Keltbray has agreed a deal to acquire a portfolio of infrastructure contracts and associated assets from nmcn which went into administration last week.

The latest move secures the futures of 117 former nmcn employees and Keltbray will take over existing contracts with immediate effect.

Some infrastructure contracts were not transferred as part of the deal leading to 19 redundancies

The acquired contracts will be managed within Keltbray’s existing infrastructure division reporting to Managing Director, Phill Price.

Keltbray CEO, Darren James said: “Keltbray are pleased with the ‘on strategy’ opportunities presented by the acquisition of these contracts, working with clients on some of the UK’s most important infrastructure projects.

“Today’s announcement accelerates our plans to build a resilient, growth-oriented business.  Equally important, we have also safeguarded 117 valuable jobs and livelihoods that could otherwise have been lost to our industry.

“The acquisition has required a very rapid, but collaborative approach, and Keltbray would like to thank all parties for their proactivity throughout.  I look forward to working with my new colleagues as we build a rewarding future together as one Keltbray.”

The Keltbray deal is the final sell-off of nmcn which went into administration last week.

Galliford Try bought the water business for £1m saving 900 jobs while Svella picked-up the telecoms, plant hire, transport and accommodation divisions saving 680 jobs.

Administrator Grant Thornton was unable to find a buyer for the building division leading to 80 redundancies.

Spokesperson for Grant Thornton, Rob Parker said: “We are very pleased to have secured this third sale which means that within less than a week of our appointment we have secured over 1600 jobs and helped to maintain continuity and minimise the impact for the greater majority of nmcn’s customers, many of which were involved in important infrastructure projects across the UK. It was important to ensure that transactions were completed as quickly as possible.

“Sadly it was not possible to transfer all of the Infrastructure contracts and therefore regrettably we have today announced 19 redundancies.

“Our focus as administrators now turns to assisting the purchasers of the various parts of nmcn with post completion matters and dealing with the other assets of the company.  We will be providing further updates in due course.

“The Joint Administrators would like to thank the efforts of Lee Marks, Alan Foster and the nmcn and Grant Thornton teams for their hard work in achieving these sales.”

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Willmott Dixon will work with Oxford City Council on a £10.9m project to reduce carbon emissions from public leisure centres.

The programme will see water and air source heat pumps installed at four leisure centres around the city.

The work is part of the council’s aim to become a Zero Carbon Council across its own estate and operations by 2030, with leisure centres responsible for around 40% of current building carbon emissions.

Richard Poulter, Managing Director from Willmott Dixon’s Central South region said: “We are proud to be working alongside Oxford City Council on this exciting carbon reduction project, which will deliver a step change in the mitigation of fossil fuels in the local community.

“The programme is close to our heart and through our own 2030 ‘Now or Never’ Sustainability strategy, we have committed to achieving net zero operational carbon on all our new buildings and major refurbishments within the next decade.

“Working in tandem alongside the council, Fusion Lifestyle and the local community, we will deliver the works as swiftly as possible while ensuring the highest standards are met, ensuring the leisure centres provide the best possible facilities once the works are complete.”

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National Highways has named Turner & Townsend as its commercial partner on the vast Lower Thames Crossing scheme.

The appointment marks the completion of the Lower Thames Crossing integrated client team, comprised of Jacobs/Cowi/Arcadis as technical partner, and Jacobs as sole integration partner.

Across the eight-year contract, T&T will work as part of the integrated client team providing day-to-day cost, commercial and contract management, independent cost assurance and cost audit function across the whole £8.6bn Lower Thames Crossing programme.

Matt Palmer, Lower Thames Crossing Executive Director, said: “The Lower Thames Crossing is the most ambitious road project this country has seen since the M25 was completed 35 years ago, and will improve journeys, create new jobs and business opportunities, as well as bring new green spaces for the local community and wildlife.”

If given the green light construction of the main tunnel and link roads will support over 22,000 jobs during construction.

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Leeds-based developer Priestley Homes has been granted planning permission to transform a Grade-II listed former Victorian school in the city centre into an apartment and commercial scheme.

The 2 Great George Street building will be renovated into 34 one-bedroom, 43 two-bedroom and six three-bedroom apartments – including the city’s first £1million-plus penthouses.

A new-build, three storey glazed extension will be added to the rooftop of the building alongside a communal roof-top garden and winter terrace.

New ground-floor office accommodation will be sub-divided into several units, providing 815m2 in high-quality workspaces for Leeds businesses.

The developer’s contracting arm Priestley Construction has started the initial strip-out of the building with the aim to complete in Q1 2023.

Nathan Priestley, chief executive officer of the Priestley Group, said: “As a Leeds-based business, it’s a privilege to be able to transform one of the city centre’s most ornate historical landmarks and bring it back into use as beautiful new homes and high-specification workspaces.

“Our strong reputation speaks for itself when breathing new life into heritage buildings and we can’t wait to make these ambitious plans a reality.

“Most of the development in Leeds city centre is allocated to student housing and PRS schemes. We believe there is a huge shortage of truly magnificent homes for owner-occupiers that give a taste of individuality and elegance; something that we will set out to deliver at 2 Great George Street.”

Nmcn will miss its latest deadline to publish delayed results which are necessary to secure a refinancing deal.

The contractor released its latest refinancing time frame last month which involved publishing a prospectus by November 1 which would require results for the year to December 31 2020 being signed-off before then.

But the firm issued an update on Friday afternoon confirming it will miss the deadline.

Nmcn said: “Further to the announcement of 24 September 2021, the company has been in intensive discussions with regards to completing the preparation of the group’s annual report in respect of the financial year ended 31 December 2020. 

“As a result of these discussions, it has become apparent that the group will be unable to approve the audited financial statements within the extension period set out in the company’s announcement on 24 September 2021.

“The company will make a further announcement as appropriate.”

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Multi-utility contractor Fulcrum saw its order book charge up in the first half of the year from £25m to £81m.

The growth came mainly from smart metering and strong orders for multi utilities in industrial and commercial markets.

Much of Fulcrum’s growth came from expansion in smart metering activity, where its order book jumped £19m to around £30m.  This includes a five-year agreement with energy supplier E to manage its 320,000 UK meter points and exchange 80,000 points to smart meters.

Fulcrum has also continued to service the buoyant housing market where it is aiming to continue to increase its market share.

Projects secured in the first half of the year include a pair of contracts, with a combined value of nearly £6m, to deliver multi-utility infrastructure at a major new development in Fairham, Nottinghamshire.

As preferred utility partner the door is also open on the scheme to deliver multi-utility connections for the development’s 3,000 new homes in the future.

Within its Industrial & Commercial division, Fulcrum has secured delivery of high voltage electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure to power a commercial fleet, and a major £5.5m contract to design and install multi-utility infrastructure to support sustainable vegetable production at a large-scale greenhouse in Cambridgeshire.

Other Industrial & Commercial contracts included a £4.9m contract to design and install a high voltage electricity, water, and gas infrastructure for a major new innovative employment park, in the West Midlands, and a £1.6m project to deliver a 7km gas pipeline to help power a significant new sustainable cereal processing plant in Northamptonshire.

Terry Dugdale, CEO, said: “The positive progress we are making across all our core markets gives me confidence for the full year and beyond.

“I see significant opportunities for the business and so it is pleasing that the group continues to be increasingly better positioned to take advantage of the many and significant opportunities presented by the UK’s smart energy revolution and the utility infrastructure the UK needs for a net-zero future.”

 

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United Living New Homes has clinched the deal to deliver a 432-home build to rent scheme in Cardiff.

The proposed Anchorworks scheme is being developed by a joint venture between real estate investment firm Angelo Gordon and residential investor and operator Ridgeback Group.

It is the latest residential scheme planned for the Dumballs Road regeneration area close to the city centre and just yards from Cardiff Central Railway Station.

The scheme, which will range in height from seven to 15 storeys, also includes vital low carbon infrastructure, with electric vehicle charging points and solar panels.

Delivered over two phases, the development is scheduled to be completed in October 2024.

Conor Bray, Chief Operating Officer, United Living Group, said the builder was accelerating its growth into the build to rent sector with over £300m worth of schemes in the pipeline, due to commence construction next year.

“This contract award is an exciting addition to United Living Group’s growing portfolio of large-scale development projects.

“Cardiff is a thriving city that is growing and needs new, good quality housing to meet demand and we look forward to playing a central role in creating much-needed new homes that residents will be proud to call home.”

Public space between the two brick enveloped blocks

 

Modular housing specialist ilke Homes has raised £60m to keep the firm on track to become a top ten house builder within the next five years, delivering 10,000 factory-built homes.

The fundraise was split between £30m debt from government agency Homes England and £30m of equity from multiple new investors.

Affordable housing provider, The Guinness Partnership, is one of the new equity investors. It is also a customer of ilke Homes having signed two deals in the last year, for sites that will deliver 250 factory-built homes.

Ilke’s main investor TDR Capita has also injected further equity, supported by Middleton Enterprises and private equity firm Sun Capital taking equity stakes.

 

The £30m debt facility from Homes England’s Home Building Fund comes after the Government’s housing agency invested an initial £30m into ilke Homes back in 2019.

This handout marked the first time the agency had ever directly invested to boost an offsite manufacturer’s production capacity.

Harry Swales, chief investment officer at Homes England, said:“Manufacturers like ilke Homes are vital if developers are to build new sustainable homes at the pace and scale the country needs. This debt facility from the Home Building Fund shows our commitment in increasing productivity and efficiency in construction to meet government’s housing delivery ambitions.”

Stephen Stone, a board member of ilke Homes, said:“This announcement proves that there is a shared ambition among the public and private sectors to find innovative solutions to structural issues that have dogged the construction and housebuilding industries for decades.

“This new funding will help us create hundreds more highly-skilled, green jobs for an economy that is gearing up for a Green Industrial Revolution.”

He added the funding would be transformational for ilke Homes, allowing it to scale-up production and accelerate capacity to deliver up to eight homes a day, up from two today – all helping to bring down manufacturing costs in the process.

The firm will also invest in more sites and expand its ‘package deal’ strategy, which offers full development service of site, infrastructure and homes in a rapidly growing market.

 

 

 

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Ardmore has started a landmark mixed-use luxury redevelopment of a former NCP car park in Mayfair, west London.

The builder has mobilised on the Carrington Street site to build 30 super-prime homes, gym and restaurant, a 2,400 sq m art gallery and 5,000 sq m of office and commercial space.

Ardmore has started main works following the completion of a demolition and enabling works package by specialist McGee.

The redevelopment designed by AHMM includes two blocks of up to eight storeys, formed in both concrete and steel frames, linked by a three-storey basement, that required 30,000 cubic metres of bulk excavation.

The blocks will be clad in a variety of traditional materials including masonry, pre-cast stone and metal.

Patrick Byrne, Ardmore Managing Director, said:“We are excited to finally start works at the Carrington Street project that will set a new quality benchmark for Mayfair.

“Planning our delivery approach on such a challenging site has required us to bring all of our experience delivering major projects on logistically constrained sites in Westminster to develop an efficient approach to delivery that minimises disruption to local residents.”

Glasgow City Council has set out a £30bn portfolio of investment projects designed to aid the city’s ambition of becoming net-zero by 2030.

The green plan pinpoints key projects to transform the city. These include building a Glasgow metro to service the city and wider region, construction of a ‘green cap’ above the M8 at Charing Cross to open public realm over the motorway and a city-wide £10bn retrofit programme.

Cllr Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council said: “A core element of Glasgow’s Green Deal our ‘Greenprint’ brings together transformational, investable and shovel-ready projects.

‘From an entire new transport system better connecting citizens to opportunities, generating renewable energy from the River Clyde and upgrading hundreds of thousands of homes across our city region, the Greenprint projects will deliver the infrastructure necessary for a low carbon, climate-resilient future.”

10 featured projects in the Greenprint

Glasgow City Region Home Energy Retrofit Programme

A ten-year £10bn programme to upgrade the insulation of all homes in the Glasgow City Region to achieve net zero carbon emissions. The project explores the use of innovative renewable technologies to deliver clean energy.

Glasgow’s District Heating Network

Build a wider district heating network. Two key projects in Polmadie and Gorbals Districts act as testbeds and a unique and innovative proposal to harness the power of the River Clyde for the city’s heat demands is underway.

Climate Neutral Innovation District

The University of Strathclyde is leading an ambitious project to make the Glasgow City Innovation District 100% climate neutral and climate resilient.

Charing Cross M8 Green Infrastructure Cap

Revitalise and re-green the city’s public realm including a cap over a major interchange of the M8, the busiest motorway in Scotland.

Glasgow Metro

A new transport provision that will improve connectivity within Glasgow and the wider City Region encompassing a population of 1.8 million.

Scottish Event Campus (SEC) Expansion

£180m expansion plans including an ambitious energy concept aim to turn the SEC into one of the world’s most sustainable campuses and includes several globally competitive and cutting-edge conference and exhibition innovations.

Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland

With outline planning permission and on-site enabling works, around £150m will be invested in an emerging centre of excellence and innovation as part of Scotland’s answer to balancing manufacturing requirements while meeting net zero commitments.

Micro Park Apparel Project

Micro Park will aim to create a new location for fashion production in the UK, embedding circularity across all areas of activity including resource use, textile and fibre reuse and packaging.

 

Green Regeneration and Innovation District

As Scotland’s first Green Regeneration and Innovation District, Clyde Gateway offers investment opportunities in this regeneration areas across all sectors including commercial, residential and hotel, will encourage circularity in the built environment.

Clyde Climate Forest

The Clyde Climate Forest aims to plant 18m trees in Glasgow City Region over the next decade, significantly increasing the extent of atmospheric carbon fixation through tree growth in the region.

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