NEWS
Balfour Beatty sells FM business
Balfour Beatty has sold its facilities management arm to GDF Suez Energy Services for £190m. The business recorded a profi t of £21m last year on turnover of £482m – it currently employs more than 9,000 people. Balfour Beatty earlier sold off
its share of four private fi nance initiative (PFI) schools projects and a 50% interest in Tameside Hospital PFI. It has also divested itself of a 50% stake in Salford Hospital PFI for £22m, and of its stake in Exeter Airport, following a £50m profi t warning in April. A company statement said
that the proceeds of the FM sale would be used to reduce borrowings ‘and over time to fund investments consistent with Balfour Beatty’s strategy’. Balfour Beatty chief executive
Andrew McNaughton said: ‘The sale of the UK FM business represents an important step in our evolution as we intensify our focus on infrastructure.’
Savings in Eden
The Eden Project in Cornwall has signifi cantly reduced its carbon footprint and achieved cost savings of £457,000 in three years, following a change to its controls strategy. The site, which was previously
managed by 49 separate systems, upgraded to an intelligent BMS supplied by Priva, which was used to integrate all aspects of the horticultural and building control systems. This cut gas and electricity consumption and saved 781.4 tonnes of CO2 the Eden Project reported.
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Late payments: Fallon under fire for ‘vague’ response
Campaigning MP Debbie Abrahams, whose All Party Parliamentary Group recently produced a report condemning the construction industry’s late payment habits, has reportedly received a ‘non-committal and vague’ response from the Minister for Business and Enterprise, Michael Fallon. She is calling for ‘more effective public sector procurement – including ensuring fair payment terms for supply chains’ – and made her concerns public on Radio 4’s Today programme, where she condemned the government’s lack of urgency on the issue.
It has become common for tier two and three contractors to have to wait beyond 120 days for payment
Michael Fallon
and this has pushed many to the brink of insolvency. Abrahams fears this could have a serious impact on the speed of economic recovery across the UK.
The Specialist Engineering
Contractors’ (SEC) Group said Abrahams’ All Party Report on
Payment Malpractices should be regarded as ‘a catalyst for action’. Chief executive Rudi Klein claimed that ‘payment abuse kills growth’. Klein added: ‘The backbone of the UK economy comprises small businesses where potential for growth is destroyed by a combination of lengthy payment periods and late payment’ He insisted that suppliers should not be eligible for public sector contracts unless they committed to pay their supply chain within 30 days of the due payment dates. The use of project bank accounts, which ensure payments are made directly to the supply chain, should also be made mandatory on all public sector construction.
Contractors and clients are not ready for BIM, says NFB survey
A lack of understanding about building information modelling (BIM) is holding back development, according to a survey of clients undertaken by the National Federation of Builders (NFB). It found that ‘neither contractors nor clients are prepared or ready enough for the advent of BIM’.
There is high awareness of the potential benefi ts of BIM, but very slow take up. The NFB Client Survey, which was launched at the beginning of 2013, concluded that progress towards a BIM-ready industry was slow, but ‘the challenges and therefore opportunities for construction clients and the supply chain are vast’.
Researchers believed there was not much difference between the contracting sector and the client sector in terms of readiness or current use of BIM, but over half of
clients reported that they expected potential businesses they worked with to have BIM as a core competency. ‘The overwhelming majority of clients responding to the survey said that they had not yet asked about BIM experience when procuring suppliers,’ said the NFB. ‘When asked when they planned to adopt BIM processes on their projects, 30% were looking at the next three months; 40% within six months; and almost 50% in the coming year.’
Overall, the majority – 62% – said they would be adopting BIM within two years, according to the survey. The NFB said its Client Survey was still open and a
fi nal report will be published in the autumn. Clients who wish to take part are asked to contact the training team on 0845 057 0041. The full interim report is available at
www.nfbtraining.co.uk
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CIBSE Journal September 2013
www.cibsejournal.com
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