Affiliates and those interested in the building, design and construction industries will be pleased to know that tool manufacturing agency Dormer Pramet have recently signed an agreement with the Advanced Manufacturing Training Center (AMTC) to furnish them with tools, equipment and advice to their engineering students and apprentices. This is
Passengers and vehicle using commuters using the A556 motorway will receive the Christmas present of their lives when they find out that the dual carriageway linking Knutsford with Bowdon along the much-used A556 will finally be open for use. These ambitious intentions to improving the speed rates and consistency of
Mister Stuart Cooke the Head of Utility at PwC has today released his thoughts on the current government’s strategy to deal with issues of sustainability and green energy. There are clear worries that the conservatives’ intentions to unite and collate several different departments into one has signaled that they are
NewCold Advanced Cold Logistics, who have their firm base in the town of Wakefield, are reinvigorating themselves for January 2017 by restructuring their 36-strong line of tractor vehicles. These, furnished by a company in Birstall known as Crossroads Truck & Bus, are expected to be hired continuously by NewCold for
With Construction News revealing this week that work at Hinkley Point C will boost the South West construction market by £500m over the next two years, we are delighted to announce that David Sutton, Delivery Director at EDF, will be discussing the economic value of Hinkley Point C at the
Predicting the energy future Anyone who predicts the future risks winding up with egg on their face. This is as true in energy as anything else – just look at how the rapid roll-out of renewables caught everyone by surprise. As such, the best tactic is often to avoid predicting
Hartlepool-based Stadium Group plc, a supplier of wireless solutions, power supplies and electronic assemblies, has acquired Essex-based Cable Power Ltd for a fee of £750k. For the year ended 31 December 2016, the Colchester manufacturer and distributor of bespoke cable and power products recorded sales of circa £0.7m and profit
A £1.2bn Cardiff city region infrastructure improvements deal has been given a boost after local council leaders backed the plans. Ten local authorities backed a report outlining a future economic strategy for south-east Wales. Recommendations in the report included more collaboration between local councils to support public and private investment
With the completion of a green energy generating hydro screw in Sonning, Berkshire, Pridewater Estates Ltd will become the UK’s first completely carbon neutral marina and caravan site organisation. Pridewater Estates Ltd owns and operates four canal marinas and caravan sites which are spread across the UK from near to
Servelec, the Sheffield-based technology and software group, has won a contract by a UK gas supplier to provide a remote operations solution for a gas platform in the North Sea. The group will achieve this by deploying a specially developed Servelec Controls system. Work has now started on the project
Affiliates and those interested in the building, design and construction industries will be pleased to know that tool manufacturing agency Dormer Pramet have recently signed an agreement with the Advanced Manufacturing Training Center (AMTC) to furnish them with tools, equipment and advice to their engineering students and apprentices. This is fantastic news for the AMTC, located in the city of Coventry. Under the wing of the Manufacturing Technology Center (MTC), itself founded in 2011, the AMTC (set up for only just over a year now) has become a key and very popular location for various individuals from all over the country wishing to learn about the engineering and construction trade. Having come a long way since 2015, the AMTC specializes in a number of different engineering trades and it is clear that Dormer Pramet’s declaration of support for them is a welcome sign that they will be able to progress into the future by ensuring that the future generations of engineers in this country are educated with the right set of tools and enthusiasm by a specialist in the trade. Not only will the faculty benefit from a fresh and reliable supply of tools and materials, but Dormer Pramet’s commitment to them will mean that talks, seminars and networking events will be able to be organized in order to increase enthusiasm levels from students, interns, apprentices and staff members alike in what the engineering trade has to offer to its members. An experienced and well established initiative, Dormer Pramet supply tools and technical help to more than 30 different offices around the world involved in over 100 different markets all around the world. It is hugely hoped that their commitment will ensure the survival of the industry at a time when all too legitimate concerns with the skills base in this country are at their very highest at this time.
Passengers and vehicle using commuters using the A556 motorway will receive the Christmas present of their lives when they find out that the dual carriageway linking Knutsford with Bowdon along the much-used A556 will finally be open for use. These ambitious intentions to improving the speed rates and consistency of the roads along this route are seemingly coming to a close. Within the next 31 days, the penultimate processes to get the dual carriageway ready for operational use will be implemented for once and for all. Towards the middle of February however, commuters and travelers will need to be made aware that the A556 will require to be shut down in order that such essential renovations can take place. The road area located in between junctions 19 and 7 will obviously be affected by this and will necessitate the diversions of users so that the repairs can take place in order to ensure that the location is available for commuters to use by the closing days of March 2017. Mister Paul Hampson, one of the leading managers of the Highways England initiative, which dedicates itself every year towards ensuring the safeguarding and maintenance of motorways and roadworks across the country, is pleased that through the collaboration of affiliates in the road safety and help services as well as the airport of Manchester the plans are going ahead and the carriageway will become a success and effective means of transportation and construction planning. On the weekends in mid-February and early March, the A556 itself will not be available for use to the public at all, ensuring that Highways England can fully devote itself to the essential building works to enable the new carriageway to be a pleasure for all to use. Costing a pretty sum of 192 million pounds, the project is no cheap off-the-cuff initiative, and Highways England are set to do what they can to enable the project to work for users all along the A556.
Mister Stuart Cooke the Head of Utility at PwC has today released his thoughts on the current government’s strategy to deal with issues of sustainability and green energy. There are clear worries that the conservatives’ intentions to unite and collate several different departments into one has signaled that they are less committed than before to addressing the various and impending dangerous issues of climate change and reducing Britain’s status as one of the largest carbon-impacting countries in Europe. On the other hand, the initiative today for Theresa May and her cohorts to process the all-new Industrial Strategy to cope with these issues is, to Mister Cooke at least, a sure sign that such worries should not be taken too seriously now. Mister Cooke is equally optimistic that the government will devote (through the implementation of this all-new department) much more attention than ever before to the problems and alternatives to Britain’s impact on the environment and the atmosphere. Changes to the country’s attitudes structure, industry initiatives and technological possibilities will be needed so that the government can act upon their decision and announcement to commit to resolving issues that are of growing concern to environmentalists and green activists all around the country and indeed the rest of the world. Mister Stuart Cooke also states that more collaboration will be required between companies, heads of staff and executives to ensure that businesses and construction companies are well aware of the new things that need to be done in order to ensure that Britain becomes a greener and more environmentally friendly place than ever before. Ensuring that the costs of energy production as well as securing the green future of the country are just two of Westminster’s objectives to achieve and it is up to the government to work closely and get involved with independent and private businesses so that all can work together to making Britain a cleaner, greener place to live and thrive in.
NewCold Advanced Cold Logistics, who have their firm base in the town of Wakefield, are reinvigorating themselves for January 2017 by restructuring their 36-strong line of tractor vehicles. These, furnished by a company in Birstall known as Crossroads Truck & Bus, are expected to be hired continuously by NewCold for a grand total of three years to come. Fitted with an all-new I-Shift transmission by Volvo themselves, it is hoped that this will allow NewCold to operate during the adverse winter conditions and to cope with the wishes of its increasingly popular client base. The amount of double-deckers will also increase to 12, thus allowing costs to the environment and of travel to be significantly reduced by the Wakefield company. The Managing Directors of NewCold are confident that by the end of this year alone, they will have invested in and deployed an extra 30 double-decker transport vehicles to demonstrate their concern for lowering transport costs and increasing their impressive regard for the safeguard of the environment. Mister Jon Miles, its Country Director, is adamant that such vehicles NewCold have been investing in such as the FH4 500 are extremely popular among fleet drivers and are equally beneficial to the company in their cost efficiency on fuel usage. Mister Miles is also extremely satisfied with their ongoing partnership with Crossroads Truck & Bus and is hopeful that they will be able to continue this bounteous future with them and that their support will be mutual with the harsh winter months ahead. With bases of food storage all over Europe, including in France and Poland, NewCold’s announcements today are encouraging signs that up-and-coming successful companies like itself are committed to ensuring that their rising profits and success does not run at the expense of the natural environment. One can only hope that similar companies will be as conscientious as the team behind NewCold.
With Construction News revealing this week that work at Hinkley Point C will boost the South West construction market by £500m over the next two years, we are delighted to announce that David Sutton, Delivery Director at EDF, will be discussing the economic value of Hinkley Point C at the South West Construction Summit on the 09 June at Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol. The Somerset site will help the South West to become the UK’s fastest-growing region in terms of construction activity in 2018, with output set to grow by 2 per cent in 2017 and 1.3 per cent in 2018, according to forecasts. Hewes & Associates predicts that work at Hinkley will add between £400m and £500m to industry activity in the region during 2017 and 2018. The predictions indicate that the South West will make up 7.4 per cent of the UK’s total construction output by 2018 – up from 6.9 per cent in 2016 and therefore the South West Construction Summit is your opportunity to hear from a representative of EDF who is directly involved with the Hinkley Point C project and the Q&A session will provide answers to your questions about the development. The South West Construction Summit will explore ways to address the obstacles that potentially impact the future success of the UK construction industry, whilst focusing on three intrinsically linked key themes: Skills and Image, Productivity and Sustainability – delivered by 12 leading construction exponents in the region. The Summit will highlight how the industry can approach and resolve these pressing issues through the experience and learnings from the prominent speaker line-up. Speakers include: Mike Borkowski – Southern Construction Framework Alexis Field – Highways England Nathan Waller – Natwest Bank John Boughton – Willmott Dixon Emma Osmundsen – Exeter City Council David Sutton – EDF Energy Councillor Paul Smith – Bristol City Council Leif Tarry – CITB A full Speaker Programme is available to download from: www.constructingexcellencesw.org.uk/summit By facilitating knowledge exchange and networking with influential regional construction leaders, the Summit provides a platform to identify improvements throughout the South West construction industry, whilst also creating an opportunity to acquire crucial information from industry experts on how they have overcome key issues, through process, product innovation and enhancing perceptions. Entry into the South West Construction Summit costs just £95+VAT and includes; parking, lunch and refreshments throughout. For more information, or to book your place, visit: www.constructionsummitsw.co.uk The South West Construction Summit is followed on the same day by the South West Built Environment Awards – celebrating the best projects, people and products in the South West region. Submitting an awards entry is FREE and can be done online via: www.constructingexcellencesw.org.uk/presentations/awards For help in getting involved in either event please call 01743 290001
Predicting the energy future Anyone who predicts the future risks winding up with egg on their face. This is as true in energy as anything else – just look at how the rapid roll-out of renewables caught everyone by surprise. As such, the best tactic is often to avoid predicting at all, or take a conservatively pessimist line. For medium sized UK businesses, that’s often grim resignation to ever-increasing energy prices eating away at the bottom line. I’ll stick my neck out though and say this: the energy future for UK business could actually be very bright indeed. Medium sized UK business – vital to the economy but more exposed than the big multinationals – can vastly reduce the impact of energy costs and insulate themselves against the risks inherent in energy price shocks. All it takes is to take three words to heart: reduce, generate, store. Reduce Reducing energy use should be the first priority for any business. No Kw is greener or cheaper than the one unused. Investments such as LED lighting, efficient boilers and variable speed drives can save huge amounts of money and energy. Back when it was known as DECC, the department estimated 18-25% energy savings were possible for SMEs with an average payback period of less than 1.5 years. Generate But efficiency only takes you so far. Companies can take matters into their own hands by using on-site generation to partially cover their energy needs, reducing the amount needed to be purchased. This could be diesel generators, but is increasingly including clean power sources such as solar, wind or combined heat and power biomass systems. For now, this is the domain of the most forward-thinking companies, but solar PV costs have declined so rapidly in recent years that it will be a feasible and attractive option for many businesses. Some might protest that the roll-back of subsidies such as the Feed-In Tariff (FIT) scheme undermine this. But that’s a setback that should quickly be overcome as panels get cheaper and finance gets smarter. Store The real game changer though, has been the advent of storage. In 2016, we’ve seen commercial and domestic storage make huge strides. Look at Tesla’s Powerwall or AES Storage’s commercial-scale project in Kilroot. As with solar, battery prices are falling and companies are scrambling to develop and commercialise different business models. Storage is the missing piece of the puzzle for UK businesses. You can reduce energy usage and create your own but there will be excess energy because of the intermittency of renewables. Storage can hold that otherwise wasted energy and discharge it when required. The energy future for medium sized UK businesses is one that includes energy reduction, generation and storage. By diligently taking advantage of available tax incentives such as Enhanced Capital Allowances and Annual Investment Allowances, combined with intelligent financing designed to deliver savings greater than repayments, it’s possible for UK businesses to begin that transition now. Doing so means lower costs, greater resiliency and a future-proofed business. That’s my prediction.
Hartlepool-based Stadium Group plc, a supplier of wireless solutions, power supplies and electronic assemblies, has acquired Essex-based Cable Power Ltd for a fee of £750k. For the year ended 31 December 2016, the Colchester manufacturer and distributor of bespoke cable and power products recorded sales of circa £0.7m and profit before interest and tax of circa £0.1m. Cable Power’s customers include RS Components, Rapid Electronics, Farnell, CPC and Raspberry Pi, with whom it has exclusivity for several accessories, including HDMI cables, power connectors and other accessory bundles. The business will join Stadium’s Power division, Stadium Stontronics, which announced in March 2016 that it had become the only approved external power supply manufacturer for the Raspberry Pi 3. Charlie Peppiatt, Chief Executive Officer, explained: “The acquisition of Cable Power brings complementary bolt-on products to our portfolio that enhance our overall offering, primarily in the power products space. “There is a great deal of synergy between the product ranges of our power division, Stadium Stontronics, and Cable Power, and we already work closely with many of the same customers. “Bringing together the expertise of Cable Power and Stontronics places Stadium in a unique position to offer a highly compelling exclusively approved ‘one-stop-shop’ solution for the Single Board Computer sector.“ Stadium Group preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2016 will be announced on Tuesday, 14 March 2017. Interested in this topic? Read more at BDaily.
A £1.2bn Cardiff city region infrastructure improvements deal has been given a boost after local council leaders backed the plans. Ten local authorities backed a report outlining a future economic strategy for south-east Wales. Recommendations in the report included more collaboration between local councils to support public and private investment in infrastructure and to develop housebuilding and regeneration plans around the region. The £1.2bn investment fund includes £325m committed to the Valley Lines Electrification programme and more than £400m allocated to the south-east Wales Metro scheme. Some £50m will be invested in constructing a new technology centre and the Welsh Government will work in partnership with local authorities in the region to regenerate the area. The Cardiff city region deal is expected to create a further £4bn of private investment in the region. City of Cardiff Council leader Phil Bale said: “The leaders welcome the commission’s report, and work has now begun to include recommendations […] within the CCR city deal implementation plan, which will be considered by all the councils concerned in the near future.” Both the UK and Welsh Government will contribute £500m to the city region deal, with the 10 local authorities in the Cardiff Capital Region contributing a minimum of £120m over the 20-year period of the fund. The government recommitted to implementing the Cardiff city region deal in last year’s Autumn Statement. Chancellor Philip Hammond said the agreement “remains at the heart” of the government’s strategy to develop local regions. Interested in this article? Read more at Construction News.
With the completion of a green energy generating hydro screw in Sonning, Berkshire, Pridewater Estates Ltd will become the UK’s first completely carbon neutral marina and caravan site organisation. Pridewater Estates Ltd owns and operates four canal marinas and caravan sites which are spread across the UK from near to Leighton Buzzard in the south, to New Mills in Derbyshire’s High Peak, with another near Lichfield, and one on the outskirts of Tamworth. The combined berthing capability of these marinas sits currently at over 300 boats and such facilities has meant the energy required to run all four marinas each year was significant – an output to the environment which Pridewater Estates has always worked to minimise. Ever aware of their carbon footprint, Pridewater Estates already make use of solar panels where possible at their marina locations however were looking to see how far they could go to cancel out their environmental impact completely. The answer came in the form of a highly efficient hydroelectric scheme – an Archimedes screw. An Archimedes screw is an energy generator which works by water falling naturally over a cascade, rotating the screw, which moves a turbine and generates electricity. While not feasible to install a hydro screw at each marina location, the idea came to build one screw which would produce enough energy to not only offset all four marinas at once but also provide a surplus which could be fed back into the National Grid. To this end, Pridewater Estates acquired a site to construct the green energy hydro screw in the beautiful Thames-side town of Sonning, Berkshire. The design and build was conducted by experienced civil engineering contractors Greenford Ltd who have been responsible for several other notable Archimedes screw projects including Blenheim Palace and the listed Mapledurham Watermill. THE STATS; The Sonning hydro site houses a 99kw generator driven by a 25 tonne Archimedes screw The screw is 4.2 metres in diameter, with a flow rate of 8,000 litres per second – sufficient to fill approximately 275 Olympic sized swimming pools every day! This site now has the capacity to generate enough power to supply approx. 2,000kwh every 24 hours – this is equivalent to offsetting approximately 150 average sized UK houses a year* The screw is set to produce approximately 730,000kwh per year – almost double the 440,000kwh per annum used by all four Pridewater Estate marina and caravan sites combined! The site also provides other ecological benefits including a fish pass which allows the continued safe passage of fish and other native fauna Robert Hutton, co-owner of Pridewater Estates Ltd, said, “Reviewing the ever increasing electricity running costs at our four marinas, coupled with an unexpected opportunity to acquire a suitable site on the Thames, led us to the decision to make this significant investment. We believe Pridewater Estates will be the first carbon neutral canal marina and caravan site operator in Great Britain and we will be able to play our own small part in tackling global warming and promoting green solutions to power generation. Thrilled to be an industry sustainability pioneer Another benefit of this initiative is to be able to provide marina and caravan sites for our customers to enjoy knowing we are a part of Britain’s incredible environmental landscape while minimising the mark made on it. Pridewater Estates are thrilled to be an industry sustainability pioneer and to operate 100% carbon neutral marinas.” To find out more about this green energy sustainability initiative and to view their marina locations please visit the Pridewater Estates Ltd website www.canalmarinas.com
Servelec, the Sheffield-based technology and software group, has won a contract by a UK gas supplier to provide a remote operations solution for a gas platform in the North Sea. The group will achieve this by deploying a specially developed Servelec Controls system. Work has now started on the project and is expected to contribute towards revenues in the current financial year. Following installation on the first platform by May 2017, there are options to extend the system to cover additional platforms. Alan Stubbs, chief executive officer of Servelec Group, said: “As a business focused on helping our customers to reduce their Opex whilst extending the life of ageing assets, we are proud to be working with our customer on this game-changing project. “The remote operations and monitoring system provided by Servelec will extend the operational life and viability of the platform for years to come. “This project marks a significant achievement for Servelec and further strengthens the Group’s position with regards to winning additional contracts on this customer’s other assets as well as with other OEMs; many of whom we are already in discussion with about future opportunities.” Article taken from https://bdaily.co.uk/industrials/21-12-2016/sheffield-tech-group-servelec-wins-contract-with-major-uk-gas-supplier/
