NHBC SHOW OFFSITE BENEFITS TO SHADOW MINISTER

Shadow Minister for Business and Industry, Bill Esterson MP visited David Wilson Homes’ Sundial Place development in Sefton, hosted by NHBC, to discuss ongoing skills shortages in the housebuilding industry, preparing for the Future Homes Standard 2025 and the advancement of offsite manufacturing.

During the visit, which took place on 15 February 2023, Mr Esterson received a demonstration of the low carbon technology at Sundial Place and was shown a ‘smart roof’ – manufactured offsite then brought on-site and tiled – that cuts build time from two weeks to just one day. He praised the use of timber frame being used on site and the new technologies being embraced by the newbuild housing sector commenting: “there is much to learn regarding technologies that can cross over to the retrofit sector.” Talking about skills shortages, he said “greater flexibility of the Apprenticeship Levy is needed to encourage greater business engagement and uptake among young people.”

NHBC Regional Director for the North West, Darren Horner said: “We were delighted to welcome Bill Esterson MP to David Wilson Homes’ Sundial Place development and talk to him about the advancement of offsite manufacturing and NHBC Accepts, our comprehensive review service for innovative construction systems.

“With the demands on the industry to increase the volume of new homes’ supply and the simultaneous challenges around materials and skills, we are at a critical stage in the development of modern methods of construction (MMC). We are proud to be using our scale, expertise and knowledge of house building to work with manufacturers to provide developers, investors, lenders and home buyers with the confidence that innovative systems can meet the same high standards of quality and durability as traditionally-built homes.”

Robert Holbrook, Managing Director at Barratt David Wilson North West, said: “If we are serious about achieving net zero carbon, we need to innovate and invest today in the right technologies and the right skills for the future. The team at Sundial Place were proud to show Bill Esterson MP how we are building low carbon, high quality homes in Sefton, and to discuss the importance of diverse and accessible routes into the construction sector. This includes a wide-ranging and flexible apprenticeship programme as well as a pathway for experienced workers, from inside and outside of the sector, to upskill or retrain, so we have the depth of knowledge to continue to innovate and evolve.”

Pictured: L-R: Dave Aspinall of Barratt David Wilson, Bill Esterson MP, Darren Horner of NHBC, Céara Roopchand of NHBC, Robert Holbrook of Barratt David Wilson.

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International Timber has officially joined STARK Group A/S. The acquisition confirmed that International Timbers’ parent company had reached an agreement to sell International Timber to STARK Group. This sale has today completed and International Timber are now wholly owned by STARK Group.

International Timber has now joined one of the fastest growing merchants and distribution groups in Europe and

Hemsec And Sip Build Uk Share Sips Vision

Hemsec and SIP Build UK have announced a partnership that aims to provide a cost-effective, end-to-end solution for the creation of energyefficient building systems.

Building with structural insulated panels (SIPs) can significantly contribute to meeting Future Home Standards and Passivhaus standards, resulting in reduced days that require heating, significantly reducing energy bills.

a business completely focussed on its expertise in distributing building materials for tradespeople. The International Timber brand name, much recognised and respected by those in the industry will continue and International Timber will become part of the UK subsidiary of STARK Group, STARK Building Materials UK.

Paul Martin, Managing Director of International Timber (pictured), said: “STARK Group is a leading distributor of building materials across Europe and their business will bring their experience of successful growth. They have a culture of sharing best practice and will be supporting our plans to deliver the solutions, services and great experience that will help customers grow and make their life easier. So it’s great for our customers and for our suppliers who are also a critical part of our success.

“Customers won’t notice any immediate change, as it’s very much business as usual and we will continue to trade as normal for customers. Over time we will be working closely with STARK, sharing and building on our great plans for our customers. We have a lot of opportunities now to share best practice with STARK and learn from their business and operations elsewhere in Europe. They have a tremendous track

Additionally, when building with SIPs, homes are airtight, resulting in cooler homes during the warmer weather. Through the partnership, Hemsec and SIP Build UK aim to build on existing synergies to provide high-quality sustainable building systems, with a focus on taking responsibility in today’s environment for the generations of tomorrow.

Sarah Gazzola, Sales & Marketing Director at Hemsec said: “At Hemsec, we are on an exciting journey to become a B-certified corporation and therefore it is extremely important for us to build relationships with organisations where there is a synergy in our values and purpose. With a strong alignment in the direction we’re heading, we are looking forward to building on the relationship we have with SIP Build UK and hope to make a real difference in the construction industry through providing high-quality panels that contribute to an energy-efficient future for homeowners.” record of growth and delivering a great experience to their customers. We’ll be spending time seeing in what ways we can learn from this experience to support our local customers.”

STARK Group CEO Søren P. Olesen added: “We are very pleased to have completed this acquisition in great time and look forward to welcoming the International Timber colleagues and branches to STARK. We have a strategy that successfully focuses on professional tradespeople and the renovation and maintenance market together with specialist distribution for a range of customer segments. Entering the UK market is a great opportunity for our combined business to share best practice across the Nordics, Germany, Austria and the UK making life even easier for tradespeople.

“We’re delighted to now be a major employer in the UK, with 9,000 colleagues, where we will continue to operate as a good corporate citizen, placing a strong emphasis on sustainability, valuing and caring about our new UK employees and supporting UK growth and building decarbonisation.” www.internationaltimber.com

Chris Duckworth, Managing Director at SBUK Group, added: “The future direction allows us to make the most of being a market leader with Nationwide Coverage, SIPs are regularly featured on Grand Designs and other property programmes, we have seen demand soar in this marketplace. Energy efficiency is harder to achieve using traditional methods and the short supply of brick layers is moving many developers and builders towards offsite manufacture. Our partnership with Hemsec and our dedicated teams and systems enables us to continue our passion for better products and processes which aim to increase efficiency, quality, resident satisfaction, environmental performance and sustainability.” www.hemsec.com www.sipbuilduk.co.uk