Mr Gandy has previously held roles at Carillion, Lend Lease and Brookfield Multiplex. He will lead Kier’s construction business across London, south and west England, and Wales. The role reports into Kier’s building UK executive director Peter Young. Mr Young said: “I’m delighted to welcome Paul to Kier. His extensive industry experience will complement our existing management team and his broad understanding of the southern UK market will be invaluable as we work towards our Vision 2020.” Mr Gandy added: “This is an exciting time for me to be joining Kier. Vision 2020 is an ambitious target and I’m eager to contribute to this and continue to grow Kier’s existing presence across the south of the country.” Source link

Luxury home prices in major mainland cities in China continued to rise in the second quarter of 2016 despite government cooling measures, according to the latest real estate market report. In Shanghai, where non-residents are restricted from buying homes, sales decreased 20% quarter on quarter but as a key safe haven asset class, luxury homes were still sought after, says the report from international real estate firm Knight Frank. In Beijing some 257 new luxury homes were sold, up 38% quarter on quarter, driven by booming supply and demand in the traditional peak season. In Guangzhou, where market recovery became slower, sales fell over 20% and inventory level fell 11.7% due to a lack of new supply. The report says that the Hong Kong market remained polarised, with super luxury homes popular with billionaires, but other homes recording price drops because of an anticipated increase in supply and a potential interest rate rise. In Taipei, the new administration did not emphasize curbing measures, which encouraged developers to launch new projects. Enquiry levels for luxury homes surged, but buyers were deterred by the high property tax, which dragged down sales to only 30% of the volume a year ago. Overall prices and rents remained stable amid the low interest rate environment. ‘In the short term, curbing measures are expected to remain in first tier mainland cities but luxury home prices are set to rise, propelled by high premiums in recent residential land sales,’ the report explains. It predicts that luxury home prices could fall 5% to 10% in Hong Kong and stay steady in Taipei for the rest of the year. Meanwhile, in the commercial sector mainland Grade-A office markets remained active. In Shanghai, rents rose and the vacancy rate fell, driven by strong demand, with core business districts seeing satisfactory leasing performance. In Beijing, rents continued to climb, although the vacancy rate edged up slightly with six new projects completed. Guangzhou was relatively quiet, with minor increases in both rents and prices. The sales market saw transaction volume drop over 40% quarter on quarter and in Hong Kong, leasing activity was slow on Hong Kong Island due to the low availability of space and weaker demand from the mainland, while Kowloon East remained active, boosted by strong relocation demand from tenants on Hong Kong Island. In Taipei, the letting market performed well with a good absorption rate, most notably in Xinyi District. Overall rents and prices remained steady. Looking ahead, a huge amount of new supply is likely to impose upward pressure on vacancy rates in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Taipei, the report suggests. But it explains that the shift from Business Tax to Value-added Tax on the mainland is likely to reduce the tax burden and benefit the absorption of office space. Source link

2 June 2016 | James Richards Turnover for the cleaning sector connected to building and landscape activities hit £23 billion in 2014, according to a report from the British Cleaning Council.  The study, published last week, revealed the total turnover for the UK cleaning sector in 2014 was £3.6 trillion, with almost half (49 per cent) provided by the ‘combined facilities support activities’ area.  The British Cleaning Council, industry body for the sector, conducted the research over a six-year period up to 2014. The survey covers employment, wages, demographics and company turnover.  According to the findings, the UK cleaning industry is more reliant on immigrant labour than other sectors, with 24 per cent of workers coming from outside the UK, compared with an average of 18 per cent in other sectors.  BCC chairman Simon Hollingbery said the “important function” of gathering industry statistics of this kind used to be conducted by the now-defunct Asset Skills Sector Council.   In January this year, FM World reported the sudden demise of the Building Futures Group, into which the Asset Sector Skills Council had been merged along with the Cleaning and Support Services Association (CSSA) in 2014. Source link

Savills has been appointed to sell the Leckie Estate, near Gargunnock, Stirling. Leckie has been in the ownership of the Younger family since 1906 and was home to the late George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, a former Secretary of State for Scotland and Secretary of State for Defence.  The estate is being sold following the death of Diana, Viscountess Younger in November, 2015. Evelyn Channing of Savills said, “I can sense that it is with a heavy heart that all four family members have decided that Leckie should be sold.  It is very much hoped that the new custodian of Leckie will treasure and enjoy the estate as much as the Youngers have done”. Leckie Estate, located to west of Stirling, is easily accessible via the motorway network to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth and the Scottish Highlands.  It occupies an elevated position, sheltered by the Campsie Fells to the south, overlooking the Forth Valley to Ben Vorlich and Ben Lomond  to the north.  The estate extends to approx 1500 acres and, in addition to Leckie House, includes a farm, a small grouse moor, a number of cottages and some commercial woodland. Evelyn Channing again, “Leckie is a beautifully compact and accessible estate, which is likely to attract much interest from home and abroad when it is launched on the market.” The estate is likely to come to the market in late spring 2016. In the meantime, further enquiries relating to the sale should be addressed to Evelyn Channing in Savills Edinburgh Office. Source link

29 July 2016 | Martin Read Organisations representing the property and construction industry have joined forces to call for the UK’s existing focus on decarbonisation to be maintained as part of any EU exit negotiations.   Members of the alliance of 18 organisations, which is led by the UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC), have signed an open statement to the industry.   “Incentives remain strong for business to address climate change and other urgent sustainability challenges,” says the statement. “A low carbon built environment can be a catalyst for innovation, investment and job creation. It can drive productivity and economic growth, and provide a platform for exporting British expertise, engineering and technology to a global market.”    The statement’s signatories have committed to working collaboratively to achieve this, across the industry and with government.   Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: “Reducing energy consumption and increasing the energy efficiency of both the new and existing commercial building stock is a vital component not only of our contribution to international treaties, but also to increasing productivity in the economy and ensuring future energy security. The government must take this into account in drafting its industrial strategy.”    Julie Hirigoyen, chief executive of UK-GBC, said that it was now more important than ever to minimise future risk, reduce costs and generate new commercial opportunities.   “Low carbon buildings and infrastructure will deliver these outcomes. The businesses represented in our collective memberships span all aspects of the property and construction industry. It’s this unprecedented scale of collaboration that is required to achieve a low carbon sustainable built environment, and take the message to government that this is as good for UK plc as it is for GDP.”    The organisation’s joint statement can be found here: tinyurl.com/FMW0816-ukgbc     Source link

All other sectors saw output fall year on year, led by significant declines in private industrial work (16.5 per cent), infrastructure (14.8 per cent) and public housing (14.7 per cent). The fall in public housing output is the sector’s 11th consecutive double-digit year-on-year decline, while both private industrial and infrastructure have seen output fall for the past three months. In contrast, March saw private housing post its second highest year-on-year growth for nine months, while the commercial sector recorded its third consecutive year-on-year increase. However, the output stats have been questioned by leading industry commentators, who claim the data does not reflect industry sentiment and is at odds with other industry surveys. Source link

Energy and Climate Change Committee chair Angus MacNeil raised concerns about the impact leaving the European Union will have on the renewable energy industry. MacNeal said that the future of the industry was “dependent on many things” but that “either way it is not good”. “The future of renewables is dependent on many things and dependent really on what form Brexit takes. “Either way it is not good and Brexit doesn’t seem to have been a very good option at all for renewables,” he said. MacNeil spoke after the event which was attended by industry stakeholders and current contender for prime minister and energy minister Andrea Leadsom. He added that the three different options for the UK’s status could have different impacts on the industry and highlighted that negotiations could potentially take more than seven years. Watch the interview here.   Source link

Savills won the coveted ‘Residential Adviser of the Year’ at the Estates Gazette Awards last night (20th September).    The awards, held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in central London, saw Savills beat a shortlist of: CBRE, Knight Frank, JLL and Cluttons to take the title. In giving the award, the judging panel said: “Often known as the prime of prime, Savills showed that it can still do what it is has always done best, while also branching out into new markets and residential subsectors.” The award was collected by Richard Rees, head of UK Development, who says:  “These awards celebrate excellence in the industry and we are delighted to be recognised as the best in our field, it is a testament to the hard work of the teams across the UK”. The evening was hosted by comedian Sean Locke with post-win interviews by Gaby Logan. Savills also sponsored the National Company of the Year award, which went to Derwent London. Tim Maynard presented the award on behalf of Savills. Source link