From the finish of 2014 through to the start of this year, it has been reported that the Recolight WEEE compliance scheme has had a substantial net growth of some twenty three producers which have been added to its member base; this signals an increase which far overshadows that of
With reference to Savills’ latest Regional Office Market Review & Outlook report, there are growing concerns as to how competition for Grade A space is grossly outstripping the supply presently, and to be made available. With less than one year’s supply of such space confirmed for the market over the
Nodding to the incredible role of The Green Register in improving the awareness and understanding of green methods of construction, Bristol’s Lord Mayor welcomed guests (many of which representing the best and brightest within the sustainable building world) to explore the Bristol Aquarium, an underwater world with complementary tea and
“Property may be about product, but it’s also about people,” argues Adrian Sayer, Managing Director of Metrus, a company dedicated to defining both the meaning, and importance of property management in the present day. Oft described as a “modern classic”, Metrus is one of London’s leading property management specialists, offering
Transport bosses have given the green light to a £92m bypass between the A158 and A15 in Lincoln. Part-funded by the government, the Eastern Bypass is predicted to take two years to complete and, with a summer start date, should take infrastructure development right the way through to 2018. Lincolnshire
In a recent report by the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, two prominent UK health organisations, it has been stated that indoor air pollution may indeed have played a contributing factor in the death of almost 100,000 individuals across Europe over the
The Crossrail team at Bond Street got a royal visit from Her Majesty who ventured 28 metres underground via an industrial lift to say hello to staff and apprentices working on London’s most ambitious transport infrastructure project. The Queen, who in 1969 became the first reigning monarch to ride the
According to global real estate services provider Savills, the take-up of warehouse space around Heathrow Airport amounted to 1.14m sq ft (105,909 sq m) in 2015, a significant 17% drop from the previous 12 months. Availability across the airport presently stands at 2.07 million sq ft (192,309 sq m) and primarily based
The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) has recently completed commissioning of the new £38m National Biologics Manufacturing Centre in Darlington, Co. Durham, which features a state-of-the-art effluent treatment facility suitable for Containment Level 2 wastes, supplied by Suncombe’s Biowaste Solutions arm. The new Centre provides companies with open access facilities
Transport for London’s plans to develop some 75 sites will make it one of the capital’s biggest developers. Here it names the partners for its £3.6bn development framework. Tweeting disgust and frustration about commuting woes could soon become a career-threatening move for the capital’s many construction professionals. The reason is
From the finish of 2014 through to the start of this year, it has been reported that the Recolight WEEE compliance scheme has had a substantial net growth of some twenty three producers which have been added to its member base; this signals an increase which far overshadows that of any additional like-scheme within the UK. And if that wasn’t enough, the figures also highlight the scheme’s largest growth figured since its establishment back in 2007. Operating in a manner far apart from that of other WEEE schemes, Recolight offers its member’s customers free-of-charge services for recycling, as opposed to buying lamp recycling evidence in a bid to demonstrate their dedication. What that means is that, with Recolight, the service offered is one which, yes, maintains the benefits of most other WEEE schemes, but also provides additional ones which can drip down to the end customer as an extra added benefit. One of the other key ways which seems to have contributed to the popularity of this particular WEEE scheme is the way in which Recolight handles its fees. The mechanism, which is on a static “per item” sold basis, allows for the membership to effectively plan and budget for the future, with the entire year in mind. Though this may seem like a small matter, due to the present, unreliable nature of the economy, caution is the word with many UK businesses and, through effective budgeting and planning, success can be all but assured. Year on year, the Recolight producer membership has been stated to have grown by approximately 16% and, given these recent figures, the expectation is that the organisation will continue to expand upon that membership and take an increasingly central stage as a leading WEEE scheme.
With reference to Savills’ latest Regional Office Market Review & Outlook report, there are growing concerns as to how competition for Grade A space is grossly outstripping the supply presently, and to be made available. With less than one year’s supply of such space confirmed for the market over the course of the next three years, rents, specifically in regions such as Cardiff and Bristol is set to spike considerably. Presently, the average take-up across UK regions sits at approximately 4.6m, with availability down by circa 18% from the levels reported back in 2007. Speculative figures on developments have also risen by approximately 128% from last year, coming in at approximately 3.5m sq ft, yet, with 28% of that pre-let, it is expected that it will be mostly absorbed over the course of 2016. This lack of space has proven to be one of the key, driving factors for rising demands amongst value-add office opportunities to help cover the excess demand as opposed to supply – in fact, this January represented the 41st month of considerable refurbishment activity in a row. As a clear consequence of the demand and supply gap, so too has the gap between new-build rents and refurbished rents, with a deprecating differentiation between the average figures. This is a clear result of increasing rents, with Bristol potentially seeing the highest growth in rents of 12% by the end of 2016, as reported by Savills. Attributing the rise in UK-wide job creation as a driving factor behind the rising demand for quality space in prime locations, Claire Bailey, Associate Director of Savills Commercial Research has highlighted the potential for a pinch on new-builds between 2016 and 2017 due to the sheer quantity of developments already being pre-let and the rising demands for those in prime locations. As explained by Richard Merryweather, Joint Head of UK Investment at Savills, it is expected that occupier demands for space is more than likely to persist onto and into the future, where investors are then likely to continue looking into securing secondary assets in prime positions. This is effectively to take advantage of opportunities that may exist and to help fill the gap left open by limited available new developments; however, it may also develop a gap in the supply pipeline itself.
Nodding to the incredible role of The Green Register in improving the awareness and understanding of green methods of construction, Bristol’s Lord Mayor welcomed guests (many of which representing the best and brightest within the sustainable building world) to explore the Bristol Aquarium, an underwater world with complementary tea and crumpets – a preamble to heading upstairs to the venue’s rooftop training room. As the not-for-profit membership organisation championing sustainable construction practices within the wider industry, The Green Register offers expert and unbiased training across the board so as best to, firstly support the construction sector, but also promote best practice in areas of sustainability and green building processes. Presently, the register is celebrating its 15th year representing and supporting sustainability within the industry, offering key training, membership and networking avenues to the wider sector. At the event, there were a series of short sessions with technical advice to highlight key areas of importance such as heat loss, air tightness and moisture control. Additionally, a number of longstanding members of The Green Register also gave a series of talks, walking guests through their experience of membership with the register and how it has benefited them. Commenting on the day, Lucy Pedler, Director of The Green Register enthused: “We were absolutely delighted to celebrate with so many of our members and guests at the Bristol celebration – it makes all our hard work worthwhile and we had some terrific feedback about our plans for the next 15 years.”
“Property may be about product, but it’s also about people,” argues Adrian Sayer, Managing Director of Metrus, a company dedicated to defining both the meaning, and importance of property management in the present day. Oft described as a “modern classic”, Metrus is one of London’s leading property management specialists, offering a synthesis of traditional values within a modern framework, and thus allowing the company to offer a cutting edge service on a personable, interactive and thoroughly transparent level. Established some 35 years ago, Metrus toes the line of being large enough to offer a comprehensive property management service, yet still of a size where a friendly, more personal approach can be offered. Able to fill the gap in the market left by the departure of a number of middle-sized firms, Metrus leads the way in offering this balanced, flexible and yet incredibly professional service required by firms seeking something of a more personal touch yet unavailable from some of the larger, international agency firms. Metrus offers a complete commercial and residential property management service, with about 90% of its current portfolio made up of commercial property. Yet, increasingly the company has been approached by residential clients seeking a like-service and, as such the company has recently laid the foundations for a highly specialised residential department to target this demand. Across these two arenas Metrus offers a vast number of complementary services including: agency, retail, office, lease advisory and asset management service for specific refurbishment and development projects; effectively, the whole package. Originally created from the internal perspective of managing its own property interests, Metrus was born out of the perspective of the client itself and, as such has a profound understanding of both where property management can go right, or wrong. Over the years, this understanding has since been built upon through the acquisition of further, external clients and the diversification of the business out into offering a fully comprehensive service portfolio for clients; yet, to this day, it is this understanding from the customer perspective of what a property manager can offer which defines the organisation’s service to this very day. Building further upon Metrus’ understanding of customer needs is also the way in which the company both sources, nurtures and supports its property management teams. Through the predominant recruitment of individuals possessing extensive experience within the property arena, combined with the company’s ability to retain such individuals, Metrus maintains a position in the industry unlike any other: a position whereupon clients can develop a mutual understanding, a relationship and a cooperative partnership with the team itself. As an industry plagued by low staff retention and fluid career movement, the ability to develop a working relationship with the property manager is one unique to Metrus’ clients. Bringing with it a whole host of benefits such as a pre-emptive, not solely responsive, property management service which can plan for the future needs, expectations and requirements onto and into the future. This enables for a far more collaborative property strategy which goes above and beyond the bare management of an asset, and instead pursues a strategy for maximising the efficiencies and value of the asset itself. As Sayer attests: “Due to the majority of us either having worked in property companies or owning property directly, we understand what clients are seeking and we can fulfil their expectations as well as grow with those clients organically as the business grows forward. It’s absolutely essential and, mostly on the surveying front, many of our clients have also been with us for many many years and they like coming back to the same people who have an increasingly intimate understanding of their properties and needs. “Similarly, on the accounting side it’s a crucial part of property management which always needs to be done well, but often isn’t with other companies. The understanding of what the client needs in terms of day-to-day reporting, wider bank reporting and providing flexibility to the client is also key to how we try to differentiate ourselves from the masses.” Of no surprise, given the company’s approach to working alongside clients, is that much of Metrus’ work comes from recommendation and repeat business with existing clients, going so far as to step on the toes of some of the big agents in offering a service which can offer a solution to many of the challenges its clients have found in past experiences with other property agents. The company’s reputation has also gone so far as to attract quality staff, and quality product to further enhance its own ability to deliver an increasingly competitive service. Retaining such clients, alongside the retention of these key staff members also adds to the quality of the service which Metrus can offer yet further, as Sayer illustrates: “You do need to know your clients, their backgrounds and the types of properties that they’re dealing with. For example, we look after Burlington Arcade and we have a particularly experienced manager who is able to understand a lot of the interaction of the individual operators who, many of them, have been situated in there for many decades now. They need that personal touch, the caring approach but they also need the understanding of the commercial perspective that the client is trying to achieve – it’s trying to achieve that balance between personal approach and also the business side as well. Finding that balance is really important and is one of the key considerations when we’re placing people on individual jobs.” And further adding to the proud reputation of the company is the way in which Metrus increasingly promotes corporate responsibility values across the property portfolio. Having achieved 14001 most recently, Metrus is keen to display its own commitment to sustainability and environmental best practice, whilst simultaneously pushing that process out to clients and encouraging engagement in the process at every possible level: “While, as the landlord, you’re in control of certain resources in the operation of a building, the occupiers are utilising as much, if not
Transport bosses have given the green light to a £92m bypass between the A158 and A15 in Lincoln. Part-funded by the government, the Eastern Bypass is predicted to take two years to complete and, with a summer start date, should take infrastructure development right the way through to 2018. Lincolnshire County Council is tasked with sourcing contractors for the project. At sign-off, the development of the land for either housing or industry could create jobs for around 30,000 local residents in the next 15 years. The project, which will see the two A roads connected, has been a long time in the making. It was finally granted permission after two safety inquiries and a review of a planning inspector’s report carried out by the Department for Transport. The five-mile, single carriageway itself has also been redesigned and, at completion, is hoped to reduce congestion in Lincoln by around 26%. Commenting on newly-granted permission, Richard Davies, Councillor for Lincolnshire County Council enthused: “I am very pleased with the outcome of this inquiry. I am glad that the inspector saw that the bypass is a vital component in our plans to create a fit-for-purpose highways infrastructure for the needs of an expanding Lincoln. Hopefully we can now progress with this long-awaited bypass without any further needless expense or delay.” Talk of further investment in Lincoln’s transport infrastructure is now widespread and residents, businesses and planners are all hopeful of future development. Previous plans for a circular around the city, for instance, are hoped to revived at the success of the Eastern Bypass.
In a recent report by the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, two prominent UK health organisations, it has been stated that indoor air pollution may indeed have played a contributing factor in the death of almost 100,000 individuals across Europe over the course of 2012 – a concerning figure to say the very least. In the report, direct reference is, in fact made to the impact of indoor air quality on the health of everyday people and the way in which this can impact a person’s health, and subsequent premature death. This, in and of itself, is considered to be vastly disparate from the majority of reports already publicised in the media where only outdoor contaminants and air-pollution concerns are considered. Yet, with both of the organisations jointly calling out for a greater understanding, and look into the key risks of poor indoor air quality, combined with how increased level of air tightness are playing a factor in this arena. In fact, it has been reported that some 40,000 deaths each year can be attributed to air pollution, either indoor or outdoor, and is actually currently costing the economy around £20bn. Additionally, as well as increasing the risk of premature death rates, there is also evidence to the case that poor air quality can impact the health and intelligence of young children, thus impairing their future growth and development. Of the aspects which we can attribute the cause of some of these pollutants, the most prominent appear to be products such as faulty boilers, gas cookers, heaters and even chemicals present within new items of everyday household use, such as furniture, air fresheners and cleaning products. With dust mites, mould and dander from pets all also contributing to the mix, there are rising concerns around health problems inside buildings which may well perhaps be “too well” sealed.
The Crossrail team at Bond Street got a royal visit from Her Majesty who ventured 28 metres underground via an industrial lift to say hello to staff and apprentices working on London’s most ambitious transport infrastructure project. The Queen, who in 1969 became the first reigning monarch to ride the London Underground after opening the Victoria Line, took the chance to see how work was progressing on the Crossrail section that will be named Elizabeth in her honour. The route will connect parts of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire to Essex. London’s mayor Boris Johnson said the naming of the line was a fitting tribute to Her Majesty. “Crossrail is already proving a huge success for the UK economy and, as we move closer to bringing this transformative new railway into service, I think it’s truly wonderful that such a significant line for our capital will carry such a significant name from our country.” He adds: “As well as radically improving travel right across our city, the Elizabeth line will provide a lasting tribute to our longest-serving monarch.” The Queen’s visit also coincided with the unveiling of the new purple line logo that will signify the Crossrail network when it begins operation in December 2018. When Crossrail becomes operational it is expected that half a million passengers every day will use the service as a fleet of 200m-long trains make their way through 26 miles of tunnels. Present during the Queen’s visit, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said that given Her Majesty’s “long association with UK transport, it is very fitting that this vital link across our capital will be named the Elizabeth line in her honour. This is an example of British engineering at its best and will transform the way people travel across London and beyond from 2018.”
According to global real estate services provider Savills, the take-up of warehouse space around Heathrow Airport amounted to 1.14m sq ft (105,909 sq m) in 2015, a significant 17% drop from the previous 12 months. Availability across the airport presently stands at 2.07 million sq ft (192,309 sq m) and primarily based on the five-year average take-up of 1,394,832 sq ft (129,584 sq m) with last year’s decrease blamed on a tightening of good quality supply around core locations. Based on this current trend, Savills believes there’s just 1.4 years of remaining supply. However, Bonnie Minshull, Director at the South East industrial team at Savills, admits measures can improve the situation. “Although there was a drop in take-up last year, we still saw significant activity in the Heathrow market. A number of speculatively developed schemes, including Prologis Park Heathrow and SEGRO’s Stockley Close, were either let or under offer within 12 months of practical completion, which reflects the strength of demand for Grade A units in prime locations.” Indeed, occupational demand remains strong despite the lack of available space, with 487,795 sq ft (45,317 sq m) of Grade A stock coming through the site last year. That’s the highest number since 2011. In line with high demand, prime rents have additionally continued to rise. Savills predicts that rents are prone to improve further when quite a few new schemes come to the market later in 2016, with SEGRO’s last unit at The Portal quoting £17.50 per sq ft (£188 per sq m). At the moment, alongside The Portal, a number of new schemes are set to finish in 2016, which is able to bring a total of 1.02 million sq ft (94,761 sq m) to the market. Developments including Heathrow Logistics Park, Skyline, and Prologis Park West London will all assist to alleviate the present scarcity of premium inventory over 50,000 sq ft (4,645 sq m). “Despite there being several new schemes in the pipeline, space is likely to remain constrained for the foreseeable future,” remarks Minshull. “If freight volumes continue to grow as forecast, our research predicts that Heathrow will need up to 14m sq ft of extra warehouse space by 2030 to meet requirements. “Furthermore, to date the third runway hasn’t really featured on occupiers’ radars, however if the north-west runway, as recommended by the Davies commission, gets the green light this summer, construction is expected to commence as soon as 2019. As a result, we expect to see businesses in buildings which are likely to be compulsorily purchased start to look for alternative premises sooner rather than later, which is likely to lead to even further demand.”
The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) has recently completed commissioning of the new £38m National Biologics Manufacturing Centre in Darlington, Co. Durham, which features a state-of-the-art effluent treatment facility suitable for Containment Level 2 wastes, supplied by Suncombe’s Biowaste Solutions arm. The new Centre provides companies with open access facilities and expertise to help them develop, prove and commercialise new and improved processes and technologies for biologics manufacture. The facility has a limit of Category II containment. So the waste liquid needs to be collected and thermally denatured prior to discharge to the drain. The flagship National Biologics Centre is part of the UK Governments Strategy for Life Science, helping UK companies to develop a competitive foothold in the growing global biopharmaceutical market. Biological medicines already account for around 10 – 15% of the current pharmaceutical market and the sector is outperforming the market as a whole. More than one-fifth of new medicines launched on the world market each year are now biotechnology-derived. The Suncombe equipment is based on its EDS+ Effluent Decontamination System range, with additional features developed to suit the client’s specific requirements. This included Suncombe engineers being part of a team which constructed a 3D model of the proposed Centre, which integrated with the sites overall layout, to allow visualisation of the precise location and position of the treatment facility. Steve Overton, technical director at Suncombe, commented, “We were delighted to be part of this project which is developing new, high-tech manufacturing businesses for the UK. As British manufacturers ourselves it is also important to be able to show off the expertise in biowaste engineering which is available in this country.” “The team we were a part of, particularly the CPI staff, made this a very rewarding and exciting project to work on. Everyone came together very quickly to deliver a highly complex facility on schedule and to specification,” added Steve. The project scope included the connection of user points (sinks) and a collection sump to the collection pipework, plus the design and modelling of this pipework, in stainless steel from the laboratories to the EDS+ system. It included a number of technical advances, including different user-level login facilities, variable treatment temperatures and times, anti-foam control, pH neutralisation, out-of-hours cooling methodology and 100 per cent positive release for treated waste. Another feature was emergency discharge to a road tanker. Extensive pre-delivery tests were carried out to ensure that, on delivery to site, the system could be reconnected and ready for operation without any hitches. Factory Acceptance Tests (FATs) included system documentation and certifications reviews, as well as full testing, including automation and dry run simulations, wet testing and system thermal inactivation cycles. Fergal O’Brien, Director of the National Biologics Manufacturing Centre said, “The new facility will support the development of new innovative process technologies and manufacturing routes. We will provide both large and small companies with open access facilities to prove and scale up their process, therefore reducing risk associated with product development.” “Given the open access and variety of biologics on test it is vitally important that the effluent treatment facilities are able to cope with a range of products and remain fully compliant with the Category II containment requirements. The Suncombe system met our challenging specifications and is working well,” he added. EDS+ Effluent Decontamination System Operator Interface
Transport for London’s plans to develop some 75 sites will make it one of the capital’s biggest developers. Here it names the partners for its £3.6bn development framework. Tweeting disgust and frustration about commuting woes could soon become a career-threatening move for the capital’s many construction professionals. The reason is that Transport for London (TfL) is gearing up to become the capital’s most significant development patron. A fortnight ago, the mayor of London’s transport quango unveiled a list of 13 property development companies and consortiums that will be eligible to bid for around 75 development sites across the capital. The baker’s dozen (see list below) of housebuilders, contractors, housing associations and developers have been appointed to TfL’s Property Partnership Framework. The sites, two-thirds of which are located in central Zones 1 and 2, cover 300 acres of TfL land, and are capable of delivering 10,000 new homes and around 10 million ft2 of commercial space, transport bosses claim. The whole initiative is part of TfL’s plan to gear up for the withdrawal of its central government subsidy, currently worth around £700m a year, by generating £3.4bn in non-fares revenue by 2023. So what kind of opportunity does this massive investment from the transport client hold out for the construction industry? What’s TfL building? TfL’s development programme will see the company, hitherto chiefly of interest in construction circles as an engineering client, expand its sway across the capital’s development scene. The sites themselves are a “complete mixed bag”, according to Mathew Evans-Pollard, head of the Deloitte Real Estate team that helped TfL draw up the framework list. Many involve building over existing depots, stations and tracks. Other sites being lined up include bus stations, large roundabouts and redundant operational transport land. They are as diverse as Old Street roundabout and the bus interchange at south London’s Vauxhall station. Some of the sites on the list have been mooted for years, like Victoria coach station, or are the fields of past planning battles, like South Kensington underground station. All have been chosen, though, on the basis that their development can start within the 10 years covered by TfL’s current business plan, explains Evans-Pollard. TfL has submitted planning applications for three so far, the mixed-use development of a former Underground depot at Parsons Green and schemes on top of the new tube stations planned at Northwood and Nine Elms. Each piece of land will be developed as a joint venture. Crucially, instead of selling the sites before a brick has been laid, TfL will take a stake in each development, which will vary between 10% and 90%, but typically just under half. It will then recoup its investment either in the form of a capital receipt when the development is sold or preferably by taking a share of rents generated by leasing out the flats and commercial space that have been built. Design quality This patient approach has been welcomed on the grounds that it should result in higher quality development. TfL and London Underground have a fine track record of architectural patronage, from the iconic tube stations of the 1930s to the Jubilee line extension of the 1990s. However its austerity-era Crossrail stations have received a lukewarm reception. Matthew Carmona, professor of planning and urban design at the University of London’s Bartlett School, says: “If you look across London a lot of development is rather short-termist and not necessarily delivering high-quality places. However, a partnership approach has all of the potential to deliver high-quality places.” David Birkbeck, director of Design for Homes, is even more gushing: “The record to date has been patchy but the possibilities going forward are amazing.” This is because, he explains, companies involved in the JVs won’t have to borrow as much at the outset of the scheme, meaning they are under less pressure to maximise returns by over-developing sites. The JV arrangement also suits the nature of the “over the station” sites that TfL is bringing forward, explains Farrells partner Neil Bennett, who has worked closely on London transport projects dating back to the PwC offices on top of Charing Cross in the late 1980s. “Ownership and maintenance arrangements are going to be so complex that you will never be able to achieve a clean sell,” he says. An example is the problems transport operators often face when negotiating access to maintain track once it is encased in development. In the long term too, TfL will achieve better value for the public purse by delaying its payday, argues Carmona. “This partnership approach is the right way to go because there are opportunities for the public sector to benefit from rising values.” To ensure the bar is raised, Brian Waters, partner at consultant BWCP, argues that TfL should bolster its JV arrangements by appointing a design panel to oversee the briefs coming forward for sites. While masterplans may not be needed for those plots which will only deliver one or two buildings, they will be appropriate on larger sites that have to be knitted into surrounding neighbourhoods. Carmona says: “We need to establish a very clear vision rather than go for the lowest common denominator, ‘stack ‘em high and sell ‘em cheap’ response. Every site will be different and need a very carefully tailored response.” Graeme Craig, director of commercial development at TfL, suggested that masterplans will “sometimes be the right approach”. Whatever comes forward, though, the wave of development that TfL is about to unleash should prove a bonanza for the construction industry. Craig estimates that the projects will create work for “thousands” of engineers, architects and quantity surveyors. Deloitte’s Evans-Pollard agrees: “There are huge opportunities for a whole breadth of organisations to get involved. Each site represents a unique challenge, developing in and around transport hubs in central London, which is where a lot of people want to be.” In particular, there will be “plenty to get the blood flowing” for architects and engineers, he predicts, due to the highly complex nature of many of