Work has started on a £16 million affordable housing scheme in Doncaster. The development of 126 homes will be delivered by Esh Construction in partnership with Together Housing Group, which also owns and manages Lakeside Rise in the town, and Housing 21. Together Housing will take ownership of 56 two,
Commercial property management specialist, NSM, has been appointed to manage three North West industrial assets. The three developments were acquired by client, Network Space last month. They include: Newfield Industrial Estate in Tunstall, Stoke on Trent, a 125,000 sq ft multi-let industrial estate which is occupied by 20 businesses including
In April 2021, contract awards increased by 58% compared to March to £9.1 billion. This level of activity was last seen in January 2020. The latest edition of the Economic & Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI, highlights levels of construction contract values awarded across Great Britain. Sector
UK construction’s demand for big-volume mineral products like aggregates and concrete showed resilience in the first quarter of 2021, despite renewed lockdown restrictions, Brexit and particularly wet winter weather hampering activity. That’s according to the latest survey from the Mineral Products Association (MPA) which warns that an encouraging start to
Building will be 15 storeys high at its highest point and is designed to provide affordable student living within an environment to support health and well-being. GMI Construction, a leading main contractor to a growing portfolio of public and private clients throughout the UK has announced that it has been
Leading housing association Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH) has announced several major policy commitments to boost security and cut costs for its existing and future shared ownership customers surrounding leaseholds and ground rents. In new commitments recently unveiled, MTVH will offer all pipeline and new leasehold residential sales a 990-year
Panattoni, the largest developer in Europe, has, for the fifth year in a row, taken first place in PropertyEU magazine’s Top Logistics Developers ranking. In 2018–2020, the company delivered 69 million sq ft of warehouse and industrial space to the market. Panattoni owes its strong position to its expert anticipation
LEADING national housebuilder Lovell Partnerships, has secured planning permission for two significant schemes on key East Midlands-based urban extensions as it continues its rapid growth in the region. The two developments, which will offer plots for the open market in addition to affordable housing, are situated in Branston Locks, Burton-Upon-Trent
THERE is no doubt that many across the construction industry expect The Construction Playbook to be a driver of truly transformational change. One thing that has resonated with national framework provider Pagabo is that ten of the 14 key policies outlined by the government fall within the first of the five phases of procurement.
In early April, when industrial fires broke out in two different locations, they both had the same devastating outcome. On the 10th April, a fire started in a furniture factory in County Antrim damaging the building. Two days later, a fire swept through a bedmaking factory in Dewsbury. Neither building
Work has started on a £16 million affordable housing scheme in Doncaster. The development of 126 homes will be delivered by Esh Construction in partnership with Together Housing Group, which also owns and manages Lakeside Rise in the town, and Housing 21. Together Housing will take ownership of 56 two, three and four-bedroom homes and 10 two-bedroom bungalows for affordable rent, all of which will benefit from front and rear gardens and parking facilities. Housing 21 will take ownership of 58 apartments in a three-storey retirement living scheme, and two bungalows. Located off Highfield Road, Askern, the development meets an identified housing need in the district whilst the retirement living element will meet the requirements of an ageing population. The neighbourhood will be focused around extensive public open space, with the design including footpath links to the surrounding community. A Sustainable Urban Drainage scheme will also be implemented at the development. Steve Close, Chief Executive at Together Housing Group, said: “Building much needed new homes is one of our key aims at Together Housing and it’s great to see this development underway in Askern. “Working with our partners, we are helping to provide high quality affordable rented housing in the area. From the bungalows to the four-bedroom houses, these new homes combined with the retirement living scheme will meet the needs of all residents.” Paul Crosland, Construction Project Manager at Housing 21, said: “Housing 21 is a leading provider of Retirement Living and Extra Care for older people of modest means and we are excited to be working together with Esh Construction, Doncaster Council and Together Housing Group to offer further Retirement Living in Doncaster. “This latest development will provide people over the age of 65 with choice and control over their living arrangements as residents will benefit from having their own front door while having access to communal facilities, such as lounge and garden, offering a safe and secure place to call home.” Stuart Leslie, Divisional Director at Esh Construction, said: “The scheme at Highfield Road represents the largest land led development we have on site at present, and is testament to a huge combined effort from everyone who has been involved from the very early stages. “Esh has a strong portfolio of successfully delivering high quality affordable housing and extra care developments across the region, and we look forward to working in partnership with two of our valued clients, Together Housing Group and Housing 21, to bring much needed new homes to Doncaster.”
Commercial property management specialist, NSM, has been appointed to manage three North West industrial assets. The three developments were acquired by client, Network Space last month. They include: Newfield Industrial Estate in Tunstall, Stoke on Trent, a 125,000 sq ft multi-let industrial estate which is occupied by 20 businesses including global corporate Air Liquide and a number of successful local companies. The 28-acre Sovereign Distillery which provides 446,151 sq ft of commercial space in Huyton, Liverpool A prime 11.4 acre site on Atlantic Street in South Manchester offering 220,000 sq ft of industrial warehouse space with redevelopment opportunities. NSM operates from offices in St Helen’s and Doncaster and will help the landlord maximise the value of the properties and their return on investment, as well as managing the day to day running of the estate and rent roll. Nicky Jones, Managing Director of NSM, said: “These are three significant sites across the North West and will ultimately bring almost a million sq ft of new property for the team to manage. As some of the sites offer refurbishment and redevelopment potential we will build strong relationships with the existing tenants to effectively manage that process.” NSM has continued to collect over 95% of all rents billed since lockdown commenced, working closely with tenants to provide support and advice about Government initiatives as well as managing staged payments. The company’s investment into its Spaceman platform has shown how vital proptech can be in ensuring every member of the team can deliver effectively regardless of the pandemic challenges, with all information about every project live at the touch of a button.
In April 2021, contract awards increased by 58% compared to March to £9.1 billion. This level of activity was last seen in January 2020. The latest edition of the Economic & Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI, highlights levels of construction contract values awarded across Great Britain. Sector analysis shows that residential contract awards increase again in April to £2.5 billion, up from £2.0 billion in March. A strong performance for infrastructure, with total value of contract awards reaching £2.1 billion, the first monthly value over £2.0 billion since January 2020. And the industrial sector activity sees the second highest monthly value on record of £1.2 billion in April, driven once again by warehousing. Commenting on the figures, Tom Hall, Chief Economist at Barbour ABI and AMA Research said, “Building on the improvements in the planning environment we reported in March, April saw a bumper month for contract awards of £9.1bn. This is the highest value since January last year. All sectors apart from healthcare saw sizeable monthly increases to well above their long-term average values, particularly the infrastructure and commercial sectors. A year on from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic we have finally seen a value that starts to recover some of the lost ground. However, a fall in April’s planning approvals back to previous levels seen over the second half of 2020 may demonstrate that the uncertainty plaguing the sector has not fully cleared. We require a sustained increase over a period of time to fill the weak construction pipeline.” Download the full report here: https://www.barbour-abi.com/zones/2103032-Snap-Analysis-May-Output-File-v2.pdf
UK construction’s demand for big-volume mineral products like aggregates and concrete showed resilience in the first quarter of 2021, despite renewed lockdown restrictions, Brexit and particularly wet winter weather hampering activity. That’s according to the latest survey from the Mineral Products Association (MPA) which warns that an encouraging start to the year should not distract from real challenges that lie ahead. MPA says the recovery in construction must not be taken for granted because so much depends on the Government’s policy stimuli in housing and its delivery of the UK’s planned infrastructure programme. ONS data shows that construction output has flatlined since September, whilst new contract awards have been weak for most of the past year. Whilst broadly positive, trends in sales volumes for essential mineral products show mixed results for heavy-side building materials such as aggregates, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt and mortar. These core products are mostly used in the early stages of construction — for example foundations and structures — so their sales provide a unique barometer for the start of new projects rather than the completion of finished ones. In the latest MPA survey, building materials manufacturers who between them supply around 1 million tonnes of mineral products every day reported a slow but steady start to the year, with construction demand in March much stronger than in January. Sales volumes for primary aggregates and ready-mixed concrete increased by 3.4% and 1.6% respectively in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the last quarter of 2020, but both asphalt and mortar sales volumes declined over the quarter, down 4.9% and 7.4% respectively. Robust housing activity, particularly in landscaping and home improvement, and an acceleration in infrastructure work driven by Highway England’s roads programme and HS2, were tempered by a combination of factors, including supply chain disruptions, rising Covid-19 infections and a particularly wet winter affecting work on site. Longer-term, recovery for asphalt is supported by renewed momentum in roads construction and maintenance, and market demand has rapidly recovered to pre-pandemic levels. At the start of the year, total sales volumes for asphalt were significantly higher than their previous 5-year average (2014-19). Likewise, sales volumes for crushed rock aggregate have also been recovering well, boosted by roadworks and HS2, which are driving demand for asphalt and bulk fill materials. The trend for housing-led mortar demand is more ambiguous and producers continue to report uncertainty on the outlook for new housing this year. Mortar sales volumes remain well below pre-pandemic levels and longer-term data indicates that, regardless of the pandemic, mortar demand has been on a steady downward trend since mid-2018. Despite all the talk about recovery, this suggests that housing activity remains dominated by the completion of existing sites ahead of the planned phasing out of the stamp duty holiday and ’Help to Buy’ deadlines, rather than the start of new ones. Volatile new housing contract data in the past year and a subdued overall number of new residential units in the pipeline are expected to weigh on the potential recovery in mortar demand this year. More concerning is the weak recovery path for ready-mixed concrete, held back by a combination of sluggish new housing activity and a lack of new projects in commercial construction. Over 60% of ready-mixed concrete is used either in new housing or other non-infrastructure projects, mostly in commercial buildings, with London and the South East representing a third of all sales. The total sales volume of ready-mixed concrete at the start of the year remained over 9% below the previous 5-year average, despite three consecutive quarters of growth since last year’s initial lockdown. Looking further back, ready-mixed concrete sales have been subdued since 2017, initially impacted by Brexit-related uncertainty which slowed private sector investment in the commercial sector and triggered a general slowdown in housebuilding. This suggests that the market recovery so far is really just a slow-motion return to growth from a subdued level of activity that pre-dates Covid-19. Aurelie Delannoy, Director of Economics Affairs at the MPA, said that a balanced perspective is required: “Mineral products manufacturers are busy supplying post- lockdown pent-up demand, particularly for domestic activity such as landscaping, repair and maintenance, and home improvements, as well as infrastructure projects already in the pipeline, including momentum building on HS2.” “The outlook for this year and next is also positive, but the stakes are high. Any optimism assumes activity is not disrupted by renewed outbreaks of Covid-19, and most importantly, relies on the Government delivering on its planned infrastructure commitments. MPA members tell us they are yet to see a more clear-cut pick-up in new housebuilding, whilst any recovery in commercial development is expected to remain muted given the current reticence for major new investments.” Nigel Jackson, CEO at MPA, added: “For many of our members, enquiries have been at record levels with some consequential issues relating to haulage availability as well as temporary, localised supply constraints on some products. Brexit-related import delays for spare parts, new lorries and some machinery are also posing a challenge,. Our members are having to adapt quickly to changing market conditions but are generally managing to meet current demand whilst also preparing to ensure future supply. For an industry that is supplying over 1 million tonnes of essential products every day and is the largest supplier to construction, it would be surprising if there were not short-term issues of supply as the economy gathers momentum.” Figure 1. Mineral products sales volumes in Great Britain Table 1. MPA sales volumes in GB: change on the previous period (seasonally adjusted) Note: Ready-mixed concrete includes sales from both fixed and site (mobile) plants. Source: MPA, ONS.
Building will be 15 storeys high at its highest point and is designed to provide affordable student living within an environment to support health and well-being. GMI Construction, a leading main contractor to a growing portfolio of public and private clients throughout the UK has announced that it has been appointed as the main contractor to construct a new 604-bed purpose-built student accommodation scheme in Leeds. The development situated on Carlton Hill in Leeds will see the demolition of a 20 year-old, 239 -bed student accommodation block to make space for the new development. The new building, which will be 15 storeys at the highest point, has been designed to provide affordable living, with a strong emphasis on an environment to support students’ mental health and well-being. It is planned for students to move into the new building during September 2023. The £40M project is the culmination of several years of planning and dialogue between Pickard Properties and Unipol Student Homes who will lease the building for exclusive use by students attending the University of Leeds. It will incorporate several fully landscaped three-storey “sky gardens”, allocated to clusters of apartments. The open-air theme also extends to ground floor level with its own courtyard, providing a combination of natural and interactive spaces for student studying and socialising. Commenting on the project Lee Powell, Divisional Managing Director of GMI, said: “This is a significant project win for GMI and we are looking forward to working with Pickard Properties, Fox Lloyd Jones and the rest of the team in changing the landscape of the Leeds City skyline. “The scheme enables GMI to enhance its successful track record of delivering student residential living and we are proud to be involved in a ground-breaking design that caters for students’ mental wellbeing.” Also talking about the project Miles Pickard Director of Pickard Properties said: “We recognise there has been a huge change to students’ needs, and therefore a considerable amount of thought has been given to the design, social circulation and interaction for the wellbeing of students. “We are really looking forward to developing Carlton Hill for the students of Leeds to enjoy this modern, cutting-edge addition to the accommodation available to them in the city. Martin Blakey of Unipol added: “We are looking forward to 2023 when we will take delivery of what will be an exciting new living environment, available at an affordable rent providing value for money, for students of the university. “Everyone involved in this development has worked hard to ensure this building will be a home from home and a great place to live.”
Leading housing association Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH) has announced several major policy commitments to boost security and cut costs for its existing and future shared ownership customers surrounding leaseholds and ground rents. In new commitments recently unveiled, MTVH will offer all pipeline and new leasehold residential sales a 990-year lease, alongside ensuring that ground rents will not be charged on any pipeline or new sales on schemes where MTVH is the freeholder. This major policy commitment will be effective immediately. MTVH has also announced its plans to offer similar commitments to existing shared ownership customers at occupied schemes, with the option for customers to extend their lease to 990-years from June 2021 at a cost based on the share they own. Additionally, marriage value will no longer be considered when calculating the cost of a lease extension.[1] Geeta Nanda, Chief Executive of MTVH, comments: “We are pleased to announce our new policy commitments which are designed to boost security and cut costs for both our valued existing customers and future shared ownership customers at MTVH schemes. We are aware that these two issues are of importance to our customers and therefore are taking these steps to improve their shared ownership experience. “Throughout our policy review, we have been particularly mindful that upcoming changes to shared ownership policy do little to enhance the experience of existing shared ownership customers and we were keen to explore what could be possible and within our means. Given that new customers will be guaranteed the security of a longer lease term, it is only right that this is offered to our existing customers too.” Geeta adds: “We welcome the government’s wider proposals to implement 990-year leases across the shared ownership sector, but have taken the decision to act now to ensure our customers benefit from an extended lease length as quickly as possible.” In a step further, a raft of other measures that will benefit MTVH leaseholders more generally will be introduced from April 2022. This will include the phasing out of ground rents across MTVH’s portfolio where they own the land, and the option to extend their lease to 990-years, alongside the removal of marriage value. Geeta adds: “Whilst shared ownership has been impacted by some of the complexities of leasehold tenure, it is important that we address this across the board and ensure that any customers who have purchased through MTVH privately are offered a fair chance to extend their lease at an accessible cost too. We are pleased to be working on policy amendments that will allow all customers this option, as well as removing additional costs such as ground rents.” To find out more about Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing visit www.mtvh.co.uk. [1] Marriage value is the increase in the value of the property following the completion of the lease extension, reflecting the additional market value of the longer lease.
Panattoni, the largest developer in Europe, has, for the fifth year in a row, taken first place in PropertyEU magazine’s Top Logistics Developers ranking. In 2018–2020, the company delivered 69 million sq ft of warehouse and industrial space to the market. Panattoni owes its strong position to its expert anticipation of market trends and its rapid response to the economic turmoil brought about by the pandemic. Panattoni has topped PropertyEU’s ranking to secure the title of Top Logistics Developer. The survey ranks the largest European developers according to the amount of warehouse space they build. This year’s list covers the period from 2018 to 2020. During this time, Panattoni delivered to the European markets as much as 69 million sq ft. Robert Dobrzycki, the CEO of Panattoni, said: “Earning the title of the largest developer in Europe for the fifth year in a row shows that our company has clearly been strengthening its position on the European market. It confirms that the development directions we have adopted were obviously the right ones. “A major part in this has been played by the growth of e-commerce, which the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated even further. Automated centres built for this sector already account for 35% of all our projects. The number of ‘last mile’ city parks we have developed in Germany, the UK and Poland is also growing,” he said. “Around 25% of all our projects are highly technologically advanced production facilities. Panattoni specialises in the construction of this type of facility, tailored for a specific client. The disruption to supply chains caused by the pandemic has been leading many companies to consider relocating their manufacturing businesses or parts of them to Europe to be closer to their customers. The Central European markets in which we operate can only benefit from this.” It is not only through an accurate analysis of the market trends that Panattoni’s success has been achieved. The company’s growth has also been fostered by its decision to implement a sustainable development strategy, which has put it at the cutting edge of the environmental changes in the sector. As standard, the company provides warehouse and production facilities with environmental solutions that help to reduce CO2 emissions as well as energy and water consumption, while improving the well-being of the buildings’ eventual employees. The effectiveness of these measures is also confirmed by the company’s policy of obtaining BREEAM certification for each project. In an era when combating climate change is of paramount importance, such an approach is entirely in tune with the expectations of clients. In its more than 15 years of activity on the European market, Panattoni has completed projects with a combined area of more than 129 million sq ft. These include both BTS production facilities and more than 2,152,782 sq ft of specialised centres designed for major e-commerce players. The developer also provides a variety of space in its own parks in logistically attractive locations, including in cities. Panattoni is currently active in, among other markets, the UK, Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain and the Netherlands. To view the full article, click here
LEADING national housebuilder Lovell Partnerships, has secured planning permission for two significant schemes on key East Midlands-based urban extensions as it continues its rapid growth in the region. The two developments, which will offer plots for the open market in addition to affordable housing, are situated in Branston Locks, Burton-Upon-Trent and Priors Hall Park on the outskirts of Corby in North Northamptonshire. Lovell’s Branston Locks scheme will comprise of 190 properties and form part of the wider Branston Locks regeneration which will see the transformation of 400 acres of land to the south west of Burton-Upon-Trent and the total creation of 2,500 new homes. Priors Hall urban extension on the outskirts of Corby received consent for 75 new homes, consisting of open market and shared ownership properties. In total Priors Hall will see just under 3,000 homes built alongside 25.5 acres for recreation, footpath, and cycle networks, nine acres of employment space, plus two schools and two retail areas. Chris Timmins, Area Director East Midlands at Lovell Partnerships, said: “We’re delighted that planning permission has been granted for both Branston Locks and Priors Hall Park, meaning that two sustainable communities are on the horizon in areas where affordable, high-quality housing is in high demand. “Branston Locks is a key regeneration site in East Staffordshire, and we’re thrilled to be playing our part on one of the UK’s first large urban extensions as well as a second substantial urban extension in Priors Hall Park, Corby, reflecting our status as a major partnerships developer. “Increasing our footprint in the East Midlands is a big focus as our reputation and achievements in the West Midlands continue to go from strength-to-strength through the delivery of high-quality mixed tenure developments, land-led contracting and design and build contracting.” Lovell Partnerships has already secured a number of opportunities in the East Midlands, with a pipeline of over 1000 units since the inception of the targeted growth within the region in 2020 spearheaded by Chris Timmins. For more information, please visit corporate.lovell.co.uk.
THERE is no doubt that many across the construction industry expect The Construction Playbook to be a driver of truly transformational change. One thing that has resonated with national framework provider Pagabo is that ten of the 14 key policies outlined by the government fall within the first of the five phases of procurement. With a goal of demystifying the Playbook, Pagabo is leading on a series of webinars over the coming months – the first of which saw executive chairman, Gerard Toplass, being joined by a panel of experts, including Jane O’Leary, strategic advisor for education at ISG; Peter Masonbrook, associate director at Faithful+Gould, and Jan Grant, managing director at ProQual. As well as this, the panel was joined by Fergus Harradence, deputy director for infrastructure and construction at the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), who was involved in bringing the Construction Playbook to publication. Gerard said: “One of the key focuses within the construction industry as we emerge from the coronavirus pandemic is to ‘build back better’. The Construction Playbook is just one way in which the government is showing its commitment to doing this and will be one of the most important building blocks for us to do this – but it will take a joined-up effort from the whole industry.” Cultural and behavioural change will be key Many of the policies outlined in the Playbook will be underpinned by the need for behavioural change. This was highlighted by Peter Masonbrook of Faithful+Gould when it comes to social value and a ‘whole life’ approach. These are terms that the industry is extremely familiar with at this point, but there are still attitude changes needed. There is an appetite from the public sector for social value measurement, but as professionals we need to be measuring that social impact beyond asset delivery. As we would measure ‘whole life costs’ from a capital point of view, we must be considering how the local community will benefit from our projects in years to come. The overriding driver of the Playbook is to maximise the benefit for the public purse – and the Playbook is a clear directive that this cannot stop the moment a project is handed over. There has also been a clear direction of policy set out by the government when it comes to a widespread adoption of modern methods of construction (MMC) with recent legislation, with an expectation for wider adoption to permeate throughout the wider industry. It is important to remember that MMC is not simply ‘big Lego’, but a wider term, embracing a range of manufacturing and construction techniques. Indeed, we are seeing this permeate throughout the industry – with Fergus highlighting the education and housing sectors as particularly strong but noting that other more complex areas of the industry may take longer due to their nature, such as infrastructure. However, the panel expect to see an acceleration of MMC throughout the industry – and as more clients and contractors embrace these methods, the quicker adoption will accelerate to a point where they are the primary options. Again, this leans into the cultural and behavioural changes that continue to arise in conversations around the Construction Playbook. Jane O’Leary, strategic advisor education at ISG, highlighted that contractors must make sure that their cultures work with that of the client. Flexibility to client’s requirements must go beyond the project itself and into the way in which we collaborate. The pandemic has shown that construction can prove its reputation wrong by adapting and responding very quickly when needed. A huge part of this has been thanks to digital technology and is an attitude that the industry cannot lose. As an industry, we are second only to agriculture when it comes to digitisation, and through adoption of technology we have the potential to see the kind of step change seen in the retail world during the 1990s – so we need to use the momentum built by the pandemic to drive this even further. Training for the future – Playbook and beyond It’s clear that truly delivering on the government’s agenda here goes beyond simply reading the Playbook. Fergus Harradance detailed the work being done by government to upskill people on the elements within the document to ensure that they are in the best position to adapt to it. The Playbook covers so much ground – taking you from the point where you decide what you want to build, to asset handover and beyond, as well as several key government agendas – so it’s clear that every organisation within the built environment is going to have to adapt its behaviour in some form in response. As the panel agreed, there is a huge emphasis on changing culture and behaviour in order to deliver on the aims of the Playbook, but this goes beyond projects and processes. Jan Grant, managing director of awarding body ProQual, brought a fresh perspective to the discussion, focusing on the need to not just adapt the way the industry works – but how it learns too. ProQual’s digital-led approach ties into the principles of the Construction Playbook, allowing a competency passport to be delivered that gives a visual confirmation of skills and competency, and corroborates the authenticity of an individual and their core skills. The future emphasis, however, is for organisations like ProQual to work closely with the industry to identify what skills are needed, rather than dictate this. This is the only way to develop truly fit-for-purpose qualifications that help the industry progress. This in itself creates opportunity for the industry to lead, adapt and tackle issues quickly through training. An example of this is the current need for recladding buildings following Grenfell, which is an ongoing process that would greatly benefit from more training specific to the task at hand. Through close collaboration, specific qualifications could be developed, accredited, and rolled out to deliver expertise to a specific issue. And another consideration would be to ensure that this – or any new qualification – allows for transferable skills to keep our skilled workers within the industry. Gerard concluded: “To reflect the need for industry wide collaboration to deliver on the principles of the Construction Playbook, we’re really pleased to be bringing together expert panellists throughout this series of webinars on the topic. Together we must work
In early April, when industrial fires broke out in two different locations, they both had the same devastating outcome. On the 10th April, a fire started in a furniture factory in County Antrim damaging the building. Two days later, a fire swept through a bedmaking factory in Dewsbury. Neither building contained a sprinkler system and both businesses are now counting the cost of the damage and dealing with the disruption to their livelihoods. Once again, we must question the understanding of the vulnerability to such fires and the gap in regulations. The fire at Abbey Upholsterers in Carrickfergus started in the early hours of Saturday and completely ravaged a major part of 6,000m2 industrial building, despite the efforts of 70 firefighters from the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service. Local roads were closed and residents were asked to close their windows due to smoke. The deputy mayor of the local council expressed his shock at the event as the business is an important local employer, supplying furnishing products to hotels across the UK and Ireland. In Dewsbury on Monday 12th April, eight fire engines and two aerial appliances from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service spent several hours putting out a blaze at the 2,800m2 Matza factory, with smoke plumes that could be seen as far away as Huddersfield. The local family-run bedmaking business employed 50 workers, who like the company, face an uncertain future. In both cases, these are industrial buildings that have no guidance for compartment size limits or the need for sprinklers. The Fire Safety Building Regulations (FSBR) guidance envisages unlimited size industrial buildings. In the case of warehouses they can be 14 – 20,000m2 in footprint and in many cases up to 18m tall, without incurring guidance for subdivision or sprinklers. Such buildings are truly enormous, roughly six times the size of your average out-of-town DIY store. But the FSBR makes no consideration for the protection of property or indeed the minimising of the spread of fire within the building. The building will survive for the period it takes to get people out, after which we transition into a period where the inherent resilience diminishes. They have physical limitations when it comes to firefighting due to their compartment size. There is a twisted logic that says the building is disposable in the event of fire. Industrial fires such as these once again highlight the rationale for greater consideration of property protection alongside life safety as a reasonable requirement. Such an expectation would result in more buildings being designed to be resilient to disproportionate damage, using combinations of passive and active fire safety measures. The BSA believes that sprinkler systems would be a major part of this change and should be considered more readily as a viable option right across the built environment, whether it is a care home, block of flats, hospital, school, retail or leisure facility or a commercial and industrial building. We must always be thankful when a fire is contained and extinguished with no loss of life, but it is not enough. Lives are still affected regardless, and we must strive to minimise the effect that fire has in all circumstances. When we minimise fire spread we not only protect lives, we protect property, businesses and jobs. A properly controlled fire can be the difference between a building requiring renovation or demolition. Halting the spread of fire when it is first detected is the best way to limit damage and minimise costs and impacts. Sprinklers have been shown to contain, control or extinguish fires in 99% of cases1. The impacted business can be operational within hours, avoiding the economic and social costs. Given the availability of solutions, it begs the question as to why do we continue to repeat the same actions over and over again and expect different results? We need to break the chain and have the discussion on minimising fire damage and property protection for the benefit of our wider communities, the environment, longer-term business security, and the mutual benefits it will bring. For more information about the BSA visit the www.business-sprinkler-alliance.org 1Efficiency and Effectiveness of Sprinkler Systems in the United Kingdom: An Analysis from Fire Service Data – Optimal Economics May 2017