Mainstay Group has announced the acquisition of a national property management portfolio, spanning London, Nottingham and Wallasey. The portfolio, formerly managed by Keith Perry Chartered Surveyors, officially transitioned to Mainstay on 1 July 2019 and will continue to be overseen jointly by Mainstay and Keith for the next 12 months.
Clark-Drain Ltd unveils Technodrain®, a new addition to its popular linear drainage range that broadens the choice for UK construction. Designed for surface water management, the versatility of Technodrain® enables it to be used across all construction environments as a light, robust, technical solution for run-off surface design. Made
Conduit systems have many applications but are extremely common in telecommunications utilities and the power supply market. PVC-coated steel conduit is often used. However, an increasing number of businesses are realizing that fiberglass conduit systems offer more advantages than PVC. When compared side by side, fiberglass conduit is superior to
Alpine Fire Engineers are celebrating a series of recent successes – 36% YOY growth to over £19m, office relocation to accommodate a doubled workforce, and several award nominations in recognition of their impressive achievements and employee-focused initiatives. Alpine Fire Engineers are specialist providers in Design, Project Management and Maintenance of
Office Visions, the South Wales family-run company that specialises in creating stunning office environments, has completed a multi-million pound project with dnata Travel Group, owner of 14 well-known consumer and business-to-business travel brands in the UK. The Travel Group’s brief to Office Visions was to create an inspiring working environment
Skanska delivers facilities management (FM) with a focus on sustainability and customer service. Supporting more than 65 organisations across over 3,000 locations nationwide, here we explore how they use SMART technology to create ‘healthy’ buildings that their customers love. “FM is all about people and culture” declared Adam McDonald, Managing
One of Scotland’s fastest growing construction firms, Ashwood Scotland, is revealing a series of contract wins as the firm prepares to formally celebrate its 20th birthday next month. Contracts totaling £10 million have been secured with a range of clients including City of Edinburgh Council, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Zoo
The report features the top ‘Owner Managed Companies’ across the Midlands and Kite are extremely proud to have been recognised for their achievements. Established in 2001 as a true employee-owned company and with the original management team still at the forefront of the business, Kite has seen impressive growth throughout
NBS, the leading specification platform for the construction industry, today announced a new product integration with Autodesk, which will improve collaboration and reduce errors across the design and construction timeline. NBS has added a new feature that enables users of its new cloud-based specification platform, NBS Chorus, to instantly export
Did you know that water jet cutting applications are one of today’s fastest growing precision machine processes? In an era of increased global competition and rapidly advancing industrial technology, companies need to embrace innovative new processes if they’re going to survive and thrive. Water jet technology boasts fast turnaround times,
Mainstay Group has announced the acquisition of a national property management portfolio, spanning London, Nottingham and Wallasey. The portfolio, formerly managed by Keith Perry Chartered Surveyors, officially transitioned to Mainstay on 1 July 2019 and will continue to be overseen jointly by Mainstay and Keith for the next 12 months. It comprises substantial apartment blocks in Stoke Newington, Bloomsbury, and Bethnal Green, London, together with three smaller schemes in Nottingham, and the iconic Portland Court block, on the Wirral. Charles Lucas, Technical Director at Mainstay, said: “I’m very pleased to share the news of Mainstay’s latest acquisition, which forms a key part of our accelerated growth plans. “We felt it was important that Keith assists us with the onboarding process; he’ll be able to bring his wealth of experience and invaluable technical expertise, ensuring a smooth transition as we begin to welcome our new clients, and customers to Mainstay. “Mainstay is perfectly placed to handle the management of this national portfolio, as our team has a wide geographical spread and expert knowledge with high levels of customer service throughout our teams. We’re excited to build on the excellent service Keith has already provided, and bring the Mainstay experience to this new customer base. We look forward to continuing and sustaining the company’s growth in line with our 2020 corporate strategy and beyond and ensuring Mainstay properties are embedded into the wider communities they are present in”. The news comes hot on the heels of Mainstay’s recent appointments on the landmark Hallsville Quarter scheme in Canning Town, and Salford’s luxury Downtown development. Established in 2000, Mainstay was founded by Glyn Miles, Graham Donaldson and Andrew Tilly and now employs 726 people. With this latest acquisition, Mainstay will manage in excess of 80,000 homes UK-wide. The business is headquartered in Worcester however operates across the country – with schemes in Manchester, Nottingham, London and more in its portfolio. This year alone, Mainstay is on track to turnover a record-breaking £25.9 million in line with their 2020 corporate strategy.
Clark-Drain Ltd unveils Technodrain®, a new addition to its popular linear drainage range that broadens the choice for UK construction. Designed for surface water management, the versatility of Technodrain® enables it to be used across all construction environments as a light, robust, technical solution for run-off surface design. Made from High Density Polyethylene, Technodrain® encompasses all load classes (A15-F900) in accordance with European standard EN 1433, comprising an array of grating design options in ductile iron, galvanised steel and stainless steel. The Technodrain® system will be available in 100mm, 150mm, 200mm and 300mm internal widths. With the advantage of light-weight, polyethylene – e.g. the EXEL 200HV has a 42.61 l/s hydraulic capacity ideal for use in road drainage and car parks and weighs 26.1kg, complete with D400 ductile iron grating – its size to weight ratio maximises savings in transport and installation cost. Technologically advanced, Technodrain® is resistant to temperature change with a thermal range between -60OC and +100OC. It is also resistant to a wide range of acids, salts and hydrocarbons so that it can be used in challenging environments such as chemical plants, petrol stations and surfaces where ant-freeze salts are used. Technodrain® incorporates many other benefits. Its robust design adds to its sustainable life, whilst installation is eased with tongue and groove joints enabling the connection of multiple channels with a ready-mounted grate. Its preformed lateral and vertical channel outlets also provide quick and easy connection to discharge pipes. Furthermore, project design is supported by integrated Tee-and Cross-section joints that can adapt the drainage line, enabling control over the accuracy and cost effectiveness of the whole system. An important additional accessory is the Technodrain® sump unit. It can be installed as a terminal unit off the line or as a central element of two converging lines. The sump is equipped with an optional anti-odour siphon that can be removed easily for cleaning purposes and a grating to filter leaves and debris. Use of the sump allows you to increase the out-flow diameter of all channels up to Ø200. John Carter, Head of Sales and Marketing at Clark-Drain comments: “Both for the contractor and the operator, Technodrain offers technical innovation and a high degree of cost saving, whilst providing a highly efficient system for surface water design and management right across the construction project spectrum”
Conduit systems have many applications but are extremely common in telecommunications utilities and the power supply market. PVC-coated steel conduit is often used. However, an increasing number of businesses are realizing that fiberglass conduit systems offer more advantages than PVC. When compared side by side, fiberglass conduit is superior to PVC in many ways. Fiberglass Conduit Takes Less Work to Install PVC conduits have to be bent to the proper specifications with special installation tools. These tools are difficult to come by for the average field contractor. Fiberglass installation is done with a common PVC hot box that many field contractors already possess. PVC is also much heavier than fiberglass, resulting in a slower installation process that is less safe and costs more money. Because it is easier to install, fiberglass costs less in labor than PVC, too. Lightweight Fiberglass weighs far less than PVC, but the benefits it provides go beyond installation. It also means that less stress is put on supporting structures. Fiberglass systems are more efficient and flexible and cost less to maintain. The benefits of these qualities extend far beyond installation into the full life span of the project. Better Coefficient of Friction Cables often need to be pulled through conduits, resulting in burn-through. This is when friction from heating damages the structure of the conduit. While PVC can resist burn-through pretty well, fiberglass is even more resistant. That allows cables to be pulled through even faster. Fiberglass is also less likely to be damaged by common lubricants used to counter conduit burn-through. Corrosion Resistance Fiberglass resists corrosion in a wide variety of environmental conditions. It is more resistant to corrosion than PVC when exposed to extreme operating temperatures and chemicals. In some cases, PVC is more resistant to corrosion (such as in the presence of high amounts of ammonia), but this is not usually the case. Resistant to Impact Fiberglass conduit stands up to impacts better than PVC. It maintains its shape after impact since it is designed to be strong but flexible. These qualities help it hold up far better in tough environments like earthquake or flood-prone areas. PVC is far more susceptible to these environmental dangers. Easy to Customize Fiberglass conduit is made from epoxy resin reinforced by fibers that can be altered to improve certain qualities. For example, fiberglass can be made more resistant to corrosion or shielded against electromagnetic interference and radiofrequency. No Dangerous Chemicals In the event of an accident, fiberglass releases no halogens. This makes it far safer for people to be around. PVC can release chlorine, which can damage central nervous and respiratory systems, as well as bromine, a common pesticide. Containing no dangerous chemicals means less chance of liability should an accident occur. Better Vibration Resistance Large structures, like bridges, can experience continuous vibrations that shorten their life span. Fiberglass conduit is regularly used for such structures because of its high vibration resistance. This helps maintain the integrity of larger structures and extend the time needed between maintenance.
Alpine Fire Engineers are celebrating a series of recent successes – 36% YOY growth to over £19m, office relocation to accommodate a doubled workforce, and several award nominations in recognition of their impressive achievements and employee-focused initiatives. Alpine Fire Engineers are specialist providers in Design, Project Management and Maintenance of active fire suppression systems. May 2019, their operations were moved from the village of Littleborough where they employed 30 people, to the new premises in Bury to accommodate the fast growth of their expert team. Now in excess of 60 colleagues, the team includes a number of home-grown talents in both the design and service engineering teams. The move was celebrated in July 2019 when the family-focused business opened its doors to friends and family, revealing their newly refurbished open plan ‘connected’ space where knowledge share and camaraderie is encouraged. Their new location was based on the analysis of all existing employees to minimise any impact on their journeys – an important consideration for a company that values the wellbeing of its employees. Figures for financial year 18/19 show the business has already exceeded growth expectations against their five-year business plan. Steven Nanda, CEO commented: “Alpine has invested heavily in creating a dynamic and progressive environment for all to thrive in readiness for our aspirational growth plans. Whilst we have delivered outstanding financial results our greatest success is the creation of trainee roles and development pathways for all our staff – reconnecting engineering with the young talent of today and embracing the very latest technology in delivering life safety and risk management for our customers…’’ In recognition of the impressive achievements, they have been nominated for local business awards, alongside Steven Nanda being nominated for Transformational Leader and Empowering Potential Leader in the Northern Leadership Awards 2019.
Office Visions, the South Wales family-run company that specialises in creating stunning office environments, has completed a multi-million pound project with dnata Travel Group, owner of 14 well-known consumer and business-to-business travel brands in the UK. The Travel Group’s brief to Office Visions was to create an inspiring working environment in a completely refurbished and redesigned 65,000 sq. ft space in Preston, Lancashire. The company acquired the old Leyland DAF headquarters in the town earlier this year specifically to convert it in to a ‘signature office’ for almost 700 staff who work across a number of the brands in its portfolio – including the locally-established businesses of Gold Medal Travel and Netflights. The project included asbestos removal, new curtain walling, the installation of a new roof, a new car park and a complete interior and exterior refurbishment. Simon Gambarini, the managing director of Office Visions, said the contract was the biggest ever completed by the company, which has a long track-record of completing high-profile refurbishments having worked on the Cardiff City Stadium, a new ambulance station in Barry and the new offices of law firm Blake Morgan to name but a few. “This is a fantastic project for us and one we are truly proud of,” said Simon. “Our designers did a fantastic job creating a unique concept that utilised British materials and is based on eco-friendly ideals. The finished project is a fantastic showpiece of how old buildings can be brought into the modern era.” John Bevan, CEO, dnata Travel Europe, said: “We wanted an environment that was modern, vibrant and a place that would inspire our people to produce their best work for our customers. The iconic Lancaster House building, well-known locally as the old home of Leyland DAF, was ideal for our needs and we’re delighted to have given it this new lease of life. Office Visions has succeeded in creating an environment there that has surpassed our expectations. There’s a real buzz about the place, and our teams have really taken to their new home.” Office Visions was founded by Roger Gambarini in 1975 in Newport. Originally called Abacus Office Equipment, Roger built the business into a multi-faceted office equipment and design company before selling a large part of its operations in 1994. It rebranded and relaunched as Office Visions and has established itself as one of the premier office refurbishment and fit-out companies in the UK renowned for its cutting-edge designs and can-do attitude. It currently employs directly and indirectly, over 100 people.
Skanska delivers facilities management (FM) with a focus on sustainability and customer service. Supporting more than 65 organisations across over 3,000 locations nationwide, here we explore how they use SMART technology to create ‘healthy’ buildings that their customers love. “FM is all about people and culture” declared Adam McDonald, Managing Director of Skanska’s Building Services operation, when we sat down together. Adding, “We value and take care of our people with an injury-free environment (IFE) approach. I’m proud to say we have a culture of care and support, which enables us to deliver the best front-line service to our customers.” If anyone’s at the forefront of putting the customer first, Skanska certainly are. As a company that develops, builds and maintains some of the UK’s iconic buildings including the Gherkin and MoD Main Building, Skanska really are at the forefront of developing the best offers for their customers. It’s going down well too – their research shows that 70% of existing customers have worked with their facilities management team for at least 10 years or more. But how do they do it? Sustainability is a much talked about focus right now, as Skanska’s customers continue to enquire about how it can better assist them to achieve their goals. Laura Mayhew-Manchon, Environmental Manager, said: “We’re pushing the boundaries in carbon reduction – we’ve set a target of net zero carbon reduction by 2045, and we’re including all of our supply chain, not just our own immediate operations.” But you need to have the right team and processes in place to make sure commitments stick, which is where the company’s embrace of technology benefits them. We were keen to delve into how other organisations can use technology to make a difference, both internally and to customers. So, we asked Laura: What are the most consistently missed tech opportunities? Laura revealed, “Better connected assets and equipment will support improved building user experience, use and functionality. That’s the first thing. But ultimately, for FM teams, the data these produce and how we use and interpret it is key in delivering effective, efficient FM that drives optimal building performance.” This supports IWFM’s research that better understanding of technology and data, which includes upskilling existing staff as well as bringing new skills in, is crucial to better performance. In turn, this can create ‘healthy’ buildings. So, what defines a ‘healthy building’? According to Laura, “spaces where the relationship between the building, energy, occupant satisfaction and wellbeing is reviewed continually.” Those final words, ‘reviewed continually’, are undoubtedly the most important. Much of the profession implements change and then forgets to make time to review those changes and to develop them for better results. But, if we’re to see meaningful change in our profession, it’s something we absolutely must do. Acknowledging how customers, or communities, engage with buildings is crucial. “You also need to design the delivery solution around the customer. For example, our City of London contract has delivery teams aligned to customer type rather than geography,” said Adam McDonald. Adding, “Procuring the supply chain sustainably and locally helps, too. We have committed to procuring within a certain radius of contracts, paying them on time (Skanska adheres to the fair payment charter) and training them via the Supply Chain Sustainability School.” Which brings us to our final point: What’s next? For Skanska, it’s about having “engaged, well-trained, positive people to help drive quality FM service delivery. As a profession, we need simpler and more effective procurement models that are driven by service quality rather than price,” Adam said. So, what did we learn? Sustainability is top of the agenda, and that can be driven by technology. As a profession, we need to upskill and make sure we always put the customer first, and those customers can differ considerably from building to building. We must also aim to create ‘healthy buildings’ – spaces where the relationship between the building, energy, occupant satisfaction and wellbeing work as one and, more importantly, is reviewed continually. Skanska is sponsoring this year’s IWFM Awards. Find out more about they’re current work through the Awards website.
One of Scotland’s fastest growing construction firms, Ashwood Scotland, is revealing a series of contract wins as the firm prepares to formally celebrate its 20th birthday next month. Contracts totaling £10 million have been secured with a range of clients including City of Edinburgh Council, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Zoo and National Records of Scotland. On behalf of the Council the Bathgate-based firm, which has grown to over 70 staff, will undertake works at three of Edinburgh’s primary schools. These briefs have been awarded following the commencement of major works at West Register House – home to the National Archives – in Edinburgh’s Charlotte Square. This project will include a careful restoration of the external fabric and iconic copper dome. Meanwhile, similar heritage projects have been completed at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and The University of Edinburgh’s prestigious Old College campus. “Since starting out in a single person office 20 years ago, we have turned over in excess of £100 million and completed over 400 projects,” says managing director, Archie Meikle. “This latest set of contracts is testament to the quality of our staff and workmanship and we are excited by our plans to further grow and develop the business.” Ashwood have also just commenced the construction of a purpose-built enclosure for giraffes at Edinburgh Zoo which follows on from the completion of a new facility for the giant pandas. “Building at Edinburgh Zoo has been a privilege but also extremely challenging due to working in a live zoo environment,” added Mr Meikle. Saturday saw 160 guests, including all staff and their families, attending a BBQ and party hosted at Dundas Castle on the outskirts of Edinburgh to mark the firm’s 20th birthday by.
The report features the top ‘Owner Managed Companies’ across the Midlands and Kite are extremely proud to have been recognised for their achievements. Established in 2001 as a true employee-owned company and with the original management team still at the forefront of the business, Kite has seen impressive growth throughout its history. Recognition of Kite comes after a very successful year for the packaging distribution company, who in 2018 invested in further geographical expansion by extending their network of regional distribution centres to include the North East of England. 2018 also saw the launch of Kites ‘Mobile Testing Facility’, the first of its kind in the industry, allowing Kite to bring solutions and expertise directly to customers own sites. At the start of 2019 Kite launched a company-wide initiative to reduce their own, and their customers, use of plastics by 120 tonnes following “The four R’s” of reduce, re-use, recycle and replace – a goal they achieved within the first 6 months of 2019. Kites Ecommerce, Waste Compliance and Midlands Regional Distribution Centre all operate out of the Torrington Avenue site in Coventry with a further 6 Regional Distribution Centres located throughout the UK. For more information on Kite Packaging and their products and services, visit kitepackaging.co.uk.
NBS, the leading specification platform for the construction industry, today announced a new product integration with Autodesk, which will improve collaboration and reduce errors across the design and construction timeline. NBS has added a new feature that enables users of its new cloud-based specification platform, NBS Chorus, to instantly export a list of submittals from a specification in one click and import them directly into leading Common Data Environments (CDEs), including Autodesk’s BIM 360®. Submittals are an essential part of the construction process and if managed incorrectly can cause problems for contractors. Connecting the data sets between NBS Chorus and BIM 360 greatly reduces the risk of human error by eliminating the need to manually copy or re-key information, and allows for better collaboration between architects, specifiers and contractors. The partnership between NBS and Autodesk is already enabling users to work smarter and more safely. The integration of NBS Chorus and Autodesk Revit® allows users to develop their model and specification simultaneously, which greatly reduces the risk of information becoming out of sync. “We’re thrilled to be continually working with Autodesk,” said Sascia Elliot, head of partnerships, NBS. “There’s a huge opportunity to help our customers work smarter and safer by integrating CDE’s with NBS Chorus. By transforming what was once a timely and manual task to a simple click of a button, this integration with BIM 360 will not only improve accuracy and time efficiency, but will help us work towards a safer industry” “Autodesk is committed to empowering the construction industry to be more productive,” said Josh Cheney, industry manager, construction technology, Autodesk. “Our work with companies like NBS enables customers to improve their data flow across the construction lifecycle, and ultimately build better. To find out more about NBS visit www.theNBS.com
Did you know that water jet cutting applications are one of today’s fastest growing precision machine processes? In an era of increased global competition and rapidly advancing industrial technology, companies need to embrace innovative new processes if they’re going to survive and thrive. Water jet technology boasts fast turnaround times, high precision cutting, minimal environmental impact and the ability to cut virtually any material. This means that a wide variety of industries have been able to utilise it to gain an advantage in the following key areas: Efficiency Productivity Cost effectiveness Environmental sustainability. Contrary to what a lot of people think, water doesn’t actually perform the cutting on abrasive water jet machines. Instead, it acts as a vehicle for minute garnet abrasive particles which are accelerated to supersonic speeds to provide highly efficient cutting via erosion. To give you a bit more of an idea of the versatility of water jet cutting applications, we’ve put together an overview of the ways in which it is utilised in three very different industries. Medical Component Manufacturing When it comes to manufacturing medical components, water jet cutting applications offer substantially higher cutting speeds than traditional metal-cutting processes. The set-up process is also much less time-consuming. The ability to cut a broad range of materials is also highly beneficial to many medical manufacturers. Other than informing the controller of changes in material, there are no other programming or equipment steps required to accommodate cutting composites, ceramics, metals or other materials. When it comes to other cutting processes, both laser and electrical discharge machining (EDM) technologies create heat-affected zones in the material being cut. This can alter its chemical properties and cause surface hardening. As a cold cutting process, water jet cutting prevents both of these unwanted side effects. In addition to this, water jet cutting exerts a very small amount of force on the workpiece being cut. This allows the cutting of delicate features that would otherwise be impossible – or too costly – to produce. The Aerospace Industry The aerospace industry is responsible for producing everything from aircraft engines to military hardware (such as guided missiles) and space vehicles. As such, it demands complex technological solutions and complete precision. Because it has no margin for error, the aerospace industry industry utilises the accuracy and versatility of water jet cutting to create a wide range of different components. Working with a range of high-strength and exotic materials means that machining parts for the aerospace industry is much more complex than making other consumer goods. Water jet cutting has become favoured because of its versatility and precision. As is the case with medical component manufacturing, the cool-cutting process helps to eradicate any heat-affected zones that could lead to structural weakness in components. Not only can abrasive water jets be adjusted to the specific needs of any given part, they can also be standardised for uniform and precise production on a large-scale basis. They’re also able to work alongside control and automation technologies that make production processes more standardised and straightforward. Considering the precision and scale required in aerospace manufacturing, this has proven to be a huge benefit. Crafting Ornamental Glass While it is undoubtedly very useful for heavy industry, water jet cutting does have some more artistic applications as well. This includes the crafting of ornamental glass. Because of its versatility, water jet cutting simplifies the cutting and penetrating of all kids of glass, whether it be thin and delicate or thick and laminated. It makes cutting glass to various profiles and shapes a lot more easy and affordable than it used to be. This is because, due to its brittle nature, cut glass is similar to stone and tile cutting. It has a tendency to crack, which means that perforation needs to start at a low pressure and gradually increase to the final cutting speed. Water jet cutting applications are able to prevent damage by automatically adjusting and restoring the pressure when cutting precision materials like ornamental glass. This means that not only is it faster and more reliable, but it can also perform cut geometry that is beyond the capability of common machining.