Author: Linda Smith

Homes England pumps £40m in Watford retirement scheme

Homes England has injected £40m of funding into retirement homes developer Audley Group’s planned Watford Riverwell scheme in Hertfordshire.

The loan is one of the first for the older living sector from the £4.5bn Home Building Fund and will accelerate the construction of 255 mid-market retirement homes.

Balfour Beatty has secured a £68m contract from Audley Group for the mix of one- and two- bedroom apartments.

The firm will also lead the delivery of communal facilities that include swimming pool, restaurant, a health club and a multi-purpose village hall that will be surrounded with green spaces and parking.

Balfour Beatty will manufacture 180 apartment balconies offsite, thereby reducing the risk of working at height and improve the overall project efficiency.

The early works at the site are already underway and the main construction works are slated to be completed in 2023.

Peter Denton, Chief Executive at Homes England, said: “Our loan directly addresses market funding challenges due to the pandemic and highlights our commitment to ensuring diverse communities.”

Nick Sanderson, CEO, Audley Group said: “The transaction with Homes England is an important milestone for the retirement living sector.

“A coming of age. Government backing underlines the importance placed on increasing provision in the retirement living sector and developing more innovative housing solutions.

“Our aspiration to transform retirement is shared with both Homes England and BlackRock Real Assets and this will be the focus as we look to the future.”


Mayfield’s first Retirement Village will be built near Watford General Hospital.

The development is a cornerstone to the wider Riverwell regeneration scheme in what is a priority location for the agency, allowing it to help deliver more ambitious plans.

The project also incorporates elements of Modern Methods of Construction, covering build and project management activities.

 

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Keltbray brings down 198 metre power station chimneys: Video

Keltbray completed the latest major demolition job at the former Ferrybridge ‘C’ Power Station in West Yorkshire on Sunday.

A single ‘blowdown’ saw the removal of the two chimney stacks, the main boiler house, and Bunker Bay.

At 198-metres high, the two chimney stacks were the tallest structures at the Ferrybridge site. This blowdown follows the successful demolition of a cooling tower at the site in July 2019 and four further cooling towers in October of the same year.

Keltbray carried out the blowdown using controlled explosives, with a 250-metre exclusion zone being put in place to ensure safety. In addition, nearby homes were evacuated for a short time with Keltbray and site owner SSE engaging with residents throughout.

Bobby Ellis, Keltbray Senior Project Manager, Demolition & Construction said: “This morning’s blowdown was a success. The demolition was months in planning and marks another major milestone in history, not only in Ferrybridge but in the UK in general.

“Keltbray is committed to being considerate to the communities in which we operate. As well as engaging with local residents, we put in place comprehensive ground monitoring to ensure the surrounding structures were unaffected by the blowdown, and we’re pleased to report that the activity went ahead safely and efficiently.

“The demolition activities are part of SSE and Keltbray’s ongoing commitment to be low-carbon and focus on renewable energy, in line with the UK’s ambition for net zero carbon emissions by 2050. I’d like to say a massive well done and thanks to the project team for all their hard work. Also thanks to the local community for their patience and cooperation.”

SSE Group Energy and Commercial Director, Martin Pibworth said:“This blowdown represents a major milestone in our decommissioning of Ferrybridge ‘C’ and is another special and poignant moment for the local community, with the power station playing a major role in so many people’s lives.

“As the UK looks to lead by example in tackling climate change, SSE is committed to driving the transition to a net zero future with a core focus on renewable energy, backed up by cutting-edge, low-carbon power stations.

“This latest blowdown was many months in planning, and we have worked closely with local residents, Wakefield Council, West Yorkshire Police, the Highways Agency and the Civil Aviation Authority to ensure a safe and efficient demolition.”

Highways England gets new name and CEO

Highways England has changed its name again as its new chief executive was confirmed.

Nick Harris is the new full-time leader of the government company which builds and operates the country’s motorways and major A-roads.

Harris has been acting chief executive since taking over from Jim O’Sullivan in February.

Highways England will also now be known as ‘National Highways’ which “reflects the new focus the company has on delivering the government’s £27bn strategic roads investment programme, while also continuing to set highways standards for the whole UK.”

The last rebranding of the company was from the Highways Agency to Highways England in 2015.

Highways England Chair, Dipesh J Shah said: “Nick’s steady hand throughout the last few months has established a solid foundation to help us on our journey to transform how we work with our supply chain, how we deliver our net zero carbon and how we realise our digitalisation ambitions.”

Harris said: “I am pleased to be taking up the reins at such an exciting time. We have achieved a great deal and there is still more to be done.

“As we deliver the second roads investment strategy ensuring the safety of all road users, the delivery of our work and the benefits to our customers remains at the centre of our organisation.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps added: “Nick will be an excellent CEO and I’m looking forward to continuing to work closely with him as we build back better across the country.

“Nick will steer Highways England into an exciting new chapter, as it evolves into National Highways and delivers on our £27bn plan to improve our roads and make journeys safer, smoother and greener.”

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L&Q starts hunt for key groundwork and RC frame firms

The in-house contractor for housing association London and Quadrant is establishing a set of dynamic purchasing agreements with key subcontractors.

Subsidiary Quadrant Construction Services is tendering for the provision of services for groundwork, RC frame, external works and piling for self-delivered new build projects.

The move is part of the push by L&Q to step up self-delivery of new homes going forward.

In the medium term it is hoping to deliver an annual programme of at least 3,000 completions.

Following the establishment of the DPS framework, L&Q will conduct mini-competition tenders between all capable contractors on a project by project basis.

All tendering will be conducted using L&Q’s In-Tend E-Procurement Portal.

Proposed London lots will cover work packages up to £5m and larger packages over £5m.

For more information click here.

 

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Contract race starts for latest £115m stretch of A9 Dualling

Transport Scotland has officially started bidding for the £115m A9 Dualling: Tomatin to Moy project.

A contract notice is now live here launching the competition to select the main construction contractor to dual the next phase of the A9.

Minister for Transport Graeme Dey, said: “Creating employment and training opportunities that benefit the people and communities surrounding this project is a key focus for this significant investment in Scotland’s infrastructure that intends to deliver improvements that bring economic, social and environmental wellbeing to the area.

“This new construction contract will help deliver our shared vision for Scotland – a sustainable, inclusive, safe and accessible transport system, helping deliver a healthier, fairer and more prosperous Scotland for communities, businesses and visitors.

“It will also set out new aspirations for carbon reduction in construction and revitalise employment opportunities through a wide range of skills and training initiatives and educational engagement, throughout the duration of the construction phase.”

Transport Scotland anticipate that the contract for the third section of the A9 Dualling will be awarded in the second half of 2022.

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Buckingham Group starts £30m London ice rink

Buckingham Group Contracting has just started demolition work to clear the way for a £30m ice skating centre in London’s Lee Valley.

The project designed by Faulkner Browns will replace the 34-year old Lee Valley Ice Centre with two Olympic size rinks.

The centre would be the first twin-pad venue in the south of England, and will also feature a new gym and exercise studio.

Lee Valley Regional Park Authority is promoting the scheme, which will be built in two phases to maintain an open ice rink at the site at all times during construction.


The consultant team includes structural and civil engineer Expedition and MEP engineer Max Fordham.

The proposed building will have an 80,000 sq ft footprint and rise 10.5m in height.

 

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Road builders told to switch to low carbon asphalt

Highways England is switching to use of warm mix asphalts as standard in the push towards net zero carbon emissions.

The material has been in limited use since 2015 but required a special application for use from the supply chain.

Highways England is now asking all those involved in the construction and maintenance of the strategic road network, particularly designers and main contractors, to utilise warm mix asphalts as standard.

WMA technologies can offer enhanced efficiencies and lower production carbon, with CO2 savings of up to 15% when compared to conventional hot mix asphalts.

Produced at temperatures up to 40°C lower than the 190°C needed for traditional asphalts the decision promises big benefits.

If all production in the UK switched to WMAs, it would save around 61,000 tonnes of CO2e a year, the equivalent of cutting around 300m miles of car journeys.

It would also help save up to £70m a year through an increase in shift outputs and can be recycled back into new asphalts, preventing waste.

Malcolm Dare, executive director of Commercial and Procurement at Highways England, said: “This is a big step forward for Highways England that allows us to not only achieve huge efficiency savings but also reduce carbon as we strive for net zero.

“We are altering our way of working to encourage and enable the use of warm mix asphalts as standard across the supply chain, which has efficiency, sustainability, and health and safety benefits while not compromising performance.”

WMAs account for significant volumes worldwide – almost 40% of asphalt production in the USA and over 15% in France.

But WMAs remain under-utilised in the UK, where they currently represent less than 4% of overall asphalt production.

Paul Gott, Project Sponsor from Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, said: “We are delighted that we’ve formed a group from across the supply chain who are focused on embedding carbon reduction measures across Highways England’s schemes.

“Warm mix asphalt is the first carbon efficiency project on the groups extensive carbon reduction plan, which is evolving and already identifies several short, medium and longer-term goals.”

Tim Jordan, Project Delivery Lead from Balfour Beatty added: “We are proud to be working collaboratively with both Highways England and our industry partners to drive meaningful, sustainable change in the supply chain as we work towards a net-zero future.”

Malcom Simms, Director of the Mineral Products Association, added: “We and members have been working closely with Highways England for a number of years to provide the evidence of the benefits of Warm Mix Asphalts, in order to give specifiers the confidence to make a shift to these solutions.”

 

 

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Osborne sells £130m civils arm to private equity

Geoffrey Osborne has sold its £130m revenue infrastructure business to London private equity firm Sullivan Street Partners.

The deal cuts the family-owned south east contractor’s ties with civil engineering on which it was founded 55 years ago.

The remaining £250m turnover construction business will now focus on residential and education building projects.

Osborne Infrastructure Limited is a leading regional civil engineering and transport infrastructure businesses, with longstanding relationships with key clients Network Rail, Highways England, and Transport for London.

The business will continue to operate under the leadership of managing director John Dowsett, who will now become CEO.

David Fison, former CEO of Skanska UK and the Osborne Group, will return to the civils business as chairman.

Richard Sanders, Founding Partner of Sullivan Street, said: “We are excited to be acquiring a business with a fantastic reputation and which provides essential infrastructure to the nation’s transport networks.

“We look forward to supporting the management team as OIL enters its next chapter as a focused independent business.”

Dowsett said: “We are delighted to welcome the investment and support from Sullivan Street which will help us to achieve the growth ambitions set out within our business plan.”

Andy Steele, Chief Executive of Osborne added: “Having secured the very best sponsor for Osborne Infrastructure Ltd, we now have an amazing opportunity to prioritise our investments and focus our energy and resources into becoming market leaders in the residential and education sectors.

“This move provides us greater clarity of purpose and with our in-house expertise we can add value into every stage of the property lifecycle.

“Through offering end-to-end land acquisition through operation and property maintenance, we will provide sustainable, intelligently designed spaces that improve people’s lives.”

 

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North West’s Fox Brothers buys JJ O’Grady

Blackpool-based Fox Brothers has bought North West civil engineer and highways contractor J J O’Grady to further extend its range of services.

Established in 2006, Preston-based J J O’Grady has a track record of working with local authorities, housing developers and civil engineering contractors.

Under the terms of the deal, J J O’Grady continues to trade under its own name within the Fox Group of companies.

Established in 1932, Fox employs around 80 staff and specialises in the supply and haulage of aggregates, recycled materials, muck-shift, earthworks and civil engineering projects. Last year revenues totalled £16m, slipping from £22m because of Covid.

Fox director John Flood said: “The acquisition makes perfect strategic sense for our business as  J J O’Grady adds several different services and different customers, including local authorities.

“It has an excellent reputation, and we believe it has a great deal of potential to grow.

“We will be able to offer clients a more complete solution from site preparation through to highways and street maintenance.

“Our focus is on providing a single-source solution for local authorities, housebuilders, infrastructure, construction and civils contractors.”

Founder Seamus O’Grady will stay in the business, which continues day-to-day operations from its base at Lostock Hall.

Flood added “We would like to thank our non-executive director, Owen McLaughlin, for his support through the acquisition process.”

In September 2020  Fox acquired Clive Hurt (Plant Hire) to create the largest provider of haulage and plant hire services in Lancashire, with a 180-strong fleet of wagons and over 400 items of plant and machinery.

Flood added: “We will continue to look  for other opportunities to expand our services.”

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Kier road workers stage sick pay protest

Highways workers at Kier are planning a protest on Wednesday following a row over sick pay.

Construction union Unite is backing the demonstration at Kier’s Basingstoke office following a dispute on its Highways England Area 3 contract which covers Hampshire, Surrey, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and parts of Buckinghamshire.

Unite officials said the workers – who have provided a seven day, 24 hour service throughout the pandemic – only receive statutory sick pay (SSP) worth just £96.35 a week when off work.

Office based Kier staff  and workers directly employed by client Highways England receive full sick pay for up to three months.

Unite regional officer Malcom Bonnett said: “Kier’s workers who operate in all weathers to keep the South East’s motorway network fully operational deserve full sick pay, when they are ill.

“The pandemic has exposed the fact that workers simply can’t survive on SSP which is less than £100 a week.

“The lack of sick pay results in workers continuing to come to work when they are ill. In normal times, due to the safety critical work they undertake. this could have tragic consequences. During the Covid pandemic it leads to unnecessary risk of exposure to infection.

“It is simply unjustifiable that office based workers receive full sick pay while those working on the motorway network only receive SSP.”

A Kier spokesperson said: “The terms and conditions of our operational workforce in Highways, including those employed in Area 3, are aligned with the Construction Industry Joint Council, which is a union-supported national agreement.

“The welfare of our employees is a key priority for us and we are therefore committed to working through this matter in collaboration with Unite.”

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