Oak Tree Hotels, represented by Savills, has sold Stanton Manor Hotel in Stanton Saint Quintin near Chippenham to an overseas investor from a guide price of £1.7 million. The 23-bedroom country house hotel dates back to 1840 and features a lounge bar, restaurant, function room and conference facilities. Set within
Bitcoin is the native currency of the bitcoin blockchain, a technology which records transactions on a decentralized, distributed and public digital ledger. A copy of the ledger is provided to each member of the network and is updated every 10 minutes as blocks of transactions are added to the existing chain.
McAvoy has delivered its latest project – a new school building at West Hill School for Surrey County Council, built using the BIM technology and manufactured offsite to reduce disruption. The scheme links the traditionally-constructed main building and an existing modular classroom block on a highly constrained, fully operational school
The eighth edition of Hub South West’s Building for Growth programme is now underway and is inviting all companies that are looking to grow in a sustainable manner by building the skills and internal capacity to take on increasing volumes of business and, as a result could win new work
Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Fri, Apr 29th 2016 Stroma Group Ltd has completed the acquisition of two established Building Control service providers, BBS Building Control Ltd (“BBS”) and Approved Design Consultancy Limited (“Approved Design”). Following the previous acquisition of Greendoor Building
©Bloomberg Commodity currencies were boosted by data showing China hitting its growth target on Friday, however FX strategists warned the benefit may prove shortlived if Sunday’s gathering of oil producers in Doha fails to address the sector’s supply glut. China’s 6.7 per cent growth for the first quarter pushed the
Higher Auckland house prices are not flowing through directly into the rental market, with the city’s average weekly rents seeing year on year increases of around 5%. Rents continue to increase by approximately 5% year on year with the average weekly rent for a three bedroom Auckland home now $514,
The ONS revealed that the UK has the fifth largest gender pay gap in Europe, situated behind countries such as Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia and Germany. Even though work has been done to close the gender gap, the average woman in the workplace still earns 9.1% less than the average
Vital Energi was awarded a £5.6 million contract to supply, install and commission the energy centre and primary distribution for St William Homes LLP development at Battersea. This marks a new stage in the company’s long-standing relationship with developers Berkeley. Vital Energi will provide the combined heat and power solution
Rubicon Garden Rooms, a company from North Wales, has created zero maintenance garden rooms using aviation technology, which could potentially help tackle the housing crisis. The company’s buildings could offer short-term housing quickly for homeless people or in case of an emergency. “The availability of housing, both private and social,
Oak Tree Hotels, represented by Savills, has sold Stanton Manor Hotel in Stanton Saint Quintin near Chippenham to an overseas investor from a guide price of £1.7 million. The 23-bedroom country house hotel dates back to 1840 and features a lounge bar, restaurant, function room and conference facilities. Set within 4.3 acres (1.7 hectares) of gardens and grounds, Stanton Manor also holds a wedding license and accommodates up to 200 guests in an outdoor marquee. Smaller ceremonies can take place in the 12th Century Church of St Giles which is situated near the property’s entrance. Martin Rogers, head of UK hotel transactions at Savills, comments: “This sale emphasises the high level of demand for country house hotels and wedding venues, with Stanton Manor generating significant interest from both domestic and overseas buyers. The regional hotel market in the UK is very strong and appetite for quality assets like this one is as high today as it has been for 10 years.” The purchaser was unrepresented. Source link
Bitcoin is the native currency of the bitcoin blockchain, a technology which records transactions on a decentralized, distributed and public digital ledger. A copy of the ledger is provided to each member of the network and is updated every 10 minutes as blocks of transactions are added to the existing chain. The decentralized nature of the blockchain technology means that that there is no central point at which the data is being held and no central point of failure. In other words, a record on the blockchain cannot be altered without the alteration of all other participants on the network. Unlike a centralised network where an attacker has to gain access to one system, for an attacker to alter the records on a blockchain, they would need to attack all computers on that network at the same time. Blockchain transactions are encrypted with a set of complex mathematical equations where the computers on the network compete against each other to be the first to solve the equation and add further transactions to the ledger. This is essentially a game of computational brute force where the computers randomly guess the answer to the equation by submitting as many answers as possible per second until one of the computers gets the right answer and is rewarded with the blockchain’s currency, in this case bitcoin. In this frenzied guessing game, more computational power means more guesses per second which in turn increases the probability of a correct answer before any rival computer. As more computing power is added to the network as rivals compete with one another to guess the correct answer, the system increases the difficulty of the equation to make sure that the average time in solving the equation remains as close as possible to 10 minutes. As more computational power is added to the network as it matures, this makes it more and more difficult and expensive for that network to be compromised by attackers. See also: Understanding the digital opportunities in construction Komatsu makes 1,000 drone order from DJI Singapore, London, New York top Global Smart City Performance Index So what are the applications and benefits to construction? The decentralised nature of the network makes blockchain technology highly resistant to censorship or manipulation so could provide valuable stability on projects of an international nature where dealing in jurisdictions with a degree of political risk or volatility. Blockchain can also be implemented to increase transparency within the supply chain by tracking the movement of materials, their quantity, ownership, origin and so forth without manipulation of the records. If a dispute arises within the supply chain as to an items origin or ownership, a blockchain system could trace the materials from their point of origin to current ownership making it easier to resolve the dispute. Smart contracts are interesting applications that are being deployed as an additional layer on top of blockchain technology. A smart contract is a contract that self-executes a function when certain criteria are fulfilled and in this case, a record of that transaction is then encrypted on to the blockchain. A classic example of a smart contract would be a vending machine that deploys a soft drink upon receipt of payment. Such smart contracts could be expanded upon exponentially within construction contracts to address a number of commercial use cases such as; The automation or semi-automation of applications for payment, payment notices and payless notices and the automatic payment to the supply chain based on certified monies due (think vending machine contract 2.0) Escrow accounts and bond payments that are paid upon contractual conditions being satisfied The issuing of variations and the updating of works programs based on agreed variations or compensation events Automated assignment or novation of construction documents such as professional appointments or warranties. Automated withdrawal of certain privileges such the revocation of a copyright license for the non-payment of fees or the removal of security permissions for site access in the event of termination The submission of claims for relevant events or specified perils based on third party information such as shipping manifests, weather analysis or instructions issued by the contract administrator. What does the future hold? So what are the chances that we will see blockchain technology implemented within construction contracts in the future? Well the question is more likely to be one of “when” and not “if” as other industries start to explore the commercial use cases. Insurance companies are already starting to utilize the technology with flight delay insurance products that use a public blockchain to store and automatically process payouts where a flight is delayed for 2 hours or more based on public flight manifests. HM Land Registry is also exploring blockchain technology to research and test digital registers in a project it is calling “Digital Street”. The law society has published a paper called Capturing Technological Innovation in Legal Services and commented that bitcoin/ blockchain has the potential for “radical disruption and a reinvention of established legal processes”. Furthermore, JCT Chairman Richard Saxon has considered the question is there a blockchain in our future within his regular blog and it will be interesting to see how JCT envisage blockchain technology working with their current suite of documents. Whilst the future of blockchain technology certainly looks promising, it will not be without some bumps in the road. Despite the technology having been around since 2009, it is only within the last few years that it has gathered significant traction with early adopters and is still some considerable distance from reaching a critical mass. The legal framework for blockchain technology is virtually non-existent within the UK as a search of the UK legislation database reveals there are 0 search entries for any laws containing the words “blockchain” or “bitcoin”. On 22 February 2018 the Treasury Committee launched a new inquiry into digital currencies and distributed ledger technology. The inquiry will look at the role of digital currencies and the impact of distributed ledged technology in the UK and will look specifically at whether the government is striking the right balance between regulating the
McAvoy has delivered its latest project – a new school building at West Hill School for Surrey County Council, built using the BIM technology and manufactured offsite to reduce disruption. The scheme links the traditionally-constructed main building and an existing modular classroom block on a highly constrained, fully operational school site. It was ready for occupation on time and after less than eight months on site. The new building expands the teaching space for children with learning disabilities and it will accommodate West Hill School’s conversion from secondary education provision to a 2FE primary school. Throughout McAvoy’s construction of the new facilities, both of the existing school buildings remained in use. The offsite solution avoided any disruption to teaching and the children despite the site constraints. 28 steel-framed modules were installed in just four days and McAvoy restricted working times to maintain access and accommodate the children’s arrival at and departure from school. “We had a very positive experience working with McAvoy on this scheme. Their site management was excellent and they communicated brilliantly with the school which was so important in enabling the teachers to prepare the children. This is vital when carrying out construction works at an SEN school. The finished building is great and was designed according to the special needs nature of the school. Classrooms are light, airy and welcoming,” said Giorgia diSarno, project manager at Surrey County Council. McAvoy has now completed over 40 education building projects for Surrey County Council, ranging from single classroom buildings to a £5 million nursery, infant and junior school extension at Danetree Primary School near Epsom. By using the BIM technology, the school was able to see each room and experience the space. It allowed teaching staff to assess how the training centre could work located as a second storey to the new classroom block rather than as a freestanding building which was originally envisaged. In recognition of its industry-leading application of BIM technology for the West Hill School project, McAvoy won the RICS BIM4SME Award for Best Virtual Reality BIM.
The eighth edition of Hub South West’s Building for Growth programme is now underway and is inviting all companies that are looking to grow in a sustainable manner by building the skills and internal capacity to take on increasing volumes of business and, as a result could win new work from participating Tier 1 contractors including Morisons, Graham, Morgan Sindall, Ashleigh and Keir. The programme was designed for businesses in construction and other related sectors based in Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway. It started on the 21st of March and will run through until early June, with 8 half-day sessions (10am – 2pm) over a period of 12 weeks. Throughout the spring 2018 session workshops will focus on topics such as smart tendering, innermetrix profiling, strategic growth and exit options, marketing planning, supplier development programmes, corporate social responsibility and pitching for business. “There are a lot of good businesses out there, but some have areas where they need to build capacity if they want to rise to the next level,” said Gordon Hunter, hub South West’s Supply Chain Manager who manages the Building for Growth programme. “For example, many are relying too heavily on the skills of one key person, some of the IT practices are not very efficient or robust, and marketing communications can vary from the sublime to the almost non-existent. A golden rule of the programme is ‘no competitors’, leaving participants free to discuss any business issues, challenges and opportunities in a safe and supportive environment with a like-minded group of business people,” continued Gordon. Gary Thorn, founder and MD of Cumbernauld-based Cube Glass, won the Best final Presentation Award at the end of the seventh edition of Building for Growth in November: “At first I thought it would be impossible for me to take eight half-days away from the business to attend but, in fact, taking time away from my day to day concerns gave me the opportunity to sit back and look at our long term development and to improve the chances of Cube Glass winning work from some of the Tier One contractors.”
Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Fri, Apr 29th 2016 Stroma Group Ltd has completed the acquisition of two established Building Control service providers, BBS Building Control Ltd (“BBS”) and Approved Design Consultancy Limited (“Approved Design”). Following the previous acquisition of Greendoor Building Control & Specialist Services Limited (“Greendoor”), the three businesses will become one of the largest independent Approved Inspectors in the UK, part of the Stroma Compliance division. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday Stroma Group Ltd has completed the acquisition of two established Building Control service providers, BBS Building Control Ltd (“BBS”) and Approved Design Consultancy Limited (“Approved Design”). Following the previous acquisition of Greendoor Building Control & Specialist Services Limited (“Greendoor”), the three businesses will become one of the largest independent Approved Inspectors in the UK, part of the Stroma Compliance division. BBS, Approved Design and Greendoor employ a multi-skilled and experienced staff who provide Approved Inspector services with a national coverage. The combined expertise, reputation and legacy of all three businesses will form an extensive Building Control Division within the Stroma Group. The acquisitions are the latest to be completed following the management buyout of the Stroma Group in 2014. LDC (the investment division of Lloyds Banking Group) supported the management buyout and is committed to helping the management team develop a market leading organisation in the Building Control sector. BBS, Approved Design and Greendoor have more than 40 years Corporate Approved Inspector experience within the Building Control sector and each is approved by the Construction Industry Council (CIC). The three businesses have a combined expertise and geographical reach which offer a multitude of benefits to both Stroma customers and existing and potential clients of the Approved Inspectors. By expanding their Building Control division, Stroma can now improve the range of services offered to clients backed by increased strength in breadth of expertise. Stroma Group prides itself on delivering excellence and customer value throughout its services. Stroma is a leading authority on building, sustainability and compliance. Based in Yorkshire, the Group has a turnover in excess of £26M and employs more than 350 staff. Stroma works across the built environment specialising in the certification, compliance and energy sectors. In addition, through Stroma Software, the company provides unique, innovative software solutions for mobile workers. A dedicated in-house software development team provides flexible solutions which both complement Stroma’s existing expertise and drive expansion into new markets. Matthew Ferguson, co-founder of Stroma and CEO of the Stroma Group, said: “I am delighted to announce these new additions to the Stroma Group and I welcome the experience that the staff of BBS and Approved Design are bringing into the Group. As the three businesses become one of the largest groups of independent Approved Inspectors in the country, our customers can call on an expansive service catalogue and an exciting, dynamic new division in the Building Control sector. Alongside Greendoor, the acquisitions of BBS and Approved Design will place Stroma at the forefront of Building Control service provision for many years to come.” Source link
©Bloomberg Commodity currencies were boosted by data showing China hitting its growth target on Friday, however FX strategists warned the benefit may prove shortlived if Sunday’s gathering of oil producers in Doha fails to address the sector’s supply glut. China’s 6.7 per cent growth for the first quarter pushed the Australian dollar up 4 per cent and drove the New Zealand dollar 1 per cent higher, while South Korea’s won gained half a per cent and the Taiwanese dollar also rose. More On this topic IN Currencies Early gains for other parts of commodity FX, such as the Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso faded as Opec’s Doha meeting came into investors’ view, while doubts persist about the outlook for China’s economy. China and oil, the two bugbears of markets at the start of the year, remain the pivotal drivers of currencies. Commodity and emerging market FX have rallied thanks to greater confidence that China’s economy will avoid a hard landing and from oil prices rising 60 per cent since hitting a 13-year low in mid-January. A becalmed dollar has also given them room to grow. How long they will continue to rally is a subject of much conjecture. “The risk is that the longer-term outlook for oil will remain challenging,” said Crédit Agricole strategists, worried about the impact of growing Iranian oil production and stabilising US shale output on supply. Piotr Matys at Rabobank noted that Russia’s rouble was up 11 per cent on the dollar this year, while the Canadian “loonie” had risen 8 per cent and the Norwegian krone by 7 per cent, so they could be vulnerable if Doha dissapoints. Given a lot of commodity FX is priced into the Doha meeting, even a positive outcome may not push currencies higher. “It could be a classic ‘buy rumour, sell fact’ market reaction,” said Mr Matys. China’s economy should also give pause for thought, said Marc Chandler of Brown Brothers Harriman who concluded the market reaction to growth data were muted. That may be because investors cast “a jaundiced eye” at the veracity of Chinese data and doubt whether the figures, even if true, are sustainable. Why, for example, would Chinese steel output rise to a record high in March when there is a global glut of steel, wondered Mr Chandler. Meanwhile, new yuan loans are nearly a quarter higher than expected. Two other major weekend events are also being closely watched in the FX market. The outcome of the impeachment vote against Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff should be known, although again much of the rise in the real this year suggests the market has moved beyond the political crisis. In Washington, a gathering of G20 financial officials, central bank governors, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund is set to revisit February’s discussions in Shanghai about the impact of currency movements on the global economy. Japan’s finance minister has already voiced “deep concern over recent one-sided moves in the currency market” with his US counterpart, underlining how dollar weakness is driving an unwanted strengthening of the yen. 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
Higher Auckland house prices are not flowing through directly into the rental market, with the city’s average weekly rents seeing year on year increases of around 5%. Rents continue to increase by approximately 5% year on year with the average weekly rent for a three bedroom Auckland home now $514, according to the latest report from Barfoot and Thompson. Suburb pricing trends continue but Mt Albert, Parnell and Sandringham break the mould with year on year increases of over 11, the data also shows. The average weekly rent for a three bedroom home in Auckland during the April to June quarter was $514, up less than 1% on last quarter and 4.8% on the same quarter in 2015. ‘Three bedroom rentals make up around 40% of our managed properties, making them a good measure of the market,’ said Barfoot and Thompson director Kiri Barfoot. ‘Other property categories generally follow the same trend, albeit at lower or higher price points depending on the number of bedrooms,’ she added. A breakdown of the figures show that one bedroom properties averaged $335 per week, up 5% from $319 in the April to June quarter 2015, and two bedrooms $428, up 6.2% from $403, while four bedroom homes were $648, up 4.2% from $622 and five plus bedroom homes averaged $801, up 4.8% from $764. Pricing trends continued across the suburbs as well, with the Central Auckland apartment market remaining the most expensive for smaller properties of one, two or three bedrooms, and the Eastern suburbs maintaining position as the most expensive for four or more bedrooms. ‘Outside the city apartment market, it continued to be a story of two halves for Auckland’s North and South this quarter too,’ Barfoot pointed out. South Auckland rental properties saw the greatest percentage increase year on year for the quarter of 6.8%, while North Shore rental prices experienced the least percentage increase, not including Central Auckland, only rising 3.7 %. Looking more closely at rental data from the first two quarters of this year compared to the last two quarters of 2015 three suburbs broke the mould with three bedroom rental averages increasing 11% or more. These were Mt Albert up 14.7%, Parnell up 11.7% and Sandringham up 11.6%. ‘These areas are centrally located but still offer the benefits of suburban living, making them popular choices. These areas are fast becoming popular as the new central suburbs, the next Ponsonby and Grey Lynns if you will, and our data suggests continued future growth particularly for Mt Albert and Sandringham,’ Barfoot explained. The company anticipates a pre-spring upswing in rental activity during the coming quarter, when they typically see a slight increase in new letting. ‘While not as pronounced as summer spikes, we often find a number of tenants are eager to move on from properties during the cold winter months and as we head into spring,’ said Barfoot. ‘It’s therefore a good time to remind landlords to keep on top of winter maintenance and look at ways to make their homes more comfortable with affordable heating, insulation and so on. In addition to meeting some new legislation requirements early, these are the sorts of things that help keep tenants in a property longer, or make a home more attractive for those looking to rent in the coming months,’ she concluded. Source link
The ONS revealed that the UK has the fifth largest gender pay gap in Europe, situated behind countries such as Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia and Germany. Even though work has been done to close the gender gap, the average woman in the workplace still earns 9.1% less than the average man, according to Instant Offices. However, this number depends on the seniority of the role and occupations. The highest gap seen for any profession is at 24.8% among skilled trade occupations, while the gender gap in the construction and building trades sector stands at 45.4%. As a result of a new government legislation that came into effect in April 2017, all UK companies and public sector organisations with more than 250 employees are required to publicly report on their gender pay gap. At the time of writing, only 3000 of the estimated 9000 companies have come forward and released their numbers, while there have been no reports from the financial services sector. According to the World Economic Forum, it could take 170 years to completely close the gender pay gap on a global level. However, there are a few things firms could look into to help narrow it: Incentivise paternity leave so that mothers can return to work sooner, work more hours and earn more money, while allowing fathers more bonding with their newborns. Subsidise childcare so that women on low wages won’t find going back to work a difficult and financially draining decision. Some businesses have been stepping in to provide female staff with childcare services, which saw reductions in employee turnover, increased productivity, and improved quality in job applicants. Introduce remote working, which is becoming more acceptable and accessible to millennial workers. While flexible working conditions enable mothers to juggle work, childcare, and family commitments, it also allows more time for essential tasks. Be transparent about pay, research market rates for a role and offer a fair salary for the job you are hiring for. Ensure that promotions and rewards are fair and are not in favour of male employees. Everyone should have a fair chance of receiving a promotion, reward or salary increase. Give female employees a raise, which is the most pain-free way of eliminating the gender pay gap. Not only are employees enjoying equal pay, but, as more companies are being scrutinised and being forced to publish their gender pay gap reports, it provides the best strategy for businesses to continue operations with minimal disruptions and additional pressure.
Vital Energi was awarded a £5.6 million contract to supply, install and commission the energy centre and primary distribution for St William Homes LLP development at Battersea. This marks a new stage in the company’s long-standing relationship with developers Berkeley. Vital Energi will provide the combined heat and power solution for 955 apartments over 12 blocks, along with low temperature hot water and chilled water systems. The design was made by environmental engineers Max Fordham, with the basement energy centre including a combined heat and power engine, two 1300kw gas boilers and four 550kw chillers. The development at Battersea is one of the first projects to be delivered by St William, a joint venture between Berkeley Group and National Grid. This collaboration will unlock some of the most technically complex regeneration sites in London and the South of England, into residential and mixed use spaces and will see the transformation of 33 sites, providing over 14,000 homes within the next 10 to 15 years. “We are excited to be working with the Berkeley Group again on an exciting new venture, and to be part of this fantastic project that will see further regeneration to the area. Prince of Wales Drive will be a beautiful development, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to provide the energy solution for the project,” said Rob Callaghan, regional director London from Vital Energi. Vital Energi and Berkeley Group have worked together on 16 other projects and their relationship spans back to 2006 when they worked on the Royal Arsenal, Riverside development. Vital Energi provides sustainable and renewable energy solutions in the public and private sectors and is responsible for many of the UK’s most prestigious energy projects. It can deliver all aspects of a project from energy management, generation and distribution along with metering and billing and long-term asset management or ESCo partnership.
Rubicon Garden Rooms, a company from North Wales, has created zero maintenance garden rooms using aviation technology, which could potentially help tackle the housing crisis. The company’s buildings could offer short-term housing quickly for homeless people or in case of an emergency. “The availability of housing, both private and social, is of course a big issue for people in Alyn and Deeside and indeed across Wales. I’m glad Flintshire County Council is building the next generation of social housing, but it’s true to say we need to ensure a mix of housing stock. I was very interested to hear the company’s proposals of using the buildings for housing, incorporating kitchen and bathroom facilities. This innovative idea is a real opportunity to explore,” said newly-elected Alyn and Deeside AM Jack Sargeant, who attended the official opening of the facility. Rubicon’s buildings can be seen at the company’s new showroom in Shotton. They are made from a wood fibre composite material devised by founder and managing director John Lyon, who was inspired by his 20 years as an engineer at Airbus. The bespoke top-of-the-range units are presently used for everything from home offices to art or music rooms, yoga studios, teenage dens and annexes for dependent relatives. The external material of the garden rooms, made from wood fibre, simulate wood, stone or slate to enhance comfort, zero-maintenance and aesthetic appeal. The buildings can be installed quickly and at a low cost. They are timber framed and fully insulated, which makes them cosy, yet cheap to heat. The large double glazed glass doors and windows fill the space with daylight and, in addition, the buildings can be moved to a new location, making them the ideal solution for short-term provision. “The new showrooms have been designed to highlight to customers the range of different options that are available – from fully equipped home offices with bathroom and kitchen facilities, though to hobby rooms and family leisure space. We are expecting to see an increasing number of visitors to the site to see the buildings at first hand,” said John Lyon. The company is expecting to start up a franchise later on this year, with a five year plan that includes a network of franchises around the UK, coordinated from Shotton.