Author Archives: Stephanie Jones

Millions of employees will be able to request flexible working from day one of their employment.

This is due to new government plans to make flexible working the default, the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and MP Kevin Hollinrake have announced.

The raft of new measures will give employees greater access to flexibility over where, when and how they work, leading to happier, more productive staff. “Flexible working has been found to help employees balance their work and home life, especially supporting those who have commitments or responsibilities such as caring for children or vulnerable people,” the government said in a statement.

Flexible working can mean a combination of working from home and in the office as well as making use of job-sharing, flexitime and working compressed, annualised or staggered hours.

Alongside the clear benefits to employees, the government has acknowledged “a strong business case” for flexible working. By removing some of the invisible restrictions to jobs, flexible working is expected to create a more diverse working environment and workforce, which studies have shown leads to improved financial returns.

Today’s announcement comes alongside new laws coming into effect that will allow Britain’s lowest paid workers to work more flexibly and boost their income through extra work.

The announcements come as part of the government’s response to the Making flexible working the default consultation.

The response to this consultation confirms the government’s intention to introduce changes to the right to request flexible working legislation. This right currently supports all employees with 26 weeks continuous service to make applications to change their work location, working hours and/or working pattern.

The response states that the government will take forward the following measures:

• make the right to request flexible working a day one right
• introduce a new requirement for employees to consult with the employee when they intend to reject their flexible working request
• allow two statutory requests in any 12-month period (rather than the current one)
• require a decision period of two months in respect of a statutory flexible working request (rather than the current three)
• remove the existing requirement that the employee must explain what effect, if any, the change applied for would have on the employer and how that effect might be dealt with.

The response also commits to:

• developing guidance to raise awareness and understanding of how to make and administer temporary requests for flexible working
• launching a call for evidence to better understand how informal flexible working operates in practice.

It includes a summary of the responses received from individuals and stakeholders.

The proposed changes to the right to request flexible working received broad support across the range of respondents, including individuals, businesses, charities and trade unions, the BEIS announcement said.

The government recognised that there was no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to work arrangements and has been clear that the legislation should remain a ‘right to request’, not a ‘right to have’. “The priority is to set the right conditions to allow employees and employers to explore the available options in their particular context,” the government said.

The government received 1,611 responses to this consultation. Most respondents were individuals: 1,342 in total (83%). In terms of responses from business, the government received:

• 56 from large businesses
• 25 from medium businesses
• 14 from small businesses
• 19 from micro businesses
• 30 from business representative organisations.

The other main sub-groups were:

• charities or campaign groups
• academics, think tanks or advisory groups
• consultancies or professional bodies.

The government has also announced related developments, including reforms to exclusivity clauses, which have had negative effects of low-earning workers.

Workers on contracts with a guaranteed weekly income on or below the Lower Earnings Limit of £123 a week will now be protected from exclusivity clauses being enforced against them, which restricted them from working for multiple employers.

These reforms will ensure around 1.5m low-paid workers can make the most of the opportunities available to them such as working multiple short-term contracts. “This will particularly benefit those who need more flexibility over where and when they work – for example, students or people with caring responsibilities,” the government said.

While not everyone will want a second job, today’s laws on exclusivity clauses remove unnecessary red tape that prevents those who do – for example, gig economy workers, younger people or carers who cannot commit to a full-time role. 

“The laws will also help businesses plug crucial staffing gaps by giving employers access to recruit from a wider talent pool,” the government noted.

If an employer cannot accommodate a request to work flexibly, they will be required to discuss alternative options before they can reject the request under the new legislation. For example, if it is not possible to change an employee’s working hours on all days, they could consider making the change for certain days instead.

The new legislation, backed in the government’s response to the Making flexible working the default consultation, will also remove the requirement for employees to set out the effects of their flexible working requests to employers, removing a large administrative burden for both sides.

Hollinrake, minister for small business, said: “Giving staff more say over their working pattern makes for happier employees and more productive businesses. Put simply, it’s a no-brainer.

“Greater flexibility over where, when and how people work is an integral part of our plan to make the UK the best place in the world to work.”

Article by Deedee Doke for recruiter.co.uk

John F Hunt Regeneration is using a marine Bubble Curtain for the first time in Europe to protect migrating salmon near its £20m job to revamp a former dockland in South Shields.

Part of the contract was to protect migrating Atlantic Salmon from acoustic trauma and possible death on their journey through the River Tyne.

John F Hunt faced restricted hours for piling work during creation of five new river walls and dock closure structures which would have added extra time and costs to the job.

Instead they turned to a novel method which protects passing fish from site noise with the installation of a “bubble curtain” in the water which blocks potentially harmful sounds.

David McLaren, Site Manager at John F Hunt Regeneration said: “A 90m long vertical curtain of bubbles was created from a perforated, weighted tube laying on the riverbed, through which compressed air was forced.

“The uniform wall of bubbles reduced our sound impact in the river by an amazing 20dB, to an approved level, effectively satisfying the Marine license condition to allow us unrestricted continuous working.

“This was the first time this had ever been granted in the UK.  It is also the first time the Bubble Curtain system, which originated in Canada, has been tested as an acoustic barrier in Europe, although it has been used in several other countries around the world.”

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmv-9-OUG40

Article by Grant Prior – www.constructionenquirer.com

Construction workloads have continued to hold firm despite strong headwinds in the rest of the UK economy.

Latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show construction output grew for the fourth consecutive month in October, taking the industry to nearly 5% above the pre-pandemic activity watermark.

The overall 0.8% rise in October output came from increases in both new work (0.5%) and repair and maintenance (1.3%) on the month. This was ahead of the 0.5% seen for the UK economy as a whole.

At the sector level, five out of the nine sectors saw a rise in October 2022, with the main contributors to the monthly increase seen in private new housing, and non-housing repair and maintenance, which increased 2.9% and 1.7%, respectively.

Furthermore, annual price inflation is starting to show signs of easing from the high level in mid-2022.

Mark Robinson, group chief executive at SCAPE, said: “Growth in the construction sector is encouraging to see, especially in today’s economic climate.

“However, with the UK now in recession, the industry will be conscious of the long-term challenges of inflation, labour and materials supply throughout the winter.

“Investment in public sector infrastructure has always been a key driver of output in times of downturn. That said, contractors will be mindful of the impact of real-term spending cuts. Many local authorities will still be confirming their budgets for the next year, with the most proactive already openly engaging with delivery teams to ensure important regeneration projects are scoped effectively.”

Article by Aaron Morby – www.constructionenquirer.com

Head over to our Job Board for a selection of our current vacancies.

You made it to the interview stage- Congratulations!

But now comes the all-important interview preparation. As well as making sure that you have done your research on the company interviewing you, it is important that you also ensure you are prepared to answer competencies-based questions.

So, what are competencies………? Competencies are the skills, experiences, behaviours and knowledge you’ll bring into the role. They will have been acquired from previous job roles.

Competencies-based interviews are the most widely used interview techniques where hiring managers will use open ended questions to ask you about previous genuine scenarios where you have demonstrated the use of your competencies.

Below are a few examples of the most asked questions:

1. Communication skills
2. Delivering at pace
3. Making effective decisions
4. Collaborating and partnering
5. Leading and communicating
6. Building capability for all
7. Strategic thinking
8. Teamwork
9. Changing and improving
10. Organisational skills
11. Working under pressure
12. Attention to detail
13. Handling a difficult decision or situation
14. Adaptability
15. Delivering value for money
16. Resilience
17. Integrity
18. Taking control of a situation
19. Problem solving
20. Stakeholder management
    

One of the most widely used competencies-based interview technique used is STAR.

Situation: Describe the background or context.

Task: Describe the task or challenge you were faced with.

Action: Explain the action you took, and how and why you did it.

Result: Describe how it ended, what you accomplished and what you learned from the situation. Relate the skill or ability you’re illustrating back to the vacancy you’re applying for and explain why it’s useful.

The use of the STAR technique will provide employers with evidence of your competencies and strengths. When practising your STAR interview answers, don’t spend too long describing the situation or task – trim any details that are unnecessary. The action you took is the most important part of your answer and should show how effective you were by giving good examples.

Practice with a friend or family member but don’t overdo it as answers that are too well rehearsed can sound robotic.

Good luck!

If you are reading this blog article and you are at the beginning of your job-hunting journey, you may want to read out CV writing blog article.

You may also want to check a selection of our current vacancies by following this link.

And finally…. if you have a any questions or would like to speak to one of our consultants, email us or connect with us on LinkedIn.

A new body has finally been set up to vet plant operator card schemes and ensure training standards meet basic industry needs.

The move comes amid concern that the proliferation of plant operator cards has been accompanied by a fall in general competency levels undermining confidence in the CSCS card standard.

To tackle the problem, several construction trade federations have formally now established a body known as the Plant Sector Representative Organisation.

The industry body will ensure national minimum technical and delivery standards are met by all card schemes.

PSRO will represent the users and owners of construction plant and advise both industry and any relevant authoritative bodies, including the Construction Leadership Council, on the standards required for the training, assessment and certification of plant-based occupations.

These include operators, maintenance, installation, inspection, hire, delivery and direct-supporting roles.

Crucially it is a requirement of the CLC that any new card scheme wishing to bear the CSCS logo must first demonstrate that they have the support of industry, which for plant schemes needs to be sought from the PSRO.

Support will only be provided once a scheme’s standards have been benchmarked against a competency framework before a scheme can then proceed with an application to carry the CSCS logo.

Kevin Minton, chair of the PSRO Board, said: “Feedback from the sector indicated that respect for card schemes is relatively low in terms of assessment and quality assurance.

“The variations among the card schemes is causing confusion with employers, who have limited time available to understand them.

“On behalf of the PSRO Board Members, we’re pleased that the construction sector federations have come together to form the PSRO and are starting to provide overarching solutions to these employer concerns.

“We also acknowledge the co-operation of CITB and of all the card schemes who have joined the Certificating Bodies Group.”

Article written by Aaron Morby for www.constructionenquirer.com

For a selection of our Civil Engineering and Construction vacancies, head over to our Job Board.

Connect with us on LinkedIn or email us

Plans for the new HS2 station at Euston boast the longest concourse in the UK and a direct underground link with Euston Square station.

Images of how Euston will be transformed by a £2.6 billion HS2 high-speed station and a new Tube station have been revealed.

Architects say the HS2 station will have the longest concourse in the UK at more than 300 metres, while the Tube station will offer quicker interchanges than King’s Cross — including a direct underground link with Euston Square station.

The HS2 station’s roof panels will be made of anodised aluminium, probably in a “warm gold” colour, in the style of a “butterfly opening its wings”.

Rail commentators such as Gareth Dennis have criticised the designs as “deeply embarrassing” for their perceived lack of ambition.

But Declan McCafferty, partner at Grimshaw architects, said: “People will be blown away by the grandeur of what we are proposing. What we have got is a really fantastic public space design.”

Preparatory work for the HS2 station, which is due to open in about a decade, began three years ago and has included the removal of two tower blocks at the front of Euston mainline station.

The plans were changed on government orders — at a cost of £105.6 million — from an 11-platform design, which would have opened in two stages, to a 10-platform scheme that is due for completion between 2031 and 2036.

The HS2 station will be similar to St Pancras and London Bridge in terms of also being open to people not planning to travel.

“You can move across the whole footprint of the station without a ticket,” Mr McCafferty said.

The roof will be “naturally ventilated” to reduce the station’s carbon footprint. Up to 17 trains an hour will depart from its underground platforms.

Passengers will be held on the concourse until their train is ready to depart. Such is the size of the station, information on their ticket will advise them where to wait.

A new station entrance will be built in Gordon Street — on the south side of Euston Road — plus a cycle route across the busy dual carriageway that will pass the main entrance and link with Hampstead Road.

The new Tube station entrance hall will be built in concrete and will echo the style of Jubilee line extension stations such as Westminster.

It will allow easy interchanges between the Northern and Victoria lines and the Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith and City lines at Euston Square. At present, passengers have to walk 300 yards along Euston Road.

“It will be the best rail-to-Underground connection in London,” Mr McCafferty said.

HS2 services between London and Birmingham are due to start running between 2029 and 2033, with a target date of 2030. Trains will initially run between the new stations at Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street.

The redevelopment of Euston’s mainline station is being done by Network Rail. It is due to publish an outline business case early next year.

Developers Lend Lease will start building five tower blocks – for housing, office and commercial space – on top of the HS2 station or at its northern end once it is complete.

Planning restrictions will prevent the blocks harming protected views of St Paul’s Cathedral from Parliament Hill and Primrose Hill.

A public exhibition outlining the plans is being held on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, with webinars next week.

Evening Standard article written by Ross Lydall

To view a selection of civil engineering and construction roles currently available, head over to our Job Board.

You can also connect with us on LinkedIn.

Article by Aaron Morby – www.constructionenquirer.com

Following post-pandemic delays, 2023 could be the ‘Year of the Catch-up’ delivering the highest volume of new office space for twenty years.

Deloitte’s London Office Crane Survey is predicting that next year will see the beginning of a resurgence in office project planning and construction activity in the capital.

Latest data collected on schemes with planning permission and those in demolition suggests an extra 15.6m sq ft of new office stock is expected to be delivered between 2023 and 2027, all of which is yet to begin construction.

Presently there are 26 schemes currently in demolition/strip-out, with a total volume of 4.3 m sq ft.

Despite economic headwinds, these are expected to start construction during the next survey period, between October 2022 and March 2023, and will probably drive a significant rise in new start volumes in next survey.

Margaret Doyle, chief insights officer and partner for financial services at Deloitte, said: “The past year has been characterised by an uptick in post-pandemic refurbishment activity.

“Looking forward, 2023 could turn out to be the ‘Year of the Catch-up,’ but this will depend on whether supply chain disruptions, labour shortages, financing difficulties or material price inflation cause further completion delays.

“Looking further forward to 2025, we anticipate it will be the ‘Year of the Investor’ as renewed pressure on stock stimulates rental growth, creating a wave of fresh opportunities for developers.”

In the six months to September, the London Crane Survey recorded 31 schemes with a total volume of 2.5m sq ft were started.

Refurbishments remain a strong feature of new construction activity, representing 26 of the total new starts during the survey period.

This represents a 6% rise in volume from the previous survey (2.3m sq ft), but remains below the ten-year average (2.9m sq ft).

Almost nine in ten developers continue to rate construction costs as their leading challenge, albeit a smaller proportion than seen in the previous survey (100%).

Now concerns are turning to the availability of funding. More than a quarter of developers (27%) cite availability of funding as an issue, compared to none in the previous survey.

Sophie Allan, director of real assets advisory at Deloitte, said: “Construction costs are likely to remain a major challenge over the near term.

“Likewise, rapidly increasing debt funding costs will continue to weigh on scheme viability where sites have already been acquired. This, along with inflation in tender prices, will put pressure on land prices going forward.”

The legal profession has taken the largest proportion of under-construction pre-lets, representing a third (33%) of total pre-completion let volumes.

Meanwhile, by contrast, the share of pre-completion letting volumes taken by financial services firms has shrunk by almost half in under five years to 17%. The overall share for these two sectors has grown since the last survey, from 44% to 50%.

Doyle said: “The decline in financial services pre-completion letting volumes is balanced by significant growth in the legal sector. In many cases, office moves have been driven by a desire to move to accommodation with stronger ESG credentials and helps support employee wellbeing. The preference for higher quality Grade A space that we see across sectors is one we expect to endure.”

Go over to our job board for a selection of vacancies or alternatively connect with us on LinkedIn.

Article by Thomas Johnson – www.newcivilengineer.com

The number of sustainability directors and environmental leads within the construction sector has seen a meteoric rise within the past decade.

Net zero targets and the growing understanding of the climate emergency has created the need to build things more efficiently.

To do so, many contractors, consultants and clients alike have been scrambling to bring in the greatest minds to head up their ever expanding sustainability teams.

To understand exactly what a sustainability director does, NCE sat down with leads from Arup, Mace and Mott MacDonald to discuss what the job entails and why it is so important right now.

Arup climate and sustainability services leader in the UK, India, Middle East and Africa Diane Emerson told NCE she believes this is a defining era for those working within sustainability in the built environment.

She said: “This is our time and that’s incredibly exciting but slightly scary at the same time. In terms of trying, I was talking to one of our new graduates and he was saying, for him and his role, he no longer has to sell the principles, it’s all in the work now.

“For a long time we’ve had to sell the principles of sustainability. This is a good thing to do to really justify why investment in these spaces is worthwhile but actually now there’s a recognition that this isn’t just something that we should do. For many of our clients I think that they want to do it and that’s really steeped in now.”

Emerson believes it is crucial to now look to create a circular economy for the built environment.

She said: “I think it’s important to kind of stop and realise that we are are at a point of crisis. We have declared climate emergency, we have recognised the biodiversity crisis, we have a cost of living crisis, it’s part of our narrative.

“Sustainable development is a way in which we can work through today’s problems but to deliver better outcomes. That doesn’t mean ripping everything up and starting again exactly, but that does mean exploring better ways and better outcomes.

“Development, not just in the UK context, but globally, is really important. But what’s more important is to do that in a way that perhaps is less linear, that’s less using greenfield sites for new development then a 30 year life cycle and knocking them down again and putting them in landfill.”

She continued: “We actually look at material usage, design for efficiencies, design modular for deconstruction and actually creating a different kind of economic environment that we can support. How can we support that development in a more circular way?”

Meanwhile, Mace global head of responsible business James Low is keen to capitalise on the knowledge regarding sustainability he gained in a previous job building wind turbines in Peru.

When he started at Mace he set up the Knowledge Hub, a wealth of resources offering sustainability advice for colleagues to reference when necessary.

He said: “Mace is a huge business. You’ve got people all over the world on different types of projects and different sectors. What we wanted was a single place where people could share that knowledge and make sure we were replicating successes of best practice.

“So if we do something, let’s say on a project in Australia, we want to be able to share what works around the business globally as quickly as possible. Then you multiply the benefits and the same with lessons learned.

“It’s okay to try new things, to not always get it right, but you need to learn from those lessons so you continually improve and it’s showing that knowledge because of the breadth of Mace.”

Part of this wide reach within the climate change and sustainability sector is what led Low to move from an NGO to one of the biggest construction companies in the world.

He said: “The impact you can have [at Mace] is so much bigger than I could ever have done before. For me the driver is ‘I want to have the biggest impact’. Mace has always been a really good platform to do that.

“I never thought it [sustainability] would be as big as it is. I went into it because I was good at engineering and I enjoyed this angle of it but the awareness and the importance of climate change has really come a long way. We always knew there was something there and there was a need for it.

“Now it’s very, very real and there’s no denying it. What’s good to see is the collective response to try and do something.”

This involvement with sustainability before it was the buzzword it is today also extends to Mott MacDonald UK & Europe climate change lead Kim Yates, who was the sustainability lead for the Melbourne Metro project after previously doing a PHD in atmospheric chemistry.

She said: “I got into sustainability and climate change before it really existed. I wanted to change things and make them better as much as I possibly could within my skills.

“I suppose what we’ve been trying to do in the sustainability space is embed it into people’s way of thinking, particularly within the engineering sphere. You want engineers, you want everybody, to think: ‘Okay, how can I make this better? How can I reduce the carbon? How can I think about our social outcomes?’

“A lot of the job in the sustainability world is getting people to think differently.”

Now the planners and constructors of our built environment are on board with building in the right way, Yates believes it is her job to unify client and contractor on how best to do that.

She said: “Knitting those skills together and looking at where you want to get to in terms of your sustainable outcomes is vital. Putting all the various pieces together effectively and being a sustainability integrator is a big part of the role.

“That’s why it’s so important to have the networks and just be involved in climate change and sustainability. Knowing what’s out there, what’s going on, is crucial.”

Article by Grant Prior – constructionenquirer.com

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt committed to completing HS2 to Manchester in his Autumn Statement.

Hunt also said the “core network” of the Northern Powerhouse Rail project and the East West Rail scheme will go ahead as planned alongside construction of a £20bn nuclear power station at Sizewell C in Suffolk.

Plans for the second round of the Levelling Up Fund were also confirmed, with at least £1.7bn to be allocated to priority local infrastructure projects around the UK before the end of the year.

The announcements will soothe nerves across the industry as contractors braced for possible infrastructure cuts.

Hunt said capital spending cuts were often seen as an “easy option” and added “but doing so limits not our budgets, but our future” as he confirmed the Treasury will not be “cutting a penny” from the UK’s capital budgets over the next two years.

He committed to maintaining the current level of capital spending in cash terms meaning previous planned rises are frozen to 2024/25 but said it would still amount to £600bn investment over the next five years.

The Government officially abandoned the Truss Government’s plan to fast-track 138 mainly road projects, saying it would accelerate delivery of projects across its portfolio rather than focus on the list flagged up in the previous Growth Plan.

Hunt also dropped the previous flagship Investment Zone plan, halting the present bidding process in its tracks.

Instead, the Government aims to will shift the focus to University cities and towns to create a smaller number of knowledge-intensive growth clusters, leveraging local research strengths.

The first of these areas will be announced by the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities in the coming months.

To reinforce the Government’s commitments to carbon reduction made at last year’s COP26 climate conference, the Chancellor made a new commitment of more than £6bn from 2025 to extend energy efficiency retrofit programmes.

He also announced a new Energy Efficiency Taskforce that would drive plans to cut energy use of buildings by 15% by 2030.