The Government’s Business Rates System is giving holiday home owners, who make their properties available to rent, a windfall of millions of pounds in tax reliefs at the expense of those businesses paying full business rates, according to Colliers International, the global commercial real estate agency and consultancy. In the
The Federation of Master Builders, or the FMB have said that, according to the figures Homeowners should book their builder at least four months before the project begins in order to reduce the risks of hiring a cowboy. The research that has been carried out also showed that a large
SES Engineering Services has announced that they have appointed a new Managing Director with immediate effect. The leading national engineering company have revealed that they have appointed Jason Knights for this position after the departure of the former Managing Director Andy Wall. The position has become available as Andy announced
The stadia that host English premiership football matches are often seen as the physical representations of the titanic sporting and financial battles in one of the world’s most competitive leagues: the intimidating amphitheatre of the Etihad Stadium, the geometric confluence of the Emirates, the raucous intimacy of Selhurst Park and
The construction of the new UK head office of British Sugar is set to begin very soon. The headquarters is set to be built on a 4.5 acre site which is located in Hampton, Peterborough. The building, when finished will act as the UK head office for British Sugar ,
LIA, held their Annual Luncheon in May and during this event Peter Scott officially handed over the role of President of the LIA Council of Management to Dave Ribbons of Luton EA Ltd. Te LIA, or the Lighting Industry Academy. The former President Peter Scott, of Fern-Howard was thanked by
Two senior managers have been appointed by an independent project and cost management company. TowerEight has appointed the two new senior managers to their project management and cost consultancy departments. It has been announced that these two new appointments are two of six new recruits that have taken place at
Award-winning UK construction, refurbishment and fit out contractor, Gilbert-Ash, has put the finishing touches to a £1m fit out project on the British Embassy compound in Nepal. In the wake of the Gorkha earthquake, the project included design, fit-out and seismic reinforcement. Within the British Embassy compound in Kathmandu, the
A new Marketing Director has been appointed at Peacock Engineering. The company work to deliver a variety of asset and service management solutions to their clients. The users of Peacock’s services are usually those who are in more asset intensive industries. Peacock Engineering is based in Little Chalfont in Buckinghamshire
In February 2017, the National Audit Office – a body that scrutinises public spending for Parliament – found that a large number of school buildings in England required substantial repairs. It is estimated that it will cost £6.7bn to return all school buildings across the country to a ‘satisfactory or
The Government’s Business Rates System is giving holiday home owners, who make their properties available to rent, a windfall of millions of pounds in tax reliefs at the expense of those businesses paying full business rates, according to Colliers International, the global commercial real estate agency and consultancy. In the current business rates environment, second home owners, who make their properties available to rent as holiday lets for 140 days of the year, often qualify as small businesses, and are entitled to relief on 100% of the business rates payable if their properties have a rateable value of less than £12,000. And those whose properties have a rateable value between £12,000 and £15,000 are also entitled to relief on a sliding scale, in line with the Government’s small businesses rates relief policy. Colliers analysed the potential rate bill of 7300 holiday homes in Cornwall and found that over 7150 of those second home owners had properties with a rateable value of less than £12,000 and so are paying nothing in business rates. This means that they are being subsidized by £13.2 million, compared to if they were paying their business rates. Over the five-year rating list, this equates to £66 million. If they were paying the equivalent Council Tax they would pay up to £3371 (Band H 2017/18) per property, and with the average Council Tax of £2036 in 2017/18, receive a saving of £14.6 million or £72.8 million over 5 years. Adding in the properties on the sliding scale of business rates relief and then multiplying this across the other counties in the UK where second home owners offer holiday lets and receive the rates relief, it appears that second home owners are being subsidized by many millions of pounds. John Webber, Head of Rating at Colliers International commented, ”The Government’s Business Rate system is totally unjust and needs serious reform. It’s a scandal that those who have holiday homes and rent them out are able to take advantage of the Small Business Rates Relief and so pay less tax, putting the burden of the rates bill onto other businesses who are struggling to pay their bills. The 2017 business rate revaluation resulted in many businesses being hammered when revalued, particularly the smaller specialist high street retailers in the major cities, but also other businesses that provide jobs and make major contributions to the economy. I doubt many second home owners would begrudge paying these charges but if the Government is foolish enough to allow this to happen then it is the Government’s running of the system that should be seriously questioned’ He added, “We do not criticise second home owners that take advantage of this tax break through making their properties available to let- that could be considered sensible tax planning. But we do criticise that the Government has allowed this situation to happen and has ignored the rating industry’s calls for root and branch reform of the business rates system. “ Colliers Manifesto for Business Rates Reform includes: More frequent revaluations, three-yearly, at least, by 2022; Increase funding for VOA in order to deal with existing appeals’ backlog; Release VOA from pressure exerted by local councils and HM Treasury; Introduce a register of appeals professionals – removing the ‘cowboy’ element; Root and branch reform of current business rates exemptions and reliefs.
The Federation of Master Builders, or the FMB have said that, according to the figures Homeowners should book their builder at least four months before the project begins in order to reduce the risks of hiring a cowboy. The research that has been carried out also showed that a large amount of consumers don’t think to ask their builders for more essential things required for work such as a contract or any references before they start a significant piece of building work. Brian Berry, the Chief Executive of the FMB has said that is a builder claims to be free to start work pretty much immediately then there should be concerns. There is a high demand for skilled workers in the building industry at the moment, with a lack of people working in the sector. This means that nearly one in two builders would need to be contacted at least four months in advance, according to the research. Over the past two years the workloads for builders has been increasing and plentiful. The Federation therefore ask homeowners wanting to start a home improvement project to contact any prospective builders as soon as possible in the phases of work in order to avoid disappointments and delays to their schedule. Not contacting early and then choosing a builder who can get to work straight away increases the risk of working with a dodgy builder. On top of choosing builders who seem to be more free than a busy professional builder, homeowners are also at risk when approaching a building project. The majority of builders say that clients can fail to ask for a contract and references before work starts, leaving them vulnerable to dodgy operators as well. Other things that the Federation are highlighting the importance of is agreeing a payment schedule, making sure that they have key warranties for the work that is carried out and finding out if the builder has any external accreditation or recognition.
SES Engineering Services has announced that they have appointed a new Managing Director with immediate effect. The leading national engineering company have revealed that they have appointed Jason Knights for this position after the departure of the former Managing Director Andy Wall. The position has become available as Andy announced that he was moving on and seeking new challenges. Andy managed to oversee the successful restructuring of the business and also made sure that the SES business has a continuing growth strategy while pushing for efficient operation and profitability throughout the company. Jason Knights the new Managing Director has been appointed internally. Jason joined the Wates Group in 2010 and his appointment to Managing Director is a direct reflection for the hard work that he has into expanding the Group’s internal M&E business, Wates Building Services. It is thought that in his new role Jason will be working to push forward the SES Engineering Services’ growth strategy. Also as a part of his new role at SES, Jason will be the first M&E specialist in the UK to achieve the BRE BIM Level 2 accreditation. This is a great accolade for Jason Knights his past experience will also be a great asset to the SES business. As a Managing Director, Jason will be watching over future development of SES’ innovative Prism offsite manufacturing business. The internal appointment of a new Managing Director is great news for the Building Services business. SES works to provide technical solutions for clients who operate in the built environment including design, manufacture and installation of building services. SES has been operating for more than 50 years and has recently developed an off site manufacturing facility, Prism which will provide an alternative to more labour intensive on site production. SES is a part of the Wates Group and employs more than 650 expert people.
The stadia that host English premiership football matches are often seen as the physical representations of the titanic sporting and financial battles in one of the world’s most competitive leagues: the intimidating amphitheatre of the Etihad Stadium, the geometric confluence of the Emirates, the raucous intimacy of Selhurst Park and the traditional fortress that is Old Trafford. All of these arenas share at least one aspect of their construction – they all incorporate curved structural steel from metal bending and fabrication experts, Barnshaws Section Benders. Supplying steelwork for stadia is one of the most demanding applications for structural steel. The high safety requirements place stadia at CE Execution Class 3, one of the highest quality certifications for structural steel. Furthermore, due to their size, a large capacity is required to deliver typically hundreds of tonnes of sections to what are often exacting deadlines on each project. Stadia builds and upgrades are usually required to be finished before major events or at the beginning of a season, so that the investment made by clubs can be quickly recouped. Barnshaws Section Benders offers both high capacity and extensive production expertise which has enabled the business to service a wide range of stadium requirements, helping to deliver the world class facilities that the sport demands. Greg North, Commercial Director at Barnshaws Section Benders, explains how the demands are managed: “Most building projects are managed to strict timescales; new builds have investors to satisfy, refurbishments have shutdowns and redirects contributing to the cost and time pressure. Stadia however are a little different, if the ground isn’t finished the game won’t be played there, as football fixtures won’t wait. Our focus on precision and on-time delivery means that, like a top player, we can add value to a team effort and ensure a good result is delivered.” Projects for Premier League sides have included developing the roof over what is now known as the Sir Alex Ferguson stand at Manchester United’s Old Trafford; fabricating the cones for Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium and supplying roof tees for Arsenal’s Emirates – all in conjunction with contractor Severfield. Furthermore, Barnshaws aided in the redevelopment of Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park roof with contractor Archbell Greenwood, a stadium that is regarded as one of the most atmospheric in the country. Recent projects include the relocation of West Ham to the ex-Olympic London Stadium including its 6,000 tonne roof and elements for the new Spurs ground adjacent to the original White Hart Lane. In addition, Barnshaws has been involved with a number of renovations for Championship and Football League sides, including Bristol City, Cardiff City, Coventry City, Ipswich Town, Maidstone Town, MK Dons, Nottingham Forest and Wigan Athletic. What differentiates Barnshaws contribution is the variation of the projects, ranging from supports for new floodlights, to terracing and roof structures – displaying the wide ranging expertise and experience inherent in the business. Barnshaws is regarded as the world’s most capable metal bending company, specialising specifically in precision curving of ferrous and non-ferrous products. Based in the Midlands, but with operations in the North of England, Scotland and in Europe, the business has supported the civil engineering, power generation, offshore, oil and gas, industrial, commercial vehicle and construction sectors since 1969. Stadiums have become as much an embodiment of the power of modern day football clubs as the accolades they accumulate. Every football club wants to present their home as a fortress to the away side, an atmosphere that owes much to the aesthetic capabilities of structural steel. Top clubs are in a financial as well as sporting battle, one which can be tipped by new stadiums or ground redevelopment to achieve maximum profitability. However beyond this, the lesson of modern football has been that world class facilities raise the standards of the sport, whether in the upper echelons or grassroots of the game. To service these projects requires the utmost expertise, capacity and flexibility – which has allowed Barnshaws to bend the rules when it comes to full service structural steel supply. With innovative suppliers helping to achieve these flagship engineering projects, the sport can be given further room to breathe and develop, which has seen the English Premier League eclipse its foreign competitors. This provides the perfect pedestal for what is the most competitive league in the world and one of the most passionate sporting cultures found anywhere – something that players, managers and most importantly fans, can all revel in every weekend.
The construction of the new UK head office of British Sugar is set to begin very soon. The headquarters is set to be built on a 4.5 acre site which is located in Hampton, Peterborough. The building, when finished will act as the UK head office for British Sugar , and will also accommodate global headquarters for AB Sugar and AB Mauri. The new building will have the space for around 350 employees and it is thought that the construction will lead to the installation of a range of state of the art facilities that will support the companies going forward. Involved in the construction project is CPMG Architects, who have designed the building with the intention of creating a space that emphasises workplace welfare. The contractor that has been appointed for this project has been revealed as Bowmer & Kirkland. The construction services and security company have been selected to carry out the purpose built commercial construction project that will hopefully combine formal and informal working spaces as well as a cafe area and indoor/outdoor working and social facilities. The design by CPMG Architects is considered timeless and classic and should meet the needs of the inhabitants. The building that has been designed plays on the simple concept of the white box, with nothing outlandish added so that the design still looks fresh in the future. The facilities inside the building will accommodate the requirement of British Sugar now and in the years to come. For those that are going to be working in the building, natural daylight has been considered with key importance in the design as well as the well being of employees in order to keep the levels of productivity up. The building also accommodates energy efficiency with the size and position of the windows selected in order to make sure the lowest levels of artificial lighting is required. There will also be PV roof panes in order to allow the building to generate solar power and a high thermal mass construction system used with bris soleil in order to regulate the temperature of the building efficiently.
LIA, held their Annual Luncheon in May and during this event Peter Scott officially handed over the role of President of the LIA Council of Management to Dave Ribbons of Luton EA Ltd. Te LIA, or the Lighting Industry Academy. The former President Peter Scott, of Fern-Howard was thanked by the new President on the LIA for all of the hard work he had put into the role throughout his tenure at the position. The LIA is an association and training academy that is considered to be the largest Trade Association in Europe, joined by a range of different lighting specialists and people operating in the lighting sector such as manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers and designers. The aim of the LIA is to make sure that a high standard of professionalism is upheld across the sector. This objective has been continued while Peter Scott acted as President of the LIA Council of Management and this will no doubt continue while Dave Ribbons occupies this position. The new President of the LIA Council of Management has been mentored by his predecessor before he started in the new role. Dave has been a central aspect of his LIA member company Luton EA since 2013 when her was appointed as the Director of Sales for Europe and Africa. In this position he has to lead and manage a diverse range of different team members. This experience with management will be an asset to him in his new role as President of the Trade Association. Dave has worked with R&D teams in order to develop technology for the future of lighting controls as well as working with Specification, OEM, Distribution and Residential CI channels. Dave Ribbons is a well regarded figure within the lighting industry and is also a graduate of the certification course now known as the LIA Certificate Course. Dave will hold all of the necessary characteristics to be a successful President and undoubtedly his time in this role will be as successful as his predecessors.
Two senior managers have been appointed by an independent project and cost management company. TowerEight has appointed the two new senior managers to their project management and cost consultancy departments. It has been announced that these two new appointments are two of six new recruits that have taken place at the project and cost managers business since the start of this year. The new appointments that have been taking place in are a part of TowerEight’s plans to expand and operate in a range of different sectors while also growing in order to carry out more work. The first of the two most recent appointments is Syed Maqbool who has been working for more than 20 years in the cost consultancy industry. Syed is joining TowerEight after previously working for Royal HaskoningDHV UK. In this previous position Syed was the Principal Quantity Surveyor. Syed Maqbool also has experience working as a part of the Real Estate, Infrastructure, Airport, Retail, Leisure, Renewable Energy, Waste to Energy and Marine Industries. The second appointment is Thomas Peters. In his previous position Thomas was a manger for Future54. Thomas has a wealth of experience in the residential, leisure and commercial sectors of the industry and has worked in the UK and in Europe while working for JLL, Davis Langdon and Gardiner & Theobald over the course of his career. Thomas Peters will be joining TowerEight as the cost manager. It is important to TowerEight to appoint new employees that have the right experience for their plans to diversify. The wealth of experience that both Syed and Thomas bring to TowerEight will make them assets to the company going forward. Thomas also has the experience of working with the founders of TowerEight at JLL and KHK. TowerEight are focusing on making sure that they have the right employees to give their clients the best experience and service throughout their operations. The experience of Syed and Thomas could also attract more recruits to the company, who currently has 85 team members working for the business across Construction project management and cost consultancy.
Award-winning UK construction, refurbishment and fit out contractor, Gilbert-Ash, has put the finishing touches to a £1m fit out project on the British Embassy compound in Nepal. In the wake of the Gorkha earthquake, the project included design, fit-out and seismic reinforcement. Within the British Embassy compound in Kathmandu, the project builds on Gilbert-Ash’s international expertise with work completed for the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office in a total of 41 countries to date. Nepal has been rebuilding since the devastating Gorkha earthquake which took place two years ago killing 9,000 people and causing widespread structural damage. The fit out team at Gilbert-Ash worked closely with Nepalese construction companies to assist in sourcing local materials and labour to support the refurbishment. Having had little exposure of working in earthquake zones, they worked closely with local structural engineers for whom earthquakes are a common occurrence and have excellent knowledge of seismic projects. In contrast to the UK, Nepal has seen an increasing number of females taking up more prominent roles in the building trade since the earthquake due to a local labour shortage that has seen many male construction workers leave for work in the Middle East[i]. Ian Fisher, Contracts Manager, Gilbert-Ash Fit Out said: “This was a humbling project as our team saw first-hand the impact of the 2015 earthquake on the everyday lives of the people in Nepal. The local response to the earthquake to rebuild their country has been inspiring and we are pleased to have supported the recovery efforts.” “The refurbishment of the British Embassy in Nepal for the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office included retrofitting to increase the safety of the buildings and our team worked closely with local structural engineers to meet earthquake building regulations. This project was complex due to its location but having worked in so many countries, our fit-out team are now highly skilled in undertaking projects in a wide range of culturally diverse and environmentally challenging locations.” He continued: “We travel with an open mind and are constantly learning and adapting to local cultures. Everywhere we work we take away something new. It was particularly inspiring to see the construction skills, knowledge and standards of craftsmanship practiced by the local industry in Nepal; with the advances in modern technology, many of these traditional skills have been lost in the UK. Also while we are one of many actively involved in encouraging more women to join the construction industry in the UK, it was really incredible to see so many in the workforce in Nepal who are playing such a key role in rebuilding the country.” To help the Kathmandu construction companies involved in the project, the Gilbert-Ash team donated building tools and materials alongside the transfer of new health and safety skills. Highly detailed design, advanced logistical planning and development goes into every Gilbert-Ash fit out project, with the team skilled in delivering the finest quality projects on a global scale. To meet exacting specification standards befitting the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, the company ships many of its fit out materials around the world. The leading construction company has specialist fit out expertise in a range of sectors including workplace, retail, leisure and restoration. For more information on Gilbert-Ash visit www.gilbert-ash.com
A new Marketing Director has been appointed at Peacock Engineering. The company work to deliver a variety of asset and service management solutions to their clients. The users of Peacock’s services are usually those who are in more asset intensive industries. Peacock Engineering is based in Little Chalfont in Buckinghamshire and works to offer efficient and cost effective solutions and services to their clients. The company has a Consulting team that consists of a number of professionals with on average 12 years of experience. The Maximo professionals that make up the Consulting team have a wealth of experience in their product and have managed to accumulate a combined 250 man-years of Maximo systems implementation. Peacock Engineering is a IBM, business partner and specialises in providing services in construction,. Facilities Management and manufacturing. The company has appointed Anna Hutton-North as their new Marketing Director. This new role has been created in order to organize the company management and the appointment of Anna as Marketing Director demonstrates the aim of Peacock Engineering to improve and expand their profile. Peacock Engineering are also looking to grow and raise the profile of their enterprise assets management services for the Maximo users as well as opening out to offer solutions to the wider asset management community. Anna Hutton-North has gained a great deal of experience during her career as she has managed to run B2B marketing teams for businesses such as KPMG, Reuters and Carilion. Anna has also worked in market development and other account-based marketing work which will make her a great asset to Peacock Engineering. Anna Hutton-North has the potential and the opportunity to assist Peacock Engineering raise their brand presence in the industry as well as improving the enterprise asset management sector. We wish Anna Hutton-North the best of luck in her new position and with her task to raise the profile of Peacock Engineering.
In February 2017, the National Audit Office – a body that scrutinises public spending for Parliament – found that a large number of school buildings in England required substantial repairs. It is estimated that it will cost £6.7bn to return all school buildings across the country to a ‘satisfactory or better’ condition, and a further £7.1bn to bring parts of school buildings up to a ‘good’ condition. These estimates are rooted in a Department of Education property data survey, completed in 2014 – four years after the launch of the £4.4 billion Priority School Building Programme (PSBP). This Programme is set to run until 2021 with the aim of rebuilding or refurbishing a total of 537 primary, secondary and special education needs schools across England. Now in the second phase – £2.4 billion of the original budget has been allocated to PSBP2 to rebuild and refurbish individual blocks at 277 schools. The scale of the task is vast and only through using innovative construction solutions can the Priority School Building Programme be delivered. The Priority School Building Programme relies heavily on standardisation to reduce costs. So, will the use of offsite manufactured classrooms and other education facilities increase? Richard Crosby, Director of Education at management consultant Blacc and an independent consultant to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) – believes it will, saying: “I see modular construction playing an even greater role in PSBP2, this phase presents opportunities for modular construction. The ESFA understands the need to design and procure for offsite construction and they are working on a component solution of standard blocks that can be assembled to create bespoke schools without compromising on quality of design or specification. The ESFA’s modular schools will look and feel like traditional build schools in a fraction of the time onsite.” Learn more about offsite construction and the opportunities in the education sector from the key speakers – Richard Crosby will be presenting at the Explore Offsite Education conference, taking place on 11 July 2017 at Westminster, London. Joining him on the speaker platform will be Rachel Stephenson, Programme Director Education & Skills Funding Agency; Keith Waller, Senior Advisor at the Infrastructure & Projects Authority, Bryan Evans, PSBP2 Project Director and a host of experts from the offsite sector. This integrated conference and exhibition event creates a platform for construction clients, architects, engineers and contractors to come together and discuss the latest offsite solutions in the education sector. For the full speaker line up or to book your place visit: http://www.exploreoffsite.co.uk/2017-events/explore-offsite-education
