The Scottish heartlands housing market has outperformed the national property market under £400,000, according to new analysis from Savills. The heartlands of Central and Tayside have recovered more slowly after the downturn of the property market but research shows they are now seeing a positive change of fortune. The town
A shortage of skills in the construction industry has resulted in an increase in the wages of construction workers, new research suggests. Statistics compiled by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) indicate that people with bricklaying skills are now able to be paid up to £25 an hour for their
A Chinese contractor has been dropped from the £300m Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project. China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) had been contracted to carry out the work after they were chosen as the preferred bidder in 2015 to construct the six mile Swansea Bay lagoon wall. However, it has since
Britcon has earned a construction contract worth £13.5m to deliver a Dagenham-based anaerobic digestion plant on behalf of food waste recycling company ReFood (UK) Ltd. The £32m site is set to become the South of England’s leading integrated anaerobic digestion (AD) plant dedicated to food waste. The company’s appointment comes
The London lettings market is starting to wobble due to a potential Brexit and global economic concern, says the London Central Portfolio’s most recent report. The report shows that in the current quarter, lets have gained a mere 0.3% rental increase, with re-lets having been the worst affected, as shown
The Construction Industry Training Board and Build UK are set to join forces for one week of exclusive, behind-the-scenes events at a range of London’s highest quality building sites. The ‘Open Doors’ initiative allows entry to a host of construction enterprises in an attempt to motivate people to opt for
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is now part of the freshly launched Global Alliance for Urban Crises. The Alliance was launched during the first ever World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in Istanbul and will bring together the Red Cross, Red Crescent, municipal government networks, UN agencies, urban professionals and
The Lighting Industry Association’s (LIA) new 12,500 sq ft purpose built Laboratories have bid successfully and are undertaking testing as part of LightingEurope’s Compliant Lighting Initiative. The objective of the Initiative is to support the placing of compliant lighting products on the European market through effective market surveillance, safe and
Graham Plumbers’ Merchant releases latest trade offers Graham Plumbers’ Merchant has released its latest ‘Just the Job’ trade offers. Until 11 June, installers can benefit from deals on a total of 24 products from every day items to boilers and hot water cylinders. Bathroom products feature heavily once again with
With a long-established track record of delivering expert civil engineering solutions across the Midlands, O’Brien Contractors is proud to be named SME of the Year at the West Midlands Celebrating Construction Awards 2016. O’Brien scooped the highly acclaimed award for investing in its people, focusing on improving customer satisfaction
The Scottish heartlands housing market has outperformed the national property market under £400,000, according to new analysis from Savills. The heartlands of Central and Tayside have recovered more slowly after the downturn of the property market but research shows they are now seeing a positive change of fortune. The town and country locations studied in the heartlands included Perth, Stirling, Fife, Dundee and Angus, which have outperformed Scotland on the whole. Savills’ research indicates that growth in the lower price housing sector has resulted in better prime activity. The statistics show that top end market sales are already increasing, with 19 sales of in excess of £1m last year in the heartlands, in comparison to an average of 16 a year over the last five years. Harry Maitland, of Savills, commented that he believes it was just a matter of time until we saw the heartlands catch up with the property market recovery in Scotland. Among the reasons for the upturn, he suggested that fast access to various Scottish cities, excellent schools, airport access and great life quality all played a part in the improved market performance. Mr Maitland also forecast that following the upturn in performance, supply and demand laws dictate that we will now see an increase in value across every price band. The statistics show that last year the amount of residential sales under £400,000 went up by 23% in the heartlands, in comparison to just 11% across the whole of Scotland. However overall annual sales went up by 9% in the heartlands, just in front of the 8% number for the whole of Scotland. The Stirlingshire market saw the biggest increase in sales, with a 28% increase of property sales below £400,000, while Fife’s annual property sales were not far behind with an annual increase of 26%, followed by Dundee City with 24%.
A shortage of skills in the construction industry has resulted in an increase in the wages of construction workers, new research suggests. Statistics compiled by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) indicate that people with bricklaying skills are now able to be paid up to £25 an hour for their work. The REC’s latest research pinpoints bricklaying as being a specifically hard role for construction companies to fill, with the data showing that London bricklayers are obtaining up to £1,000 per week for their services. In addition, the Construction Skills Network data compiled by CITB shows that 2,870 jobs for bricklayers are set to be created each year from now to 2020. Kevin Green, Chief Executive at REC, estimates that workers in the construction industry could earn £34 extra each week in comparison to just last year. Mr Green said that the data they had obtained highlights that a significant amount of employers are increasing the rate of pay faster as companies battle to obtain skilled workers. However, he warned that this may not be a sustainable trend and argued that the industry must come to terms with the skill shortages outlined by improving careers advice in schools and offering more apprenticeships. Furthermore, it has been suggested to employers that they should increase their investment in skill development as well as offering more opportunities for work experience. In the last year, CITB has launched a careers website for the industry, ‘Go Construct’, which has been designed to raise awareness of the various career opportunities that can be pursued in the construction sector. The organisation has also announced recently that it will be funding more than £7.5m in specific project funding in order to aid the crucial skill needs required for the industry to grow. In response to the research, a Government Business Department representative commented that ministers are very willing to give power to construction companies for them to deliver worthwhile apprenticeship schemes.
A Chinese contractor has been dropped from the £300m Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project. China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) had been contracted to carry out the work after they were chosen as the preferred bidder in 2015 to construct the six mile Swansea Bay lagoon wall. However, it has since been discovered that CHEC’s design plan has ‘limited workability’ and the work on the marine is once again up for grabs, with Belgian contractor ‘Jan de Nul’ thought to be among the companies expressing an interest in the project. On top of this, it has been revealed that Andrew McNaughton, former chief executive at Balfour Beatty, has quit the project. Mr McNaughton succeeded Steve Hollingshead as engineering and construction director in April last year and will now pass the baton on to Mike Unsworth, who initially joined the project in August last year to aid Mr McNaughton. Mr Unsworth, who has previous experience working in the business of offshore windfarms, said that CHEC were unable to show them that they were offering value for money. Meanwhile, a Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay Plc (TLSB) spokesperson commented that the group have now decided to retender the project and want to secure a contract with a company that offers the best value for money to both consumers and investors. They added that the change of contractor was just one change that happened in the wake of a review of the project’s work packages and will not have an affect the delivery timetable or funding for the project. The spokesperson also thanked CHEC for its input and help in preparing the world-first energy project. The project is estimated to cost around £1bn and has already been granted planning permission, although there is still work to be done on the financial side of the project with a former energy minister set to lead an independent review on behalf of the Government.
Britcon has earned a construction contract worth £13.5m to deliver a Dagenham-based anaerobic digestion plant on behalf of food waste recycling company ReFood (UK) Ltd. The £32m site is set to become the South of England’s leading integrated anaerobic digestion (AD) plant dedicated to food waste. The company’s appointment comes after its construction of a £24m Widnes-based plant which was completed two years ago, as well as a £20m site built in 2011 in Doncaster. The construction of these sites has propelled ReFood to become the market leader in Europe for recycling food chain by-products and across the continent operates 11 AD sites. The new Dagenham facility shall be able to recycle 160,000 tonnes of food waste every year, while also generating in excess of 2,000m2/hr of methane gas. By applying gas to grid (G2G) technology the methane is to be upgraded to emulate the quality of natural gas, meaning it can be directly injected in to the national grid, meaning enough power will be produced to power over 10,000 homes in the UK. The site is to be built in the London Sustainable Industries Park (SIP), Dagenham Dock and is due to open its doors next summer following the end of the 66-week construction programme. The work will also include the construction of a modern office complex, as well as a de-packaging building. John Whitmore, Britcon Director, said the company was delighted to be once again working for ReFood (UK) in constructing the company’s third UK AD plant. Mr Whitmore added that Britcon were successful in securing another contract with ReFood (UK) thanks to their record of providing an experienced manner to construction, providing flexibility and full delivery of plans. Meanwhile, Paul Morris, ReFood (UK) Operations Director, said that Britcon have shown themselves to be highly proficient and experienced in such a complex part of construction whilst agreeing with our agenda for sustainability.
The London lettings market is starting to wobble due to a potential Brexit and global economic concern, says the London Central Portfolio’s most recent report. The report shows that in the current quarter, lets have gained a mere 0.3% rental increase, with re-lets having been the worst affected, as shown by the 1.2% decline in rentals this quarter This fall may have been due to the rising stock on the lettings market, which has increased by 26.7% in the last quarter, as reported by Lonres. Conversely, existing tenant renewals have gone against these statistics as rental increased averaged 3.3% during the previous quarter. However, demands from tenants are still strong in the one and two bedroom property market as void periods have fallen to 23 days. Mayfair, Fitzrovia and Marylebone have shown the best results with a rise of 10.6% rent on average for a one bed flat, while for two bed flats the average increase is 12.8% over the last six month period. On the flip side, Earl’s Court and Chelsea have seen the biggest drop in rents, with an average drop of 9.7% for one bedroom flats and for two bedroom flats a drop of 14.4%. Often, the lettings sector is seen as a dependable gauge of general market thoughts because of the high turnover of properties and the ability of applicants to swiftly react to developing economic conditions. The LCP’s latest research shows that the ongoing economic uncertainty has resulted in the slowing down of the rental market. The market has started to subdue, despite consistently strong rental performance (a 5.5% average increase) during the course of the previous five quarters. The analysis also shows re-lets are painting a negative picture, as shown by a 1.2% decrease in rents during the last quarter, after a rather stagnant state of affairs over the last year.
The Construction Industry Training Board and Build UK are set to join forces for one week of exclusive, behind-the-scenes events at a range of London’s highest quality building sites. The ‘Open Doors’ initiative allows entry to a host of construction enterprises in an attempt to motivate people to opt for a career in the construction industry and help them make their first progression into the sector. Open Doors events are set to take place from Monday 13 June to Saturday 18 June and welcome everyone from civil engineers, bricklayers, front-of-house sales managers and future architects to visitors of all skill sets and ages. When visiting one of the projects, visitors will discover what goes in to constructing the iconic buildings of the future as well as being inspired to learn more about construction via the careers website for the industry – Go Construct. Build UK’s Chief Executive Suzannah Nichol said that the construction business is always endeavouring to secure the best talent available and that the Open Doors scheme, in partnership with CITB, provides an appealing opportunity to anyone contemplating a future career in the industry. She added that a career in the construction business is perfect for anyone seeking a fresh challenge or a chance to do something different with their career and that the Open Doors scheme is an ideal way of showcasing exactly what construction has to offer. Meanwhile, CITB’s Partnerships Manager, Lorraine Gregory, said that by 2020 in excess of 230,000 new jobs in construction will be created across the country and that the Open Doors scheme is a magnificent way of highlighting these opportunities. She continued by saying that visitors will be presented with a unique chance to witness for themselves what a job in the construction industry is like and how fulfilling a construction job can be.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is now part of the freshly launched Global Alliance for Urban Crises. The Alliance was launched during the first ever World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in Istanbul and will bring together the Red Cross, Red Crescent, municipal government networks, UN agencies, urban professionals and the private sector. It is hoped that the culmination of all these organisations will form a joint platform for lobbying, action and advocacy in order to acknowledge the increasing importance of urban humanitarian assistance. The Alliance has also made several other major commitments, including an ‘Action Agenda’ which will deal with the complex nature of urban crisis management and response through innovation. The agenda will also empower municipal governments’ response capabilities through more predictable surge capacities of local governments and urban expertise, develop ways of effectively dealing with urban displacement and providing recommendations for sustainable financing instruments. The Alliance has also made a commitment to an Urban Crisis Charter which will see members work with each other to ensure urban societies, particularly the ones most at risk, to get ready for and deal with the effects of humanitarian crises faster. The RIBA is working in conjunction with the Institution of Structural Engineers and the Royal Town Planning Institute as part of its commitment. The aim of this will be to give the international humanitarian and development community a more practical conduit to the expertise of its member institutes. RIBA Vice President, Peter Oborn, said the RIBA is pleased to be part of the crucial new global framework for urban response, recovery and preparedness and that the organisation is looking forward to providing their expert knowledge. Oborn added that RIBA and its core support of 40,000 members will bring expertise to the alliance, in particular due to the fact that there is an increasing urban dimension to humanitarian crises.
The Lighting Industry Association’s (LIA) new 12,500 sq ft purpose built Laboratories have bid successfully and are undertaking testing as part of LightingEurope’s Compliant Lighting Initiative. The objective of the Initiative is to support the placing of compliant lighting products on the European market through effective market surveillance, safe and good quality lighting products for consumers in Europe; as well as a level playing field and fair competition for industry players. A significant number of lighting products, including those from LightingEurope members are being tested on behalf of the Initiative by various independent test laboratories in Europe including the LIA Laboratories. The LIA’s Laboratories are purposely designed and ready to meet the global lighting industry’s practical testing and certification requirements and will be putting LED lamps from producers, importers or other label owners through their paces covering safety, photometric performance and life testing compliance, as part of this initiative. In the case of non-compliance, affected manufacturers and distributors will be informed of the results with the request to take appropriate action. Product related allegations raised in the LightingEurope initiative will also be communicated if needed to the relevant national market surveillance authorities.
Graham Plumbers’ Merchant releases latest trade offers Graham Plumbers’ Merchant has released its latest ‘Just the Job’ trade offers. Until 11 June, installers can benefit from deals on a total of 24 products from every day items to boilers and hot water cylinders. Bathroom products feature heavily once again with Alterna Lesina and Puccini mixer showers and the Vie electric shower from Mira. These are in addition to the Bristan Blueberry Sink Mixer and Grohe Eurosmart Cosmo taps. There are also deals on heating products and spares including the A-rated Ideal Logic+ Combi Boiler and Adey MagnaClean filters. Trade customers can also take advantage of £100 cash back on Worcester Bosch Greenstore cylinders, available in a range of sizes. In addition, ‘Just the Job’ features products from the Always Available range. If an item from this range is out of stock in a customer’s local branch, Graham offers £10 off the next purchase.
With a long-established track record of delivering expert civil engineering solutions across the Midlands, O’Brien Contractors is proud to be named SME of the Year at the West Midlands Celebrating Construction Awards 2016. O’Brien scooped the highly acclaimed award for investing in its people, focusing on improving customer satisfaction and adopting industry best practises across all areas of the business. O’Brien was also praised for its commitment to sustainability and maintaining an above industry record for health and safety. Peter O’Brien, Managing Director, said: “A fundamental element of our success has been the commitment we’ve placed to the Midlands. We believe by focussing on the region, we can forge strong and long-lasting relationships with clients and our supply chain facilitating greater collaboration, essential in delivering projects successfully.” Established in 1958, O’Brien has partnered with the region’s leading industry clients, including: Morgan Sindall, Aston University, John Sisk & Son, Kier Group and University of Birmingham. Peter added: “It’s not just about consolidating your efforts into one area. We have continually invested back into the business so that we have a highly talented and knowledgeable team, operate the most efficient plant and technology, and benchmark against industry best practices, like Achilles BuildingConfidence – having achieved a 5-star rating in 2014. This regional award recognises the hard work and commitment of the whole O’Brien team.”
