PRESIDENT’S COLUMN Teesside Beam Mill wins
6 NSC
June 18
Steelwork creating university sports legacy
Due to complete in March 2019, the University of
Warwick’s new sports hub is quickly taking shape
with the aid of 900t of structural steelwork erected by
Hambleton Steel.
The scheme will create one of the foremost sports
facilities at a UK university – including what is
claimed to be the country’s largest gym facility in the
higher education sector.
Replacing the current sports centre on the campus,
the hub will feature a 16-court sports hall, a 25m-long
swimming pool with a moveable floor, fitness
suites, climbing and bouldering walls and flexible
studio spaces, as well as squash courts, outdoor 3G
sports pitches and netball courts. It will also be the
official training ground of Coventry’s Wasps Netball
Superleague team.
Willmott Dixon Managing Director in the Midlands
Peter Owen said: “This is a fantastic project to be part
of, creating cutting edge sporting facilities for the
community at the University of Warwick which will
really benefit its users.”
News
I was interested to read a recent opinion piece in the
construction press that painted the construction sector
as an industry divided on the issue of retentions. A
good read, but it completely missed the big picture
which is that the construction sector is unanimous
that retentions should be abolished. As usual, it’s in
the fine print of implementation where there is some
disagreement.
The danger with our lack of agreement on
implementation is that it will allow the government
to sit on its hands and take the ‘do nothing’ path once
again. This can’t happen in a post-Carillion world where
hundreds of sub-contractors so recently lost retentions
to the failed Tier 1 contractor.
BuildUK has developed a ‘Retentions Roadmap’ that
has the long-term objective of abolishing retentions by
2023. Excellent, except that time and experience has
shown that it’s almost impossible for such a disparate,
fiercely competitive sector to all implement such a
radical departure. Because of the nature of contracting,
in order to win a job main contractors and then subcontractors
often feel forced or coerced into agreeing
to terms and conditions, including cash retentions,
that they know represent a commercial risk, especially
when faced with project slippage and factory loadings
to manage.
There is also a myth that retentions are vital to
protect the interests of the client – the stated reason
for holding one is to ensure that any defects are
rectified. But in the structural steelwork sector, I have
completely failed to find a company that has had a
retention withheld for that purpose. Other reasons
have certainly been given, including using retention
monies to help cashflow, bolstering year end accounts
and even as a source of capital. It’s ludicrous that SME
sub-contractors are actually financing the rest of the
construction sector!
So this is where the simple concept of holding
retentions in trust comes in. For those who can’t let go
of cash retentions, hold them in trust, like the tenancy
deposit scheme. This will protect sub-contractors’
monies in the case of insolvency, like Carillion, but it
will also act as a disincentive to ask for cash retentions
in the first place. If you can’t use the retentions for the
purpose that they were really taken, then what’s the
point? And then the industry will really be on its way to
abolishing cash retentions as outlined by BuildUK.
The Peter Aldous Private Members Bill, which
proposes legislating to hold cash retentions in trust,
has its second reading in the House of Commons soon.
I’ll be reminding my MP, Jenny Chapman, that she
should make sure she votes on this important issue. I
recommend that you contact your MP too.
Tim Outteridge
BCSA President & Sales Director Cleveland Bridge
RoSPA Gold Award for
third successive year
British Steel’s Teesside Beam Mill (TBM) has been
handed a prestigious award for a third time for
helping its employees get home safely at the end of the
working day.
TBM has achieved a Gold in the internationallyrenowned
RoSPA Health and Safety Awards, one of the
longest-running industry award schemes in the UK.
The RoSPA Awards scheme, which receives entries
from organisations around the world, recognises
achievement in health and safety management
systems, including practices such as leadership and
workforce involvement.
TBM Plant Manager Andy Williams said: “This is
a fantastic achievement which everyone at Teesside
Beam Mill has contributed to.
“Nothing is more important than going home safely
after your shift so together we all work extremely hard
to maintain the highest of standards.
“We’re proud of our safety performance at TBM
but won’t rest on our laurels, and we’ll continue to
look at ways in which we can further improve our
performance.”
Julia Small, RoSPA’s Head of Qualifications, Awards
and Events, said: “The RoSPA Awards are the most
highly-respected in the health and safety arena,
with almost 2,000 entrants every year, and allow
organisations to prove excellence in the workplace,
demonstrating a commitment to the wellbeing of not
only employees but all those who interact with it.”
TBM was previously awarded a RoSPA Gold
Award in 2016 and 2017. Recently it also has won
the Apprenticeship Award at the North East Business
Awards 2018 for the support employees give to
apprentices.
The latest scheme in London’s ongoing St James’s
redevelopment is the eight-storey steel-framed Duke’s
Court office block which will help to further enhance
the area’s business credentials.
The building will provide 3,234m² of office
accommodation, spread over six upper floors with two
levels of retail offering 1,034m² of space.
The building aims to achieve BREEAM
‘Outstanding’ for its commercial floors and BREEAM
‘Very Good’ for its retail zone, while the project as
a whole has a WELL standard rating of Gold. The
latter certification recognises the building has been
designed as a healthy and productive space for its
future occupants.
Occupying a footprint of 34m × 24m, Duke’s Court
replaces two old buildings that were demolished prior
to main contractor Skanska starting on site.
Bourne Steel is fabricating, supplying and erecting
600t of steelwork for the project.
Commercial addition
for St James’s
redevelopment
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