New sports centre completed in Loughborough

Construction of a brand new school sports facility in Loughborough, Leicestershire, has been completed by the contractor company Stepnell following their appointment to the project by the Loughborough Schools Foundation.

The new £2.1M Parkin Sports Centre features facilities such as a sports hall, fitness suite, dance studio, changing rooms, classrooms, and reception area, with the students of Loughborough High School and Loughborough Amherst School being the main beneficiaries of these.

The Stepnell Regional Director, Thomas Sewell stated: “We are extremely proud and pleased to have completed such a stunning sports facility, creating a space for students to learn new valuable skills in an exceptional learning environment and enjoy playing sport at the same time.

“Working in a live environment is never easy and this project was particularly challenging due the central location of the new sports hall on the school campus, surrounded by occupied buildings and neighbouring boundaries. Throughout the building works, we had to ensure that our activity didn’t impact on day to day activities at the school, and we put special measures in place so that disruption was kept to a minimum.

“Our specialist sector experts understand the complexities of educational construction, and with our combination of experience and knowledge we are able to anticipate the risks and opportunities associated with educational projects and to ensure that our clients can maximise the whole life value of their investments.”

The Director of Operations at Loughborough Schools Foundation, Rob Grant added: “Loughborough Schools Foundation is very pleased to have this fantastic new sports hall which has enhanced our sporting facilities for all of our students.

“Much consideration went into the design of the Parkin Sports Centre in order to ensure the facility offered something for everyone and encouraged sports participation at all levels. We are already seeing the benefits of the new space as our students now enjoy an increased amount of sports activities during their lessons.”

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Cheadle Hulme School gains new development

Sixth Form students at Cheadle Hulme School in Stockport, Greater Manchester, have recently benefitted from the delivery of a new centre for learning and collaboration.

Construction of the £1.2M Cheadle Hulme School development commenced back in January and reached completion before the start of this academic school year, with the architects of the new building being Pozzoni Architects while the principal contractor was Seddon.

The Head of Sixth Form at Cheadle Hulme School, Nick Axon stated: “For the first time in the school’s 163-year history, our Sixth Form students have their own dedicated space, tailored to the needs of our senior learners and designed with their future work experiences in mind. Students can study independently or collaborate with others in the various spaces upstairs, whilst enjoying the comforts of a cafe and social space downstairs.

“Already, it is allowing us to deliver on the promises we make to our students as well as helping them to develop as independent, cultured, intellectually curious individuals… so far the students are making excellent use of the space and are hugely enjoying the way it has given them their own identity on the site.”

The Director at Pozzoni, Catherine Mulley commented: “We wanted the building to sit well with its surroundings at the school, but it was also really important to create a space that felt modern and new – for the sixth form students who will use it every day.

“We know that a diverse student life is not just about study; it is vital that young people also have space to interact, engage with one another and look ahead to their exciting futures. That is why we have designed spacious areas for socialising and team working, as well as rooms for private meetings – just like the facilities they will be likely to encounter in their working lives.”

The Property Services Director at Seddon, John Shannon added: “It is important that students have access to high quality educational spaces, as well as areas for some well-deserved downtime. This outstanding facility will provide those who study and work at the sixth form with a modern, enriching learning environment where they can achieve their fullest potential.”

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How will the housing crisis be handled after the election?

Britain is in the midst of a housing crisis and, with a General Election looming on the 12^th December, many housing providers are keen to hear what each prospective government’s solution will be.

Now that the election is less than one month away, political parties have begun sharing their manifestos and their policies on how best to tackle the issues of the nation.

The Labour Party Manifesto

Council housing and affordable homes have been identified as a key area of importance by the Labour Party, with their recently published Party Manifesto highlighting a key promise, to spend half of their Social Transformation Fund on housing.

Specifically, the manifesto states that Labour will spend a total sum of £75Bn over the course of a five year period on housing, increasing the number of council houses built each year to 100,000 by the end of parliament, highlighting the Goldsmith Street development in Norwich as an example of what the party hopes to achieve. The promise will see the biggest council housinjg programme since WWII.

The Leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn stated: “Housing should be for the many, not a speculation opportunity for dodgy landlords and the wealthy few.

“I am determined to create a society where working class communities and young people have access to affordable, good quality council, and social homes.”

The Labour Shadow Housing Secretary, John Healey added: “The next Labour Government will kick-start a housing revolution, with the biggest investment in new council and social homes this country has seen for decades.

“Our modern council and social housing will be built to cutting-edge design and green standards providing a long-term investment in our country’s future.”

These pledges by the Labour Party contrast with the housing pledges made by the Conservative Government which has targeted the construction of 300,000 homes per year by the mid-2020s, though they have not specified what proportion of the 300,000 will comprise affordable housing.

The Conservative Government’s housing targets

As mentioned previously, the Conservative Government has previously pledged to delivery a total of 300,000 homes per year by the mid-2020s, although, with the election now on the horizon, some doubt has been cast over the progress made towards meeting these targets.

In fact, a recent report from the National Audit Office revealed that a government promise to construct 200,000 new starter homes for first-time buyers in England had failed to deliver any such properties.

The Scape Group Chief Executive, Mark Robinson commented: “While overall affordable housing provision is up, looking closely at the numbers, there are significant differences in the tenure of housing being delivered.

“Data has revealed another disastrous drop in the provision of homes for social rent under the current government. Local authorities, who are responsible for meeting local housing needs, are under increasing pressure to deliver.

“Despite the majority of funding going to housing associations, they completed just 5,447 homes for social rent during the past year. But over a million families are registered on the waiting list for social housing.

“Although the housing association model has proven itself highly effective for the management of estates, social rented homes are not being delivered at the scale and pace the country needs. Delivering a step change in providing homes for our communities demands a radical solution, and I believe the answer lies in the past.

“Councils must be given more power to build social housing themselves, as they were in the 1970s, before housing associations became non-governmental delivery agents for the provision of social rented housing. In 1977, when councils were still responsible for new social housing 121,000 homes were built.

“The last general election saw concern over housing reach the highest level amongst voters since 1974. Particularly among 18 to 34 year olds. This is a crisis that no politician should be allowed to ignore.

“Housing must be at the centre of the upcoming election and it is vital that we see an ambitious renewal of council housebuilding at the heart of every party’s manifesto.”

Achieving housing targets

It is clear that the Government is not neglecting the housing crisis as an issue, with reiterations of their housing pledges being made repeatedly and with projects such as the Northern Arc scheme in Burgess Hill, Sussex, contributing to their hefty targets.

So, if the commitment of the Government remains strong in regard to the delivery of housing, could it be construction methods which are hindering any progress? or planning issues and the release of land for development?

Executive Chairman at ilke Homes, Dave Sheridan commented: “With Labour and the Tories going head-to-head on housing policy this morning, it is evident that there is a political appetite to get Britain building and deliver housing across a variety of tenures. However, delivering those ambitions will need a step-change in how we approach construction, as traditional methods are clearly not delivering at the volume we need.

“Building more homes for all tenures has cross-party support, but with the government’s long-term targets of building 300,000 new homes a year still to be met, an innovative change in strategy is now crucial. Scaling-up modern methods of construction (MMC) will be fundamental to the next government’s success, ensuring that we can deliver high-quality, sustainable homes ready for 21st century living.”

Depending upon the results of the election, Britain could be subject to two potential approaches to housing crisis: the Labour approach, which aims to construct 100,000 council homes per year, or the Conservative approach, which aims to construct 300,000 homes of varying status per year.

Which of these strategies would be best is, quite literally, up for debate, and, following the results of the December election, the British public is sure to soon find out.

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New facility underway for Sarstedt Limited

Construction has officially commenced on a project to provide a new facility at Optimus Point in Leicestershire on behalf of the company Sarstedt Limited, a well-known laboratory and medical equipment supplier, with Gleeds having been appointed as the property and construction consultant and Winvic Construction as the principal contractor.

In particular, delivery of the new Sarstedt Limited facility will entail the construction of ancillary two-storey offices, core facilities, external parking, a service yard, and landscaped areas, with the development scheduled for completion on the 1^st May 2020.

The Group Manager for Planning and Economic Development at Blaby District Council, Cat Hartley stated: “Sarstedt’s move to Optimus Point will deliver significant and permanent economic benefits to the District of Blaby. Up to 60 jobs will be retained locally. They join other businesses at Optimus Point who have relocated or become new members of our thriving business community, making the District of Blaby a great place to live, work and visit.”

The Director of Gleeds, Anthony Cork commented: “This prime industrial and logistics space offers significant potential to satisfy occupier demand in a strategic location.

“There is no doubt that this new base will help Sarstedt improve its storage, logistics, and distribution with enhanced and modernised facilities, and it is great to be starting on site. Through our appointment as Employers Agent, we will look to use our significant skills in this sector to deliver a successful project for all parties.”

The Development Manager at Wilson Bowden, Henry Henson added: “We are pleased that another local Leicestershire based company has decided to relocate to our Optimus Point development site, following in the footsteps of DPD, Boden, Everards, James Latham and Geary’s Bakeries.

“These deals demonstrate that there has been extensive pent up demand by local occupiers, looking for high quality industrial/ warehouse accommodation within the local area and Optimus Point offers them this ideal opportunity.”

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Centre for Biomedical Sciences completed in Nottingham

The Midlands-based contractor company G F Tomlinson has successfully completed the construction of a new Centre for Biomedical Sciences at the University Park Campus of the University of Nottingham.

The new Centre for Biomedical Sciences is a five-storey, state-of-the-art building with a BREEAM rating of excellent, containing facilities such as offices, meeting rooms, and laboratories for research into Stem Cell Biology, Cancer Science, Genetics, and Pharmacology.

The Managing Director of G F Tomlinson, Andy Sewards stated: “Having worked with the University of Nottingham on a number of projects, it is incredible to see the impact that the works have across the campus and for its many students and staff members.

“Their breakthrough research into biomolecular sciences is revolutionary, and the new centre will help increase their capability as well as the profile of the University.

“As a regional contractor, delivering higher education projects is key to our business and we are proud to say we have delivered such an important facility for the future of medical research. Well done to all the team for their hard work and dedication, which has evidently paid off to deliver this amazing project within the initially predicted time-frame.”

The Director of the Centre for Biomolecular Science, Professor Chris Denning commented: “I would like to thank all the staff from G F Tomlinson who worked on this project. They displayed a huge amount of professionalism and were a pleasure to work with; accommodating our many requests for site tours and to show our funders around this incredible facility.

“This expansion provides many exciting opportunities and allows the researchers in our Centre to be at the forefront of an interdisciplinary effort to deliver our vision – that through chemical and biological discovery and engineering, we will diagnose, treat and cure disease, and provide security for quality of life.”

The Senior Capital Projects Manager at the University of Nottingham, James Hale added: “It is great to see the expansion complete and further our vital offering at the Centre for Biomolecular Sciences. The new world-class facilities will allow us to meet the demand for increased biomolecular research and strengthens the University’s strong reputation as an international centre in the field. I would like to thank all those involved in the project, including G F Tomlinson, for helping bring our plans for the University to life.”

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Over £57M awarded to Skills for Londoners Capital Fund

Following the Prime Ministers frequent pledges to boost the number of school places under his Conservative government, the Skills for Londoners Capital Fund is scheduled to receive an investment boost of £57.6M to fund improvements to training facilities and equipment across 17 education projects.

The purpose of the Skills for Londoners Capital Fund is to support the construction and refurbishment of education and skills development facilities with a focus upon subjects such as digital, health, social care, science, technology, and construction.

Before this most recent round of funding the Mayor of London allocated financial support of £25M to the scheme, with the first round of funding involving the supply of £30M to the Richmond upon Thames College for the provision of fit-for-purpose facilities including the construction of a new campus.

The completed project came with a cost of £80M and was carried out by the contractor company ISG, entailing the construction of a five-storey teaching block opposite the existing campus which will accommodate up to 3,000 students once it opens by the end of 2019.

Another similar project, which came under the first round of funding, was the Barking and Dagenham College multi-million-pound Jubilee Building at its Rush Green campus.

The former Liberal Democrat Party leader and MP for Twickenham, Sir Vince Cable stated: “This outstanding building will turn this college into place of distinction for vocational and educational training and apprenticeships in the region, and I’m really proud to be associated with the project. We have to make sure the further education sector in the UK is properly supported.

“Post-school education is not just about universities and having a successful further education sector is absolutely critical to the future of the country. I am delighted that the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is hosting such a forward-thinking project.”

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New companies win places on the contractor league table

According to the latest research by Babour ABI, six new companies have entered the top ten places on the Barbour ABI League Table of the top 50 performing construction companies in the UK.

This month on the league table it was the company Fluor Limited which claimed the number one spot after being awarded the £800M Fawley Refinery upgrade works project, with this being the only project needed to take them to the top.

Following on from Fluor Limited there then came Balfour Beatty who accrued a total monthly income of £343M, £457M behind first place, over a total number of five projects, although it cannot be said that they are as new to the higher places on the league table as a company like Fluor.

The company to claim third place on the table, however, is definitely not as accustomed to being at the higher end of the table as Balfour Beatty as this place was won by the company Fileturn Limited, who accumulated a total income of £291M after being appointed to the £270M London Hilton, Park Lane development and refurbishment project.

In fourth and fifth came Wates Construction Limited and ISG with £220M and £211M respectively and in sixth place was the contractor company McLaren Construction which gained a total income of £190M courtesy of the redevelopment of 101 Cleveland Street in Westminster.

In seventh place came the Costain Group which were awarded the £161M Preston Western New Road project whereas McAleer and Rushe managed to steal ninth place.

The Chief Economist at Barbour ABI & AMA Research, Tom Hall stated: “October’s Brexit uncertainty failed to dampen contract awards activity, which remained strong, increasing from September. The major projects were different from the usual mix, such as the Fawley Refinery upgrade project, giving specialist construction companies an opportunity to break into the Top 50 this month”.

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