Neil Cooper of MLM Group gave his views on the Building Regulations and ‘where are we now?’ at an event in Guildford hosted by the southern regional branch of CABE. Cooper is ideally placed to provide perspective on an industry that is under the microscope as he is the CEO
Edward Quigg, the director and head of procurement at Quigg Golden, speaks about the policies that every company should have in place in order to be guarded against procurement corruption. With this form of corruption still alive and well in the construction industry, it is important for companies to know
The Tees Valley Combined Authority has announced the delivery of a vital new road in Hartlepool. At a meeting of the Combined Authority Cabinet, members agreed to invest the cash into the £18 million scheme for Hartlepool’s Western Growth Corridor, which will provide an extra route into town and unlock
Power has been installed at the 700 acre site at SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway, supporting up to six million sq ft high specification logistics space and enabling occupiers to begin installing technology as part of their internal fit-outs. Moreover, construction of the 195,500 sq ft facility for global
Lifting company Action Lev was assigned to install 24 new tanks for beer fermentation, providing an additional 400m3 per tank of storage capacity for a total of 9,600m3 for craft brewer Goudale in the north of France. For this mission, the company chose two Demag cranes – AC 160-5 and
A revolutionary colour-matching app for appliers and specifiers is being launched by Dulux Trade, in partnership with Lucas. The service, which is initially trialled in London, allows users to scan walls with the device and instantly order matching paint from a Dulux Decorator Centre with a four hour delivery promise.
Goodman has pre let the Hamburg III Logistics Centre at Moorburger Bogen in the Port of Hamburg to two big-name customers – logistics service provider B+S, who will be taking over 12,000 sqm of the new facility on the southern Elbe on 1 August 2018 and Kühne + Nagel, who will occupy 23,000
RCM, a major supplier of complete through-wall solutions, have announced their plans to exhibit at this year’s Timber Expo, part of the Construction Week UK exhibition held at the NEC in Birmingham between the 9th and 11th of October, for the second time running. Following on from last year’s huge
Nottingham City Council has been asked to award a contract for the construction of the Broadmarsh Car Park and Bus Station scheme part of the £250 million regeneration of Nottingham city centre. Member sof the Council’s executive board will be asked at a meeting next week to approve the project
A new £160 million retail designer outlet will be brought to Cannock in West Midlands by Bowmer & Kirkland (B&K). McArthurGlen has confirmed site preparation and earth works will begin this month to create a landmark 285,000 sq ft retail destination and community hub for the area. The development of
Neil Cooper of MLM Group gave his views on the Building Regulations and ‘where are we now?’ at an event in Guildford hosted by the southern regional branch of CABE. Cooper is ideally placed to provide perspective on an industry that is under the microscope as he is the CEO of MLM Group, a leading multidisciplinary design, compliance and specialist practice, and Chair of BRAC, The Building Regulations Advisory Committee. With many in the industry acknowledging that processes need to be improved, the industry turned to the much anticipated review of the Building Regulations by Dame Judith Hackitt – Building a Safer Future – which looked set to provide the industry with a clear direction of travel and provide clarity on next steps. Cooper addressed a few areas from the review, including the fact that whilst there was broad agreement with the findings and direction of travel, workstreams will need to be prioritised and this isn’t something that can be addressed quickly, it will take years. Meanwhile, although focussed risk management is starting to happen as part of a cultural change that ensures clear accountability, risk management will require legislation. One of the key issues the report did highlight which has been welcomed, was the golden thread of design, construction and occupation and what happens to buildings once they are handed over. “Record keeping and duty holder principles are crucial but we need regulation to create clear gateways through the design, construction, handover and occupation stages to ensure that standards are maintained,” said Cooper. One area that did raise concern was the report’s recommendations of a new regulatory system for tower blocks. Whilst change is needed, the concern is that the industry would end up with a system that is even more complex than the current one. If this new regulatory system is to work it needs to be managed centrally by government and be much more collaborative in its approach. Cooper also mentioned short term priorities, such as consultation of fire test and desktop studies, issues over combustible materials, clarification of Approved Document B (ADB) and its potential for a full technical review next year. Even though the Hackitt review has been a turning point, there is still much more to be done.
Edward Quigg, the director and head of procurement at Quigg Golden, speaks about the policies that every company should have in place in order to be guarded against procurement corruption. With this form of corruption still alive and well in the construction industry, it is important for companies to know how to protect themselves. As stated on the Action Fraud website, procurement fraud is a criminal offence and is regarded as “any frau relating to a company purchasing goods, services or commissioning construction projects from third parties”. The fraud can occur at any point during the procurement and contract management processes, including price fixing, market sharing and bid rigging. Procurement fraud could cost a construction business millions of pounds and damage its reputation; therefore Edward has created a list of eleven preventative actions: As part of the risk management process, acknowledge that fraud and corruption is a business risk, include it in the corporate risk register, assess the likelihood of risk occurring, have it on the board meeting agenda and establish an operational strategy to minimise such risk. Increase the awareness of all members of staff and the supply chain in counter-fraud and anti-bribery and make sure they are aware of the consequences at corporate and personal levels. Have clear conflict of interest, anti-bribery and confidentiality internal policies and get all involved in the procurement to sign a statement that they will comply with them. Ensure that the internal policies and processes are transparent to enable you to detect and investigate any suspected fraud and bribery. Ensure that procurement procedures are in line with best practice. Exclude suppliers on the grounds of mandatory and discretionary exclusions in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Do not let one person make the decision because it is much harder to bribe a team of three. Include a covenant provision in employment contracts to prevent employees using the knowledge they have if they move to a possible supplier or client. Regularly audit, scrutinise and improve resilience of the internal fraud prevention process. Run an effective whistleblowing arrangement to encourage fraud and corruption reporting. If fraud and bribery is suspected, escalate it to the management level and take action immediately to secure evidential records against removal or alteration.
The Tees Valley Combined Authority has announced the delivery of a vital new road in Hartlepool. At a meeting of the Combined Authority Cabinet, members agreed to invest the cash into the £18 million scheme for Hartlepool’s Western Growth Corridor, which will provide an extra route into town and unlock land for housing development. The town’s Local Plan has set out the building of around 1,500 new homes, which is also leveraging at least £200 million in private sector investment into homes, infrastructure and facilities. “The new road, which is a key part of our Local Plan, will play a vital part in the continued growth and prosperity of the borough and unlock land for housing development. It will also substantially reduce traffic through Elwick and help to improve road safety,” said Councillor Christopher Akers-Belcher, leader of Hartlepool Borough Council and Cabinet Member for the Combined Authority. Hartlepool currently has only two main rod routed in and out of the town for the A19. The new road proposals would create a bypass for the village of Elwick and deliver an upgrade to the current Elwick North junction to the A19, in order to give a third route into Hartlepool. The funding from the Authority is set to be delivered from 2019 to 2021 and it is joined by an investment of £9.65 million from Hartlepool Borough Council. The Combined Authority will also work alongside Homes England to secure a further £4.18 million funding to drive the scheme forward. “This funding shows we are fully committed to this new road, which will unlock new, good-quality, affordable homes and vitally, make getting around safer, quicker and easier for years to come,” said Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen. “There’s huge change happening in Hartlepool where we’ve already invested £4 million for CCAD’s new campus and £5 million to revamp Church Street – but there’s so much more to do. The new bypass for Elwick is just another example of how we’re delivering for the people of Hartlepool.”
Power has been installed at the 700 acre site at SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway, supporting up to six million sq ft high specification logistics space and enabling occupiers to begin installing technology as part of their internal fit-outs. Moreover, construction of the 195,500 sq ft facility for global transport and logistics company Kuehne + Nagel begins. The senior executives from the company recently joined SEGRO on-site to mark groundbreaking at their 17 acre development, which will serve as the UK locations for its Overland operations. The new facility is expected to complete in April 2019 and will support up to 320 jobs. “This new facility will be integral to our UK overland operations, and we are very pleased to see construction commence on site. Our aspiration is to create a best in class logistics facility, and we believe we have the right partner in SEGRO to do that,” said Jim Hedderwick, Kuehne + Nagel director of overland for the UK. SEGRO keeps advancing a number of infrastructure works at SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway, such as improvement work to the M1 at Junction 24 and 24A, a bypass linking the site to Kegworth, which includes a 1,200 tonnes bridge over the M1, and the delivery of a 50 acre rail freight link. “We have considerable momentum at East Midlands Gateway, where we are creating a state of the art, multi-modal logistics hub. Our strategy at SLPEMG is to deliver the off-site and on-site infrastructure in parallel, whilst also delivering the units for occupiers meaning the new facilities can be operational more quickly,” said Andrew Pilsworth from SEGRO. “The connection of power is a significant milestone as it allows Kuehne + Nagel, and other companies that have committed to the site, to begin their high-tech internal fit-outs. Construction will continue apace over the second half of 2018,” Andrew concluded. As well as providing critical infrastructure for the logistics supply chain, SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway will create 7,250 jobs, 900 construction jobs and 3,000 indirect jobs.
Lifting company Action Lev was assigned to install 24 new tanks for beer fermentation, providing an additional 400m3 per tank of storage capacity for a total of 9,600m3 for craft brewer Goudale in the north of France. For this mission, the company chose two Demag cranes – AC 160-5 and AC 100-4 – as they offered the most efficient and cost effective solution. “This plan required unloading the tanks from the trailers and placing them on a raised concrete slab,” explained Bruno Declercq, owner of Action Lev, who was also operating the larger of the two cranes. “Thanks to the compact size and manoeuvrability of the AC 160-5, I was able to set up the crane on the concrete slab in order to reduce the working radius. Otherwise, we would have had to use a crane with a capacity of 700t to lift them from the outdoor parking area.” Space is at a premium in the case of many craft brewers, meaning that the location of the storage tanks at the back of the building does not leave much room for cranes. This operation was challenging due to the fact that there was a 6m-wide passageway to position two mobile cranes and a convoy that required a space of six by 30 metres. To tackle the challenge, Action Lev chose to deploy a Demag AC 100-4 four-axle crane that was to lift the lower section of the tanks. The crew then set up the AC 160-5 crane on the raised concrete slab to handle the new tanks, which allowed the AC 160-5 to be rigged close to the load’s final position. Ths left the access passageway free for the six metre convoy and the set up of the AC 100-4. To place the tanks, the AC 100-4 and AC 160-5 cranes required maximum counterweight of 26.1t and 46t respectively. The dual-crane solution employed by Action Lev allowed the crew to cleanly and efficiently place six tanks per day.
A revolutionary colour-matching app for appliers and specifiers is being launched by Dulux Trade, in partnership with Lucas. The service, which is initially trialled in London, allows users to scan walls with the device and instantly order matching paint from a Dulux Decorator Centre with a four hour delivery promise. Architects and specifiers will be able to create and refine colour options in the early stages of a projects, while users can take multiple scans, add job notes, take pictures of the space, add time frames and submit to the contractor through the ‘work request’ section. “Our strategy outlines our desire to be a business that is more connected, and leverages digital technology to optimise what we do and how we do it. We are constantly looking to evolve and develop our offer in the market, and our long standing partnership with Lucas provides a great platform for us to work collaboratively and move at pace with this exciting new tool,” said Alistair McAuley, Managing Director for Dulux UK. The technology, developed in conjunction with Nix, is the latest step from Dulux Trade in enhancing its colour services via technology. Dulux Trade already offer colour support via a number of online and mobile tools such as the Colour Schemer, the Dulux Trade Specifier app and of course their dedicated Commercial Colour Services Team. However, the Lucas Colour & Concierge app is the first move towards broadening access to quick and accurate colour matching on-site. “The technology is ground-breaking and a disruption to the normal approach in the market,” said Danny Lucas, Executive Chairman of Lucas. “A decade ago, a paint matching machine came in a briefcase and cost nearly £10,000, now it comes pocket-sized. This has allowed us to develop a completely new approach to scoping works, identifying the correct paints and automatically making an online work request.”
Goodman has pre let the Hamburg III Logistics Centre at Moorburger Bogen in the Port of Hamburg to two big-name customers – logistics service provider B+S, who will be taking over 12,000 sqm of the new facility on the southern Elbe on 1 August 2018 and Kühne + Nagel, who will occupy 23,000 sqm. The new logistics centre is already the group’s fourth major project in the region. The Hamburg III Logistics Centre has a total area of 35,000 sqm, highlighting Goodman’s strategy of developing flexible properties that suit the needs of clients in every industry. The project, as most of spaces developed by Goodman in Germany, is a brownfield conversion and its quality is emphasised by lofty hall heights of up to 12m and the light strips in the mezzanine areas. “Given that all customers are pursuing different objectives with their logistics properties, the best results are achieved if the buildings can be easily adapted to meet the individual needs of each customer. Businesses are asking for logistics facilities at short notice. We are actively responding by developing properties on a speculative basis, utilising our lengthy experience in building large-scale logistics complexes. That is why big-name businesses rely on our expertise,” said Christof Prange, Goodman Germany’s Head of Business Development. The location of the Logistics Centre, Moorburger Bogen, is a key logistics hub with excellent links with the A7 and A1 motorways and easy access to the Altenwerder, Burchardkai and Eurokai container terminals, around eight kilometres away. The 12,000 sqm logistics space will largely be used for contract logistics and e-commerce fulfilment by B+S, which has expanded its logistics space in Hamburg to 33,000 sqm. For its part, Kühne + Nagel is using the space for warehousing and distributing its customers’ goods. Kühne + Nagel is already renting 14 properties from the Goodman portfolio, 12 of which are in Europe, including two in Hamburg.
RCM, a major supplier of complete through-wall solutions, have announced their plans to exhibit at this year’s Timber Expo, part of the Construction Week UK exhibition held at the NEC in Birmingham between the 9th and 11th of October, for the second time running. Following on from last year’s huge success, RCM are looking forward to a repeat performance at this year’s event. The 24 sqm eye-catching exhibition stand will feature RCM’s complete facades and building boards range, with samples to be taken away by visitors. Moreover, back by popular choice, the visually exciting display of Supertech Weatherboard will showcase again, featuring a full range of colours thereby giving visitors a good impression of the choices on offer. RCM will also be demonstrating eight revolving methods of through-wall solutions and two special fire-rated through-wall solutions, all consisting of a selection of portfolio materials. These modules can also be rotated, allowing visitors to look at the construction from several angles, providing a good understanding of how the different elements integrate to make up a truly effective through-wall solution. “RCM are once again looking forward to taking part in this prestigious event. Last year’s exhibition was a huge success for RCM and we have again been very busy with preparations for this years’ show. We hope to be able to replicate our success and hope visitors will like what we, as a company, can deliver. Please visit us at our stand located at T230,” said Ian Quinton, managing director at RCM. Timber Expo is the UK’s only timber show, covering a wide range of timber applications from timber frame and cladding to fixings and much more. Highlight at this year’s event include the latest products, innovations and developments across the sector. As well as attracting important visitors such as architects, merchants and housebuilders, all of timber’s governing bodies and associations will be present at the exhibition.
Nottingham City Council has been asked to award a contract for the construction of the Broadmarsh Car Park and Bus Station scheme part of the £250 million regeneration of Nottingham city centre. Member sof the Council’s executive board will be asked at a meeting next week to approve the project and award a contract for construction. “This is an important milestone in the project that will enable this exciting development to be delivered,” said Council leader John Collins. “The positive impact of investment to date, such as the transport hub at the station, the latest tram extension and the transformation of Station Street, can already be seen in the form of renewed interest in the area and other, private developments coming forward.” The Broadmarsh Car Park and Bus Station scheme will also feature retail units and is part of the wider Broadmarsh programme that will deliver significant regeneration on the southern side of the city centre and complement intu’s redevelopment of the shopping centre. “Work began recently on the new Nottingham College and the castle refurbishment is now under way,” said Cllr Collins. “Moving ahead with the new car park and bus station development is the next piece of the jigsaw and can only further promote this regeneration momentum, bringing undoubted economic benefits to the city centre, and providing a high quality addition to the streetscape between the station and the city centre.” The Car Park development replaces the previous 1960s building, which was demolished earlier this year, offering a 1,341-spaces car park, a modern bus station and retail units in Carrington Street, Collin Street and along the concourse area fronting onto the bus station. The £250 million investment includes developments in the wider Broadmarsh area, such as the car park, bus station, shopping centre, college and castle. These developments are expected to create 3,000 jobs, £10 billion GVA uplift over ten years and attract around three million new visitor every year. The car park development alone is forecast to create more than 100 jobs and generate almost £3 million a year for the Nottingham economy.
A new £160 million retail designer outlet will be brought to Cannock in West Midlands by Bowmer & Kirkland (B&K). McArthurGlen has confirmed site preparation and earth works will begin this month to create a landmark 285,000 sq ft retail destination and community hub for the area. The development of Cannock Designer Outlet has been on the table since December 2017 when McArthurGlen announced a joint venture with Aviva Investors, The Richardson Family and U+I. The first phase of the scheme will feature 80 premium and luxury brands, along with a selection of restaurants and cafes, a children’s play area, bike parking for cyclists and 1,400 car parking spaced. The outlet is expected to be completed by 2020. “We are thrilled to start construction on this milestone development for Cannock. The new centre will generate significant employment for the local area and create a new retail destination for the region, serving 11 million local residents. Cannock Designer Outlet will be built to the highest standards of architectural design and sustainability, reflecting and respecting the the surrounding natural landscape,” said Gary Bond, Joint Managing Director of Development at McArthurGlen. In addition, as part of the investment is also the enhancement and ongoing maintenance of the Mill Green Natural Park, improvements to Cannock Town Centre and the railway station, and support for developing skills and employment prospects for local people. “The reality of creating one of the most significant things to happen in the district in recent memory is definitely here now, with this exciting news. As construction commences we will be working closely with McArthurGlen to ensure that disruption is kept to the minimum for our residents, as we progress to a development we can all be very proud about,” commented Council Leader George Adamson.