Actavo, the UK’s fastest-growing modular building company for the past three years*, has today expanded its presence with the opening of a new 120,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in Hull, initially creating 33 new jobs. The new factory, located at 30 Freightliner Road in Hull, will produce bespoke, state-of-the-art modular accommodation for a variety of sectors, including education, healthcare, construction, commercial, rail and defence. CEO of Actavo | Structural Division, Roger Hastie, said “Today’s opening takes place against the backdrop of a revolution in the building industry, where modern methods of construction are increasingly being embraced. Faster, cost-effective and more flexible, there is now a groundswell of support for modular construction’s ability to address many of the challenges we face in terms of supply and demand for accommodation in both the public and private sectors. We look forward to operating from our new Hull base and to playing an active role in the locality in the years ahead.”   Matthew Goff, Operations Director for Actavo | Building Solutions, said “Actavo is delighted to be establishing its new manufacturing facility and generating employment here in Hull. Initially, 33 new jobs are being created, and this number will rise over the next 12 months. Actavo chose Hull primarily due to the critical mass of industry and the skilled workforce in the city and surrounding areas. Our new premises is also strategically located, adjacent to the A116 Ring Road on the western side of Hull city centre, which is ideal for an offsite construction company. As a business, we have always sought to lead from the front. In addition to being the UK’s fastest-growing modular building company for 2014, 2015 and 2016, we were one of the first modular building companies to fully implement BIM Level 2 into our business.” Chairman and CEO of Actavo, Sean Corkery, commented: “As a company involved in many different sectors and geographies, we are extremely proud of the phenomenal growth of Actavo | Buildings in the UK in recent years. While the attention today is understandably on construction and innovative design techniques, essentially our primary focus is on people – the thousands of families, workers, teachers, pupils, students, healthcare professionals, patients, defence force members and others who will benefit from using these modular buildings into the future.”  

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 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.