officer, RIBA: gagandeep.bedi@riba.org 020 7307 3814. 2. To book tickets for the Guerrilla Tactics event, or to download a copy of the programme, please visit:www.architecture.com/GuerrillaTactics2015 3. The theme ‘Client Perspective’ reflects the RIBA’s commitment to helping develop stronger and more effective working relationships between architects and clients, building on RIBA Immediate Past President Stephen Hodder’s work on the need for better engagement, ‘Client and Architect: Developing the Essential Relationship,’ and the earlier initiative, ‘RIBA for Clients’. 4. Kiwa is among the top 20 testing, inspection and certification companies in the world. We are active in 40 countries – including extensively in Europe – and work with the construction, infrastructure, water and energy sectors amongst others. Our Building Agrément service has developed on a foundation of 30 years extensive and intensive work on the study of the building envelope, and combines theoretical knowledge with a consultative approach based on practical experience – we offer independent Third Party Approval for established and innovative construction products and systems. 5. The RIBA champions better buildings, communities and the environment through architecture and our members www.architecture.com 6. Follow us on Twitter for regular RIBA updates @RIBA Posted on Thursday 3rd September 2015 Source link