UK INDUSTRY NEWS Beard Develops Strategic Partnership with Green Unit Construction firm Beard has entered into a strategic partnership with Green Unit Limited, in order to help boost production of modular low-carbon buildings. The move is part of Beard’s ambition to be more sustainable and to actively drive sustainable alternatives in the construction industry. Beard had been studying opportunities to join forces with a sustainable and eco-friendly business, focused on offsite construction. The partnership enhances Green Unit’s ability to provide its customers with premium quality, modular, eco-buildings for commercial, community and residential use. It will enable Green Unit to expand demand across a variety of sectors, such as healthcare, education and leisure. As the UK heads into a winter set to be dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, Green Unit will continue to provide its distinctive modular units to the NHS for various uses such as staff respite and patient care areas. Green Unit was co-founded in 2012 by Jonathan Finnerty, to develop distinctive eco-buildings, which are design-focused and based on Passivhaus principles to create a sense of peace and relaxation for users. As well as being environmentally-friendly they are built with low embodied carbon and high operational performance due to their levels of insulation and airtightness. The buildings are manufactured offsite in sections, transported by road and delivered to site virtually complete. The investment from Beard will enable Green Unit to relocate its operations
Modular for Nottinghamshire Brownfield Site
to a 21,000m² factory at Lockwood Farm, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, which will significantly increase its production capacity. While Green Unit Limited remains an independent company, Beard’s Chad Murrin will sit on the board of Green Unit as part of this partnership. Beard chairman Mark Beard said: “Methods of construction are changing and as a business we want to move further towards sustainability. Offsite and modular construction methods are being increasingly used in our industry and there are some key learnings we can take from this for the wider construction sector. These techniques can significantly improve quality, reduce construction time and lessen dependence on site works. “We have been looking for some time for a long-term partner with this expertise and in Green Unit we feel that we have found a perfect match. We can support its ongoing growth and development while at the same time we can further increase our own
ilke Homes is set to deliver up to 140 homes in Nottinghamshire after being selected by Nottinghamshire County Council to regenerate a brownfield site. The deal, which followed a competitive tender process, will see the redevelopment of the nine-acre site in Rolleston Drive in Arnold. The former depot was derelict for six years before being destroyed by fire in 2017. Innes England advised Nottinghamshire County Council acting as its agent. The scheme is ilke Homes’ third in Nottinghamshire. In July, ilke Homes signed a deal with Network Rail to build 40 homes in Beeston. In February, ilke Homes delivered nine zero-carbon homes in Newark for SME developer, Positive Homes. The homes will be manufactured at ilke Homes’ factory in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, before being delivered to Rolleston Drive. This marks the first time that Nottinghamshire County Council has released land for a factory-built housing development. The local authority announced last year it was supporting major infrastructure and capital projects costing over £200million to help boost prosperity for its residents and the local economy. It has secured an £11million grant from Homes
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knowledge of sustainable methods of construction. It is important for Beard to transfer knowledge about modular construction methods into our core business and in due course have a modular offering for our customers.” Green Unit Managing Director Jonathan Finnerty added: “The development of this new partnership is a key moment for Green Unit as a business, as it enables us to significantly expand our production capability. Beard has an excellent quality, environmental and ethical reputation and a large customer base, notably in the education sector. Beard has grown significantly in recent years and is well-placed to assist and support our young company as we grow. We look forward to working together to develop a new, unique, modular building product which can be offered to Beard’s customers.” Source: www.greenunit.co.uk www.beardconstruction.co.uk
England to prepare eight redundant sites that it owns for housing development to meet the growing demand in the county. Tom Heathcote, Executive Director of development at ilke Homes, said: “We’re delighted to have been selected by Nottingham County Council to unlock this important brownfield site. Our housing technology means we can quickly deliver a high-quality scheme that brings this derelict site back into productive use and deliver much needed, sustainable family homes for the local community.” Councillor Kay Cutts, Leader of Nottingham County Council, said: “We selected Ilke Homes as the purchaser for this site after receiving many bids from different housebuilders and developers during the tender process. The re-use of this site for housing will be a huge benefit to the community and ilke Homes already appear to be making progress with their planning application. The sale will realise a notable capital receipt for Nottinghamshire County Council.” Source: www.ilkehomes.co.uk
WWW.OFFSITEMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020
