On the face of it... - the Aquarian Cladding Blog

Homesteading in the wild, wild West Country

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:45:00 +0000

There was a very interesting article in the Guardian last week, written by Anita Pati regarding the practice of Homesteading. And this time the staking of land is happening here in the wild, wild West Country!

Bristol city council launched a homesteading pilot scheme in 2011 with the aim of eventually releasing up to 12 pre-1919 empty properties, in urgent need of modernisation, to homesteaders each year. The idea is that the new owner, or homesteader, will acquire the property by purchasing it from the council at a reduced price of 50% of its potential value and then carrying out modernisation to the property themselves, supported by low interest loans and grants, such as the Green Deal and Wessex Reinvestment Trust loans, to fund their renovation work.

It’s a win-win as the homesteaders are first-time buyers who would otherwise not be able to afford to get on the property ladder and the council will be entitled to 50% of the property value when it is subsequently sold.

It has political support too. November's government housing strategy mentioned homesteading in its bidding guidance. Under the affordable homes framework, it said that "properties may be brought back into use as part of a homesteading scheme, where residents (or future residents) contribute their labour in exchange for a reduced rent or (in a shared ownership scheme) an increase in the share they own in the property".

The idea was also mooted at the Liberal Democrat conference last autumn, when communities minister, Andrew Stunell announced the government was working with councils to identify where homesteading schemes could rejuvenate local communities.

Here at Aquarian Cladding Systems we will be able to provide a perfect solution to the homesteaders should they wish to insulate and overclad their property with a long term, durable facade such as natural brick, whilst keeping wall thickness to a minimum. As the UK distributor of Gebrik, which is the only prefabricated brick slip cladding system in the UK, we see the potential benefit to the homesteaders (who are likely to be semi-skilled) being the ability to clad their buildings themselves, with support from our site support team.

We can help them assess their requirements, supply all parts of the system (which has a current BBA certificate) and provide guidance to ensure it is applied correctly. It is unlikely that any other external wall insulation solution will be as simple to install and provide such long term performance.

The one condition for buyers is that they must remain in the house for five years, which will encourage the homesteaders to become part of the community that they have helped to improve. Surely a small price to pay?

Where Good Ideas Come From...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 09:26:00 +0000

In recent newsletters, we’ve concluded with links to videos of people doing some fairly odd things with bricks! Here we’ve had a slight change of tack. You may have come across Steven Johnson before, but this video encapsulates some really interesting approaches to innovation and struck a real chord with us. There aren’t as many laughs, but nevertheless, Steven has an entertaining style - we hope you enjoy his approach…..

Fuel poverty is bad for your health and the economy...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:19:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, John Healey one of Labour’s (many) former Housing Ministers spoke at the National Housing Federation conference – sharing with the audience some of his thoughts on the state of the housing sector and the impact of the coalition’s policies.

As you would expect, there were some pretty clear criticisms in his speech of the spending cuts and the impact they will have on the housing sector in particular and the economy in general.

Party politics to one side though, I thought that he made some interesting observations about the links between health and housing, making the point for example that poorly heated or insulated homes can lead to hypothermia and ultimately to deaths and how overcrowded homes can lead to the rapid spread of infectious diseases.
Consequently the quality of our housing stock has a direct causal link with the health of the nation, a link which not only has social implications but also economic consequences. For example, the Audit Commission calculated that for every £1 spent on housing support for vulnerable people, £2 would be saved in the reduced costs of health services, tenancy failure, crime and residential care. To coin a well worn cliché then, if a cross-department view were taken, such spending could be seen as sensible investment rather than as a pure cost. Supporting this view, the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health reported that health costs of £600 million arise every year directly from poor housing.

Healey asserts that the economic benefits go wider than this though and that for every £1m of public investment in housing refurbishment, 17 jobs are created and that completing the Decent Homes programme would support 54,000 jobs.

He also argues that the separation of health and housing responsibilities makes it much harder for governments to make sound and sensible policies, but does say that the last Labour government was effective in more closely linking the two areas - with the Decent Homes programme affecting more than 1.4 million homes and the encouragement of closer local working between housing and health providers (citing as an example the recent ‘Healthy Homes’ initiative launched jointly by Liverpool Council and Liverpool PCT which targets the health and housing needs of families living in 25,000 homes across the city).

Furthermore, a report released this week states that between 2004 and 2009 domestic electricity prices increased by over 75%, while gas prices increased by over 122% over the same period. This suggests to me that it’s not just our existing housing stock to be concerned with but in future all houses will not only be valued by location and numbers of bedrooms but also their running costs.

As a company with close links to the social and private housing sector, we’d certainly endorse some of these views. Products such as our own Gebrik insulating brick cladding system not only deliver performance advantages (better insulation, improved aesthetics, reduced energy costs etc) but can also provide better living environments for home owners and tenants – with a consequent benefit to both short and long term health.

I have to confess that I don’t remember this argument being made by Labour when the party was in power, but it does make interesting reading – and it’s hard to argue with the logic of more closely linking health and housing. Interestingly when Aneurin Bevan led the legislation to set up the NHS through Parliament in 1946, he was Secretary of State for Health and Housing; maybe he was on to something….

Woah! Be careful...!!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:14:00 +0000

This may be a bit of an urban myth but if only he’d used a lightweight brick system...?!

Facing the facts...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:04:00 +0000

Recent months have seen the release of some interesting reports and announcements as the government’s policies towards public sector procurement further crystallize – at least with respect to the construction sector.

In the housing sector, there’s been the announcement of an initial trial site for the Green Deal. Initially covering 2,500 social housing properties in Manchester, this pilot retrofit scheme is expected to be the model for future programmes.

Meanwhile the much-trailed James Review into school building has also recently been released. The report (as expected) was critical of the BSF programme, but also made recommendations for the future, the adoption of which the author suggests would cut 30% off school building costs.

Whilst both reports highlight the benefits of more efficient construction practices and point to future growth, other areas of the market are exhibiting signs of rapid growth already. For example, the budget hotel market has grown by a staggering 35%, since the recession hit in 2008. Research conducted by Marvin Gold Consulting, has found that since 2008, 20,000 rooms have been added to the budget sector and in the next two decades a budget hotel is expected to be built, opened or converted every five days.

It seems that the benefits of modern methods of construction are finally being realised – with modularity, certainty, predictability, efficiency, performance and value every bit as important as aesthetics and design. But then with modern materials there’s no reason why all of this can’t be achieved.

£10k per household for energy-efficiency improvements...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Fri, 27 May 2011 17:17:00 +0000

What great news that the government have recently announced within the proposed new Energy Bill that homeowners will be able to apply for up to £10,000 per household to pay for energy-efficiency improvements on their properties. The money – which will be paid back in energy savings over 20 years – is almost double the previous figure of £6,500, which was originally proposed.

Ministers claim that it will be biggest home-improvement programme in Britain since the Second World War and the proposals are central to the Government's attempts to reduce household emissions by 30 per cent by 2020.

It is also suggested that external improvements such as double glazing and over-cladding will be encouraged within the energy-efficiency measures available. This is to address concerns that if all the energy savings provided by the scheme were "invisible", such as cavity and loft insulation, the take-up might be low.

This is potentially a real boost for Aquarian Cladding and the EWI market as a whole, with homeowners being offered the chance to not only improve the thermal performance of their home but also carry out aesthetic improvements – such as giving the home an entirely new brick facade!

A word of caution however - a similar scheme in Australia was scrapped earlier this year after it emerged that 160,000 homes were fitted with sub-standard insulation and 80,000 faced safety risks from the work. Clearly lessons will need to be learned and the potential for an extra 100,000 jobs as a result of the programme will need very careful managing...

On our way Towards Zero

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 10:13:00 +0000

Amid all the debate and analysis of the residential new build and refurbishment sectors, I was interested to read a recent report by construction group Skanska which looked at the market for green commercial retrofit projects. It contained quite a few reasons to be optimistic.

The report, ‘Towards Zero’, covers the results of a survey of 51 senior UK executives in commercial development businesses, 35% of which have already been involved in a green retrofit or refurbishment project.

Among the reports findings, around one third of respondents identified the green retrofit market to be a growing sector, with the growth a result of a combination of factors - government support, an increasing demand from client companies and the growing importance of Corporate Social Responsibility. Of those businesses who hadn't yet undertaken a green retrofit or refurbishment project, over 50% had already seen an increased interest in such projects, with nearly a third intending to undertake a project in the future. And one thing's for sure, starting from July 2011 it will be mandatory for all organisations using more than 6,000MWh per year of electricity (equivalent to an annual electricity bill of about £500,000) to start reporting carbon emissions to the government as part of the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme so their will be good economic reasons for large estate holders to address their inefficient and tired old buildings.

The report did though acknowledge that there are challenges to be overcome. 71% of respondents noted that projects can be difficult to get right, because an integrated and planned approach is needed from the outset, while 61% said the planning system needed to be changed to make the most of green technologies.
On the whole though, this sounds like good news for developers, contractors and manufacturers of modern building materials. For example our own Gebrik system could provide an ideal solution for a wide range of retail and commercial projects (particularly in sensitive planning areas where brick has to be used) with work able to be carried out without inconveniencing customers.

And with the potential to add a 100mm additional layer of insulation to an existing facade before over-cladding with Gebrik, clients could see the U values of their buildings reduce by as much as 75% - all with an overall wall thickness less than a half brick skin – delivering both cost and CSR benefits in terms of energy and carbon reduction.

It’s an interesting market sector with challenges and opportunities in equal measure. The report definitely provides plenty of food for thought. What do you think?

Is the industry still able to make an exhibition of itself?

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 18:00:00 +0000

Following the news that Interbuild 2011 has been cancelled, I set out to visit the annual Ecobuild exhibition last week curious to see whether this show was taking over Interbuild’s mantle as the ‘industry’s showcase’ or whether in fact trade exhibitions as a whole were in terminal decline.

I suppose to some extent I would have to say the jury is still out. Ecobuild appeared to be fairly busy, with the exhibitors that I spoke to all reporting a quiet first day followed by two busier days. But looking around at my fellow attendees, I couldn’t help but think that students were taking up a good proportion of the audience – together with other suppliers, visiting the show like I was. Again, according to my rather unscientific straw poll, it seemed that architects, developers, contractors and local authorities weren’t particularly well represented. Of course, it is a good thing that the Industry's future specifiers and users were interested in the show but they won't pay today's marketing budgets and it will be interesting to learn of the who's who of attendees and their relevance to the exhibitors.

It’s fairly obvious that attracting decent numbers of good quality visitors is the key requirement for any exhibition organiser, so surely there are a number of things that need to be in place to encourage a busy professional to give up the best part of a day. After all, they have to get value from their visit. So did they at Ecobuild? Granted there was a full programme of lectures, ranging from Installer Skills to Regulations Revisited but too many clashed! Admittedly there were quite a few exhibitors that I hadn’t previously seen and so the opportunities for networking were useful – but would that be enough for a specifier or buyer to feel it was time well spent? I’m not convinced.

What was most annoying however was that the exhibition was not the easiest to get to. Although ExCel has great facilities, my door to door travelling time was the best part of eight hours, leaving a little over three hours to circumnavigate the two exhibition halls! In return for that commitment, the exhibition really has to deliver something special to make the cost and time investment worthwhile. And the show closed at 4.00pm! Surely it would be better for visitors if it stayed open through the evening to allow more time for the day travellers and to encourage the more of London's construction community to either give up just half a day (or an evening?) of their valuable time to attend? I can’t help feeling that the organisers are missing a trick here and aren’t fully considering the needs of the visitors.

So, is it the death knell for the construction industry trade show? On the positive side, the event was well supported by exhibitors and speakers but unless the organisers make it an easy and worthwhile experience for visitors, I think that might be the faint tolling of a bell I can hear. If you went to the show, I’d be really interested to hear your views…..

A silver lining...?

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:18:00 +0000

Amidst some fairly predictable post-Christmas media doom and gloom, I’ve been interested to read a growing number of articles which are forecasting significant growth in the refurbishment sector – particularly with regard to schools and offices.

Against a background of the continued fallout from the BSF ‘debate’, the government recently announced a new injection of £91m for the education sector. Although not a huge sum, the money has been earmarked specifically for the repair and refurbishment of sixth form colleges which to date have largely missed out on building funds at the expense of other projects.

This initiative comes on the back of the government’s announcement that the compulsory education/ training age is to rise to 18 in 2013 – and so recognising that sixth form colleges will need to be able to meet the increased demand for places with suitable facilities.

Meanwhile it seems that the commercial sector may also be the source of significant new work. Whilst it’s by no means a new train of thought, the argument is that if economic conditions are causing businesses to consolidate, shrink or even cease trading, then the new-build office sector will inevitably suffer.

In the office rental sector, landlords will therefore be encouraged to spend money on the refurbishment of their properties – both to retain existing clients coming to the end of their leases and to attract new business in what has become a ferociously competitive market. And with companies less likely to move through expansion, a new surge in alteration and conversion work is predicted – as businesses look to squeeze value out of their existing premises through conversions, redesigns and refurbishments.

It’s not just the private sector though that is forecast to expand. The public sector too is expected to be a healthy source of RMI work, with the government reclaiming unused buildings which will be refurbished and sold on for office space as part of an initiative to stimulate economic growth. It seems that thousands of available buildings across the country are likely to be called into use, earmarked for industry and trade.

So, it seems that RMI may well provide a growing vein of work for architects, contractors and materials producers alike - some suggesting an even split in the industry between new-build and RMI.

Maybe the ‘age of austerity’ is also the cause for some optimism!

What a system...!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:42:00 +0000

Judging by the reaction to the alternative brick distribution system highlighted in the last newsletter, I thought you might be interested in this even more unusual way of passing bricks through the system

…..maybe I could tempt him to a bite-sized version…… ‘Gebrik Lite’?

Where has 2010 gone……?

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:28:00 +0000

2010 seems to have come and gone in a bit of a blur! Certainly there’s been a huge amount of change in the year - not least with the new coalition government, its comprehensive spending reviews and revised budgets.

Despite the merry-go-round of initiatives, investment plans and budget cuts, we’ve actually seen a number of significant projects move from design through construction to completion. Click here to read more about a wide range projects that we have completed during the year.

I’ve no doubt that 2011 will bring an equally interesting set of challenges – and that the year will go by just as quickly and be every bit as eventful as 2010!! So on behalf of everyone here at Aquarian Cladding, may I sincerely thank you for your support and interest in 2010 and wish you a very happy Christmas, followed by a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Back to school for the new 3R's

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 12:27:00 +0000

So now we know that local authorities have had their allocations for their Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for 2011-12 and it appears to be good news! I understand that no authority will lose more than 2 per cent of its budget in cash terms compared with 2010-11, which hopefully means the local authorities can now start working with their schools to plan how they are to spend it.

With spending money on school estates in mind, I was interested to see a booklet recently produced by the British Council for School Environments (BCSE), which looks at the opportunities for refurbishing existing schools under the heading of 'Refresh, Refurbish and Re-use'. As we all know, the BSF programme for new build is dead and whilst we wait until January for the findings, courtesy of the James Review, combined with the increasing need to reduce carbon emissions and the drive to increase the number of independent academies, this publication provides some excellent reasons and benefits for refurbishing the existing stock. To download a copy visit https://www.bsria.co.uk/bookshop/books/rethinking-schools-capital-investment-the-new-3rs-refresh-refurbish-reuse/

(Incidentally these two photos were taken before and after a school in Eastleigh was refurbished with Gebrik. Visit our case studies page for more details)

Is the Green Deal the Real Deal?

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:59:00 +0000

I think we’ve all become slightly wary (and just a little cynical) over the last decade as a seemingly endless stream of government initiatives have been rolled out. Although not all have been a raging success, some have brought positive changes and much needed investment to the construction sector.

The most recent initiative looks like it might deliver a boost to the housing sector in particular, whilst also helping the government meet the UK’s ambitious carbon reduction targets.

‘The Green Deal’ is the coalition’s programme to help households and businesses implement energy efficiency measures, without having to meet any upfront costs – all of which sounds very attractive, with the programme backed by a totally new finance mechanism designed specifically to meet the needs of people and business.

The programme could impact on every aspect of the market including rented, social and private properties, with owners offered funding to carry out environment-friendly refurbishments and then paying back the cost over a long period from the savings made on their energy bills.

Just doing some quick calculations, I see that up to £400 per year can be saved in fuel bills using EWI. So, if you were to clad an average terrace house (say 40m2) with our Gebrik Insulating Cladding system (supplied at @ £80.00 per m2) the payback period would be just eight years; an end terrace house of say 80m2 would be closer to 16 years. Of course that’s based on the owner doing the work themselves; if it was carried out by a specialist, the pay back periods would be closer to 13 and 26years. Clearly funding will be subject to specific criteria and an energy survey will have to be carried out, but in principle this has the makings of a very positive initiative. (As an aside, am I alone in thinking that the (cheaper) alternative of filling cavities with insulation is storing up a whole lot of future problems? Surely cavities are there for a reason!! I can’t help thinking that we are in store for a whole lot of water penetration problems as a result of abridged cavities?)

There are however some areas that could prove controversial (it wouldn’t be a government initiative without a little controversy…); for example, powers will be introduced to allow tenants to demand reasonable energy efficiency improvements to be made to their rented property, forcing private landlords to carry out the works. Local authorities will also be able to insist that landlords improve their worst-performing homes.

Overall, the government expects the Green Deal to be available from autumn 2012 with ministers saying that up to 14 million homes could benefit from energy-saving measures by 2020, generating up to 250,000 new jobs.

With the UK housing stock responsible for about a quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions, and the heating of non-domestic building accounting for around a further tenth, this could just prove to be a significant programme if those legally binding carbon budget targets are to be met.

This might just be the real deal…….

"To the uneducated an A is just three sticks" (Eeyore in Pooh's Little Instruction Book)

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:47:00 +0000

I was reading my three year old son his bedtime story last night which made me smile. In it Eeyore was having a conversation with Winnie, which goes like this:

"It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily.

"So it is."

"And freezing."

"Is it?"

"Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately."

It made me think that it is impossible at times not to dwell on, perhaps even relish (in an Eeyore kind of way), the negative media coverage of the past year or so. Granted, these are still very uncertain times but when I peer through all the doom and gloom I remain pleasantly surprised by the healthy levels of enquiries for our cladding solutions. The pattern of these enquiries shows the typical projects to be schools (both new-build and refurb), student accommodation and social housing retrofit.

Without doubt, these market sectors remain tough and competitive, but we are seeing that the flow of construction output in the BSF programme remains strong, thanks to the surge in projects reaching financial close prior to the axe wielded by the government last summer and because school refurbishment is high on the agenda.

With regard to refurbishing our housing stock, I was interested to read Boris Johnson’s announcement of his climate change and energy plans. Although not quite as headline-grabbing as his “Kosovo social cleansing” analogy, his strategy paper ‘Delivering London's Energy Future' nevertheless contained some interesting approaches. As London’s homes create a third of all its carbon emissions, the paper sets out plans to make the city a leading energy efficient, low carbon capital.

Part of this initiative is the RE:NEW programme, which aims to make domestic properties more energy efficient – looking at everything from low-energy light bulbs to solar panels. However the plans also extend to improving thermal efficiency, and with up to 1.2 million homes set to benefit by 2015, estimates suggest it could eventually save around 820,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

Boris’s strategy though is just one of a number of programmes that have been announced to help improve energy efficiency; other examples include Birmingham Council’s plan to partner with banks and energy suppliers to improve 10,000 properties across the city.

In many ways we’re still only scratching the surface of the problem, but at long last it does seem that not only is there a recognition of the need to make fundamental improvements to the UK’s housing stock, but also signs of a commitment to make it happen. Is it really ALL doom and gloom...?

UK housing stock needs to be refurbished at one house every minute...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 15:30:00 +0000

I was really interested to read a summary of the Build with CaRe (carbon reduction) conference which was hosted last week by the University of East Anglia.

The organisation, which aims to bring energy-efficient design into mainstream housing across the EU, has underlined that the refurbishment of housing stock is the absolute priority for the UK if its ambitious energy and carbon reduction targets are to be met.

Nothing really new there I thought, until I saw their eye-watering statistic that if energy and carbon emission targets are to be met, the UK housing stock must be refurbished at a rate of one house every minute for the next 40 years! That’s over 20 million homes at an estimated cost of £500 billion, or £250 million each week up to 2050.

Certainly there are systems and construction methods being used very effectively now that can deliver the required efficiencies – solutions like our own Gebrik insulating brick cladding system have a dramatic effect on a building’s thermal performance. But the issue of funding seems unlikely to be squared – particularly in the context of the £4 billion cut which the coalition made to the social housing budget in last week’s Comprehensive Spending Review.

And to really compound the issue, delegates were also reminded that if action isn’t taken, then not only will the targets be difficult to meet, but it is likely that rising fuel costs will bring increasing numbers of families into fuel poverty.

One thing’s for sure, this is a subject which isn’t going to go away – with social, economic and environmental pressures in equal measure, it should be keeping plenty of people awake at night. In fact, I hope it is….it’s too important not to.

The Lessons of BSF

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 12:24:00 +0000

Well our negative, 'half-empty' media have done their best to make us all feel thoroughly fed up as a result of Michael Gove's announcement yesterday to scrap the BSF programme.

Essentially the headline announcement was for 715 BSF school projects to be cancelled, including 180 new build, 319 refurbished and 63 ICT-only, with 32 yet to be confirmed.

Of course this is incredibly bad news for the construction industry and terrible news for governors & headmasters who have had their hopes of better facilities for their pupils dashed. Even more importantly our children will potentially have to continue to learn in increasingly cold, damp & crumbling buildings not fit for education. Perhaps the biggest lessons being learned will be in tolerance and understanding?!

As is my wont, I am trying to think positively and under the headlines I see that since the programme started in 2004, 180 schools have been completed (of which we have supplied over 10,000sqm of Gebrik for new-build and refurbishment). I believe Mr Gove announced that approx 500 schemes, where work is at advanced stage, will carry on, 123 academy projects that have not reached financial close will be reviewed on a case by case basis, and 14 sample projects in schemes that have reached close of dialogue stage are also to be reviewed on a case by case basis.

To my uneducated eye this is surely not all bad news? Furthermore, a review panel to be chaired by Sebastian James, advised by Sir John Egan (remember him?) and including Kevin Grace, director of property services at Tesco, Barry Quirk, the chief executive of Lewisham, and John Hood, the former vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford will seek to prioritise future projects on the basis of the condition of the building rather than the educational need.

This isn't exactly a socialist ideal but in these current financially austere times it at least seems to make good business sense?

A reflection on the past three weeks/years

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:29:00 +0000

So the England football team’s dream of creating world cup history is over before it started, we’ve beaten Australia in the cricket and even beaten them at rugby down in their playground (not that our football-loving press would know!). Andy Murray is in the semi-final at Wimbledon, we’ve had the longest day (so the nights are now drawing in) and, oh yes, we’ve had what may prove to be an historic budget from our new coalition government. All during the three weeks since my last blog! My, how time flies?!

Much has been said on all of the above and as much as I am inclined to wax lyrical on the failings of our egotistical and scandalously over-paid footballers I thought I would simply make comment on the budget, which seems to me to have left most of us in the industry breathing a sigh of relief. Maybe Mr Cameron’s PR skills simply prepared us for the worst, particularly as a week before the budget it was announced that a few billion pounds worth of projects was to be axed!

It has been said elsewhere but the fact that Mr Osborne repeatedly used the words ‘growth’ and ‘capital spending’ must be seen as encouraging. The budget also appears to be fair and has undoubtedly set a clearer idea of the government’s plans to reduce the financial deficit, particularly driven by cuts to operational spending rather than capital spending. When you factor in reductions in corporation tax it seems the budget has set a blueprint which I genuinely believe encourages the private sector to eventually pick up the baton from government (though of course this will take time).

I was very disappointed that there wasn’t greater incentive towards green investment in the budget, despite Mr Cameron saying “I want us to be the greenest government ever”. However Grant Schapps recent assertion that the definition of carbon zero will soon be (at last) finalised was cause for optimism and perhaps Mr Osborne sees it as a given that future investment will naturally be good for the environment?!

Of course no-one wants to see their job on the line and the VAT increase is not great for small builders in the domestic sector, so all is not good but how else are we to reduce the debt? It’s going to be a hell of a rollercoaster but without doubt the government gets the picture. Growth of the UK economy remains the forecast of the OBR so, as always, companies that understand their value and seek to become even more valuable contributors to the supply chain will not only survive the financial head wind but grow.

We have just completed our third financial year and when I reflect on it I wonder if I had known what I know now would I have done it? £2M and many, many lessons later, the answer is a resounding ‘Yes’. I feel confident that with the continued loyal support of our suppliers and customers we can continue to grow and we will ensure that when we are in the supply chain our service and product portfolio will continue to be considered of value.

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:34:00 +0000

If you are involved with the education sector I highly recommend registering to receive a copy of edb magazine. Education Design & Build magazine is published by Stable Publishing and distributed bi-monthly in hard copy and electronic format. It is in my opinion one of the best construction magazines with a good mix of editorial content and adverts featuring projects, interviews and products relevant to the education sector. We have had a few projects featured over the past 8 months including the refurbishment to Trinity School on p37 of the May/June edition ( incidentally, we are so pleased with this project that we have recently released a new case study, which can be downloaded from our website).
To register for a free copy visit http://www.edbmagazine.co.uk/

Zero Carbon Commitment By Our New Coalition Government

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Fri, 28 May 2010 15:02:00 +0000

Great news that the Housing Minister Grant Schapps confirmed in Swindon yesterday that our new coalition government remain committed to all new homes being built to zero carbon by 2016. However it's hardly surprising considering that nearly half of the UK’s carbon emissions come from the built environment and homes account for 27 per cent of those emissions! It seems a no-brainer to me!?

What we urgently need is a clear definition of what zero carbon means, so that we in the supply chain can ensure we have cost effective solutions, to deal with the demand from housing providers, to get on and develop the eco-friendly houses needed for future generations.

Another Unite project reaching conclusion

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Thu, 20 May 2010 09:00:00 +0000

I was on site at Islington with our specialist cladding contractor MetClad last week and was blown away by the progress made on the site since my last visit 6 weeks ago. They are working with RG Group for Unite, the student accommodation providers, and are cladding volumetric pods manufactured by Unite at their factory in Stroud with Gebrik, cedar and a metal rainscreen and it looks fantastic. We supplied our first of 5 loads early February and they expect to be finished within the next few weeks on schedule, having installed approx 2400sqm. I've attached a photo of a courtyard area - and not a scaffold in sight (or on site)!
I am not alone in believing that the growth of MMC will continue through this next period of economic recovery and will increasingly comprise multiple strategies to take out cost while improving product and service quality. In this regard I think smart customers will continue to look for innovative products that can be relied upon to reduce risk in the design and build phase of new developments.
I was with Anthony Pearce of ApplyInnovation last week, who was the Innovation Director at Unite and he succinctly said "Those suppliers willing to establish new channels and innovative ways of making it easy for customers to buy will, as always, win".
And that is certainly what we are trying to do!

An interesting way of delivering bricks!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Sat, 15 May 2010 18:34:00 +0000

I came across this rather unconventional, some might even say slightly hazardous way of delivering bricks:

Shouldn’t he be wearing a Hi Vis vest?
If only he knew about the lightweight brick cladding alternatives that are available. I wonder if he has an email address…..!

Whilst politicians fiddle...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:59:00 +0000

Why, oh why, oh why? How did it come to this? Did we really elect these politicians to behave in this way? What happened to doing what's best for our country?
What we need more than anything is certainty so that we can all get on and plan for our businesses in the coming years of whatever austerity plans they (and the financial markets) will invoke.
Whilst they fiddle with political reform the economic mess is burning bright...

A 40 Year Business Plan!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Richards) — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:53:00 +0000

Last month I attended the Bristol Constructing Excellence Annual Conference and listened to presentations by Paul Morrell, chief construction adviser and chair of the low carbon construction innovation and growth team, and Andrew Wolstenholme, author of the follow up to the Egan Report ‘Never waste a good crisis’. The next day Paul and Peter Mandelson announced that they are looking to the industry and its clients to work together and prepare a “clear proposition for low carbon retrofit and new build”.
The findings, published by the innovation and growth team (IGT), identify four opportunities for the sector to move towards a greener future. These are:
• To carry out a huge programme of work, stretched out over at least the next 40 years
• To make use of that workload to reform the structure and practice of the industry
• To export the products and skills of a modernised industry
• To excite future generations of potential recruits into an industry with a noble cause.
On the face of it, not only is this the right thing for the health of our world but it is also a fantastic opportunity for our sector of the industry and provides it with a business plan for the next 40 years. It is likely to be implemented regardless of political colour(s!) so if we are to implement it successfully, it is vital that suppliers play an active role in the process, not simply to take orders and supply them (though that in itself isn’t simple!).

Clearly, good suppliers understand our products’ strengths and weakness' better than anyone else in the supply chain, so what is needed from us that will provide value further up the supply chain? Surely not just the cheapest price? (though of course we understand this is important!)Who will take design responsibility for the refurbishment of a private house? Who will insure the work? Who will manage the control of the application? Where will the labour come from to carry out improvements to the existing housing, industrial and commercial stock? Do suppliers have the wealth of resource to develop the solutions? How are life-cycle costs evaluated? What lessons have we learned from the failure (and success) of older buildings?