Jane Embry, the Marketing Director of Wrightstyle has been looking at the light used in workplaces around the UK. Looking at the light available in work spaces was undertaken as the USE marked Workplace Eye Wellness Month, which occurred early this year. It is thought that that all workers should be well informed and aware about eyesight issues. Workplace Eye Wellness Month was marked by the USA in March and the purpose of the campaign was to raise awareness of eye strain and injuries that can occur due to inadequate lighting. The campaign wanted to demonstrate the different thigs that could be done to alter lighting to be more beneficial and other thing that can be done by employers and employees in order to protect their eyesight. The campaign also focused on building design and the significant impact that can have on lighting. Building design has adapted over the years in order to accommodate working with computers and screens through raised floors and open spaces. However, the lighting of these buildings has changes little since office work was all paper based, despite the need for change as overhead lighting can reflect off screens and other surface and enter the workers eyes and cause a strain. A significant number of office workers have noted eye strain as a serious hazard while a work. Regulations state that the employer must supply satisfactory lighting and create an appropriate contrast between the screen and background while taking in to account the type of work as well as the visual requirements for the role. Employers are also required to reduce the possibility for glare from the screens through the positioning of the space. Sick Building Syndrome has been introduced to cover any illness that has been caused by the buildings that we work in. It has been found that there is a correlation between Sick Building Syndrome and lighting. It is thought that lack of daylight is one of the most important contributors to the Syndrome.

©Bloomberg The one imperative for US natural gas producers: deleverage as quickly as possible. Yet two situations this week show that easing a debt burden can take multiple forms with different outcomes for shareholders. In one case, SandRidge Energy filed for bankruptcy protection seeking to clear away nearly $4bn of debt. Not only will shareholders be wiped out but creditors are very likely to take a hit on their claims as well. The equity owners at two other gas explorers should have a happier outcome. Range Resources announced it would acquire rival Memorial Resource Development for $4.4bn in total value. Rather than writing off debt, the two will reduce this burden through an all-stock merger, smartly using equity value while it still exists. The mild optimism driving an oil price rally does not exist for natural gas. Daily US gas production of 80bn cubic feet per day in February was the second highest level ever. A warm winter hurt demand, so inventories are at record highs. The spot US gas price is off a third from the depressed $3 per million cubic feet seen a year ago. Despite cost cuts and fewer wells in production, output has boomed because of productivity gains. Weaker explorers have succumbed to bankruptcy — SandRidge is just one of a string of failures (shifting to oil production proved futile). Range and Memorial, with their acreages in the most productive shale regions, were not financially distressed. By acquiring all of Memorial’s earnings but paying for those only in shares, Range will see its debt to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation ratio fall from a testing 5 times to a safer 3.5 times. Range shares fell a tenth on Monday; its shareholders disliked the share issuance. Still, the augmented Range will have an equity value of $9bn. Miffed shareholders should understand that its prospects could be worse. Just ask the crushed shareholders over at SandRidge. Email the Lex team at lex@ft.com Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Source link

Business Stream has appointed Derek Hendry as its new director of strategy, strengthening of its senior team ahead of the English water market opening in 2017. Business Stream’s new director of strategy Derek Hendry Hendry will be based in the company’s Edinburgh head office, and will report in to its chief executive Johanna Dow. He will be responsible for around 30 staff and an operational budget of £4 million across technology, people management, business strategy and transformational change. Hendry joins Business Stream from Standard Life, where his most recent role has been leading change and transformation programmes on international assignments in Canada, China and Hong Kong. He previously held a number of leadership roles with the company in a variety of IT and business change projects across its pensions, operations and group functions. Before Standard Life, Derek worked in a range of leadership and project management positions with Aegon and Abbey National/Banco Santander. Dow said: “Derek joins us at a pivotal time for the business and the industry as a whole. Our recent acquisition from Southern Water doubles our customer base and gives us a strong foothold in the English market ahead of the market opening for next year. “Derek will lead our transformation activities as we prepare for market entry and continue to invest in systems and processes which will deliver service excellence for our customers across the UK.” Hendry said: “I’m looking forward to using my extensive change and project management experience to help Business Stream maximise the potential of the exciting opportunities ahead. “The company has a bold strategy and a culture of ambitious continuous improvement, both of which will be critical in meeting the competitive challenges ahead.” In May, Business Stream announced the appointment of Jo Mayes as its director of customer operations. Source link

A nice piece of business. RWE’s decision to separate its grids and renewables business from traditional generation has left it €3bn better off, and given it a 75 per cent stake in Germany’s most valuable utility. The question now is what becomes of the parent, whose debt is rated just above junk status. On Friday, shares in Innogy (reprising the name of a British company that RWE bought in 2002) closed at their IPO price of €36, giving the carved-out company an enterprise value of €40.7bn, more than nine times its forecast 2016 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. That is the highest multiple of any of the four German utilities. The demand for Innogy shares is unsurprising. The company gets three-fifths of its ebitda from running power grids, where returns tend to be regulated and often inflation-linked rather than dictated by the volatility of commodity prices. Another 20 per cent comes from renewables, a growth area. Unlike rival Eon, which also owns grids and renewable generation assets, Innogy is not carrying the can for nuclear decommissioning and storage costs. Its ability to raise capital is no longer constrained by the stretched balance sheet of its parent. For RWE, carving out Innogy was mostly about shoring up its finances: it raised about €3bn from the share issue. Its prognosis for the remaining group is downbeat, though: there was no dividend on the ordinary shares this year, and it is predicating full-year operating results “significantly below 2015” in four of its five business divisions. Uniper, the spun off vehicle for Eon’s conventional generation business, has so far told a more optimistic post-split story involving cash returns, recovery in Russia and growth in profits from “capacity mechanisms” where utilities are paid for a certain amount of spare capacity. RWE has done a fine job with Innogy; now it needs to think about its own investment case. Email the Lex team at lex@ft.com Sample the FT’s top stories for a week You select the topic, we deliver the news. Source link

International real estate advisor Savills has retained its title as The Times Graduate Employer of Choice for Property for the tenth consecutive year. The firm has held this position since the category’s inception in 2007. The awards, which reflect the feedback from interviews of more than 18,000 final year students was held on Wednesday 23rd March 2016 at Kings Place in London. Savills beat rivals JLL and Knight Frank, who were placed second and third respectively. Savills was also named 94th in the Times Top 100 employers this year, the only property company to make the list, which features Britain’s best known and most successful graduate employers.  Mark Ridley, chief executive of Savills UK and Europe, says: “We are delighted to have won this award for the tenth year in a row and also to have made it on to such a prestigious list. We pride ourselves on providing a best in class programme, offering all our graduates practical and applicable experience that provides a foundation for the myriad of opportunities available to them within our global business. Developing talent is fundamental to our growth and development and this is reflected in our ongoing commitment to our graduate programme.” Ema Saunders, director of people development at Savills, adds: “We are very pleased to have been recognised as the Property Employer of Choice for ten consecutive years. We continue to look for diverse and ambitious individuals who will be the business leaders of tomorrow. Our commitment to providing opportunity, support and skills enables our graduates to shape their own careers and make an impact on the industry.”   Source link

Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Tue, Sep 6th 2016 New student accommodation at Newcastle University features 32,000 Welsh Slates. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday Some 32,000 Welsh Slates have been used to roof the £13 million development of new student accommodation at Newcastle University. The 500mm x 300mm Penrhyn Heather Blues from the Lagan group company were used on Park Terrace, an exciting development situated in a prime location on campus, close to the city centre, in a Conservation area overlooking Newcastle’s Exhibition Park. Accommodation is spread over up to six floors with lift, on-site entry-phone systems and CCTV. The apartment blocks provide students with en-suite bedrooms in self-catered flats varying in size from six to 11 bedrooms. Each flat has a fully-equipped, contemporary kitchen and comfortable common area with Wi-Fi, flat-screen TV, on-site laundrette and bike storage. Together with the refurbishment of 10 period houses on Kensington Terrace, some 350 en-suite undergraduate bedrooms have been added to the university’s portfolio. The existing buildings on Park Terrace were demolished to make way for two new buildings including a mews block to the rear of the existing terraces. The project, under a novated design and build form of contract, comprises the construction of the building frame using a pre-fabricated structural framing system. The external finish of the buildings is largely traditional masonry and slate, similar to the buildings they replaced. Park Terrace was the first phase, with Kensington Terrace following a year later. Welsh Slate sales representative Alex Grant said: “The job was specified as second hand Welsh but due to the large amount required it was not possible to source enough material of quite the right quality and so new Welsh Slate was used, some 2,000m2 of it.” The Welsh Slates were installed by M&C Roofing for main contractor Graham Construction and were supplied by Burton Roofing Supplies. Kensington and Park Terrace received Highly Commended status at the Newcastle University Excellent Contractor Awards 2013. The award scheme recognises contractor excellence based on a range of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) assessed by the university. The project was nominated by Barry Cottrill, project engineer at the university, and Luke Gardner, senior project manager. ENDS Photograph © Steve Mayes Photography  Source link