WORK has started on the brand-new UK headquarters for award-winning international power tools manufacturer Festool. Pick Everard – the independent property, construction and infrastructure consultancy – is providing a full design and project management service for the 2,800 m2 two-storey scheme. The project represents an investment of £10 million and
A £1.2bn Cardiff city region infrastructure improvements deal has been given a boost after local council leaders backed the plans. Ten local authorities backed a report outlining a future economic strategy for south-east Wales. Recommendations in the report included more collaboration between local councils to support public and private investment
A major North East infrastructure scheme has been nominated for a national award. People of the North East are being asked to vote for the Crag End Landslip Stabilisation project in Northumberland, which is one of the possible winners of the UK’s most popular civil engineering project. Voting is now
Safety Is Not An Option Worker wellbeing goes hand in hand with business growth at Eurogold (The Following is a Promoted Article) “No Muddy Boots”, reads the sign at the door of Eurogold’s head office in Huyton near Liverpool. It is a simple, honest request and one that becomes increasingly
Strength In Depth Capable of design, build, installation and refurbishment, Briton Fabricators has emerged as one of the UK’s most respected steelwork solution providers (The Following is a Promoted Article) Now boasting turnover in excess of £14m, Briton Fabricators Ltd has emerged as one of the UK’s most respected steelwork
Tough decisions will have to be made with purpose and clarity by the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) to deliver major energy and water projects says the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The newly created NIC has been given the foundations by which it can deliver relevant infrastructure improvements thanks to
Serving as the platform for the delivery of important services throughout the UK and Ireland, Sara Venning, Chief Executive of NI Water has rightly urged the wider sector to stress the importance of funding for infrastructure and developments across Northern Ireland; this, in effect allowing Northern Ireland Water to, firstly,
Transport bosses have given the green light to a £92m bypass between the A158 and A15 in Lincoln. Part-funded by the government, the Eastern Bypass is predicted to take two years to complete and, with a summer start date, should take infrastructure development right the way through to 2018. Lincolnshire
The Crossrail team at Bond Street got a royal visit from Her Majesty who ventured 28 metres underground via an industrial lift to say hello to staff and apprentices working on London’s most ambitious transport infrastructure project. The Queen, who in 1969 became the first reigning monarch to ride the
WORK has started on the brand-new UK headquarters for award-winning international power tools manufacturer Festool. Pick Everard – the independent property, construction and infrastructure consultancy – is providing a full design and project management service for the 2,800 m2 two-storey scheme. The project represents an investment of £10 million and will be completely electric, with energy provided by photovoltaic cells. Festool’s 55 UK office-based employees will move from their current office to Suffolk Business Park once work has completed in 2019. The new headquarters will include meeting rooms, office space, a service centre, demonstration facilities, warehouse, cafe and show zone. Paul Darlow, regional director at Pick Everard said: “We are delighted to be working on such a flagship project that will continue employment growth within the technology industry in the area. “Festool’s current lease was ending so we were appointed to evaluate a number of options for the potential relocation or renovation of its current UK headquarters. “During this process it became clear that Festool would require a purposely designed building to meet its needs and the Suffolk Business Park, promoted by Churchmanor Estates Company PLC, provided the ideal opportunity. “Being the first company to consider moving to the park provided Festool the opportunity to select the most suitable plot.” The building work, which is being carried out by Ipswich-based Barnes Construction, is expected to be complete in March 2019. Paul added: “Festool tools have a reputation for being reliable, durable and intelligently designed, and our brief was to deliver a building that conveyed these brand qualities. “The new building also had to be an aesthetically-pleasing, high quality development. Furthermore, the set BREEAM target – which assesses and rates the sustainability of buildings – for the build was ‘excellent’ to reflect Festool’s approach to reducing CO2 emissions. “Due to a number of constraints, we have a tight timeline in which to design and deliver the project. But, as a result of working closely with all parties, in particular the local planning authority, the project is expected to be delivered ahead of schedule. “Festool’s investment is great news for Bury St Edmunds, which will result in a building that provides a sustainable and modern environment in which the company can continue to grow.” Suffolk Business Park, which is around 57 acres, is a new gateway development creating an extension to the prime commercial area of Bury St Edmunds. Councillor John Griffiths, leader of St Edmundsbury Borough Council said: “This is brilliant news. The borough council played a lead role to secure the eastern relief road and through that, the delivery of Suffolk Business Park. “This development will enable local businesses, such as Festool, to further their commitment to the area and create new opportunities for employment.” Ole Held, UK manging director at Festool said: “This is a very exciting project for us and long overdue. For us, Bury St Edmunds is our UK home and we are delighted to expand our operation in a building fit for purpose. “Pick Everard has worked with us for a number of years to identify and secure this opportunity and they are doing an outstanding job in designing and delivering the project on our behalf.”
A £1.2bn Cardiff city region infrastructure improvements deal has been given a boost after local council leaders backed the plans. Ten local authorities backed a report outlining a future economic strategy for south-east Wales. Recommendations in the report included more collaboration between local councils to support public and private investment in infrastructure and to develop housebuilding and regeneration plans around the region. The £1.2bn investment fund includes £325m committed to the Valley Lines Electrification programme and more than £400m allocated to the south-east Wales Metro scheme. Some £50m will be invested in constructing a new technology centre and the Welsh Government will work in partnership with local authorities in the region to regenerate the area. The Cardiff city region deal is expected to create a further £4bn of private investment in the region. City of Cardiff Council leader Phil Bale said: “The leaders welcome the commission’s report, and work has now begun to include recommendations […] within the CCR city deal implementation plan, which will be considered by all the councils concerned in the near future.” Both the UK and Welsh Government will contribute £500m to the city region deal, with the 10 local authorities in the Cardiff Capital Region contributing a minimum of £120m over the 20-year period of the fund. The government recommitted to implementing the Cardiff city region deal in last year’s Autumn Statement. Chancellor Philip Hammond said the agreement “remains at the heart” of the government’s strategy to develop local regions. Interested in this article? Read more at Construction News.
A major North East infrastructure scheme has been nominated for a national award. People of the North East are being asked to vote for the Crag End Landslip Stabilisation project in Northumberland, which is one of the possible winners of the UK’s most popular civil engineering project. Voting is now open online for the ICE People’s Choice Award, which allows everyone who uses infrastructure to select the greatest civil engineering achievements of the year in the UK. The Crag End Landslip Stabilisation scheme, which repaired and future proofed a stretch of the B6344, is one of 12 nominated projects from throughout the country. The public has until November 30 to choose its favourite project. The winning infrastructure scheme will be revealed in January 2017. The £9.5 million scheme saw the reconstruction of a 300 metre section of road that was previously closed by a huge landslip in December 2012. Not only did it deal with the direct impact of the 2012 landslip, but also addressed the underlying causes of ground instability, which ensured the residents of Rothbury will no longer have to take lengthy detours to reach the town. In achieving this, civil engineers from the VBA Joint Venture, who were commissioned by Northumberland County Council, designed and built an anchored bored piled retaining wall to support the road. An innovative passive dewatering system was also constructed to reduce groundwater pressure. Civil engineers working in local communities across the North East and throughout the world are always finding new ways of providing practical solutions to the everyday problems encountered by society, and will propel nations in the future with new, ever-improving infrastructure. ICE North East Regional Director, Penny Marshall, commented: “Civil engineers create, maintain and operate almost everything between and under our homes. The infrastructure they build connects, nourishes and improves the lives of everyone it serves.”
Safety Is Not An Option Worker wellbeing goes hand in hand with business growth at Eurogold (The Following is a Promoted Article) “No Muddy Boots”, reads the sign at the door of Eurogold’s head office in Huyton near Liverpool. It is a simple, honest request and one that becomes increasingly revealing the better you know the company’s founder Damien Brickland & co-founder Andy Tomkins. Damien is a man of principle and hard work, a hands-on leader who has weathered the storm of recession with unwavering ambition. 12 years since it began, the company Eurogold now enjoys a reputation as one of the North West’s premier civil engineering contractors and has almost doubled turnover since 2013 to £26.5m. Its order book remains almost full and over the next five years the company is expected to enjoy annual growth of 9%. Eurogold’s rapid progression in the last 12 months is a mark of its approach during the recession. By operating to essentially cover overheads but, importantly, maintain its client base, staff and external workforce, Damien consolidated the company’s position to leave it ideally placed to grow during the upturn. Realising that the significant increase in contracts demanded further focus on all aspects of its operations, money was made available to invest in the business. This included £1.7m on new plant and vehicles to ensure the workforce had the best and safest tools and equipment at its disposal. The implementation of a full-time in-house Health and Safety Manager was another new addition. This was a necessity given the growing number of sites on which Eurogold was operating. In order to consistently deliver high standards for its clients and ensure the safety of its workforce, new measures were put in place to develop an already strong part of the business. Indeed, since the full-time introduction of Health and Safety Manager Michaela Connor, the bar has been set even higher. As a Worksafe Contractor and accredited to CHAS, Construction-line and the NHBC’s SafeMark scheme, Eurogold has nothing to prove when it comes to the safety of its workforce. But it’s the little things that make you stand out. That’s why the “no muddy boots” slogan has such significance. “A tidy site is a safe site,” comments Damien. “For us, the biggest thing in Health and Safety is that it begins with your perception of the business. It starts with a simple thing such as: are the vans clean? If you go in our cabins, are they tidy? That tends to tell you what’s happening on the site.” It is a strategy that comes from the top. “I go straight to the van, then I go to the site office, and finally the canteen,” adds Damien. “The state of these areas tell me everything I need to know about how well-run this site is. If the office is a mess, how well is that site being managed?” It is an approach that has brought dividend. Both Damien and Michaela enjoy a close working relationship with their site managers and the operatives on the ground. This has promoted openness amongst staff who are now more willing than ever to raise issues regarding safety, discuss their own attitudes and ideas, and highlight areas that could be improved. More than anything, safety has become an ingrained culture amongst the workforce meaning it is part of the job, not an addition to it. “Safety isn’t an option,” says Michaela. “It is the norm. What we can do, however, is take it up a level.” In fact, both Damien and Michaela are so confident in Eurogold’s health and safety procedures across its varied sites – currently 56 of them in total – they asked me to randomly pick any two for a spot visit, knowing I wouldn’t find any faults. As a groundworks and civil engineering business, Eurogold faces a number of different risks. Its varied work delivers solutions for such clients as house builders Redrow, Bellway, Wain, MCI Developments, Stewart Milne Homes, Partner Construction, Taylor Wimpey, Eccleston Homes, McCarthy & Stone, and Barratt Home; all blue chip companies that Damien is proud to be involved and associated with. Eurogold provides everything from bulk excavation, foundations and domestic drainage to hard and soft landscaping, and roads and sewer work. Risks are therefore similarly diverse from working at height to site transport, vibration, dust and manual handling. It is a challenge but one Michaela tackles head-on. In addition to daily visits by Contracts Managers and a documented weekly site inspection by the site foreman or supervisor, the Health & Safety Department will carry out regular qualitative and quantitative auditing which has been facilitated by the uninformed Health and Safety Management System implemented on every site. This has brought some key benefits such as creating a smooth transition between site teams and assisting in KPI benchmarking for compliance and standards. This is complemented by the CITB Construction Skills Card Scheme (CSCS/CPCS), which is the minimum requirement for anyone working on a Eurogold site. Further training is given such as NVQ’s, NPORS, WIAPS, SPIDER, First Aid, and NRASWA Street-Works, alongside additional on-going training based on task-specific activities include Manual Handling, Abrasive Wheel and Slinger Banksman to name a few. Furthermore, Eurogold’s onsite supervisory staff are qualified through the SMSTS or SSSTS training schemes. “I visit all our sites regularly and, alongside the Contracts Managers, we will identify any tweaks that we may need to make and deliver any training or refresher training where necessary. The training matrix is a live document so we assess on an ongoing basis,” remarks Michaela. “We care about our people,” adds Damien. “Once they’ve worked here for any length of time, they know it is the place to be. We give them the best training and high specification equipment, vehicles and facilities because if you get those things right, the standard of work and the services you provide for customers are right.” Incentivising best practice has also helped improve Health and Safety, and proven popular with the workforce.
Strength In Depth Capable of design, build, installation and refurbishment, Briton Fabricators has emerged as one of the UK’s most respected steelwork solution providers (The Following is a Promoted Article) Now boasting turnover in excess of £14m, Briton Fabricators Ltd has emerged as one of the UK’s most respected steelwork solution providers. Capable of design, build, installation and refurbishment, the company is a specialist in the provision of sign and signal gantries, pedestrian footbridges, road and rail bridges, temporary works, station steelwork, access ramps and stairs. However, its diverse expertise does not stop there, allowing it to confidently tackle many other forms of steelwork. Indeed, more recently it has been involved in a number of projects for the provision of overhead line structures for electrification works. Established in 1973, Briton began fabricating steel for the oil refinery market out of a 200m² workshop in Kirkby-in-Ashfield before growth necessitated a move to bigger premises in 1978. This saw the production of the company’s first gantry which was installed on the M25 at junction 1. Further development saw Briton extend its capability, diversifying into other construction including stations steelwork, airport links and blast proof barriers. Exampling its development, Briton’s Plant 1 at Hucknall, Nottingham started with a 450m² bay before a second bay was added in 1980, increasing floor space to over 900m². By this time, the business was a market-leading provider of bridges and gantries allowing it to expand further, adding a third bay in the early nineties to increase floor space to 1600m². Demand has continued to increase. A new extension in 2007 was added for use as a prep shop, and in 2014 extensions were added to the main fabricating bays taking them from 32 metres to 56 metres in length. Today, Briton has one of the largest manufacturing facilities in the country dedicated to infrastructure engineering. Its plant in Nottingham provides over 2900m² of covered, fully serviced fabrication workshops and has access to 3600m² of specialist protective treatment facility. In addition, its CE Marking accreditation to Execution Class 4 allows it to tackle anything the infrastructure sector can throw at it, making Briton a vital asset to the industry. This is in addition to other vital accreditations such as RQSC for bridgeworks and LINK-UP for its work as a supplier to the UK rail network. It is also a full member of the British Constructional Steelwork Association. Indeed, over the last few years, the business has enjoyed significant growth. In less than a decade it has turned over £100m worth of infrastructure work, almost tripling its own turnover since 2007. The workforce on the shop floor has risen by 20%, its onsite staff by 50%. This is in addition to its ongoing dedication to apprenticeship schemes where it currently has trainees in estimating and drawing with ambitions to increase this intake. This sees Briton currently employ around 85 people in total. The result of its success means the business is increasingly busy across the UK. For example, it’s currently working on a major project in the North West for Mersey link, fabricating and soon to be installing a 65-metre span arch pedestrian footbridge. Briton also remains active in sectors of key strength – rail station footbridges, motorway sign structures including portal and cantilever gantries, plate girder road bridges, rail decks and its increasing involvement in the construction of overhead line structures. Highlighting its expertise, the company won a BCIA award for its work in Derby for a swing bridge over the river Derwent which has the ability to swing shut in the event of a flood, protecting this asset from damage. Commercial Director Dean Morcom acknowledges Briton’s widespread expertise, experience and ability to work closely with clients as distinguishing factors of this family-owned business. However, he also highlights the company’s close involvement with major industry bodies such as the BCSA Bridgework Committee (currently chaired by Briton’s Operations Director Carl Powell) and Highways England (Briton represents the Gantry Community on the Collaboration Board) where, it can make a positive impact on sector development. Importantly, Briton therefore finds itself at the forefront of the sectors in which it operates. It makes it a key industry asset. “Clients are concerned at the moment that the industry isn’t going to be able to deliver Highways England and Network Rail’s increased spend profile,” says Morcom. “So we have Tier 1 contractors advising the need for expansion as they look for increased capability. “We have taken small strategic steps to ensure the business is in a good place to deliver an improved turnover to these people and in doing that we’ve managed to get ourselves on the Highways England framework to supply sign gantries, for instance. Elsewhere, for the CP5 spend, our work is spread out working for Tier 1 contractors such as VolkerFitzpatrick, Costain and others on frameworks such as Kent and Anglia. We’re also actively tendering for work in the other CP5 regions.” It means Briton is ideally placed to enjoy further growth in future. “We want to steadily take the business forward with a view to diversifying into other markets; it’s important we don’t stand still. We’ve witnessed some markets dwindle over the years so we must ensure we’re in a position to capitalise on areas of growth. “For example, we forecast spend in certain sectors is going to reduce in the coming years thanks to a shift in technology and the new plans for squeezing the most out of the current motorways as an asset. To counterbalance this we’re positioning the business to be ready to capitalise on alternative markets where we see an increase in spend/investment. We’re constantly evaluating the industry to see what areas we need to look at in order to continue our success as a company.”
Tough decisions will have to be made with purpose and clarity by the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) to deliver major energy and water projects says the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The newly created NIC has been given the foundations by which it can deliver relevant infrastructure improvements thanks to the CBI revealing eight areas it says should be prioritised. This includes water and flood defences, low-carbon energy, and energy generation and supply. Rhian Kelly, the CBI’s business environment director says the NIC must be an enabler, helping to deliver projects across the UK that promote industry growth, create jobs and get the economy flowing. To accomplish this, the NIC should not be hindered by politics or red tape and must be given the weight to push through infrastructure decisions that can make significant gains. Areas worth targeting, concludes the report, involves such initiatives as the extraction and storage of energy from a wider range of sources and improving the opportunities that will come from a “circular economy”. That means developing existing technologies and embracing new ones such as carbon capture and storage, tidal power and hydrogen. Supply of water needs to be flexible, making use of variable volumes thanks to climate change and weather patterns impacting differently across the UK. This must be factored into housing and infrastructure planning over the long term. In terms of promoting a low-carbon economy, the CBI suggests the commission should look at boosting energy infrastructure and generation to promote electrification within heating and transport. This level of focus must also be on flood defences with up to 2.1m people projected to be at risk within 35 years. Flood defences must be more resilience while upstream water capture should be considered. Through these initiatives the NIC can potentially prove to be a major success. Time will tell.
Serving as the platform for the delivery of important services throughout the UK and Ireland, Sara Venning, Chief Executive of NI Water has rightly urged the wider sector to stress the importance of funding for infrastructure and developments across Northern Ireland; this, in effect allowing Northern Ireland Water to, firstly, sustain the level of service it is presently delivering and, secondly, improve that service for the betterment of residents in Northern Ireland. “You can’t have the nice things if you don’t have the infrastructure, and we need to fund the infrastructure,” explains Sara Venning. Highlighting the importance of funding for the future development of the organisation, Sara Venning highlighted the difficulties NI Water has been facing in signing up to a medium-term plan which is, in effect, an essential requirement for a regulated utility. As she explains, NI Water has been able to agree on, “The first year of our programme of work as a one-year programme of work,” and the company will look to develop a plan for the following year also. Sara Venning, however, highlights the fact that this still represents an, “Inherently inefficient way of running a capital intensive business such as ours.” And though NI water does actually intend to push a strategy which will help to deliver lower bills, improve efficiencies and drive customers service improvements through the PC 15 period, the organisation’s ability to pursue such a strategy will depend upon proper funding. Insisting that NI water is “up for the challenge”, it is evident that the organisation is ready and raring to go, yet, without proper recognition and funding support, NI Water’s ability to deliver the targeted benefits to the customer are somewhat hampered. In raising the profile of the utilities sector and the importance of proper funding, it is, as noted by Sara Venning, a task not solely for one person, or organisation, and instead will require a collaborative approach from the wider industry. Displaying how other like-minded individuals can stress the importance of funding, Sara Venning also recently appeared before the Regional Development Committee, stating that the organisation’s constitution as a government-owned company does actually restrict its potential ability to deliver the best service and that, with less constraints, it could achieve so much more.
Transport bosses have given the green light to a £92m bypass between the A158 and A15 in Lincoln. Part-funded by the government, the Eastern Bypass is predicted to take two years to complete and, with a summer start date, should take infrastructure development right the way through to 2018. Lincolnshire County Council is tasked with sourcing contractors for the project. At sign-off, the development of the land for either housing or industry could create jobs for around 30,000 local residents in the next 15 years. The project, which will see the two A roads connected, has been a long time in the making. It was finally granted permission after two safety inquiries and a review of a planning inspector’s report carried out by the Department for Transport. The five-mile, single carriageway itself has also been redesigned and, at completion, is hoped to reduce congestion in Lincoln by around 26%. Commenting on newly-granted permission, Richard Davies, Councillor for Lincolnshire County Council enthused: “I am very pleased with the outcome of this inquiry. I am glad that the inspector saw that the bypass is a vital component in our plans to create a fit-for-purpose highways infrastructure for the needs of an expanding Lincoln. Hopefully we can now progress with this long-awaited bypass without any further needless expense or delay.” Talk of further investment in Lincoln’s transport infrastructure is now widespread and residents, businesses and planners are all hopeful of future development. Previous plans for a circular around the city, for instance, are hoped to revived at the success of the Eastern Bypass.
The Crossrail team at Bond Street got a royal visit from Her Majesty who ventured 28 metres underground via an industrial lift to say hello to staff and apprentices working on London’s most ambitious transport infrastructure project. The Queen, who in 1969 became the first reigning monarch to ride the London Underground after opening the Victoria Line, took the chance to see how work was progressing on the Crossrail section that will be named Elizabeth in her honour. The route will connect parts of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire to Essex. London’s mayor Boris Johnson said the naming of the line was a fitting tribute to Her Majesty. “Crossrail is already proving a huge success for the UK economy and, as we move closer to bringing this transformative new railway into service, I think it’s truly wonderful that such a significant line for our capital will carry such a significant name from our country.” He adds: “As well as radically improving travel right across our city, the Elizabeth line will provide a lasting tribute to our longest-serving monarch.” The Queen’s visit also coincided with the unveiling of the new purple line logo that will signify the Crossrail network when it begins operation in December 2018. When Crossrail becomes operational it is expected that half a million passengers every day will use the service as a fleet of 200m-long trains make their way through 26 miles of tunnels. Present during the Queen’s visit, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said that given Her Majesty’s “long association with UK transport, it is very fitting that this vital link across our capital will be named the Elizabeth line in her honour. This is an example of British engineering at its best and will transform the way people travel across London and beyond from 2018.”
