A new asbestos vacuum cleaner launched by Vac UK promises a step change for the disposal of asbestos-contaminated materials.

The Longo Cyclone vacuum cleaner has been revealed by Vac UK and represents an exciting new development in the management of potentially deadly asbestos fibres. If offers both improved protection for operators and a big increase in the volume of material that can be handled.

The Cyclone fits directly to a vacuum excavator to enable the safe extraction of contaminated materials into sealed “big bags”. Exhaust air is filtered and safely discharged to the atmosphere. This allows the hazardous material to be safely handled and transported away from site. The system also offers the potential to be operated by remote control.

Patrick Curran, Vac UK Director said: “No one is under any illusions that asbestos is nasty stuff and the precautions and protections employed to handle it are entirely appropriate.

“Against that background, the Cyclone is a real gamechanger – it has the potential to raise the level of protection provided to asbestos teams and to speed up the material’s management.

“We are very excited about this development. It continues our philosophy of exploring new applications for vacuum excavation and introduces another innovative machine to the UK – hard on the heels of our public unveiling of the latest Longo Rhino vac ex earlier this month.

“It also builds on our ambition to make available for hire and sale only the most high tech and best quality vacuum excavators and related equipment.”

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Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing Association has selected developer Countryside as the preferred bidder to deliver phase 2 of its vast £1.6bn Clapham Park estate rebuild in south London.

In a 15-year joint venture with Metropolitan Living, Countryside will deliver nearly 2,500 homes at 17 sites across the Clapham Park Estate.

The £800m phase two works are expected to commence in Spring 2022 with first completions expected in 2024.

This phase will provide nearly 2,400 homes, non-residential builds, public realm and infrastructure.

As well as multi-storey homes rising up to 14 storeys, Metropolitan’s planning approval includes a new central park and community hub with shops and community facilities.

Just over half the new homes will be for affordable tenures. The homes will have green and solar roofs and be supplied by a district heating system.

Since the transfer of Clapham Park from the London Borough of Lambeth, Metropolitan has completed over 1,500 new homes and refurbishments.

With the first 50 homes under that permission currently under construction, the joint venture will take forward the remainder.

On completion, Clapham Park, which spans 36 hectares and is nestled between three local centres, Clapham, Brixton and Streatham Hill, will have a total of over 4,000 homes.

Iain McPherson, Group Chief Executive, Countryside, said: “We are thrilled to form this joint venture partnership with MTVH.

“As a partnerships-based business, our commitment to delivering high-quality, sustainable mixed-tenure communities is unwavering. With shared values, I have no doubt this joint venture will bring to life the ambitious vision for Clapham Park, delivering a vibrant and inclusive series of neighbourhoods with safe, secure streets and ample public and private green space.”

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Carmarthenshire County Council has appointed Bouygues UK to design and build the £70m Zone One of its Pentre Awel science and innovation centre.

The council has led an extensive tendering process via the South West Wales Regional Contractors Framework for firms to deliver the scheme.

Zone One will feature education, business, research, leisure and health facilities to provide social and economic benefits to people in the region.

The council and Bouygues have now entered into an initial pre-construction period ahead of work starting on site next year.

During this period, further design will be undertaken together with preparation and submission of detailed planning information and preparatory works on site.

Property and construction consultants Gleeds will manage the build contract, supported by design and planning experts Arup.

Simon Barnes, Pre-Construction Director for Bouygues UK, said: “We are delighted to have been selected as preferred bidder on the Pentre Awel project, a first of its kind project in Wales. Our experience in large scale projects like this will ensure the successful delivery of the scheme.

“We are pleased that Carmarthenshire County Council is aligned with our ambitious vision to bring a positive social impact alongside this project. Together with our supply chain we look forward to bringing lasting value to the local community.

“Through engagement with regional learning and skills partnerships, we will also help deliver learning and career opportunities. This project will also benefit from using a local supply chain with particular focus on small and medium size enterprises.”

The Pentre Awel project includes integrated care and physical rehabilitation facilities, a well-being skills centre which will focus on health and care training, a clinical delivery centre to deliver multi-disciplinary care, and a new state-of-the-art leisure centre, along with landscaped outdoor public spaces for walking and cycling.

A hotel, a range of social and affordable housing, assisted living accommodation and a nursing home are being planned for later phases of the scheme.

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The sale of nmcn following its fall into administration is expected to be concluded within 48 hours saving the jobs of the “vast majority”of the contractor’s 1,700 employees.

The Enquirer has seen an update sent to staff by CEO Lee Marks on Tuesday.

It states that the sale of the Infrastructure, Plant Transport & Accommodation, Telecoms and Water divisions is expected to complete in the next day or two.

Marks added: “These potential sales will secure the jobs of the vast majority of our employees as your current employment with nmcn will transfer to the new organisation under TUPE, with the interested parties taking on certain people and projects.”

Following its imminent appointment administrator Grant Thornton will hold calls with employees to discuss TUPE or redundancy options.

Marks said: “Whilst this is positive news for the majority of our people, I understand that these are worrying times for everyone.”

One employee said: “I’m sure the senior management will make sure they are carried across to the the new companies. As for the rest of us – we’ll see.”

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Nmcn is going into administration after the board decided the contractor is no longer able to continue trading as a going concern.

A notice of intention to appoint Grant Thornton UK LLP as administrators has now been filed with the courts.

The company was in the middle of a protracted £24m refinancing deal with Svella plc which was being held-up by the late publication of nmcn’s latest results for last year.

A statement said: “The Board, its advisers and Svella have worked tirelessly in the intervening period. However, as previously notified, completing the preparation of the group’s accounts has revealed further underlying contractual issues with expected losses rising to £43 million.

“It has now become apparent that the company will be unable to approve the audited financial statements in a timely manner to allow the Proposed Transaction to complete within the required timeframe.

“This in turn has led to significant liquidity issues for the Group and particularly the company, which unfortunately is now considered to no longer be able to continue trading as a going concern.”

The Enquirer understands that rival firms were being offered parts of the business over the weekend.

Nmcn said: “Indicative offers have been received from certain parties for the acquisition of certain of the trading operations and/or subsidiaries of the company on a going concern basis, and discussions are ongoing with further parties which may lead to indicative offers on a similar basis.

“Following discussions with its advisers, it is expected that this process will be conducted out of administration, to safeguard the continuity of operations and employment, and consequently the consideration receivable by the company is unlikely to result in any value for equity shareholders.

“The board of nmcn wishes to thank all of its shareholders, customers and suppliers for their support over the years and particularly Svella and those who had intended to participate in the equity subscription that formed part of the Proposed Transaction, which has had to be cancelled.

“Further announcements will be made by the company as appropriate.”

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Eric Wright Group battled through the pandemic to deliver a 24% rise in pre-tax profit to £9.5m last year despite also wearing ongoing small losses at the construction arm.

Overall group turnover decreased from £223m to £204m, with construction accounting for most of the fall as revenues at the business dropped 28% to £81m.

Losses at the construction arm were contained to £650,000 last year, improved from losses of £2.8m in 2019 and £2.5m in 2018.

The construction business entered 2021 with clear books after negotiating away further commercial risk on two loss-making contracts.

It is now run by John Hartnett, who was promoted to managing director at the start of this year, and is back on track to return to profit this year after a strategic decision now to avoid risky single-stage design and build jobs.

Profits at the group, which now employs nearly 700 staff, were largely driven by continued growth of commercial and residential property, and a resilient performance from water and FM operations.

Eric Wright Group key trading divisionsTurnover 2020/2019Profit 2020/2019Construction£81m£113m-£0.6m-£2.8mCivil engineering£29m£26m-£0.4m£0.1mWater£47m£50m£0.4m£0.7mCommercial property£15m£6m£2.2m£1.8mResidential property£12m£11m£1.1m£0.7mFM£19m£17m£0.9m£1.1m

Group managing director, Jeremy Hartley said: “The strength of our underlying business and the commitment and determination of all our staff has enabled us to trade through the pandemic and look to the future with a cautious optimism.”

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Nmcn will miss its latest deadline to published delayed results which are necessary to secure a refinancing deal.

The contractor released its latest refinancing time frame last month which involved publishing a prospectus by November 1 which would require results for the year to December 31 2020 being signed-off before then.

But the firm issued an update on Friday afternoon confirming it will miss the deadline.

Nmcn said: “Further to the announcement of 24 September 2021, the company has been in intensive discussions with regards to completing the preparation of the group’s annual report in respect of the financial year ended 31 December 2020. 

“As a result of these discussions, it has become apparent that the group will be unable to approve the audited financial statements within the extension period set out in the company’s announcement on 24 September 2021.

“The company will make a further announcement as appropriate.”

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Modular housing specialist ilke Homes has raised £60m to keep the firm on track to become a top ten house builder within the next five years, delivering 10,000 factory-built homes.

The fundraise was split between £30m debt from government agency Homes England and £30m of equity from multiple new investors.

Affordable housing provider, The Guinness Partnership, is one of the new equity investors. It is also a customer of ilke Homes having signed two deals in the last year, for sites that will deliver 250 factory-built homes.

Ilke’s main investor TDR Capita has also injected further equity, supported by Middleton Enterprises and private equity firm Sun Capital taking equity stakes.

The £30m debt facility from Homes England’s Home Building Fund comes after the Government’s housing agency invested an initial £30m into ilke Homes back in 2019.

This handout marked the first time the agency had ever directly invested to boost an offsite manufacturer’s production capacity.

Harry Swales, chief investment officer at Homes England, said:“Manufacturers like ilke Homes are vital if developers are to build new sustainable homes at the pace and scale the country needs. This debt facility from the Home Building Fund shows our commitment in increasing productivity and efficiency in construction to meet government’s housing delivery ambitions.”

Stephen Stone, a board member of ilke Homes, said:“This announcement proves that there is a shared ambition among the public and private sectors to find innovative solutions to structural issues that have dogged the construction and housebuilding industries for decades.

“This new funding will help us create hundreds more highly-skilled, green jobs for an economy that is gearing up for a Green Industrial Revolution.”

He added the funding would be transformational for ilke Homes, allowing it to scale-up production and accelerate capacity to deliver up to eight homes a day, up from two today – all helping to bring down manufacturing costs in the process.

The firm will also invest in more sites and expand its ‘package deal’ strategy, which offers full development service of site, infrastructure and homes in a rapidly growing market.

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Grham Construction has started enabling works for the £20m extension to the Houndshill shopping centre in Blackpool.

First phase enabling works will involve initial utilities diversion works and preparations at the Tower Street site for the main building works to follow.

The Houndshill Phase 2 extension, which has secured £5m from the Government’s Covid 19 Get Britain Building, fund will deliver a fresh range of entertainment, retail and leisure facilities.

This will include a new multi-screen cinema complex with conferencing facilites.

It will involve constructing 76,500 sq. ft. of extra commercial floorspace on the 5-acre brownfield site and sustain around 260 construction jobs.

The council acquired the Houndshill Shopping Centre in for £47.6m two years ago as part of its long-term strategy to revitalise the town centre.

The phase two extension will also include two restaurants totalling 3,760 sq ft that will be delivered to shell specification.

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Ardmore has started a landmark mixed-use luxury redevelopment of a former NCP car park in Mayfair, west London.

The builder has mobilised on the Carrington Street site to build 30 super-prime homes, gym and restaurant, a 2,400 sq m art gallery and 5,000 sq m of office and commercial space.

Ardmore has started main works following the completion of a demolition and enabling works package by specialist McGee.

The redevelopment designed by AHMM includes two blocks of up to eight storeys, formed in both concrete and steel frames, linked by a three-storey basement, that required 30,000 cubic metres of bulk excavation.

The blocks will be clad in a variety of traditional materials including masonry, pre-cast stone and metal.

Patrick Byrne, Ardmore Managing Director, said:“We are excited to finally start works at the Carrington Street project that will set a new quality benchmark for Mayfair.

“Planning our delivery approach on such a challenging site has required us to bring all of our experience delivering major projects on logistically constrained sites in Westminster to develop an efficient approach to delivery that minimises disruption to local residents.”