A £10 million funding package from Lloyds Bank could help a North East housebuilder double its turnover by 2023. The support package – an increase of £3 million on a previous facility between Lloyds Bank and Cussins – will support the housebuilder’s ongoing growth strategy, enabling it to acquire new, larger, tracts of land for future development and meet construction costs. It also comprises a revolving credit facility and an overdraft. “These past few years have very much been a growth story for our business, and this backing will mean we can go further still. We have had a long-standing relationship with Lloyds Bank, and their support has been key to achieving our past growth ambitions. It has backed us once again and increased the size of the facility to ensure that we have what we need to help us work towards our targets,” commented Peter Cussins, executive chairman at Cussins. “The company has exciting plans which will see us continue to expand production across the region. We have secured some excellent new schemes which will offer a wide range of options for our purchasers. A key focus for us is in maintaining the design and build quality our customers expect.” Over the next three years, the housebuilder aims to treble its number of housing plots to about 1,000 units, increasing its annual housing output from the current level of more than 100 units per year to about 300. Turnover is projected to rise to £70 million by 2023. “Cussins is a business that has big ambitions for the future. With this funding in place it will have the liquidity it needs to secure and develop prime sites to meet its growth targets, ultimately bolstering its revenue, supporting jobs in its business and its supply chain and increasing the availability of high-quality housing here in the North East,” added Hannah Douglas, relationship director at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking. Cussins, headquartered in Alnwick, constructs houses and apartments across the North East, specialising in mid-market three-, four- and five-bedroom detached properties.

Socio-economic changes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic have been accommodated by Bolton Council and its developer partners to ensure the delivery of the £1 billion masterplan to transform the town centre by 2030, according to new analysis by Deloitte. The investor prospectus commissioned by the authority shows how its Vision 2030 programme will address the new set of circumstances brought about by the pandemic, allowing the town to fulfil its potential in the next decade and beyond. “Bolton Council remains committed to delivering its plans for a redeveloped town centre and continues to engage with developers and investors to understand the implications of the pandemic on committed and emerging schemes within the six identified opportunity areas,” said Simon Bedford, partner at Deloitte and head of the local government development team. “Local retail centres will have a role in driving future economic recovery as consumers increasingly choose to buy local, supporting local businesses and supply chains post Covid-19.” The Deloitte study examines how the council is working with its developer partners to respond to trends affecting its six landmark mixed-use schemes at Trinity Quarter, Church Wharf, Crompton Place/Bolton Victoria Square, Croal Valley, Cheadle Square and the new Blackhorse Street-Bolton Digital City. The Big Four firm also believes Bolton’s town centre schemes “present an opportunity for remodelling the urban environment to better meet the demands and needs of a post-COVID society”. “The flexible and adaptable nature of our six mixed-use schemes, and the commitment of our developer partners, means we remain on course to deliver a transformed town centre by 2030,” added Cllr David Greenhalgh, leader of Bolton Council. It is hoped that Bolton’s regeneration programme will have provided 1,700 homes and 4,411 full-time jobs by 2030, injecting £487.5m GVA of additional economic activity.

Comment by Paula Broadbent, retirement solutions director at ENGIE. “The best way to predict the future is to create it” – Abraham Lincoln I have always found this quote inspirational, and it has particularly influenced my personal ambition to provide better choices for older people in the UK. LIFEstyle by ENGIE, which launched in 2018, is a result of this ambition. It allows customers to have more control over their environment and their own futures in later life. To empower people, is to engage with them – so at LIFEstyle we have invested heavily in research and development through two-way communication. Our best advisors and advocates are our customers, and we have given people over 55, a voice right from the start of the LIFEstyle vision. We aim to ensure we understand what people aspire to in later life, and what the challenges are that they face – this is essential to creating a future that meets expectation, as well as need.  When Spring of 2020 brought unprecedented times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a major impact was felt across the world; creating fear, dismay and devastation for many, especially the older generation. Our LIFEstyle customers have not been immune to the ravaging effects, however, the sense of community, safe environment and individualised support available on our development has made the world of difference. This along with carefully designed lifelong homes offering indoor and outdoor independent space has helped people to remain safe and independent. I am very proud of our business model, LIFEstyle is weathering the pandemic – a storm no one could predict. We’re lucky to be working with a model that has proved successful in some of the toughest conditions the UK has faced for generations. However, we are not sitting on our laurels as we review the lessons learnt by scientists in relation to the spread of the virus. We’re constantly looking to identify preventative measures that we can build into our products and services in readiness for a spike or repeat of such a pandemic. The demand for our first LIFEstyle development in Walton Wakefield has increased two-fold since the lockdown eased and customer comments give a clear indication the approach at LIFEstyle by ENGIE is the right way forward. This is only strengthened by our commitment to delivering zero carbon communities. Climate change is the pandemic we will not be able to develop a vaccine for, but we can slow it down and prevent it. The implications of doing nothing are far reaching and the devastation will not discriminate. My ambition is to build on the success of LIFEstyle, to create community based zero carbon solutions that decarbonise the environment and decentralise services. The impact of us doing something about climate change will be massive for future generations and can empower us all to create our own future. As a senior leader within ENGIE, I make no apologies for being ambitious in my drive to deliver a business model that will change the horizon for future generations of older people in the UK. I aim to drive a way forward for a healthy future, for an environment that allows older generations to have aspirations in later life and a vision to support people to age well and live well, whilst protecting our planet. We will connect communities, health, housing and social care across all tenure groups. I am proud to work for a business with a clear mission, to place the planet and its population at the heart of its thinking when it comes to creating place, shaping and delivering infrastructure and services, to meet the need for a sustainable future. And I remain determined, to give the older generation a voice through education and engagement with younger creators, to ensure they are rightfully empowered to create their own futures.  LIFEstyle by ENGIE is not simply about building suitable, lifelong homes to address short term aspirational needs of people over 55 or about providing a lovely home in a great location. LIFEstyle by ENGIE made a commitment to customers to provide long term sustainability and enable customers to influence, shape and control their own future; a future focused on remaining independent and well for longer. LIFEstyle by ENGIE, allows people to future proof their lives and not just their home – promoting better long-term outcomes in later life. A home is not simply about an energy efficient building in the right location, it’s the support network of friends, family and interaction within the community that all contribute towards creating the perfect lifelong home. We understand this, and are committed to creating communities that focus on essential infrastructure like; location, accessibility to essential services, efficient green energy infrastructure, digital network and community facilities. We want to enable people to engage with others in meaningful activities, bringing all generations closer together. The community hub is a key feature of all our LIFEstyle developments, along with cost effective pay as you go services and property adaptations when people need them. We ensure affordability of services and facilities which support wellbeing and make this all available on the doorstep. We are also working on innovations to compliment LIFEstyle by ENGIE, which we hope to launch later this year including; Electric Car share, ENGIE Digital Assistant and Modular Lifelong homes. Ultimately, when it comes to happiness at any age, there are three homes we must take care of. Our body, our mind and our planet. At LIFEstyle we ensure our flexible and dynamic offering takes care of all three without compromise.

The majority of project professionals say they have increased their focus on Net Zero carbon projects as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Association for Project Management (APM) can reveal. A poll of over 860 project practitioners, undertaken for APM by research company Censuswide, found that 51 per cent of respondents claimed the global pandemic has led to them and their organisation placing ‘slightly greater’ or ‘significantly greater’ focus on Net Zero carbon projects. Just six per cent said they were placing less focus on Net Zero carbon projects as a result of coronavirus. The remainder said there was no difference to their focus on Net Zero. The industry sectors that reported the greatest increase in focus on Net Zero were: HR (89 per cent of respondents reported a greater focus on Net-Zero carbon projects) Telecoms (69 per cent) Transport and logistics (69 per cent) Reducing the environmental impact of projects has long been an aim of those responsible for planning and delivery, but there has been an increased emphasis on making projects carbon neutral – and even carbon negative – since the Government announced in June 2019 a target for Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Debbie Lewis, director of strategic architecture programmes at BT, said: “Achieving Net Zero remains high on the agenda for project managers, despite the impact caused by the global pandemic. Climate change will continue to worsen and accelerate, and so it’s vital that it continues to be addressed and tackled. The project profession has a major role to play in helping to achieve a sustainable Net Zero future.”  APM is supporting the project profession to minimise the environmental impact of projects and help them adapt to the future climate. It has itself made a commitment to become a carbon-neutral organisation by 2050, if not sooner, and to take action around the following objectives: Raising awareness and encouraging debate about the consequences of climate change and how individuals and organisations can make a difference now and in the future Guiding, advocating and promoting the need for investment in climate change adaptation, mitigation and sustainable development by working in collaboration with public bodies, professional bodies and other stakeholders Encouraging, identifying and celebrating good practice within the project profession that responds to the climate change challenge Sharing and disseminating knowledge and research to encourage the take up of project innovations which are responsive to climate change and sustainability challenges Promoting education, training and professional development opportunities to help APM members gain the knowledge and skills to respond effectively to climate change. David Thomson, head of external affairs at APM, said: “We recognise that climate change is one of the great challenges of this or any generation. This survey demonstrates that the project profession is not being deflected by the current pandemic to postpone action or ignore the coming challenges of climate change and biodiversity. Addressing that will require big changes across all sectors and will be a significant factor in every project professional’s work in the years ahead. “As the chartered body for the project profession, APM will support its members, partners and the project profession to ensure projects of every size and purpose address and, where possible, minimise their environmental impact and adapt for the future.”