Godwin Group, the UK property development investment firm, has expanded its network with a new office in London. The company, which has recently announced a number of new high profile appointments, already has existing bases in Nottingham and Birmingham. “As a leading international financial centre, London is a key location
A special award has been handed to a north-east housebuilder based in Banchory for its exceptional customer service. Bancon Homes has been presented with the Outstanding Customer Service award by In House Research, which carries out customer surveys. “It’s a fantastic achievement to have been awarded the Outstanding Customer Service Award.
Last year, the number of people employed in the British Armed Forces numbered nearly 150,000. Of those, over 80,000 employed in the British Army and over 30,000 in the Royal Navy. However, over 14,000 people leave the military every year. This has become somewhat of a blessing for the construction
An ambitious project aims to draw up a digital map of all UK underground pipes and cables to end strikes and save workers lives. To achieve that, the government’s Geospatial Commission plans to collate existing data on underground pipes and cables to create an Underground Assets Register. The feasibility of
A landmark acquisition comprising of a 928-home site near Leeds Docks, the largest in its history, has been secured by English housing association The Guinness Partnership in Leeds. The site is just a few minutes’ walk from Leeds Station and the new HS2, with Leeds South Bank set to provide
The joint venture between Trebor Developments and Hillwood has acquired a 25 acre site in order to develop a 400,000 sq ft building for the logistics sector. The site acquired by the pair is Gateway 4 in Doncaster, near the M18 motorway. A planning application is on its way as the
Galliford Try Partnerships has been named to deliver the first 725 homes at Enfield Council’s £6 billion Meridian Water scheme. After a robust evaluation of four very strong bids, Enfield Council’s Cabinet decided that developer Galliford Try Partnerships is best placed to deliver on value, quality, design and financial robustness.
The function of HR is going through a rapid change. As with all industries and internal business functions, the advent of technology has boosted abilities and allowed for the once intangible to become tangible through the capture and analysis of data. In the past 20 years, its function has gone
Denbighshire County Council and its partners are discussing plans to turn Rhyl’s Queen’s Buildings into a pivotal piece in the ongoing regeneration of the town. The talks revolved around the transformation of the site into a vibrant mix of retail, food and beverage, contemporary market, office and residential space while
A £4.4 million contract has been awarded by the Department for Education to Interserve Group to design and build a new teaching block and refurbish the sports hall at Ridgewood High School, in Stourbridge. Part of the Department’s Priority Schools Building Programme, the project will be delivered in partnership alongside Stour
Godwin Group, the UK property development investment firm, has expanded its network with a new office in London. The company, which has recently announced a number of new high profile appointments, already has existing bases in Nottingham and Birmingham. “As a leading international financial centre, London is a key location for Godwin Capital to enhance its corporate profile, provide expansion opportunities and access to one of the world’s deepest pools of capital,” said Andrew Mitchell, group investment director of Godwin Group. “The build-to-rent (BTR) sector continues to grow apace; operators are looking to take advantage of improved yields and a wider selection of sites across the UK as infrastructures improve and lower land prices make development lucrative. Many of the key players in this market are based out of head offices in London. Godwin Group’s new London office is strategically located to provide this vital link, local contact and expertise for its regional businesses,” Andrew added. The new London office provides a new base of operations for both arms of the business, Godwin Developments and Godwin Capital. “Godwin Group has seen huge growth over the past months. Our new London office will allow us to accommodate further expansion plans and look to reach new markets in our key sectors. These are exciting times for Godwin Group and we are looking forward to expanding our network even further with the opening of our London office,” commented Stephen Pratt, group land director of Godwin Group. Godwin’s recent successes include a proposed new BTR scheme of 201 apartments at The Landmark development in Derby, Godwin Capital’s launch of innovative new investment products and the launch of the group’s BTR brand called Core Living – which plans to build up to 2,500 new homes over the next four years.
A special award has been handed to a north-east housebuilder based in Banchory for its exceptional customer service. Bancon Homes has been presented with the Outstanding Customer Service award by In House Research, which carries out customer surveys. “It’s a fantastic achievement to have been awarded the Outstanding Customer Service Award. To be one of only five housebuilders in the UK to achieve this level of customer service is testament to the hard work of everyone at Bancon Homes and I would like to thank all our colleagues for their continued efforts in delivering the best possible customer service. We pride ourselves on the level of individual customer care we provide. It really matters to us that each and every customer is happy with their home, we know how important it is,” said Allan Clow, the managing director of Bancon Homes. Tom Weston, the chief operating officer of In House Research, said the award was down to the “exceptional quality, regular communications and personal service” given to customers. In addition to its exceptional customer service, the construction firm has also retained its Gold Award accreditation, which is based on 90% of its customers saying they would recommend the firm to another person.
Last year, the number of people employed in the British Armed Forces numbered nearly 150,000. Of those, over 80,000 employed in the British Army and over 30,000 in the Royal Navy. However, over 14,000 people leave the military every year. This has become somewhat of a blessing for the construction industry, as it has created a sea of potential employees. Over 200,000 extra workers are needed before 2020 and ex-military personnel have highly transferrable skillsets and the potential to reach the top of the industry. Ryan Latham, Senior Marketing Executive for 3B Training, has experienced firsthand how businesses can benefit from hiring ex-military personnel. “Construction as an industry is growing, but it’s also is experiencing a gap in skills. An excellent way to fill in the hole for personnel with leadership, project management and teamwork skills is to investigate the pool of military leavers available. These transferable attributes are a valuable resource for the construction industry to help bring in skilled young workers. Other industries appear to ignore Armed Forces leavers as potential employees, so much so that some leave their service history from their CV. Little do they know that they are missing out on a range of positive personality traits such as courage, discipline, selflessness and respect for others”. Below, we take a closer look at what it’s like working in the military, what motivates members of the Armed Forces and why transitioning to a career in construction is the ideal next step for a leaver. Why do people leave the military? To understand why many people choose to leave the service, we’ve examined data from the 2018 UK Regular Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey Results which look at the impact of decisions affecting personnel. Life in the Armed Forces requires specific demands that aren’t found in civilian jobs. When deployed, military personnel can find themselves away from their families for long periods of time, often in dangerous situations. Yet despite this, we found that the most common reasons for military personnel to seek a new career path are down to more familiar concerns: Job satisfaction — Only 55% of military personnel claimed they were generally satisfied with their job. Pay satisfaction — There has been a consistent drop in pay satisfaction since 2010, with only 31% currently admitting to being happy with their salary. Life satisfaction — When questioning their happiness and how worthwhile they feel the things they do in life are, at least one in five members of the military rate them as low. Since 2005, the Royal Marines have also seen a large decrease in the levels of satisfaction with opportunities for professional and personal development. It seems then, that much like civilian jobs, careers in the military are more motivated by personal growth and satisfaction. This has led to a staggering 42% of military personnel actively searching for a new career outside of the Armed Forces over the past 12 months. Why choose construction? The construction industry is currently suffering from a skills shortage, resulting in a need for over 200,000 more workers by 2020. According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the lack of skilled workers in the UK is the highest level since 2007, meaning the government’s initiative to build 300,000 new homes each year looks optimistic at best. Former military personnel have a great opportunity to fill the construction skills gap. There are many sectors in the Armed Forces which provide their personnel with a number of highly transferrable skills, whether that’s engineering, mechanics or electronic. A number of companies recognise the potential of military leavers and provide specialist training programmes to help them adjust to civilian life and a new career in construction. There are specialist courses available that provide Enhanced Learning Credits to enable lifelong learning to ex-members of the military or those looking to leave. These credits cover 80% of course fees and are available to anyone who has served a minimum of 6 years. Working in construction allows leavers to put their experience to good use in a number of potential opportunities. The industry is not only in desperate need of construction workers but also manager positions, which is perfect for ex-officers who have experience leading teams and getting results in difficult situations. What makes ex-military personnel a desirable workforce? When working in the armed forces, you receive a level of training that simply isn’t available in other career paths. Regardless of their previous role, leavers are all highly disciplined and have fantastic teamwork skills. According to the Armed Forces survey results, 82% agree that they have confidence in themselves as a team, plus, 78% believe their team know exactly what their responsibilities are and that their team can be relied upon to help when their job gets difficult. A strong team that can work well together and keep their cool under pressure is exactly what the construction industry needs. Many working in the military are proud of the work they do, with 50% of the Royal Marines claiming that their service inspires them to do the best in their job. With the construction industry looking for a dedicated new workforce, finding employees who take pride in their work is crucial. Leavers are not just job applicants to the construction industry, they’re assets. Due to their experiences in the Armed Forces, they can pick up skills much faster than most people in civilian professions and can help quickly fill the large skills gap. A team of highly trained, dedicated workers and authoritative, respected managers is the solution the industry has been looking for. Samantha Gregory, Training Coordinator at 3B Training and former Vehicle Mechanic in the REME, knows firsthand what ex-military can offer the construction industry. “The work ethic for military leavers is completely different from civilians. It is embedded in us to turn up on time (5 minutes before 5 minutes early) and to just get the job done. Leavers are great at working under pressure and are taught to work through
An ambitious project aims to draw up a digital map of all UK underground pipes and cables to end strikes and save workers lives. To achieve that, the government’s Geospatial Commission plans to collate existing data on underground pipes and cables to create an Underground Assets Register. The feasibility of the project is being tested in London and Sunderland. “The creation of an underground map of utility assets has long been an ambition of Ordnance Survey. And over the last year we have been working closely with Northumbrian Water and a consortia of utility companies and local authorities in the North East of England, to explore how accurate geospatial data can improve underground infrastructure maintenance and inform new-build development projects,” said David Henderson, the managing director of Ordnance Survey Great Britain. “The investment being made by the Geospatial Commission will ultimately enable the utility industry to more efficiently access, use and share data describing otherwise hidden infrastructure, thereby reducing operational costs, minimising disruption and accelerating completion of site works,” he added. One of the biggest issues is that currently there is no comprehensive underground map of the UK’s service network. Organisations have their own maps showing where gas pipes and electricity cables are, but the lack of a combined map creates an increased risk of potentially lethal accidents. Once the project is in place, workers will be able to see all teh right details on mobile phones or laptop computers before they start a dig. It would be wise to gain knowledge in maps with the Chad Kimball course “Working alongside local authorities, other utility services and partners has meant that we are off to a good start in mapping Sunderland’s underground. We are looking forward to working with government and others to showcase the powers of data sharing for public good,” said Heidi Mottram, CEO of Northumbrian Water. It is estimated that the cost of disruption from accidental strikes on underground pipes and cables is £1.2bn a year to the UK’s economy.
A landmark acquisition comprising of a 928-home site near Leeds Docks, the largest in its history, has been secured by English housing association The Guinness Partnership in Leeds. The site is just a few minutes’ walk from Leeds Station and the new HS2, with Leeds South Bank set to provide 35,000 jobs and deliver 8,000 new homes over the next 15 years. The Hunslet Road site will offer 600,000 sq ft of homes and commercial space to contribute to this vision. “This site, within the Leeds South Bank Regeneration and Innovation District, is a fantastic opportunity for us to create over 900 homes in a vibrant new neighbourhood in Leeds. We intend at least 35% of the homes to be affordable,” said Catriona Simons, Chief Executive of The Guinness Partnership. Guinness has committed to ensuring at least 35% of the available homes will be for the affordable housing market. The site was purchased with the support of part of the funding recently granted by Homes England to Guinness to start building an extra 4,500 affordable homes across England by 2022. “The Guinness Partnership’s proposals are fantastic news for Leeds. That it is committing to its biggest ever scheme here and intending to deliver so many new affordable homes is a real mark of confidence in our vision for the South Bank, where we want to ensure regeneration and growth benefits all the city’s residents,” added Councillor Richard Lewis, Leeds City Council’s executive member for regeneration, transport and planning.
The joint venture between Trebor Developments and Hillwood has acquired a 25 acre site in order to develop a 400,000 sq ft building for the logistics sector. The site acquired by the pair is Gateway 4 in Doncaster, near the M18 motorway. A planning application is on its way as the venture aims to develop the building designed for the logistics sector over the next 12 months. Subject to planning approval, work is due to start on site in the summer and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2020. The development will be marketed by Trebor/Hillwood as Gateway 4, Doncaster. “We are delighted to be acquiring this site from Lazarus Properties and bringing forward such a major transaction in the North. We anticipate our current pipeline of schemes in the North of England delivering in the order of one million sq ft over the next 12 months, in a range of unit sizes,” commented Bob Tattrie, managing partner of Trebor Developments. The agents are CBRE and CPP.
Galliford Try Partnerships has been named to deliver the first 725 homes at Enfield Council’s £6 billion Meridian Water scheme. After a robust evaluation of four very strong bids, Enfield Council’s Cabinet decided that developer Galliford Try Partnerships is best placed to deliver on value, quality, design and financial robustness. “This is the start of a bright new era for Meridian Water and we welcome Galliford Try Partnerships to the team. We are extremely excited to be working with Galliford Try as they have demonstrated that they will be able to deliver quality, well-designed homes in a timely manner and social infrastructure that reflects the Meridian Water vision,” said Enfield Council’s Leader, Cllr Nesil Caliskan. The first homes will be built by 2022 and will include a significant number of affordable units, as well as new public squares, shops and leisure facilities. The new homes will be delivered around the new Meridian Water train station, which is due to open next month and serve up to four million rail passengers a year. Outline planning permission is already in place for the new homes, with construction enabling work having started in January 2017. The first phase forms part of the £6 billion Meridian Water development, which will deliver 10,000 homes and 6,000 jobs, alongside world-class public spaces, community facilities and road and rail networks. “We are delighted to have been selected to work in close partnership with Enfield Council and the local communities on the delivery of Meridian One as a new vibrant mixed-use, mixed-tenure neighbourhood. We will create an environment for local people to thrive – providing quality affordable homes, opportunities for local start-up businesses to flourish, great public spaces and a design which celebrates the parkland character of the Lea Valley. It is a great opportunity to demonstrate responsible and accountable regeneration through a responsible, accountable partnership,” commented Stephen Teagle, Chief Executive of Galliford Try Partnerships. In addition, the search for a new developer for Meridian Two, at Leeside Road has also started. The scheme will deliver circa 250 affordable homes with workspace on the lower floors, earmarked to bring makers and creators to the area. The appointment of Galliford Try Partnerships as the Master Developer for Meridian One is subject to call in, the statutory stand-still period and is also subject to contract.
The function of HR is going through a rapid change. As with all industries and internal business functions, the advent of technology has boosted abilities and allowed for the once intangible to become tangible through the capture and analysis of data. In the past 20 years, its function has gone from submitting absenteeism reports to reporting on turnover and other employee numbers, to today delivering tangible business outcomes. While HR professionals have long cared about business strategy, the challenge has always been the ability to forecast, to prove with some degree of certainty what their actions would deliver for the business – what retention really meant. With the inability to predict outcomes, HR historically battled a disconnect when requesting budgets, knowing that their actions would have positive impacts, but not always being able to say exactly what that meant for the bottom line. The shift has begun; HR Managers or Directors are now becoming HR Business Partners, a sign that the function of HR is transitioning towards something more strategic, aligning with the goals of the business and driving outcomes that can be measured in a way business leaders understand and therefore demonstrating ROI. What is strategic HR? Strategic HR includes all of the typical HR components, including hiring, discipline, and payroll, but through the use of technology, HR can now also work with the business to boost retention, improve the quality of the work experience, and maximise the mutual benefit of employment for both the employee and the employer. HR departments today collect massive amounts of people data which can fulfil business goals and be presented to management in a more impactful way. Utilising business intelligence tools, HR teams can now forecast the ROI of their initiatives to prescribe the most effective course of action, whether for attracting new employees, retaining existing employees, or running initiatives internally to boost morale and drive sales. If the business wants to lower internal costs, HR teams can implement goals that back this up by employing increasingly effective strategies to retain more talent, thus lowering recruitment costs. Informed insight means informed decisions With the state of this technology as it is today, a proper HR analytics tool requires no major overhaul for a business. These tools simply pair with the best of breed systems an organisation already has and then creates a warehouse of data. No painful starting point. No need to be a data scientist. It is ‘drag and drop’ level easy with the massive upside of giving HR professionals unprecedented insight into the minds of their employees and thus the heart of their organisation. Workforce analytics tools help businesses to make better decisions, find hot spots, identify managers that are failing or excelling, identify employees to try and replicate, define programs that boost morale, and quickly quash initiatives, policies or other internal situations that are harming the happiness of the people. What can be uncovered with these tools is innumerable, but the simplest and most powerful outcome is preventing the loss of employees by leveraging employee data to make smart retention plans. After all, the largest unnecessary expense for a business is to lose good employees. If a company spends, on average, $100 per employee on retention, it makes sense that they would want to know who is actually most likely to quit, and who is most worth focussing the investment and time on retaining. This critical information helps to create and sharpen retention and engagement plans and forecast what costs could be saved as a result. Modern HR is backed up to the business HR teams now have the ability to be right there to back up business goals, attracting and retaining the best talent and consulting with the business on the best initiatives for employee satisfaction, even down to which policies could be replaced to retain more employees. Additionally, people analytics strategies allow HR departments to align measurable goals with business goals, provide actionable analytics to the right roles, suggest actions to improve the future, measure the impact of these actions, and report outcomes to the business. The benefit for the business is obvious; clear, predictive analytics to show the measurable business outcomes that can come from HR initiatives. For HR professionals, these tools not only allow them to work with more efficiency, but it also brings them into a new era where HR can stand as a strategic business partner, with tangible evidence to back up what they have known all along: happy people drive business forward. Brad Winsor, VP Workforce Analytics, SplashBI
Denbighshire County Council and its partners are discussing plans to turn Rhyl’s Queen’s Buildings into a pivotal piece in the ongoing regeneration of the town. The talks revolved around the transformation of the site into a vibrant mix of retail, food and beverage, contemporary market, office and residential space while improving accessibility from the waterfront and promenade into the town centre. In addition, plans could also include an open courtyard and public space in the £30 million plus development, which includes the former Savoy Hotel and Queen’s Market buildings. Currently, work is progressing on the initial designs, costings and viability of the project, which forms part of the long term vision for Rhyl Town Centre exhibited in the former Granite Outdoors shop at the beginning of April, before a planning application is submitted later this year. “We see the Queen’s Buildings as key in the regeneration of Rhyl. This site will be pivotal in linking the regeneration on the waterfront to the town centre and providing a fantastic offer in its own right. This project can transform the town centre,” said Graham Boase, the Council’s Corporate Director for the Economy and Public Realm. “After 12 months of working with businesses, residents and visitors to Rhyl the feedback was that the town centre needed a vibrant market space to draw people into the town centre and increase footfall. This will help support and grow businesses and our vision sees local, independent traders as central to this, creating jobs and opportunities locally. Parts of the buildings are in very poor condition and whilst we will try and retain as much of the original architecture as possible, there will inevitably be areas that will need to be demolished,” Graham added. The project is being funded by Denbighshire County Council, the Welsh Government and the European Regional Development Fund. The site will remain open in the coming months with current occupiers continuing to trade. The Council recently opened the £15 million SC2 attraction and other investment includes the 1891 restaurant and remodelling of the Pavilion Theatre, while private sector investment encouraged by the Council has seen the opening of two new hotels. The Council and the previous owners have found no remaining sections of the former Little Venice attraction despite extensive work being carried out on the building over a number of years. As the project develops there will be further excavation work taking place on the site. A pre-planning consultation will be launched later this summer offering residents and businesses the chance to have their say on the more detailed plans as part of the ongoing project consultation.
A £4.4 million contract has been awarded by the Department for Education to Interserve Group to design and build a new teaching block and refurbish the sports hall at Ridgewood High School, in Stourbridge. Part of the Department’s Priority Schools Building Programme, the project will be delivered in partnership alongside Stour Vale Multi-Academy Trust and the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley and construction is due to start in April 2019. “The award of this contract reflects Interserve’s expertise in delivering first-rate education projects across the UK and adds to our strategic portfolio of school work in the West Midlands. We are delighted to once again work with the Department for Education and look forward to delivering this important project, which will bring significant benefits to the community,” commented Simon Butler, Divisional Director at Interserve Construction. As part of the contract, Interserve Construction will build a new teaching block, due for completion in December 2019. The old block will be demolished alongside two old Portakabin-style classrooms. In addition, Interserve will refurbish the existing sports hall and changing rooms block, with completion expected in October 2019. The changing areas will be remodelled to provide better access to staff changing areas and level access shower rooms. Following demolition of the old block, small lobby extensions will be created to improve circulation and toilet accommodation. “This is fantastic news for our students and staff. We can now look forward to a significant rebuilding, refurbishment and modernisation of our buildings and facilities. The proposed developments will contribute to improving educational achievement and renew the pride in our school for the benefit of students, staff and the community generally,” said Ridgewood High School Head Teacher, Rae Cope. Other school and education projects delivered by Interserve Construction in the West Midlands include Moorgate Primary School, Tamworth; Wood End Primary School, Wolverhampton; Turves Green Boys School, Birmingham and a new teaching block at RSA Academy for Sandwell Futures.