Business tax rates for rooftop solar installations could rise by up to eight times next year. The solar industry is calling on ministers to intervene on the hike, which will “all but eliminate the incentive for businesses to invest in solar”, the Solar Trade Association (STA) claimed.
Amey has lost its Plymouth highways maintenance contract to South West Highways, which in turn has lost its long-running Devon contract to Skanska. Above: South West Highways has lost Devon but gained Plymouth Devon County Council’s cabinet has agreed recommendations to award its highways term maintenance contract to Skanska Construction
Game, set and match for Wimbledon house prices Most of us have more chance of winning a set – well maybe a game – against Andy Murray, than buying a property near the All England Lawn Tennis Club Wimbledon starts in less than a week’s time, and thousands of excitable
13 August 2016 – by David Hatcher The managers of more than £14bn of funds currently frozen to redemptions are considering a co-ordinated reopening. The move comes after Aviva this week said its £1.8bn fund would stay sealed for redemptions for at least six to eight months. Many funds
The British construction industry was pummelled in August, as an infrastructure slowdown added more pain to the struggling sector in the wake of the EU referendum. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said construction output fell by 1.5% in August month on month, in comparison with July’s 0.5% increase, and
Customers are less satisfied with how suppliers handle complaints, despite the number of complaints having halved since 2014. Big six suppliers Npower and Scottish Power, alongside independent First Utility, recorded the highest proportion of “very dissatisfied” complainants. SSE, Eon and EDF Energy performed better but failed to
Construction and infrastructure firm Morgan Sindall has been selected to build a £16.9 million highways and waste distribution depot in Houghton Regis, Dunstable. The scheme for Central Bedfordshire Council has already begun and will include the construction of a household waste recycling centre and a depot for the highways team
Two construction companies have benefited from a national scholarship scheme which will allow them to take on an apprentice who is entirely funded to work for them for one year. The scheme was launched by leading construction audit, contract and payroll provider, Hudson Contract, to celebrate its 20th anniversary and
Launched at the House of Lords on Tuesday, October 11, 2016, at an event hosted by Lord Aberdare, the Skills Accord is a new way of advancing the energy and utilities sector and their supply chain to generate the workforce capacity and capability that is needed. Amey, National Grid, SSE,
A new study by Arup, released this week at the 23rd World Energy Congress, shows that cities have more power to secure their own cleaner energy supply than they realise. Growing cities, which already account for more than 50% of global energy consumption, can no longer afford to rely on
Business tax rates for rooftop solar installations could rise by up to eight times next year. The solar industry is calling on ministers to intervene on the hike, which will “all but eliminate the incentive for businesses to invest in solar”, the Solar Trade Association (STA) claimed. Public authorities, schools and community buildings that have solar on their roofs are also at risk if the expected rise comes into force on 1 April 2017. The change is due to a wider evaluation of commercial rates that takes place every five to seven years. STA chief executive Paul Barwell said: “This is a huge increase in the running costs of a rooftop solar installation that will affect both existing and new projects. In some cases, it would actually send installations into negative returns. “Ministers must act now, otherwise this tax rise will all but eliminate the incentive for businesses to invest in solar.” The association also said that the considered rates “bear little relation” to the revenue generated by the installations as of next year, and are based on “fixed assumptions about capital costs of installation”. However, the way business rates legislation is worded is the issue and requires attention from government. The STA has been in talks with the Valuation Office Agency, the Treasury, the Department for Communities and Local Government, and the Department of Energy and Climate Change to discuss our proposals to exempt self-owned rooftop solar from business rates. Earlier this week, the STA launched an initiative to raise standards in the maintenance of large rooftop and ground-mounted solar systems. Source link
Amey has lost its Plymouth highways maintenance contract to South West Highways, which in turn has lost its long-running Devon contract to Skanska. Above: South West Highways has lost Devon but gained Plymouth Devon County Council’s cabinet has agreed recommendations to award its highways term maintenance contract to Skanska Construction UK, after 22 years of service by South West Highways. The contract will run for an initial seven years from 1st April 2017 to 31st March 2024, with extension options for a further three years. Devon’s current highways term maintenance contract with South West Highways, which covers routine, reactive, emergency and planned highway maintenance work, expires at the end of March 2017. Devon has a budget of £67.7m for highway maintenance in 2016/17. South West Highways is a joint venture of Colas and Eurovia, formed in 1995 especially for the Devon County Council highways contract and it has looked after Devon’s roads ever since. Devon CC said that it anticipated that many current South West Highways employees would be eligible to transfer to Skanska under TUPE legislation. Skanska Construction’s proposals, as part of its winning bid, include a range of initiatives to tackle potholes, job creation for Devon residents, introduction of an efficiency and performance manager, an affordability review every three years to target investment, and improved communications. However, Plymouth City Council has appointed South West Highways as its new highways maintenance contractor. South West Highways will take over from Amey in April 2017, also for an initial term of seven years, with opportunities to extend the contract by up to three years. In Plymouth, South West Highways is planning to trial technologies such as gully monitoring software to reduce the risk of flooding on the highway. Devon County Council, Plymouth City Council and Somerset County Council all carried out procurement for highways maintenance in partnership, to save money. Somerset has yet to announce its decision; its current provider is Skanska, which acquired the £30m-a-year contract a part of its £18m purchase of Atkins’ highways maintenance business in 2013. The three local authorities have agreed to continue collaborating – for example by co-ordinating activity, procuring materials together, jointly managing contracts and extending schemes into neighbouring areas where it makes practical and financial sense – and through the South West Highways Alliance, a partnership of 15 highway authorities in the region. This article was published on 16 Sep 2016 (last updated on 16 Sep 2016). Source link
Game, set and match for Wimbledon house prices Most of us have more chance of winning a set – well maybe a game – against Andy Murray, than buying a property near the All England Lawn Tennis Club Wimbledon starts in less than a week’s time, and thousands of excitable tennis fans will descend on the All England Lawn Tennis Club in South West London for two weeks, to watch their favourite players fight for the honour of being crowned Wimbledon champion. To get into the spirit of Wimbledon, online estate agents HouseSimple.com has carried out some research looking at the average price of property near to the All England Club, and compared to average prices near to the Australian, US and French Open venues. The figures reveal that average house prices in Wimbledon Village, SW19, which is a short walk from the courts are far and way the highest of all four tournament venues. At more than £1.5m, you’d actually have to win the Wimbledon Championships to be able to afford to buy a property close by. Average property prices in Wimbledon Village currently standing at £1,591,939, compared to £604,932 near Melbourne Park, the Australian Open venue, £466,193 close to the site of the US Open, in Flushing Meadows, and just £459,957 near Roland Garros, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. With this year’s men’s and women’s Wimbledon champions each picking up a cheque for a cool £2m, they wouldn’t get much change if they bought in Wimbledon Village, although average property prices across the whole of SW19, are a little more reasonable at £874,857. But if you think average property prices are eye-watering near to the All England Lawn Tennis Club, HouseSimple also looked into property prices close to some of the few tennis clubs in the UK that have quality grass courts, and you could pay a premium of as much as 282% to live just an overhead smash away. The average price of property near to the Holland Park Lawn Tennis Club is just over £4.34 million; that’s 281.5% more than the average of £1,138,333 for that postcode area. Slightly more affordable, are property prices near to the Halton Tennis Centre, close to Aylesbury, in Buckinghamshire. At an average of £642,917, they are 54.6% higher than the £415,783 for the postcode area. The following table reveals average property prices and the price premium you could pay to live near to one of the UK’s lawn tennis clubs. Region Name of tennis club Average property price in postcode area (£) Average property price next to tennis club (£) Price premium (%) London Holland Park Lawn Tennis Club £1,138,333 £4,343,167 281.5% London The Hurlingham Club £1,110,978 £2,694,139 142.5% South East St George’s Hill Lawn Tennis Club £752,076 £1,255,083 66.9% London Queen’s Club £1,138,333 £1,140,167 0.2% South East Stoke Park Country Club £346,099 £825,000 138.4% London Roehampton Club £719,965 £732,199 1.7% South East Pit Farm Tennis Club £515,186 £701,944 36.3% South East Halton Tennis Centre £415,783 £642,917 54.6% East Midlands The Leicestershire Tennis and Squash Club £201,336 £305,142 51.6% Alex Gosling, CEO of online estate agents HouseSimple.com comments: “Most of us have more chance of winning a set – well maybe a game – against Andy Murray, than buying a property near the All England Lawn Tennis Club. However, property prices close to the Wimbledon Championships pale in comparison to average prices next to the Holland Park Lawn Tennis Club. Even if you combined the men’s and women’s winners cheques, they still wouldn’t cover the average price of a property in the area.” Image: Yuri Turkov via Shutterstock Source link
13 August 2016 – by David Hatcher The managers of more than £14bn of funds currently frozen to redemptions are considering a co-ordinated reopening. The move comes after Aviva this week said its £1.8bn fund would stay sealed for redemptions for at least six to eight months. Many funds have the same investors and they have raised concerns that whichever fund opens first will be at an unfair disadvantage. The proposal could help stabilise the different vehicles which have been steadily selling assets since their closures in early July. Five funds run by Henderson, Aviva, Colombia Threadneedle, M&G Investments and Standard Life closed to redemptions in the aftermath of the EU referendum. In the days following the vote to leave the EU, the UK’s biggest retail funds were flooded by requests from investors to redeem cash fearing a decline in property values. One fund manager said: “It would be helpful to have some kind of co-ordination under the auspices of the Association of Real Estate Funds. The different fund managers are conferring and the Financial Conduct Authority is being kept informed.” All the content from this weekís magazine, including this article, is available in the new app. Another said: “It is not easy to open again without creating a moment of uncertainty for yourself. You want funds to talk to each other and come up with a sensible solution rather than try to arbitrage each other.” The need to involve the regulator is of particular importance in order to avoid breaching anti-competition regulation. The FCA’s new chief executive Andrew Bailey has already said that the sector “needs to be looked at”. The biggest concern for managers is that if they reopen their funds with insufficient liquidity, there is another rush on redemptions and this erodes confidence in their funds for good. This occurred in Germany following the financial crisis in 2009 and led to the sale of €14bn (£12bn) of assets between 2012 and 2015 and the near disappearance of the industry in the country. “The doomsday scenario is going for the door and then having to shut again – then you are dead in the water,” said another fund manager. Aviva’s plan to remain closed into 2017 has caused dismay among its rivals, some of which believe delaying reopening could tarnish all funds. Source link
The British construction industry was pummelled in August, as an infrastructure slowdown added more pain to the struggling sector in the wake of the EU referendum. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said construction output fell by 1.5% in August month on month, in comparison with July’s 0.5% increase, and against economists’ estimates of 0%. The statistics agency said all new work fell by 1.4%, while repair and maintenance dropped by 1.5%. Year-on-year figures also painted a bleak picture for the industry, with construction going up by 0.2% compared with August last year, which was way below consensus forecasts for a 1.2% jump. A major driver of the slowdown was a fall in infrastructure activity which dropped by 5.1% in August after a 6.1% rise in July. Infrastructure decreased by 9.3% compared to August last year, which the ONS noted marks the sixth consecutive month of year-on-year decreases. Infrastructure accounts for projects such as roads, water, sewage, electricity and railways. A senior statistician at the ONS, Kate Davies, commented: “As the fall this month is led by infrastructure, it seems unlikely that post-referendum uncertainties are having an impact. “Monthly construction data can be quite erratic, though, so we would warn against trying to read too much into one set of figures.” Meanwhile, total new home building fell by 1.3% compared with July, with new public and private housing dropping by 2.1% and 1.2%, respectively. The amount spent on repair and maintenance went down to £3.9 billion in August, which was its lowest level since September 2013. Chief UK and European economist at IHS Markit, Howard Archer, said that the overall contraction in construction activity is likely to weigh down third quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Construction output accounts for approximately 5.9% of GDP. However, a ramp up in government spending could help revive the industry. Mr Archer said: “The construction sector will take some heart from Chancellor Philip Hammond prioritising infrastructure and housing initiatives in his fiscal efforts to support the economy.”
Customers are less satisfied with how suppliers handle complaints, despite the number of complaints having halved since 2014. Big six suppliers Npower and Scottish Power, alongside independent First Utility, recorded the highest proportion of “very dissatisfied” complainants. SSE, Eon and EDF Energy performed better but failed to show any significant improvement in overall complaint handling since 2014. The biennial survey from Ofgem compares how the largest and medium sized suppliers deal with their domestic and micro-business customers’ complaints. However, the survey also showed that 77 per cent of domestic complainants said that it was easy to find the right contact details to make a complaint, up from 65 per cent in 2014. Following the initial contact, the experience deteriorated and 42 per cent of customers whose case had been closed by the supplier thought it remained unresolved. Of the customers surveyed, 52 per cent were planning to switch as a result of their experience compared to 44 per cent of domestic complainants and 47 per cent among micro-businesses in 2014. A majority of Npower and Scottish Power domestic customers who complained (71 per cent and 59 per cent respectively) said that they had or were planning to switch as a result of their experience. The regulator has demanded that the worst performers – after Npower and Scottish Power – First Utility and Utility Warehouse, conduct and publish a thorough independent audit of their complaints handling procedures. Ofgem’s chief executive Dermot Nolan has also written an open letter to all suppliers surveyed to demand improvement and asked them to respond publicly setting out how they have made, and intend to make, improvements. In December last year, Ofgem took action over Npower’s complaints handling and fine the supplier £26 million as a result of its failings. In April this year Scottish Power had to pay out £18 million for similar failures. Source link
Construction and infrastructure firm Morgan Sindall has been selected to build a £16.9 million highways and waste distribution depot in Houghton Regis, Dunstable. The scheme for Central Bedfordshire Council has already begun and will include the construction of a household waste recycling centre and a depot for the highways team of Central Bedfordshire. The main building on the 14-acre site will feature modular offices for 60 staff at Highways England, a maintenance workshop for seven vehicles and a big dry storage area. The site will also house fuel and salt stores and will be used to offer support for works at the Dunstable Northern bypass (A5 M1 link) which is currently being built. The household waste distribution centre will feature two small office buildings for 10 members of staff, a retail unit and a 250 vehicle car park. Area Director at Morgan Sindall, Neil Franklin, commented: “We’re pleased to be working closely with Central Bedfordshire Council to advance the long-term waste management plans for Dunstable. “The new highways and waste distribution depot will provide a key service for the area, and much-needed office accommodation and vehicle maintenance space for the council. The centre will also provide an essential facility for storing road-salt and house the council’s gritting fleet during the winter months. We look forward to completing the project in summer 2017.” Last month, Glasgow City Council selected Morgan Sindall to deliver infrastructure work for the vast Sighthill Transformational Regeneration Area. The £36.5 million contract will see construction works for roads, earthworks, utilities, drainage, landscaping and public realm begin in November with completion expected in early 2019. Morgan Sindall was awarded the contract after a tender process in which 64 firms expressed an interest; eight supplied PQQs and five were invited to submit a tender. The £250 million scheme will see the 50 hectare site redeveloped to create a new neighbourhood with around 800 homes for sale and rent.
Two construction companies have benefited from a national scholarship scheme which will allow them to take on an apprentice who is entirely funded to work for them for one year. The scheme was launched by leading construction audit, contract and payroll provider, Hudson Contract, to celebrate its 20th anniversary and also provide opportunities for two young apprentices who hope to take their first steps on the construction career ladder. Having received entries from construction companies throughout the UK, Hudson Contract’s judging panel awarded the scholarship to H&L Construction Solutions in West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and Matthews & Leigh in Chorley, Lancashire. Resulting from the awarded funding, on-site carpentry firm, H&L Construction Solutions, has welcomed Joe Ladbery (21) who will begin his apprenticeship while attending his place at Oaklands College in St Albans. Construction and civil engineering business, Matthews & Leigh, is now able to take on Jordan Goulding (18) who is about to start his Level 2 Apprenticeship in Construction Operation at Preston College. Office Manager at H&L, Emma Hunt, commented: “Joe is one of the first apprentices we have ever taken on. We’re a young company, so fully financing the course, with day release, would have been extremely difficult. We really want to support young people in the area who will play an important part in growing our company, so we were thrilled when we found out we had won the scholarship scheme.” Joint Managing Directors for Matthews & Leigh, Ian and Andrew Leigh, added: “We really value the contribution apprentices make to our company. They are the future of our workforce and it’s vital for them to have the skills and training they need to produce quality work and fully understand the industry’s health and safety requirements. To be awarded this scholarship is a fantastic opportunity for us as we recognise that today’s apprentices are to become the next generation of supervisors and managers, which is so important to the long-term growth of the industry.”
Launched at the House of Lords on Tuesday, October 11, 2016, at an event hosted by Lord Aberdare, the Skills Accord is a new way of advancing the energy and utilities sector and their supply chain to generate the workforce capacity and capability that is needed. Amey, National Grid, SSE, Thames Water, and UK Power Networks, along with 22 key supply chain firms have pledged their commitment to a new and innovative Skills Accord. The Skills Accord is one element of the sector’s new approach to strategic workforce renewal and will make sure that market contractors stay competitive while embedding relevant skills development in their organisations through their commitment to an annual contribution to the sector’s overall training target of 5%, and encouraging the same through their supply chain. Chair of the Energy & Utility Skills Group, Jan Ward, congratulated the 27 firms who pledged their commitment to a sustained investment in skills: “This Skills Accord is one of the key priorities of the new sector partnership now underway, and I applaud these companies for testing the art of the possible and by collaborating with each other to recruit and train skilled workers, increase mobility and efficiency, widen the available talent pool and consequently bring about strategic workforce renewal.” During the event, Senior Advisor at the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (part of the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury), Keith Waller, commended members of the Energy & Utility Skills Group: “One of the key challenges stated in the 2015 National Infrastructure Plan for Skills was how to incentivise skills investment through procurement. This requires innovative approaches to encourage the retraining and up-skilling of the workforce to meet future skills demands. “The fact that employers within the energy and utilities sector were already working towards this remit in conjunction with Energy & Utility Skills through the management of the Procurement Skills Accord Project is very much welcomed.”
A new study by Arup, released this week at the 23rd World Energy Congress, shows that cities have more power to secure their own cleaner energy supply than they realise. Growing cities, which already account for more than 50% of global energy consumption, can no longer afford to rely on a centralised energy supply and will need to take more control to meet the rising demand. The Arup “Innovating Urban Energy” perspective paper provides insight for the World Energy Council Scenarios Report and shows that new technologies, innovative financing mechanisms and political changes are opening up opportunities for cities to secure their own energy. Technology drivers, such as advanced power electronics, smart metering and local generation are allowing cities to diversify their energy portfolio. Transactive energy is shown as an approach to change the way energy is purchased and sold. This combines economic and control mechanisms to allow for a dynamic balance of supply and demand which uses value created as a key operational parameter. It is allowing cities to develop lower cost, more stable networks capable of handling a much bigger share of renewable sources. This particularly applies to electricity, however the report shows that account needs to be taken of the other energy sectors. A number of cities have existing energy and transport infrastructure that need integrated planning. Not all energy can sensibly arrive as electricity from renewable sources so other vectors such as district heating and hydrogen gas networks have a role to play in this integrated planning. Importantly, these technology developments are blurring the line between producers, distributers and consumers by allowing non-traditional energy players, such as technology companies, to enter the market. Corporates are increasingly looking for opportunities to become power producers in the new urban energy rush and could become significant contributors in the future.