British Offsite has completed construction to the topping-out stage of a 14-storey residential tower in Southend “in just a few months”.

The £53m (GDV) Victoria Central apartment building has been built using the firm’s factory built UniPanel system allowing the envelope of the tower to be completed in 30% less time than traditional building methods.

British Offsite sells its exterior building and interior fitout components to house builders and contractors including sister company Weston Homes.

At Victoria Central British Offsite supplied and assembled 665 UniPanels across the 14 floors, delivering a structure covering almost 2,640 lineal metres.

Managing Director Shaun Weston said: “British Offsite is delighted to have completed the residential tower at Victoria Central in 30% less time than it would have taken using traditional building methods.

“Our MMC products help reduce the risk and delays in construction, and help to deliver occupiable homes faster. As Victoria Central demonstrates our UniPanel system is highly flexible and can be used for low-rise houses, but also projects like Southend-on-Sea where the requirement is for mid-rise and high-rise schemes in high density urban areas.”

The firm operates from a purpose built facility in Braintree which provides 75,000 sqft of high-tech off-site manufacturing, assembly points and quality control.

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Brownfield developer Eutopia Homes has acquired an 8-acre brownfield site in central Gloucester for a £70m residential-led regeneration project.

Eutopia Homes is planning on bringing forward proposals early next year for up to 300 homes in a mix of single-family homes for rent, alongside city centre flats adjacent to Gloucester City train station.

The deal is the third Eutopia Homes has made with Network Rail, following previous transactions for Exmouth Junction in Exeter.

Scott Hammond, founder and CEO at Eutopia Homes, said:“We are excited to bring forward this complicated brownfield site for a new balanced community of homes for sale and rent.

“Recent investment by the University of Gloucester for the acquisition of the old Debenhams store for a new campus, along with the City Council’s recent investment in driving a new cyber hub for the UK in close proximity to Gloucester Council’s HQ, will bring more employment to the City, which in turn will drive up the demand for high-quality housing.”

Chenavari Investment Managers funded the land deal, which is the fifth for Eutopia Homes.

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Keltbray has lured Skanska Cementations’s Paul Wiltcher to take up the role of operations director at its piling division.

Wiltcher spent nearly five years as Skanska Cementation operations director and brings over 25 years experience in the piling and foundations industry.

During that time he has worked on many complex major projects, most notably, Amsterdam NoordZuid Lijn, NLE Battersea Station Box, the New US Embassy in London, 21 Moorfields and London City Airport.

Stuart Norman, managing director, Piling, said: “We are delighted to welcome Paul to the team. Paul joins us with a wealth of experience having worked for some of the best specialist piling and foundations companies in the UK and abroad.

“We are delighted to have him join us where he will have a senior role to play in delivering our core mission statement and values.”

Royal London Asset Management has got the planning green light for a £200m office scheme next to Holborn Viaduct in the City of London.

The 36,000 sq m offices designed by PLP Architecture will see the demolition of three buildings with the foundation retained to reduce the scheme’s carbon footprint.

City of London planners yesterday backed the scheme which will stand 10 floors tall on Holborn Viaduct and 12 floors on Farringdon Street.

It is the eighth major office scheme to gain planning in the City so far this year, underlying growing momentum for a new wave of major building projects post-pandemic.

The Royal London Asset Management scheme is targeting BREEAM Outstanding and will reuse existing building materials from demolition while seeking to replace around a third of cement-based materials with low carbon alternatives during construction.

A new publicly accessible step-free lift will move pedestrians from the lower Farringdon Street up to Holborn Viaduct.

Royal London Asset Management building will incorporate the existing Holborn Viaduct Gatehouse building and also provide public step free access with a new lift

During the three-year construction programme the project will support an average of around 450 jobs annually.

The development supports sustainable travel with an additional 499 long-stay and 34 short-stay cycle parking places.

Aerial view of proposed building from Farringdon Street (lelt) and view from Holborn Viaduct elevation

Head of Development at Royal London Asset Management, Philip Sutton, said: “We are thrilled that planning permission has been approved.

“This is an exciting opportunity to regenerate this corner of Holborn Viaduct, delivering a BREEAM Outstanding building which makes a significant contribution to the wider public realm.

“The development will strengthen London’s reputation as a global business centre, providing quality commercial space that prioritises wellness and future ways of working, whilst also strengthening our market leading sustainability standards.”

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A council is considering legal action against three of the country’s biggest house builders to take control of a delayed school building project forming part of a major mixed-use scheme in Barry.

The Vale of Glamorgan Council said it will consider legal action to take charge of building Barry Waterfront School if developer the Waterfront Consortium refuses to hand over control voluntarily.

The council said the Waterfront Consortium – of Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Homes – has repeatedly delayed work on the school and has still not given assurances over a construction start date.

Cllr Lis Burnett, Vale of Glamorgan Council Cabinet Member for Education and Regeneration, said: “Enough is enough. It is regrettable that we have reached this point, but the consortium has proven it has no interest in building the primary school it promised as part of the Waterfront Development.

“I, along with other Council representatives, have held numerous meetings with them in an effort to address this matter but have been unable to make any real progress.

“At every turn we have been met with excuses, yet the developers’ house building operation does not seem to be suffering from the same problems, which is frankly astonishing.

“I can only conclude that while happy to build houses for commercial gain, the Waterfront Consortium has no interest in fulfilling its obligation to build a community.

“It is not only in breach of its legal commitments, but also local and national government polices around placemaking.

“The consortium has broken promises to residents of the Vale of Glamorgan and that is something we are not prepared to accept.

“This situation has been tolerated for long enough. We have formally written to the Waterfront Consortium asking that it sign over the school site to us. If the developers do not agree, we will explore what legal action is available to allow us to take control.”

The Council has previously taken enforcement action against developers at Barry Waterfront after they began building residential properties without appropriate planning permission.

A Temporary Stop Notice was also previously issued preventing the building and selling of new homes on the waterfront until significant progress had been made on delivering a complex of commercial space, including bars and restaurants, known as the District Centre.

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The University of Portsmouth has gained planning for its £100m Victoria Park major teaching building.

The 12-storey Victoria Park Academic Building project is being tendered on a single-stage design and build basis with the University hoping to make an award in February to start work in Spring 2022.

BAM, Bowmer & Kirkland, Kier, Morgan Sindall, Vinci and Wates are understood to be in the bidding for the project.

Designs by architect Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and MEP consultant Buro Happold have been developed to RIBA Design Stage 4. These are targeting a top BREEAM rating of ‘Outstanding’.

Photovoltaic panels cover the angled roof, producing renewable power and a high performing façade will manage heat and light.

Park Room – view into social learning landings

Once complete in 2024, the building will house the Faculty of Business & Law and part of the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences.

Accommodation will also include a ground floor café and event space and restaurant on the top floor with roof terrace.

New academic building facilities

250-seat and 500-seat lecture theatresTwo 150-seat flat classroomsCourt room, laboratories and a video production suiteGround floor events and exhibition spaceOffices and meeting roomsRoof terrace and sky restaurant

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JCB workers are being given a £750 Christmas bonus.

The bonus will be paid to more than 6,000 employees – including agency staff with over 12 months’ service – working at JCB’s 11 plants in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Wrexham.

JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald said: “This year we will produce a record number of machines and this bonus rewards a tremendous team effort. We are still facing severe challenges caused by unprecedented supply chain disruption which is impacting on production, and we expect this to continue for the first six months of next year.”

Toby Bell, 27,  is a Business Degree Apprentice at JCB’s World HQ in Rocester, Staffs, and this is his first JCB Christmas bonus.

He said: “It’s a big motivator to get rewarded like this and a real boost. It’s really kind of JCB to give us a Christmas bonus and to be recognised for the hard work everyone has put in this year.”

Early Careers Scheme Leader Holly Broadhurst, 27, of Leek, said: “This has come as a really fantastic surprise. It’s tremendous that everyone’s hard work and dedication has been rewarded.”

Backhoe Loader Team Leader Kevin Pickles, 40, of Mickleover, near Derby, added: “It’s brilliant. Everyone is buzzing in the factory today. It’s going to give my two kids, Freddie, five and Amelia, two, a great Christmas.”

Backhoe Loader Production Support Specialist Kait Williams, 21, of Church Leigh, near Uttoxeter, added “It’s brilliant news. This bonus is going to give everyone a great Christmas.”

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Infrastructure specialist contractor M Group Services has bought Babcock’s Overhead Line Power business for £50m.

Following the acquisition, the business will be rebranded to form part of Morrison Energy Services, sitting alongside and enhancing existing electricity, gas and green energy capabilities.

In latest accounts to March 2021, the power business reported total revenues of £70m and pre-tax profit around £7m before allocated overheads.

The overhead line electric transmission and distribution business counts among its clients including National Grid, Scottish Power Energy Networks and Western Power Distribution.

Jim Arnold, Chief Executive M Group Services, said: “It is important for us to deliver sustainable growth both organically and through acquisitions and we are pleased to strategically enhance our capabilities with this acquisition which provides the means to accelerate our growth by delivering a greater breadth of electricity transmission services to our clients.

“The culture, capabilities and reputation that have become synonymous with this business make it a perfect fit for us. We are delighted to welcome David Maddocks and his team to M Group Services.”

David Maddocks, Director of Babcock Power, added: “I am extremely excited to be joining M Group Services. Our overhead line capability compliments the existing range of services and provides a solid platform to grow in a market that has great opportunity for expansion.”

This acquisition takes the total number of strategic acquisitions made by M Group Services to 15 since December 2016.

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Balfour Beatty’s US operation has been ordered to pay out £49m after pleading guilty to major fraud on its military housing maintenance contract.

The Balfour Beatty Communities pay-out is made up of £25m in fines and £24m in damages relating to its military housing contract at 21 Air Force, 18 Navy, and 16 Army bases across the United States, in which tens of thousands of service members and their families lived.

As part of the settlement with the US Department for Justice, BBC pleaded guilty to one count of fraud and has agreed to the appointment of an independent compliance monitor for a three-year period, while it has also been placed on probation for three years.

According to court documents, from around 2013 to around 2019, Balfour Beatty Communities staff falsified performance information for incentive fee requests at various military housing projects.

Specifically, BBC staff altered or manipulated data in property management software and destroyed and falsified resident comment cards to falsely inflate performance to obtain pay performance incentive fees that BBC had not earned.

US Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said: “Instead of promptly repairing housing for U.S. service members as required, BBC lied about the repairs to pocket millions of dollars in performance bonuses.”

“This pervasive fraud was a consequence of BBC’s broken corporate culture, which valued profit over the welfare of servicemembers.

“Today’s global resolution sends a clear message to companies that if they do not maintain adequate compliance programs, voluntarily self-disclose misconduct, and fully cooperate with the government, they will pay a price that outweighs the profits they once reaped.”

In a statement today Balfour said:  “Balfour Beatty is committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct. 

“The wrongdoing that took place is completely contrary to the way the company expects its people to behave.

“The company apologises for the actions of Communities to all its stakeholders. It has been made clear to all employees that breaches of policies, procedures, or law will not be tolerated.

“Communities welcomes the appointment of the independent compliance monitor and looks forward to a constructive engagement.”

In 2019, the Balfour Beatty undertook an in-depth review of operations at Communities and, as a result, introduced a series of changes to prevent misconduct from occurring in the future.

These involved therestructuring of the Communities management team including the additional appointment of several key executives and aChief Compliance Officer for the US. 

It said: “Communities also has enhanced its ethics and compliance training for all employees and has made significant improvements to the maintenance work order processing system, underpinned by enhanced controls and protocols that are aimed to prevent misuse and strengthen oversight.”

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A building contractor has been prosecuted after carrying out unsafe excavation works which resulted in the partial collapse of a residential building.

Manchester Crown Court heard how on 14 August 2019, Iproject Cheshire Limited had been carrying out refurbishment works on a building in Didsbury.

Employees of the company undermined the foundations while digging out the ground around the building causing a partial collapse. There were no injuries or fatalities, but the collapse presented a risk to life.

An HSE investigation found that the company failed to properly plan or carry out the work safely. A risk assessment into the excavations had not been carried out. There was no safe system of work in place and the work had not been sufficiently supervised.

Iproject Cheshire Limited of Stockport pleaded guilty to safety breaches and was fined £31,500 and ordered to pay costs of £13,500.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector David Argument said: “This was a very serious incident, and it is fortunate that nobody was injured as a result of it.

“This incident could have been prevented if the company had carried out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment prior to commencing work on the excavations and by properly supervising the work.”

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