Prefect Controls have introduced a new feature for their PrefectIrus product – the integration of an accurate current meter that monitors energy use in each room throughout multi-occupancy buildings such as student accommodation. Until now, managers have calculated energy use based on power rating multiplied by length of time a
Springfield Properties (AIM: SPR), a leading housebuilder in Scotland offering private and affordable housing, has won Best New Share Plan at this year’s ProShare Awards, which recognise and reward innovation and excellence within the share plan industry. The Best New Share Plan award recognises newly-launched employee share plans that are
The team at Kite Packaging were delighted to show Mr Street around their day-to-day operations and give him a deeper insight into the Kite brand. The organisation, which has expanded its Coventry operation and earned a place on the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Barometer earlier this year, is set for
The players at London Irish faced their biggest challenge yet when their principal sponsor, waste management company Powerday, brought a selection of skips, some healthy competition and just one question to the pitch: who would come out on top in the Rugby Kick Challenge? On a sunny July day at
TrustMark, the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme for tradespeople, is celebrating after TrustMark Registered Business, SEH BAC, an award-winning home improvement specialist, recently won the prestigious ‘Consumer Confidence’ award at the National Home Improvement Council Annual Awards (NHIC). The award, which was sponsored by TrustMark, recognised SEH BAC’s commitment to delivering
Vital Energi will deliver a £2.3m energy scheme for The West Works, Redrow’s latest development in Southall. Vital will be taking a phased installation approach to grow the solution in line with Redrow’s construction plans. Vital will be providing the design, supply and installation services for the scheme, which consists
PERFECT Circle, the consortium comprising Pick Everard, Gleeds and AECOM, has appointed Victoria Brambini as its managing director. Brambini, who has headed Scape Procure for the past two years, will take the helm of Perfect Circle from 1 January – leading the organisation to further success and developing its ambitious
Several high-value London properties are part of a major new national contract won by Principle Estate Management. Principle will be looking after a development of apartments each worth more than £1.5 million on America Street, just off Southwark Bridge Road – near the famous Borough Market, Tate Modern art gallery
Since the official turf cutting back in September 2018, significant progress is being made on the Triton Knoll offshore wind farm project managed by lead shareholder, Innogy. Construction specialist Mick George Ltd has now been appointed on behalf of J. Murphy and Sons Ltd to complete Earthworks at the main
As the level of housing completions continues to head in the right direction according to statistics published today, the country’s home building industry urged the Scottish Government to build on this positive news to enable it to deliver more of the homes Scotland’s growing population needs. Nicola Barclay, Chief Executive
Prefect Controls have introduced a new feature for their PrefectIrus product – the integration of an accurate current meter that monitors energy use in each room throughout multi-occupancy buildings such as student accommodation. Until now, managers have calculated energy use based on power rating multiplied by length of time a device is estimated to be active. However, fluctuating voltage and imprecise predictions of ‘on-times’ can make these estimates wildly inaccurate. The new PU3 from Prefect comes with iACM (Integrated Accurate Current Metering) as standard, logging the current only when a heater is operational. This data is then transmitted via the buildings wiring system to the central controller where it is recalled for estimation of seasonal energy usage. As well as monitoring heaters in bedrooms, the feature also notifies managers if there is a problem with hot water tanks. Usually a problem is only evident when both elements fail and water isn’t being heated. With accurate metering, if one element fails, the drop in current immediately identifies the problem – meaning efficiency can be restored. Glen Golding, Prefect Controls MD, said “This development means accurate usage can be calculated so that better purchasing of energy will lead to greater savings for organisations providing multi-occupancy accommodation.” PrefectIrus is currently in more than 20,000 bedrooms and continuous development makes it an invaluable product to ensure efficient use of energy across Britain’s university accommodation estate. For further information contact Glen Golding on 01787 320 604.
Springfield Properties (AIM: SPR), a leading housebuilder in Scotland offering private and affordable housing, has won Best New Share Plan at this year’s ProShare Awards, which recognise and reward innovation and excellence within the share plan industry. The Best New Share Plan award recognises newly-launched employee share plans that are designed to link clearly with business objectives. It must also be effectively communicated and have a simple process to encourage employee participation, resulting in strong levels of uptake. In particular, the judges were impressed with Springfield’s above-average take-up, especially that this level of engagement was achieved in a working environment where the majority of the workforce is deployed outdoors over multiple sites and that it included a very high take-up amongst both younger and female employees. At the time of the Company’s IPO on AIM in October 2017, Springfield launched an employee Save As You Earn scheme through YBS Share Plans, part of Yorkshire Building Society (YBS). The sharesave scheme offered every employee the option to save £5 to £500 a month over a three-year period and, at the end of the period, employees are able to use those savings to purchase shares in the Company at a 20% discount to the price at which the Company floated. Springfield implemented a multi-pronged engagement campaign to raise awareness of the scheme and its benefits with employees. As a result, 333 employees (69% of the workforce – from all parts of the Company) joined the scheme, with average savings of £221.41 per month and a large number of employees opting to save the full monthly amount. ProShare is a not-for-profit member organisation that aims to foster responsible employee share ownership on terms favourable to companies and their employees through engagement with policymakers, companies, advisers and service providers and driving awareness. Ashley Price, Head of YBS Share Plans, said: “I was thrilled to see Springfield Properties plc rewarded for the launch of their Sharesave scheme at the 2018 ProShare Awards winning the ‘Best New Share Plan’ category. The communication and engagement put in place resulted in truly remarkable participation rates across all age bands and genders, and we have been delighted to support Springfield and see so many of their employees see the value of employee share ownership.” Innes Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Springfield, added: “Looking after our employees is a strong part of the Springfield ethos. We have a skilled and hardworking team who are responsible for what Springfield achieves, and we wanted to provide them with an opportunity to be more directly invested in, and benefit from, the future success of the business. It was also important to us that the scheme was inclusive and accessible across our diverse workforce. “We are really pleased with the uptake of the programme, which at 69% is well above average for this type of scheme within our industry, and that employees from all parts of the business have chosen to take part – from our apprentices to trades people through to salaried employees and senior management – across all age bands. We are delighted that the success of this scheme has been recognised by the ProShare Awards, and we look forward to continuing to grow our company for the benefit of all our employees and other shareholders.”
The team at Kite Packaging were delighted to show Mr Street around their day-to-day operations and give him a deeper insight into the Kite brand. The organisation, which has expanded its Coventry operation and earned a place on the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Barometer earlier this year, is set for continued growth as it goes in to 2019. With a regional branch network across the UK this Coventry-based business also has sites in Rotherham, Swindon, Letchworth, Sittingbourne Portsmouth and Gateshead, as well as an Environmental Compliance business and a leading ecommerce offering. Coventry and Warwickshire’s Growth Hub’s Strategic Account Manager, Phil Peak, joined them as Mr Street explored Kite’s Coventry base and met with some of its employees. Kite’s key founding principle of a sense of partnership being at the heart of every good long term relationship has laid solid foundations as the Kite brand has grown over its 18 year history. Kite’s hard work and dedication to its sector did not go amiss, with Mr Street describing it as “a hidden gem in the Coventry economy.” Managing Partner, Gavin Ashe said: “On behalf of all the staff and partners at Kite Packaging, we’d like to thank Andy Street for the time he gave us. It was great to be able to talk about the opportunities and difficulties that we all face.” If you would like find out any more information about Kite Packaging or the services they offer please visit kitepackaging.co.uk.
The players at London Irish faced their biggest challenge yet when their principal sponsor, waste management company Powerday, brought a selection of skips, some healthy competition and just one question to the pitch: who would come out on top in the Rugby Kick Challenge? On a sunny July day at Hazelwood, the Exiles stepped up to an out-of-the ordinary training challenge to see who could earn the highest score by kicking rugby balls into different sized skips and bins. The rules were simple: each player had three shots to get the ball in one of six targets. The smaller the skip, the higher the score; so would they risk it all to hit that magic 100-pointer wheelie bin, or play it safe by aiming for larger, less valuable goals? One by one, the boys attempted to dropkick their way to the top of the leaderboards. Curious to see who was the most accurate on the day? Follow the action one kick at a time in the full competition video here – https://www.powerday.co.uk/news/london-irish-rugby-kick-challenge/ After the final scores were tallied, Powerday took the challenge online, asking fans if they could beat the pros at their own game with the official Rugby Kick Challenge game! Whether you’re on your phone, tablet, laptop or PC, you can choose your favourite London Irish stars to see how well you can do with just ten kicks of the ball and three targets to aim for. Shoot for the golden skip for maximum points, then share your top score for ultimate bragging rights. Will you be able to kick the perfect game? Visit the Powerday website and Play the Rugby Kick Challenge today to find out. See here – https://www.powerday.co.uk/rugby-kick-challenge/
TrustMark, the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme for tradespeople, is celebrating after TrustMark Registered Business, SEH BAC, an award-winning home improvement specialist, recently won the prestigious ‘Consumer Confidence’ award at the National Home Improvement Council Annual Awards (NHIC). The award, which was sponsored by TrustMark, recognised SEH BAC’s commitment to delivering Consumer Confidence. The business also demonstrated how it provided an exemplary level of service and care by offering availability of choice, consumer comfort, protection and overall satisfaction to its customers. Delivering the keynote speech at the awards, TrustMark Chairman, Ranil Jayawardena, commented: “Consumer confidence is not something that only benefits the consumer, for in a confident marketplace, the businesses that deliver trust and quality will be the ones that thrive. SEH BAC exemplifies excellence in consumer confidence and is why they are well-deserved winners of this award. The championing of trustworthy, competent businesses, alongside the enhancement of consumer protection has always been a driving force at TrustMark, and the recent changes to the scheme allow us to build on this legacy. SEH BAC is an excellent example of a TrustMark Registered Business and we are thrilled they have been recognised as being among the very best in the industry. Congratulations.” “We are absolutely delighted and incredibly proud to win this fantastic award from the NHIC,” added John Savage, Managing Director of SEH BAC. “Our commitment has always been to deliver a superior quality of service that customers can trust and ultimately recommend to others. It’s an ethos embodied by our entire team from reception, through to our sales team, installers, after-care team and senior management. It’s an immense honour to receive this high recognition from TrustMark, which is such a respected body within the home improvement industry.” The winners were announced at the 44th Prestigious NHIC Annual Awards on 22 November at a distinguished gala presentation evening in Westminster. SEH BAC has been a TrustMark-registered firm since 2009 through the Glass and Glazing Federation, a TrustMark Scheme Provider. For further information about TrustMark or to find a local quality TrustMark tradesperson, visit www.trustmark.org.uk
Vital Energi will deliver a £2.3m energy scheme for The West Works, Redrow’s latest development in Southall. Vital will be taking a phased installation approach to grow the solution in line with Redrow’s construction plans. Vital will be providing the design, supply and installation services for the scheme, which consists of a 185kW CHP engine, three 533kW gas boilers, two 8,000 litre thermal stores, low temperature hot water system and 280m of district heating. Vital will also be responsible for supplying the heat interface units for the development which consists of 313 new homes, alongside commercial units. Vital adapted the design presented by Redrow’s consultants to provide a more financially beneficial and efficient solution. This was achieved by reducing the number of CHP engines from four with a thermal storage of 20m³, to one CHP with a thermal storage of 16m³ which not only reduces the cost of plant and maintenance, but also provides a more accurate size solution for the development’s energy demand. The energy scheme will be installed alongside the development’s construction, with the CHP engine being switched on later in the development process when there is the required demand. The project will also see Vital provide the additional infrastructure to futureproof the network by installing capped pipework to allow for the additional connections. The original intention was to install a capped district heating link from the energy centre to provide the ability to connect to the nearby Southall West Energy Centre in the future. However, this design was reassessed and adapted by Vital to supply the development and the capped link from a single district heating main which reduced the length of pipe required. Rob Callagahan, Regional Director for the South for Vital Energi, commented, “After working with Redrow on previous projects such as their Padcroft and 500 Chiswick Road developments, we are pleased that we have been selected to provide the energy scheme for this new development. We have carried out a detailed design to ensure the most financially beneficial and efficient solution has been provided and look forward to seeing the project implemented.” The West Works development comprises one, two and three bedroom luxury apartments and is due for completion late 2019.
PERFECT Circle, the consortium comprising Pick Everard, Gleeds and AECOM, has appointed Victoria Brambini as its managing director. Brambini, who has headed Scape Procure for the past two years, will take the helm of Perfect Circle from 1 January – leading the organisation to further success and developing its ambitious plans for growth. Perfect Circle was formed in 2016 to deliver the four-year £350 million National Built Environment Consultancy Services (BECS) framework for Scape Group, the public sector owned built environment specialist. To date, Perfect Circle has delivered more than 750 projects to over 220 clients. Brambini said: “I’m excited about joining Perfect Circle, and delighted to be leading the next stage of progressing the joint venture into an even higher performing and sustainable organisation. “It’s a great opportunity for me to be able to add value to the business, drawing on my knowledge and experience of working in the public sector, to ensure our clients continue to receive outstanding levels of service through the Scape BECS framework.” Brambini, who joined Scape in 2014 as head of national frameworks and later taking up the role of MD of Scape Procure in 2016, had worked ‘client side’ prior to that as director for places at Rutland County Council. Richard Whitehead, chairman of Perfect Circle, said: “This is a significant appointment for Perfect Circle. Victoria joins us at a pivotal time in our evolution, as we make plans for further expansion and continued initiatives on achieving the best value for clients. “There are tremendously exciting times ahead as we continue to build upon our excellent relationship with Scape and deliver a comprehensive suite of services. “Perfect Circle has gone from strength to strength in its success of delivering for Scape over the past two years. Victoria will assist to reinforce the Perfect Circle brand, ensure the delivery of the framework and explore new opportunities for being the trusted partner for clients.” Whitehead added: “Having worked in a local authority prior to Scape, Victoria has seen the direct benefit of framework delivery to clients – having been a client herself. “Her five years of engagement in the delivery marketplace has given her a unique look at operational delivery, as well as the benefit and huge value the BECS framework has for clients.” Perfect Circle is a consortium of leading, innovative firms with expert industry knowledge and expertise working closely with a wealth of local supply chain providers. Together it delivers the very best high quality, value for money services for clients. Whitehead said: “A regional presence across the UK has enabled Perfect Circle to engage with the local supply chain more effectively, supporting local economies and targeting more than 25% work to be undertaken by SMEs. In its first two years, the delivery teams have contributed to more than 12,000 hours in community engagement and charity work.” The services available under the BECS framework include, but are not limited to: project management, quantity surveying, building surveying, commercial surveying, architecture and design services, civil and structural engineering, highways consultancy and engineering services and strategic asset management. Perfect Circle understands public sector procurement and is able to work with any public body via the BECS framework. Through the consortium’s breadth and depth of expertise across many built environment disciplines and services, it offers the fastest route to market in public sector project procurement, delivering value for money to UK taxpayers. Through its global reach and networks, Perfect Circle also ensures UK public sector built environment projects delivered overseas are procured seamlessly.
Several high-value London properties are part of a major new national contract won by Principle Estate Management. Principle will be looking after a development of apartments each worth more than £1.5 million on America Street, just off Southwark Bridge Road – near the famous Borough Market, Tate Modern art gallery and Shakespeare’s Globe theatre. Other properties in the portfolio is a mixed use development comprising a restaurant and with apartments above on Poland Street, off Oxford Street in trendy Soho; and another mixed use development with including offices and apartments in Hamond Square, near Hackney’s renowned Hoxton Street market. Principle will also look after a further mixed use building including retail and apartments on the Old Brompton Road, in the prestigious Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Outside of Central London, the contract includes another developments in South Croydon, Crawley, Portsmouth, Slough, Wickford and Godalming. Principle’s appointment comes after the Wallace Group purchased Gray’s Inn Holdings Limited which owns 20,000 leasehold properties. The management arm of the Wallace Group, Simarc Property Management Limited, then moved to change some of the managing agents in order to ensure standards complied with their internal code for agents’ conduct. Brett Williams, managing director of Principle, said: “Mixed use buildings require a specialist management approach to ensure the needs of all users are catered for and properly balanced, and it’s this expertise that Simarc was impressed with. “I’ve known senior people at Simarc for many years and they were aware that I’d recently set Principle up. They’d also seen me attending high-level meetings following the government’s various consultations into leasehold reform.” Natalie Chambers, director of Simarc, said: “Principle has a reputation for managing properties on behalf of freeholders who need to be comfortable that their agent is on top of health & safety compliance, finance and maintenance. “We also want an agent that provides outstanding service to our customers, and we know Principle has been built to deliver that.” Principle was launched earlier this year by Mr Williams, the former head of residential property management at CPBigwood in Birmingham and an experienced chartered surveyor. Although based in Birmingham, Principle offers a national property management service and has already won a series of contracts across the UK. Mr Williams said: “This contract includes our first instructions in the capital, although we have plenty of experience of managing a national portfolio and are in London every week. We have another South East portfolio going live next year. “As for the other areas, the Surrey and Sussex properties are very close to where I grew up, while Slough is near other properties we have and Portsmouth has previously been one of our core areas. “We are experienced in managing portfolios at distance, treating them all as if they are five minutes-walk from our office and ensuring we have regular site inspections and are very contactable. “We’ve already been working on a few maintenance matters at a couple of properties ahead of our commencement as we’d rather get things moving than wait until we take over, and residents have appreciated this.” Mr Williams added: “It’s fantastic to have clients instructing us on new properties on a weekly basis. We are well set up to deal with handovers from other agents and to proactively manage properties from the outset.”
Since the official turf cutting back in September 2018, significant progress is being made on the Triton Knoll offshore wind farm project managed by lead shareholder, Innogy. Construction specialist Mick George Ltd has now been appointed on behalf of J. Murphy and Sons Ltd to complete Earthworks at the main onshore cable site off the A16 near Stickney. The firm will be stripping the easement where the cables will be placed for this 860MW project and will have the capability to transmit renewable electricity from the wind farm to more than 800,000 UK homes per year. This estimated £2bn renewable energy scheme will not be without its engineering challenges. It involves the installation of more than 57km of underground high-voltage electrical export cable in Lincolnshire. The route starts at the landfall location north of Anderby Creek, where the onshore and offshore cables connect. It runs to a new substation being constructed near Bicker, and then to the existing National Grid Bicker Fen Substation where the electricity from the offshore wind farm will ultimately connect into the grid. Both are on the outskirts of Boston More than 300 individual directional drills – a record for a UK infrastructure project – will ensure the onshore cables can be installed without obstructing any roads, highways, rivers or drains. Although the two-year onshore construction programme is underway, offshore activities are not expected to begin until late 2019. First energy generation could be as early as 2021. At the peak of the development, the project is anticipating upward of 3,000 employment opportunities. Michael George, Managing Director at Mick George Ltd commented: ‘’As a business that is well experienced in providing sustainable solutions through our waste management division, we recognise the importance of projects such as this and are excited to be involved.’’
As the level of housing completions continues to head in the right direction according to statistics published today, the country’s home building industry urged the Scottish Government to build on this positive news to enable it to deliver more of the homes Scotland’s growing population needs. Nicola Barclay, Chief Executive of trade body Homes for Scotland, said: “It’s great to see ongoing growth in the overall number of homes being built, but just under seven hundred extra homes over the last year is not going to solve our housing crisis. In order to return to the levels of a decade ago, we would need to see ten times this number on an annual basis. “Scotland’s housing market remains amongst the most affordable places to live in the UK, and huge social and economic opportunities exist for the Scottish Government to attract further housing investment from both within Scotland and elsewhere – if it can create and maintain the favourable conditions this requires. “Ways in which this can be achieved include ensuring the Planning Bill currently going through the Scottish Parliament meets the original objective of delivering more homes; encouraging more entrants into the industry; supporting those SMEs who want to develop more homes; preserving a regulatory environment that promotes investment and ensuring policies like Help to Buy are continued until such times that the mortgage market fully supports First Time Buyers. “Ultimately, it needs joined-up thinking across portfolios, therefore we look forward to seeing how tomorrow’s Budget supports sustainable housing growth so builders can contribute even more to Scotland’s social wellbeing and economic success.”