Building Briefs – October 17th

Housebuilder McTaggart Group was announced as winner of the ‘Business in the Community’ category of the Ayrshire Business Awards 2018 last week.

The awards ceremony recognised Ayrshire businesses which have demonstrated excellence in a variety of fields. This acknowledgement follows the Group also winning the ‘Community Contribution’ award at the Scottish Home Awards 2018 in June.

The company have also been shortlisted for ‘Large Employer of the Year’ at next month’s Scottish Apprenticeship Awards.

Much of the affordable housing McTaggart’s build are within areas that feature on the list of Scotland’s most deprived areas, therefore their apprenticeship programme focuses on raising attainment and removing barriers for this specific group of disadvantaged young people.

The Education & Employment element of the programme has been structured to identify and support all pathways into construction.

At secondary school stage McTaggart commit time and resources to a small number of schools, believing this is the most effective way to raise attainment, rather than take a generic approach. The two-year programmes at St Mungo’s Academy and Springburn Academy involve a 100 hour (per school) commitment incorporating classroom learning and site visits to apply that learning. At the end of the programme pupils are supported and funded through their CSCS card by McTaggart.

Many of the 38 school pupils currently on our programme would otherwise leave school without any qualifications.

McTaggart has also delivered five community-based training academies. This has provided 50 young people the opportunity to gain CSCS cards and has achieved a 95% pass rate for young people. This approach has worked with adult learning programmes and supported young people with additional support requirements such as ADHD and dyslexia.

Glasgow office market’s strong year shows no sign of halting

The Glasgow city centre office market has continued its strong year in 2018 into the third quarter with a further 140,962 sq ft of office space transactions, CBRE Scotland has revealed.

Research from the commercial property consultancy shows the total take-up for the first three quarters of the year has been brought up to 734,863 sq ft - 30% above the ten year annual average of 564,000 sq ft.

The take-up for Q3 also represents a 121% increase when compared against the same period in 2017 (63,608 sq ft), representing the strength of the Glasgow city centre office market at present. Furthermore, this quarter produced another 50,000 sq ft plus transaction with HMRC taking 60,000 sq ft at 123 St Vincent Street. This brings the total number of transactions in 2018 amassing over 50,000 sq ft to four whilst there were three during 2017.

Although Glasgow’s city centre market performance was exceptionally strong, the Glasgow periphery and out of town office sectors have also experienced positive results, with 504,766 sq ft and 121,175 sq ft of take-up respectively.

The Buchanan Wharf/Barclays deal accounted for 470,000 sq ft of the Glasgow periphery figure, showing there is demand and appetite for space outside of the traditional city centre market. Furthermore, global customer experience contractor Sitel (UK) took 60,000 sq ft at Maxim Office Park, with CBRE acting for the landlord, representing the largest out of town deal this year.

The lack of Grade A supply within the city centre - Glasgow Grade A vacancy rates are currently 0.23% with 32,910 sq ft available - and the lack of development within the pipeline may see more occupiers look outwards, towards developments such as Clyde Gateway’s Magenta in the east end of the city. There is currently 524,148 sq ft of supply in the periphery market and 1,998,127 sq ft in the out of town market.

The lack of supply should see city centre prime rents rise which will then have a knock-on effect towards the rest of the market, with refurbished Grade B rents also set to increase because of the squeeze.

Works to be carried out on Eildon Hills paths network

Scottish Borders Council has secured funding of over £100,000 from VisitScotland to carry out improvements to relieve areas of erosion on the path network of the iconic Eildon Hills.

The work, over 4km of the upland paths, will improve the quality of the visitor experience and prevent erosion at this popular site, which is at the heart of a National Scenic Area. The funding, of £102,178, comes from the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund.

The erosion of parts of the path network in the Eildons has been caused by various factors, including weather, volume of use, soil type and topography.

The council’s Ranger Service manages maintenance on the promoted path routes over the hills, and over the last 10 years has carried out a range of works on lower reaches of the paths, including improving drainage and path surfacing.

This latest project, to be carried out during 2019, will involve more intense upland path works, using natural materials and is a substantial conservation project.

VELUX concludes ‘Design a brighter future’ event series in Glasgow

VELUX is rounding up this year’s “Design a brighter future” breakfast event series at The Lighthouse in Glasgow on Wednesday 7 November 2018.

“Design a brighter future” has travelled across the UK, advocating daylight and ventilation, and their potential to revolutionise the way humans work, learn and recover in the built environment.

A host of internationally acclaimed speakers will present their research and practical insights at ‘Design a brighter future’ – Glasgow. They include:

• Richard Hobday - Independent researcher and author on the impacts of sunlight and daylight on human health. Richard will be discussing Myopia and daylight in schools.

• Laura Phillips - Associate Director at Arup will discuss how the use of light has evolved within the design world.

• Mark Ellson - Director at Holmes Miller Architects will be presenting Holmes Miller’s approach to early years’ design.

For more details on the ‘Design a brighter future event at The Lighthouse, Glasgow and to book your free place, please click here.

Engineers using forestry fund to boost Marr road network improvements

Rural roads are currently being improved across Deeside and Donside, partly paid for using a national fund made available for work on routes used by timber lorries.

Eight roads across the Marr area are benefitting from a project which aims to create sustainable routes for current and future timber traffic operations.

This is being done by strengthening carriageways and road edges, creating passing places and improving bends and drainage, with all work to be completed by February.

As well as increasing the capacity of the road network to carry timber transport vehicles, the tougher infrastructure also reduces maintenance and repair requirements due to slowed deterioration.

Aberdeenshire Council is combining its own roads improvement and maintenance budget for the area with funds from Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS).

Marr roads engineers made a successful application to its Strategic Timber Transport Scheme (STTS), proposing various improvements to the capacity of the road network.

An FCS panel recognised the considerable volumes of timber moving on local roads and the impact this can have on other road users in rural communities.

It agreed to contribute to the improvements - 50% of the cost for eligible A-class roads and 70% for all other roads.

In total, around £1.5million will be spent - £630,517 from Aberdeenshire Council budgets and the remainder from FCS, up to a total of £944,827.

Average property prices up 4.1%

The average price of a property in Scotland reached £153,309 in August 2018 – an increase of 4.1% on the previous year and an increase of 0.3% when compared to the previous month.

The latest publication of the monthly UK House Price Index shows that the volume of residential sales in Scotland in June 2018 was 10,419 – a decrease of 4.3% on June 2017. This compares with annual decreases in sales volumes of 24.5% in England and 20.0% in Wales in June 2018, and 13.0% in Northern Ireland in Quarter 2 - 2018.

Average price increases were recorded in the vast majority (28) of local authorities in August 2018, when comparing prices with the previous year. The biggest price increases were in West Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde and City of Glasgow, where average prices increased by 11.9% to £110,867, 9.8% to £112,550 and 8.9% to £136,353 respectively. The decreases were recorded in City of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scottish Borders and East Ayrshire, where average prices fell by 4.0% to £161,063, 2.5% to £188,426, 2.5% to £152,576 and 1.7% to £97,696 respectively.

Increases in sales volumes were recorded in 11 local authorities in June 2018, when comparing volumes with the previous year. The biggest increases were in Inverclyde, and Renfrewshire, where volumes increased by 27.0% to 160 sales and 12.1% to 472 sales respectively. The biggest decreases were in Moray and Argyll and Bute, where volumes fell by 24.7% to 122 sales and 22.9% to 155 sales respectively.

Across Scotland, all property types showed an increase in average price in August 2018 when compared with the same month in the previous year. Semi-detached properties showed the biggest increase, rising by 6.0% to £160,535. The average price of detached properties rose by 3.2% to £262,175, the smallest increase of all property types.

The average price in August 2018 for a property purchased by a first time buyer was £124,223 – an increase of 4.3% compared to the same month in the previous year. The average price for a property purchased by a former owner occupier was £183,257 – an increase of 3.9% on the previous year.

The average price for a cash sale was £141,237 – an increase of 3.5% on the previous year – while the average price for property purchased with a mortgage was £158,920 – an increase of 4.4% on the previous year.

Plugged-in Households Grant Fund launched by Energy Saving Trust

Energy Saving Trust is launching a new grant fund called Plugged-in Households.

Not-for-profit housing associations and co-operatives in Scotland can apply for grant funding to procure the services of a zero emission car club, for use by their tenants, themselves and the wider local community.

Applications can be made for funding at least one zero emission vehicle per site with the Car Club operator contract running for 12 months from the point of vehicle delivery. Bids can also include budget for marketing and incentives to promote the car club to residents and the wider community. Charging infrastructure can be applied for and funded by ChargePlace Scotland grant funding, also administered by Energy Saving Trust.

The grant fund will open in mid-October 2018 and the deadline for applications is 19 December 2018.

Long-serving Russells employee waves goodbye on a high

Lochmaben-based Russell Roof Tiles has celebrated one of its longest serving employees, John Jamieson, following his retirement after a fruitful 44 years at the roof tile manufacturer.

John, aged 65, who lives in Lockerbie, joined the manufacturer in 1974 aged 21, where he went on to build a successful career, with the support of Russell Roof Tiles.

Employing 61 people at its site at Halleaths in Lochmaben, Russell Roof Tiles has always shown dedication to supporting, training and awarding its staff to help them further their careers.

With this support, John was able to progress at Russell Roof Tiles. He first began his career as a lorry driver but developed quickly to undertake positions in Quality Control and Yard Management. John was then promoted to Stock Control before taking up a role in Production Planning, where he remained until his retirement.

Over the years, John has seen incredible changes in the industry, witnessing one of the worst recessions in history where many companies suffered loss and the ongoing construction skills gap that faces the industry today. John was also lucky to be a part of exciting celebrations when Russell Roof Tiles recognised the site’s 50th anniversary in 2015.

The manufacturer has seen a number of employees celebrate significant work milestones over the years. In fact, this year alone, 10 employees across the business have received long service awards ranging from 15-30 years, highlighting the manufacturer’s gratitude to its employees and their ongoing hard work.