Building Briefs – May 24th

Planning underway for £6m Maybole regeneration project

Work is underway to draw up a business case which will help inform a £6 million town centre regeneration scheme in South Ayrshire.

Maybole Community Council’s ‘Maybole Regeneration’ (MR) project aims to carry out improvements to the town’s High Street, the Town Hall, Castle and charity shop.

The MR is being carried out ahead of the new town bypass opening in 2020, which is forecast to decrease the volume of cars travelling through the town centre by 50%, and HGVs by up to 95%.

A £456,000 development phase is now underway to bring together the business case. At a recent drop-in session and public meeting, over 50 people submitted their views on the Maybole Regeneration, helping developers gain a better understanding of what residents and property owners want to achieve.

Apprentice hired at Morris & Spottiswood

With a resource shortage felt across the construction industry, Morris & Spottiswood fully believes Apprenticeship Programmes are one the best ways of investing in the future.

Chairman George Morris emphasised how crucial Apprenticeships are to combat this issue providing real life skills that will carry throughout their careers after their Apprenticeship has ended.

The firm’s latest Apprentice is Mark Macphail, who joins from Jobs & Business Glasgow. From his interview at JBG, Mark was enthusiastic and eager to gain a place on the course to help him progress into the construction industry. He initially had a 2 month work experience placement with Morris & Spottiswood, however that turned into an offer of Apprentice Joiner as the firm was so impressed with his work ethic and determination to learn.

George Morris said: “We are thankful to Jewson who very kindly donated Mark his first set of tools. The skill set gained from Apprenticeships are invaluable. Our managing director, Jon Dunwell himself, started off working life as an Apprentice Electrician. Paul Roan, commercial director, who regularly gives talks to JBG, started as a Trainee Quantity Surveyor and David Thorn, Mark’s line manager, was an Apprentice Joiner at the same time.

“These three hugely influential members of Morris & Spottiswood all started life as an Apprentice, showing just how far a committed young person can go, if they have the right skills and most importantly, attitude.”

4,000th trainee enters Costain’s Supply Chain Academy

Costain has announced that IPS Communications’ Kieran Campbell was the 4,000th trainee to join their industry leading Supply Chain Academy.

Every year the business facilitates the programme which so far has seen 127 SME companies take part.

The Academy is run by Costain staff with support from a few of its strategic partners for the benefit of SME suppliers. It is structured to enable them to develop the skills required to allow them to grow and successfully deliver projects.

The free module-based course covers a wide range of topics from BIM to insurance as well as understanding equality and diversity in the workplace.

IPS Communications, which specialises in the design, installation and maintenance of communications and security systems, for the rail and public sectors, is currently working with Costain on a rail project in London. It has been a supplier of the company for one year and is now benefitting from the Supply Chain Academy.

The Supply Chain Academy was founded in 2011 and is currently training its ninth intake of SME suppliers. Intakes have been located in different part of the UK to ensure SMEs from different regions have the opportunity to benefit from the training.

Polypipe appoints new CEO

Polypipe Group chief financial officer Martin Payne is to take over as chief executive when David Hall steps down in October.

David Hall has been chief executive of Polypipe since 2005 and led the company through its transfer from private equity ownership to a London Stock Exchange in 2014 listing. Now aged 59, he has decided to retire, the company has announced.

His successor, Martin Payne, has been with Polypipe since May 2016. He was previously finance director at Norcros and used to work for JCB.

As part of the change in leadership, Glen Sabin will become chief operating officer, a new role for the company, and have a seat on the board. He has been a member of the executive committee since 2005, most recently as divisional head of Polypipe’s UK plumbing and drainage businesses since January 2014 and prior to that as managing director of its civils business from 2004.

A process to appoint a replacement chief financial officer is underway.

The board also issued a trading update saying that it was on track to achieve management expectations for the year.

As a result of continued strong organic growth in the UK Residential Systems segment and solid performances from the Commercial & Infrastructure Systems segments, revenue for the first four months of 2017 was 6% up on last year at £157.8m.

New facilities for first-class rail passengers approved at Perth station

Work to create facilities for first-class rail passengers, including wet rooms, lounges and an auditorium, will begin soon at Perth station.

The extensive plans, for which Perth and Kinross Council gave listed building consent, will also see a kitchen preparation area and a store room built on platform four of the station to accommodate passengers who travel on the Serco Caledonian Sleeper.

Facilities will also be provided for staff working for the rail company, including meeting rooms and training rooms at the B-listed building.

In a document submitted as part of the planning application by Serco, it states that the plan relates to the “next phase” of the “refurbishment and the re-use” of rooms and areas at the rail station.

“The proposed works will provide facilities for first-class passengers using Caledonia Sleeper services and Caledonia Sleeper staff accommodation,” the report says.

“The scope of the project includes the provision of a new first-class lounge, three wet rooms, meeting and training rooms, auditorium, kitchen preparation area and mock-up room with a full-scale model of a passenger carriage for training purposes.”

The building to be refurbished is currently vacant and in a state of disrepair, but the Caledonia Sleeper plan will reinstate many of its original features.

Repair and restoration work to the interior of the building on platform four, which included the treatment of significant areas of wet and dry rot, was carried out in 2015 and 2016.

Weekend closure for C55C Pitmedden Road

The C55C Pitmedden Road in Dyce is expected to close this weekend to enable the contractor to undertake bridge works as part of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie to Tipperty (AWPR/B-T) project.

The road will close around 8pm on Friday 26 May and then reopen around 6am on Monday 29 May.

Diversions will be sign-posted. Road users heading north should travel via Dyce Drive, the A96 Inverurie Road, B979 Main Road and the U58C Caskieben Road. The reverse journey should be taken for those heading south.

Access to properties will be maintained, however, there will be no through access.