Building Britain 2017 by The Irish Post

Building 1

Summer 2017 | www.irishpost.co.uk

Britain Sponsored by

NEW HEIGHTS

The Irish construction companies at the forefront of our cities and towns page 1.indd 1

TECH CLEVER

Dublin ﬁrm’s future vision for London

LEADING THE WAY The inﬂuencers shaping the industry in 2017

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THE

PULSE OF CONSTRUCTION

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E S N A U B O GR

M E W NT O RK S

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www.galldris.co.uk

PL I H

C N CT CORU ST

Info@galldris.co.uk

A R NT E

R E U TE R ES

01992 763 000

EN G C IN

LO UN DE ND R G

ND N O OU R

THE

SUM O F

A L L

PARTS

THE GALLDRIS GROUP, Galldris House. Pavilion Business Centre, Kinetic Crescent, Innova Park, Enfield EN3 7FJ

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Building Britain 2017

Building Britain | Issue 6 Editor-in-Chief: Siobhán Breatnach Research & reporting: Erica Doyle Higgins, Pádraig Belton Photography: Malcolm McNally, Getty Images, iStock Production: Lee Duskwick Sub-Editing: Aidan Lonergan Advertising: Sarah Murphy, Marita Quigley, Francis McGinley Building Britain 2017 Printed by Warners Midlands Plc Published by The Irish Post, 88 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 4BY Tel: 020 8900 4159

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This year we’re talking about... Moving on up The Irish companies building Britain in 2017 pages 4-10 Area of influence Ireland’s industry influencers pages 12-14

No uncertain terms What Brexit means for the Irish page 26

Britain

Head for heights The king of cranes page 28

NEW HEIGHTS

Smart City Building technology for the future pages 30-33

Social networking Out and about on the Irish construction scene pages 16-17

Building 1

Summer 2017 | www.irishpost.co.uk

Sponsored by

The Irish construction companies at the forefront of our cities and towns

TECH CLEVER

Dublin ﬁrm’s future vision for London

LEADING THE WAY The inﬂuencers shaping the industry in 2017

page 1.indd 1 25/05/2017 20:58

Cannes-do attitude Orla Bance heads for the French Riviera page 35

Build to rent Enterprise Ireland’s John Hunt on opportunities in housing page 18

Chelsea gold Landscapers’ double flower show win page 37 Out of Office with... Arranmore tunneller Josie Gallagher page 38

Railway times Crossrail and HS2 in focus pages 22-24

Cover image: xxxxxx

STAIRWAY TO SUCCESS: 2017 has been another big year in Irish construction

MEET THE BUILDING BRITAIN TEAM

Siobhán Breatnach Editor-in-Chief

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Lee Duskwick Production Manager

Erica Doyle Higgins Reporter

Aidan Lonergan Reporter

Malcolm McNally Photographer

Sarah Murphy Director of Commercial Operations

Marita Quigley Commercial Executive

Francis McGinley Commercial Executive

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Building Britain 2017

MOVING ON UP

HIGH-RISE LIVING: Ballymore’s Wardian London, just one of the major Irish construction projects in Britain right now

Irish companies are leading the way and building Britain in 2017, writes Erica Doyle Higgins

GALLDRIS North London-based Galldris Construction are continuing their work on the colossal Crossrail project. They’ve just been awarded the £11million civil’s package contract by Taylor Woodrow to construct an eight road maintenance shed for the Crossrail fleet at Old Oak Common in west London. This facility will be able to accommodate up to 33 trains whilst routine

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maintenance is carried out. The company had previously been awared £7.5m for modifications to six stations to accommodate the new line’s 10 carriage, 205metre trains. The CrossRail launch is expected in 2018. Galldris are also completing Network Rail Framework with both Costain and VolkerFitzpatrick. With Costain, Galldris’ growth in the rail sector continues with the award of a framework agreement for Earthworks on the

Kent Multi Functional Framework headed by Network rail and Costain. A five year agreement will see Galldris undertake embankment stabilisation works throughout Kent. With Volker Fitzpatrick, Galldris have been awarded an embankment stabilisation project on the main line to London for VolkerFitzpatrick Ltd. The project located just outside Ipswich includes the installation of Grundomat Piling and embankment regrading.

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GALLIARD HOMES Galliard Homes have just announced their latest development, Orchard Wharf near East India Docks in London’s highest salary postcode, E14. The new development will comprise 338 one, two, and three bedroom apartments, duplexes and penthouses each with dual aspect views of The O2 and The Shard. Residents will also have onsite luxury with a café, private lounge, a spacious courtyard, daytime concierge, an outdoor pavilion, two recreational areas, rooftop terraces, and landscaped gardens in what promises to be a landmark in London’s historic docklands. Orchard Wharf will be a five minute journey to the East India DLR, two minutes from Canning Town and, in 2018, a four minute journey across the capital when the Crossrail Elizabeth line comes into service. The location for Orchard Wharf is also near brand name shopping at Crossrail Place, which extends to five shopping malls that contain over 300 shops, bars, boutiques and restaurants.

ROOM WITH A VIEW: Galliard Homes’ Orchard Wharf

KELLY & O’CALLAGHAN Kelly & O’Callaghan, who are celebrating 18 years in business this year, have recently been appointed by Ballymore Developments for Quantity Surveying work on the London City Island development. This consists of a mixed-use development with 1,600 residential units, including sustainable development containing offices, retail, workspace, leisure facilities, cafés and restaurants.The development also includes cultural facilities with 500sq metres of cultural exhibition space and 20,000sq metres of offices in a prime location in London E14, opposite the Millennium Dome.

MURPHY GROUP The Murphy Group’s much-anticipated Bolton Skylink took another step towards completion as they installed the final two spans completing the 100m footbridge. A 750-tonne crane lifted the spans into place overnight, outside rail timetable hours to minimise disruption to passengers. Murphy project manager, Richard Smith, said: “It has been a great team effort under difficult circumstances to reach this major milestone. The entire team has worked tirelessly to reach this point and deserve great credit for this achievement.” Spans three and four, which are 3.6m high, 3.8m wide, and 31.3m and 16.5m long respectively, connect the interchange with Bolton railway station. The spans themselves have made a long journey to Bolton from Murphy’s steel workshop in Newbridge, Ireland. Murphy welders fabricated the bespoke steel over four weeks before the 32-metre spans were taken by articulated lorry to become part of one of Bolton’s greatest architectural landmarks of the future. The £3.5million Skylink project is a key aspect of the Bolton interchange scheme, which will improve bus links and facilities at the city’s main train

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PROGRESS: Murphy’s Bolton Skylink

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P H D G R O U P, D E L I V E R I N G Q UA L I T Y W O R L D -W I D E Over the last 32 years PHD Group has built an internationally recognised brand in the Construction Industry. PHD is a name synonymous with excellence in both safety and construction solutions. As a group we have four distinguished companies able to offer a one stop construction service. PHD Modular Access Services Ltd

Project7 Construction Ltd

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we create exceptional commercial and residential schemes for both the public and private sectors. Our experience in Construction, Logistics and Development have allowed us to deliver a wide range of quality projects ranging from residential new-builds through to complex logistics packages throughout the UK and Ireland.

brings a unique service to the events industry including the provision of pedestrian bridges, staging, under structure, public screen supports, film & TV, broadcast studios and complex requirements including temporary elevators. Experience includes London Olympic Games 2012, Commonwealth Games 2014, Rugby World Cup 2015 and FIFA Beach Soccer 2017.

supports the core business in providing a concept of “Total Access Solutions” under one roof. The company specialises in providing hoists, transport platforms, mast climbing work platforms, cradles and engineered hoisting solutions to the construction industry and beyond. With Hoists & Masts “the sky is the limit”.

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www.phdhm.com info@phdhm.com Tel: 01895 822 292

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LUXURY: Onyx in Kings Cross station. Now that the span lifts have been completed, the overall structure of the 100m bridge is in place, ready for final fit-out. Bolton Council Leader, Councillor Cliff Morris, said: “It is fantastic to see this exciting development taking shape, as it will bring Bolton’s transport provision firmly into the 21st century. The bridge connects our railway station to the new bus station and creates an interchange that links up our public transport in the town centre.” The transport interchange is being delivered by Transport for Greater Manchester in partnership with Bolton Council and Network Rail, and is being funded by the Greater Manchester Transport Fund. The expected finishing date for the Bolton Skylink is August 2017. Murphy has also secured its largest ever ‘dual fuel’ contract to connect up to 1,100 new homes to electricity and gas. The team will provide the utility connections for a major new Redrow Homes development in Tamworth, Staffordshire, connecting new homes at Amington Garden Village to meet the energy needs of residents over the next five to seven years. Val Harris, Senior Contracts Manager, said: “What makes us different from our competitors is our unique delivery model. Our teams are trained to install water, gas and electricity, allowing us to carry out all onsite mains laying work at the same time. This provides a one-stop shop for our customers and also makes site scheduling much simpler and more efficient.” This approach is also safer as trenches can be dug, equipped and reinstated without delay, rather than being left open for long periods waiting for individual specialist teams. Declan Mallon, Senior Project Engineer for Redrow Homes (Midlands) said: “Amington Garden Village is a landmark scheme, which will eventually see up to 1,100 homes built across 60 hectares. There’s an enormous

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amount of work involved with a prestigious development of this size and scale and Murphy’s proactive approach, experience and reputation gave us the confidence to award them the dual fuel contract. “The benefit of a dual fuel contract is that there’s a single point of contact for both services, which makes it easier administratively as well as for the construction team on site.”

O’DONOVAN WASTE O’Donovan Waste Disposal, the London-based construction and demolition waste management company, has introduced skip chain covers to its fleet of skip lorries, resulting in a 20 per cent decibel reduction in noise levels. According to Managing Director Jacqueline O’Donovan, who was also given the freedom of the City of London by The Worshipful Company of Carmen, the company has addressed a common challenge for hauliers to keep journeys quieter across the capital. “A regular skip lorry creates, on average, noise levels reaching 85db, while the same vehicle with chain covers – made from woven canvas – has been recorded at just 65db, from 2m away,” Ms O’Donovan said. Introduced by the MD at TfL’s Retiming Deliveries Work Group, the company is rolling out the solution across all its skip lorries. Ms O’Donovan added: “Respecting the local community remains a priority for us. We are conscious that noise levels can disrupt local communities and we believe this is a great solution for all parties.” Gloria Elliott, CEO, Noise Abatement Society, added: “Skip removal can have one of the noisiest environmental impacts on the community - so it is really heartening to see O’Donovan’s waste company introducing a measure to reduce the loud and intrusive noise of clanging metal skip chains.”

GROUND CONSTRUCTION The Warner Stand Project, completed earlier this year, was the first time that Ground Construction Limited worked with BAM Construction. The small site, surrounded on all sides by the Marylebone Cricket Club and their neighbours, was a £3million project involving the construction of a new basement and a four storey concrete frame. The majority of the concrete frame had exposed concrete to be constructed to an extremely high quality. The only access is shared with the MCC and visitors to Lords, so safely managing the muck away process from the basement excavation and then the RC frame concrete work required a high degree of coordination and cooperation. Vehicle banksmen were deployed at the MCC entrance to manage traffic to and from site. The interface with the client and the public at this crucial access point was managed in an assured and professional manner with the possible exception of asking the arriving England Cricket Team if they were the new laborers! The GCL site team were proactive in identifying the requirements of upcoming works and ensuring that the correct systems, plant and equipment were in place. Phase 1 of the Warner Stand was delivered for use by the MCC in time for the first Test against Pakistan in July 2016, with Phase 2 completed in April this year.

THE CONNEELY GROUP The Conneely Group will be working with United Living again, this time for Taylor Wimpey on their luxury residential scheme, Onyx, in the heart of thriving King’s Cross. In addition to the full internal package, Conneely Group will be providing the full façade of SFS, render

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and PPC aluminium. The 117 beautiful 1, 2 and 3 bedroom Onyx Apartments are positioned on the banks of the Regent’s Canal. They are conscientiously designed for modern, elegant, professional living. Apartments are in one of the most wellconnected areas in London, with King’s Cross and St Pancras International stations within close proximity. They also sit within the boundaries of the new N1C postcode and the wider regeneration area of King’s Cross, which incorporates enticing public and green spaces, restored heritage buildings, improved education opportunities, residential and retail developments, galleries, bars and shops in the immediate neighbourhood. This pocket of London is fast evolving into a highly desirable area for living and investment.

London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Westminster City Council and Kensington and Chelsea’s Tenant Management Organisation may also call upon the services of Cappagh via this agreement. Cappagh has worked in the Royal Borough since 2004. Cappagh’s Managing Director, Michael Ferncombe, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have been recognised by Kensington and Chelsea for the excellent service and capabilities we offer our clients. To continue to provide essential drainage services for the Royal Borough in the capital was a major objective for us. The new contract is a departure from the last and we are looking forward to the new challenges it will pose.”

THE DANNY SULLIVAN GROUP

The Byrne Group and Ellmer completed the redevelopment of 5C-5F Shepherd Street in W1J Mayfair, west London, providing one, three bedroom and two, four bedroom, three storey townhouses with basements, associated roof terraces, plant and parking spaces with a courtyard.

Danny Sullivan Group are involved in the early completion of the Skanska M1 J19 motorway improvement scheme. The project, which opened on the March 16, will reform the journeys made by more than 150,000 vehicles through the area every day. The new £191million interchange is part of Highways England’s road improvement scheme, delivering more than £15billion of the British Government’s investment across the country. The Sullivan Group are also working on the Tottenham Court Road Station upgrade for Crossrail. When complete, Tottenham Court Road will be one of London’s busiest stations, offering an interchange between the Northern, Central and Elizabeth line services with more than 200,000 passengers passing through the station every day. The new Crossrail station at Tottenham Court Road stretches from a new plaza in front of Centrepoint westwards to Dean Street, running directly below Soho Square. Above ground are a protected conservation area, heritage listed buildings, bustling retail, businesses and a new theatre.

THE CAPPAGH GROUP The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea has awarded their Drainage Works and Gully Cleansing Services contract to Cappagh, thereby extending the relationship between the two organisations. The new contract commenced on April 1 2017 and will run to 2022, with an option for the Council to extend for a further period up to three years. Following a rigorous tender process and the subsequent award, Cappagh will be carrying out repairs and maintenance to the existing drainage network, including gully and pipework replacement and cleansing and also gully emptying and jetting. The anticipated value of the contract is expected to be £1.65million over the initial contract period. It is intended that other public bodies benefit from the procurement process, being able to procure some or all the works through a linked framework agreement. In time, the

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BYRNE GROUP

LAING O’ROURKE The first purpose-built centre of its kind in Britain, the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford will provide tomorrow’s political leaders and policy makers with world-class educational facilities. Designed to encourage collaboration, the building’s circular structure features a series of spherical terraces balanced upon one another, connected by curved staircases that curl through the interior. The successful completion of this prestigious project has proved a showcase for the benefits of direct delivery. The project team used digital engineering to develop the design, ensuring the structure’s constituent parts blended seamlessly with one another, with no visible joints or services. This technology was also used to devise the delivery strategy – and identify ongoing opportunities for improvement during the construction phase. In parallel, a web-based asset management system was created, which was handed over to the client on completion.

BALLYMORE Ballymore’s much anticipated Royal Wharf development in east London welcomed its first residents in January this year, following the completion of the first of its eagerly awaited 3,385 spacious homes on the 40 acres of riverside land. The suites include 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments as well as 3 and 4 bedroom townhouses. With large kitchen and living areas, the expansive windows offer an abundance of light, with spectacular views over the River Thames, The O2 and Canary Wharf. Inspired by the traditional Georgian architecture of Belgravia and Fitzrovia, Royal Wharf is in keeping with the classic character of London yet contemporary in style. Partnering up with one of Malaysia’s leading property developers Ecoworld, Ballymore launched 12 luxury penthouses for sale at Wardian London, offering residents a botanical oasis with panoramic views of Canary Wharf and the City. Situated overlooking South Quay in London’s Docklands, the Wardian penthouses are Wardian London’s premier residential units. The penthouses sit atop two towers rising to 50 and 55 storeys, each comes complete with a spacious garden terrace up to 32.7 sq. m in size. The four 3 bedroom and four 2 bedroom apartments in the West Tower, along with three 2 bedroom and one 3 bedroom apartment in the East Tower start from £1.85m. Recently voted the best place to live by the London Planning Awards, Ecoworld Ballymore also launched 24 suites from their London City Island development on the Leamouth Peninsula. The suites,1, 2 and 3 bed apartments starting from £417,500, form part of the islands’ 1,700 homes on the 12-acre development. Benefiting from stunning alfresco spaces and striking surroundings, the island has an iconic backdrop of The O2, Canary Wharf and the City. Whilst residents will enjoy all the benefits of riverfront ‘island living’, they will only have to cross the new 260ft red footbridge, which spans the River Lea to connect the development to the rest of London. This new link, constructed by Ballymore, will allow residents to reach Bond Street in just 20 minutes via the Jubilee line and DLR at Canning Town. INTERIOR DESIGNS: Royal Wharf

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For over 20 years, Toureen Group has been solving complex construction problems for a diverse range of clients. Our team of experts combines experience and technical knowledge to deliver the most effective solutions for projects. To find out more please visit: www.toureengroup.co.uk

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Area of inﬂuence LEADERSHIP: Jacqueline O’Donovan

By Pádraig Belton

EMBERS of the Murphia are giving an exciting green tint to British construction in 2017. We have chosen Irish people involved with particularly impressive projects or continue to influence in Britain this year. Irish project managers and quantity surveyors are a more dominant force than ever across British construction sites, particularly in the southeast of England. London being near enough to commute, Britain also suffers from a major skills shortage for engineering and construction professionals, especially ones with between five and 15 years’ experience. The salary on offer for a British quantity surveyor has leapt by 25 per cent just in the past year. And as Daniel O’Connell said in a very slightly different context, England’s difficulty has been Ireland’s opportunity. So here are a few Irish people who’ve seized that opportunity brilliantly...

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JACQUELINE O’DONOVAN, Managing Director of O’Donovan Waste Disposal, was recently given the freedom of the City of London by The Worshipful Company of Carmen, in recognition of her dedication to the transport industry. Every year, Carmen assess the transport industry and honour outstanding individuals across surface transport, including road and rail, goods and passengers. Jacqueline was recognised for her dedication to fundamentally improving transport policy in London and across Britain, which has seen her commit her 30-year career to innovation and staff development, pioneering road safety. “It is an honour and a privilege to be recognised in The Worshipful Company of Carmen, and I’m humbled to join such a prestigious list of individuals who have changed their respective industries for the better. Improving transport policy in the UK remains a priority for us, and we’ll continue to strive for better to ensure safety for all road users,” she says.

Founded in 1959, family-run O’Donovan Waste Disposal Ltd aims to lead the way in safe, green and efficient waste operations across London. Based in north London with five sites and 160 employees, O’Donovan offers a wide range of services including skip hire, roll on/off bins, waste transfer stations, tipper and grab lorry services, recycled aggregates, road sweepers, wheelie bins and demolition services. O’Donovan diverts 100 per cent of all waste collected from landfill.

Its big project in 2017 is the expansion of London Luton Airport, a £110million project in which it is the principal contractor. It will aim to finish extending the airfield taxiways this year, which will improve the airport’s operating efficiency, and increase the terminal to boost its capacity while doubling the number of shops. Cheevers’s company, based in Newtonabbey, Co. Antrim, has a major Scottish-based business also. It consolidated the two into a holding group last October.

JOHN MULRYAN, Managing Director of the British side of the Dublinbased Ballymore Group, saw the profits of Ballymore’s British arm triple in 2016 to £154.9million following a major rebranding. His successes haven’t been limited to the balance sheets. In 2016, he led Ballymore to Property Developer of the Year at the Evening Standard’s Business Awards, on the heels of winning Large Developer of the Year at the RESI Awards. The exciting project for him in 2017 is Royal Wharf, a (not accidental) stone’s throw from Canary Wharf, a home to an eventual 3,385 residential units which Mulryan calls ‘one of the last opportunities to build a new town within London’. Another project which will keep Mr Mulryan busy this year is Ballymore’s Embassy Gardens, with the relocation of the US and Dutch embassies nearby. Its first phase set record sales values, boosted by amenities include a so-called Sky Pool, and a private members’ Eg:le club with library and gym. Mr Mulryan has been in the managing director job since 2010; he joined Ballymore, where his father Sean is chairman, in 2004 after reading civil engineering at University College Dublin.

DENIS NOLAN’S Toureen Group offer demolition, groundworks, RC frames, basement design/ construction, and petroleum forecourt and retail fit-out services. Founded in 1991 in London the Kerry man’s company now has a turnover of more than £75million.

PHILIP CHEEVERS, Managing Director of the 160-year-old Northern Irish construction titan McLaughlin & Harvey, has turned a £11.7million loss in 2015 into a £2.7million profit for 2016.

SEAMUS QUINN, established Quinn London in 2000. Going from strength to strength, in March the company won an International Safety Award from the British Safety Council in recognition of its commitment to keeping its workers and workplaces healthy and safe during 2016. MICK CROSSAN, the chairman of recycling construction firm Powerday (and president since 2013 of London Irish Rugby Club), has recently made a splash in renewables. In April, Mr Crossan’s business signed a contract to export 170,000 tonnes of refuse-derived fuel to the east of Sweden.

Landfill tax costs went up in 2017 and will again in 2019, driving disposal costs for waste to £110 a tonne. Cheaper to make fuel with it - which Powerday will do at its facilities in Enfield - then taking it to Sheerness in Kent and then shipping it, by ‘dead leg’ sea

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freight return journeys, to Oxelösund Port in East Sweden, ultimately to help power Stockholm. Mick Crossan’s company also has recently begun taking part in a construction employment scheme to give opportunities to ex-offenders, together with HMP Onley near Rugby, which offers formal construction qualifications to inmates, and a social enterprise called Blue Sky. BERNARD DWYER’S PHD Modular Access Services Ltd has been involved in a number of iconic projects including The Houses of Parliament; Terminal 2: Dublin Airport; London Olympics 2012; Atlantis Hotel in Dubai; Facebook Dublin and the recent QEOP Stadium Transformation for West Ham United. There are few major projects that Kylemore Services’ MICHAEL QUINN and EAMON LYNAM haven’t been involved with – from Battersea Power Station London to the Shard, Twickenham Stadium and St Pancras Station. Founded in Wembley in 1996 the firm continues to operate primarily in the building and engineering services sector of the construction industry.

SHAUN SHELDRAKE, the new Operations Director for construction at the Murphy Group, has unveiled ambitious plans to treble the turnover of Murphy’s construction division to £150million by 2025, amid a plan to raise annual turnover to £2billion from £647.5million. The key to Mr Sheldrake’s plan - who joined Murphy in January from Durkan, where he spent eight years - is delivering modular housing for local authorities through joint ventures with housing associations. Right now, Murphy is readying its £3.5million Skylink in Bolton, which will connect the city’s rail station to a new bus station, to open to the public in August 2017. The Skylink is a 100-metre footbridge, with the 32-metre spans themselves welded in Murphy’s steel workshop in Newbridge in Kildare. Galway-based developer PADRAIC RHATIGAN is completing the redevelopment of the Colliers Wood Tower in southwest London, which Rhatigan Building Contractors optimistically calls ‘one of the best-known landmarks in the Colliers Wood.’ Not in a good way - in 2006, it was clear winner in The Ugliest

MURPHY-MADE: Bolton’s Skylink

Building in Britain contest carried out by the BBC. Rhatigan’s group is - mercifully - demolishing part of the existing tower block, and altering the rest to fit in 173 flats and ground-floor shops, in a deal valued at £28.8million. STEPHEN BOWCOTT, Chief Executive of the Sisk Group, is busy with building a new £83.7million International Convention Centre Wales. Excavation began in April, with an official ground-breaking to take place in June. NetWest

provided a £51.5million loan facility to finance building the centre, which is a partnership between the Welsh Government and Celtic Manor Resort. The ICC Wales, which will be home to the largest pillar-free ballroom in Europe, should open to start receiving delegates in June 2019. David Sloyan, new head of UK operations for Roadbridge, has quickly muscled in to land a major £38million bypass for the Irish roadbuilding and pipeline-laying megalith. Roadbridge, which at

Building Contractors & Civil Engineers

O’HALLOREN & O’BRIEN LTD Tel: 020 8337 5527 Celebrating

in business www.ohob.com

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the end of November 2016 switched on a new windfarm in South Ayrshire to power 40,000 homes with green energy, fended off Balfour Beatty and other stiff competition for the large Transport Scotland contract. Back home, in May 2017 the company won Civil Contractor of the Year at the Irish Construction Industry Awards. The bypass, east of Dalry, includes an ambitious viaduct over the River Garnock and the Glasgow to Ayr railway line. Mr Sloyan, a civil engineer and Mayo native who took over in February, will have enough to keep busy with. Brothers JOHN, TOM AND PAT CAREY, from Co. Tipperary, established the Carey Group 47 years ago. The company is led by Group Managing Director Denis Deacy, Managing Director John Carey Jr (Seneca & Careys New Homes), Managing Director Jason Carey, PJ Carey (Contractors) Ltd, and Operations Sirector Tommy Carey, P.J. Carey (Contractors) Ltd (England & Wales, excl. London). Scudder and PJ Careys won awards at the 2016 Construction News Awards - Scudder were category winners of the Specialist Contractor of the Year (turnover up to £100m), and PJ Careys were the Specialist Contractor of the Year (turnover over £100m).

MICHAEL GRAHAM, the Northern Irish construction tycoon, is featured for the first time in 2017’s Sunday Times Rich List. Graham has been Executive chairman for the last decade of John Graham Holdings - and before that he was Group executive chairman of the Graham Group for another entire decade - in recent months he’s just overseen the completion in April of a £16.5million redevelopment of The White Building in Reading. The White Building saw an ambitious 70 tonnes of steel props go up to surround the structure as its central core was removed. At the start of May, Michael Graham’s group was chosen to build a 16-story residential scheme cheek-by-jowl with the BBC’s MediaCityUK, in Salford Quays. It expects to complete this, its third large build-to-rent project in Greater Manchester, by May 2019. And in April, Graham Construction held its first planning meetings about the North Sea Link Interconnector it will help build. This will join Kvilldal in Norway and Blyth in England, linking the two electricity grids, permitting power to flow wherever demand at any moment is highest.

GOOD YEAR: Michael Graham with Nicola Sturgeon

Mullingar brothers STEPHEN BENNETT, 36, and JIM BENNETT, 39, and their firm Bennett Construction are developing an eight-storey office block at 11 Cannon Street in the City of London. Formerly the site of St Swithin’s Church, which was badly damaged in the Blitz then replaced by a new building in 1962, 111 Cannon Street also is home to the London Stone, which was incorporated in the wall of the 1962 structure. The Bennett brothers will install the Stone - a well-known landmark which may be of Roman origin, and was written about as early as 1100 - back into the new

building at the end of the £8.5million, 17-month project. TOM O’BRIEN, founded construction, groundwork and plant hire firm O’Halloran O’Brien Ltd in 1972. With an annual turnover in excess of £184million O’Halloran O’Brien has expanded from a small groundworks subcontractor to a major multi-disciplined contractor. Embracing the latest technology, it has an impressive client list including Berkeley Homes, Allen Build, Barratt Homes, Charles Church, Crest Nicholson, Galliford Try, Swan New Homes, Taylor Wimpey and Willmot Dixon to name but a few.

SKY GARDEN: Ballymore’s Skypool

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Cappagh Group have been setting the standard of Quality in Construction for over three generations

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SOCIAL NETWORKING SEPTEMBER 2016

FEBRUARY 2017

The Irish International Business Network (IIBN) and The London Irish Construction Network (TLICN) held a joint members networking event at the Bloomsbury hotel in central London. Guest speaker was AIB Chief Economist Oliver Mangan, who shared insights into the current economic climate for Britain, Ireland and global markets.

The British and Irish Trading Alliance (BITA) held its first networking lunch of 2017 at the Lansdowne Club in Mayfair. Guests included Micheal Martin TD, leader of Fianna Fáil, Irish Ambassador Dan Mulhall and Theresa Grant, Chief Executive of Trafford Council.

Guest speaker Micheal Martin with Johnny Walsh and Laura Watkins from BITA

DECEMBER 2016 The Lighthouse Club’s Construction Industry Charity Christmas Lunch took place at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge hotel in Central London. Over 1,000 guests attended the lunch, which raised an amazing £200,000 for the charity. The Irish Post is official media partner to The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity. A cheque for £12,500 was presented by Sarah Murphy, Director of Commercial Operations at The Irish Post, to the charity, the proceeds from a raffle at the 2016 Irish Post Awards. The Lighthouse Club has provided emergency financial assistance to the Laing O’Rourke construction community since 1956. Chairman Ray O’Rourke with former Irish rugby international Keith Wood

AIB Chief Economist Oliver Mangan

Michael Cuttle from Cuttle Construction, Noel Byrne from Ardent Tide and Gerry Keaney from Cara Stationery

Ambassador Dan Mulhall with former Tánaiste Mary Coughlan, BITA board member and Theresa Grant, Chief Executive of Trafford Council

APRIL 2017 The Engineers Ireland - GB hosted the 2017 Industry Summit at the Institution of Civil Engineers in Westminster. The summit was introduced and chaired by Engineers Ireland President Dermot Byrne and featured industry experts who discussed the opportunities for Irish companies in the coming years. Speakers included Mark Raiss, AECOM on HS2; Costain’s Nick Dawson, Scott Smith, BiP Solutions; Network Rail’s David Goodliff; Michael Quigley from ESB Ireland and Enterprise Ireland’s John Hunt.

FEBRUARY 2017

Stephen Lambert, John Quinn and Bernard Gaffney from Lorclon

The London Irish Construction Network’s third annual Parliamentary reception took place in Westminster. Keynote speaker was Irish Minister of State for the Diaspora and Overseas Development Aid Joe McHugh TD, who delivered a speech entitled Navigating Brexit. TLICN formed in 2009 by a group of dedicated Irish businessmen all of whom are involved in the construction industry in London.

Scott Smith from BiP Solutions and Vincent Fogarty from HS2

Engineers Ireland President Dermot Byrne pictured centre with Jeffrey Mahony, Engineers Ireland - GB Region Vice Chairman, and Hugh McCarthy, Chairman

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Gallagher Group Chairman Pat Gallagher is pictured with former Champion Jockeys AP McCoy and Richard Hughes

Jacqueline O’Donovan from O’Donovan Waste is pictured with Cormac Mac Crann of Canary Wharf Contractors

Irish Minister of State for the Diaspora and Overseas Development Aid Joe McHugh TD and Dr Alasdair McDonnell, SDLP MP for Belfast South are pictured with Geff Sullivan, Senator Frank Feighan and TLICN Directors Sean Daly, Con O’Sullivan, Niall O’Dowd and Frank O’Hare

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Sarah Murphy, The Irish Post’s Director of Commercial Operations, presenting Irish sports legends Keith Wood and AP McCoy with a cheque for £12,500 for the Lighthouse Club, proceeds from a raffle at the 2016 Irish Post Awards

Danny O’Sullivan from the Danny Sullivan Group, seated third left with guests

OCTOBER 2016 The London Irish Town Planners (LITP) held a networking event at the Urban Innovation Centre in Clerkenwell, London. The seminar ‘Meeting Housing Demand in an Irish and UK Context’ was chaired by Robert O’Sullivan, Major Applications Co-ordinator at the London Borough of Lambeth. Presentations were made by three keynote speakers, Gerry Hughes, Chief Executive of Bilfinger GVA; Aidan Culhane, Consultant at WK Nowlan Real Estate Advisors, Dublin and Adele Maher, Strategic Planning Manager at London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Also in attendance were Ireland Craft Beers who shared some of Ireland’s finest craft beers. The LITP Network was founded in October 2013 to provide a platform for professional planners based in London with an affinity to the island of Ireland.

LITP Board Members Killian Harrington, James Donlon and Lorna O’Carroll are pictured with Aidan Culhane, Gerry Hughes, Adele Maher and Robert O’Sullivan

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BUILD TO RENT JOHN HUNT, Enterprise Ireland’s Senior Market Adviser for Construction, on how the industry can meet Britain’s growing housing needs

RITAIN needs to increase housing supply by as much as 100,000 homes per year, year on year, if it is to meet the growing housing needs created by a decade or more of simply ‘not building enough’. The supply of new homes through the ‘Build to Sell’ model we all know, is constrained by a number of factors, which are particularly acute in Britain’s major cities. Factors such as land availability, affordability, uncertain duration for ownership and increases in tax, duty and regulation have contributed to the problem of less and less people being able to buy homes. On the supply side of the provision of new homes, the market continues to be hampered by shortages of skills and capacity, reflected in ever increasing and fluctuating costs to build. In a report published earlier this year, consultancy firm Arcadis estimates that the British construction sector needs to bring in 400,000 new employees per year between now and 2021, the equivalent of one new recruit every 77 seconds, to solve the country’s housing crisis. The problem has become a key political priority and a housing white paper was presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in February this year. In this document, the issues with Britain’s ‘broken housing market’ were identified along with a series of key actions.

The paper stated that approximately 250,000 homes need to be built per year to satisfy a backlog of supply and to keep pace with population growth. A number of incentives were highlighted as key contributors to a new approach to increasing housing supply including more productive methods of supplying capacity to the markets such as offsite manufacturing and initiatives such as build-to-rent.

❛ The planning pipeline of the build-to-rent market was recently estimated by the British Property Federation to be 40,000 new homes ❜ BTR is a term given to new builds of often multi-tenanted housing that has been purpose built to be rented with both the industry and Government recognising the potential to make a significant contribution towards Britain’s housing targets. The planning pipeline of the build-to-rent market was recently estimated by the British Property Federation to be 40,000 new homes. This figure is in addition to the 30,000 build-to-rent homes which have been completed or are currently under construction up to the first quarter of 2017. All of this activity has seen the value of the sector increase to £2.8billion in 2016.

Britain’s largest BTR scheme (with a programme in place for 5,000 new homes) is currently being built in Wembley Park by developers Quintain. The development is being ably supported by a number of Irish partners and contractors including a new joint venture called ‘Velocity1’ between Quintain and Irish company Magnet Networks. Velocity1 is now the leading fibre optic broadband supplier serving Wembley Park (also Britain’s primary Smart City) providing next-generation fibre to both residential and commercial properties. In May Enterprise Ireland hosted a knowledge and networking event at the Embassy of Ireland for leading investors, developers, designers and construction companies working on BTR projects across Britain. At the event Enterprise Ireland introduced a number of the most progressive companies from Ireland to potential clients and partners. Of particular interest were those companies that can help tackle the current industry supply issues around skills and capacity shortages. Companies like Extraspace Solutions, Cygnum Timber Frame and Techrete each offer offsite manufacturing capability that reduces the number of operatives on site and facilitates quicker installation. A key element of the Enterprise Ireland British strategy for the construction sector to 2021 is to introduce capability, capacity and more innovative and productive ways of working to offset the projected supply issues.

Ones to watch ■ Cygnum Timber Frame: Offers timber frame solutions, comprising of design, offsite manufacture, delivery and installation suitable for a wide range of applications including both social and private housing and multi-storey apartments. ■ Extraspace Solutions: Provides modular and prefabricated buildings in Britain and Ireland. ■ Evolusion Innovation: Offsite construction technology consultants who have been instrumental in product development, testing and execution of modular structural building systems. They played a key role in the design of the largest structural modular building in the world, which rose to a height of 25 storeys. ■ Techrete: Offer offsite manufacture and installation of architectural precast cladding to the British and Irish construction markets. ■ Vision-Built: Manufacture and erect Light Gauge Steel (LGS) Building Structures up to 30 metres in height. ■ Midland Steel: Steel fabricators in Britain and Ireland. They provide services for prefabrication including 3D detailing, reinforcement optimisation and the offsite prefabrication of cages. They also offer advanced 3D detailing for BIM projects, re-detailing and reinforcement optimisation services.

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Building Britain 2017

ON TRACK CROSSRAIL

N just under two years the Elizabeth line will open through central London. At many of the 10 new stations across the capital, the architectural finishes are beginning to be installed. In the tunnels, over three quarters of the permanent track has been laid and the installation of other railway systems is underway. The route will pass through 40 stations from Reading and Heathrow in the west, through new twin-bore 21km tunnels to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. The Transport for London (TfL) run railway is set to open in December 2018. Crossrail has given archaeologists a unique chance to explore some of the city’s most historically important sites. Since work began in 2009, the project has undertaken one of the most extensive archaeological programmes ever in Britain, with over 10,000 artefacts shining a light on almost every important period of the capital’s history. The finds include: ■ Prehistoric flints found in North Woolwich, showing evidence for Mesolithic tool making 8,000 years ago ■ Tudor bowling ball found at the site of the Tudor King John’s Court manor house in Stepney Green ■ Roman iron horse shoes and Medieval animal bone skates found near Liverpool Street Station ■ Late 19th century ginger and jam jars from the site of the Crosse & Blackwell bottling factory near Tottenham Court Road station ■ Human remains including one of the skeletons found near Liverpool Street Station from the 17th century Bedlam cemetery, which scientific analysis has shown died from the Plague.

Hundreds of photographs, video and new rotational images of the most exciting artefacts can now be explored online at archaeology.crossrail.co.uk Network Rail has now successfully electrified 12 miles of railway from Maidenhead to Stockley Junction as part of the Crossrail project. Electrification will allow Great Western Railway to extend new electric trains from London Paddington to Maidenhead from this May, and to Didcot in January 2018 as well as the Elizabeth line from 2019. In April striking architectural ceilings were completed at Farringdon and Liverpool Street Elizabeth line stations. At Farringdon, over 100 diamond-shaped concrete segments, precast by Evans Concrete in Alfreton, Derbyshire, were pieced together to create a dramatic lattice roof inspired by the historic Hatton Garden jewellery quarter located opposite the station.

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Building Britain 2017

ELECTRIC: Network Rail has now successfully electrified 12 miles of railway from Maidenhead to Stockley Junction as part of the Crossrail project

The 25metre wide ceiling, which weighs over 360 tonnes, is suspended from above to create a cathedral-like entrance that will welcome passengers travelling down to the new Elizabeth line platforms from the western ticket hall. At Liverpool Street, the ticket halls at either end of the station have grooved, angled ceilings that have been designed to create a sense of space, and reflect the traditional pin-striped suits of City workers. The precast concrete segments that form the new ceilings were produced at Laing O’Rourke’s offsite manufacturing facility in Steetley, near Worksop, which also made the 825 structural components that form Custom House Elizabeth line station. Construction of the platform structures and tracks for Elizabeth line services at Abbey Wood have been completed by Network Rail, marking another major milestone. Construction of the building will complete in autumn 2017 when the new station will open to Southeastern trains. Track and station improvements at Shenfield have been completed to increase capacity for future Elizabeth line services. Additional capacity has been added to the railway at Shenfield to cater for

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the higher frequency service that will be provided once the Elizabeth line extends from Essex and through the central tunnels in 2019. This includes a newly built platform (Platform 6) which will be dedicated to the new service, an extended Platform 5, as well as three new sidings at Shenfield each capable of accommodating the new trains. The new trains will feature air-conditioning and three double-doors per carriage. Over 5,000 metres of new track and 26 new track switches have been laid as part of the junction remodelling works to improve rail operation.

HS2 In February, HS2 took a step forward when it successfully completed over three years of Parliamentary scrutiny to receive Royal Assent. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “Getting the go-ahead to start building HS2 is a massive boost to the UK’s future economic prosperity and a further clear signal that Britain is open for business. “HS2 will be the world’s most advanced passenger railway and the backbone of our rail network. Royal Assent is a major step towards significantly increasing

capacity on our congested railways for both passengers and freight; improving connections between the biggest cities and regions; generating jobs, skills and economic growth and helping build an economy that works for all. HS2 is expected to create around 25,000 jobs during construction as well as 2,000 apprenticeships and an additional 100,000 jobs in the wider economy. From 2026 tens of thousands of passengers will be using high speed trains every day between London and Birmingham; services will travel onwards to places like Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool, Preston and Wigan. From 2033, the high speed network will go into the centres of Manchester and Leeds and services will go onwards to places such as Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh. David Higgins, Chairman of HS2 said: “ We have a long journey ahead of us to build the railway and secure permission for Phase Two to make sure that the full benefits of HS2 are realised. “Throughout this process HS2 remains committed to mitigating the environmental impacts whilst continuing to engage with each individual community, which is making sacrifices to enable a 21st

century railway network to be built in Britain.” The High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) hybrid Bill – essentially the planning application for HS2 – received support from MPs. In the Bill’s third reading in the Commons, MPs voted 399 to 42 in favour. In the Lords, the figures were 386 to 26 in support of the Bill passing.

NEW CEO Mark Thurston is the new Chief Executive for HS2. Mark began his career in the rail industry over 30 years ago as an apprentice with Transport for London (TfL), before fulfilling a series of roles with The Nichols Group, Metronet, and working for CH2M since 2008, on the London 2012 Olympics and Crossrail, where he was lead for the Programme Partner joint venture for three years. He was the former regional managing director overseeing CH2M’s European operations, which includes those in Britain. His appointment in January came after a five month global search led by Heidrick and Struggles, which reviewed some 20 potential candidates working on projects in America, Australia and Asia, as well as in Britain.

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NO UNCERTAIN TIMES One year after the Brexit vote, we look at what the Irish construction industry needs as Britain prepares to leave the EU By Erica Doyle Higgins

HILE the construction industry has weathered the first storm after the Brexit vote, there could be tougher times ahead as a shortage of a skilled labour force, coupled with a depreciation in sterling and uncertainty ahead of Brexit negotiations, which has spelled several upcoming issues for the industry. Chief Executive of the Federation of Master Builders Brian Berry warned after the vote: “The British construction industry has been heavily reliant on migrant workers from Europe for decades now – at present, 12 per cent of British construction workers are of non-British origin.” He said it was up to the Government to ensure a ‘free-flowing tap’ of EU workers is maintained, while training more apprentices in Britain. In March this year, the Royal Institution for Chartered Surveyors said that the industry could be set to lose nearly 200,000 jobs post-Brexit, and cautioned that for Brexit to succeed, it’s essential to secure ‘continued access to the EU Single Market or to put alternative plans in place to safeguard the future of the property and construction sectors in Britain.’ Jeremy Blackburn, Head of Policy at RICS said: “The UK construction industry is currently dependent on thousands of EU workers. It is in all our interests that we make a success of Brexit, but a loss of access to the single market, has the potential to slowly bring the UK’s £500billion infrastructure pipeline to a standstill.” A decreasing EU labour force puts increased pressure on the already small pool of qualified house builders, potentially pushing up wages in this sector, and ultimately increasing the cost of building houses. In laying out the party manifesto for the upcoming election, Prime Minister May has put SME house builders at the heart of her plans to address the country’s housing crisis. Between now and 2022, the Prime Minister has aimed to see 1.5million houses built across the country.

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Director of External Affairs at the FMB Sarah McMonagle said: “The decline in the number and output of smaller local house builders over the past few decades has led to the industry’s capacity haemorrhaging. To deliver the PM’s vision we will need to reverse this. The manifesto’s explicit pledge to diversify the delivery of new homes is therefore extremely welcome. “By supporting greater diversity in terms of the companies building our new homes, a Conservative government would be killing two birds with one stone,” she said. “A vision that SMEs can build on.” But Labour’s plans to link up their skills policy with housing has been hailed as the ‘right approach’ post-Brexit. Brian Berry praised Corbyn’s plans saying: “We are building too few homes in every part of the UK and this problem is exacerbated by the construction skills shortage. Jeremy Corbyn has said that freedom of movement would end under a Labour Government and it is therefore right that the Party has a clear plan to build the homes we need and train the people we need to build them.” Berry added: “It is a strength of the Labour manifesto that it has such a clear focus on apprenticeships and high quality training. The commitment to doubling the number of NVQ Level 3 apprenticeships by 2020 will be well-received by small

construction firms.” Since the referendum, the fluctuation of the pound has had a detrimental effect across the board on the industry. Martin Mockler, a partner at Evans Mockler, has said the decrease in value of sterling and increase of core materials across world markets has created issues for suppliers. “The depreciation of sterling, combined with an increase in costs worldwide for commodities like steel and iron - which, at the time of Brexit, were going up on world markets – which is double whammy in effect. “This is the year of inflation for anyone supplying materials on construction sites, as material prices are changing significantly. “For any suppliers locked into medium term contracts, which were tendered pre-Brexit and they had a benign inflation rate in front of them then, that has significantly changed.” Sarah Schütte of Schutte Consulting Limited has said that not only are the increased prices of imported materials a ‘real fear’ but customs duty are likely to continue to rise also. “Tendering and procurement specialists are having a tough time, whatever contracting tier they work at. “Typically asked to guarantee prices for 90 days or for as long as six months, the risk of

fluctuation lies with them, traditionally, insofar as employers usually seek to put the risk of price change onto the contractor. “The fear of increased prices in imported materials is very real for those at the forefront of procurement in Tier 1 contractors in particular, and currency instability does not help.” Ms Schütte also says those with in the industry working in both Britain and Eurozone countries – like Ireland – may have hidden costs coming their way as data roaming, ‘roam like at home’ rules, which come into force in June 2017 after a decade of negotiation with telecoms operators, are deconstructed for Britain. Martin Mockler says, the uncertainty right across the board as Brexit talks and negotiations continue means there’s no ‘real grasp’ on the future for the industry post Brexit. “From 2019 and beyond, we really have no grasp on that perspective as there’s just too many moving parts at present to determine what the sector will look like. “Construction is generally a barometer for the wider economic health of Britain and confidence will slowly reduce across the sector as the exit negotiation talks develop. “I’m cautious that construction activity will soften over the next two to three years,” he adds.

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Building Britain 2017

HEAD FOR HEIGHTS Clem Bradfield - Britain’s self-styled king of cranes By Siobhán Breatnach

LEM BRADFIELD knows a thing or two about having a head for heights. The crane driver is currently working with Irish firm Mantis Cranes in Bristol on a housing project that’s part of a multi-story build on the site of the city’s old General Hospital. The project should last about 12 months, which gives Bradfield plenty of time to clock up even more hours in the cabin of his tower crane. Having operated cranes for the last 47 years, the Welshman reckons he may have racked up the most time ever in Britain in a crane cab. Now 67, Clem Bradfield first qualified as a crane operator in January 1971. Originally from Caerphilly in South Wales, today he’s based in Weston-superMare, where he has lived for the last 27 years. He’s worked all across Britain over the last five decades – from Glasgow and Bournemouth to Dover and Sheffield, with a memorable stint in Munich about 35 years ago when he lived and worked in the city for 18 months. “Crane work is a job I absolutely love,” he says. “I’m still fit for my age so climbing up the crane is not an issue. I love being able to build something.” Day-to-day in Bristol, where he’s been working since the start of May, Bradfield is mostly responsible for moving vast quantities of concrete and steel on site. Side-to-side his cabin, about 40metres above ground, measures around 1.2metres by 1.5metres. He climbs about 160 steps up and down each day. “You definitely need a head for heights,” he jokes. “Initially it’s a challenge.” But nothing beats the 585ft high crane he called his office when working on the M4 motorway’s Severn Bridge – where he was averaging about 80-90 hours a week in his crane. “It was my highest,” he says. Inside his Mantis crane there’s a small fridge - enough to hold about six cans of Coke - and there’s also a small electric

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kettle (about 240volts) for tea – perfect to have with his lunchtime sandwiches. It’s not unusual for Bradfield to spend as much as 12 hours at a time in the crane. “It’s got glass walls and a glass floor with some carpet on for comfort,” he says. “In the old days you sat on a plank of wood – now I’ve got an armchair with two levers on the arms and a seat that swivels and tilts.” As for bathroom breaks...well what goes up must come down - that’s where the empty water bottles come in handy. Bradfield’s average week is working six days – 10 hours a day from Monday to Friday, and Saturdays from 8am-1pm. It can be a lonely existence. “You’ve got to realise you’re on your own,” he says. “You’ve got to be able to manage the solitude, isolation and it can be repetitive, that’s one thing the driver has to manage.” To help pass the time, Clem enjoys a bit of Sudoku - especially on the projects that involve less lifts than others, which can make it harder to wile away the time. Luckily this isn’t the case in Bristol. “I don’t stop all day on this project,” he says. “It’s one up, one down. And the quicker the operator is, the quicker the building goes up. “You’re the most important person on the build but you don’t abuse that, people are relying on you.” From his silver galvanised steel crane, Clem Bradfield has a bird’s eye view of the city. While mobile cranes are built for strength – lifting anything up to 1,000 tonnes – tower cranes are designed to be more agile. “The heaviest load a tower crane would carry is about 40-60 tonnes but it’s the reach that’s important,” he says. “I’ve got a 60 metre radius and can lift up to 100-200metres high.” So what does the future hold for Britain’s self-styled king of cranes? “I’ll see this job out for the next 12 months, I’ll be 68 then so I might take it a bit easier.” But something tells me there’s further heights to scale for Clem Bradfield.

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SMART CITY A

N Irish company is at the forefront of developing the world’s first ‘smart’ city in the biggest construction project in Britain this year. Dublin-based Magnet Connections is set to change the way we live, work and shop with their new fibre optic infrastructure at the heart of London’s entertainment centre, Wembley Arena. “You hear people talking about smart cities measuring carbon monoxide levels,” CEO Mark Kellett says. “That’s not what this is about.” The core business of Magnet Networks was founded on running high speed fibre optic broadband into domestic homes, but in the stall and subsequent crash of the 2008 housing market, Mark Kellett began looking how they could take their lessons and knowledge from Ireland into the British market as, he says, “there was a much larger marketplace, and therefore a much greater opportunity.” The company then formed a joint partnership with Quintain Estates who owned 120 acres around Wembley, which was designated as a regeneration project, Wembley Park. Wembley Park is located next door to the world-famous Wembley Stadium and SSE Arena, as well as the much-lauded London Designer Outlet with its 50 shops, 20 restaurants and coffee shops and a nine-screen CineWorld cinema with a 1,300-seat theatre. “The target was to create 10,000 new jobs, new homes and make it a destination to work, live and shop,” Kellett says. But how exactly will a smart city work? “For event attendees, as you come out of the tube station, you’ll hook onto our fibre-optic wi-fi, and even if you don’t use the free wi-fi service, we’ll be able to see how many people are coming into the area, and the traffic flow from the station onto the grounds of the arena. “From the perspective of Brent Council, we now have a sense of where the crowds are, where they’re congregating, where the congestion is and if there are any possible security issues or risk of injuries or getting crushed in the crowd. “From there, say with sports fans

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Building Britain 2017

ERICA DOYLE HIGGINS meets the Dubliner who’s looking to change the way London lives, works and shops

heading to the FA Cup, they can receive offers from the Nike or Asics stores so they can shop while waiting outside for the game – that’s how the public access wifi will work.” For residents, it’s good news too as the 5,000 new homes – as well as the 1million sq feet of commercial office space – will all be connected to Magnet Network’s high-speed 20GB broadband network controlling a range of devices, such as smart heating, lighting, security and even smart appliances. “The smartest technology with fastest speeds in London, will enable families, for example, to leave Skype permanently on in their kitchen so that they can converse with their families in real time on the other side of the world. “When a resident drives into the area, the network recognises their number plate and wakes the apartment up, adjusting heating, lighting, curtains and entertainment to suit. “During that journey home, the smart fridge in the apartment will have informed the resident that they need milk, or can order it automatically to the apartment. “Why would you have a fridge that takes a photo of your shelves when you close the door?” Kellett asks. Imagine you’re a dementia sufferer, and you have to take medication. If you can’t remember whether you took your medication, the fridge will have snapped a photo of you taking it out an hour ago – or it can tell you when you need to restock. That’s smart living and smart, connected health.” Each tenant in the apartment will also have access to Magnet’s high speed connectivity, up to 1GB per person in each apartment. Already, there are 141 of these apartments completed and occupied. By the end of this year, there will be another 3,000 homes under construction, alongside a new seven-acre public park, a new landscaped London square, and a three-form entry primary school. Wembley’s new smart city isn’t just going to change the home lives of its new residents and weekends for event-goers, but also the office life for its new workforce.

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Building Britain 2017

VISION: Magnet Connections CEO Mark Kellett, opposite, two developments in Wembley Park

‘It’s like the Kevin Costner movie Field of Dreams if you build it, they will come’

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MAGNET is looking to stage its own ‘Brentry’ by offering free office space in the heart of London to Irish businesses looking to expand to Britain. The Enterprise Irelandsupported Launchpad For London initiative will see 10 Irish companies establish themselves rent-free at Wembley Park, while also enjoying the fastest connection speeds in the capital. “In Ireland, there’s this panic about Brexit and I said, hang on a second, what about Brentry? Entering the British market, at Wembley, in Brent borough. “Launchpad for London is a great opportunity for business – particularly for

Building Britain 2017

Internet of Things accelerators as Wembley, because of the building and infrastructure already in position, is far greater

and larger than any other projects in Europe. “We’re offering businesses to come and work with us, share our workplace and to learn and grow at Wembley, in a real live smart city project, and then take those stories and experiences and build your business elsewhere – in Britain or beyond. “If we are sharing the same workplace in London, we can grow business development

ideas. Then, if we are talking with a larger developer in Vienna, Madrid or Dubai, we would be able to bring forward those companies from the Wembley project who might have services we could use in another smart city. “Together, we could be a network of innovation at the forefront of a global smart city development. “It’s like the Kevin Costner movie Field of Dreams,” Kellett says. “If you build it, they will come

and I’d like to encourage Irish business to take that leap, and give them a leg up because there’s so much negativity around Brexit – but so much opportunity in Britain and we want to work and go global with Irish business and the Irish diaspora in Britain.” ■ Phase One of the Wembley Smart City will be completed in 2021, Phase Two will be completed in 2026.

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Building Britain 2017

CANNES-DO ATTITUDE ORLA BANCE on why there’s more to the French Riviera resort than its glittering film festival

IGHTS, camera, action! That’s what I had previously thought about Cannes Festival – it’s all about films isn’t it? Apparently not. Over the last few years I’ve heard rumblings of MIPIM – the property and real estate international conference based in the beautiful resort of Cannes in the South of France. The statistics are over-whelming; 24,200 participants, 3,100 exhibiting companies, 100 countries in 19,000m2. I decided that 2017 was the year that I should figure out what all the chat was about and investigate the possibilities for the construction industry. Surely property and real estate need construction and refurbishment companies? My business development company for construction would surely be relevant. The current construction expert reports show that tier one contractors are increasingly being cut out of the market and the contracts are being awarded to the tier two specialists who have shown that they can deliver more efficiently and effectively in their specialised niche. This was my target market that would hopefully escalate the profile of

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smaller contractors. The cost of attending the festival is pretty prohibitive - from £1,500 per delegate to get into the festival itself. This year, as an investigator for my young business, I decided I would just be an outsider and see what was happening from afar. I would go on my own and assess whether it was something we could do with a team or not. The delegate cost plus accommodation, plus food and drink would be a large investment and with a small company, could I really justify it? I would wait and see. I decided to get the train from London to Cannes. What a beautiful journey through France and along the Mediterranean coast. As we were powering along the coast road towards Cannes, it was so picturesque that the view could only have been made better by George Clooney driving along in a beautiful sports car. On arrival in Cannes, the immediate feeling is one of energy and optimism. The people that I met initially were all from the London networks – I knew many of them. Was this going to be like a family holiday with young kids where you literally just move your real life to somewhere in the sun with no real

respite. Many of the groups remained together, architects were at some events, financiers at others. My only way in was to convince each group how we could work together. However, over the next few days, I was very impressed by the people who were present and how open they were to talking about working together. Even with the delegates that I knew from home – it gave us much more time to actually talk about work. The attendees that I met were genuinely there to do business albeit in a very relaxed environment. The sunshine allowed much more optimism and there seemed to be time to get to know potential clients and suppliers. At the end of the day, I fully believe that people buy from people and the underlying positive relationships encourage the best. So, was MIPIM worthwhile? I enjoyed the whole experience and genuinely believe that it is a great platform to make worthwhile connections in Britain. The British construction industry is booming and the feeling of two fingers up to Brexit and other macro environmental issues was obvious. The result of the five days in France will only be measurable once the dust settles and the

follow-up meetings have taken place. Many of the projects will only come to fruition in 18 to 36 months. so it’s a long game. The overall feeling was one that has been written about by many of the industry experts – that the commercial behaviour of those awarding work has not changed. They favour repeat business with trusted clients in familiar sectors. This was apparent by the longstanding relationships fostered in Cannes. All-in-all, très bon.

MIPIM 2018 runs March 13-16 Orla Bance BA(Hons) ACMA CGMA ANLP owns Alchemy Business UK - a business development and procurement company for construction. www.alchemybusinessuk.com

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Building Britain 2017

Chelsea double gold

By Erica Doyle Higgins

SSEX-based Irish landscapers Conway Landscapes were awarded two gold medals by this year’s judges at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Show. Conway Landscapes, who have been competing since 2002 and built 16 gardens for the summer garden exhibit, won medals for two very different but intricate pieces. The first was awarded for the World Horse Welfare garden in the Artisan Garden range, designed by Woolcott and Smith for the charity who are in their 90th year of helping horses in need. The garden, which is designed to be thoughtprovoking, features a horse rescued from a derelict stable and now lives in a bright meadow under the charity’s care. “When we were building the stable, we weren’t allowed to excavate at all so we had to build this whole garden on the ground surface,” says owner Cormac Conway, whose father is from Arigna, Co. Roscommon. “What we’ve done is made the garden to show how the horse was not cared for, in quite a dark unfriendly environment and then it comes out into the light.” The second medal was for a garden called Mind Trap, created by Northern Irish designer Ian Price in

the Fresh Gardens category. “That was a lot harder to do as it was quite abstract,” Conway says. “The garden is a physical manifestation of depression and is designed to assure those who suffer in similar ways that they are not alone. The garden starts in the middle with a seat in the water feature. Then there’s huge steel walls, which we put on stands and buried in the ground for stability, that lean in like the walls are closing in. “The outer wall was clad in steel but we staggered them to make it look more 3D as well and put in some lighting also. The water feature was a big metal base, and the seat was a podium in the water. We had to crane a lot of it in as it was quite heavy. There are prickly thorns on the outside, but to contrast, there’s also some rays of sunshine with some bright yellow grasses to say, it’s quite bright and sunny on the outside as well,” he adds. The company, established in 1999, had previously been involved in seven Gold Medal gardens, three People’s Choice Award and two Best in Show gardens.

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SHADES OF GREEN: (clockwise) Cormac and Diane Conway with one of their gold medals, the Duchess of Cambridge visits the Mid Trap garden, the World Horse Welfare garden

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Building Britain 2017

Out of office with… Josie Gallagher, Chairman of the Joseph Gallagher Group JOSIE GALLAGHER has been awarded the James Clark Medal for 2017 by The British Tunnelling Society (BTS) - a honour that marks his long and successful construction career in Britain. One of 10 children, the Irishman was born in Arranmore, Co. Donegal, the son of Ellen and Patrick Gallagher, a fisherman. After a spell in Scotland, he first arrived on the London tunnelling scene in 1965. From those early days he developed a relationship with Roscommon man Tim Kilroe, who gave him his first break as a foreman. Using that as a spring board, he then went on to work for the big tunnelling companies of the time, Mowlem and Nuttall - with Mowlem on the Victoria Line and Nuttall on the New Cross experimental tunnel – the world’s first use of a bentonite slurry machine. In the summer of 1982, he set up Joseph Gallagher Limited and hit his first big job working for Nuttall on the £11million Bank Station project. Fame soon followed fortune when in the early 80s, Gallagher was involved in a rescue attempt by sinking a shaft on the Isle of Wight - becoming a TV star in the making with the BBC and ITV reporting daily on shaft production on the six o’clock news. Then in the 90s, his firm featured in a special edition of Reader’s Digest

on the Jubilee line and the Irish Tunnel Tigers. A young Irish miner interviewed at the time said: “My family at home had no concern for my welfare as he was one of Josie’s men.” The James Clark Medal is a Lifetime Achievement award set up in memory of James Clark, who worked for Charles Brand and Sons on many well-known tunnels. He died in his early sixties and in 1981 his wife, Madeline, bequeathed money to provide a medal to be awarded annually to a British tunneller in James’ memory. The criteria for the award are a contemporary achievement in tunnelling, innovation for a large project or a major contribution to the tunnelling industry. Ivor Thomas, BTS Treasurer, says Josie Gallagher easily fulfilled all the criteria for the award throughout his life as a tunneller and Chairman of Joseph Gallagher Limited. “His business is involved in so many tunnelling contracts in the UK and overseas,” Mr Thomas said, recalling one particular time Josie Gallagher came to the rescue. “Mowlem were engaged in a difficult piece of shaft sinking in Cornwall and one Friday afternoon the shaft flooded – why always on a Friday afternoon,” he joked. “Throwing in the towel, the contractor’s agent put a call into

DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL DAY Get out of bed 4.45am, shower and out of house by 5.10am. Get to site approx 6am. Visit two or three sites. Go to Head Office. Go through my emails and have meetings with my senior team. Leave the office 6.30pm and get home 7.30pm.

WHAT PERSON HAS INFLUENCED YOU MOST? My parents.

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU? To see safety standards improve on a weekly basis within my company.

WHERE DO YOU LIVE AND WHAT ARE THE BEST AND WORST THINGS ABOUT THAT PLACE? Winchmore Hill. Best is the beautiful tree-lined roads, excellent restaurants. Worst...I don’t think there is a downside.

WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE GROWING UP? A footballer.

FAVOURITE PLACE IN IRELAND? Arranmore Island, Co. Donegal.

FIRST JOB? Working on a farm.

IS IT OK TO LIE? Definitely not.

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HONOUR: Josie Gallagher, left, receives his Lifetime Achievement Award, the James Clark Medal, from the British Tunnelling Society Chair Mark Leggett Joseph Gallagher to come down and help. On arrival into his office on the Monday morning at 7 o’clock, the agent was met by Josie and a gang of men ready to sort the problem out, having driven down that morning from London towing a grout pan and other necessary small tools. No contract, no price, just the handshake. Josie was true to his word - the problem was resolved in quick time.” From those early days, Josie Gallagher’s business has expanded into a worldwide multi-million pound affair, working in three continents and encompassing his core business as well as Specialist Plant, NRC Plant, Iseki Microtunnelling and Johnson Trenchless Solutions. “Josie’s reputation for fair play and business conducted on the shake of a hand remains as strong now as it ever has,” Ivor Thomas added. “In awarding the medal the committee felt that not only were we acknowledging the enormous contribution that Josie has made to the tunnelling

FAVOURITE BUILDING? The Shard. WHAT MAKES YOU ANGRY? People being disrespectful to others. BEST LESSON LIFE HAS TAUGHT YOU? There is no substitute for hard work. WHAT’S BEEN THE BEST DECADE OF YOUR LIFE SO FAR AND WHY? The 60s. I met my wife. MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL? A morning person.

business but also providing a token of the contribution that the people of the west coast of Ireland have made.” The British Tunnelling Society The British Tunnelling Society is an Associated Society of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). With a current membership of 820 individual members and 250 corporate members, it was formed in 1971 to provide a forum for meetings and discussion on tunnel-related matters. Mark Leggett is the current British Tunnelling Society Chairman, and has worked in tunnelling for more than 27 years. He is now Divisional Director within the Metros & Civil business of Mott MacDonald. An experienced business director with a background in the leadership and management of major infrastructure projects, he successfully ran Mott MacDonald’s tunnelling business before returning to leadership of major projects.

IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING IN YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD IT BE? I would have gone travelling when I was younger. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON TO SEND YOU A TEXT? My daughter Claire. WHO IS THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE? My wife Agnes. WHAT’S GOING TO BE YOUR BIGGEST GOAL FOR YOU OVER THE NEXT 12 MONTHS? To send our workforce home safely every day.

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