Welsh government investment sees work begin on Welshpool project

The start of site preparation works on Charlies Stores new headquarters and e-commerce fulfilment centre was marked by a visit from Welsh Economy Secretary, Ken States, as the first turf was cut on the seven-acre site.

Charlies Stores Managing Director Designate, Rebecca Lloyd, joined him as the site is prepared for the planned 108,000 sq ft facility.

The Welsh government is investing over £750,000 to enable Charlies Stores to build the company’s new headquarters and e-commerce fulfilment centre on Offa’s Dyke Business Park in Welshpool.

Mr Skates said: “The Welsh Government has worked closely with Charlies Stores to support their plans to expand and grow in mid Wales and I am delighted work is now underway preparing the site for development.

The work includes levelling the site, diverting a public footpath, the demolition of existing infrastructure works including a length of road and an electricity sub station.

Rebecca Lloyd said: “We are delighted to see groundwork begin on our new headquarters and distribution centre. We are proud to call mid Wales our home and are pleased we can continue to do this with this new state-of-the-art facility.”

Once work on the site is complete in August, the site will then be sold to Charlies Stores.

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3G camera protects company from false motor claim

A roadside assistance and vehicle recovery company from Hampshire was able to successfully defend against a false insurance claim by using video evidence taken from a 3G camera.

A driver of a motorhome claimed that one of Ravenscroft Motors’ car transporters jumped a red light resulting in a crash at the A331 Interchange near Frimley, Surrey.

Footage taken using Intelligent Telematics’ IT1000 3G camera meant that the company were able to prove the allegations to be false, saving a bill of over £6,000 in repair costs.

The footage shows the moments leading up to the collision, contradicting the motorhome driver’s version of events.

It shows the car transporter travelling in the same direction as the motorhome and not entering the roundabout from an alternative route, disproving the red light claim. It then reveals the motorhome switching lanes without due care, resulting in significant damage to the offside front corner of the car transporter and the rear of the motorhome.

Martin Brimson, Transport Manager at Ravenscroft Motors said: “The cost of repairs to our vehicle alone was more than £6,000, so the overall claim could have reached over £15,000 had we not been able to challenge this false driving allegation.

“We installed the IT1000 vehicle cameras on 70 vehicles last year to help reduce insurance costs and better handle the claims process, while at the same time provide a way of engaging with our drivers to promote responsible driving. Having access to HD footage of driving incidents within minutes of them occurring has been invaluable, enabling us to respond quickly to any given situation.”

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Working at height still biggest danger in construction industry

Working at height remains the most significant hazard on a building site according to a survey carried out by the Building Safety Group.

The report was based on the findings of over 2,000 site inspections carried out last year, with working at height accounting for 19% of all incidents recorded.

The total number of incidents in 2016 logged by safety officers was 24,634, with the second biggest breach of regulations coming in the shape of dust/fumes at 5%.

The results follow a similar pattern to latest figures on the construction industry published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which placed falls from height as the biggest single cause of fatalities in the workplace, despite a drop in the overall numbers.

On the last five years, 97 construction workers were killed, accounting for 45% of all fatal injuries.

Falls from height were also the number one cause of non-fatal accident related injury, responsible for 33% all non-fatal injuries, including 11% of the injuries resulting in an absence of more than seven days.

The report also revealed that the three main causes of falls from height injuries and fatalities are fragile roof lights, scaffolding and ladders – all of which are easily preventable.

Building Safety Group’s Technical Manager, Chris Chapman, commented: “Working at Height is clearly the most dangerous activity carried out in the construction sector. Everyone can do more to ensure that work is properly planned, supervised and conducted by qualified workers who have the required skills for the task in hand.

“To significantly reduce the dangers of working at height, construction companies should always try to complete as much work as possible from the ground, ensure safe access and egress and importantly, make certain that any equipment used is suitable, stable and strong enough for the job.”

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City of London Corporation award £4.6M Facilities management deal

The City of London Corporation has awarded Skanska a contract to carry out mechanical and electrical maintenance and be responsible for the upkeep of Corporation’s buildings.

The City Corporation’s property also includes areas outside of the capital including Epping Forest, Hampstead Heath, Tilbury Docks and Burnham Beeches.

The portfolio consists of buildings such as schools, police stations, libraries and a large investment portfolio of commercial offices, retail and leisure facilities.

The contract worth £4.6M will begin in July this year for a duration of five years, with the option to renew for a further two years.

Pete Collinson, Operations Group Director at the City of London Corporation, said: “We’re pleased to appoint Skanska with the demanding task of delivering a quality maintenance service to our built environment and our heritage and green spaces. Providing continued maintenance and improvement to our property and facilities for the benefit of visitors and users is an ongoing priority.”

The City Corporation is a unique public body, with a large and diverse portfolio of properties.

Iconic infrastructure in the capital includes Mansion House, Tower Bridge, the Old Bailey, the Guildhall and the Barbican together with Smithfield and Spitalfields markets.

Katy Dowding, Managing Director at Skanska, commented: “We are thrilled to have won this contract. We look forward to working with this prestigious new customer. We’ll be using lots of new ideas and innovations to deliver a first-class service.”

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FTA calls on next government to support freight industry

The Freight Transport Association has urged the next government to provide support to the logistics industry as it transitions to Clean Air Zone regulations as they look to cut vehicle emissions.

In the FTA’s General Election Manifesto, the Association said the support must also include help in developing the alternatively fuelled vehicle market and not just a reliance on imposing heavy taxes on diesel users. The FTA claimed that such a heavy-handed approach would result in suffocating economic growth and increasing prices throughout the economy.

Christopher Snelling, Head of National Policy at FTA said that the logistics industry had made big strides in reducing its environmental impact in recent years but there still significant work to be done.

He said: “It is vital that the next UK government continues to help and support freight and logistics operators as they work to comply with the latest Clean Air Zone regulations, and should not be using the industry as a sector for a problem which is the responsibility of all. There is no environmental purpose to increasing diesel duty on vans and lorries, as unlike diesel car drivers, operators of these vehicles currently have no realistic alternative.

“FTA members are also calling on the next government to take one simple step to boost economic performance: research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) has shown that the introduction of a 3p per litre reduction in fuel duty would boost the economy and be revenue neutral for the Government, since rises in other tax receipts would offset losses on fuel duty, and the resulting additional spending would reinvigorate the economy.”

Amongst the FTA’s manifesto other requests was more spending in road and rail infrastructure and free access for the UK freight and logistics industry to the EU market post-Brexit.

The UK’s logistics sector is worth over £121Bn to the UK economy and employs over 2.5 million people nationwide.

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FMB: SMEs should play key role in Tory house building plans

The Federation of Master Builders has called on the Conservative Party to make SMEs central to their revised ambitious house building programme.

The response comes as the government released its manifesto and expanded upon its current target of building one million new homes by 2020 to 1.5 million homes by 2022.

The government will also utilise its land to build 160,000 homes.

There will be a greater emphasis on building high quality homes with a higher density.

Sarah McMonagle, Director of External Affairs at the FMB, welcomed the Conservative Party’s acknowledgement of the scale of the housing crisis but warned these targets could only be achieved by enabling a greater mix of companies within the house building sector.

She said: “The decline in the number and output of smaller local house builders over the past few decades has led to the industry’s capacity haemorrhaging. To deliver the PM’s vision we will need to reverse this. The Manifesto’s explicit pledge to diversify the delivery of new homes is therefore extremely welcome. Key to doing this will be being able to build on some of the sensible reforms outlined in the recent Housing White Paper, which we hope to see implemented.”

“The Conservative Party’s manifesto sets out an ambition not only to build more, but to build better. There is a welcome emphasis on balancing the pressure for increasing the delivery of new properties with the need to deliver those homes to a high standard. As is widely recognised, smaller scale house builders have a strong focus on quality. By supporting greater diversity in terms of the companies building our new homes, a Conservative Government would be killing two birds with one stone. This is a vision that SMEs can build on.“

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£6M University of Huddersfield project now underway

Work on the £6M upgrade of the University of Huddersfield’s Joseph Priestley Building has begun that will provide new science facilities.

The building dates back to the 1960s when it was known as the ‘Z building’, due to its unique shape. Over the years it has undergone numerous refits and upgrades but the University say the latest enhancements are the most ambitious yet.

The construction work will see the lowest three of the four storeys gutted and will be completely remodelled internally.

The façade will also feature finned metal cladding to fit in with the surrounding architecture.

The building was formerly known as the West Building hosting both student and staff in both Applied Sciences and the Humanities before changing its name in recognition of a local scientist famed for his discovery of oxygen.

University of Huddersfield Director of Estates and Facilities Colin Blair: “This allows the School of Applied Sciences to grow and from next year its students will have better facilities than ever.”

A link will also be built to connect the Joseph Priestley Building to a planned new science block that is currently being used as a car park.

Rick Smeaton, Bardsley Regional Manager in Yorkshire, commented: “This contract represents our first major project for the University of Huddersfield and provides our Yorkshire office with an ideal opportunity to enhance our reputation for the delivery of high quality and bespoke educational facilities.”

Work on the project is due to complete by the end of the year.

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