Author: California Builder

Probably the best know example of successful British employee-owned business is the John Lewis Partnership The Coalition government of 2010-15 might not be remembered for much, beyond its austerity measures. But it did manage to pull off one or two notably radical reforms. Legalisation of same-sex marriage was one of them.  Another, with which fewer people…

Moray Stewart Moray Stewart, who has more than sixteen years of experience in the sector, has returned to the firm as land director. He was land manager at Cala Homes (West) for four years then spent two years as senior land manager at Avant Homes. He is now responsible for acquiring new sites in the…

Robin Winstanley and Alan Wells of Banks Renewables on site The proposals are set out in a scoping report submitted to the Scottish government’s Energy Consents Unit. The scheme would have a potential generating capacity of more than 50MW – enough to provide over 36,000 homes with electricity. It would have the same National Grid…

Recent years have seen sharp increases in premiums for professional indemnity (PI) insurance and stricter curbs on the levels of cover have been introduced. Some firms have reported four-fold increases in PI policies, while others have said that they can no longer find cover. This has been driven by various factors including a response to…

The chosen design for HS2’s Euston headhouse The split-level three-storey building, alongside the existing West Coast Mainline, will be clad with traditional blue/grey engineering brick, in keeping with the area’s Victorian railway architecture. Standing next to the original 10-metre high retaining wall, the new headhouse structure will extend above the top of the wall, with…

Front cover A new handbook, Guidance on Restricted Zones, is free to download from the FPS website. Many of the most serious accidents involving specialist geotechnical works arise when operatives get too close to machines This guidance has been produced to help contractors manage restricted zones around plant and equipment, and maintain the effective separation…

Anthology’s Deptford Foundry development in southeast London Anthology says that it is hunting for medium-scale, mid-market opportunities of 100 homes or more, with or without planning permission, in urban locations across England. Anthology merged with later living specialists Pegasus and Renaissance in 2019 to create Lifestory Group. It is as part of this larger group…