Worker falls through scaffold safety rail

A fit out contractor has been fined after an employee suffered multiple fractures after falling fifteen feet from scaffolding.

Manchester Magistrates Court heard on the 24 October 2019, an employee of TA Knox Shopfitters Ltd was working from a tower scaffold at the front of the Footasylum Store in the Trafford Centre, Manchester, when the scaffold moved throwing him off balance.

He fell backwards against the safety rail of the scaffold, which gave way and he fell fifteen feet to the ground. The employee suffered ten fractured ribs, a fractured shoulder and a collapsed lung.

An HSE investigation found that the safety rail had not been fixed in place correctly, causing it to give way when the employee fell against it. It also found that the tower scaffold had not been erected by somebody with the appropriate skills, knowledge and training.

If the edge protection been suitable and sufficient and the tower constructed by somebody competent to erect tower scaffolds, the incident could have been prevented.

TA Knox Shopfitters Ltd of Bredbury, Stockport pleaded guilty to safety breaches and was fined £18,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,623.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Seve Gomez-Aspron said: “Falls from height remain one of the most common causes of work-related fatalities and severe injuries in this country. The risks associated with work at height are well known.

“This incident could so easily have been avoided by ensuring that suitable and sufficient edge protection had been used and qualified people had been on site to erect a tower scaffold.”

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Plan to build two major prisons at RAF base in Essex

September 29, 2021

The Ministry of Justice has unveiled plans to build two new prisons on land around an RAF air base in Essex.

New Category B and C prisons, each containing 1,715 inmates, are being proposed to be built at Wethersfield air base in Braintree.

They will each follow the new standardised designs, consisting of seven separate house blocks each rising to four floors with 240 inmates in each block.

Each prison will also have support buildings. These will include a reception area, kitchens, workshops, a visits hall and offices.

Wethersfield air base double prison plan

In local community consultation papers, newly-appointed prisons minister Victoria Atkins said: “We believe that, following detailed feasibility work, land next to Wethersfield air base would be a good location for two new prisons as part of the prison estates strategy.

“Our plans, if successful, would bring many benefits to the local community, such as hundreds of jobs during construction, careers within the prison sector and an increased spend in local businesses.”

If a decision is taken to proceed, planning permission will be sought next year.

The Government has committed to creating 18,000 additional prison places by the mid-2020s’, through a combination of building new prisons, as well as extending, refurbishing and maintaining existing prisons.

Four are planned as part of the Ministry of Justice’s £1bn New Prisons Programme.

These will be delivered by a framework of preselected contractors: ISG, Kier, Laing O’Rourke and Wates.

Earlier this month, MoJ submitted plans for a major new prison in Lancashire adjacent to HMP Garth and HMP Wymott near the town of Leyland.

Other prisons in the pipeline include Full Sutton, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, another new category c prison planned on land adjacent to HMP Grendon and HMP Springhill in Buckinghamshire.

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Trafficking gang arrested and 55 builders safeguarded

September 29, 2021

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Met Police and officers in Romania arrested 13 men on Tuesday morning in a series of raids as part of a major investigation into human trafficking.

Following the raids 54 men and one male juvenile have been safeguarded

The investigation was launched by detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command in August 2019 after intelligence highlighted a Romanian organised crime group (OCG) operating between Romania and the UK.

Romanian adult nationals have been recruited and trafficked to the Kingsbury area of north London to work on building sites as unskilled labourers.

Four warrants were executed in Harrow and Brent. Cash and a firearm were also seized.

The males were found housed in multi-occupancy addresses with mattresses covering the whole floor space. Occupants were found sleeping in extremely cramped conditions. They are now receiving support from specialist officers.

Eight men have been arrested in London for human trafficking. They have been taken to a north London police station.

A further five men were arrested in Romania where gold and around 250,000 Euros were seized from the OCG.

Those arrested are aged between 22 and 49 years old. They have been arrested for a variety of offences, including causing another to complete forced or compulsory labour and human trafficking contrary to the modern slavery act 2015.

Detective Constable Dec Wilson, from Central Specialist Crime, said: “These arrests in the UK and abroad are the result of working closely with our partners in Romania for the past 18 months, to identify those involved in the human trafficking and labour exploitation.

“This Eurojust Joint Investigation Team should serve as a warning to other organised crime networks that the Met is committed to working with international law enforcement to target those committing modern day slavery offences in London.

“We need the public’s help as they have an important role to play in recognising and reporting modern slavery. If you suspect someone may be a victim of modern slavery, report it. You will always be taken seriously, and protection and support is available.

“Often those affected do not see themselves as potential victims of labour exploitation and many will have been coerced into this life to make money for an organised crime network.

“We believe there are victims of modern slavery in every borough across London and the public may encounter them every day, possibly without realising.

“As well as being exploited for labour, victims have been found working in construction, domestic servitude, agriculture, cannabis factories and in places you use yourself, such as car washes, barbers and nail bars.”

Police said their enquiries are continuing.

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Ilke Homes raises £60m for top 10 house builder plan

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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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Plans in for Salford Greengate phase 2 tower

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Manchester high-rise specialist Renaker has submitted plans for a 42-storey residential building, forming the second phase of its Salford Greengate cluster.

Denton Corker Marshall Architects has designed the 444-apartment building, which was originally due to be brought forward as the final of three towers at the Greengate regeneration scheme.

The sequencing has now been swapped to facilitate development with Renaker already on site delivering its 52-storey Colliers Yard building, designed by OMI Architects.

Subject to planning approval, work on the second 160m tall residential tower is due to begin in January.

The base of the latest building has been designed with a brick-clad podium, with the facade above consisting of glazed and solid anodised aluminium panels.

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Graham starts £20m Blackpool Houndshill centre extension

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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 starts £70m Mayfair mixed-use scheme

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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.”

McLaren lands another major deal at King’s Cross

September 27, 2021

King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership (KCCLP) has appointed McLaren Construction as main contractor on its latest commercial and residential development at the 67-acre central London site.

Confirmation of the appointment comes just months after McLaren handed over the Luma residential building at Kings Cross.

The new R8 building will comprise two 13-storey blocks linked by a two-storey podium garden with landscaped roof gardens for users of both buildings.

To the east is a residential building of 72 apartments and the western block contains 170,000 sq ft of office space with retail on the ground floor.

KCCLP has entered into a management agreement with The Office Group, the premium flexible workspace provider, which will see them partner to create the largest – and the first purpose-built – design-led, flexible workspace in King’s Cross within these new buildings.

John Butten, Regional Managing Director for the Major Projects division at McLaren Construction, said: “McLaren’s projects at King’s Cross give a snapshot of the depth of capability in one of London’s largest regeneration projects since the 19th century.

“Following on from the high specification apartments in Luma we are now applying the same build quality to more homes, offices and retail.

“This must be one of the most visible regeneration projects in the UK. That makes our repeat work at King’s Cross an important showcase for our can-do culture and aim of always exceeding clients’ expectations.”

The new buildings’ design, by Piercy & Co, draws inspiration from industrial warehouses, with exposedinishes and spacious high ceilings.

It will be delivered by McLaren using fast modern construction methods, such as a unitised façade system on the commercial block. Lighting by 18 Degrees will also be

carefully integrated to avoid exterior lighting poles.

The project is scheduled for completion in 2024.

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Government starts race for £30bn mega framework

September 27, 2021