On-Site Sustainability & Innovation Hub Revealed

Following on from the launch of the on-site ‘Future of Construction’ Training Centre at Mercia Park, Winvic Construction and its client, IM Properties (IMP), have unveiled a Sustainability and Innovation Hub (SIH) at the same location.

The Leader of North West Leicestershire District Council (NWLDC), Richard Blunt; Deputy Leader, Richard Ashman; and Chief Executive, Bev Smith, visited the site to see first hand the progress of the 238-acre employment park and experience some of the training taking place as part of the scheme’s employment and skills commitments.

Their visit also included an opportunity to see the impressive civils and infrastructure works which Winvic has delivered at the site, including the recently handed-over 550,000 sq ft facility for DV, and the progress of Jaguar Land Rover’s 2.94 million sq ft global parts and logistics centre. Along with this, the visitors got to see Winvic and IMP’s commitment to sustainability and innovation which has culminated in the opening of the first satellite Sustainability and Innovation Hub.

The Hub comprises three zones – Sustainability, Innovation and Learning – which provide areas to showcase Mercia Park’s sustainability credentials, demonstrate Winvic’s digital advancements, train Winvic’s staff and supply chain more creatively than ever, and inspire young people through educational visits. Its proximity to the ‘Future of Construction’ Training Centre also means both facilities can be used for linked training activities. One key feature of the SIH is a 360-degree BIM CAVE area, which will aid the BIM design process in a real-time scenario by facilitating design team meetings and workshops and help develop VR imagery for health and safety training. Unlike the BIM CAVE located at Winvic’s Centre for Innovative Construction, it is a 360-degree resource where Virtual Reality (VR) 3D design models can be viewed as an immersive room experience, without a headset.

Also found within the SIH, Winvic’s Technical Director, Tim Reeve, who sits on the company’s Sustainability Leadership Team, commented: “The Sustainability and Innovation Hub – the second facility we have launched with IM Properties at Mercia Park in a matter of weeks – is testament to both company’s commitment to the future of construction, which has sustainability and innovation at its very heart. We can’t thank IM Properties – and our suppliers – enough for their willingness to drive this initiative in partnership with us.

“Mercia Park’s green and state-of-the-art digital credentials make it the ideal location for the facility. It’s not only an operational digital design centre for Winvic, IM Properties, consultants and suppliers to utilise, but also showcases the scheme and our team’s innovative initiatives and acts as an education and training centre for young people in the community. The value of such a facility was clearly seen by the visitors from North West Leicestershire District Council who were enthused all day, and we’re now looking forward to welcoming schools, college and universities, as well as more companies in our supply chain, to the Hub.”

David Smith, Planning Director for IM Properties, added: “It is great to see the commitments we made at the planning stage of the project being turned into reality. It has been an incredibly difficult period in which to mobilise these activities; however, our creative thinking, partnership approach, persistence and passion to maximise the employment and skills outcomes associated with the project is beginning to yield some very positive outcomes.

“Winvic is particularly proactive and we are delighted to be able to host their first Sustainability and Innovation Hub to showcase our joint ambitions to deliver net zero in construction on-site as part of our overall commitments as a business to achieve new targets for improving our carbon footprint over the next decade.”

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£32.7M for Link Road in Central Bedfordshire

Central Bedfordshire is to benefit from £32.7 million in Government funding to help provide a vital new link road which will enhance accessibility and ease congestion in North Luton, as announced by Roads Minister Baroness Vere last month.

The project, which is supported by the Department for Transport (DfT) and is being led by Central Bedfordshire Council and South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP), will see the construction of a new 2.75-mile road link between Junction 11a of the M11 and the A6, forming a north-western bypass for Luton.

The new road will connect the east and west of North Luton, thereby opening the area up to economic growth and easing the transport of goods between the M1 and Midlands. It will also support the development of up to 3,600 new homes and around 2,800 new jobs.

The new scheme will also reduce congestion in North Luton communities, improving journey times, air quality and road safety.

Roads Minister Baroness Vere said: “Residents in Bedfordshire deserve quicker and easier journeys and I know many have been frustrated by poor east-west connections north of Luton.

“That’s why I’m pleased to be backing the new link road, which will support the construction of new homes and jobs, drastically improve accessibility and make the area more attractive to new business.”

Leader of Central Bedfordshire Council, Cllr Richard Wenham, commented: “We are delighted to have secured funding from the Department for Transport for this key link road, which will deliver improved east-west connectivity across Central Bedfordshire and the wider area and facilitate the delivery of up to 3,600 new homes and a Rail Freight Interchange, which are important in meeting a wider housing need and strengthening our economic offer.”

The announcement comes as the Government continues its drive to build back better from the pandemic and level up transport links to boost regional economies right across the country.

Construction on the road is due to start in January 2022, with a completion date of January 2024.

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Peterborough Energy Plans to Cut Emissions

Plans for Peterborough to adopt a smart energy system have reached their halfway point. The Mayor of Peterborough, Cllr Stephen Lane and the City Council leader, Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald were among the local leaders who celebrated this milestone last month, welcoming an electric double-decker bus into the city.

The Peterborough Integrated Renewables Infrastructure project (PIRI) estimates that it will cut 80-90% of CO₂ emissions over 40 years, whilst also reducing energy bills by up to a quarter by 2030.

PIRI project partners gathered to welcome the electric bus on its nationwide tour of the UK’s most innovative clean energy projects ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow. Attendees included Cllr Nigel Simons, Cabinet Member for Waste, Street Scene and the Environment; and David Brend, Director of Business Development at SSE Energy Solutions.

Nathan Sanders, Managing Director at SSE Energy Solutions, said: “PIRI is a perfect example of the type of innovation and collaboration we need to get local communities to net zero. The project combines a next generation heat network, electricity network and EV infrastructure under one holistic scheme, taking a ‘whole systems’ approach that will optimise carbon reduction and cost savings.

“At SSE Energy Solutions we are very proud to be part of this pioneering initiative that will serve as a blueprint to decarbonise UK cities, and which we are celebrating today on our ‘Road to Renewables’ journey to COP26.”

“In response to Peterborough’s rapidly growing economy, PIRI is focused on developing ‘enabling infrastructure’, preparing the city for an electrified future and opening the door for other technologies such as green hydrogen. The low carbon, smart energy system will enable Peterborough to expand whilst reducing its carbon footprint and energy costs.”

Dr Tanja Groth, Director of Urban Resilience at Sweco UK and PIRI partner commented: “This pace of change is unheard of in the energy sector. PIRI is delivering a design for an integrated energy system within three years, incorporating low carbon electricity, heating and transport. In comparison, designing a district heating system alone would typically take between five and six years.

“Peterborough is proving that it is possible to complete a smart city design at pace and at scale, laying the groundwork for other cities to follow.”

PIRI is the largest smart city energy regeneration scheme in the UK, aiming to deliver a significant drop in CO₂ emissions by 2030. Results from a study into the feasibility of the ambitious plans identified 80GWh of annual electricity needs and 25GWh of heat demand that can be connected to a low carbon power network by 2030.

Councillor Wayne Fitzgerald, Leader of Peterborough City Council, commented: “By working closely with our partners, we have been able to design a system that is changing what was believed to be possible when creating a fully integrated, clean energy system at scale. We hope our findings can be rolled out in cities across the UK and are pleased to be demonstrating our progress today on the nationwide ‘Road to Renewables’ tour.”

Unlike other large-scale energy projects, PIRI is planning to embed thermal and electric storage and flexibility into the initial design. This means it will be possible to mix and match available supply to demand across heating, electricity and transport, rather than keeping complex energy requirements in silos. By taking this agile, integrated approach, it will be easier to incorporate new renewable energy resources as they become viable in future years. This will allow the city to respond to changes in demand such as a rapid uptake of electric vehicles and growing population.

PIRI is being led by Peterborough City Council, working with partners that include SSE Energy Solutions, Element Energy, Cranfield University, Smarter Grid Solutions and Sweco UK. The two-year project has been granted funding from UK Research and Innovation alongside corporate investment to design a low-carbon, smart energy system for the city.

SSE is a major partner at COP26, and alongside the Go-Ahead Group, Alexander Dennis, BYD and SWARCO Smart Charging is using the electric bus tour to showcase examples of the national effort already under way to decarbonise energy. The bus, which is a BYD ADL Enviro400EV electric double-decker, was built in Britain by Alexander Dennis and BYD.

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Moving Towards 100% HVO from Red Diesel

James Maclean, CEO of wet civil engineering firm Land & Water, has positioned himself as a spokesperson for the civil engineering and construction industries discussing what the sectors need to have in place to be able to make the switch from red diesel, including a process to be able to drain and re-fuel machinery. Here he writes about red diesel and what the UK Government needs to do to provide support organisations making the switch.

The end of the red diesel rebate in April 2022 has been the source of much discussion since it was first announced. However as the deadline for subsidised fuel gets closer and closer there is still much to resolve about this particular aspect of the Government’s plan to become net carbon neutral by 2030. As with all changes there are hurdles that not just the construction industry, but other sectors of the UK economy, must overcome whilst taking the opportunity for improvement and innovation.

Red diesel, which accounts for 15% of the UK’s total diesel consumption, producing 14 million tonnes of CO2 annually has become part and parcel of the UK construction sector. Whilst the civil engineering and construction industries welcome the move towards cleaner fuels with open arms, there needs to be guidance on how to manage the switch from diesel to other fuels such as HVO. Our aim at Land & Water is to move quickly towards using only HVO on our projects. This straightforward swap could help reduce CO2 emissions by up to 90% when compared to traditional diesel. So why is it being taxed so heavily if the Government is striving to become net carbon neutral?

As it stands the rebate on red diesel will end in April 2022 and despite the rationale for this being to encourage the decarbonisation of the sector, more environmentally sound biofuels are also having their subsidies removed.

For many of the SMEs working within our sector this will simply add pressure to an industry that has experienced unprecedented price hikes and material shortages since the beginning of the pandemic. The lack of clear direction on how to manage the switch to lower carbon alternatives, coupled with the absence of financial incentive, creates the possibility that businesses already feeling the pinch will simply make price driven decisions.

It is estimated that ending the rebate could cost the construction sector between £280m and £490m per year, with a recent members survey carried out by the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) highlighting that SMEs will face a cost of between £250,000 and £600,000 annually. However, as recently illustrated by the HS2 project, finding extra budget to cover this cost appears unlikely. Despite contractors no longer being able to claim a rebate on the fuel used for large infrastructure projects, such as HS2, no additional budget is being made available to cover these costs.

The squeeze that this creates on businesses within our sector should not be underestimated. On the one hand they can no longer use subsidised fuel from April 2022, yet some of those paying for projects, the Government included, seem not to value the importance of decarbonisation and will not set aside additional budget. If extra budget cannot be found for the increased cost of switching to biofuel alternatives then the viability of projects will be called into question. Put simply, this means that the SMEs on which the construction sector relies will be left with little choice but to absorb the costs.

What we need is a solution that puts decarbonisation front and centre, that makes clear its importance and therefore value to future generations whilst ensuring additional costs that might be incurred are accepted or even welcomed by those paying.

There are numerous ways in which this might be achieved.

In the short term the Government could look to migrate the current fuel rebate from red diesel to more environmentally friendly bio diesels such as HVO. This will ensure that there is a fuel option which meets the industry’s current pricing expectations. This approach could also serve to highlight that bio fuels have come a long way, they are reliable, efficient and can be used in modern machinery without any modifications in the case of HVO.

The Government has introduced a competition to drive innovation into environmentally friendly fuels. The fund, valued at £40m, comes as a result of the Government recognising that private investment into white diesel alternatives will not reach the level needed to meet its net carbon neutral goal by 2030. Whilst this is a start, many industries that currently use red diesel, including waste management, have been excluded from accessing the competition.

Driving down carbon must be a collective effort. From household recycling to those at the forefront of fuel innovation, we must ensure that as many people as possible can play their part. Excluding sectors from accessing the competition will exclude some of the best minds in our country working collectively on this vital endeavour.

By our very nature the SMEs within the construction sector are innovators. Our size is advantageous, allowing us to be nimble. With this in mind I feel strongly that the SME sector must lead the charge to normalise the use of fuels such as HVO. If greener alternatives are going to be taxed at the same level as traditional fuels, we should embrace them whole heartedly, pricing and delivering work using biofuels as standard. By normalising biofuels we can demonstrate their effectiveness, increase their use and reduce the CO2 from our industry.

At Land & Water we aim to deliver, maintain and sustain the UK’s natural capital. We are involved in numerous projects, trials and innovations aimed at decarbonising our industry. We have demonstrated the success of more environmentally friendly fuel options through our use of HVO fuel and now our aim is to play an active role in normalising such alternatives.

As result we are excited to announce that we will be switching to using HVO on all our sites from the first of November 2021. What we would encourage now is a government subsidy to encourage HVO to become the norm throughout our industry.

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Blockchain Technology & Smart Contracts in Construction Part 1: What is blockchain?

In the vast literature that has built up around blockchain technology, it often appears easier to explain what blockchain does, or is capable of doing, rather than what it is. The pop technology book Blockchain Revolution falls into that category with only one brief attempt to describe the mechanics of the tech. The remainder of the book id dedicated to its history, social and economic contexts and potential future.

Then, there is the hype which helps to obscure the substance. Where is blockchain on the new technology hype cycle? Are we at the “peak of inflated expectations” or in the “trough of disillusionment? In recent years there have been some notably extravagant claims made about the technology, in both the popular press and “technical writings”. Blockchains could “create a perfect transactional environment and do away with the need for banks, lawyers and courts.” Blockchains have the potential to “constitute a profound paradigm shift regarding data collection, sharing and processing” which may create associated revisions of socio-economic and political arrangements. Other commentators have asserted that blockchains are “widely regarded as one of the most important technologies of the future because of the benefits they promise to deliver in cost-savings, security, and data reliability.”

The actual substance of the technology

What is it about the nature of blockchain that lends itself to a new paradigm for transacting, the “smart contract”?

Blockchains are a form of distributed ledger technology (DLT); distributed in the sense that the data on the ledger is not stored centrally, by a bank for example, but instead the whole of the data on the blockchain is stored on every “node” in the network. Each blockchain ledger is a record of transactions – a database, but with significant additional functionality – and so called because groups of transactions are gathered together into blocks as they occur, and as each block is turned out it is added to the chain of all transactions.

Each block can be thought of as a page in a ledger. The data blocks constitute a growing list of records and the blocks are linked using cryptography. The technology was originally adapted from an older application to store payment data relating to Bitcoin transactions (the Bitcoin blockchain is now just one of many); and first described as the supporting platform for Bitcoin by its pseudonymous creator(s), Satoshi Nakamoto, in their October 2008 paper Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.

In the context of digital currencies, blockchain was created to solve the “double-spending” problem. Without a bank as intermediary, who is to say whether a digital “coin” (in the form of a piece of data) may be a copy of an original which has already been spent elsewhere? Blockchains are secured against fraudulent transactions in three main ways.

1. Decentralisation

Each blockchain is a distributed ledger, accessible to all participants, storing data across its peer-to-peer network of “nodes” – the individual computers, servers or mobile phones used by the participants. Each node stores a localised but complete copy of the blockchain. Every participant in the blockchain can see every transaction. There is no need for a third party intermediary to verify and validate transactions with its approval – whether someone is attempting to spend a digital coin twice at the same time, for example, or whether a contractor is seeking payment for a steel element that has already been delivered to someone else’s site.

Every participant’s copy is the “official” copy; and because changes to the data in the blockchain can only be made by consensus, a party would need to control more than 50% of the nodes in the network in order to re-write the past to facilitate a fraudulent transaction. On a distributed network of any scale, such an event would be a virtual impossibility.

2. Cryptography

The immutable nature of data on blockchains makes the technology more than just a database. Once data has been recorded inside the blockchain, it becomes extremely difficult to retrospectively alter. Data is grouped into blocks that, once they reach a certain size, are chained to the existing ledger through a hashing process; cryptographically linked through unique codes which individually identify and timestamp each block. Every block contains its own cryptographic hash, as well as the cryptographic hash of the previous block in the chain.

In this way, any attempt to alter the content of a block of data – for example to say that a previously acknowledged transaction did not take place – would also alter its hash and invalidate all subsequent blocks in the chain.

3. Consensus

Transactions on a blockchain are authenticated by mass collaboration powered by collective self-interest. The way in which replicated data is accepted into the network and stored in blocks is synchronised through a consensus protocol. The protocol allows the nodes within the network to reach agreement as to the current valid content of the ledger. The most commonly used consensus protocol currently is “proof-of-work”.

Proof-of-work requires the party wishing to add to or alter the data on the blockchain to “work” – essentially spend money to invest in processing time to enable its own computer to solve a computational puzzle. To be effective, the proof-of-work must be asymmetrical; hard enough to require a significant investment in computing power to solve it (and establish the right to enter data on the blockchain by convincing more than 50% of the nodes to accept it), but simple for the other nodes to check and validate. The investment in electricity required to satisfy an asymmetric proof-of-work protocol is intended to make it pointlessly expensive for a malicious third party to take over control of a blockchain network.

Because of this architecture, which promotes incorruptibility of data, blockchain has moved from being an adjunct component of the Bitcoin model to become in itself the key focus of technological development initiatives in numerous sectors, including potentially the construction industry.

Blockchain, good and bad

On the flipside of the hype, there are 3 persistent criticisms of blockchain technology:

1. Utility

Does the technology have real world utility? Depending on your point of view, blockchain might just be a solution looking for a problem, or the key to the future. Where does the truth lie?

Of the many thousands of academic and practitioner-oriented blockchain articles published since the inception of cryptocurrencies in 2008, surprisingly few focus on discussing what the technology is not capable of doing, and as a result which industries do not require such technology. For some sectors the application of the technology even if it would have utility may be many years away.

2. Energy

Aside from this perception, others have criticised blockchain technology as slow and energy hungry, a problem which if unresolved would create serious doubts around its scalability. It has been noted that the security necessity of proof-of-work, and the need for each node in any blockchain network to carry a complete copy of the blockchain, gives rise to potentially serious environmental concerns. It was estimated that in June 2017 Bitcoin alone was using more energy than 150 individual countries in the world. It seems conceivable that, even if no better security solution than asymmetric proof-of-work can be developed to fit the needs of blockchain, advances in computer technology may hold the answer to this issue. For example, it is possible that transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers (TMDCs) – atomically thin semiconductors – contain properties which could be exploited through forms of quantum manipulation known as valleytronics to vastly enhance computer power and efficiency. It has been claimed by researchers in this area at Georgia State University that TMDCs “possess optical properties that could be used to make computers run a million times faster and store information a million times more energy-efficiently” than at present.

3. Anarchy

There would seem to be a clear dichotomy between the need for public blockchain networks to be permissionless – in order to remove the control of a gatekeeper whose vested interests may not reflect those of the participants in the network – and the need for regulatory authorities to maintain control over commercial transactions, and human interactions more broadly. The nature of blockchain is distributed and anonymous – almost anarchic. Is it possible to regulate blockchain? Law and lawmakers have found solutions before – law has perpetually been challenged by the emergence of new technologies, yet legal systems have never been undermined. But do the potential users of blockchain want it to be regulated if, by introducing a gatekeeper, the essential nature that made the technology so potentially exciting is lost?

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Project Demonstrates Private & Public Sector Collaboration

Winvic Construction Ltd, currently delivering the civils and infrastructure works at SEGRO Logistics Park Northampton (SLPN), is working in partnership with the Smart Motorways Project (SMP) team including Principal Contractor, Costain Galliford Try (CGT), to ensure the two major schemes are undertaken efficiently and in the true spirit of collaboration.

This close private and public sector relationship has been built over the last four years due to Winvic and CGT undertaking similar collaborative liaison via the construction of the SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway (SLPEMG) and SMP M1 J23a to 26. Best practice interfaces and innovation communications have now resulted in the leading main contractor that specialises in the design and delivery of multi-sector construction and civil engineering projects donating 5000m³ of topsoil to SMP – equivalent in volume to two Olympic-sized swimming pools.

In the creation of the plateau for the 35-acre Strategic Rail Freight Interchange (SRFI), more soil excavation needed to be executed than was required to form the screening bunds around the site. Therefore, this topsoil would have otherwise been placed on adjacent land, but Winvic’s open and frequent collaboration means it will now be utilised by SMP to dress the new motorway verges and embankments from Junctions 15 to 16 of the M1.

Rob Cook, Winvic’s Director of Civils and Infrastructure, said: “Winvic is proud of its ability to build and maintain strong relationships with third-party organisations, whether that’s Highways England and its Smart Motorways Project Principal Contractor, utility companies, local authorities or community groups. Not only does our prioritisation of successful collaborations result in safer working practices and reduced disruption for people in surrounding communities, it also results in tangible efficiencies which can sometimes be found in unexpected places.

“With SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway – where we shared a 1.5km boundary with SMP and really set the standard for complex partnership working of this nature – we shared traffic management and combined night works; and here in Northampton, through our frequent liaison, we’ve found a mutually beneficial solution for 5000m³ of excess soil. The SMP Principal Contractor, CGT, and Winvic site teams are once again working together to reduce disruption and do the right thing.”

With around 600 metres of shared boundary adjacent to the northbound off-slip and southbound on-slip at Junction 15 of the M1, detailed synchronisation of programmes, traffic management (TM) and anything else arising that could affect each other’s project is crucial. Weekly coordination meetings look forward two weeks at a time to ensure road closure and associated TM minimally impact road users. For example, one lane must remain open on the A45 at all times meaning Winvic is accommodating any SMP motorway slip closures, ensuring vehicles can be diverted through the junction. Furthermore, additional daily or nightly meetings are held where any last-minute programme adjustments can be addressed, again to reduce disruption to local road users and communities.

Richard Bark, Winvic Project Manager at SLPN, commented: “Having started in July 2020 with advanced planning, preparation and enabling works, when the construction works commenced in January 2021 we were ready for the challenge. Having completed successful liaison with Highways England, local authorities, statutory authorities and local stakeholders we had created a strong ‘one team’ working approach.

“Having worked on a number of projects where collaboration has been crucial between all interested parties, there isn’t a challenge that can’t be overcome when everybody is focused on the end result and prioritises honest communication.”

Highways England programme manager Lynne Stinson added: “We work collaboratively with partners to ensure that we can keep disruption to a minimum for motorists, businesses and residents in the area. A key part of this work is the detailed and careful planning of roadworks and any lane closures between the two parties to ensure that we can keep traffic flowing.

“We’re grateful for the collaborative approach to our scheme and look forward to continuing to work with Winvic.”

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How Construction Companies Can Defend Against Ransomware Attacks

The threat, scope and impact of ransomware attacks is growing. Egnyte’s analysis of existing customers found that companies in the architecture, engineering and construction sector were more than twice as likely to fall victim to these attacks. Andrew Martin, Senior Sales & Marketing Director EMEA at Egnyte, explains how companies can defend against ransomware attacks.

Ransomware is a serious problem for the construction sector, and given firms are schedule-driven, any successful ransomware attack that impacts work has a higher probability of being paid off by the victim. This creates a target-rich environment for potential attackers, with 1 in 6 construction companies having reported a ransomware attack in the past year.

In practical terms, ransomware is a technique used by cybercriminals to prevent their victims from accessing their own computer systems. One of the ways this is achieved is by infecting them with malware that encrypts data on target networks and then threatening not to remove it until demands are met. In most cases, the ransom is financial, with payment demanded in cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin. Depending on the type of ransomware infection, denial of access to business-critical files could be permanent if the ransom is not paid, and for some unfortunate victims, even when the ransom is paid.

In many cases, ransomware enters the target network from a download delivered via a phishing email or link (often from a trusted source) with an enticement to click it, which then activates an executable file that unleashes the attack. This method is used because it requires the least effort on the part of the attacker. Other popular attack points include inadvertent downloads of malware from an infected website – sometimes executed by clicking, at other times by simply landing on the site (including social media channels).

Why are construction companies at risk?

So, why are construction businesses being targeted? The first reason is the industry’s distributed workforce which, in turn, requires distributed technology. This increases potential cyber risk, not least because organisations find it hard to provide strong security across every point in their complex networks. Others simply don’t have the experience or resources to guard against the risk of ransomware. And, the global pandemic exacerbated the situation, as companies rushed to move their onsite workforces to Work from Home, often prioritising productivity, speed and convenience over cybersecurity concerns.

The second reason behind the growth of ransomware in the sector is its economic sensitivity to project delays. Attackers know and understand that “time is money” in the construction industry so it is easier to take advantage of firms that would suffer large losses if a project is delayed.  Thus, paying the ransom may be a more likely outcome.

The foundations of effective defence

Despite these challenges, construction firms can take a range of positive steps to avoid being hit by a ransomware attack – and in the event of a successful attack – quickly recover:

1. Implement an Identity Management Solution – In the fight against ransomware, identity management is one of the leaders in helping to keep your data safe. A good solution will encompass various policies. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) prevents a single stolen username and password from enabling an attacker to gain access to an account. Single sign-on, which helps users gain access to company assets online, can block employees from accessing assets if a threat is detected. Effective identity management solutions also employ policies that govern behaviour to prevent attackers from impersonating legitimate users. While no security solution can guarantee to be 100% effective all of the time, a good identity management solution will encompass all of the above to ensure it is limiting the risk of ransomware.
2. Restrict access to data – Once a cyber criminal has access to the target system their goal is to take control of as many files as possible on as many computers and servers as possible. However, the more files that are restricted via limited access, the more difficult and time-consuming it becomes for the attacker, giving the organisation more time to identify and control the breach before their systems are immobilised.
3. Focus on ransomware recognition – This includes a range of automated techniques that can identify ransomware and mitigate its potential to do harm. Examples include unusual behaviour detection, as well as identifying the presence of a ransom note that sets out the threat to the system and the payment amount and procedures. Also important is ‘zero-day’ monitoring, which looks for a vulnerability that no one knows exists until it is exposed. Behaviour-based ransomware detection increasingly employs Artificial Intelligence (AI) to detect and remediate suspicious actions in near-real-time.

Focusing on recovery

While these strategies have proved to be extremely effective in reducing the chance of a ransomware attack being successful, all organisations remain at significant risk.

As a result, construction firms should always include a worse-case scenario in their ransomware strategy that allows them to quickly recover to business as usual – even when they have also invested in prevention. One of the most important capabilities is an effective business continuity plan that includes backup and recovery.

Granted, many companies already have a backup and recovery plan, but many also take an all-or-nothing approach, so even if only part of their file infrastructure  is compromised, they still need to recover and replace large sections of their data in order to restore it. This can take days if not longer to complete, meaning that even a small breach can significantly impact daily operations. Instead, the use of selective file restoration utilises backups that exist both on-premises and in the cloud for faster recovery and increased resilience.

With overall ransomware risks continuing to increase, construction companies that take decisive preventive and recovery measures will be well placed to avoid potential catastrophic disruption and cost. In a competitive environment, this is crucial to business performance, profitability and growth.

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Claiming Multiple Debts in One Adjudication

An important new decision from the English Technology and Construction Court (“TCC”) allows a quicker and more cost effective route to recover debts on construction contracts. The key issue in Quadro Services Limited v Creagh Concrete Products Limited¹, was whether a claim for three outstanding payment applications was “a dispute” under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (the “Construction Act”), or multiple disputes. The court’s decision means parties can avoid the cost and inconvenience of pursuing numerous adjudications where several payments are outstanding. The decision also demonstrates the court’s continued support for the adjudication process in the face of technical challenges.

Factual Background

The parties entered into an oral agreement for Quadro to provide construction labour to CCP (the “Contract”). As the Contract did not contain adjudication provisions, the Construction Act and the Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998 applied.

During the Contract, Quadro made several payment applications and raised invoices for the amounts claimed. No pay less notices were issued by CCP in response to Quadro’s applications. CCP’s Quantity Surveyor had approved the first and second invoices but did not respond to Quadro’s request for approval of the third invoice.

CCP did not pay the amounts outstanding, so Quadro commenced an adjudication for payment of the three outstanding invoices. As it is well established that an adjudicator may only decide one dispute at a time, CCP challenged the adjudicator’s jurisdiction on grounds that Quadro had referred three payment applications to adjudication, meaning three separate disputes. Although the adjudicator rejected that challenge and proceeded to award Quadro the sum claimed, CCP did not pay. Quadro subsequently applied to the TCC to enforce the adjudicator’s decision.

Judgement and Legal Issues

A party to a relevant construction contract has a right to refer “a dispute” to adjudication at any time². The issue for the TCC to determine was whether Quadro had referred three disputes to adjudication, given the three separate invoices, or whether there was only one dispute. The TCC also had to decide whether CCP’s defence had any real prospect of success.

The TCC noted comments in Witney Town Council v Beam Construction (Cheltenham) Limited³ that “a sensible interpretation will be given to what the meaning of a dispute is” and “almost every construction contract is a commercial transaction and parties cannot broadly have contemplated that every issue between the parties would necessarily have to attract a separate reference to adjudication”. The TCC also referred to Prater Limited v John Sisk & Son (Holdings) Limited⁴ where it was held that “clearly a single dispute in the context of a construction contract may include several distinct issues… One needs to look at the facts of each case and to use some common sense”.

The adjudication involved three separate payment applications, each of which could be considered in isolation. However, CCP had not raised any issues regarding the validity of the payment applications, any substantive dispute as to its liability to pay the invoices or issued any pay less notices. CCP had simply failed to pay. That it was possible to determine whether each individual invoice was due, without determining whether the other invoices were due, did not mean those issues could not be sub-issues of the wider dispute of whether Quadro was entitled to the sum claimed under the Contract. The payment applications were cumulative, with each application being for the full value of the work done, less previous payments. Each payment built on the previous one and there was a clear link between them.

The TCC said that if CCP’s arguments were successful, parties would incur the cost and inconvenience of pursuing numerous adjudications to recover a single sum under a single contract. There was no merit to CCP’s argument that because the third payment application had not been agreed, the three applications were distinguishable from each other and were not sub-issues of the wider dispute. No pay less notice was issued following the third application and none of the payment applications were disputed on substantive or procedural grounds.

The TCC held that the adjudicator was right to conclude that he had jurisdiction because Quadro had only referred one dispute to adjudication. CCP had no real prospect of successfully defending the claim on grounds that the adjudicator lacked jurisdiction and so gave summary judgment to Quadro enforcing the adjudicator’s award.

Practical Steps and Recommendations

Quadro provides a useful reminder of the meaning of “a dispute” under the Construction Act where adjudications concern multiple payment applications. Although the meaning of a dispute can frequently result in jurisdictional challenges, in this case the TCC adopted a common sense approach to its interpretation. Although the dispute between the parties concerned three unpaid payment applications, the wider issue was an entitlement to the total sum claimed under the Contract.

The judgment highlights the weight which the TCC gives to the notion of commercial common sense and the overarching objective of the adjudication process to promote efficient and cost-effective dispute resolution.

Parties owed monies from construction projects will be relieved by this decision. It avoids the time and cost that would otherwise be incurred in having to pursue separate adjudications for each unpaid application. That said, the issue of multiple disputes in adjudications remains an area fraught with difficulty. While Quadro provides some overdue clarification to ensure payment and to avoid a successful jurisdictional challenge, parties must present an adjudication claim as a single dispute even though it may comprise multiple sub-issues. If in doubt, take expert legal advice.

Trainee Maximilian O’Driscoll also contributed to this article.

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£157m Greener Homes Alliance Launched

Octopus Real Estate, part of Octopus Group, has partnered with Homes England to create the Greener Homes Alliance.

The new Alliance will commit £175 million by providing both loan finance and expert support to SME housebuilders, enabling them to build more high-quality, energy-efficient homes across England. As part of broader efforts to expand the supply of finance available to SMEs, Homes England will provide £46 million of the £175 million.

The Alliance will provide loans between £1 million and £20 million to help finance new SME development projects. Housing funded must achieve a minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of B and will benefit from increasing interest rate margin discounts as the energy efficiency of the homes increases (as measured using the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP)). Homes achieving an EPC rating of A will benefit from interest rate margin discounts of 2%.

Before starting their developments, SMEs will also benefit from free of charge, expert advice from sustainability consultants McBains and Octopus Energy – the United Kingdom’s leading 100% renewable energy supplier and part of the Octopus Group.

McBains will provide design guidance and practical steps to achieve an improved EPC.

Octopus Real Estate offers flexibility and efficiency in its funding to developers, and this will remain a key element of the Greener Homes Alliance. Loans will be up to a maximum of 85% LTC or 70% LTGDV, to maximum loan sizes of £20 million.

The Alliance will support the construction of up to 750 new homes whilst also equipping SME housebuilders with knowledge and expertise around low carbon construction, allowing them to build to higher environmental standards, now and in the future.

Housing Minister Christopher Pincher said: “We are determined to ensure that our homes are fit for the future and improving energy efficiency is a key part of our ambitions to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

“Our Future Homes Standard will ensure that from 2025 new homes produce at least 75% lower CO₂ emissions and will be future-proofed with low carbon heating.

“This partnership will help reach our targets for cleaner, greener homes for future generations.”

Peter Denton, Chief Executive at Homes England, commented: “This new partnership, the latest in a series of impactful lending alliances, will give smaller housebuilders both the funding and the knowledge needed to build more sustainable homes.

“The Greener Homes Alliance brings developers and lenders closer together, providing affordable finance, improving knowledge-sharing and creating new paths to net zero.”

Benjamin Davis, CEO of Octopus Real Estate, said: “Creating more energy efficient homes across the United Kingdom is vital if we’re to make progress towards net zero. Our joint venture with Homes England will help meet this increasingly urgent need to develop more sustainable homes.

“The Alliance will provide access to funding and expertise to help developers ‘go green’ when making decisions for their developments. Given the public are more in tune than ever before about how energy efficient their homes are, and in turn their own impact on the environment, the opportunity for developers building greener homes is huge.

“As a B Corp, Octopus Real Estate is committed to our impact goals and the opportunity to work with the real estate sector, alongside institutional investors, to create choice for developers to future-proof developments and drive the green acceleration of the property market.”

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Budget 2021 Industry Reactions

On Wednesday, 27^th October 2021, Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, delivered his long-anticipated Autumn 2021 Budget, here are some industry expert reactions to what was announced.

Sean Keyes, managing director, Sutcliffe: “The £1.8bn pledged towards brownfield housing developments is closest to our hearts as engineers and will make a real impact in making the UK more sustainable, as it’ll not only stop us from using Greenfield sites, but also help us clean up brownfield land.

“The digitisation of the planning system is also something I’ve personally spoken to a lot of local planners about in the past and the general consensus is that most people are struggling to meet planning times at the moment, which means projects then start at a slower timescale, which then halts the economy. Investment in speeding up the planning system is well received across the construction and property sector and something that has been a long time coming.

“The levelling up agenda needs to continue and needs to be pushed hard by the Conservative party – with levelling up all about creating equal job opportunities, higher life expectancies and a better way of life across the country and not just in the South, today’s budget will again go some way towards that, especially with the significant investment in transport links and stations in Liverpool, Runcorn and St Helens.

“As a company who has a long reputation for supporting the future generation, the £3bn pledge in post-16 education to fund the skills revolution will be a fantastic boost to the economy too. Every business needs to support those at the bottom rung of the ladder in order to nurture, inspire and up-skill, to ensure that those coming out of education at 16+ can flourish and build our future economies. This investment in the youth may not have an immediate impact, but if we don’t at least invest what our competitor nations are, then we will fall behind and I am delighted that programmes such as the Kickstart scheme are giving young people a chance to shine.”

Kevin Tully, managing director, Tulway: “We’ve got to find a way out of this pandemic and having already spent hundreds of billions of pounds to support people and businesses, it goes without saying that taxes will increase in order for the government to claw back some of this output. I’m hoping for a higher wage economy going forward and today’s budget goes some way towards ensuring that.

“Employers need to be involved more in the training funding process, rather than simply giving large amounts of money to colleges and universities for them to up-skill and train. The £3bn post-16 education to fund the skills revolution is fantastic news for our sector and for Tulway, as we pledge to take on 20 more apprentices between now and 2025.

“The green agenda is also going to open up an incredible amount of opportunities for businesses across the Liverpool City Region. A lot of people don’t realise how heavily involved the engineering sector is in the process of transforming from fossil fuels to green energy, but Tulway and many other businesses like us are playing a huge role in the net zero agenda and long may it continue.”

Alex Rose, Director of New Homes at Zoopla comments: “With the scarcity of homes and the imbalance of supply and demand set to continue well into 2022, the government’s pledge of £1.8 billion in funding to help deliver 160,000 new homes on brownfield land can certainly be viewed as a positive. However, with £300 million of this funding designated to metro mayors and councils to unlock smaller brownfield sites for housing, it is unclear how the balance of the funding will be allocated. With housebuilders often viewing brownfield sites as a less attractive option due to risks like contamination, it remains to be seen how far this investment will stretch in practice.”

Commenting on the Budget and the £1.8bn investment in brownfield urban land regeneration, Tom Brown, Managing Director of Real Estate at Ingenious, said: “The chancellor’s commitment to invest £1.8bn in brownfield urban land regeneration which is the equivalent of 2,000 football pitches is welcome. If channelled effectively this could improve the lives of millions of people across the country providing much needed new housing and spaces in areas that have been neglected for too long.

“Looking at the key sustainability agenda, this approach confirmed today should be prioritised over developing on other valuable green field sites which can cause loss of vital natural space. We would however welcome a further government commitment to the sustainable development of these brownfield sites so that where possible, existing buildings are preserved and sustainable materials are used.”

Graham Harle, CEO of Gleeds Worldwide, responds to the Autumn Statement: “Todays’ Budget, for us operating in property and Construction, felt a little like a hotly anticipated meal where Chef had leaked much of his surprise menu in advance & when it came to it, the showstopper was something of a soggy soufflé. For instance last weeks’ news on the Governments heat and buildings strategy, gave the Chancellor a chance to announce serious funding for a long term national retrofit programme to improve the energy efficiency of the UK’s 30 million buildings but we heard nothing  and news of the much delayed revised integrated rail plan was also absent .

There was £1.5bn in new money to improve transport links which is welcomed plus £1.8 bn for brownfield residential building and £3.8bn to build new prisons. Investment relief on Business rates for Green improvements is also welcomed as were new discounts on rates for retail and hospitality. But when achieving Carbon zero is seen as a bigger issue by most people than Covid, the lack of investment in this area was a missed opportunity.”

Marc Vlessing, CEO of Pocket Living: “Whilst we welcome any support offered to boost levels of housing delivery in this budget, we believe that the Government needs to go much further to deliver intergenerational equality of housing opportunity. It needs to be bold, visionary and interventionist if we are to address the UK’s dysfunctional housing market and help more people achieve their aspiration of home ownership.

“A prime example would be around brownfield land release and the Chancellor’s funding announcement. This should be community led not council driven. Everyone has a role in solving the housing crisis and the fund should be open to all to innovate and find solutions on brownfield land. Only through incentives which encourage everyone to step up will the housing crisis be solved.

“At Pocket Living, we have been innovating and pushing the boundaries of housing further than most. We will continue to do so, irrespective of the barriers along the way, in order to unlock growth and housing opportunity. We strongly urge the government to do the same.”

Richard Waterhouse, spokesperson for NBS, said: “Whilst we welcome the chancellor’s investment in brownfield sites, which will no doubt help the sector meet Government quotas to tackle the housing crisis, stronger direction is needed around hard-deadlines and targets for how the construction industry plans to meet Net Zero target emissions.

“Its plans for a ‘skills revolution’ is also a step in the right direction and a significant investment in digital education will be perfectly timed to tackle the skills shortage the sector urgently needs to  address. However, the chancellor should also look to address more immediate crises, such as a solution to materials shortages which isn’t currently hindering significant growth for the sector.”

Ben Hancock, managing director, Oscar Acoustics, said: “The rise in corporation tax is yet another blow to SMEs still recovering from the difficulties of the past 18 months. Further cuts to business rates would have sent a clear message that the Government is firmly behind companies looking to make a strong recovery and contribute to the country’s struggling economy.

Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the Railway Industry Association (RIA), said: “Whilst it is positive to see confirmation of what looks like an additional £1.5bn of funding for regional transport projects, including in rail, this Budget appears to be a missed opportunity to unleash the potential of the railways in helping the country to build back better.

“There was no indication in the statement of whether long-term day-to-day funding of the railway network will be maintained at least at current levels in the years ahead. We still don’t know what is in the Integrated Rail Plan for the Midlands & the North, we still have uncertainty over major projects, such as HS2 Eastern Leg, Northern Powerhouse Rail and Midlands Rail Hub, and we still await an update of the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline, now more than two years since it was last published.

“With COP26 just around the corner, too, this would have been a good time to set out the Government’s plans to reach a net zero railway, including a rolling programme of electrification and fleet orders of hydrogen and battery trains. These plans would have not just shown UK leadership in decarbonisation on a global stage, but would also significantly boost green jobs and investment, as the UK moves to a cleaner, post-Covid economy.

“There could also have been some clarification on areas like digital signalling, with 60% of traditional signalling needing replacing in the next 15 years. Our rail exporters need to know whether Tradeshow Access Programme budgets will be reinstated or replaced, so that they can play their part in helping the country deliver on Global Britain ambitions.

“It is clear that UK rail can play a leading role in the UK’s economic recovery, but to do this the railway industry really does need greater sight of, and input into, the Government’s investment plans. Visibility of these plans is vital to supporting effective, reliable and clean world-class railway infrastructure and rolling stock in the coming years, boosting the UK economy and its connectivity not just now, at this critical time, but also for the years ahead as we move on from the pandemic.”

Jim Wood, Managing Director of Barratt London, comments: “We welcome the support for housebuilding, increased investment in the planning system and the opening up of more sites on derelict and brownfield land. It is vital that we continue to increase housing supply to tackle the country’s shortage of homes, helping to create jobs and economic growth.

“The recent support for improving the energy efficiency and sustainability of new homes is welcomed – Barratt are helping to lead the way with the new Z House; our flagship zero carbon home delivering a carbon reduction of 125%. Barratt has a target to bring all of its new homes across the country, including London, to carbon zero by 2030.”

Commenting on today’s Budget, Stuart Law, CEO of the Assetz group, said: “We welcome the Chancellor’s package of housing-related investment announced in today’s Budget, particularly the provision of affordable housing and improved use of brownfield sites. However, given the focus on green grants and the need for housing to become more sustainable in future, the Government must do more to support homeowners during this transition over the coming months and years.

“It is encouraging to see the Chancellor earmark funds for helping homeowners to make their properties more energy efficient, however the current support packages still represent something of a drop in the ocean in terms of what needs to be achieved and more can and should be done to support the move towards greener homes and mass consumer adoption. The new homes industry has been leading the way in meeting the Government’s ambitions for sustainable energy-efficient housing stock, and we anticipate that demand for newer, more environmentally friendly homes will increase substantially over coming months and years, attracting a significant premium as a result.

“Comparatively, older, historic homes could see a reverse in popularity as the additional costs associated with making them greener, as well as reducing mortgage lender appetite to fund inefficient homes, dampens demand and therefore price growth.

“We also heard the Chancellor encourage the Bank of England to raise interest rates to control inflation indicating that whilst both of these cost the government, and hence the taxpayer, more in debt servicing costs, he regards the risk of inflation to be greater on balance. We would agree and expect inflation to run ‘hot’ for some years to come whilst interest rate rises are likely to be more muted in our view.”

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Extra Measures to Support Heat & Buildings Strategy

The UK Government’s new Heat and Buildings Strategy is a welcome development when it comes to decarbonising the UK heating sector. However, it needs to be supported by further policy if net zero is to be fully achieved, according to the REHAU Group.

The long-awaited strategy was launched earlier this month by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), with the £450 million Boiler Upgrade Scheme being the centrepiece to the development. As of April 2022, home owners will be eligible to apply for grants of £5000 to install heat pumps, with the intention of driving down the cost of clean heat, as well as reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

However, REHAU has advised that greater scope will be necessary if climate targets are to be achieved.

Steve Richmond, Head of Marketing and Technical at REHAU, said: “The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is a really positive development for the uptake of cleaner technology. However, at £5-6K funding per heat pump, we’re only providing scope for a maximum of 90,000 installations. The UK is currently installing roughly 35,000 each year, so we need to be more ambitious if we are to reach the Prime Minister’s target of 600,000 heat pumps per annum by 2028.

“With increasing installations, the Government’s ambition is to reduce the cost of heat pumps by 25-50% by 2025. However, the number of trained installers and manufacturing costs are likely to be a challenge here. The Government has signalled that they want to see more local manufacturing for low-carbon solutions, and REHAU has been manufacturing its pre-insulated RAUVITHERM pipe since 2012, which is used for both heat pumps and district heating.”

District heating networks also feature heavily in the strategy, with a £338 million investment in the Heat Network Transformation Programme set to take place between 2022 and 2025. Other measures such as the £150 million Home Upgrade Grant have been put in place to help off-gas grid homes achieve a reduction in their carbon emissions.

With the Future Homes Standard also set to ban gas boilers in new builds by 2025, heat pumps and district heating networks are expected to become the new standard for residential heating. Growing uptake of low-carbon heat sources has in turn led to increased demand for energy-efficient heat distribution solutions, such as underfloor heating and cooling or Thermally Activated Building Structures (TABS), which make use of a building’s natural structure to both heat and cool.

Steve Richmond concluded: “With the decision on hydrogen’s future being pushed back to 2026, there is a greater need than ever to evaluate our path to net zero. The launch of the Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy is a vital step in this journey but cannot bear the load of this challenge alone. Only through the support of other initiatives will we achieve a net zero Britain.”

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Major Solar PV Project to Cut Carbon in Coventry

Howard Ward Associates (HWA), a Midlands-based construction engineering consultancy, has been appointed by Ineco Energy to deliver a major solar PV project at 41 sites throughout Coventry.

The scheme, which is part of a wider decarbonisation strategy in the city, will deliver carbon reductions as well as renewable energy generation improvements across a wide number of council sites such as:

• Sports facilities
• Schools
• Office buildings
• Cemeteries
• Country Park visitor centres

HWA has specialist expertise in the solar PV sector, and has advised on major schemes throughout the UK. For Ineco, the practice has been appointed to provide surveys and assessments to determine the structural capacity for the installation of solar panels and inverters.

This ambitious programme is set to generate 1,840 MWh of energy, with the potential to save Coventry City up to £276,000 annually. Over the lifetime of these projects, it will save the carbon equivalent of planting 9,766 trees.

Phase one of the works saw the completion of six Coventry schools ahead of the new 2021/22 academic year; this was funded by the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS).

Giles Ward, director at HWA, said: “We are really pleased to be working on a number of solar PV installations across Coventry alongside Ineco Energy. The scheme is contributing to the city’s decarbonisation strategy, helping to deliver carbon reductions and renewable energy systems on a significant scale.”

“This is a diverse industry in which we have gained extensive knowledge and experience since the field was in its infancy. It is great to see that solar PV installations have developed significantly, and their demand and accessibility continue to grow as local authorities, businesses and organisations across the UK seek energy-efficient solutions.”

Work has also started on Coventry Central Library, a council office building and Windmill Road Cemetery in the city, projects which are due for completion this month.

Angus Rose, director of Ineco Energy, commented: “We’re extremely proud to be helping Coventry City Council to reduce its carbon footprint with the installation of solar PV across the region. There has never been a more important time to reduce the carbon footprint of our communities and secure a greener future for generations to come.

“This part of the project, funded by PSDS, only scratches the surface of the ambitious project with Coventry City Council. The ongoing decarbonisation plans funded by ERDF will allow the council to make buildings more energy-efficient and help the region reach its net zero target.”

Phase two of the project will see solar PV being installed across 32 further Coventry City Council public buildings; it will be funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Ineco Energy specialises in the development, installation and ongoing management of renewable and energy-efficient solutions for local authorities, schools and businesses within England and Wales.

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Autumn Budget: Paving a Way for Recovery

On Wednesday, 27^th October 2021, Rishi Sunak delivered his fourth budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Still working within the constraints of COVID-19, the key theme of the Chancellor’s speech was levelling up the United Kingdom as the nation comes out from the pandemic.

Looking forward and into the nation’s recovery, Mr Sunak announced investments in housing, education, spending within every Government department as well foreign aid spending.

Levelling up was a major topic of Mr Sunak’s Budget speech, where he announced £2.6 billion for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which focuses on getting people into jobs throughout the UK.  There was also £205 million in new funding to help build and transform up to 8,000 state-of-the-art football pitches for communities.

Along with this, funding was announced to turn more than 100 areas of derelict land into new pocket parks.

The Chancellor also announced the first round of the UK-wide Levelling Up Funding, with £1.7 billion going into local investment in local areas. This means that the funds will range from the redevelopment of Inverness Castle to the upgrading of the ferry to the Isles of Scilly.

Looking at the devolved nations of the United Kingdom, Scotland is set to receive £170 million in funds, £120 million is going to Wales and Northern Ireland will receive £50 million.

Between 2020 and 2025, £2.6 billion is set to be invested into a new, long term pipeline which will see 50 local roads being upgraded in England, and £5 billion invested into local road maintenance, which the Chancellor said was enough to “fill one million potholes per year”.

Taking a look into transport, Rishi Sunak announced £5.7 billion into English city regions over five years, which will help transform local transport networks via London-style integrate settlements. The areas are:

• Greater Manchester
• Liverpool City Region
• The Tees Valley
• West Yorkshire
• South Yorkshire
• West Midlands, and
• West of England.

Along with this, Mr Sunak announced a £3 billion investment over this Parliament to help level up bus services in England, with £1.2 billion of a new, dedicated London-stye bus transformation deal to help improve infrastructure, fares and services.

Mr Sunak also announced the investment of £11.5 billion in the shape of the Affordable Homes Programme in England from 2021-2026, this will help build up to 180,000 new affordable homes, with 65% of the funding going to homes out with London.

There was also an announcement of £1.8 billion in funding to unlock 1,500 of brownfield land, this will help with the unlocking of new housing, and infrastructure for local communities. Recover from the pandemic, including surgeries and other medical procedures.

The NHS is also set to benefit from funding, with an announcement of £1.5 billion in the next three years for new surgical hubs, increased bed capacity and equipment to help elective services.

Todays Budget also confirmed new funding for zero emissions buses, with an allocation of £70 million for Zero Emission Bus funding to help and deliver buses, as well as the related infrastructure in Warrington, Leicester, Milton Keynes, Kent, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

There is also going to be investment into the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, which will receive £6.1 billion to help boost the number of zero emissions vehicles, help to develop greener plans and ships, as well as encouraging more trips by bus, bicycle and foot.

Donald Morrison, SVP People & Places Solutions Europe and Digital Strategies at Jacobs said: “Today’s spending commitment to improve regional transport networks and roads is a significant opportunity to create new sustainable infrastructure. Globally, cities account for 60% of global carbon emissions and 78% of energy use, but the UK can now set an example of the alternative. If we use data to plan how this funding is used, we will design transport systems that encourage individuals to take public transport, use electric vehicles, walk and cycle more. Being ambitious in how we use this funding, we can create healthier places to live as well as contributing to the global reduction in emissions.”

Bob Hide, co-founder and managing director of specialist risk management consultancy, Equib, which specialises in advising on large-scale infrastructure programmes and construction projects, said: “The Chancellor’s significant investment in bolstering regional transport infrastructure underlines the Government’s commitment to its ‘levelling-up’ agenda.

“It’s £21bn spending on the UK’s roads and £46bn on railways will help to level the playing field with the Capital, speeding up journey times between cities and supporting the economy by creating much-needed jobs. However, in order to optimise outcomes for these ambitious projects and ensure that taxpayers’ money is put to best use, it’s vital that effective risk management from the early stages of initiatives remains at the top of the agenda.”

Rebecca Wilkinson, tax partner at accountancy firm, Menzies LLP, said: “These funding announcements are good news for the property and construction sector as they will ensure the continuation of major construction projects. Sadly, there was no mention of any kind of visa changes to aid construction companies with finding much needed labour to combat shortages.”

New business rates reliefs were also announced. Rebecca said: “This is great for the property sector as it helps maintain confidence in the high street and should encourage continued investment in towns.”

The Chancellor’s Budget once again focused on the recovery from the pandemic, along with a focus on the UK leaving the European Union, and showcasing the country as a strong, independent state. Once again, ‘Levelling Up’ was a key theme, showing that there is still light at the end of the long tunnel of a nation who have been stuck in a pandemic for mor than 18 months.

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Planning Early to Avoid Gull Issues Always Pays Off

Netting is the most effective way to protect buildings and structures by denying access to pest birds. It is a physical barrier that provides total exclusion from unwanted birds in a target area. Netting is an investment that offers the long-lasting protection your customers need. Moreover, Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) is a great way to finance a large installation. It is an advantageous way to structure the investment while still allowing businesses to finance growth.

DON’T IGNORE THE RISKS THAT BIRDS WILL BRING TO BUSINESSES

The control of gulls is necessary to prevent the spread of disease, damage to building infrastructure and to preserve public health and safety. Gulls can cause a major stress on a business.

• When gulls colonise a roof area, they damage it by pecking at mastic, putty around windows, surface materials and insulation around ducting.
• The build-up of nesting material, fouling and other associated debris can also block gutters and drains causing leaks and floods of contaminated water into premises.
• These big birds are noisy and can be very aggressive, especially during their nesting and rearing period. Maintenance work to air conditioning units and plant equipment cannot be carried out as the gulls will attack anybody approaching their nests.
• Urban gulls can live up to 20 years and will return to nest on the same building year after year.

ECOLAB, A PARTNER YOU CAN TRUST

Ecolab are the market leaders in bird management and control and have a dedicated team of experts to help you deliver the right solutions for your site. With a decade of experience, Ecolab has a wide range of industry accreditations while the installation teams have all the necessary safety training and certification to safely and competently work from height to deliver high quality work.

SAFE AND EFFICIENT END-TO-END BIRD SOLUTIONS

Our dedicated team of bird control experts will anticipate and take ownership of your bird challenges and provide you with an end-to-end solution so you can concentrate on what you do best.

SAFETY IS ALWAYS AT THE FOREFRONT OF WHAT WE DO

Our team uses a strict safety methodology (RAMS) that ensures we work safely, especially when it includes working at height. In all cases, we carry out a risk assessment, looking at the hazard and risk factors and who could be harmed and how. We also evaluate the risks, record them and continuously monitor and review the situation. This step in our work is crucial to ensure our teams and yours (including employees, contractors and customers) are protected and safe at all times.

A HIGHER STANDARD OF BIRD CONTROL

Our bird control experts will always prioritise aesthetics to ensure installations are discreet and blend into their environment. They will fit a netting solution according to strict and detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that will ensure your installation is safe, correctly fitted and tensioned, practical and durable.

Be proactive and protect your site from nuisance birds from the beginning of your project. Find out more about Ecolab’s bird control solutions and get a free site survey.

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ERP Forecasting Help Construction Industry with Supply Chain Disruption

Supply chain and logistics problems were an issue for businesses across the construction industry last year, thanks to disruptions caused by the pandemic combining with Brexit to create a perfect storm. Those supply chain pressures could have been more easily weathered if construction companies had been pre-prepared for them, says Kevin Crowe of OGL Computer. So how exactly can the industry prepare for unforeseen circumstances? One approach is by implementing ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and using that system as a forecasting tool.

ERP could have had a significant impact on businesses suffering from issues including price volatility, reduced staffing levels, the shortage and costs of shipping containers, and employees having to work remotely. Many businesses also had to shift much of their business online to continue trading, which is where ERP would have been an advantage.

ERP systems have features that are tailored to driving the effectiveness and efficiency of a business, such as integrating previously disparate business functions. So, under ERP, purchasing, inventory, sales and marketing, finance and even HR are all combined to provide company-wide updates. This increases productivity, efficiency and responsiveness, helping to provide a better customer experience and freeing up local resource.

For construction companies that sell services, products and tools online, ERP also offers the opportunity to input direct pricing from suppliers, which helps minimise the chance of eroded margins, keeping customers up-to-date with price information and avoiding the need to waste any time in continuously contacting suppliers.

ERP systems enable digital transformation to weather supply chain issues

Supply chain problems often stem from inaccurately forecasting sales and stock levels. For construction businesses to remedy any potential supply chain disruptions, transparency and visibility of the entire supply chain is key. Understanding any gaps is where ERP systems can help.

Small and medium sized construction businesses are realising just how transformative ERP systems can be in providing better stock control, customer service and ultimately profitability.

For anyone in the construction industry unsure whether their business would benefit from implementing an ERP system, ask yourself:

• Do you have an increasing workload of day-to-day tasks, including admin, that could be made easier through automation? If your business is drowning in admin tasks and processes, an ERP software system could enable your existing staff to more efficiently carry out those same tasks, in less time.
• Do you have full visibility of your customers’ sales journeys or are you missing sales opportunities? By implementing ERP to manage stock and sales, you could easily absorb new prospect accounts and reach out to a wider set of new customer targets.
• Do you find it hard to keep up with customer demands and expectations? ERP can help you to deliver a personalised service that makes your customers return time and again. Improved customer service can directly influence your good reputation across the construction industry.

Real life: increasing efficiencies and improving customer experience with ERP

In today’s hybrid working environment, smaller teams working from home can use ERP to process the same amount of work as larger teams working in an office. ERP can also improve customers’ experiences.

Joseph Ash Galvanizing, for example, provides customers from large construction companies and fabricators with a wide range of spin galvanizing, shot blasting and powder coating services. They were having challenges with their legacy system, an older physical server infrastructure that was running End of Life operating systems. The company wanted to move to a fully virtualised environment running the latest available operating systems to remain competitive.

OGL Computer Services (OGL) created a bespoke IT solutions package for Joseph Ash Galvanizing that provided a centralised management system enabling its internal IT team to manage the entire server farm from a single console. This improved efficiency, performance and productivity.

Upgrading Joseph Ash Galvanizing’s systems to a web-based ERP solution, hosted on the cloud, gave the company the ability to work at a quicker pace, with secure remote access rather than the need for dedicated servers. Joseph Ash Galvanizing benefited from the simplicity of an off-the-shelf product with the benefits of easy-to-implement customisation, with quick and easy user onboarding.

ERP drivers and barriers

A survey* found that 88 per cent of UK construction and building suppliers agree that a central ERP system gives a company greater visibility and control of stock.

76% of respondents saw benefits from integrating disparate systems into a single ERP software solution, which is used by the likes of Gibbs Tools, Montrose Group and Allfix. 57% of respondents cited the main reason to use a single system, as reducing administration time, followed by 40% citing improved accuracy of information and 37% stating improved efficiencies by removing duplication of work across different departments.

Just under half of the respondents (44%) have concerns about security of their data in the cloud, so are reluctant to move core applications and data to the cloud, while nearly a third (31%) recognise that manual processes are ineffective in managing business operations.

Construction companies considering ERP can mitigate any potential issues when switching over to ERP if they follow these simple steps:

• Review existing business processes to see how they can be redesigned to increase effectiveness
• Choose technology that meets future business strategies, not just present circumstances
• If you are looking to start selling online, make sure that the software has an integrated eCommerce functionality to maximise efficiencies
• Review and clean customer, supplier and product data to increase the chances of a smooth migration
• Provide full training to the main users in each department, so they can help train other staff and take ownership of the process for their department
• Choose a software provider that can support and help your business achieve maximum return on investment. Choosing the right supplier is just as important – if not more so – than the ERP system itself.

Construction businesses are increasingly turning to ERP to optimise processes and boost profits. ERP software consolidates all business-critical data into one system so all users can see exactly what’s going on in real-time. Connecting all areas of your business, ERP technology offers instant access to the information companies need to deliver their construction projects more cost-effectively. By optimising processes from sales orders to stock, finance, pricing and online selling, ERP provides the entire construction industry with full control and visibility to boost profits and future-proof business.

By implementing ERP, businesses are investing in a system that is built to help them increase sales and support growth, offering the tools needed to make improvements, discover new opportunities and ultimately buy better and sell smarter.

* Source: OGL Computer

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Budget 2021: Filing Patents Could Help Businesses Offset Planned Corporation Tax Increases

Innovative firms should reconsider the importance of patents as part of their business model ahead of planned corporation tax increases, which are due to be introduced in about 18 months’ time, according to European intellectual property firm, Withers & Rogers.

The Government has confirmed that HMRC is intending to increase corporation tax from 19% to 25% in April 2023, and further tax hikes are likely to be announced in the forthcoming Budget on 27th October 2021. When combined with rising costs and disruption linked to supply shortages, tax increases present a significant challenge to many industries, which have been adjusting to a post-Brexit economy during the coronavirus pandemic.

The construction sector has been affected by a number of unforeseen market shocks, including labour shortages and a growing skills gap. The ongoing materials shortage has also driven up the cost of construction, forcing some companies to consider passing on the increased costs to customers.

With increased pressure falling on the sector to adapt to meet net zero targets, these shortages have been felt even more keenly, with innovation becoming a necessity to overcome the challenges presented.

Under-claiming tax reliefs such as Patent Box and R&D tax relief, means construction companies could be missing out on savings that offset some of the tax increases coming their way. With competitors potentially having already claimed through these schemes, it is vital for all businesses to reconsider their approach, to ensure they’re getting the most out of the support available.

Greg Stepney, partner and patent attorney at Withers & Rogers, said:  “HMRC launched its Patent Box scheme in 2013, which slashes corporation tax from 19% to 10% on profits from patented technology¹.  What might come as a surprise to some businesses however is that the lower rate of 10% will apply even when the headline rate of corporation tax rate jumps to 25% in April 2023.

“A single qualifying intellectual property right, for example a UK patent, can be used to reduce corporation tax on all worldwide profits relating to sales of a qualifying item. For the rights owner, this can tot up to a considerable reduction in their corporate tax liability.

“It is important to keep in mind that skilfully prepared patents can be granted for incremental advances in technology rather than being restricted to moments of paradigm shift. It is also possible to get the corporation tax relief on profits from a product comprising only one patented part. To illustrate, a patent covering a particular material or process can, under the correct circumstances, be used to reap tax relief on profits generated by the sale of more complex products that use it. There have been examples of patents to a wing mirror, for example, being used to claim tax relief on sales of a car.”

As well as reviewing the role of patent protection as part of their business model, construction companies should also take advantage of R&D tax relief. The total support claimed through R&D schemes has increased by 19% since March 2019, however less than £500 million of the total £7.4 billion of credits claimed was from the construction industry. With corporation tax set to rise, and the sector continuing to face various challenges, companies need to make sure they are making the most of all tax reliefs available.

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Budget 2021: Government Need to Solve Cladding Crisis

Experts at national law firm Irwin Mitchell say the Government still needs a consistent strategy towards how it handles the “cladding crisis” and calls the Chancellor to pledge extra funds in the Budget tomorrow.

The Government has already announced £5 billion will be available to redress the issue so far, but experts predict this figure is needed to be three times that. Already over half of the initial £1 billion cladding remediation fund has been claimed, leading to concerns that funds will not be sufficient.

Jeremy Raj, national head of Residential Property at Irwin Mitchell said: “Government measures, while a step in the right direction, don’t go far enough. It is essential that the Chancellor doesn’t assume that with £5bn from the Treasury for remediation and the Residential Property Developer Tax on the horizon, the cladding and fire safety issue has been dealt with.

If levelling up is about anything, it is about ensuring that homeowners up and down the country are treated fairly and allowed to live safely and securely in their own homes without the fear that they’ll be shouldered with much of the remediation and ‘waking watch’ costs, as they have largely been thus far, that those truly at fault are brought to account, and that funds are made available for remediation in the meantime.

Raj continued, “And just trying to place the burden on the developers is not the answer either. Although some of the bigger players are able to ring fence funds for this purpose, others cannot afford to and many are struggling to pursue claims against suppliers and contractors for using unsafe materials, some of whom are no longer around.”

“I tend to agree with The Law Society president who said the Building Safety Bill will give leaseholders potentially “worthless” new rights in pursuing developers in claims over dangerous cladding remediation. She highlighted that the cut off extension from 6 to 15 years leaves a five-year gap from some of the first uses of unsafe cladding over 20 years ago. She also noted that many developers have ceased trading and leaseholders have no recourse for claims against these companies.”

“Indeed, there has been an easy – but false – assumption that the blame for all of this should be pinned entirely on developers when the root of the problem was massive regulatory failure, dangerous and unsuitable products, long complex and disjointed chains of responsibility and a system that demands the lowest possible prices at every stage. There has also been a total failure of oversight and good estate management for many buildings up and down the country which has little if nothing to do with any current developers operating in the market.”

So, what can be done? Irwin Mitchell has decided to update its ten-point plan for action with a clear roadmap on the action points the Government and residential property sector needs to consider for solving the crisis once and for all, “putting blame aside and finding a way forward.”

“We hope to see the Chancellor go some way to addressing these issues in the Budget tomorrow.”

The ten-point plan for the cladding crisis is as follows:

1. The figures some leaseholders are being asked to pay for remediation works are financially crippling, unrealistic, and unjustified. They must be given up-front government funding, which they shouldn’t have to repay. Where appropriate this should be offset by future clawback from the parties deemed to have been at fault. Such liability must be determined properly through due legal process.
2. Access to government funding for remediation works must be made easier and faster. The fund must be significantly increased to cover all dangerous materials or defects including those discovered during remediation. We propose a minimum of £15bn. It should be available for all dangerous buildings, regardless of height, covering those under 18 m as well as those over,
3. The government should give freeholders a statutory right to install, maintain and charge for new systems that will help make properties safe. This includes whole-building sprinkler systems and fire alarms. We agree that these costs should be paid for by leaseholders. However, installation will reduce the need for Waking Watches and their associated costs, which typically fall on leaseholders. We should also follow the example of the Welsh government who have said they will fund fire safety surveys for all residential buildings over 11m with unsafe cladding.
4. Planning and building regulations must have greater cohesion and work in tandem with digital and regular on the ground oversight. These must be easily reviewed and checked. Regulations should cover safety and not just aesthetics. Online details of all at-risk buildings, relevant defects, safety features and evacuation procedures should be available to all, including potential homebuyers.
5. The privatisation of building control must be questioned. It needs a complete overhaul with clear, integrated lines of responsibility and best use of the technology that’s currently available. Total independence and wide powers to review and intervene where necessary are required.
6. Certification of safe building materials and methods must be similarly and radically overhauled, so that the failings exposed by the Grenfell Tower inquiry can never be repeated. Sub-contractors must not be allowed to substitute materials without rigorous approved procedures. Risk should not be watered down through the contractual chain to the point of no responsibility.
7. Special provision must be made for disabled occupants of high-risk buildings as quickly as possible. This would include easily available relevant information for fire and rescue services and tailored escape plans.
8. We must learn from what others are doing. The Building Information Modelling (BIM) standards that were developed in the UK have been adopted across the world. But other countries, such as Ireland, have a much more rigorous approach to regulation and enforcement. Digitised record keeping and Modern Methods of Construction must continue to be standardised.
9. We need to continue to increase the number of surveyors able to issue EWS1 certificates. The Fire Safety industry needs similar support. Relative costs are minor and well worth investing in. Many are trapped awaiting administrative assistance that’s keeping their lives on hold.
10. We must be able to look back in years to come at the Grenfell Tower disaster as a watershed moment for the industry and its regulators. It should mark the start of a new era for building standards and the safety of people in high-rise properties.

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