Gilbert-Ash, the leading UK construction, refurbishment and fit out contractor, has announced its financial results for the year ended 31 December 2017, which confirm a 50% increase in pre-tax profits, reaching over £2 million, up from £1.4 million in 2016. Additionally, the contractor reported an overall turnover of £165.5 million,
Newby, the North Yorkshire developer, has submitted an outline planning application to Newcastle City Council for a new £250 million sustainable urban village on the former Calders site, Skinnerburn Road, Newcastle, following extensive public consultation. The proposal is known as Quayside West and it includes up to 1,500 high-quality residential
Abloy UK, the security expert, has launched an innovative Escape Door System (EDS) that offers easy access and egress, while ensuring compliance, security and the ability to implement dynamic lockdown procedures. EDS provides a compliant solution for an escape door when read-in / read-out access control is specified, combining the
The contract for the new £7.6 million waterfront link road for a new Isle of Man Ferry Terminal in Liverpool is yet to be awarded. The scheme will provide access from Waterloo Road to the £30 million facility in Princes Half Tide Dock, located within Peel Land and Property Limited’s
It has certainly been a case of full steam ahead for Aggregate Industries’ expert concrete division over the past few months in helping to provide the complex flooring concrete specification needed for the newly-launched Lake District’s Windermere Jetty project. Currently in construction, Windermere Jetty was commissioned by North West’s arts
At the heart of the NEC’s £4.5 million transformation has been an Acivico architect that supplied concept designs for the stunning and technically innovative pyramid formations, which will completely change the look and feel of Birmingham’s iconic premier international conference and leisure venue. Principal Architect Alan McBeth developed three gigantic
Hub South West’s ninth Building for Growth programme is now underway and is open to any company looking to grow in a sustainable manner by building the skills and internal capacity to take on increasing volumes of business and, as a result, look to winning new work from participating Tier
AluFoldDirect will be proving to the entire construction industry that aluminium glazing can be problem-free by featuring ‘Everything Aluminium Without the Pain’ on the PiGS Product Pavilion at The Build Show, part of UK Construction Week. “The aluminium glazing market is more buoyant than ever which is why it’s crucial
A 190,000 sq ft former engineering works on a 10 acre site adjacent to the East Gate at Port of Newport has been purchased by ABP South Wales. The sale of the site, known locally as the Neptune Works, is believed to be the largest industrial property sale in South
In a bid to raise vital funds for the Steve Prescott Foundation charity and the other charities it supports, a team of eight cyclists have conquered a gruelling 3000-mile endurance race across some of the toughest terrain Europe has to offer. Taking part in the Race Across Europe (RAC), the
Gilbert-Ash, the leading UK construction, refurbishment and fit out contractor, has announced its financial results for the year ended 31 December 2017, which confirm a 50% increase in pre-tax profits, reaching over £2 million, up from £1.4 million in 2016. Additionally, the contractor reported an overall turnover of £165.5 million, an increase from £148 million in the previous year. Having worked on several landmark buildings in the UK across a range of niche sectors, Gilbert-Ash managed to drive financial turnover and growth. Some of the company’s prestigious work includes the £19.5 million Cambridge Mosque project, the £21.5 million build of the AC Marriott Hotel in Belfast, as well as the award-winning City of London Freemen’s School swimming pool and the £20.5 million new build of the renowned Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts with Dame Judi Dench at the helm as President. “Whilst market conditions remain highly competitive, the results emphasise the continued success of our strategy to focus on our strengths and invest in national and international markets to deliver landmark buildings. Gilbert-Ash is an employee owned company which certainly leads to a unique working culture and family environment, and the results are in no small part down to this environment and ‘can do’ attitude of our dedicated team. We have had the privilege of working with excellent clients, partners and suppliers, and we really do work as one to deliver innovative, bespoke buildings across the landscape,” commented Ray Hutchinson, Managing Director, Gilbert-Ash. The company is a trusted partner and strong client relationships have led to significant repeat business, including a relationship with Foreign and Commonwealth Office spanning over 20 years and 43 countries, including work in France, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Hungary in 2017. Another one of Gilbert-Ash’s achievements for the year is being recognised within the industry by winning the coveted ‘Contractor of the Year’ title in the UK Construction News Awards.
Newby, the North Yorkshire developer, has submitted an outline planning application to Newcastle City Council for a new £250 million sustainable urban village on the former Calders site, Skinnerburn Road, Newcastle, following extensive public consultation. The proposal is known as Quayside West and it includes up to 1,500 high-quality residential properties, along with a hotel and up to 10,605 sq m of commercial, community and leisure space. Access to the site will be provided by a new east/west spine road for vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. Significant new landscaping and public realm, including public open spaces, viewpoints and walkways will also make Quayside West an attractive destination for visitors. Likely to be constructed over a ten-year period, this major regeneration project will create more than 600 construction and supply chain jobs in the process and once fully operational, Quayside West could support up to 575 full-time equivalent permanent jobs. “Our development team has worked hard to devise proposals which will make Quayside West an attractive place to live, work and visit. The site is well-located and our design will ensure that it connects to the city centre, the River Tyne and wider area. As a result, Quayside West could act as the catalyst for the Council’s exciting plans to redevelop the Forth Yards area,” said Nick Moody, Director at Newby. “We are delighted with the response we have had from the community since we announced the proposals in June. Our public exhibition event was well attended and the public consultation feedback has been really positive. It is clear that people want to see this derelict site brought back into use. An outline planning application has now been submitted to Newcastle City Council and we look forward to continuing our dialogue with the local authority,” Nick added. Quayside West has been identified for development within the planning policy and forms a major part of Newcastle City Council’s Forth Yards Opportunity Site, which has been earmarked for regeneration.
Abloy UK, the security expert, has launched an innovative Escape Door System (EDS) that offers easy access and egress, while ensuring compliance, security and the ability to implement dynamic lockdown procedures. EDS provides a compliant solution for an escape door when read-in / read-out access control is specified, combining the three components required for BS EN 13637 (electronically controlled escape door systems for doors along escape routes). Moreover, the system offers Blocking with a fail-unlocked locking element that does not require any mechanical input to operate and intelligent Control that allows connection to fire alarm systems or other building control systems to ensure escape in an emergency. The Trigger unit also incorporates a key-switch and a push button that tells the controller to release the locking mechanism to allow safe escape. “The importance of emergency escape systems is often underestimated because such events are relatively rare, but getting it wrong can lead to the loss of life, substantial fines and even custodial sentences,” said Caroline Jones, OEM Product Manager at Abloy UK. Understanding the importance of being able to quickly restrict access in response to threats, Abloy launched EDS in order to provide dynamic lockdown, allowing specific zones that may be at risk within a building to be cordoned off, while still allowing escape. Models available include the EDS 1386 No Delay Terminal – Surface Mounted Escape door 24 V DC, and the EDS 1386 T1 Delay Terminal – Surface Mounted Escape door 24 V DC. Furthermore, Abloy offers free Academy courses, including Foundations and Foundations Plus, to provide training of the highest standard on compliant locking solutions, with dedicated facilities for presentations and hands-on practical training. “Security products and systems are always implemented to protect some form of asset, but at Abloy UK we firmly believe that the most valuable asset is life – which is why we offer products such as the EDS as well as pioneering education of life safety standards with our free Academy courses,” concluded Caroline.
The contract for the new £7.6 million waterfront link road for a new Isle of Man Ferry Terminal in Liverpool is yet to be awarded. The scheme will provide access from Waterloo Road to the £30 million facility in Princes Half Tide Dock, located within Peel Land and Property Limited’s £5 billion Liverpool Waters scheme. Part of the £45 million Liverpool city centre connectivity scheme, this scheme also includes the construction of a second waterfront link road to provide a connection between the existing Bath Street/Princes Parade/Waterloo Road junction and the new signalised junction at Leeds Street/Great Howard Street (A565). “The new Isle of Man ferry link road is a vital scheme and I’m delighted we are now at the stage to make the project live. The road’s core function of is obviously to support the new ferry terminal but it will also bolster the wider development of the Liverpool Waters scheme and we are grateful to Peel and the city region combined authority for their support in this scheme,” said Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson. “Creating this infrastructure is a huge priority for the city council because of its potential to fuel a renaissance in North Liverpool – not least the Ten Streets creativity district and the expansion of the Commercial Business District – which will underpin billions of investment that will benefit this city for generations to come,” the Mayor continued. The contractor will be appointed following a Europe-wide procurement process and a report to the council’s cabinet that will recommend the contract to be awarded. The highways contractor will be formally appointed on cabinet approval and then head of terms will be signed with Peel Land and Property Limited to lease the land to the council for the construction of the road. “The creation of these roads will make access to Liverpool Waters much easier for those living, working and visiting the waterfront, as well as the various construction and commercial vehicles that will be entering Liverpool Waters as the project continues to progress,” added Darran Lawless, Development Director at Peel Land and Property, responsible for Liverpool Waters.
It has certainly been a case of full steam ahead for Aggregate Industries’ expert concrete division over the past few months in helping to provide the complex flooring concrete specification needed for the newly-launched Lake District’s Windermere Jetty project. Currently in construction, Windermere Jetty was commissioned by North West’s arts and heritage association, Lakeland Arts, on the site of the original and iconic Windermere Steamboat Museum. The world class museum houses a collection of over 50 vessels of historic boats telling the story of boating on Windermere from 1780 to the present day. As part of the brief, lead contractor Thomas Armstrong Construction was tasked with providing a consistently dust free and durable surface flooring finish with no cracks to the museum’s extensive exhibition halls. The business subsequently awarded the work to industry expert, Aggregate Industries who oversaw the entire flooring specification; not only supplying the full product requirement but working with a design specialist to ensure a seamless solutions approach. “As a market leader, we have a raft of high performance concrete solutions at our disposal, all of which are based on carefully selected controlled binders, admixtures and aggregates, in order to provide enhanced and special technical properties for specialist applications,” said Neil Cochrane, specification manager at Aggregate Industries. Crucially, as a traditional dry shake topping would have been incredibly difficult to install over the museum’s underfloor heating solution, a tailor-made combination of internal Diamondcrete® slabs was used throughout. Carefully constructed from controlled binders and admixtures in conjunction with aggregates, Diamondcrete boasts superior durability and enhanced performance where abrasive elements are present. The result is a robust, superior strength concrete flooring solution able to withstand the harsh weather conditions associated with the area, along with high frequency and use expected of the museum. “This latest project at Lake Windermere is the perfect example of the importance of taking a tailored approach to concrete specification. We have no doubt that our combined supply of Diamondcrete concrete with its superior toughness, high volume stability and reduced shrinkage has created a durable flooring solution that will last for years to come,” concluded Neil.
At the heart of the NEC’s £4.5 million transformation has been an Acivico architect that supplied concept designs for the stunning and technically innovative pyramid formations, which will completely change the look and feel of Birmingham’s iconic premier international conference and leisure venue. Principal Architect Alan McBeth developed three gigantic custom designed trapezoidal shapes, each the size of a three-story house, using the latest design software. When connected, these form a 3D wall of 37 units, reinventing and giving life to the flat facades on five of the halls, originally constructed in 1976. Using state-of-the-art membrane technology and a healthy dose of imagination, the vision was for the facade to be covered with stretched membranes combined with colourful vector graphics panels, positioned between the 3D trapezoidal shapes. “The design required the use of the latest in tensile fabric innovation from within the UK and we found the print graphics specialist in Holland – the only company in the world that could print the polyester fabric which covers the trapezoids to the correct lifespan requirement,” said Alan McBeth. “The magnitude of this work has to be seen to be appreciated, but it is very scalable and there is no doubt this type of design treatment can be applied to give an economical facelift to other aging buildings, large or small, in need of some TLC,” he continued. The final colour changing boulder pattern was designed and supplied by international PR and advertising firm McCann whose programmable LED animated backlighting has created a dynamic and engaging environment for the 7 million annual visitors to the campus, but it’s at night that guests can really see the complex come to life. Acivico has used graphic visualisation technology to share the display. “We are delighted with the outcome of these concept designs by Acivico. The team understood the brief perfectly and came up with a unique concept using innovative technology which they brought to life using superb 3D visuals. The finished results are stunning,” commented Martin Clarke, NEC Marketing Director. The NEC’s ‘project facelift’ will be officially revealed with the launch of the Bear Grylls adventure world in October 2018.
Hub South West’s ninth Building for Growth programme is now underway and is open to any company looking to grow in a sustainable manner by building the skills and internal capacity to take on increasing volumes of business and, as a result, look to winning new work from participating Tier One building contractors. “Our Building for Growth programme has already delivered success to the leaders of its participating companies by both broadening and deepening their grasp of the factors needed to win more new, bigger contracts from Tier One contractors and we hope and trust that all of the participants in our ninth Building for Growth programme will follow in their footsteps,” said Michael McBrearty, Chief Executive of hub South West. Rub by hub South West, a public-private partnership of local authorities, NHS, blue light services and a clutch of leading construction industry Tier One building contractors including Morrisons, Graham, Morgan Sindall, Ashleigh and Kier, the Building for Growth programme is aimed at ambitious businesses in construction and related sectors based in Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway. The programme comprises 8 half-day sessions (10.00am-2.00pm) over a period of 12 weeks. Throughout the autumn 2018 session workshops will focus on topics such as smart tendering, Innermetrix profiling, strategic growth and exit options, marketing planning, supplier development programmes, corporate social responsibility and pitching for business. “The aim of the programme is to ensure that local companies are ready, willing and capable of securing work from the Tier One contractors, and, I am delighted to say that we achieved our aim in 2017 with around two thirds of sub-contracting work on major projects going to local businesses,” said Gordon Hunter, hub South West’s Supply Chain Manager, who also manages the Building for Growth programme. The current programme, from which over 80 local businesses have already graduated, has just got under way and is scheduled to run through until the end of November. Eleven participating companies are drawn from locations across south west Scotland including Carluke, Bellshill, Kilmarnock, Troon and Cumbernauld.
AluFoldDirect will be proving to the entire construction industry that aluminium glazing can be problem-free by featuring ‘Everything Aluminium Without the Pain’ on the PiGS Product Pavilion at The Build Show, part of UK Construction Week. “The aluminium glazing market is more buoyant than ever which is why it’s crucial to offer installers Everything Aluminium without the pain, so that installers can take advantage of the sector. By going to The Build Show, we can show more people in the construction industry how we have perfected our manufacturing processes to deliver aluminium glazing right first time, every time,” said Craig Miller, Managing Director at AluFoldDirect. “The range of visitors to The Build Show also means that we can talk to local builders, specifiers and architects about our range, fast delivery times of 1 week for unglazed and 2 weeks for glazed, Aluminium Glazing Design Centre and the new AluFoldDirect Aluminium Installer Training Academy,” he added. AluFoldDirect is one of ten companies featuring on the PiGS Product Pavilion, which is sponsored by Balls2 Marketing. The PIGS Product Pavilion at the Windows, Doors and Glass Show has been created after feedback from visitors to The Build Show 2017 saw lots of requests to see more glazing products. AluFoldDirect is the perfect company to feature on the pavilion, to show visitors how they can get ‘Everything Aluminium Without the Pain’ and make the most of the ever-growing aluminium glazing market. Visitors can find AluFoldDirect and learn about its Everything Aluminium range of products on Stand B515 in Hall 10 at The NEC between Tuesday 9 October and Thursday 11 October 2018.
A 190,000 sq ft former engineering works on a 10 acre site adjacent to the East Gate at Port of Newport has been purchased by ABP South Wales. The sale of the site, known locally as the Neptune Works, is believed to be the largest industrial property sale in South Wales so far this year. By purchasing the Neptune Works, the port owner and operator will be able to expand its offering to customers interested in port-centric manufacturing. It will also serve to increase storage capacity for current customers who export and import via the Port of Newport. “The Neptune Works lies adjacent to the northernmost part of the port and its acquisition makes perfect sense – either to enhance access to the port, enable us to expand by adding good quality storage accommodation or by letting it to a third party,” said Rhys Morgan, Head of Property, ABP South Wales. “For instance, its size, height of access, cranes and yard space make it potentially attractive to accommodate plant and engineering works for some of the major infrastructure projects under way in South Wales and across the South West, such as Hinkley Point C,” Rhys continued. ABP has invested significantly in Newport over the past few years, in schemes including new warehousing facilities, open storage areas, and additional rail sidings. The Neptune Engineering Works was established early in the 20th century and soon after became Braithwaite & Co., Neptune Works. The works specialised in structural steelwork and continued to do so as part of the Rowecord Group. It was more recently used by AIC Steel. ABP South Wales’ five ports of, Newport, Cardiff, Barry, Port Talbot and Swansea contribute £1.5 billion to the UK economy every year and support 21,800 jobs across the nation, as well as handling over 12.5 million tonnes of cargo every year.
In a bid to raise vital funds for the Steve Prescott Foundation charity and the other charities it supports, a team of eight cyclists have conquered a gruelling 3000-mile endurance race across some of the toughest terrain Europe has to offer. Taking part in the Race Across Europe (RAC), the team consisting of Neil Prescott, Steve Hall, Darren Harrison, Ewan Dowes, Kevin Humphries, Phil Ellison, Gareth Ellis and Steve Hampson, all part of Boulting Ltd, managed to cover 3000 miles in just six days and raised more than £30,000 for charity. Split into two teams of four, riders were rotated meaning the team could cycle 24 hours a day to complete the challenge. “Neil and the team should be incredibly proud of what they have accomplished,” said Josh Groarke, deputy group managing director at Boulting Ltd. “It is through their determination and that of similar groups, that vital funds are raised to support research for curing this diabolical disease.” The riders part of the once in a lifetime event reached heights of 3000m above sea level and battled all manner of weather conditions, including wind, rain and hail, as well as temperatures of up to 40°C. The track started in Boulogne sur Mer, then up north through the French Ardennes and crossed the Rhine into Germany. From there they climbed briefly into the Black Forest and then moved east across Germany and Austria, before heading south into Italy and Slovenia and over the Vršič Pass. The route then descended back into Italy, heading due west, crossing the Colle dell’Agnello back into France. They crossed the Alps twice and the Pyrenees once. The final gruelling push saw the group climb over Mont Ventoux and head south into Spain, where they reached their final destination. The extreme endurance challenge was completed in aid of the Steve Prescott Foundation. Established in 2007 by Steve Prescott MBE, who was diagnosed with Pseudomyxoma Peritonei, a form of terminal cancer, and passed away in 2013, the foundation raises much needed funds for The Christie, Try Assist Fund and Oxford Transplant Centre.