Ardmore to restart work on Greenwich Peninsula scheme

Insiders say that work is about to re-start on a ВЈ34m key scheme on London's largest single regeneration project - the ВЈ5bn Greenwich Peninsula deal.

Ardmore Construction had reached ground floor slab level on the first phase of the site's housing plan when work stopped about a year ago because of the anticipated severity of the looming economic depression.

But it is now understood that Ardmore is likely to restart work for client Bellway by the end of July or the start of August this year.

The job, initially valued at around ВЈ34m, will kickstart the site's housing programme in which 10,000 homes are planned over the next 15 years.

Ardmore's contract involves 229 riverside flats and initially weighed in at ВЈ34m.

A source claimed: "Ardmore will be asked to reprice the job, rather than it being re-tendered. But it is likely that the firm will now have to drop its price significantly - perhaps to the ВЈ30m mark."

£500m private housing fund to kickstart housebuilding sector

A  ВЈ500m  investment fund to buy up and build hundreds of new homes for private rental is on the cards.

The Government’s housing and regeneration arm, the Homes and Communities Agency, is looking for private investors to put up an initial investment of ВЈ500m. This would be used to buy up stalled housing schemes and to commission new housing schemes aimed at the private rental sector.

The HCA’s Private Rented Sector Initiative (PRSI) wants to broker the creation of a U.K property investment market for private rental, modelled on similar markets in Australia and the U.S. It is aimed at pension funds and overseas property investors looking for long term stable investment vehicles.

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Funders would recoup their investment through rental returns and potentially through rising property prices over the long term.
 
Sir Bob Kerslake, HCA chief executive, said he believed the time was right to work up the initiative with the market. He said: "“To date, achieving scale has been one of the main barriers to attracting institutional investors into the housing sector.

"We believe there is an opportunity now for the HCA to work with developers and housebuilders to offer a pipeline of projects for the PRSI, which could result in a positive outcome for all stakeholders.”

The HCA is hoping to broker the creation of the property investment fund with an intial capitalisation value of ВЈ500m by June.

CECA welcomes damning Treasury bank report

The Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) has welcomed a report by the Treasury select committee condemning the way banks are doing business with small businesses in the wake of the recession.

Today’s 129-page report, called Banking Crisis: dealing with the failure of the UK banks, said banks had not acted quickly enough to free up funds for firms.

The committee, which is chaired by Labour MP John McFall, said: “We are very concerned about the availability and terms of credit to the small business sector.

“We regret the reports of sharp increases in bank charges and arrangement fees which can often be more damaging to business than higher interest rates.”

But it reserved most ire for the way banks have ridden roughshod over the needs of their customers. It said: “We deplore the behaviour of a number of those banks who have received so much public money and behaved in such an insensitive manner.”

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CECA director Rosemary Beales said: “We know that the schemes designed to get the banks lending are not working well enough.”

A survey by the group last month revealed that close to 50% of small and medium-size civils firms had experienced difficulty getting hold of financial support from their banks while 58% said their banking costs had risen.

JCB denies refusing wage subsidy as more jobs go

JCB has denied suggestions that it refused a wage subsidy for some workers at its transmission factory in Wrexham where it is making a further 17 people redundant.

Company spokesman John Kavanagh said: “We looked into the scheme but decided it wasn’t a practical option. The £2,000 per person scheme introduced by the Welsh Assembly is not an annual payment but a one-off and is limited to 100 workers – we have 400.

“It also comes with a training dimension and as the Wrexham plant is a just-in-time supplier to our factories in Rocester there would have been a knock-on impact for the English factories, where no-such scheme exists.”

JCB has called for a broader scheme to be made available to all UK companies as seen in parts of Europe. The company said that its own short-time working arrangement has actually saved 283 of the 684 jobs losses identified in January.

Top five construction tenders - 1 May

This week's top 5 construction tenders include an ВЈ80m-ВЈ100m highways construction job to build 14km of dual carriageway, four five-year trade package frameworks for TfL totalling ВЈ65m-ВЈ100m, and a ВЈ26m office development in Stafford. The details are only a summary of what is available, for the full OJEU click on the link.

Coleraine: Highways construction

Value: ВЈ80m-ВЈ100mThe Department for Regional Development, based in Coleraine in Northern Ireland, is advertising for a contractor to provide construction, foundation and surface works on a 14km stretch of dual carriageway. The road will run from Hillhead Road to Ballyrickard Road on the A8 transport corridor between Belfast and Larne.Deadline: 3 JuneADVERTISEMENT

 

London: Station enhancements

Value: ВЈ65m-ВЈ100mTransport for London is seeking contractors for four five-year trade package frameworks to work on its station enhancement projects. The four lots are: Mechanical (ВЈ15m-ВЈ25m); Fire Systems (ВЈ15m-ВЈ20m); Tiling (ВЈ10m-ВЈ20m); Site Facilities (ВЈ25m-ВЈ35m). TfL is looking for up to six framework suppliers for each lot.Deadline: 26 May

Stafford: Office blocks

Value: ВЈ26mStoford Developments, based in Birmingham, is looking for a contractor to build two buildings with 12,500m2 of office space at Tipping St, Stafford. The ВЈ22m construction works will be procured under a single stage design and build route. The work also includes a ВЈ4m fit-out, 1,100m2 of retail space, pedestrian area, landscaping and roads infrastructure. The buildings must meet a BREEAM 2008 for offices "Excellent" rating.Deadline: 10 August

Liverpool: Regeneration framework

Value: ВЈ10mLiverpool City Council is advertising for contractors to join a four-year framework for upgrading public realm and highways in and around Liverpool city centre. The works are part of the continued regeneration of Liverpool and will be divided into around 10 projects in defined areas around the city.Deadline: 26 May

Dunfermline: Primary school

Value: ВЈ9mFife Council is looking to invite five contractors to tender for the design and build of a new primary school in South Fod West, serving eastern Dunfermline. The winning contractor will also provice all associated infrastructure and external works. The floor area of the complete building will be 4,000m2 and the site will include sporting facilities and soft landing, as well as pedestrian and vehicle access.Deadline: 1 June

Wolseley cuts 250 jobs in Lancs and Oxfordshire

Plumbing giant Wolseley is axing more than 250 jobs at two sites in Lancashire and Oxfordshire.

The bulk of the losses will be made at its distribution centre in Chorley with 133 jobs going when the lease on the building expires this August.

And it is also closing a distribution centre in Didcot with the loss of 76 jobs. Both sites have begun a 90-day consultation for affected staff.

UK managing director Rob Marchbank blamed the recession for the cuts and added: “Any job losses are regrettable, however there is a need to adjust our business to the prevailing market conditions.”

Surgo Construction sees 435% profit increase

Surgo Construction has seen pre-tax profit surge by 435% to just over ВЈ3m for the year ended 31 October 2008.

The increase came despite a much more modest 6.4% rise in turnover to ВЈ54.8m.

The contractor, based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, said margins were "out-performing all previous years".

But the firm, which was known as Bowey Construction until the company decided to change its name in 2004, warned that the current trading environment was “certainly tougher than this time 12 months ago with procurement levels notably lower.”

Despite this, the company described its order book as "strong", with work in hand for the year in excess of ВЈ45m from a projected sales turnover of ВЈ61m.

The highest-paid director received a pay rise of almost 57%, taking his wage packet to ВЈ586,314 for the year. Meanwhile contributions of ВЈ15,550 were paid into his pension pot.