NEWSFLASH 26th October 2015
The BCFA will be at Sleep 24th & 25th November together with at least 40 BCFA members.
Please come and visit us on stand M44
www.thesleepevent.com
Wates has been named as the contractor for a £400m mixed-use development in Leeds. Commercial Estates Group has appointed
a team of contractors to deliver the first phase of its Kirkstall Forge development. The 23 ha site will comprise 1,050 new homes,
300,000 sq ft of offices and 100,000 sq ft of retail, leisure and community space. Wates has been appointed as principal contractor
for the first phase, which will see completion of a 5,534 sq m seven-storey office building. Work will start on site in the New Year,
with completion expected in spring 2017.
Laing O'Rourke wins 21-31 New Oxford Street development. Brockton Capital and Oxford Properties are the 50:50 joint venture
progressing the scheme, which has a development value of around £500m. Laing O’Rourke is understood to have won the contract,
the construction value of which is believed to be in the region of £150m.The contractor will now redevelop the former Royal Mail
depot at 21-31 New Oxford Street, where more than 300,000 sq ft of offices and retail are planned as well as affordable housing and
a GP surgery.
Mace has secured TH Real Estate’s £400m ‘Gotham City’ office scheme at 40 Leadenhall Street. The scheme will total 910,000 sq
ft, split between 890,000 sq ft of office space and around 20,000 sq ft retail. A Grade II-listed building at 19-21 Billiter Street, built
in 1865, will be restored and integrated into the proposed scheme. It is estimated that 390 full-time construction jobs will be
created on the site, with approximately 7,000 people expected to work in the building when complete. The scheme was designed
by Make and varies in height between seven and 34 office storeys, with two additional basement levels, roof-level plant and a range
of café, restaurant and retail units. It was granted planning permission in February last year.
Carillion has signed a contract with the Homes and Communities Agency for an £80m regeneration project in Leeds.
The new Tower Works scheme will include 90,000 sq ft of commercial space as well as 24,000 sq ft for restaurant and residential
use. A masterplan will be submitted for planning shortly, with construction to begin on site in spring 2016.
Irvine Sellar’s property company has unveiled plans to transform Paddington in West London with a £1bn mixed-used scheme.
The focal point of the plan will be a slender 65-storey tower of flats and offices, already dubbed the ‘skinny Shard’ after the property
tycoon’s landmark skyscraper at London Bridge. The 224m cylindrical tower would be the fourth tallest building in the capital,
equalling in height the Cheesegrater. A planning application will be submitted to Westminster Council next month and if all goes to
plan construction could start late next year at the site of the former Royal Mail office next to the railway station. As well as 150,000
sq ft of offices and 200 luxury flats the scheme known as 31 London Street, will boast restaurants on the 60th-62nd floors with a
public roof garden. Architect Renzo Piano designed the building, which is being backed by Singapore’s Hotel Properties.
Reading Football Club’s property arm has unveiled plans to build a convention centre, 250-bed hotel and ice rink on land next to
its stadium. The Royal Elm Park plan to develop a 15ha parcel of land used for car parking and training includes plans to build 630
homes in a dozen blocks, a large multi-storey car park, large public square and park. A planning application will be submitted before
the end of the year with a view to starting construction next year. Peter Brett Associates is acting as development consultant, with
Arup providing technical services and Malasian architect NRY Architects working on the design of the convention centre.
Southend United Football Club has unveiled plans to build a new £80m 21,000-seat stadium incorporating a 131-bed hotel. The
proposals also include an 11-12 screen cinema, retail and restaurant floorspace, as well as a residential development.
The recently appointed developers of 3 St Peter’s Square, Manchester, could scrap the office scheme planned for the site in
favour of a hotel or leisure development. The site, which currently houses redundant 1970s office building Peterloo House, has
planning consent for a new-build 105,000 sq ft, 12-storey office development, but newly appointed developer Property Alliance
Group is considering alternative uses. The development was planned by previous owner Co-operative Insurance and set to be assetmanaged by AXA Real Estate. However, Royal London Asset Management acquired the site when it agreed, together with the Cooperative Banking Group, to acquire the Co-op’s life insurance and asset management businesses in 2013 and has now appointed
Alliance to take forward the site’s development.
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Whitbread, the parent company of Premier Inn and Costa, has reported total revenue of £1.4bn for the first half of 2015/16 – an
increase of 11% year on year. Interim results show that total revenue in the business grew by 11.3% year on year to £1.4bn, while
underlying profit before tax grew by almost 14% to £291m. Whitbread’s hotels and restaurants businesses accounted for more than
£249m of underlying operating profit. Revenue per available room grew by 4.6%, and average occupancy was 83.7%. Costa made up
just over £67m of underlying operating profit. Restaurants, which include Beefeater Grill and Brewer’s Fayre, recorded growth of
1.2% and an increase in like for like sales of 0.1%. Like for like sales across the group grew by 3.6%. The Premier Inn chain aims to
have 85,000 bedrooms open in the UK by 2020, which will equate to around 900 hotels. Its current room total sits at just under
60,000. It will also invest £130m in improving its hotels this financial year, refurbishing 13,200 rooms. Last year, 12,700 rooms were
refurbished. Whitbread’s new hub by Premier Inn hotel in St Martins Lane is reporting an annual rate of return (ARR) of around
£100, a 16% discount to comparable Premier Inns. Occupancy sits at 95.6%, and three more hub hotels are planned to open this
financial year. The results are the last set to be reported under current chief executive Andy Harrison, before Alison Brittain takes
over in December.
HotelInvest, the investment arm of Accor Hotels, has acquired a 43-hotel portfolio in France from French investor Foncière des
Régions for a total of €281m (£207m). The hotels have a total of 4,237 rooms and have been run by brands owned by
HotelServices, the operational arm of the Accor business, under various leases since the mid-2000s. These include Ibis, Ibis budget,
Novotel, Mercure, Pullman and Sofitel. The 80 remaining hotels that are still owned by Foncière des Régions but operated under
Accor brands will also have their leases renewed for 12 years at the end of their respective terms.
Total transaction volumes in the UK hotels market could exceed the 2006 record and reach £8.5bn by the end of 2015, according
to Savills. The LRG2 portfolio of Holiday Inn hotels sold for £225m to Cerberus. This marks a 39% increase on 2014’s post-recession
peak of £6.1bn and exceeds the record total of £8.3bn in 2006. Savills reports that £5.7bn worth of UK hotels have changed hands
so far in 2015, with the H1 total 76.8% higher than the same period last year. Portfolio sales such as the LRG2 portfolio of Holiday
Inn hotels, sold for £225m to Cerberus, have played a key role in this, and Savills expects a further £1.6bn worth of portfolio sales to
complete in the final quarter or early part of 2016. This includes the £1bn final tranche of the LRG portfolio of IHG branded hotels.
The report says that this increase in activity is putting downward pressure on yields. In the franchised hotel sector where yields now
range from 5.5%-8.5% compared to 6.5%-10% in 2014. Regional transactions have dominated the hotel market so far this year,
accounting for more than 78% of the total. US private equity houses have been behind 65% of hotel acquisitions in the regions
(spending around £2.1bn), with key deals including Lone Star’s acquisition of the Jury’s Inn portfolio for £676m.
Kensington and Chelsea borough council has approved Cadogan Estates’ plans for a new mixed-use scheme on the site of the
Curzon cinema on the King’s Road, following the rejection of a similar scheme last year. The development will sit at 196-222
King’s Road, and will include a 580-seat cinema, 47 new flats, retail and office space and a new pub. The scheme was considered by
the council’s planning committee this week and approved unanimously. Cadogan submitted plans for a similar development last
year, but these were rejected by the council in October 2014 after the community raised concerns that the Curzon cinema and The
Trafalgar pub that currently sit on the site would not be adequately replaced in the new scheme. The approved plans include a new,
larger pub to replace The Trafalgar, which will demolished and rebuilt. In another departure from last year’s plans, the cinema will
continue to be operated by Curzon.
Land Securities’ £100m cinema-led development in Ealing is set to go ahead after the council was given approval to compulsorily
purchase the land. The secretary of state has confirmed the compulsory purchase order, which will make way for an eight-screen,
1000-seat cinema operated by Picturehouse as well as restaurants, shops and homes. The compulsory purchase order area includes
the site of the former Empire Cinema, which closed in 2008, owned by Dublin-based Anderton Group who run the chain. It also
includes a neighbouring office building, bar and other properties on the boundary of the site.
A joint venture between thai investors Singha Estate and Fico has acquired the Jupiter hotels portfolio from Patron Capital and
RBS for £160m, after Tiesco pulled out of the deal. The purchaser is a joint venture between Singha Estate, which is the real estate
investment and development arm of the Boon Rawd Brewery Company in Thailand, and Fico Holding (UK), a subsidiary of Thailandbased Fico Group with assets in the UK, Germany and Thailand. It was announced on the Thai stock exchange in September that
Jupiter would be acquired by a joint venture between Thai Industrial & Engineering Service Public Company Limited (Tiesco) and
Fico, but the former partner dropped out because of the extended timeline that would have been required under Bangkok Stock
Exchange rules to secure approval from shareholders. Management company Jupiter Hotels owns and manages 26 UK hotels
operating under the Mercure brand, with a total of 2,883 rooms, most of which are owned freehold. It also manages a further six
hotels. Its prize assets include the Mercure Brighton Seafront, the Mercure Manchester Piccadilly and the Mercure Edinburgh city –
Princes Street. Jupiter Hotels has undertaken a multi-million pound refurbishment project across the estate in the last three years.
Coral is offloading its Gala Bingo business to investment trust Caledonia Investments for £241m. The deal includes Gala's 130
clubs across the UK, with 1.1 million active members, representing 38pc of the UK's retail bingo market, according to Caledonia. The
sale comes as Ladbrokes' and Gala Coral attempt a £2.3bn merger, which would create the biggest bookie in Britain by betting
shops. However, there is concern the competition regulator might block the deal because the combined company would be too big,
with a dominant position in the betting shop market. The Competition and Markets Authority is scrutinising the deal in a process
expected to stretch into next year, and it is expected that the regulator might force the bookmakers to sell shops to secure
clearance. Gala's bingo business delivered pre-tax profits of £33m in the year to September 26, and gross assets of £189.6m.
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GALASHIELS £6M
Land West Of Unit B, Tweedbank Industrial Estate Tweedbank
Planning authority: The Borders Job: Detail Plans Granted for gallery building Client: Scottish Borders Council Developer: Page &
Park Architects, 20 James Morrison Street, Glasgow, Strathclyde, G1 5PE Tel: 0141 553 5440
MANSFIELD £14.8M
Land at, Rock Valley
Planning authority: Mansfield Job: Detail Plans Granted for church building Client: The International Church Developer: CAD
Architecture Ltd, Albion Wharf, Albion Street, Manchester, M1 5LN Tel: 0161 236 8014
LONDON £5.7M
Sutchliffe Park, Eltham Road
Planning authority: Greenwich Job: Detail Plans Granted for indoor multi-sports centre Client: Royal Borough of Greenwich
Developer: HTP Architecture LLP, Rayleigh House, 2 Richmond Hill, Richmond-Upon-Thames, TW10 6QX Tel: 020 8940 3323
LONDON: Queens & Gielgud Theatres, 35 - 37 Shaftesbury Avenue £3m
Planning authority: Westminster Job: Detail Plans Granted for 2 theatres (refurbishment) Client: Delfont MacKintosh Theatres
Agent: RHWL Architects, Ivory House, St Katherine Docks, London, E1W 1AT Contractor: Bolt & Heeks Ltd, George House, Hallsford
Bridge Ind Est, Stondon Road, Ongar, Essex, CM5 9RB Tel: 01277 367777
John Sisk is favourite to take the £60m job to build a major conference centre at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport.
Work on the Wales International Convention Centre is due to begin in early 2016 on what will be the largest facility of its kind in
Wales and the south west of England.
Plans have been unveiled for a new luxury hotel scheme at the Battersea Power Station redevelopment.
Lifestyle hotel operator art’otel will run the new site which will boast a stunning skyline swimming pool.
The 160-room property will be developed by Battersea Power Station and is due to open in 2019.
Chinese construction firm SinoFortone is to plough £100m into plans to build Britain’s biggest theme park in North Kent. The
proposed £3.2bn London Paramount Entertainment Resort is planned to be built on a 388-acre site at Swanscombe Peninsula,
formerly the country’s largest cement plant, which closed in 1993. The Disneyland-style park is due to open in 2021 with a host of
theme park rides based on popular television programmes and Hollywood films, as well as a theatre, water park, hotels and
nightclubs. It is yet to win planning permission, but has been classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. The theme
park is being developed by London Resort Company Holdings, a Kuwaiti-backed property firm, which is chaired by former transport
minister Steven Norris.
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels has completed its acquisition of the Beatles-inspired Hard Days Night Hotel in Liverpool and
confirmed that it does not intend to rebrand the hotel. It will remain the Hard Days Night Hotel. M&C Hotels are reportedly even
considering developing the concept.
Plans to turn the Grade II-listed Guildhall in the centre of Bristol into a five star hotel look set for council approval. Developers
have submitted plans to convert the Guildhall and the Grade I-listed adjoining building, previously the Bank of England's Bristol
branch, into a 90-bedroom luxury hotel. Plans for the new hotel include a spa, restaurant and conference facilities as well as a roof
top swimming pool. The Guildhall was originally built in 1843 and adapted for use by the Courts in the early 20th century. The
building has been unoccupied since 2010.
Construction work is set to restart on the new 206-bedroom, 14-storey Hilton Leeds Arena Hotel. Work stopped when the original
contractors called in the receivers. Along with 206 bedrooms and suites, the property will include a destination restaurant, a
business centre, a gym and a rooftop bar.
A 146-bedroom DoubleTree by Hilton is to open in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, in 2016, following a multi-million pound
investment. The new build hotel will be asset managed by EQ Hotels and operated under a franchise agreement with Hilton
Worldwide by the UK division of Interstate Europe Hotels & Resorts.
Manchester City Council has granted planning permission to build a new hotel within the city’s existing Granada Television
headquarters and TV studio buildings. The Manchester Grande hotel will feature event, performance and work spaces, plus a
rooftop terrace, a bar and a heated swimming pool. Designed by Levitt Bernstein, the new space is aiming to honour the history of
the well-known Manchester building.
Law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s long search for a permanent northern home is coming to an end as it closes in on a
substantial pre-let in Manchester. Freshfields is believed to be close to going under offer on around 80,000 sq ft of space in the
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125,000 sq ft One New Bailey scheme in Salford. The scheme is being developed by the English Cities Fund, a joint venture between
Muse Developments, Legal & General and the Homes and Communities Agency. Freshfields is the first tenant to sign up to the
building.
David Cameron and Chinese president Xi Jinping last week announced the launch of a £130m ‘China cluster’ that will provide
484,000 sq ft office space for Chinese businesses around Manchester Airport. Direct flights from Manchester to Beijing, operated
by Hainan Airlines, were also announced today as part of President Xi’s business visit to the UK. This is the first time direct flights to
China have been offered outside of London. The route will operate from June 2016, bringing an estimated £250m in economic
benefits to the UK over the next decade. The cluster will be based around two premises within the Airport City development:
Wuhan Square and Shenzhen Gardens. Airport City was first announced in 2013 and is a joint venture between Manchester Airports
Group, Beijing Construction Engineering Group, Carillion, the Greater Manchester Pension Fund and Argent.
Rail ticketing website TheTrainline.com has launched a London-wide search for office space after outgrowing its current Midtown
location. The firm is understood to have appointed agents at Cluttons to find 40,000 sq ft across a wide search area in the capital,
including as far west as Hammersmith. It will relocate from Picton Property Income’s 50 Farringdon Road where it occupies 25,300
sq ft of space on the first and second floors. The company signed a deal on a 10-year lease for the space in 2011 with a break option
in 2016, which it will now look to exercise. Its target occupation date is mid-2016.
The world’s biggest engineering design firm, Aecom, has agreed to lease around 100,000 sq ft at Aldgate Tower – meaning the
317,000 sq ft building is now fully let. The US construction and engineering giant is under offer on the space at the Aldgate
Developments-owned scheme, which was put up for sale last month for £350m. The deal would conclude a string of lettings at the
building this year and vindicates the Starwood Capital-backed developer’s decision to be one of the first to start speculatively
building in London post-recession. The 16-storey tower at 10 Whitechapel High Street, which began construction in 2014, will
become the UK headquarters of Aecom, which will consolidate from three offices in the capital.
Scotch whisky company Whyte & MacKay has agreed a deal to move into Abstract’s St Vincent Plaza building in Glasgow.
It is understood to be paying a rent of around £24/ sq ft for 17,295 sq ft of space, on a 15 year lease with a break after 10 years.
Last week, it was reported that professional services firm KPMG had also signed to occupy the building, which reached practical
completion earlier this year. The development comprises lower ground, ground and 10 upper floors, with total floorspace
of around 170,000 sq ft.
The Manchester office of Colliers International will relocate to NFU Mutual’s Chancery Place in a landmark £34/sq ft deal.
Colliers will take 7,786 sq ft at the building on a 10-year lease, setting a new headline rent for Manchester city centre.
Other tenants at Chancery place, which has now reached 100% occupancy, include Kyocera, Clyde & Co, HSB Engineering,
Clearwater Finance and QBE. The firm will relocate from its current office at No.1 Marsden Street to Chancery Place by the end of
the year.
UK financial services group BGL, which owns comparison website comparethemarket.com, has agreed a deal to lease 14,300 sq ft
at Derwent London’s White Collar Factory. The Peterborough-based business will occupy the sixth floor of the development, using
the space as a digital hub. BGL is taking a 10-year lease with rental incentives equivalent to an 18 month rent free period.
White Collar Factory is a 293,000 sq ft mixed-use development overlooking Old Street roundabout. The development is now almost
30% pre-let with completion due in Q3 2016.
British fashion house Alexander McQueen has signed a deal to more than double its London head office and design studio in
Clerkenwell. The designer brand has pre-let 30,000 sq ft at 1 Aylesbury Street and will move from its current base at 76 Clerkenwell
Road, where it occupies 13,000 sq ft. It will pay around £55/sq ft on the space and has signed a 15-year lease with developer
Meritcape, with rent reviews every five years. The six-storey building is currently under construction and is due to complete by
summer next year. Clerkenwell has become a hotbed for fashion house headquarters, being home to Agent Provocateur, Kookai,
Timberland, TM Lewin and Ben Sherman.
The Standard Life Investments Pooled Pension Property Fund has completed a deal with Mann Island Finance, part of Investec
Bank, for one of the largest office lettings in Liverpool this year. Mann Island Finance, a UK car finance intermediary, has signed a
10-year lease for 11,044 sq ft on the fourth floor of 5 St Paul’s Square. The deal follows a letting of 7,500 sq ft to Denholm Logistics
and brings the total space now occupied in the property to more than 90,000 sq ft. JLL and Worthington Owen are marketing the
remaining 43,000 sq ft of available suites ranging from 5,000 sq ft to 20,000 sq ft - the largest single grade-A floor in Liverpool
US recruitment specialist Allegis Group has signed a deal to let space at Hines and HSBC Alternative Investments’ Broadgate
Quarter in the City of London. The firm, one of the largest privately held staffing companies in the world, will take 15,088 sq ft on
the ninth floor paying a rent of around £63.50/sq ft on the space. It leaves around 30,000 sq ft vacant across the eighth and 10th
floors of the 425,000 sq ft scheme, which is in the process of being sold by the joint venture partners. A £455m deal with a Chinese
buyer, thought to be linked to billionaire Li Ka-shing, collapsed last month and the sale process has since been relaunched. The
building is let to law firm Ashurst, UBS, GFI and Shearman & Sterling - however, Ashurst is due to vacate its 92,500 sq ft of space
after agreeing to relocate to London Fruit & Wool Exchange when its lease expires in 2019.
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An upmarket American healthcare group that counts former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and US chat show host Oprah
Winfrey among its clients has made its first major investment in the UK. Cleveland Clinic is understood to have exchanged
contracts to buy the long leasehold of Mayfair trophy building 33 Grosvenor Place from Perella Weinberg Partners for a price
thought to be around £250m. The Ohio-based clinic, ranked the fifth best hospital in the US last year, is still weighing up options for
the building. It could change the use from offices to a healthcare or medical research facility, or keep the offices for administration
space. Cleveland is understood to have not yet approached freeholder the Grosvenor Estate, which would have to consent to any
conversion.
CBRE Global Investors has let 12,141 sq ft to data company Kroll Ontrack at Global House, Ashley Avenue, Epsom, Surrey on a 10year lease. Kroll Ontrack has taken the second floor of the property, which is located in Epson’s town centre and has direct access
into the shopping centre The Ashley Centre. The Ashley Centre and Global House were acquired by CBRE Global Investors in
December 2014.
The office rental model has been given a Changing Rooms-style makeover by the start-up Office Space in Town, which has
ditched the leasing arrangements favoured by the likes of Regus to buy outright freeholds in attractive locations instead.
The company buys buildings, then strips them down to the bare walls and floors, and creates unusual office spaces based on themes
such as Alice in Wonderland or Monopoly. These “hipster” hang-outs are aimed at growing companies that want to move into new
locations in London quickly. Office Space in Town (OSIT) was founded three years ago by Niki Fuchs, 47, and her brother Giles, 50,
who previously owned the estate agency Arans. The pair’s first punt was the purchase of three floors at the top of the Euston
Tower in north London. Since then, OSIT’s portfolio has grown to six properties in London. At the beginning of this year, the
company secured a new debt facility from Renshaw Bay and Deutsche Bank to prepare for the next phase of growth, raising £30m in
additional private finance in August to make more property acquisitions and refurbishments. “The plan is to open six new offices in
London over the next three years,” Niki and Giles are now seeking to extend their concept into a new market: hotels. Their first
hotel, which forms part of OSIT’s development at Monument in the City, will open in November, offering rooms for around £140 a
night.
Morgan Sindall will build a £60m Array Multiplex science research building at Granta Park in Cambridge. The client is BioMed
Realty Trust, which owns, manages and operates scientific research centre Granta Park. The facility wiill be home to the biomedical
firm Illumina’s new European headquarters. The new three-storey concrete frame building will incorporate a data centre.
Brookfield Multiplex has been chosen to build the new Goldman Sachs HQ in London. The value for the London office has not
been revealed but is believed to be worth up to £350m. Goldman Sachs had gone out to the market earlier this year for the scheme
which received planning permission in March 2014. Plans include the building of a 800,000 sq ft office complex near Holborn
Viaduct in central London, and the redevelopment of the neighbouring 13-storey Fleet Building and Plumtree Court on Shoe Lane.
The choice of a preferred bidder will boost hopes that the scheme will go ahead. Goldman Sachs has warned that it could move
much of its European business out of Britain if it decides to exit the EU. Although a start date has not been confirmed, the bank had
originally planned to begin work early in 2016. The project team includes architecht Kohn Pederson Fox Associates, cost consultants
EC Harris and structural engineer WSP.
LEEDS: Former Doncaster Monkbridge Wo, Whitehall Road £10m
Planning authority: Leeds Job: Reserved Matters Granted for office block Client: BAM Properties Developer: BAM Properties, St.
Vincent Street, Glasgow, Strathclyde, G2 5QD Tel: 0141 222 1020
WESTON-SUPER-MARE £2M
Plot(E) Weston Gateway Business Park, Filers Way Somerset Avenue & Diamond Batc
Planning authority: North Somerset Job: Detail Plans Granted for police response centre building Client: Avon & Somerset
Constabulary Developer: Kendall Kingscott Partnership, Glentworth Court, Lime Kiln Close, Stoke Gifford, Bristol, BS34 8SR Tel: 0117
931 2062
Morgan Sindall is tipped to take the contract to build a £44m operational command centre for Merseyside Police in Speke.
The firm is said to have beaten rivals Laing O’Rourke and Wates for the job, according to sources close to the project. This could be
the first of a bigger pipeline of work for the force. The planned three-storey building will include changing accommodation, a gym,
an armoury and equipment stores on the ground floor, with office accommodation for specialist units on the top two floors. It forms
part of a 10-year programme worth £130m to update and improve the force’s buildings, while saving running costs on the estate.
The Merseyside Police force is also looking into the feasibility of relocating from its Albert Bock headquarters while Huyton Station
will be expanded and upgraded into an area HQ.
BAM is fighting it out with Willmott Dixon for a major expansion to Birmingham City University’s campus in the Eastside region of
the city. The new £20m building – currently known as ‘Plot 2A’ – will accommodate 3,000 students and contain 100,000 square feet
of additional teaching and learning space. The Enquirer understands that BAM and Willmott Dixon are the final two left in the
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bidding with a winner due to be unveiled early next year. The new building, designed by Birmingham-based Associated Architects, is
due to open in 2017.
Hounslow Council is west London is the latest to turn its back on the education funding agency’s framework in favour of the
competitive open bid process. The council has invited bids to build a new specialist needs school in Isleworth for 224 pupils with
multiple learning difficulties. The Gresham Road school designed by Pick Everard will have a floor area of 8,500m2 over three
storeys and is targeted to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating. Work on the 18-month long school build is expected to start next
summer.
Northern Irish contractor Gilbert-Ash has won the job to deliver a new academic building at the University of Surrey despite
putting in a bid 50% higher than the original expected cost. The University is expanding its Faculties of Engineering and Physical
Sciences and Health and Medical Sciences at its Stag Hill Campus in Guildford. Oringinally the three-floor build, which was
structurally engineered by BDP, was expected to cost around £5.3m. But industry inflation has pushed up the cost. But Gilbert-Ash
finally secured the 25,000 sq ft design and build job with a bid of £8.25m, against fellow Northern Ireland firm McLaughlin & Harvey,
local builder Beard Guildford and Galliford Try. Work is expected to start on the new science, technology, engineering and
mathematics building next month, which will accommodate laboratories, teaching space, offices and seminar rooms.
Planning applications have been submitted for two office buildings at the £800m NOMA development in Manchester. The joint
venture between The Co-operative Group and Hermes Investment Management is planning to create two additional office buildings
at 2 and 3 Angel Square. Designed by AHR architects they will sit next to the award-winning 1 Angel Square, which was named one
of the world’s most sustainable buildings after achieving an ‘excellent’ BREEAM rating. Together the buildings will provide over
350,000 sq ft of premium office space, over nine and 11 storeys, within the 20-acre NOMA neighbourhood.
York-based Portakabin Group has hailed a tipping point in the use of off-site construction in the schools sector after signing off
the UK’s largest deal. The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham awarded the firm the £44m project to deliver an innovative
three-school campus acting as main contractor using its Yorkon system. The scheme will be manufactured off site in York and
accommodate a 10-form entry secondary school, a 630-place primary school, a special educational needs school, and a nursery.
Portakabin will crane in 387 steel-framed modules over two phases starting Spring 2016 to deliver the 100 classrooms required for
the campus. The largest module will be 18.75m long and weigh over 20 tonnes. When finished the 240,000 sq ft Riverside Schools
scheme will have capacity for around 2,700 children from 0-19 – integrating nursery, primary, special needs, secondary, and sixth
form. The use of off-site construction will shrink the programme time. The project has been scheduled to complete the primary and
SEN facilities at an earlier stage, in time for the start of the 2016/17 academic year to meet the urgent demand for places in the
Borough. The rest of the campus will be completed late Spring 2017.
Mansfield builder Robert Woodhead has got the thumbs up to start work on a striking business start-up hub building for
Nottingham University. The Technology Entrepreneurship Centre was designed by architect Bond Bryan and echoes the form of a
wheel reflecting the site’s location next to the old Raleigh bicycle factory. Building work on the £5m project is expected to start in
the next month with the project expected to be completed by next summer. The TEC building will be the latest addition to the
University Innovation Park at Jubilee Campus and forms the basis of the University’s successful application to be one of the first
University Enterprise Zones in the country. It will offer a diverse mix of spaces, from large open plan areas to more cellular offices
and specialist practical zones. Arup is both services and structural engineer with Thornton Firkin acting as the project manager and
Turner & Townsend the cost manager.
Assisted living firm Abbeyfield Property Developments is seeking up to 30 contractors for a new nationwide construction
framework. The framework, which could be worth up to £100m, will include the construction of new accommodation and
supported housing units across three main areas of the UK, according to OJEU documents.
It will be divided into six lots, with three per region across the North (including the North-west, Yorkshire, the North-east and the
East Midlands), East (including London, the South-east, and the East of England) and West (West Midlands and the South-west).
The Government has approved the business case for a £480m redevelopment of the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton to
go-ahead. Laing O’Rourke is main contractor on the scheme which can now start after preparatory works were completed last
Autumn. Local MP Simon Kirby confirmed that the scheme has now been fully approved by Chancellor George Osborne.
The Treasury and Department of Health committed £420m of funding to the scheme last year and an extra £60m was agreed by the
Government in February following cost increases.
HAYWARDS HEATH £7.2M
Land To The West Of, Butlers Green Road Beech Hurst
Planning authority: Mid Sussex Job: Detail Plans Granted for 69 elderly care home development Client: W T Lamb Holdings Limited
Agent: W T Lamb Holdings Limited, Nyewood Court, Brookers Road, Billingshurst, West Sussex, RH14 9RZ Contractor: Castleoak Care
BCFA NEWSFLASH
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Partnerships Ltd, Raglan House, Malthouse Avenue, Cardiff Gate Business park, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, CF23 8BA Tel: 029 2054
8800
The UK will run out of homes for its ageing population if the construction industry cannot provide another 90,000 retirement
homes in the next five years, a new report has warned.
According to property firm Savills, the country will need a bare minimum of 11,000 such homes a year just to sustain a projected 2pc
annual increase in the number of over-65s. While provision of new homes has averaged just 7,000 a year since 2005, Savills’ analysis
suggests current supply trends may meet this requirement soon.
However, meeting the needs of the growing cohort of Britons aged 75 and over will put additional pressure on retirement homes.
Set to rise by 3.2pc a year over the next five years, their requirements will mean that the industry must supply some 18,000 homes a
year. Savills estimates that the country’s over-65s possess more than £1 trillion of mortgage-free housing wealth. Over half of these
households – around 3m –live in homes bigger than they require and unsuitable for their changing needs and lifestyle, the firm said.
At present, just 4.8pc of older people in the UK live in retirement housing. In the US, some 17pc of over-60s live in such homes. In
Australia, and New Zealand, the proportion is around 13pc.
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Increasing the fraction of over-60s’ retirement housing up to a tenth would require the construction of half a million homes over the
next five years. As life expectancies continue to rise, the pressure on those in or approaching retirement to care for their own
parents is set to grow, too. More than 2m people between the ages of 50 and 65 already provide some unpaid care for those
struggling with poor health.
Providing better retirement home stock will be key to alleviating the pressure on these care-givers as demographic trends worsen.
Encouraging more of the elderly to move into retirement homes will require that more attractive stock is produced, better suiting
the active social lives of residents, rather than just an “offputting” focus on safety and security.
Unless the right kind of homes can be built, Savills said that most people would seek to stay in the family home until forced to move
by a bereavement, a concern for safety, or a health scare.
McCarthy & Stone has laid the foundations for a return to the London stock market almost a decade after it was taken private
and six years after it was swallowed by its lenders.
The company, which builds retirement housing across the UK, has announced its intention to float in London next month to raise
£70m for an ambitious construction drive over the next few years.
McCarthy & Stone said it had 70pc of the market for owner-occupied homes designed with pensioners in mind. The firm has sold
50,000 units across 1,000 development sites since its foundation in 1977 and caters to the "last-time buyer" market.
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According to recent research by Legal & General, just 2pc of the country’s housing stock has been built specifically for older people,
while 3.3m people over the age of 55 would struggle to downsize their home because of a shortage of suitable properties.
McCarthy & Stone intends to tap into this market by investing £2.5bn in land and building projects over the next four years, raising
its yearly completion rate from 1,923 homes this year to 3,000 per year.
UKTI ALERTS
UAE - Expo 2020 Dubai (HVO 13)
Opportunities for UK companies to win contracts for the delivery of the world's largest exhibition in 2020.
This full online edition with links is available at:
http://www.businessopportunities.ukti.gov.uk/uktihome/item/947660.html
Russia - Free promotion of your products or services among high level audience
UKTI team at the British Consulate-General in Ekaterinburg offer to promote your Company’s goods or services in pocket-size
catalogues or promotional video to be distributed and displayed among well-off audience during the British Lifestyle Showcase
This full online edition with links is available at:
http://www.businessopportunities.ukti.gov.uk/uktihome/item/952620.html
Singapore - Interior decoration works required
Interior decoration works for erection of National Centre for Infectious Diseases.
This full online edition with links is available at:
http://www.businessopportunities.ukti.gov.uk/uktihome/item/950980.html
USA – Luxury e-commerce retailer looking for Royal Warrant home goods & accessories holders
Opportunity for Royal Warrant holders to partner with highly exclusive online retailer for luxury home goods and accessories.
This full online edition with links is available at:
http://www.businessopportunities.ukti.gov.uk/uktihome/item/947760.html
Austria - Authority purchasing seats, chairs, other related furniture products
An Austrian authority in Vienna is looking for a supplier of seats, chairs and related products
This full online edition with links is available at:
http://www.businessopportunities.ukti.gov.uk/uktihome/item/948280.html
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts is set to expand its presence into three new African markets, with 685 rooms to be completed by
2019, according to a recent company statement. The Swiss hospitality brand aims to establish a presence in key cities across the
continent’s Sub-Saharan region, adding three new upscale hotels to its portfolio in Kenya, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire, taking its total
African properties to 28. The development plans will begin with the opening of the 223-key Mövenpick Hotel & Residences Nairobi
in mid-2016, followed by the 212-key Mövenpick Hotel Abidjan in early 2018, and the 250-key Mövenpick Hotel and Conference
Centre Abuja in 2019.
Growth in Brazilian construction industry deteriorates
Timetric’s Construction Intelligence Center (CIC) predicts limited growth prospects over the next five years, owing to the
deteriorating economy and the weak property market as well as lack of investor confidence.
In real terms, the Brazilian construction industry’s output value contracted from US$226.3bn in 2013 to US$214.9bn in 2014. This
decline was mainly due to a large budget deficit and the implications of ‘Operation Lava Jato’, implemented to control the country’s
corruption scandal. This resulted in weak business confidence and a delay in the construction of several infrastructure projects,
which affected the demand for construction activity in 2014.
With the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, construction activity is likely to increase in the country. As a result, the industry’s
output value is forecast to record slight growth in real terms, increasing to US$215.1bn in 2015. Over the next five years, however,
growth prospects will remain limited; unstable economic conditions will have a negative impact on the country’s construction
industry, which is expected to decline in value in real terms from US$214.9bn in 2014 to US$204.1bn in 2019.
Residential construction was the largest market in the whole construction industry during the review period, holding a share of
around 31%. The government’s efforts to offset the country’s housing deficit, low interest rates and expanding middle-class
population, supported the market during the review period, which posted a nominal compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of
14.9%. Over the forecast period, the market is expected to remain the largest, with a share of 29.6% in 2019.
Accounting for 28.5% of the construction industry’s total value in 2014, infrastructure construction was the second-largest market in
the Brazilian construction industry. The market will be supported by the nation’s hosting of the 2016 Olympic Games, which will
require stadia, transport infrastructure, hotels and other related infrastructure. In order to host the games, the Brazilian
government has had to prioritise infrastructure development as a key area of investment, to enable the country to handle the
expected high volume of tourists.
BCFA NEWSFLASH
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Wyndham Hotel Group’s aggressive growth in South East Asia is showing no signs of slowing down, as the world’s largest hotel
company has announced the signing of seven new franchise agreements during ITB Asia in Singapore. The properties will be
located across tourist hot spots in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam under the hospitality giant’s Ramada®, Days Inn® and Wyndham
Hotels and Resorts® brands. The news follows the signings of 26 managed and franchised properties for Wyndham Hotel Group so
far this year in South East Asia.
Marriott International, Inc. maintains the pace of its regional development plans by announcing the signing of Residence Inn by
Marriott Al Jaddaf, a signing that marks a significant entry in the lead up to 2020 as it will be the hotel group's first property from
the Residence Inn brand portfolio in the UAE. Due to be completed in 2019, the Residence Inn by Marriott Al Jaddaf will be
comprised of a total of 135 units.
Best Western Hotels & Resorts has signed an agreement for a new-build 70 room Vīb hotel in Vientiane, the capital of Laos.
Scheduled to open in 2018, the new hotel will bring a vibrant new blend of cutting-edge design and international hospitality to the
city, and the region.
The Rezidor Hotel Group has reached 100,000 rooms in operation and under development. During the third quarter, Rezidor
contracted 12 hotels with 2,300 rooms mainly in emerging markets and focus countries. Year-to-date signings increased to 7,000
rooms and are well ahead of last year. Q3 key signings included Rezidor’s first projects in Slovenia, Cyprus and Iraq (Kurdistan) and
two more Radisson Blu properties in Istanbul/Turkey consolidating Radisson Blu’s position as the largest upper-upscale brand in the
city. In Finland, Rezidor signed two more projects with its partner SOK - their joint Radisson Blu portfolio in the country now
comprises of six properties. Also Rezidor’s new lifestyle select brand Radisson Red gained further momentum. Following the signing
in Cape Town/South Africa, Rezidor contracted Europe’s first new build Radisson Red in Glasgow/UK. The first conversion in Europe
in Brussels/Belgium is on track for an opening in April 2016. On a joint Carlson Rezidor level there are now eight Radisson Red hotels
under development globally. Q3 saw the opening of nine hotels with 1,350 rooms which included market entries to Mauritius (with
two Radisson Blu resorts) and Congo
Hilton Worldwide has reached an agreement with Royal International to open its first hotel under the Curio – A Collection by
Hilton brand in the UAE. Due to begin welcoming guests in 2018, the grand two-tower Rosemont Hotel and Residences, a 450guestroom and 280-serviced apartment property, which will be developed on Dubai's Sheikh Zayed Road.
Developer Barrasford and Bird Worldwide has selected Wyndham Worldwide as its franchise partner for its first mixed-use
development in Europe. Offering a combination of hotel accommodations, as well as luxury leisure residences, the Wyndham
Halcyon Retreat Golf and Spa Resort in Limousin, central France, is the first of its kind in the region to leverage the joint power of
the hotel and vacation exchange business at Wyndham Worldwide.
The new agreement includes the construction of the 225-room resort hotel to be franchised through the hotel group, and the ability
for purchasers of luxury residences to travel to destinations around the world through the Registry Collection, a luxury holiday
program from RCI. Due to open as a Wyndham in early 2017, the Wyndham Halcyon Retreat Golf and Spa Resort is set in 220 acres
of stunning landscape within the historic Château de la Cazine in the Limousin region of France, located less than an hour’s drive
from Limoges international airport.
BCFA NEWSFLASH
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