The National Law Firm Irwin Mitchell has announced that they have appointed a new partner to their National Real Estate team. It was announced that Robert Stangroom will be joining Irwin Mitchell at their Southampton office from the 8th May. In his new role Robert will be required to assist
Actavo | Building Solutions has been working to provide Bartholomew School with a new building to be used as an exam ad sixth form centre. The school is located in Eynsham in Oxfordshire and has been looking at the different ways they could reduce the pressure on the school that
Award-winning house builder Kier Living Eastern has revealed three superb show homes now available for viewing at its Tall Trees development in historic Potton. The Mayfair, an attractive four-bedroom home, the three-bedroom Bluebell and The Palmerston, also three bedrooms, give visitors a glimpse of the chance of an attractive lifestyle
New guidance to help facilities managers manage the transition to agile working within their organisation has today been published by BIFM. The Agile Working Change Management Guidance Note is aimed at FMs working at a senior and/or operational level and covers the benefits of agile working and how to successfully
Last week it was announced that the International real estate development company, HB Reavis, has acquired Elizabeth House. The site is located on London’s South Bank known as One Waterloo. The 945,000 sq. ft. development on this site has been given planning permission. This acquisition is the fourth development for
AEW UK REIT owns a portfolio of diverse portfolio of 31 commercial properties in different regions around the UK. The company has announced that they have acquired a number of industrial assets in Basildon in Essex, and Runcorn in Cheshire. These acquisitions are thought to have been obtained for around
Servest Group is a company that employs more than 20,000 people over 7,000 sites in order to leading facilities management services. The company works all around the UK and focuses on offering a transparent, innovative and partnership focused approach to the services that they provide. The company offers bespoke and
Kent Safety Solutions is a company that has been working since 2014 to deliver more safety management, training, environment and quality services. The company offers a range of management systems which include health and safety, IS09001 and ISO14001 as well as providing guidance and advice on the latest regulations in
Two new The Counter® Custom Burgers are being opened after their previous success. The LA restaurant brand offers a unique experience, with customers able to build their own burgers. The company has announced that they will be opening two new stores in the UK, and they have plans to expand
Adlington, the specialist luxury retirement and independent living developers, has made three new appointments in order to carry on its support of new talent. The company claims to be dedicated to supporting talent within the construction industry and has appointed two new graduates to their company as well as a
The National Law Firm Irwin Mitchell has announced that they have appointed a new partner to their National Real Estate team. It was announced that Robert Stangroom will be joining Irwin Mitchell at their Southampton office from the 8th May. In his new role Robert will be required to assist the Partner David Fanchi and work with the other nine members of the Southampton-based real estate team. The role will involve concentrating on the more general commercial real estate aspects of the work involved. Irwin Mitchell is a company that is more than 100 years old and is classed as one of the largest law firms in the UK. The firm offers both Personal and Business Legal Services to their clients. In 2015 Irwin Mitchell merged with Thomas Eggar LL, which meant that the company expanded its presence in London and in the South Est of the UK. The Law firm has also acquired MPH Solicitors which was a specialised Personal Injury specialist, and the private wealth firm Berkeley Law over the course of the past few years. Robert Stangroom is joining Irwin Mitchell from Wannops LLP. In his previous role, Robert was a partner and before this position he worked at Shoosmiths. In the Past Robert Stangroom has worked with David Fanchi at Thomas Eggar. Hopefully their previous working relationship will lead to a successful transition and flourishing relationship going forward. The Irwin Mitchell real estate practice now has more than 40 partners spread across the UK and 81 other real estate lawyers. These figure are continuing to expand as the Law firm does. There are a number of real estate teams and they are located at Irwin Mitchell’s 9 BLS offices. It is hoped that Robert will be a useful new addition as Real Estate Partner in the Southampton based office and will boost the Southampton office and their coverage across the Southern markets.
Actavo | Building Solutions has been working to provide Bartholomew School with a new building to be used as an exam ad sixth form centre. The school is located in Eynsham in Oxfordshire and has been looking at the different ways they could reduce the pressure on the school that has been caused by an increase in the number of pupils each year. Actavo | Building Solutions has been ranked as the fastest growing modular building company for the last three years. The modular building company worked with Ridge and Partners in order to deliver the new sixth form centre. The new building will offer the students more space as well as a modern learning space. The centre is a single-storey 352m² extension that includes a multi-purpose hall that can be used for study, but also has the capacity for 130 exam desks during the exam season. The hall area of the new building also contains a new acoustic partition as well as foldaway tables and trunking that has power points to allow pupils to get plugged in access for laptops and portable devices. In the building there is also a cloakroom and a kitchen, plant room cleaner’s cupboard and two staff offices as well as storage space for furniture and three unisex WCs. For this project Bartholomew School needed to accommodate the ever increasing number of pupils attracted to the school as well as keeping within the architectural heritage of the school while offering a space that would add to the learning experience of the sixth form students. It is thought that the new centre adds a fresh aspect to the older buildings of the school that surround it. Actavo were asked to create a cost effective building that can be completed quickly while keeping high standards of performance. Increasingly schools are looking to offsite construction projects in order to offer the optimum construction solution.
Award-winning house builder Kier Living Eastern has revealed three superb show homes now available for viewing at its Tall Trees development in historic Potton. The Mayfair, an attractive four-bedroom home, the three-bedroom Bluebell and The Palmerston, also three bedrooms, give visitors a glimpse of the chance of an attractive lifestyle with spacious living areas and elegant kitchens. This impressive collection of homes is already proving popular with happy buyers already snapping them up. Kier Living Eastern’s sales and marketing director David Thomas said: “Tall Trees is a beautiful place to set up home, whether you are looking for your first house, are a growing family in need of more space or even downsizing. “I would encourage house hunters to look sooner rather than later so they do not miss out on this wonderful opportunity.” This striking collection of 31 new homes features six different property types which will offer something for everyone, and is phase one of a total 151 houses. Tall Trees is just off Biggleswade Road, close to Potton’s historic centre, which enjoys a Georgian market square, a host of independent retailers and supermarkets. Prices at Tall Trees start at £299,995 for three bedroom homes. Some properties may also be eligible for Help to Buy. Homes are available under Kier Living Eastern’s part exchange scheme, where the buyer’s existing property is given a fair offer based on independent market valuations. The initiative removes any chain from the sale, while estate agency fees can be avoided. Terms and conditions of the scheme can be found on the Kier website. To view The Mayfair, The Bluebell or The Palmerston, simply pop along to the marketing suite, which is open Wednesday to Monday from 10am to 5pm. For more information, call the sales team on 07784365760 or visit www.kierliving.co.uk. For more information about Kier Living Eastern, visit www.kierliving.co.uk
New guidance to help facilities managers manage the transition to agile working within their organisation has today been published by BIFM. The Agile Working Change Management Guidance Note is aimed at FMs working at a senior and/or operational level and covers the benefits of agile working and how to successfully plan and implement an integrated approach to deliver sustainable change in working behaviour. Agile working describes a range of work settings that allow people and organisations to make new choices about when, where and how they work. It is underpinned by mobile technology and applies to people working both in and away from the traditional office, such as at home, on the road or remotely in other locations. BIFM’s research and information manager Peter Brogan said: “As an Institute, we recognise the importance of the workplace agenda for FMs and this newly commissioned Guidance Note aims to address the current lack of knowledge around some of the emerging workplace practices. “Workplace change is a particularly hot topic in FM, and was highlighted in The Workplace Advantage report by The Stoddart Review, of which BIFM is a founding partner, which argued the need for businesses to invest financially and intellectually in ensuring their working environment optimises employee performance. “The work environment is shifting rapidly, and this will result in new challenges and opportunities. As the workplace landscape is redefined, FMs will be at the forefront of eliminating barriers to enable people to work more effectively, helping to play a key role in the creation of flexible environments that not only meet the evolving needs of employees but help forward-thinking organisations increase productivity and the performance of their business.” The document has been authored by workplace expert Andrew Mawson, co-founder of Advanced Workplace Associated Ltd (AWA), who has worked with organisations such as Microsoft, Lloyds of London and UNICEF to help them realise the economic, social and productivity benefits linked to agile models of work, place and organisation. He is also the lead for Workplace Week, which is supported by BIFM. Mawson said: “Managing the behavioural transition to more agile, modern ways of working is a key capability for those involved in managing the modern workplace. But it takes more than a few briefings and a nice PowerPoint presentation to change the habits of a lifetime to work. “At AWA our day job is to work with leaders to help them change the world of work, and so we were delighted to be invited by BIFM to develop this guidance note to help FM professionals put in place some key steps to aid the transition.” The Agile Working Change Management Guidance Note is available to download here.
Last week it was announced that the International real estate development company, HB Reavis, has acquired Elizabeth House. The site is located on London’s South Bank known as One Waterloo. The 945,000 sq. ft. development on this site has been given planning permission. This acquisition is the fourth development for the London portfolio of HB Reavis. The project is an office-led development and is situated on York Road and next to Waterloo Stations. This high-profile development has been ear-marked for regeneration for over ten years. Elizabeth House is a 1960s office building that is looking dated and in need or refurbishment. It is thought that planning permission has been granted for two new buildings to be constructed. There is the possibility that this permission will lead to wider regeneration in the surrounding area. Elizabeth house, though dated, is located in a strategically import and well-connected section of the South Bank, so wide regeneration plans will be positive. The proposed new development will be made up if a 29 story building to the north of the site that will hold offices and residential units and a 10 storey building that s located in the south of the site that will provide office and retail space. The proposed development scheme will create a 945,000 sq. ft. of developed space which will include 753,000 sq. ft. of commercial floor space and 142 homes. There will also be public space that will amounts to 192,000 sq. ft. For HB Reavis, Elizabeth house is a great property to have in their portfolio, especially since it has been considered for development for more than a decade. This successful acquisition follows the launch of the company’s flagship project, Varso Place in Warsaw. Varso Place is a 1.5 million sq. ft. mixed use development scheme that will be Europe’s tallest high rise building when it is completed in 2020
AEW UK REIT owns a portfolio of diverse portfolio of 31 commercial properties in different regions around the UK. The company has announced that they have acquired a number of industrial assets in Basildon in Essex, and Runcorn in Cheshire. These acquisitions are thought to have been obtained for around £2.6 million. The Basildon asset is a 33,000 sq. ft. single-let industrial use building that is situated on the already established Pipps Hill Industrial Estate. This site is located close to the A127 and is around five miles away from Junction 29 of the M25. The purchase price of this asset was £2 million because of the attractive net yield of 9.3% for the site as well as a reversionary yield of 8.8%. The asset has a low capita value of £64 per sq. ft. and the industrial building will be let to Merson Signs Ltd on a new 10-year lease for a passing rent of £6 per sq. ft. The second asset is the Runcorn asset has had an initial yield of 7.8%. This Runcorn asset marks the completion of AEW’s acquisition of the whole Sarus Court industrial estate. The company already owned five of the six units on the industrial estate, which provides modern units that are finished to a high specification and are between 11,000 and 17,000 sq. ft. These industrial units have been let to several light-industrial occupiers through a weighted average unexpired lease, or WAULT, from more than 4 years. The new acquisition is currently let to Dimension Data until 2020 and it is thought that the unit offers a great deal of reversionary potential. The passing rent for this property is £4.50 per sq. ft. Sarus Court is a part of the Manor Park industrial estate located to the west of Runcorn and five kilometers away from the Mersey Gateway Project due to finish in autumn this year.
Servest Group is a company that employs more than 20,000 people over 7,000 sites in order to leading facilities management services. The company works all around the UK and focuses on offering a transparent, innovative and partnership focused approach to the services that they provide. The company offers bespoke and specialist services that are value for money to customers in the retail, leisure, public, commercial, construction, transport and logistics industries. Servest is based in London, Leeds, Manchester, Solihull and Edinburgh but have a corporate office in Bury St Edmunds. The company is a member of the British Institute of Facilities Management as well as The Building Futures Group and the British Institute of Cleaning Science to name a few. These institutions allow Servest to take an active role in the facilities management community. It has been announced that Servest has had their contract with the popular high street retail brand Primark extended. The facilities management provider has been working with Primark for the past 13 years and it is a credit to Servest’s good work that the contract has been extended. Servest works to provide the cleaning services for Primark stores all across the UK. After a successful tender by the company, they have been able to keep hold of this lucrative contract. Servest had to put in a competitive tender to the contract which will see them working with Primark for another three years. The role of Servest in the Primark stores will be to supply daily cleaning for the 165 stores located all around the UK. It is also thought that all of the janitorial functions, washroom consumables and window cleaning duties will be provided by the company across all sites. It is positive that the company has been able to keep the contract, and Primark will be assured of the standard of work provided by the company that has worked with them for more than a decade.
Kent Safety Solutions is a company that has been working since 2014 to deliver more safety management, training, environment and quality services. The company offers a range of management systems which include health and safety, IS09001 and ISO14001 as well as providing guidance and advice on the latest regulations in this area which include CDM 2015. The leader in safety management and training have suggested that most employers do not recognise the importance of mental health as part of their health and safety policies. Employers have been warned by Kent Safety Solutions to take in to consideration the impact of mental health in their health and safety procedures. It is thought that mental health is not covered in the same way, despite a significant number of working days being lost because of stress or other mental health related problems. Statistics that have come from the Health and Safety Executive suggests that there were approximately 12 million working days lost because of stress, depression and anxiety over the course of 2015/16. It is a legal requirement that organisations have health and safety procedures in place, although it is thought that employers mainly focus on the safety aspect of implementing these policies and while carrying out risk assessments. Although safety controls are quite straightforward to implement, mental health is more difficult to take in to consideration while carrying out risk assessment because of the possible difficulties of pre-existing health conditions as well as less evident risks and the potential for longer term consequences. In particular, stress is left out of the health and safety process. This is concerning with situations in many different industries where there are a number of credit-crunch roles not being filled and one person taking on an increase workload for a long period of time. This happens to be the case in the construction industry, and improving the health and safety to include mental health more thoroughly, the number of cases of work-related stress leading to absence could be reduced.
Two new The Counter® Custom Burgers are being opened after their previous success. The LA restaurant brand offers a unique experience, with customers able to build their own burgers. The company has announced that they will be opening two new stores in the UK, and they have plans to expand even more over the course of the next five years. These franchised owned stores are expected to open in the early summer. The Counter® will be opening in Glasgow and Built®, which is said to be more of a fast and casual version of the restaurant that will open in Ilford, London. The business has plans to invest around £20 million over the next five years in order to expand. The Custom Burger company will be opening more new sites and it is thought that the new ventures will be managed by Daniel Johns. Daniel acquired the franchise rights that have allowed him to open different Built® and The Counter® restaurants across England and Scotland. The Counter® Custom Burgers brings to the market a new approach to creating the perfect burger. The restaurants provide their customers with a menu that acts as a checklist on a clipboard, for the diners to select their burger combination. On the menu is more than a million different combinations meaning there is quite possibly something for everyone. Built® was launched in 2013 in Ls Angeles and offers diners a fast and casual alternative to other The Counter restaurants. Built® offers their consumers a more convenient and quick experience with the addition of being able to watch while their build as you go burger is created. The Counter® was opened 14 years ago in order to alter the way that people think of burgers. Since opening in Los Angeles in 2003, the company has boomed, now having more than 40 locations dotted around the US and the world.
Adlington, the specialist luxury retirement and independent living developers, has made three new appointments in order to carry on its support of new talent. The company claims to be dedicated to supporting talent within the construction industry and has appointed two new graduates to their company as well as a more experienced Development Engineer. These new appointments will be working to contribute to Adlington’s seven new developments that have been planned for the North West and Salford. It is thought that these new projects will take place over the coming year. It is thought that there are 182,000 construction jobs across a number of different sectors that will need filling by 2018. In order to pay their part, Adlington is recruiting people from the millennial workforce in order to increase their team and continue to develop those who may be at the start of their career. Adlington work to encourage new talent in the industry and because of this, the graduates Glynn Fort and Laurence Chipperton have been selected to join the company as Junior Architectural Technologist and Land Buyer. Glynn started his career as an apprentice bricklayer, before continuing his career and training and graduating from the University of Central Lancashire with a degree in Architectural Technology. Laurence on the other hand is a post graduate in Planning and Development from Nottingham and has joined Adlington after being a Graduate Surveyor at Harrow Estates. The other appointment to the team at Adlington is Hunter Lyden. Hunter is joining the company from a Senior Structural Engineer at Arup. In his new role, Hunter will be the Development Engineer and it is thought that this position will include managing the technical aspects of the company’s future developments like land and building structures. Hunter has nearly 10 years’ experience in managing the structural design of both commercial and residential buildings.