Sika names as finalists for the prestigious NFRC UK Roofing Awards 2024
Sika’s Roofing Division is proud to announce its selection as finalists in two categories of the NFRC UK Roofing Awards 2024. The company has been recognised for its impressive contributions in the technology fields of Bituminous Hot Applied Liquid Waterproofing and Cold Applied Liquid Waterproofing. Judges were impressed by two exemplary projects that showcase the company’s commitment to innovation, quality, and excellence in roofing solutions. In the Bituminous Hot Applied Liquid Waterproofing category, Sika has been shortlisted for its involvement on a project at Rhodes House, part of the University of Oxford and home to the scholarship team. As part of a large refurbishment plan, large subterranean spaces were excavated beneath the building to create lecture theatres and new pavilions were created. The project required large volumes of concrete to be waterproofed and installed at zero-degree falls. Roofing contractor, Fenland Flat Roofing successfully installed a high penetration primer, before the SikaShield® hot melt structural waterproofing system. Fenland Flat Roofing was able to overcome multiple challenges such as tight workspaces, close proximity to other trades and the aesthetic requirements needed to keep the building in line with its impressive history. For the Cold Applied Liquid Waterproofing category, Sika submitted its large-scale residential project, Burnt Mills in Harlow, Essex. Once home to a series of garages and workshops, it has been redeveloped into 173 homes over 15 storeys, forming one of the tallest buildings in Harlow. Roofing contractors, Contour Roofing used Sikalastic 625N PU Liquid in Grey for the project. The product’s exceptional quality and ease of installation helped Contour Roofing overcome numerous obstacles, such as roof penetrations, to allow for services, and roof plant housing. Mark Gatrell, Business Unit Manager at Sika expressed their excitement at being shortlisted for the awards: “We are delighted to be shortlisted for two NFRC UK Roofing Awards. This acknowledgement reflects our ongoing commitment to delivering innovative and high-quality roofing solutions, and we are proud of our team’s dedication and expertise, working alongside high quality roofing contractors, which has directly contributed to us reaching this achievement.” Sika’s Roofing Division looks forward to the opportunity to showcase its projects and expertise at the finalists’ ceremony, taking place on Friday 10th May at InterContinental London – The O2. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Wates Awarded Stage 1 Certificate in Building a Safer Future’s Champion Assessment
Wates Construction Ltd – one of the UK’s biggest Tier 1 contractors – has recently been awarded the ‘Certificate of Commitment and Progress – Building Safety Stage One’ in recognition of their successful completion of Stage 1 (Leadership and Culture) of Building a Safer Future’s Champion assessment scheme. The BSF Champion process – which was launched with a group of early adopters in August 2021 – is designed to support organisations working in the UK built environment industry in their ongoing journey of continuous improvement in relation to building safety, providing them with actionable data and practical tools to assist them in developing their leadership and culture. Having completed Stage 1 of 2, Wates joins a growing tranche of organisations that are engaging in the assessment, achieving positive progress and reaping the benefits from the external eye being cast over their building safety culture. Steve Elliott, Non-Executive Chair of Building a Safer Future, commented: “The leadership shown by Wates in stepping forward and taking part in the assessment is critical in helping to shift the industry towards improvements in building safety. I encourage many more companies to follow their fantastic example and sign up for the Champion process. Congratulations to Wates on the achievement of their Stage 1 certificate, and I wish them well for Stage 2.” Gary Townsend-Vila, Interim Chief Executive of Building a Safer Future, commented: “Achieving the Stage 1 certificate is a terrific milestone, and I offer my congratulations to Wates for this recognition of their hard work and commitment. They should be proud of their leadership and I look forward to observing their progress in Stage 2.” Building a Safer Future (BSF) is a non-profit organisation committed to raising standards in building safety and supporting required culture change in the built environment industry. Companies can apply to participate in the BSF Champions programme by visiting the Building a Safer Future website at www.buildingasaferfuture.org.uk and completing the application form*, or alternatively they can email alexander.caller@buildingasaferfuture.org.uk Building a Safer Future Champion Stage 1 completers so far include the following organisations: Organisations that have completed the full Champion process and been awarded BSF Champion status so far include: Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Morpeth sport and leisure centre racks up industry award nominations
SINCE opening in April 2023, the new £21m Morpeth Sport and Leisure Centre has become a cornerstone of the community in the town. Continuing its huge success, it has been shortlisted for not one, but two construction industry awards. A sophisticated example of how well-designed facilities can strengthen social cohesion and inclusion in an aesthetically pleasing hub, the centre has been shortlisted in the Public Sector Project and Community Benefit Project categories of this year’s RICS North East Awards. Commissioned and funded by Northumberland County Council and Advance Northumberland, this project was designed by leading firm GT3 Architects and constructed by Willmott Dixon. Located at the edge of the town centre conservation area and sitting beside the River Wansbeck in Gas House Lane, the new facility acts as an exciting bookend to the existing high street. Along with the sporting facilities – including a six-lane swimming pool and spectator gallery, learner pool, spa and fitness suites, studio and multi-use sports hall – the centre incorporates a new community services hub. This includes a double-height community library, a customer service centre, a café and soft play with connections to a poetry garden and outdoor terraces, plus a brand-new adult learning facility with classrooms for a number of courses. Since opening, the new centre has enjoyed a 200 to 260 per cent increase in swim, gym and class visits and a 165 per cent increase in community members. Paul Reed, director and sport and leisure lead at GT3 Architects, commented: “We knew from the very first discussions about revitalising Morpeth’s leisure centre that there was a huge opportunity to design a new typology of public building – one which embraced social cohesion, community, and wellbeing, just as much as sporting excellence. “Naturally, as architects, we are keen to ensure our buildings fit their context and can be considered visually as great designs, however a more important driver is that people enjoy and interact with the spaces. Our design team worked hard to create a flexible and inclusive destination, which better supported the various community and sporting groups within the area, whilst also offering new users a reason to visit. “We’re incredibly proud of the story the numbers tell about the resulting impact on the local community and delighted that the centre has been recognised by RICS. We hope Morpeth Leisure Centre will continue to deliver tangible and enduring social value for the region, offering a new model for cohesive leisure and community delivery.” The GT3 Architects design team also focused on carbon reduction and sustainability by introducing a large-scale photovoltaic roof array to provide reliable energy source and CO2 savings. They also included a series of building-wide heating and cooling solutions to minimise waste energy. Paul continued: “Our sustainability strategy for Morpeth was built on three core pillars – social, environmental, and economic. There’s little point in designing the most environmentally sustainable facility if no one wants to be there. As well as more than doubling the use of the sport facilities, the council has been able to generate additional income while consolidating its overheads and feeding into social fabric of the town.” Northumberland County Councillor Jeff Watson, Cabinet Member for Promoting Health Lives, said: “The design of the centre is truly spectacular. It is bright, spacious and takes advantage of the beautiful views of the River Wansbeck. It is an incredible building, and a vibrant community space offering the facilities and activities that the local community want. This has been backed up by the record attendance figures since it opened a year ago.” Jo Robison, director at DPP planning, said: “The building is an amazing success and has already become the heart of the community. “The site was a complex one in planning, heritage and flood risk terms but through careful engagement and clever design responses, the team has created a public building that brings people together for good and we are incredibly proud to have played a part in that.” The shortlisted projects for the 2024 RICS North East Awards will be judged in the coming months, with a number of judge’s recommendations put forward as finalists for the national awards later in the year. For further information, please visit www.gt3architects.com. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Dandara Retains 5 Stars for Customer Satisfaction for the Fourth Year Running
Independent housebuilder Dandara has been awarded five stars in the latest Home Builders Federation (HBF) annual New Homes Survey. This marks the fourth consecutive year the company has achieved the highest accolade. The HBF New Homes Survey is one of the largest of its type in the country, with responses from nearly 50,000 new build homebuyers. It awards housebuilders with a ‘Star Rating’ based on responses to the questions, including how satisfied buyers are with their new properties, the service received during the sales process and if they would recommend the builder to a friend. For Dandara to have been awarded the maximum 5 stars means that over 90% of its customers would recommend their homes to a friend. Dandara, established in 1988, is committed to creating homes which combine innovative design with the highest standards of quality, whilst also putting customers first. With its customer and quality focus, this is what delivers consistently high recommendation scores. Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the Home of Federation commented: “To have 90% of consumers recommending you is a fantastic achievement and demonstrates the industry’s overwhelming commitment to delivering high levels of customer service. “Despite hundreds of thousands of homes being built each year, this year’s survey shows the vast majority of customers are happy with their purchase and the service provided by their builder. “Homebuilders remain focused on driving improvements in this area and the creation of an independent New Homes Ombudsman and a more robust Consumer Code will support this drive and should lead to even higher levels of customer satisfaction moving forward.” The 5-star rating comes on top of Dandara being awarded several Quality Recognition Awards for its regions, demonstrating the companies persistent aim to build quality homes for its customers. Trevor Dempsey, CEO of Dandara, said: “To achieve five stars again this year is a fantastic success for Dandara, and testament to our customer experience, build product and quality of homes across the country. After our continued growth as a company, it is great to see that our customers are recognising our hard work and love for creating new homes, and there’s nothing better than hearing so many of our customers would recommend their home to a friend. We have big plans for the year ahead and we look forward to building and selling five-star quality homes across the UK.” Dandara is continuing to grow throughout the UK, with regional offices in Isle of Man, East Scotland, Aberdeen, Tunbridge Wells, Milton Keynes, Braintree, Southampton and Wales, which are focused on delivering good quality family housing in desirable locations. To find out more about Dandara, please visit https://www.dandara.com Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
SBS Takes Two Awards at the Oscars of Decarbonisation
ADDING to a bursting CV that demonstrates why it is the UK’s leading housing decarbonisation specialist, Sustainable Building Services (UK) Ltd (SBS) has taken home two accolades from The Retrofit Academy Awards. Dubbed by many as the ‘Oscars of the decarbonisation sector’, The Retrofit Academy Awards recognise the effort, talent, and commitment to excellence across the industry. SBS has for a second year in a row been named Retrofit Contractor of the Year, as well as securing the win for Best Retrofit Employer award for the first time. Both awards further solidifying its reputation as the leading expert in delivering social change through its actions. The Retrofit Contractor of the Year award endorses excellence, meeting PAS 2035 principles, consistent delivery of high-quality resident engagement, innovation, high-quality whole house retrofit projects, and providing career pathways within the retrofit sector. Derek Horrocks, owner and chair at SBS, said: “We’re blown away to win two categories at the decarbonisation sector’s most prestigious awards. To me, it confirms that our approach to retrofit decarbonisation is the recipe for success. Putting people first – both in regard to our own team and the thousands of residents and client homes we’ve worked on in the past year – is key to the delivery of a high-quality service, which is at the heart of our ethos. “Since last year’s award win, we haven’t rested on our laurels either. Instead, we’ve put almost all members of our team through The Retrofit Academy’s accredited training programmes to further educate and upskill them – seeing us upskill and train every single member of our team. “Our core goal is to provide some of the most vulnerable in society with a warm, comfortable and healthy home. Through our work, we have achieved this for thousands of families over the past year. Our retrofit decarbonisation measures improve the residents’ health, wellbeing, and finances in one coordinated approach with the changes we see in communities following installation being night and day. These awards are symbolic that we’re doing well, but it by no means we will slow our momentum.” The Best Retrofit Employer category exists to recognise companies that are leading the way in people investment, skills and professional development. The category focuses on upskilling opportunities and the quality of organisational culture, seeking to recognise not just what has been delivered, but the employee satisfaction in company culture and standards. Gary Lawson, managing director at SBS, said: “Entering these awards allowed us to really take stock of the huge progress made in skills and training for our team – and wider supply chain – in the past year alone. Along with this award, we achieved Investors in People Silver accreditation, along with upskilling our whole workforce and supporting more subcontractors and partners to achieve retrofit NVQs and qualifications. “Meanwhile, we have built up our apprenticeship levels to 12% of the business – well above the industry average and with aims to increase this further. We haven’t stopped with our own team and have also provided training opportunities to the wider supply chain through CITB funding and Think Construction. “It’s a testament to the profound commitment, passion, and high-quality delivery of our team that we have been named Retrofit Contractor of the Year two years in a row. SBS has grown rapidly, and with it the extent of the societal change we’re now able to create. It’s an honour to be at the forefront the mission to solve fuel poverty and the climate crisis, working closely with The Retrofit Academy to inspire the next generation to follow in our footsteps.” To discover more about Sustainable Building Services (UK) Ltd’s mission to change lives through housing decarbonisation, go to https://www.sustainablebuildinguk.com/ Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Construction, Engineering & Real Estate Companies Recognised in 2024 UK’s Best Workplaces™ List Unveiled by Great Place To Work(R) UK
Recognising Excellence in Employee Satisfaction and Engagement Employees from top Construction, Engineering & Real Estate companies such as Strata, McCarthy & Stone and Cameron Homes are amongst the 250,000 UK personnel who surveyed with Great Place to Work® UK. Using the data gathered from the research-backed and anonymous employee experience surveys, Great Place To Work has announced its annual UK’s Best Workplaces™ list. Construction, Engineering & Real Estate companies featured in this year’s list include: Each entered business is studied against a thorough and rigorous criteria, to rank and reveal which workplaces earn a place on the 2024 list revealed last night at Grovesnor House by comedian Katherine Ryan. Taking into account both culture audits and employees’ perspectives from a whole variety of industries and company sizes, respondents covered all levels of the workforce – from frontline workers to CEOs. Each person shared confidential feedback with Great Place To Work UK about what it’s really like to work for their organisation, their leaders, and with their colleagues – and what exactly makes these employers the best of the best. The Construction, Engineering & Real Estate companies included in the survey scored 88% overall against the survey statement ‘Our executives fully embody the best characteristics of our company’, this is 35% higher than the UK average reported in a 2023 UK population study by Great Place to Work UK. McCarthy & Stone (who rank 41 out of 50 companies in the Super Large category) saw 89% of employees agree with the statement ‘Taking everything into account, I would say this is a great place to work’, beating the typical UK construction, engineering & real estate company by 16%. Overall, the survey data told Great Place To Work® UK that employers shouldn’t underestimate the power of fun at work! Fun along with great management are key factors to them when rating their workplace. Analysis of employee survey responses overall highlights the key conditions that, according to staff, set the best workplaces apart: Fun is more than fluff: Employees are warning organisations not to underestimate the power of fun and its impact on their job satisfaction, advocacy, loyalty and retention. Best Workplaces don’t just hire a good culture fit and hope for the best – they actively work to advance social connections and a solid sense of fellowship amongst colleagues across all teams and levels of seniority. At Best Workplaces, 86% of employees agree theirs “is a fun place to work” (vs. the UK average of only 65%). Great management is key to employees’ wellbeing and intent to stay: Employees who believe management shows a genuine interest in them as people, and not just employees, are 7X more likely to recommend the organisation to family and friends as ‘a great place to work’ than those whose managers fail to do so. They’re also 7X more likely to feel the organisation is a psychologically and emotionally healthy place to work, which significantly impacts their wellbeing and intent to stay with the company – and, in turn, the business’ overall performance. Culture is a key predictor of financial success: E.g. DHL Express – ranked third in the Super Large size category on this year’s List; was the No. 2 World’s Best Workplace™; and ranked 20 on the Fortune 500 Europe. The logistics giant is proof that great culture can be achieved even in a massive corporation within an industry widely perceived to be high-stress and low-fun for its frontline workers. “Every company says that people are at the centre of everything they do,” says John Pearson, Global CEO of DHL Express. “But only if you live that out authentically, and can point to dozens of proof points that demonstrate it, then they’re not just words.” Benedict Gautrey, Managing Director, Great Place To Work UK, said: “Merging purpose and profit in a people-centric culture will become even more critical to organisational success in 2024. Increasingly, UK employees are demanding more flexibility, more fun, and more opportunities for growth at the places they work. This is more than just a trend: our year-long evaluation of over 250,000 anonymous employee surveys, and countless business trends, proves it is a powerful shift towards more organisations adopting this holistic approach to business. Market leaders are recognising that success can no longer be measured merely in financial terms – the wellbeing, engagement, and trust of every individual is what truly drives an organisation forward. “In Best Workplaces, employees agree that every individual is seen not only as an asset, but also as a valued contributor. Their voice is not just heard, it’s actively sought. Feedback is assessed, addressed, and promises are delivered. These are not just great workplaces for some, they’re for all.” These companies also have the chance of being celebrated in the upcoming UK’s Best Workplaces in Construction, Engineering & Real Estate™ list this September, for more information of how to apply visit: https://www.greatplacetowork.co.uk/best-workplaces/construction To see best practices, insider interviews and the full list of the Best Workplaces™ 2024 please visit: www.greatplacetowork.co.uk/uks-best-workplaces Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals