Lead contractor on Western Growth Corridor for City of Lincoln Council appointed
GRAHAM has been appointed by the City of Lincoln Council to design and deliver crucial elements of the Western Growth Corridor development.
The Western Growth Corridor project in Lincoln is set to transform the city and bring new opportunities for housing and economic growth.
The work elements include the design and construction of a new vehicular/cycle/pedestrian bridge over the railway and a pedestrian bridge enhancing safety and connectivity between the site and the existing communities.
The Pagabo Civils & Infrastructure Framework has been used to procure and appoint GRAHAM for this Design and Construct project. The framework ensures that competent and experienced contractors are appointed for major infrastructure projects.
GRAHAM’s extensive experience in delivering similar projects, particularly in the railway sector and knowledge of working alongside Network Rail, played a significant role in its selection.
The firm’s involvement in the Western Growth Corridor project will see its civil engineering team oversee the design and construction of key access routes and bridges.
In August 2022, the city council, in partnership with Member of Parliament for Lincoln, Karl McCartney, submitted its bid for £20 million to create a road bridge and adjacent foot bridge linking the city’s Western Growth Corridor development to Tritton Road. The Government’s Levelling Up Round Two programme will see the bridge completed by March 2025, with work anticipated to start at the beginning of 2024.
The project aims to establish a major access route into the Western Growth Corridor site, enabling the delivery of up to 3,200 new homes as part of a Sustainable Urban Extension to Lincoln.
Subject to design and budget approvals, construction will commence in 2024, with the first phase of homes expected to be delivered thereafter, pending detailed planning approval.
A range of surveys are currently underway, including eco and geotechnical utility surveys, to gather essential data and verify the physical conditions on the ground.
GRAHAM contracts director Alastair Lewis said: “We’re thrilled to be appointed as the lead contractor for key elements of the Western Growth Corridor project, which highlights our expertise and commitment to delivering exceptional infrastructure projects.
“The Western Growth Corridor project is a challenging scheme involving tackling access restrictions, utilities, drainage, and traffic management, among other complexities.
“GRAHAM’s objective is to value engineer the access road and bridge over the railway, seeking creative design and construction solutions that deliver cost and carbon savings while ensuring the long-term success of the strategic masterplan for the site.”
Transformation of engineering campus hits milestone
A capital project to substantially upgrade the engineering and technology centre at Leicester College has passed its midpoint.
Set to complete in November, the redevelopment of the facility on the Abbey Park Campus will provide students with updated learning facilities, to support the delivery of engineering T levels and other types of engineering qualifications.
Stepnell is delivering the construction of a design led by Moss Architecture . Interiors Ltd. The multidisciplinary design team includes quantity surveyors from MDA Ltd, as well as mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineers from Steven Hunt Associates Ltd and structural engineers from Price & Myers Ltd.
The project includes the introduction of and upgrade to new industry standard laboratories. These will be used to teach students across specialist engineering disciplines, including electrical engineering, electronic engineering, pneumatic and hydraulics, programmable logic controllers (PLC) and robotics.
A new mechanical engineering workshop is also being constructed by Stepnell to accommodate industry-standard standard lathes and milling machines. Additionally, a specialist hand skills development and projects area, welding booths and a state-of-the-art grinding room will be integrated to enhance the hands-on learning experience.
Tom Sewell, regional director at Stepnell, said: “With a consistent pipeline of projects within the education sector, this is the third project we have undertaken for Leicester College. We have a key focus to continue developing lasting public sector client relations.
“We understand the college’s needs to provide the best learning experience in the long term while minimising the disruption to the teaching experience during the build, and we’re progressing well ahead of completion in November.
“With a strong familiarity within our construction team of the educational needs for aspiring engineers, it’s a highly rewarding project to help create the ideal learning space to educate future talent.”
The capital project supports the introduction of engineering T Level qualifications at Leicester College, with the Department for Education having provided more than £1 million towards the project cost from T-level capital grant funding.
The college aims to help meet the skills demand at higher technical levels regionally and nationally and provide a valid pathway to higher technical qualifications. It aims to support the forecasted 1.2% growth in engineering and electronic engineering occupations available in Leicestershire and Rutland by 2030.
Ibrar Raja, director of engineering at Leicester College, said: “I am delighted to witness the transformation of our engineering building into a state-of-the-art facility that reflects our commitment to providing the best possible learning environment for our students and supports the need for highly qualified and skilled engineers in the region.
“This refurbishment project embodies our dedication to fostering innovation and excellence in engineering education.”
Landsmiths Oktoberfest raises £4,000 for The Core Centre
Nottingham property law firm, Landsmiths, recently hosted an Ocktoberfest event at The Bierkeller, Nottingham raising £4,000 for local charity The Core Centre.
The event, which took place on Thursday 12 October, was supported by a number of local businesses and brought together the Nottingham business community for a night of celebration, networking and fundraising.
Guests enjoyed traditional Bavarian cuisine and drinks, live music, and plenty of festive entertainment. To boost fundraising efforts there was also a charity raffle, which featured prizes donated by a number of local businesses.
The Core Centre is a small charity, based in Calverton, Nottingham. Their 3 staff, 30 volunteers, Trustees and partner network provide a Community Hub supporting well-being, health, providing advice and community engagement.
Core offers over 30 activities and services which provide optimism and support, evolving to meet the needs of the community post-Covid and with the cost of living crisis. More recently they have had to increasingly focus on reducing the severe impact of the cost of living crisis and are currently preparing for a difficult winter ahead.
Sam and Becky from The Core Centre said: “We can’t thank Landsmiths enough…it was a fantastic event! We were absolutely blown away by everyone’s generosity! The money raised will make such a difference to our charity, filling our funding gaps and helping us to continue our essential services within the community. A huge thanks to everyone involved.”
Sam from The Core Centre added: “We made some great connections on the night who have offered their help/expertise. The opportunity for us to make these connections is just as valuable to us as cash donations.”
Rachael Briggs, director at Landsmiths, said: “At Landsmiths we’re passionate about supporting and giving back to our local community. The Core Centre is such an amazing charity and we wanted to host something big and get other businesses involved to raise as much money for them as possible.”
Vik Moothia, director at Landsmiths, said: “It was a fantastic evening and we’re extremely grateful to all those who attended, sponsored the event, donated raffle prizes, and also to The Bierkeller who donated a set amount for each speciality drink that was purchased on the night.”
Sponsors of the evening included 200 Degrees, A W Lymn, Chord Consult, Groundsure, Innes England, LANDA Associates, Logical Demolition, Monk Estates, Node Consulting, PKF Smith Cooper and SIA.
£4.6m investment will bring 222 jobs to Loughborough lab space
More than 200 jobs will be created through a £4.6m investment in revamping laboratory space at Charnwood Campus.
Highly-specialised lab space, which is currently unused, is to be reactivated to create a world-class biochemistry building.
The project will enable a research organisation to expand into the LLEP area. And it will mean existing facilities can be upgraded as part of the first phase of an Innovation Centre project which will provide specialised laboratories – which meet modern regulatory requirements – for Leicester and Leicestershire’s life sciences cluster.
The total investment of £4.6m will be provided through Enterprise Zone Retained Rates Funding from the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP), in partnership with Charnwood Borough Council.
Andy Reed OBE, LLEP co-chair, said: “This lab space will bring inward investment through the arrival of the first tenant.
“But it will also support the development and growth of businesses in the pharmaceutical, bio-tech, and med-tech sectors by offering research, development, and small batch manufacturing capacity here in Leicestershire.”
The project will:
- Make available 9,417m² of highly specialised bio-chemistry laboratory and office space;
- Create 100 high value jobs within 12 months – and a total of 222 within five years;
- Introduce a further 1,110 jobs in the supply chain;
- Create 50 parking spaces with electric car charging points.
Cllr Jewel Miah, leader of Charnwood Borough Council, said: “This project is another example of the opportunity we have to bring significant inward investment to Charnwood through making effective use of world-class life sciences infrastructure.
“Not only will this create cutting-edge lab space, it will also create hundreds of quality jobs and strengthen the supply chain for our local economy.”
Gosia Khrais, commercial and marketing director at Charnwood Campus, said: “This investment will help accelerate our ambition to become a meaningful life sciences asset in the region, attracting inward investment, and providing employment directly on the site and within our local supply chain.
“The project will also allow us to bring forward some of the other schemes that we have been working on in the background. None of this could have happened without really successful partnerships with our local and regional authorities.”
Grants of up to £15,000 made available for rural businesses in North Northamptonshire
Grants of between £5,000 and £15,000 are now available for rural businesses across North Northamptonshire.
Using monies received from the Rural England Prosperity Fund, North Northamptonshire Council has re-launched a grant scheme to support existing rural businesses, with applications now open.
Following on from round 1 earlier in 2023, round 2 applications are invited from projects that can start quickly and be delivered with all spend claimed by 28 February 2024. Capital Grants of between £5,000 and £15,000 are available in Round 2.
The grant scheme is intended to help rural businesses become more resilient and support growth. A particular target for Round 2 is rural diversification, including farm diversification and projects which support the visitor economy. The awarding of capital grants will enable rural businesses to invest in equipment or for building extensions and alterations.
Applications for this funding (Round 2) must be received by 5pm on Friday 24 November.
Cllr David Howes, the council’s Executive Member for Rural Communities and Localism, said: “I am pleased that following on from round 1 earlier in the year, we are now launching a new round of capital grant funding for rural businesses across North Northamptonshire.
“Rural businesses face a unique set of challenges and this grant scheme is designed to help them grow and develop.”
Cllr David Brackenbury, the council’s Executive Member for Growth and Regeneration, said: “This latest round of funding is designed to help rural businesses become more resilient and support growth, specifically around diversifying businesses. I would urge any rural businesses in North Northants to get in touch, take a read through the criteria and apply.”
Cllr Jason Smithers, Leader of the Council, said: “As a council, we are always looking for ways to ensure funds get to those who most need it and these grants will make a real difference. If you are not eligible for funding this time, there will be a further round of funding opening later in 2023.”
Interested rural businesses who wish to apply for funding in round 2 are invited to send a request for an application form, eligibility criteria and guidance notes to ukspf@northnorthants.gov.uk
Rural businesses should also be aware that there will be an additional opportunity to apply for funding in Round 3. This will be for projects that will start in or after April 2024 and can be delivered with all spend claimed by 28 February 2025. Businesses are able to apply to more than one round for different projects.
Derby IT solutions provider acquired
Park Place Technologies, the global data centre and networking optimisation firm, has acquired Xuper, an IT solutions provider based in Derby.
Xuper was founded nearly 40 years ago. Xuper chairman and Managing Director Peter Grogan has announced his retirement but will be assisting through the transition period.
Xuper’s clients will benefit from Park Place’s global access to parts and engineering expertise, as well as its full portfolio of IT Lifecycle offerings, including Professional and Managed Services. Xuper’s engineers average 20+ years in the field.
Park Place clients will benefit from access to Xuper’s team of experienced engineers, staff augmentation services and extensive third-party maintenance capabilities.
Chris Adams, president and CEO of Park Place Technologies, said: “Xuper has a long list of industry accolades and certifications, and nearly four decades of exceptional customer service.
“For decades, Xuper has been a well respected brand. Its culture of finding solutions and building long-term partnerships mirrors Park Place’s mission. Their commitment to channel partners is a complement to our work with the globe’s most accomplished channel companies.”
FHP complete two HMO portfolio sales
FHP and sister brand FHP Student Living have completed two portfolio sales of HMO properties in Nottingham.
David Hargreaves, founding director of FHP and FHP Living, said: “Demand for HMOs from students continues to remain good thanks in part to two very strong universities with rents continuing to rise.
“However with significant increases in interest rates as well as utility costs and increasing compliance and licensing requirements we are starting to see a ‘changing of the guard’ in terms of ownership.
“Many owners of student HMO’s have owned for 20-30 years and are now getting to an age where the constant changes and demands on them are resulting in them looking for an exit.
“At the same time we are seeing an increasing number of large prop co’s and institutionally backed companies buying in to the sector as they build substantial national portfolios of several thousand beds focused on the key university cities.”
Jonty Green, who heads the investment side of the FHP Student Living business, said: “Our two recent portfolio sales fall under such a scenario and the links FHP have with the large prop co’s and institutions through their overall investment work together with our deep local knowledge has put us in a strong position to help our clients achieve their aims.”
The first portfolio of five houses and 26 beds in the prime Lenton area achieved a price of just over £2,000,000 with Massers advising on the legals.
The second portfolio of 22 properties and 112 beds also in Lenton achieved a price of just over £8,000,000 with Helene Maillet-Vioud of Geldards leading on the legals.
AutoNation drops out of the race to acquire Nottingham car retailer
AutoNation has joined Hedin and PAG International in dropping out of the race to acquire Nottingham-based car retailer Pendragon.
The American firm has confirmed that it does not intend to make an offer after initially considering acquiring the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Pendragon for 32 pence per share, in cash.
The news pushes back to the forefront Lithia Motors’ increased offer for Pendragon’s UK motor business and leasing business. The total cash consideration is £397 million, including a previously publicly disclosed subscription for shares in Pendragon.
Last month Pendragon revealed plans to sell its UK motor business and leasing business to Lithia. They also agreed the terms of a strategic partnership, including the rollout of Pinewood, the company’s dealer management software (DMS) business, to Lithia’s existing 50 UK sites and the creation of a joint venture to accelerate Pinewood’s entry into the attractive North American DMS market.
As part of the transaction, it was announced that Pendragon’s Pinewood division, which operates the company’s proprietary DMS business, would become a standalone entity, retaining Pendragon’s existing listing on the London Stock Exchange and creating a pure play Software as a Service (SaaS) business with an accelerated growth plan.
Lithia is one of the largest automotive retailers in North America.
New options considered for road after construction costs rocket
Increased costs of around £27m mean that constructing a southern leg of Melton Mowbray Distributor Road isn’t viable at the moment, a new report says.
Leicestershire County Council is having to step back from building the road and unable to take up the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) grant, but will continue to work with Melton Borough Council and other stakeholders on alternative options to deliver new homes and jobs and secure infrastructure.
Government agency Homes England (HE) had offered the council an £18.2m HIF grant which was conditional on the southern stretch being fully funded. Despite extensive dialogue with HE, it has not been possible to find an alternative way forward.
Growing construction costs, plus inflation, have hiked the cost of the £43m scheme up to £70m and under the terms of the Government funding, the council would have been required to fund the gap of £27m.
Nick Rushton, Leader of Leicestershire County Council, said: “We’ve bent over backwards trying to identify alternative funding methods and lobbied Government for more money to help us get the southern leg over the line. We’ve simply exhausted all avenues and cannot afford to build it at this point in time, given our cost pressures and inflation.
“Construction of the north and eastern leg is well underway and one of the biggest road schemes we’ve ever built. Given the amount of work put in on the southern stretch to date, we would be in a good position to bid for money to support this project at a later date.
“Creating much-needed new homes, along with the schools and roads communities need, remains a top priority. We’re committed to working with Melton Borough Council, MPs and other stakeholders now and in the future, to secure cash and deliver their local plan.”
Work to build the northern and eastern leg got underway earlier this year. The ground has been levelled and drains and fencing put in for the new 7.1km road which is on track to open in late 2025. County council shares rail freight concerns
A detailed new report has shown the wide-ranging concerns Leicestershire County Council has with the proposed Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange (HNRFI).
Responding with a written representation as a statutory consultee on the proposal, the county council’s report states that it cannot support the application due to the lack of information provided by the applicant.
HNRFI is planned on land to the east of Hinckley with access from M69 Junction 2. Plans submitted by Tritax Symmetry have been assessed by the county council, who found significant gaps, including:
- Only 21 of 45 junctions needing detailed assessments by the applicant having been carried out
- No detailed assessment of impact on M1 J21/M69 J3
- No detailed analysis of the impact of the development on Sapcote village
- Significant impact on public rights of way and lack of proposals for new walking and cycling routes
- Overexaggerated carbon benefits of the scheme
Councillor Ozzy O’Shea, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “It’s plain to see that the highways information provided by Tritax is nowhere near enough for us to support this proposal. Information is lacking and where it is provided, some is inconsistent.
“I hope this reassures residents who will be most impacted by this development that our representation to the Planning Inspectorate makes it clear the information supporting the proposals falls way short of what we’d expect to see.
“Rail freight interchanges do have benefits and another in Leicestershire would be welcomed, but it has to be right for the county and our road network, and from what we can see this location just isn’t suitable.”
Due to the scale of the development, the final decision will be made by the Secretary of State for Transport. 