BDC News Team

me&dave Appoints New Design Creator

Alistair Williams was appointed as the new Design Director of the integrated property branding agency me&dave. He will be the leader and the inspiration of the creative team, pushing boundaries and eliminate clichéd and lacklustre branding from the real estate sector. Alistair has worked for the past ten year at

Read More »

A Collection of Properties to Regenerate Islington

Site Sales Property Group has opened a collection of 19 properties on behalf of Islington Council in Islington, North London. The Dove Quarter development is focused on modern living and it consists of four luxurious one and two bedroom apartments that start at £450,000 and 15 luxurious two and three

Read More »

HBV’s Living Scheme Approaches Completion

Developer HBV, which specialises in supported living, has announced that its latest scheme will be completed in March 2018. Based in Tile Hill, Coventry, ‘Jardine Crescent’ is made up of a single block of sixteen apartments and a single block of eight apartments, together with an additional ten apartments that

Read More »

Liquid Roofing and Waterproofing Association Appoints New Director

The Liquid Roofing and Waterproofing Association (LRWA) has appointed a new director to its board, which has reinforced its pledge to maintain and encourage the highest standards of quality within the liquid industry. With over 37 years of experience in the liquid roofing market, Mark Flello will work with the

Read More »

RIBA calls for amendment to Housing and Planning Bill

Browser does not support script. Contact us The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has welcomed the Government’s recent commitments to increasing the numbers of new build houses, including today’s announcement on funding for Housing Zones across England. But the RIBA has warned that the whole exercise could prove futile

Read More »

Good Energy launches green gas tariff

Independent supplier Good Energy has launched a carbon neutral gas tariff, partly made up from biomethane. The company said it was launching the tariff to “celebrate the signing of the UN Climate Change Agreement in New York next week”. It follows an announcement this week from fellow independent

Read More »

Record revenues for Keller

Keller Group, which bills itself as the world’s largest geotechnical contractor, has reported record first-half revenue but a 12% fall in operating profits. For the six months to 30th June 2016, it generated revenue of £849.7m (2015 H1: £755.8m). Operating profit, after exceptional items, was £30.9m (2015 H1: £35.0m). Profits

Read More »

Is Modular Building Everything It Claims?

Modular Building – If there was a way you could build your business premises cheaper, would you take it? If you knew that the final build would be of the highest quality, would you be interested? If you were assured that maintenance and operational costs would be more efficient, would

Read More »

ARCHITECT PROMOTES FOUR TO ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

Midlands architectural practice maber has appointed four new associate directors at its Nottingham, Derby and Leicester offices. They are Andy Purvis and Leo Ward, both based in Nottingham, Lee Smith in Derby and Tim Boxford in Leicester. The promotions are as a result of maber’s continued success and a string

Read More »

Springfield Properties to Install Charging Points in New Homes

All of Springfield Properties future homes will come with already installed cabling for electric car charging points. The Scottish developer’s latest environmental initiative is one of the first in the UK and it will incorporate 7KW cabling to the most practical point in the home, allowing homebuyers to easily install

Read More »
Latest Issue
Issue 340 : May 2026

BDC News Team

me&dave Appoints New Design Creator

Alistair Williams was appointed as the new Design Director of the integrated property branding agency me&dave. He will be the leader and the inspiration of the creative team, pushing boundaries and eliminate clichéd and lacklustre branding from the real estate sector. Alistair has worked for the past ten year at some of London’s leading agencies, including UTILE as the Liberation and Missouri Creative where he contributed to high profile projects such as Google, New Balance, Foot Locker, and Second Home. “Alistair doesn’t come from the property industry, which is key for us as we believe that looking outside the sector is as important as looking in. He brings a wealth of experience from other arenas, including food and beverage and retail,” said Creative Director Mark Davis. “Alistair is fired up about branding the built environment and taking it in challenging new directions with strategically driven, creatively led campaigns.” He has been a freelancer for a while because he couldn’t find an agency that will inspire him to make a creative impact and expand the business. “I chose me&dave because they’re ambitious, forward-thinking and do things differently,” explained him. His background is in branding and retail design and not in property, which is a new experience for him. His aim is to push things further and build on me&dave great work. “So much of the “creative” work for places and developments is bland, cookie-cutter stuff. No surprises, no imagination. me&dave is changing all that. They’re an ambitious, strategic, creatively driven team that specialise in this sector because they’re passionate about its potential, as am I. I’m super happy to join the team and look forward to my future here,” concluded Alistair. Founded in 2007, me&dave is an integrated branding agency that breaks traditional property branding codes. It develops strategically driven campaigns that imagine, disrupt, and strengthen brands in the built environment sector.

Read More »

A Collection of Properties to Regenerate Islington

Site Sales Property Group has opened a collection of 19 properties on behalf of Islington Council in Islington, North London. The Dove Quarter development is focused on modern living and it consists of four luxurious one and two bedroom apartments that start at £450,000 and 15 luxurious two and three bedroom houses that start at £775,000. Situated in an aspirational area of Islington, full of history and culture, the properties offer buyers contemporary design and stylishly finished interiors. The living areas are warm and inviting with large windows that allow the natural light to flood into sleekly designed kitchens. “We’re thrilled to be working with Islington Council to be launching this brand new development in North London. The Dove Quarter development will further add to the burgeoning reputation of Islington as an up-and-coming area of London to live. We’ve received a lot of interest so far and I’m sure these meticulously designed properties will prove popular with buyers,” said Eloise Robbins, Director at Site Sales Property Group. The reasons why this area is highly attractive for young professionals and the family-orientated people, are the open green spaces, the array of local antique shops, cafes, and trendy bars, the cobbled streets, the quality streets, and the proximity to the London city centre. It is located near the O2 Academy and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and mere minutes on the tube from the iconic West End, some of the world’s finest art galleries, and the financial hub of the city. Dove Quarter is part of the regeneration programme led by the Islington Council. It aims to transform the Dover Court estate in North London and provide 70 high quality homes for social rent and private sale, 51 of which will be for council rent. The Construction Group Lovell Homes have commenced work for Islington Council on the three-year construction programme.

Read More »

HBV’s Living Scheme Approaches Completion

Developer HBV, which specialises in supported living, has announced that its latest scheme will be completed in March 2018. Based in Tile Hill, Coventry, ‘Jardine Crescent’ is made up of a single block of sixteen apartments and a single block of eight apartments, together with an additional ten apartments that are designed to ease the life of adults who require high levels of complex care. “We are delighted to be nearing completion on this important supported living development. We are committed to improving the standards of supported living accommodation and are confident that Jardine Crescent will be a much-welcomed addition to Coventry. Our sincere thanks to all the Council officers and politicians who have engaged in such a supportive manner,” said Alastair Sheehan, Head of Development at HBV. J Tomlinson, the appointed contractor, is reaching work completion now and residents will be able to move in after the final interior is fitted out. The future tenants will be referred by Coventry City Council and local adults with disabilities will finally have their own home. Additionally, they will benefit from on-site support staff. Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said that being able to offer help to those vulnerable is really important for the region and the local communities: “This is a really good example of what can be done using the specialist supported living model which is a fantastic approach to dealing with the shortage of quality accommodation for vulnerable adults.” Seeing the existing housing stock upgraded and improved is not the only purpose of this scheme and HBV’s philosophy is to make sure that better outcomes are achieved for residents and the wider local community. Vulnerable adults don’t have to live with parents or in sheltered accommodation and can now have their own apartment and can start feeling more independent and in charge of their life. ATEL will also provide assistive technology, such as automatic doors, care call system, and access control.

Read More »

Liquid Roofing and Waterproofing Association Appoints New Director

The Liquid Roofing and Waterproofing Association (LRWA) has appointed a new director to its board, which has reinforced its pledge to maintain and encourage the highest standards of quality within the liquid industry. With over 37 years of experience in the liquid roofing market, Mark Flello will work with the existing LRWA board members to lead the strategic direction of the Association. Mr Flello began his career in the laboratories of Evode, before transferring to its subsidiary firm Evode Roofing as a roofing technician, which later became part of Briggs Amasco. He now works at and jointly owns Dove Technology, a business that makkes a range of adhesives specifically designed for the flat roofing sector. As a supplier to the liquid roofing sector, Dove Technology holds Associate Membership at the LRWA and Mr Flello brings his wider sector knowledge to the association, being the only associate member on the board. Mr Flello has also previously played an active role as chairman of the European Liquid Roofing Association (ELRA), which changed its name to European Liquid Waterproofing Association (ELWA) in 2005 when he became vice chairman of the ELWA technical committee. Speaking about his new position at the LRWA, Mr Flello commented: “I’m joining the board at such an exciting time, with the liquid roofing and waterproofing market growing we’re firmly focussed on raising awareness of the excellent liquid systems and products that are available, and making sure operatives are being trained properly to use them. “I think the main challenges ahead are combating quality control of those products being sold without any testing or certification which are simply not fit for purpose, and advising contractors on how to make the right choices when specifying systems. “I’m looking forward to working with the rest of the team at LRWA and bringing my skills to the table.”

Read More »

RIBA calls for amendment to Housing and Planning Bill

Browser does not support script. Contact us The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has welcomed the Government’s recent commitments to increasing the numbers of new build houses, including today’s announcement on funding for Housing Zones across England. But the RIBA has warned that the whole exercise could prove futile if the Government fails to put quality at the heart of this investment. It went on to call on MPs from all political parties to vote for the amendment to the Housing and Planning Bill calling for the adoption of a minimum space standard into national building regulations. This will ensure new build homes are large enough for families and built to last. RIBA President Jane Duncan said: “Whilst this new focus on quantity is to be applauded, the Government can no longer ignore the poor quality of some of our new housing stock, especially as it ploughs public money into housebuilding. Our latest report, ‘HomeWise: Space Standards for Homes’ concluded that some new homes being built in England are still too small and that a minimum space standards for new dwellings must be adopted into building regulations. “The report stage of the Housing and Planning Bill offers the Government the perfect opportunity to sign up to the quality agenda by voting for New Clause 50 this afternoon. These aren’t outlandish demands; they simply ensure that all new build homes are of an adequate size.” ENDS For further information contact Howard Crosskey howard.crosskey@riba.org  +44 (0)20 7307 3761 The RIBA HomeWise policy report can be viewed here: https://www.architecture.com/RIBA/Campaigns%20and%20issues/Homewise/Homewise.aspx For more information on the Housing and Planning Bill click here: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/housingandplanning.html The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) champions better buildings, communities and the environment through architecture and our members www.architecture.com   Follow us on Twitter for regular RIBA updates www.twitter.com/RIBA @RIBA       Posted on Tuesday 5th January 2016 Source link

Read More »

Good Energy launches green gas tariff

Independent supplier Good Energy has launched a carbon neutral gas tariff, partly made up from biomethane. The company said it was launching the tariff to “celebrate the signing of the UN Climate Change Agreement in New York next week”. It follows an announcement this week from fellow independent supplier Green Energy, that it would be the first provider in the UK to supply its customers with 100 per cent biomethane. Good Energy founder Juliet Davenport said: “World leaders are making a huge promise in New York to take action against climate change. “Emissions from energy are one of the biggest causes of global warming, and the simplest way to cut your footprint is switching to renewable electricity and carbon neutral gas. We can all do something to drastically cut our reliance on fossil fuels right now.” The company said the new tariff is designed to make it easy for customers to take action against climate change and compliments its current 100 per cent renewable electricity supply. Leaders from 130 countries will sign the agreement on 22 April which was made in Paris in December and aims to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius. Source link

Read More »

Record revenues for Keller

Keller Group, which bills itself as the world’s largest geotechnical contractor, has reported record first-half revenue but a 12% fall in operating profits. For the six months to 30th June 2016, it generated revenue of £849.7m (2015 H1: £755.8m). Operating profit, after exceptional items, was £30.9m (2015 H1: £35.0m). Profits and revenue increased for Keller in all regions except for Asia Pacific (specifically Australia, Singapore and Malaysia) where it made a loss of £9.6m. Chief executive Alain Michaelis said: “We have seen an encouraging start to the year in North America and EMEA, our two largest divisions.  APAC made a loss in the period, due to market conditions and project delays, but we expect a return to profitability in the second half of the year.  Overall, the group continues to make good progress against our medium-term objectives, building on our strong market positions and favourable market trends.” Keller made two small acquisitions in the first half of the year.  In February, it acquired the Brazilian foundation contractor Tecnogeo for an initial £11.8m and in April it bought the assets and certain liabilities of Smithbridge, a marine construction business based in Brisbane, Australia, for £1.8m.  Roy Franklin retired as chairman and from the board on 26th July 2016 and has been succeeded by Peter Hill, a mining engineer and former Costain director.           This article was published on 1 Aug 2016 (last updated on 1 Aug 2016). Source link

Read More »

Is Modular Building Everything It Claims?

Modular Building – If there was a way you could build your business premises cheaper, would you take it? If you knew that the final build would be of the highest quality, would you be interested? If you were assured that maintenance and operational costs would be more efficient, would you welcome the news with open arms? We often assume that the only way to build is to place one brick on top of the other or breeze blocks or large blocks of concrete. But what if there was another way? And what if this other, non-traditional means of building that is not only quicker but more cost-effective and environmentally friendly? Delivering Results with Modular Building techniques Not a ‘new’ means of building by any means, but one that has undergone change in recent years, the final results for clients who have opted for modular building are beyond expectations. There are many reasons why more and more people are opting for modular building techniques, cost and minimising environmental impact being just two of them. There are many more besides as highlighted in this information infographic Modular Vs. Traditional Construction from sector leading MTX Contracts, leaders in this innovative design and build process. Create Bigger, Better Buildings for Less Time and Money Less time and less money can mean poor quality but not in this case. From specialist buildings such as forensic laboratories to medical wards and clinics, this building process is producing amazing results. Take a look!

Read More »

ARCHITECT PROMOTES FOUR TO ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

Midlands architectural practice maber has appointed four new associate directors at its Nottingham, Derby and Leicester offices. They are Andy Purvis and Leo Ward, both based in Nottingham, Lee Smith in Derby and Tim Boxford in Leicester. The promotions are as a result of maber’s continued success and a string of major instructions on significant projects across the UK. The company’s business plan sets ambitious growth targets, and the strategy is to give key individuals a stake in the business in order to encourage long term commitment to the company. The practice, which was originally formed in Nottingham 35 years ago this year has always relied on organic and sustainable growth driven by a motivated team. This ethos is embedded in each of its five offices, which include Birmingham London, Derby and Leicester, as well as its headquarters in Nottingham. Managing Director Mark Hobson said: “These appointments are in recognition of the significant contributions that all four have made to the success of the practice. They also strengthen our accountability structure and provide more resilience on projects for the benefit of our clients. Perhaps most importantly, they add new lifeblood to the management team, which will help to ensure our continued growth and success.” Lee Smith joined maber in 2005 and heads a design team that has delivered successful commercial and education sector projects. Andy Purvis joined the practice in 2004 and describes himself as a design-driven architect. Leo Ward came to maber in 2011, having previously worked in London, and now works with a small team heading up projects. Tim Boxford joined the practice in 2012, having previously worked elsewhere in the East Midlands, Birmingham and New Zealand. www.maber.co.uk

Read More »

Springfield Properties to Install Charging Points in New Homes

All of Springfield Properties future homes will come with already installed cabling for electric car charging points. The Scottish developer’s latest environmental initiative is one of the first in the UK and it will incorporate 7KW cabling to the most practical point in the home, allowing homebuyers to easily install a home charge point. Innes Smith, Chief Executive of Springfield Properties said: “At Springfield, exploring new ways to protect the environment has been a focus of ours for many years and installing the infrastructure for electric car charge points in our homes was the next logical step for our customers.” The 3,000-home community in Bertha Park will be amongst the first to benefit from the cabling. This initiative is the most recent one from a series of environmental measures delivered by the housebuilder. Using sustainable materials in the construction of its energy efficient timber-frame homes, offering solar photovoltaic panels as an option, and installing energy efficient hybrid boilers, are all part of Springfield’s green initiative. “The Scottish Government has pledged that by 2032 all new vehicles sold in this country will be electric but we anticipate that the uptake will increase rapidly long before then. One of our values as a company, is to include everything a customer needs in their new home, so, with this is mind, we wanted to make it as easy as possible for our customers to go electric,” said Innes. Those that own an electric car can apply for grants from the Energy Saving trust or the Office for Low Emission Vehicles of up to £500 to help them install a 32-amp home charge point. These external plugs are safer to operate, while cutting charging times by 30-60 per cent, depending on the make of the car. Homeowners that have a home charging point can also apply for an Electric Vehicle Loan, which covers the purchase of a new pure electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle of up to £35,000.

Read More »