Building Briefs – January 18th

Glasgow-based AS Scaffolding held pre-tax profits at £2 million last year on unchanged turnover of £10m.

Shareholder funds jumped from £4.6m to £6m, and staff numbers rose from 65 to 69. The company, based in Glenpark Street and seen as one of Scotland’s biggest independents, donated more than £76,000 to local charities during the year.

Writing in the latest accounts, owner Andrew Smillie says the gross margin reduced by about three per cent but this was offset by close control of administration costs and overheads. He said the company had benefited from its solid reputation and from government-backed schemes such as the green deal. Year-end cash was down from £2.8m to £2.5m.

The directors are confident that AS continues to perform well during the current year.

Work underway on new council housing in West Lothian

Work is underway to build nine new council homes in West Lothian.

The development is located on the site of a former pub at Glasgow Road in Bathgate.

Lovell Partnerships are developing the new housing, which is part of West Lothian Council’s building programme to develop 1,000 new homes across the region by 2017.

The site will include four one-bedroom cottage flats, four two-bedroom cottage flats and a two-bedroom bungalow.

A new access road and turning circle to Windyknowe Primary School has also been built on the site.

East Dunbartonshire Council completes £3.5m energy-efficiency flats project

Work has been completed on a £3.5 million transformation project in East Dunbartonshire.

A total of 52 flats at the Burns Court development in Kirkintilloch have been redeveloped into energy-efficient, modern properties which meet new technical standards.

The three-year scheme included installing new kitchens, bathrooms and central heating systems, external wall insulation and thermally efficient double glazed windows.

In addition, A-rated central heating boilers were installed along with solar panels and a maintenance free pitched roof.

Works were also carried out to the building’s façade, with new personal sun spaces for every flat.

Increased security measures were put in place as well, along with an advanced CCTV system and new refuse collection arrangements.

The regeneration brings the homes up to the Scottish Housing Quality Standards (SHQS) and ensure they meet strict energy efficiency standards five years ahead of the 2020 target.

Dundee rents to increase to fund £6m housing investment

Tenants in Dundee have backed one per cent increase in council house rents, the lowest rent rise in the history of Dundee City Council.

A report to the city council’s housing committee on January 25 proposes the increase that will help to ensure £6 million of investment in new council houses and £250,000 to create a hardship fund for council tenants.

If councillors back the proposed rent increase it will work out at an average of 69p more per council house per week over 52 weeks for the year beginning in April 2016.

Work underway to repair landslip at Renfrewshire interchange

Work is now underway to repair a major landslip at an interchange junction in Renfrewshire, Scotland TranServ has announced.

Engineers have completed the initial design to stabilise the slipped embankment on the M8 at St James’ Interchange, with plans now in place to prevent further slips.

Once the first phase of works are completed, the second phase will involve carrying out inspections to enable repairs to the road, barrier systems and drainage system.

In addition, Scotland TranServ will carry out trunk road works as well as repairs to the local authority roads.

SMS boosts presence in domestic smart meter market

Glasgow-based energy meter specialist SMS has struck deals with five domestic energy suppliers.

The firm, which also works with industrial and commercial clients, will provide smart energy meters for independent suppliers Flow Energy, Green Energy, Our Power, RHE and Spark Energy under the non-exclusive agreements.

SMS said domestic power supply companies will have to provide all of their household and small business customers across the UK with a smart meter by 2020, and the firms that it has contracts with for the domestic roll-out currently provide services to 386,000 homes.

SMS is expected to give an update on its 2015 trading performance by the end of this month.

Temporary road on A93 complete between Braemar and Ballater

Aberdeenshire Council has completed work to create a temporary road after part of the Braemar to Ballater road, the A93 at Micras, was damaged by the River Dee during the recent severe weather.

Work to create a temporary diversion road around the damaged section has been progressing well and was completed ahead of schedule opening on Sunday, January 17.

In the coming weeks and months Aberdeenshire Council will be considering options for the permanent replacement and riverbank reinstatement following discussions with the landowner.

The work follows the reopening of nearby Invercauld Bridge last week following emergency repair works five days ahead of schedule.

Across all services the authority is working to support communities recover from flooding as part of a Flood Recovery Plan.