The first phase of a housing development that aims to create 138 units by the 31st of March next year has been completed. Last week, on the 23rd of June, the award-winning housing developer Barratt Homes handed over 51 homes that are a part of the Ness Castle development. Albyn
A new Marketing Director has been appointed at Peacock Engineering. The company work to deliver a variety of asset and service management solutions to their clients. The users of Peacock’s services are usually those who are in more asset intensive industries. Peacock Engineering is based in Little Chalfont in Buckinghamshire
Pellikaan Construction Ltd announced last week, on the 22nd June, that they have signed an contract with Merton Council for a new development. The agreement that has been made between Merton Council and Pellikaan will result in the construction of the a new family leisure centre. The construction work that
Last week, the UK experienced a heatwave. Across the entire country, temperatures reached as high as 36°C. As the temperatures went through the roof, the demand for air conditioning and other cold room repairs also increased. This data has was found by the refrigeration contractor Synecore. The company found that
People are losing their minds over a simple collage competition that no one can solve. Marketers at Vivacity London, a marketing consultancy for the property and construction sector, set about launching a simple ‘identify-the-London-buildings’ competition and discovered they’d created an unsolvable puzzle that has left participants “utterly addicted and committed
A new study by a researcher working for Danish consultant Cowi has developed a technique for designing asphalt mixes that can help reduce CO₂ emissions from vehicles. A reduction of the pavement’s rolling resistance can reduce emissions as less fuel is needed to get the wheels moving. A recent PhD
Deka Immobilien has acquired One St Peter’s Square in Manchester via the owning joint venture vehicle from Argent and The Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund, for £164,000,000. Occupying a prominent position in the heart of Manchester’s historic business district, the highly specified development was completed in September 2014 and totals
With the European Championship football tournament underway new research shows which countries have done best in terms of house prices since the last cup four years ago.The price of mainstream homes have increases in more than 74% of the countries competing in the tournament, according to the study from international
The construction industry is known for being a fight for survival, especially amongst small and medium-sized enterprises. Tons of small projects, along with a constant search for new contracts demand focus in order to make it in the long run. Over 2 554 company insolvencies in three months According to
Approval for a new Indian airport has been announced. The new development that has taken a significant step forward recently with approval being given to the new airport which will be located in Jewar. The airport will be constructed in the Greater Noida region of India and is said to
The first phase of a housing development that aims to create 138 units by the 31st of March next year has been completed. Last week, on the 23rd of June, the award-winning housing developer Barratt Homes handed over 51 homes that are a part of the Ness Castle development. Albyn Housing Society took the final handover of the homes and thirteen tenants for the housing development were given their keys. A partnership has been created between the housing society and the housing developer with the aim of creating 138 units by the 31st of March next year. The first phase of this development means that the partnership has taken a significant step toward this goal, and it has been announced that the second phase of the development that will take place near Loch Ness will see a further 27 units constructed. All of the houses in the first phase of the development have been successfully allocated, let or sold, which is another positive for the development and the partnership between Albyn and Barratt Homes. The 51 houses that make up the first phase of the development are a mixture of one, two, three and four bedroomed properties that have been built to enter mid-market rent and sale. Albyn Housing Society placed all of the properties on the market under their Albyn Enterprise low-cost home ownership scheme called LIFT. The £6 million development that is taking place near to the popular Scottish location of Loch Ness has received a grant for the value of £2.5 million from the Scottish Government. The Ness Castle development will offer the tenants and residents high quality modern homes that are attractive and in a sought after and spectacular environment near to the famous Loch. Hopefully the rest of the development will be as successful as the first phase appears to have gone.
A new Marketing Director has been appointed at Peacock Engineering. The company work to deliver a variety of asset and service management solutions to their clients. The users of Peacock’s services are usually those who are in more asset intensive industries. Peacock Engineering is based in Little Chalfont in Buckinghamshire and works to offer efficient and cost effective solutions and services to their clients. The company has a Consulting team that consists of a number of professionals with on average 12 years of experience. The Maximo professionals that make up the Consulting team have a wealth of experience in their product and have managed to accumulate a combined 250 man-years of Maximo systems implementation. Peacock Engineering is a IBM, business partner and specialises in providing services in construction,. Facilities Management and manufacturing. The company has appointed Anna Hutton-North as their new Marketing Director. This new role has been created in order to organize the company management and the appointment of Anna as Marketing Director demonstrates the aim of Peacock Engineering to improve and expand their profile. Peacock Engineering are also looking to grow and raise the profile of their enterprise assets management services for the Maximo users as well as opening out to offer solutions to the wider asset management community. Anna Hutton-North has gained a great deal of experience during her career as she has managed to run B2B marketing teams for businesses such as KPMG, Reuters and Carilion. Anna has also worked in market development and other account-based marketing work which will make her a great asset to Peacock Engineering. Anna Hutton-North has the potential and the opportunity to assist Peacock Engineering raise their brand presence in the industry as well as improving the enterprise asset management sector. We wish Anna Hutton-North the best of luck in her new position and with her task to raise the profile of Peacock Engineering.
Pellikaan Construction Ltd announced last week, on the 22nd June, that they have signed an contract with Merton Council for a new development. The agreement that has been made between Merton Council and Pellikaan will result in the construction of the a new family leisure centre. The construction work that has been agreed upon will be located in Morden. Last week, Gert-Jan Peeters and Richard van Emmerik, the company directors for Pellikaan signed the contract on behalf of the company and the director of environment and regeneration for Merton Council, Chris Lee signed the contract on behalf of the council. The signing of the contract took place in the civic centre in Morden and a welcome party was also held in order to welcome the Construction Company to the borough. Pellikaan first started operating in 1947 and their construction expertise lie in the design and building of sports and leisure buildings. The work on the family leisure centre planned for Morden is set to start at some point in the next month. It is thought that the work on Morden Leisure Centre will be finished in autumn next year. Pelikaan has managed to build up a wealth of experience by constructing leisure centers and sports buildings all around the UK as well as in other countries. The construction work has been planned to make sure that the current Pool in Morden will be staying operational until the new family-friendly leisure centre is open. This means that the residents of Morden will have access to a range of different leisure facilities while the work is taking place. After the work has been completed the site for the exiting Morden Park Pool will be transformed into open green space. Pellikaan have said that the project they are now involved in is a great way to transform the facilities on offer as well as allowing the construction company the opportunity to deliver a modern unit that will offer family friendly leisure space for everyone living in the borough.
Last week, the UK experienced a heatwave. Across the entire country, temperatures reached as high as 36°C. As the temperatures went through the roof, the demand for air conditioning and other cold room repairs also increased. This data has was found by the refrigeration contractor Synecore. The company found that they saw a 92% increase in the number of callouts they had to fix broken or underperforming air conditioning units or walk in chillers. According to the company, Thursday last week was their busiest day, after the hottest day recorded in June in more than 40 years. The refrigeration contractor’s air conditioning service department were able to deal with the sudden increase in the volume of calls well as managing to successfully accommodate all of their maintenance contract clients as well as fitting in new customers needing assistance in the heat. The massive surge in the emergency calls regarding air conditioning units must have been a steep challenge to overcome however the company managed to live up to their company promise to make sure that an engineer was onsite within 48 hours. This is a massive achievement for Synecore and they deserve the recognition they have been receiving for overcoming such a challenge. The staff of engineers as well as those working in customer service and taking the calls have been praised by the Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Manager of Synecore, Gary Piper. The staff for the company managed to make sure the surge of work was prioritised correctly and that they were able to assist companies and clients. The main focus initially wa to deal with the issues that arose with walk in chillers, as a number of different businesses such as restaurants experienced problems caused by the heatwave. Synecore has also suggested that going forward those with refrigeration systems or air conditioning keep up to the maintenance of the systems in order to make sure it functions safely as well as lasts longer.
People are losing their minds over a simple collage competition that no one can solve. Marketers at Vivacity London, a marketing consultancy for the property and construction sector, set about launching a simple ‘identify-the-London-buildings’ competition and discovered they’d created an unsolvable puzzle that has left participants “utterly addicted and committed to cracking it” – Matt Acton MRICS, Project Manager, Heriot-Watt University. Choosing 30 iconic London buildings to create a beautiful, eye-catching collage, Jennifer Evans, Managing Director of Vivacity London, hoped to launch a pertinent competition for London’s challenge-loving Property and Construction sector…. only to find that literally no one can solve it. “It’s clever, beautiful, and enraging all at once – I’m devoted to solving it, if I have to walk the width and breadth of London!” Julian Davies MRICS, Managing Director, Earl Kendrick Associates. “I’ve been very close to throwing my laptop out of the window, it’s that infuriatingly complex and addictive…I won’t give up! Sarah Fisher, Director/Owner, MIH Ltd. The proposal is simple, identify all 30 buildings for the chance to win a business consultancy package worth £7,300, but whether anyone wins it remains to be seen. At first glance, you don’t imagine it to be that hard as you immediately recognise such landmarks as The London Eye and Tower Bridge. However, as you tick off the first ten or so, it becomes harder to identify where in London you’ve seen that building before and what its name is. Jennifer Evans, Managing Director of Vivacity London, says: we invite professionals from the sector to play it on their commute, during their lunch break or at home with the help of family and friends, with the chance of winning the deserved prize, but we also welcome everyone else who enjoys a challenge to participant just for fun. Think you can solve the unsolvable puzzle? View the 30 Buildings collage and full competition details here: https://www.vivacitylondon.com/blog/30buildings Email your entry to 30Buildings@vivacitylondon.com. Closing Date: July 19th Winners will be announced on the website: July 21st (if there are any) “I pride myself on my knowledge of London and I’m pretty hacked off I can’t solve this one!” Laura Passey, Owner, Laura Passey Interiors “It has me completely flummoxed!” David Graves MRICS, Managing Director, JCF Property Management.
A new study by a researcher working for Danish consultant Cowi has developed a technique for designing asphalt mixes that can help reduce CO₂ emissions from vehicles. A reduction of the pavement’s rolling resistance can reduce emissions as less fuel is needed to get the wheels moving. A recent PhD project has provided a new tool for optimising the asphalt mixture. A quarter of the energy consumption in Denmark is related to road transportation; and a third of that energy is actually used to overcome the rolling resistance. Both money and CO₂ emissions can be saved by reducing the rolling resistance of the pavement, said Cowi. The trick is to use smaller stones in the asphalt mixture, but without undermining the performance of the pavement. Huan Feng, pavement specialist at Cowi, gives part of the answer in his recent PhD project ”Modelling of asphalt mixture – A discrete element method (DEM) to study the viscoelastic behaviour of asphalt mixture.” ”The project focuses on establishing a scientific background for novel pavement types and asset management solutions that minimise the rolling resistance for cars and trucks, and eventually attains the goal of reducing CO2 emission from the transportation sector,” he said. The mathematical model he developed saves time compared to lab tests and has already been applied to a project by Vejdirektoratet, the Danish road authority. The results indicate that the fuel consumption can be reduced by 3-5 percent without undermining the road grip. However, it will take further studies to determine fully on the viscoelastic behavior of the asphalt when changing the mix design, he pointed out. “A road consist of many layers and we have only focused on the top 3-4 centimetres, which is the strongest and most expensive part and it is the top layer that decides how it feels to drive on the road. But when you change the mixture in the top layer it also has an impact on the lower layers, and this impact needs to be investigated as well before any final conclusions can be made” he said. Thomas Mejer, market director at Cowi Highways and Airports International, considers the new findings to be an important first step towards a more sustainable transportation sector. “There is a great need for new infrastructure not least in Africa where we have several projects,” he said. “We are aiming at the most sustainable solutions and reducing CO₂ emissions while maintaining high performance and durability are key components to achieve that. In other words, the mathematical modeling holds a great potential for optimizing the sustainability of new roads.” This article was published on 4 Jun 2016 (last updated on 6 Jun 2016). Source link
Deka Immobilien has acquired One St Peter’s Square in Manchester via the owning joint venture vehicle from Argent and The Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund, for £164,000,000. Occupying a prominent position in the heart of Manchester’s historic business district, the highly specified development was completed in September 2014 and totals circa 288,000 sq ft (26,755 sq m) of Grade A office accommodation and retail space arranged across ground and thirteen upper floors. The property is currently multi-let with a weighted average unexpired lease term of approximately 16 years. Current tenants include KPMG, DLA Piper, Addleshaw Goddard and Mazars, along with Drake & Morgan and Fumo in the retail units. John Heaver, investment director at Savills, comments: “The characteristics of One St Peter’s Square make it a rare and prestigious product that will compliment Deka’s portfolio and we are encouraged by their continued commitment to the UK.” Councillor Kieran Quinn, chair of Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) adds: “The sale of One St Peter’s Square to Deka Immobilien brings to a conclusion the involvement of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund in the redevelopment of the site. GMPF originally purchased the old Elizabeth House in 2003, prior to the formation of the joint venture with Argent in 2008. The faith and confidence in the development by both partners has achieved the twin aims of GMPF’s local investment strategy. The Fund has made the returns required to deliver the pensions promised to its members, and delivered a landmark building for Manchester city centre. This building which, when commenced, was the only new construction in the city centre, has acted as a catalyst for the development of St Petersfield with the new tram site and significant improvement to the public realm.” David Partridge on behalf of Argent and Hermes/BTPS, says: “The design and quality of this office building and the Manchester City Council supported public realm around it, along with the significant works to the Town Hall Extension and the Library, have been a vital ingredient in re-establishing St Peter’s Square as the pre-eminent civic space in Manchester, and that is why we have attracted such an impressive line-up of occupiers. The public facing ground floor along with the Fumo and Drake and Morgan restaurants have already made One St Peter’s Square a destination in its own right.” Deka Immobilien is advised by Savills and CBRE in the UK. The joint venture between Argent and The Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund was represented by Bilfinger GVA. The Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund is a sub fund of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund. Source link
With the European Championship football tournament underway new research shows which countries have done best in terms of house prices since the last cup four years ago.The price of mainstream homes have increases in more than 74% of the countries competing in the tournament, according to the study from international real estate agent Knight Frank. Turkey topped the rankings with an increase of 65.6%, followed by the Republic of Ireland with price growth of 34.3% and Sweden up 32%. In fourth place is Iceland with house prices up by 30.6%, followed closely by England where prices are up 29.7%, Germany up 19.7%, Austria up 16.5%, Northern Ireland up by 15.6% and Russia up 15.2%. Next is Wales with price growth of 14.1% in the last four years, Switzerland up 10.3%, the Czech Republic up 8.2%, Hungary up 8.1%, Belgium up 4%, Poland up by 1.8%, Portugal up by 1.4% and Slovakia up by 0.9%. The country with the worst ranking is Ukraine where house prices have fallen by 22.6% but this is not surprising considering the unrest in recent years. Second from bottom is Italy where prices are down 13.1% and then Croatia where prices have fallen by 9% since the last tournament in 2012. In Romania prices are down 0.5%, France down 5.7%, Spain down 7.2%. Kate Everett-Allen, head of international residential research at Knight Frank, pointed out that the divergent performance of northern and southern Europe is evident. ‘The Nordic countries along with Ireland, England and Germany have seen prices accelerate while prices in most of the southern European economies still sit below their level in 2012,’ she said. BOOKMARK THIS PAGE (What is this?) Source link
The construction industry is known for being a fight for survival, especially amongst small and medium-sized enterprises. Tons of small projects, along with a constant search for new contracts demand focus in order to make it in the long run. Over 2 554 company insolvencies in three months According to statistics from gov.uk, there were more than 2 554 company insolvencies in the construction sector from January to March 2017 and the numbers are rising. The high insolvency rate is a result of companies losing control of billable hours and the struggle of projects running over time or budget, according to project manager Christopher Krohn from construction software developer 24onoff. “The lack of good procedures for processing documentation and invoice data is the single biggest reason for the rising numbers of insolvencies in the construction sector.” Krohn says. According to the consultancy firm, McKinsey & Company, this issue affects more than three quarters of all construction projects to some extent. “Adaptation of new technology, especially for managing time sheets and projects will help many of these companies increase their profitability, stay on budget and ultimately help them stay afloat.” he continues. TIme-tracking and project management software 24onoff, recently released a new version of their time-tracking and project management solution to help small construction companies. The solution is a result of feedback from more than 5000 construction workers, using it daily. To help the small builders, plumbers, bricklayers, electricians, painters and decorators they now offer free use of the system for up to three users. “By providing construction workers with the tools they need to stay in control of their work day, we expect the number of insolvencies to drop drastically. It is a way for them to reduce the time spent on demanding administrative work, to ultimately spend more time on the things that matter and they enjoy.” Krohn concludes. 24onoff is a software provider for small and medium-sized construction businesses based out of London.
Approval for a new Indian airport has been announced. The new development that has taken a significant step forward recently with approval being given to the new airport which will be located in Jewar. The airport will be constructed in the Greater Noida region of India and is said to be located close to Delhi, India. The news of the new Jewar Airport has been revealed after extensive discussions about whether the construction of the airport should go ahead. There has been a great deal of controversy around the construction of the new airport because of the location. The creation of an airport in Jewar has been thought of by some people as unwise because of its close proximity to Delhi and the airport that is already established there. The Jewar airport, when the construction work is finished, will be less than 100 kilometers away from the Indira Gandhi International Airport. There has also been concern for the operator of the established airport, DIAL, who may be affected by the construction and opening of a new airport. The Jewar location could have a commercial impact on the Indira Gandhi International Airport, with the custom for the airport split in two with the announced construction of the Jewar airport. It isn’t all bad news however, the Civil Aviation Minister, Ashok Raju has suggested during his visit to Delhi on the 24th of June that the creation of a new airport, just 100 kilometers away from the current one could increase by as much as 91 million by 2020. The construction of the new airport has also lead to forecasts of an increase of passenger traffic to 109 million by 2024. These passenger traffic predictions are why the airport at Jewar has been approved and is expected to go ahead, as it is thought that the Indira Gandhi International Airport will not be able to handle such a significant increase in passengers. The airport is predicted to take five years to construct, with public and private investments and the prospects of increased traffic and economic development.