PRESIDENT’S COLUMN STRUMIS launches
8 NSC
Jun 20
STRUMIS has released what is claimed to be its most
comprehensive and feature-rich version of the steel
fabrication management information system.
Known as STRUMIS V10.4, the company said
this latest version demonstrates its commitment to
customers’ needs and expectations and also the wider
global steel construction sector.
STRUMIS also said that steelwork contractors,
suppliers, processing plants, as well as main
contractors, will all benefit even further and increase
their already significant cost and time saving benefits
along with total traceability across their projects.
Steve Watson, Sales Manager for STRUMIS UK &
Europe said: “In my 30 years, both using and working
for STRUMIS, I can’t remember a version upgrade
containing so many new and exciting features, V10.4
is the most genuinely exciting release I have seen,
I’ve also been lucky enough to spend a little time
testing V10.4 in the past few weeks and it is seriously
impressive.”
Chris Eaton, Product Manager for STRUMIS added:
“We always aim to stay ahead of the curve with regard
to new industry requirements and develop STRUMIS
in-line with end user requirements along with
regional and global industry demands such as BIM
legislation and CE Marking to ensure our STRUMIS
customers have the very best tools to-hand in order
to remain competitive. V10.4 is a result of a great deal
of hard work and dedication by our expert STRUMIS
developers and testers.”
Gatwick logistics
park expansion gets
green light
Developer St. Modwen has secured detailed planning
permission for a 6,000m2 unit at its St. Modwen
Park Gatwick logistics park, which is 5.5 miles from
Gatwick Airport.
Believed to be the largest planned unit in the
Gatwick area for more than a decade, St. Modwen
has revised its initial outline consent with detailed
plans to create a significantly taller building with an
internal height of 12.5m.
The company said the additional 4.5m height will
cater to market demand, enabling more space for
warehouse racking and the potential for additional
mezzanine floor space.
The new unit will have 24-hour access, seven dock
level loading doors and a 50m deep secure service
yard, which St Modwen said will be ideal for an
airport-related UK logistics business.
Strategically located adjacent to Junction 10 of the
M23, serving both Gatwick and Crawley, the logistics
park also has easy access to the M25 and the South
Coast.
David McGougan, Senior Development Manager
at St. Modwen, said: “Our confidence in the park is
clear and securing planning for a further warehouse
in the area evidences this.”
William Merrett, Senior Associate Director at
BNP Paribas Real Estate, agents for St. Modwen Park
Gatwick, added: “With Gatwick Airport just over a
10-minute drive away, this new unit will provide a
prime location for a leading industrial and logistics
business. We have confidence in the scheme and look
forward to welcoming an occupier keen to either
relocate or expand into the popular area.”
News
The lockdown is starting to be
relaxed and although things
won’t be back to normal any
time soon, a lot of construction
sites are open (with the
exception of some in Scotland)
and most steelwork contractors
are working.
We all look forward to more
restrictions being lifted over
the summer, but I worry that
The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has warned of a 'severe
recession, the likes of which we haven’t seen' and some
commentators talk about 10% unemployment not just
for the short term but for up to 5 years, it’s important to
me that we don’t talk ourselves into recession.
We are seeing projects put back and a reduction in
the number of enquiries. You may be interested to read
that the 'Building Conference' reported a continued
downward trend in both the number and value of
contracts awarded in the first two weeks of May.
In the six weeks before the lockdown there was an
average of 122 contracts awarded each week. In the
first and second weeks of May, there were just 66 and
94 contracts awarded respectively and the value of the
contracts awarded fell from an average of £2.08 billion
per week to just £0.3 billion in the first week of May and
£1.43 billon in the second week of May. These are grim
stats but let’s hope this is a more of a holding pattern
and the work will flow through soon. This reduction
in the pipeline of work is likely to hit the Construction
industry at the worst possible time. The Job Retention
Scheme is scheduled to end at the end of October just
when the industry will need it.
We all have a part to play in an economic bounceback,
it’s time to show our metal, that’s resilience,
customer and project focus and the brilliant can-do
attitude of our sector. A demonstration of our flexibility
and versatility which won’t go unrecognised and
perhaps optimistically, I hope will act as a catalyst for
the kick-start.
To make matters worse the government is looking to
introduce reverse charge VAT in March 2021. This unfair
change to the tax system will have a massive negative
economic impact on the industry and will increase the
burden on business and reduce cashflow - not just in
the short-term but as a perpetual effect. BCSA has been
lobbying hard against this and is keeping the pressure
on by writing to Mr Sunak directly, to urge this initiative
gets taken off the table.
Any construction company, but particularly those
who purchase high value materials and act as subcontractors
in delivering construction services, will
in effect become a perpetual creditor to HMRC. They
would be caught in the middle of regular input VAT
being charged to them, then the reverse charge
applying to the sub-contracted construction services
they provide. You must then grasp the implication that
any cashflow shortfall must be funded from debt, or
elsewhere in an already pressurised business.
BCSA has also written to Mr Nadhim Zahawi the
Minister for Business and Industry warning about the
fall in the construction pipeline and urging him to
proceed as a matter of urgency with the infrastructure
projects promised in the budget.
These are perhaps only two of the many priorities
and changes that we are facing, add to them what
the new norm is going to look like. Some of these are
already having positive effects. Personally, I’m finding
that using technology for instance, will reduce travel
and the expense of it, and the travel time spent doing
something else.
Being an eternal optimist, I’m looking forward to
finding better ways of working, being efficient and
effective and seeing that they impact positively on all
our businesses.
Tim Outteridge
BCSA President
updated steel fabrication
management system
Muse Developments has submitted an outline
planning application to Rotherham Metropolitan
Borough Council for the Forge Island mixed-use
destination, which it said will bring both a new offer
and increased vibrancy to the heart of the town centre.
Plans for the scheme include a cinema, food and
drink outlets, a hotel, and a car park, with the new
leisure facilities set within a public space, as well as a new
pedestrian bridge connecting to the wider town centre.
Dan Needham, Development Director at Muse
Developments, said: “We’re at the next stage on the
journey to deliver an innovative and striking scheme
in the heart of Rotherham that will benefit the town
and the community for years to come.
“Forge Island will be a destination that will bring a
family-friendly offer to the town, where people will be
able to relax during their free time. Our collaboration
with Rotherham Council is built on a shared vision,
shared values, and with the goal to deliver a truly
transformational scheme, and we’re all moving in the
same direction to bring that vision to life.”
Following consent and exchange of agreements
with the main anchor occupiers, it is anticipated that
construction will begin in autumn 2021.
Major development
for Rotherham
submitted
/Fabrication
/Construction
/CE_marking
/Single_storey_industrial_buildings#Mezzanines
/Retail_buildings#Distribution_warehouses
/Construction
/Car_parks
/Leisure_buildings
/Design_of_steel_footbridges
/Construction