Family-owned M&E contractor HE Simm Group has appointed Phoenix ME operations director Marcus Wallis to head up its Engineering division in the south.

Wallis started his career in the industry following the completion of an electrical apprenticeship with Drake & Skull.

He has held director level roles in a number of companies, including Laing O’Rourke, Skanska and Mace, before moving to London-based Phoenix ME in 2018.

In his new role at MD in the south, Wallis will be part of the group executive leadership team, reporting directly to CEO Gareth Simm.

His predecessor, John Lennie, moves into a new role as group executive director.

Simm said: “Marcus has an exceptional capability. He has years of operational experience and leadership and is well known and, well liked, across the industry.

“We look forward to him demonstrating his skills and experience and to watching our southern business flourish under his watch.

“Part of that will be to grow our London business to become a leader in the southern regions of the country, not just in the capital.”

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Willmott Dixon has got the green light to start a £29m net-zero carbon school build at Silverwood School’s Rowde campus in North Wiltshire to provide a high-quality environment for 350 SEND pupils by September 2023.

Enabling works to prepare the site will begin in February 2022 with the start of the main construction works in March after planning was granted this week.

To achieve net zero carbon in operation, the buildings will utilise biomass boilers and incorporate a large array of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels that harness renewable energy.

The school will also use Willmott Dixon’s EnergySynergy service, which models energy performance target data against actual ‘in-use’ performance for three years, ensuring energy use targets set out at design stage are met when operational.

Richard Poulter, managing director for Willmott Dixon’s Central South region said: “We are delighted that planning has been approved. Our team have been working with all stakeholders on a building that provides those learning within its walls with a state-of-the-art facility that also adds to the surrounding community and environment.

“Sustainability is at the heart of our business and through our 2030 ‘Now or Never’ sustainability strategy, we have pledged that by the end of 2030 all our new buildings and major refurbishments will achieve net zero operational carbon.  Through our work at Silverwood School, we are proud to be accelerating our commitment.”

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Specialist contractors are still having to wait months before they receive reclaimed VAT payments following a controversial change in the tax regime earlier this year.

The “domestic reverse charge” change came into force in March and means companies in the construction supply chain no longer receive their 20% VAT payment when they submit bills.

The VAT cash is instead paid direct to HMRC by the customer receiving the service who will reclaim it in the normal way.

That has left a lot of specialist contractors no longer receiving VAT payments from customers but still paying them to suppliers.

In that situation subcontractors become known as “repayment traders” who are owed money at the end of each quarter by HMRC.

Firms first contacted the Enquirer over the summer claiming HMRC is not paying the cash back quickly enough.

And subcontractors are still being left waiting and suffering a hit to their cash flows.

One M&E specialist said: “We are still waiting on our April quarterly refund plus the latest quarter with around £1m of working capital revenues tied-up.

“HMRC still can’t give us a definite date for payment and just say it is being processed and told us not to bother ringing up again to chase it.”

Another specialist added: “The industry is coping with price hikes, wages hikes and material shortages so working capital can be challenged at times so to have necessary revenues held onto by HMRC via this scheme is just not on.”

An HMRC spokesperson said: “HMRC aim to make VAT repayments within 30 calendar days of receiving a return.

`’In most cases claims are paid within five working days of receipt of the return. However, if we select it for verification checks, this could take 30 days or longer, dependent upon how long it takes the customer to provide the information requested to verify the return.”

Barry McNicholas is leaving Kier at the end of this year.

McNicholas is Group Managing Director Utilities at Kier who bought his family firm McNicholas Construction for £24m in 2017.

He has decided to leave Kier at the end of Decemberto to pursue non-executive opportunities.

Andrew Davies, Kier Group CEO said: “I would like to thank Barry for his hard work over the past few years.

“Since Kier acquired McNicholas in 2017, Barry has been an integral part of our leadership team, and I wish him every success in the future.

“I am pleased to announce that Andrew Bradshaw, currently Commercial Director, Kier Highways, has been promoted to the role of Managing Director Utilities with effect from 1st December 2021”.

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Mike Darlington has decided to step down from his role as Managing Director of NG Bailey’s Engineering division after 41 years at the firm.

An internal announcement seen by the Enquirer confirms that Darlington will leave the business next April.

He joined NG Bailey in 1980 as an apprentice electrician and worked his way through the ranks being appointed engineering MD in 2013.

Darlington said: “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to NG Bailey for giving me the opportunity to have the most enjoyable and rewarding career.

“I consider myself very fortunate to have served a family-owned business that rightly puts its values and people at the heart of its mission.”

Darlington will be replaced by Group Commercial Director John Kelly from January 1.

Kelly joined NG Bailey in April from Imtech and has previously worked for Laing O’Rourke and Carillion.

He said: “I am delighted to be taking on this new role and excited by the excellent opportunities the business has ahead of it and to be working with the talented engineering teams.”

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Developers HUB and Smedvig have picked JJ Rhatigan as the main contractor to deliver the first phase of The Landing large rental flats project in Maidenhead.

Funded by the build-to-rent operator Get Living for £155m, JJR has just started construction on the cleared site, with a first phase completion date expected in Winter 2024.

The 3.5-acre mixed-use scheme is set to revitalise Maidenhead town centre, giving a much-needed boost to this key commuter hub.

Apartment blocks will rise to 16 floors in first phase of the town centre scheme

The first phase of four of the six blocks will deliver 429 homes alongside 23,000 sq ft of ground floor retail space and extensive new public realm.

It is HUB’s second partnership with the Irish contractor, which is currently on-site completing a £53m mixed-residential scheme in Abbey Wood, Greenwich, and marks JJR’s further expansion into the UK residential sector.

“This is our biggest contract so far in the UK,” said Ger Ronayne, chief executive officer of JJR. “It significantly builds on our continuing success in the UK market as the business expands and meets the market challenges head on, to deliver exciting projects across both England and Ireland.”

Designed by award-winning architect Studio Egret West, the mixed-use development, known as The Landing, will also deliver 104,000 sq ft of office space and another 15,000 sq ft of ground floor retail and leisure space in two further phases.

A new garden square including soft landscaping, trees and seating areas will create a green destination in the heart of the town.

The Landing site – a key part of Maidenhead’s wider regeneration that includes the £500m redevelopment of the town’s shopping centre – is also adjacent to Maidenhead station, where Elizabeth Line trains will arrive in 2022, and will provide a much-needed link between the refurbished station and the town centre.

Damien Sharkey, Managing Director at HUB, said: “We are very excited to now start construction on this fantastic new place that will bring beautifully designed, well-connected homes, employment opportunities and community facilities to the town centre. We are happy to be working alongside JJR for the second time, with their reputation in the industry for construction excellence.”

Established in 1952, JJR is a Tier One Main Contractor operating throughout Ireland and since 2012 in the UK, focusing on Greater London and the South East.

Ger Ronayne, CEO of JJR, said: “We look forward to working with them over the next couple of years to bring phase one of The Landing to completion.”

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Tech giant Amazon is lining-up contractors for three new massive data centres – one of which is set to be used to host classified material for the UK spy agencies.

The Financial Times has reported that GCHQ, MI5 and MI6 have struck a deal with Amazon’s cloud computing arm AWS to host classified material in one of the centres.

And the Enquirer understands that McLaren Construction is set to build the snooping centre.

A number of contractors have been in the running but one said: “It’s been a good contest but it looks like McLaren has won the race.

“I think they have bagged the James Bond building and another purely Amazon data centre. The winning contractor for the third project is still up in the air at the moment.”

In true secret service style McLaren declined to comment.

The job would be another 007 related win for the contractor which has also bagged Aston Martin’s new £200m F1 factory project next to the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit.

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Barhale has been selected by Thames Water to deliver a £10m power resilience scheme in East London.

Work will start early next year on the the project in East Ham which will provide an extensive overhaul of the Folkestone Road Pumping Station – one of four strategic pumping stations that reinforce flows along the Northern Outfall Sewer which feeds into Beckton Sewage Treatment Works.

The Barhale team will initially carry out investigations to understand the control philosophy, “storm conditions” behaviour and telemetry at the pumping station as part of a detailed design phase.

Main works will replace the pumping station’s transformers, generators, storm pumps and EICA integration with new Motor Control Centres.

Barhale design and engineering manager Ben Connis said: “Folkestone Road is a vital part of the infrastructure supporting Beckton Sewage Treatment Works – one of the largest sewage facilities in Europe.

“Beckton is basically serving most of North and East London so each of the four supporting pumping stations performs a critical role.

“We are going first into a ECI phase which will give us the opportunity to engineer out some of the operating issues and to ensure that the replacement strategy will make the most of better equipment with modern control systems – ultimately delivering a significantly more robust and resilient system for residents of the capital.

“Having already been involved in the upgrade works at Beckton Sewage Treatment Works, mainly in preparation to accept the flows from the Thames Tideway Tunnel, it’s a real feather in our caps to also be selected by Thames Water to upgrade the infrastructure leading to the treatment works.”

The principal works are expected to take around 18 months with completion in October 2023.

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Edinburgh BioQuarter has formally invited tenders for a private sector partner to expand the site with research buildings and homes.

The opportunity to create a £1bn health innovation district, which will create jobs, homes, and a community for thousands of people in Edinburgh has attracted interest from parties around the world.

BioQuarter is expected to receive £600m of investment, supporting over 4,000 jobs in construction.

Over the lifetime of the 64 acres development site, there is the potential to grow to a health innovation community of 20,000 with 2,500 residential units on site.

EBQ3 Ltd has been formed between the City of Edinburgh Council, regional development agency Scottish Enterprise and the University of Edinburgh to lead the procurement of a private partner for the proposed strategic joint venture partnership.

The public sector-led programme also includes major stakeholders NHS Lothian, a key partner in the innovation ecosystem, which has its two acute hospitals based on site.

The 167-acre site is already home to Edinburgh Medical School and the 900-bed Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

It also includes the new home of the Usher Institute for data-driven health and social care innovation, set to open in 2023.

Online bidders day

Contracting Authorities are hosting an online bidders event on Tuesday 9 November, from 9-10am.

Edinburgh BioQuarter Health Innovation District

Joint Venture Bidders’ Event
Please complete registration 

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The Department for Education has picked BAM to create a ‘pathfinder’ college that develops sustainable designs for building new schools.

It will build the green teaching and communal buildings at the site for Southam College in Warwickshire’s which has 1652 students.

The scheme intends to set the bar and guide how schools are built in the future.

As a ‘pathfinder’ the project is designed by BAM’s in-house team to achieve net zero carbon emissions and low energy use.

In addition, it uses passive design, biophilic design, climate resilience, and health and wellbeing elements.

BAM’s design team on board as lead architect has conducted extensive energy and climate modelling, interior design, and is providing the school with a strategy for achieving a net zero carbon in operation position for the rest of the estate’s life.

New facilities include science labs, a hall, drama facilities, 3D art room, music rooms, a sixth form hub, and a dedicated Special Educational Needs base.

It is also behind the structural engineering and MEP design.

Dave Ellis, BAM’s regional director in the Midlands, said: “The building will be net zero in operation, and we are also reducing the embodied carbon – the carbon in the actual materials used in the construction.

“We’ve evaluated the base design and produced a range of options to reduce embodied carbon.

“What we learn from Southam College will feed into the Department’s wider approach to reducing carbon in the education field.”

BAM will work around the school while it is open so classes and activities continue uninterrupted during the project.

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