Blenheim Estate has created a series of new waymarked permissive paths that give access to its wider estate to help local residents enjoy their environment. To date, four circular walks varying from 30 minutes to two hours have been made available with start and finish points linked to their Hanborough
Midlands contractor G F Tomlinson has been selected by the Department for Education (DfE) to design and build the new Bramcote Building, a specialist teaching block for The Polesworth School in Tamworth, Staffordshire. The school is a mixed gender secondary school with pupils aged 11-18, and it is part of
Leading ventilation specialist for the built environment Nuaire, has announced it has been awarded the BSI Kitemark for its Building Information Modeling (BIM) processes. One of the first companies in the UK to achieve this certification, the BIM Kitemark is the benchmark in best practice when it comes to the
Plant reliability and asset management specialist AVT Reliability has expanded its training offering in a new partnership with internationally renowned skills provider Mobius Institute. The partnership will enable the AVT Reliability group of companies to deliver on-site, accredited courses in Europe, United States of America and Canada, as well as remote learning
Edwin James Group has reported strong trading as the engineering and technical services company saw growth across all of its core market sectors. The annual results saw turnover rise 15% to £153m with an increase in earnings (EBITDA) of 28% from the previous year. The group continued to see organic
Construction works are progressing well on ‘The Yacht Club’ – an exclusive 81-home development on the Trent riverside, by Leeds-based developer KMRE Group Ltd. Situated in a prime waterside location to the south of Trent Lane, The Yacht Club will offer residents panoramic views of the river and The Hook nature
Funds advised by Hilltop Credit Partners, a specialist funding partner for SME residential developers, have completed a £2 million loan to Pars Developments to fund a private residential development in the Wiltshire village of Latton. The development sits on the edge of a National Nature Reserve and is a short drive
Kensa Contracting is hosting a free webinar, supported by Stonewater Housing and members of the Energy Oxford Superhub (ESO) consortium, offering attendees the chance to take a virtual site tour and gain expert insights into the ground-breaking transport, power, and energy superhub project in Oxford, which is currently paving the
Global building materials solutions supplier CEMEX has invested over £600,000 into its UK rail network this year, to increase safety standards and reliability while providing opportunities to grow and enhance service levels. Improvements have been made to six of CEMEX’s railheads, including Dove Holes, Salford, Sheffield, Selby, Crawley and Cambridge.
Manchester-based Hollins Homes is celebrating after reaching its 100th completion, following continued business growth and an increased demand for homes due to the stamp duty holiday. House builder Hollins Homes builds with traditional values and a common sense approach and since it was formed by Mark Chadwick in 2015, it has delivered 100
Blenheim Estate has created a series of new waymarked permissive paths that give access to its wider estate to help local residents enjoy their environment. To date, four circular walks varying from 30 minutes to two hours have been made available with start and finish points linked to their Hanborough Gate development. Roy Cox, Blenheim Estate’s Director, said: “Spending time in green space, taking exercise in the fresh air and communing with nature are all well-proven ways of reducing anxiety and depression. The aim of the permissive paths is to share the estate with others and to promote the benefits both of exercise and interacting with the countryside for mental and physical wellbeing. “Rarely has this access to the outdoors been more important than now. The spacious immediate surroundings of Hanborough Gate combined with the back-door access to country walks, is a big draw for potential purchasers. “Our Rural Team have been hard at work clearing the various routes and putting up way-markers and signage. We are planning to provide additional interpretation and information about the routes and local wildlife in the future to provide a richer experience. “One of the real pleasures of living in this area is its rich history and heritage, and the outstanding natural beauty. We hope that by opening up new areas of the estate to local residents we will be able to share these fantastic open spaces with as wide an audience as possible.” Pye Homes, in partnership with Blenheim Estate Homes, continues to release new homes at its Hanborough Gate development, just south west of the Blenheim Estate in Long Hanborough. A total of 169 homes will be built by May 2022, which include help to buy, shared ownership and affordable rent options. Interest in the development has been high with buyers particularly drawn by the village’s rural location combined with accessibility with mainline trains direct to both Oxford (10 mins) and London Paddington (1 hour, 5 mins). Its location on the edge of Long Hanborough village and just five miles from Witney and Woodstock makes it part of a wider local community with Blenheim Palace itself on the doorstep. The development will incorporate play parks, a new doctors’ surgery alongside other local amenities including a dentist, pharmacy and Post Office. All of the properties benefit from superfast broadband as standard allowing seamless, high speed communication, essential in today’s working-from-home climate. Property is an integral part of Blenheim’s 10-year development programme that includes tripling the Estate’s contribution to the local economy and creating a £45m endowment fund to ensure the long-term future of the World Heritage Site.
Midlands contractor G F Tomlinson has been selected by the Department for Education (DfE) to design and build the new Bramcote Building, a specialist teaching block for The Polesworth School in Tamworth, Staffordshire. The school is a mixed gender secondary school with pupils aged 11-18, and it is part of the Communities Academies Trust – a multi-academy trust comprising 17 schools in the West Midlands region. The Bramcote Building replaces five existing teaching blocks which are nearing the end of their usable life and will be demolished by G F Tomlinson following completion of the new building. Construction on the new three-storey 2,479m2 teaching block started back in June, and the steel frame and roof are now complete, with works progressing on the external envelope and internal partitions. Once finished, the building will cater for Design and Technology teaching spaces, ICT teaching rooms, science laboratories and staff spaces, allowing the school to continue delivering the curriculum in a safe and quality environment. The project also includes the resurfacing of an existing 2,135m2 multi-use games area (MUGA) with new fencing and lighting, marked out in accordance with Sport England specifications for five-a-side football, basketball and netball. Expected for completion in autumn 2021, the works are being undertaken within a live school site and have been carefully planned to minimise disruption to ensure the school is able to maintain continuity of the curriculum and extra-curricular delivery for students. The project team is ensuring that all COVID-19 working guidelines are adhered to, to ensure safe working and social distancing on site. In addition to the operational school, the site is located in a built-up residential area, bounded by Birchwood Primary School, the Reserve Forces and Cadets Association and Polesworth Sports Centre, and close liaison with all neighbours has been paramount to agree shared access routes through to the construction site, to minimise the impact on the surrounding area and maintain access at all times. In line with G F Tomlinson’s commitment to social value, the project will maximise opportunities for training and skills for local young people, and five apprentices have already benefitted from being engaged during the design and pre-construction stage. This will be the first project that G F Tomlinson has completed for The Polesworth School and Community Academies Trust, and the 12th project for the DfE framework. Chris Flint, director of G F Tomlinson, said: “We are delighted to have commenced works at The Polesworth School to deliver much needed modernised teaching spaces which will enable the school to continue providing an excellent standard of education. This project is part of the DfE framework’s schools investment programme which aims to address urgent requirements for the replacement of buildings to provide improvements to the quality of teaching and learning environments. “The buildings being demolished and replaced were nearing the end of their usable life and the planned works will allow for the school to continue teaching in certain buildings, whilst we construct the new facilities ensuring there is no disruption to the day-to-day curriculum. The works will provide high quality, optimised teaching and learning spaces for staff and students, improving the overall educational experience of children at the school. “It has been an honour to engage with DfE again for another project, taking our total projects for the framework to 12 in six years.” G F Tomlinson is working alongside Bond Bryan (architect), BSP Consulting (engineer) and Anderson Green (M & E services) to deliver this project.
Leading ventilation specialist for the built environment Nuaire, has announced it has been awarded the BSI Kitemark for its Building Information Modeling (BIM) processes. One of the first companies in the UK to achieve this certification, the BIM Kitemark is the benchmark in best practice when it comes to the production of digital products used in BIM models. “Building Information Modeling, or BIM, has probably been the single biggest step change in the construction industry in recent times, when it comes to the provision and exchange of accurate information. The possibilities and opportunities this creates is of course substantial and welcomed by the industry. However, inevitably it also means the market has been flooded by BIM providers with varying levels of quality and sophistication. “This is where the BIM Objects Kitemark proves invaluable to the industry in terms of providing a highly credible third party ‘stamp of approval’ as it were. It’s really helpful and reassuring to our customers to know that our processes for creating BIM Objects are BSI rubber stamped. This means that our BIM models will contain the information required to achieve BS8541-1: 2012 compliance in architecture, engineering and construction,” said Alun Thomas, Engineering Director, Nuaire. Characterised by complex multidisciplinary project teams, BIM is revolutionising the construction industry by allowing teams to collaborate much more easily to achieve significant efficiency and cost-saving benefits. By using 3D modelling to plan, design, construct and manage buildings and infrastructure, the BIM process means that everyone involved has a central, shared resource of data throughout a project. With the data staying with a project for the whole lifecycle of the building, from plan to final build to decommissioning and demolishing, errors are reduced, and cost control, improved safety, reduced waste and minimal environmental impact are all more easily achieved. Achieving the BSI, BIM Objects Kitemark is part of Nuaire’s ongoing digital transformation strategy to provide quality products and customer service to domestic and commercial clients, including; architects, engineers and the construction industry. “We are continuously innovating to provide our customers with best in class ventilation systems for their particular domestic or commercial need. The BSI Kitemark for our BIM Objects process in the construction sector means that our customers can have 100% confidence that what they see on screen will translate seamlessly into the physical product they want. We’re delighted to have achieved this certification as it gives existing and potential clients the reassurance that there are quality BIM certified providers in the market, like Nuaire, they can trust.” The BMI Objects Kitemark also provides reassurance to companies working with BSI certificate holders in that they are expected to regularly maintain and update their processes and procedures to reflect product changes and validate they meet the latest standards.
Plant reliability and asset management specialist AVT Reliability has expanded its training offering in a new partnership with internationally renowned skills provider Mobius Institute. The partnership will enable the AVT Reliability group of companies to deliver on-site, accredited courses in Europe, United States of America and Canada, as well as remote learning courses across the globe, in addition to its long-established UK and Ireland offering. The company has a 40-year track record of providing a wide range of ISO18436 and non-certified training to give plant managers, reliability engineers and condition monitoring staff the sound knowledge-base required to implement a successful reliability improvement programme. In conjunction with Mobius, AVT Reliability will offer Category I to III Vibration Analysis, Certified Level I and II Ultrasound, as well as Asset Reliability Practitioner (ARP) training, with certification through public, on-site and online courses, as well as iLearn self-study programmes. “Our goal is to help people achieve their reliability, performance, and personal goals. We are proud to have our material taught by the practical, skilled, and professional team at AVT Reliability,” said Jason Tranter, CEO and Founder of Mobius Institute. Specialists from across the group, including AVT Sealing Solutions Inc. in the USA, and Netherlands-based asset management specialist Van Geffen, will support the international training provision. “The world-class Mobius Institute materials and certification are a highly valuable addition to the 2021 AVT Reliability training offer and will enable us to share our expertise with our growing international client base. Our comprehensive range of courses in condition based maintenance, engineering best practice and asset management is vital at a time when industry skill sets are declining and it is even more critical to give clients the internal knowledge to tackle and implement reliability focused programmes. The importance of being able to gain knowledge and qualifications remotely can also not be overstated in light of the Covid-19 pandemic,” added AVT Reliability Technical Director, Lee McFarlane.
Edwin James Group has reported strong trading as the engineering and technical services company saw growth across all of its core market sectors. The annual results saw turnover rise 15% to £153m with an increase in earnings (EBITDA) of 28% from the previous year. The group continued to see organic growth across all operations and the recent acquisitions of Jex Process Services and Peak Technology Solutions, which support the expansion of its process services business. Commenting on the results, Derek Smith, CEO of Edwin James Group said: “We are harnessing the expertise of our people and the benefits of our technology solutions to provide our customers with unparalleled service to help them manage assets through the full lifecycle. It’s an approach that is driving revenue growth across the business. “We continue to be open to acquisitions that can add value to our customer offering by enhancing our capabilities in key sectors. This year’s results are a robust platform for continued growth.” The group is a leading national engineering services business, employing 1,100 people with its head offices in both Glasgow and Burton-on-Trent. The group has increased investment in its own Academy, which supports lifelong learning at every stage of an employee’s career. It has over 100 apprentices working across the group, and they form a key part of its workforce strategy. It plans to expand its apprenticeship and graduate programme further in 2021. Mr Smith concluded: “While the last seven months have proved a challenging environment for all businesses to operate in we have continued to trade robustly and we are well placed to return to growth in 2021. The synergies between our businesses continue to enhance value for clients, which is supporting organic revenue growth.” Edwin James Group was founded by investment firm Aliter Capital, which initially acquired Ingen Technical Services then Korrie, both Scottish-based businesses. It was followed by the acquisition of Burton-based WT Parker Group, in April 2017 and then Peterborough business, PEME, also in 2017. The acquisitions of Jex and Peak took place in 2019.
Construction works are progressing well on ‘The Yacht Club’ – an exclusive 81-home development on the Trent riverside, by Leeds-based developer KMRE Group Ltd. Situated in a prime waterside location to the south of Trent Lane, The Yacht Club will offer residents panoramic views of the river and The Hook nature reserve in Lady Bay. Within easy reach of Nottingham city centre and West Bridgford, The Yacht Club sits adjacent to the River Crescent, Pelham Waterside and Trent Basin residential schemes, in the rapidly changing Colwick area known as Riverside. One, two and three-bedroom apartments are available, including penthouses, and prices start from £310,000 to £550,000. FHP Living has been appointed as the selling agent and interested parties can contact Steve Parker or Joe Hargreaves for information and viewings. Just over a mile from the city centre, the contemporary development – which boasts all apartments with balcony’s looking on to the river – is already at 40% sold, and is on the site of the former Park Yacht Inn, located in one of the most peaceful riverside settings in the city. In close proximity to Nottingham Forest F. C’s City Ground, Notts County Football Club on Meadow Lane and Trent Bridge Cricket Ground – the development sits in a great location for sports fans, whilst being closely situated to the amenities of the city and West Bridgford. Speculative plans have been put forward for a pedestrian footbridge to be built over the River Trent in the next couple of years, to cater to the burgeoning waterside residential communities, linking the riverside area to Lady Bay. Construction works involve a phased completion, with the first practical completion in March 2021, and a full handover of the site expected by summer 2021. The development comprises three stand-alone buildings, with each of the 81 apartments benefitting from large panoramic windows and its own balcony or terrace, with stunning views up and down the river. Penthouses have distinctively larger living spaces with underfloor heating, superior tiled floors and sweeping terraces boasting optimal views of the River Trent and Nottingham skyline. There will also be attractive outdoor spaces and footpaths along the river to the front of the buildings for residents to enjoy. A show suite will be available for private viewings from the end of November, enabling interested buyers to get a glimpse into the exclusive waterside lifestyle that The Yacht Club has to offer. It will also provide the first opportunity for confirmed buyers to personalise and upgrade apartments – with bespoke options to choose from for interior décor, fixtures and fittings. As well as sweeping riverside views, onsite parking for every apartment and vibrant outdoor communal spaces, all apartments will be finished to the finest quality, using high spec fixtures and fittings. Kam Mogul, managing director at KMRE Group Ltd, said: “We are extremely proud to be delivering this flagship residential scheme, providing the finest quality spacious homes, many with panoramic views of the River Trent, in an idyllic waterside location. “These homes boast unrivalled picturesque views of the water and the tranquil Hook nature reserve in Lady Bay, and are a pivotal part of the ongoing waterfront regeneration on the banks of the River Trent, offering a premium waterside living experience with a community feel, that really connects you with nature. “During these challenging times, we remain completely committed to the Nottingham market and construction works at The Yacht Club are progressing on track, with the show home due to open in the next few weeks for appointments with interested buyers.” “This is the first of our landmark ‘Southern Gateway’ developments in Nottingham, which also includes the 62-apartment Hindle House residential scheme.” Steve Parker, director at the selling agent, FHP Living, said: “With stunning waterside views, in a serene yet central location, The Yacht Club will provide the ultimate waterside lifestyle. “The development is in a great location on the banks of the river Trent and is within walking distance of local amenities, including East Point Retail Park – which includes an Aldi and Costa Coffee – and the beautiful Colwick Country Park. Within just five minutes’ drive is Victoria Retail Park, which boasts an M&S Foodhall, Next, Boots and many other popular retailers.” Fellow director at FHP Living, David Hargreaves, said: “We are pleased to see how quickly the building works are now progressing, particularly through these difficult times of lockdown. Now more than ever people are looking for homes close to nature, with outside space and scope to work from home, and being on the banks of the river, there is an abundance of nature on your doorstep at The Yacht Club. “The development is a welcome addition to the Riverside area and the team at FHP Living are looking forward to showing potential owner occupiers and investors around the new show suite shortly.”
Funds advised by Hilltop Credit Partners, a specialist funding partner for SME residential developers, have completed a £2 million loan to Pars Developments to fund a private residential development in the Wiltshire village of Latton. The development sits on the edge of a National Nature Reserve and is a short drive from both the Cotswolds and Swindon. The facility will be used to fund the site acquisition, development of four new detached houses, and refurbishment of an existing semi-detached house; the facility also includes a VAT bridge loan. The target audience for the development is families looking to upsize, including London-based buyers seeking more rural locations with work-from-home space, private gardens and access to countryside leisure activities. “We are excited to be partnering with Hilltop, who have worked hand-in-hand with us to get this project funded. We believe this niche development will be received well by the market, particularly given the trends that have emerged post-Covid,” said Sepehr Izadpanah of Pars Developments. Latest Rightmove data suggests that homes sales agreed nationally were up +70% y/y in September, reflecting a number of factors, including strong pent-up demand, the introduction of government stamp duty incentives, and emerging structural changes in the nation’s housing market. The regional house price statistics from Land Registry also show pricing for newbuild housing stock in Wiltshire +7.2% y/y. The project has been sponsored by Pars Developments, who have decades of experience delivering high-quality, affordable family housing in the local Swindon / Wiltshire market. “We are pleased to be working with Sep, Morri and their development team on this project. Pars has a long history of successfully developing affordably priced housing in their local market, and this development fits perfectly with the direction the post-Covid market is headed – an increased focus on indoor and outdoor space and an ability to work from home in a beautiful part of the country,” commented Paul Oberschneider, Founder and CEO of Hilltop Credit Partners.
Kensa Contracting is hosting a free webinar, supported by Stonewater Housing and members of the Energy Oxford Superhub (ESO) consortium, offering attendees the chance to take a virtual site tour and gain expert insights into the ground-breaking transport, power, and energy superhub project in Oxford, which is currently paving the way as a model for large-scale decarbonisation of towns and cities. The £41m Energy Superhub Oxford (ESO) project, which got underway in 2019 as a direct response to the declaration of a Climate Emergency by Oxford City Council in January that year, aims to reduce emissions across the city and improve public health by accelerating a switch to electric vehicles and the decarbonisation of heating for homes and buildings. Energy Superhub Oxford, Kensa Contracting, Pivot Power, Oxford City Council, and Stonewater Housing, are joining forces on the first stage of the project. The webinar will highlight the endless, low-carbon possibilities of smart local energy systems, demonstrating how the clever integration of smart controls, time-of-use tariffs, and heat optimisation software in every home will form a blueprint for smart cities to come. Branded a ‘must-see’ for anyone interested in the future of heating and offering insight into viable solutions for achieving carbon reduction targets, the free webinar is currently open to registrations. The revolutionary ESO project will deliver a 50MW grid balancing battery connected to superfast EV charge points, as well as 300 domestic Kensa ground source heat pumps with smart controls. This low carbon combined energy solution is expected to save 10,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. The exclusive webinar will offer behind-the-scenes access to ESO’s pilot heating phase with Stonewater Housing, where 60 homes are currently being retrofitted with ground source heat pumps and smart controls. Take a virtual tour of the site in Blackbird Leys with host, Dr. Matthew Trewhella, Managing Director of Kensa Contracting. Learn how these renewable technologies will tackle fuel poverty and stamp out high-cost heating bills for residents. Find out from Adam Masters, Stonewater Housing’s Sustainability Project Manager, how the project is supporting decarbonisation aims. Tim Rose, Programme Manager of Energy Superhub Oxford at Pivot Power, will explain the battery element of the project, as Pivot Power supplies the largest hybrid battery ever deployed. Councilor, Tom Hayes, of Oxford City Council will address the bigger, net-zero picture of the project, and how ESO will pave the way for Oxford’s large-scale decarbonisation of power, heat, and transport. Get further insight into Kensa Contracting’s role in the project from additional speakers; David Broom, Commercial Director; Stuart Gadsden, Director of Sales; and Lisa Treseder, Grant Administrator.
Global building materials solutions supplier CEMEX has invested over £600,000 into its UK rail network this year, to increase safety standards and reliability while providing opportunities to grow and enhance service levels. Improvements have been made to six of CEMEX’s railheads, including Dove Holes, Salford, Sheffield, Selby, Crawley and Cambridge. In particular, nearly £400,000 was spent at the Dove Holes railhead, located in Buxton, Derbyshire. As part of the enhancements to this site, an extension was made to the rail loading wall to increase the shovel loading and storage capacity, alongside track working improvements which will provide more flexibility to the operation at this site. “As a result of the investment into our rail network this year we have been able to grow volumes and make our service more reliable, which in turn has halved our unplanned outage costs and incidents,” said David Hart, CEMEX’s Supply Chain Director for UK & France. “These developments will also ensure our railheads lead the industry for safety standards and are more robust. Rail is an integral part of CEMEX UK’s supply chain network and we are committed to increasing our service further, capitalising on the time, capacity and efficiency benefits this form of transport offers.” This investment is part of a rolling four-year development programme, with plans in place to spend similar amounts each year. In particular, in 2021 the Supply Chain team expects to make further improvements at CEMEX’s Selby and Sheffield railheads.
Manchester-based Hollins Homes is celebrating after reaching its 100th completion, following continued business growth and an increased demand for homes due to the stamp duty holiday. House builder Hollins Homes builds with traditional values and a common sense approach and since it was formed by Mark Chadwick in 2015, it has delivered 100 homes across three developments in Lancashire and Shropshire. The company, and its development arm Hollins Strategic Land, works closely with chartered landscape architect and environmental planner, Influence, and credits the firm for enabling its success with its specialist expertise on planning applications, planning appeals and landscape and visuals matters. With Hollins Homes now active on three further sites across the country, and further schemes in the pipeline for 2021 and beyond, it is planning to expand its site teams with at least two new hires per site going forward. The 100th completion took place on its Whitchurch development – ‘The Orchards’ – in Shropshire and was the final home to sell on the 50-home scheme. From the outset, Hollins Homes has been bold in its approach and successful in offering a quality product for home owners. Its first scheme in 2015 was in Fulwood, Lancashire, and at 24 homes was a significant development for a new house builder. Based on King Street in Manchester, Hollins Homes has an active pipeline of schemes and ambitious delivery targets of 55 homes delivered by April 2021, 100 in April 2022 and 150 by April 2023. “Reaching this milestone is a real joy and testament to the whole team’s dedication to crafting quality homes, that are centred around our customers and the surrounding environment,” said managing director Mark Chadwick. “Following many years in development, when I started Hollins Homes just five years ago, it was very much based on a desire to create homes that buyers were proud of, and our focus on personalisation of properties to the customer and carefully creating welcoming new communities is what has enabled the company to thrive. “Myself and the team are proud of what we have achieved and to hand over our 100th home to a happy customer was wonderful. “We have a number of exciting developments in various stages across the country and it is the team at Influence that has really enabled much of our progress. We have worked with them from the outset and its landscape and planning expertise and sound counsel are invaluable to us, and they are a key partner of Hollins Homes. “We are looking forward to the next chapter; delivering desirable and well-placed homes and welcoming new members to our team.” Hollins Homes has experienced good sales throughout but has seen numbers rise due to the additional desire to move during the current stamp duty holiday. The company now has active developments in Shropshire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Lancashire and is continuing to assess new modern methods of construction, to deliver homes more efficiently and sustainably. Influence operate across the UK from offices in London and Nottinghamshire and provide specialist landscape architecture, urban design, environment planning and expert witness services.