Privately-owned Clugston Group has posted a £2.2m pre-tax profit on a much-reduced turnover of £143.4m for the financial year 2015/16. Above: Chief executive Stephen Martin The numbers were down substantially from 2015’s record year, when profits reached £5.1m on turnover of £253m. However, chief executive Stephen Martin described them as “a strong set of results” given market conditions. The Construction division turned over £126.6m and made a profit of £2.0m. Projects included the Leeds Recycling & Energy Recovery Facility, projects with Siemens at Green Port Hull as part of the offshore wind manufacturing centre, two schemes for The University of Sunderland, a new exhibition Hall at the Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate and two new care homes. Clugston’s logistics division grew turnover by 5% to £16.1m and turned 2015’s loss into a £400,000 profit. Chief executive Stephen Martin said: “Whilst we continue to face challenging conditions, Clugston Group has achieved another strong set of results with solid profitability, substantial cash balances of £19.7m and no bank borrowings. We appreciate that the economic outlook is now more uncertain following the Brexit decision. However, we already have a substantial forward order book in place for the next two years and remain confident that we can continue to deliver acceptable levels of profitability. Furthermore, Clugston continues to make good progress in securing increased volumes of work in the water and care home sectors and I am pleased to announce that we will shortly commence work on our 12th energy from waste facility.”     Clugston Group results   2016 Profit 2015 Profit Construction £2.0m £3.0m Logistics £0.4m (£0.1m) Property & other activities £0.2m £2.3m Net interest payable (£0.4m) (£0.1m) Profit before taxation £2.2m £5.1m       This article was published on 5 Jul 2016 (last updated on 5 Jul 2016). Source link

85% would use an online estate agent as marketplace grows 85% of homeowners are willing to consider using an online estate agent, according to research by netanagent.com With the increased competition in the marketplace from online agents, the survey reveals that a staggering 96% of homeowners would compare estate agents’ fees and services online if they could, to help decide which agent to use when selling a property.   Despite this trend, there is still a clear appreciation for the services offered by traditional agents, with reasons to not use an online agent including a desire to ‘speak to people face to face when dealing with big decisions’ and for ‘local people to sell my house in the local area’. The survey findings also reveal the challenge that estate agents face when convincing UK homeowners of their value. Only 18% of homeowners view estate agents as ‘helpful’ and 20% view them as ‘knowledgeable’, with nearly a fifth (35%) thinking estate agents are ‘pushy’ and 30% perceiving them as ‘poor value for money’. When choosing an agent, fee is the most important deciding factor (56%), with personal recommendation a close second and local knowledge and responsiveness also ranking highly. Crucially, however, findings show that homeowners expect a lot for their money with a quarter (25%) expecting to pay as little as 0.5 – 1.0% fee to cover all estate agency services, in comparison to the national average of 1.1%. As part of the fee, consumers expect services such as photography (52%) and the listing of their property on property portals such as Rightmove (49%) to be covered, with 10% even expecting the running of open days, 6% video marketing services and 10% virtual tours to all be included as standard. Interestingly, despite wanting to pay a low fee, 38% of consumers expect estate agents to provide support and guidance from valuation to completion as part of their service. netanagent.com managing director, Alex Thorpe, commented: “Estate agents have often come under the cosh in the past and are an easy target for consumers who think they aren’t getting value for money as part of one of the biggest sales or purchasing decisions they will ever make. With more savvy consumers who are willing to shop around and the rise of online and hybrid estate agents enabling sellers to do more themselves, the pressure is really on to show people that they are getting value for money. “What’s clear from our research is that homeowners don’t necessarily understand the sheer amount of work that goes into selling a property. From local knowledge and an understanding of the marketplace, to an awareness of what a target audience is looking for and an understanding of how best to promote property, estate agents work very hard for their fee to deliver the best price for a homeowner. There is a real need for estate agents to better promote the value they can bring consumers so sellers can truly understand the best estate agent for their needs.” Source link

Update on Flexible and Structured Funding – Latest window for applications opens 19 July The next CITB Flexible and Structured funds window will go live on 19 July and close on 15 August. To date we have awarded £13m through these funds to our stakeholders. Our Skills and Training fund (dedicated to employers with fewer than 50 employees), which is part of CITB’s Flexible fund, has been particularly successful, with awards totalling just under £500,000.  Don’t miss out. Visit CITB funding for more information or to apply How the new CITB Research Investment Fund can help you CITB has recently launched its new Research Investment Fund – a trial scheme to help the construction industry develop new research and evidence to identify and address skills shortages. It will also help us direct our funding. This is part of CITB’s Flexible Fund and will be trialled across a nine-month period. In this trial phase applications must come only from Federations. The Research Investment Fund has a maximum of £100,000 available over a nine-month period – which will be allocated between a maximum of three successful bids. We are making the application and process simple. Applications are welcomed from 19 July to 15 August, with successful applicants notified in September. If you are interested in applying or for more information please contact: lee.bryer@citb.co.uk or sandra.lilley@citb.co.uk Visit our Research Investment Fund page for more information. Here for you – Employer Forums Our new CITB Advisor role has been in place since the beginning of April and colleagues in these new roles are working hard with employers through Training Groups, Advisory Forums, Federations and other groups to help ensure you get the right skills for your business. Employers are therefore invited to attend the next round of scheduled Employer Advisory Forums which are due to take place in the autumn at a number of regional venues. Early booking is essential as these events are very popular. These regional events provide you with the opportunity to get advice and support for your business and an opportunity to have your say on matters important to you.It is also a chance to debate the issues of the day and work with us to provide solutions. Look out for the dates and booking details for the autumn Forums very soon. There is also a wide variety of CITB support available for individual construction businesses depending on your business needs. CITB is currently contacting all employers who are likely to be liable for the new Apprenticeship levy to discuss this with them individually. Telephone support and online services are also available for queries about the CITB Grants scheme and other topics. Currently our ‘contact us’ page provides all the details you should need for most enquiries including phone numbers, webchat for levy and grant, links and videos.     Employer Apprenticeships – Grow your business with a CITB Apprentice and access £10,250 funding Eighty per cent of employers say apprentices make their workplace more productive. Recruit with CITB and we will do all the paperwork, and you will receive dedicated support from one of our Apprenticeship Officers; from the start of recruitment through to completion of the training. Go to our CITB Apprenticeship section for more information. pages.  Construction Apprentice Scheme (CAS) As a result of a recent review of apprenticeship processes the Construction Apprenticeship Scheme (CAS) Committee has confirmed that there is no longer a need for the additional CAS process and are instead endorsing the employer and apprentice funding agreements of the funding agencies.  This decision will mean that separate CAS documentation will no longer be required to be completed by employers, therefore simplifying the process, reducing administration, and speeding up access to grant payment. We continue to support the work of the CAS Committee and are currently working together on a joint project to improve the end point recognition through celebration of achievement for employers and our apprentices. We will keep you updated on this.  Online Card Checker improvements – Response to feedback We have received your feedback about the online card checker system and understand you would prefer a simpler and straightforward process. The good news is that we are now working to make the search criteria easier to use. We will update you in the coming weeks of any changes and let you now once the improved system is live for you to use. We apologise for any inconvenience at this time and appreciate all your feedback.  As always we are here to support you.     Source link