Following the Ukrainian war, parties have been impacted by sanctions passed by the UK, US and EU.
This talk looked at what the sanctions are, the risks posed by them, and penalties that may be imposed by breaking them, then went on to look at how the JCT, NEC and FIDIC forms of contract deal with changes in legislation and whether time or costs can be recovered when a party is impacted by them.
Practical tips have been given on what tenderers must consider as well as steps to avoid entering into a binding contract where standard terms need amending to protect the contactor/subcontractor.
Meet the speakers:
– Sean Gibbs – Hanscomb Intercontinental
– David Lockwood – Hanscomb Intercontinental
– David Brynmor Thomas QC – 39 Essex Chambers
View the video here:
As a not-for-profit organisation, we feel giving back to our community is paramount and we are proud to support a charity each and every year. This year we are excited to announce that Gloucestershire Community Foundation will be our charity of the year!
We voted as a committee to support this charity as they greatly benefit local communities and can fully integrate into the CE Glos culture by attending meetings and events, we are looking forward to our future partnership.
About GCF
Gloucestershire Community Foundation was founded to support the local community – they have built a charitable foundation and use it to grant funds to community groups and provide help where it is most needed in the community. Over the last 2 years, they have awarded grants totalling over 2M to over 340 Gloucestershire-based communities and organisations.
Their impact on the local community is huge, with over 50% of their funds benefitting disadvantaged children and young people, 13% benefitting older people and 7% of people in poverty.
GCF will benefit from donations from our events, and any of our fundraising efforts as well as any future collaborations.
Pictured is the Gloucestershire Community Foundation team attending our Conference including the CEO, Talitha (centre) and Grants Manager, Sarah (right) and Trustee, Jonathan (left). They will be attending our committee meeting on the 2nd of September to talk more about their cause.
“We at the Gloucestershire Community Foundation (GCF) are thrilled to have been chosen as “Charity of the Year” by the Constructing Excellence Gloucestershire Club (CE Glos) This is such an exciting partnership working with such a great collection of leading businesses in our county, so we are really looking forward to the year ahead and what we can do together to support a thriving Gloucestershire.” – Talitha Nelson, CEO
Want to stay up to date with GCF? Why not follow them on social media?
We are so excited to show the images of our Constructing Gloucestershire Conference 2022. According to all our attendees, it was an interesting and busy event, focussing on health and wellbeing in the constructing sphere.
Taking place at the University of Gloucestershire’s School of Business & Technology at their Oxstalls Campus, we had over 150 people in attendance! With keynote speakers, workshops, and a range of industry leaders present, it was a hub buzzing with construction industry knowledge and innovation.
We would like to thank all our exhibitors, speakers, guests and attendees for making the event a centre of lively activity and discussions about the construction industry and the to University of Gloucestershire for hosting us.
Thanks in particular to our insightful guest speakers:
Lorraine Dixon from the University of Gloucestershire;
Our member, Barnwood Limited hosted a visit to the Rivershill Site in Cheltenham on the 26th July at 5PM. The visit took place in the middle of the holiday season, which may explain why numbers were not as high as we expected. Feedback from all of those Constructing Excellence Gloucestershire Club members who joined us said that they gained some fascinating insight into the exciting refresh project and found the talk by Ben Ramsay Barnwood, MD and Andrew Wood, Project Architect enlightening.
This Cheltenham-based project is the upscale refurbishment of a long-disused office block into 63 luxury residential apartments. Freemantle Developments and Telereal Trillium are working together on this project, with Barnwood Limited leading the build.
See the images taken on the day of the tour and note how the project is progressing. We even have some images of the apartment that will be shown to potential purchasers. During the tour, the stages of the refurbishment were outlined and the progress so far has been astounding. As far as we can see, our visitors were both informed and entertained, judging by the smiles all round.
A Summary of the Government Consultation
The government has set out a five-step plan to tackle the use of unsafe cladding. One of the points raised was the proposal of two new taxes in the form of a new Gateway 2 levy applicable when residential property developers seek permission to develop high-rise buildings in England, as well as a new tax for residential property development companies.
The consultation document issued is focused on the introduction of the RPDT to apply to the largest residential developers and the government is currently consulting on the design of that tax proposed to apply from April 2022. The consultation runs until 22 July 2021.
We are expecting a separate consultation from the government with regards to the design of the Gateway 2 levy in due course.
Although the Christmas Quiz is cancelled, we wanted to make sure that our chosen charity didn’t miss out.
CEGlos is a “not for profit club” and most of our membership income is usually spent on venue hire and catering for our fantastic events. Having moved online for obvious reasons in 2021, we are in a position of having saved a lot of money, particularly in respect of money usually put behind the bar at the summer party and Christmas quiz. The CEGlos Committee has therefore resolved to make two generous donations to charity on behalf of Members.
Firstly, the Club’s chosen charity, Hope for Tomorrow will receive £500. We will make the donation via Nick Bracey of Brace Creative who is on the CEGlos Committee. Nick is currently undertaking 50 challenges ahead of his 50th birthday, all in aid of Hope for Tomorrow. As his birthday falls on Christmas Day, he will do the challenges dressed as Santa. You can sponsor Nick here and follow his antics on LinkedIn.
Secondly, we have been asked by CE South West Chair Andrew Goodenough to support his charity efforts to support Aviation Action. Andrew is Infrastructure Director at Bristol Airport and is currently part of a team “Running the Runways” to raise money for the charity which supports those in the aviation sector who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. We are delighted to be sponsoring him £500.
So whilst we are naturally saddened that we cannot have the usual CEGlos Christmas merriment, we hope CEGlos Club Members will be pleased to hear how we are supporting two very worthy causes this Christmas.
On the evening of Wednesday 4th March Constructing Excellence Gloucestershire Club held another interesting joint event with Transport Planning and Civil Engineering Consultancy, Cotswold Transport Planning. The event, which was hosted at the new CTP Cheltenham Headquarters, was well attended by members from the wide range of industries that CEGlos incorporates, and, as usual, all members got the chance to have a good networking catch up before the event presentation got underway.
The presentation lead by Committee Member and CTP Director, Brendan Quinn, and CTP Director Mike Glaze, sought to provide useful insights into the post planning process, helping our members to understand the highways and transportation issues that are associated with the implementation of highway works that have been requested through the planning application process and the processes required to action and legally undertake these works. Thinking and planning beyond obtaining planning permission is critical to the deliverability and viability of a site. All of this demonstrating the importance of understanding policies, as well as technical requirements and their associated timescales.
Clearly a topic of good discussion that proved popular, as come the end of the presentation, many hands raised during the questions and answers to get a thorough take on the outcomes of the presentation.
The evening was finished off with a final round of networking over fresh local pizza, wine and beer.
About Us
Gloucestershire Community Foundation was founded to support the local community – they have built a charitable foundation and use it to grant funds to community groups and provide help where it is most needed in the community. Over the last 2 years, they have awarded grants totalling over 2M to over 340 Gloucestershire-based communities and organisations.
Their impact on the local community is huge, with over 50% of their funds benefitting disadvantaged children and young people, 13% benefitting older people and 7% of people in poverty.
Constructing Excellence Gloucestershire Club CEGlos which is part of Constructing Excellence South West, has announced Business & Innovation Magazine as its media partner for the organisation’s upcoming conference on 24 June 2020.
The annual conference, which this year is moving to a new venue at the University of Gloucestershire’s School of Business & Technology at their Oxstalls Campus, is sponsored by BPE Solicitors, Bamboo Technology, Hanscomb Intercontinental and Quattro Design Architects.
Constructing Excellence South West is the single organisation charged with driving construction standards within the South West region. It is a cross-sector, cross-supply chain, member-led organisation operating for the good of industry and its stakeholders. CEGlos is one of the most active Constructing Excellence clubs in the region with more than 60 member organisations and hosting around 24 events each year.
Constructing Excellence is a not for profit organisation and the CEGlos is run by a volunteer committee of 15 professionals representing all parts of the county’s construction industry.
Every year, as well as celebrating the successes and growth of Gloucestershire’s construction sector businesses, CEGlos focuses on a particular theme. This year alongside the main exhibition, the conference will include a series of keynote speeches, workshops and seminars to debate “building a healthy industry”. They will focus in particular on designing and building for the healthcare sector and looking after the health and well-being of the workforce. With more than 50 exhibitors and around 300 people expected to attend, this is a unique networking opportunity for construction professionals.
Nicky Godding, editor of Business & Innovation Magazine, said: “We are delighted to be media partners for the CEGlos annual conference. Collaboration is fundamental to improving the performance of the UK construction industry. We will be promoting the conference through our magazine and daily news website and reporting from the conference, to raise the profile of the sector and more widely share key issues being discussed by members.”
Kevin Harris, Director of Operations for Bamboo Technology Group and Chair of CEGlos, said “We are one of the largest, fastest-growing, most robust and thriving construction focused groups across the South West. Throughout the past 17 years, the Club has stood to represent the interests of the construction sector, and act as a regional hub of the Constructing Excellence South West and national Constructing Excellence organisation, which has been set up with the aim of promoting best practice in the construction industry at a local level. We feel we have so much in common with Business & Innovation Magazine and look forward to working with their team.”
Jonathan White, Senior Associate at Quattro Design Architects and Vice Chair of CEGlos said “The Annual Conference is undoubtedly the star event in our packed annual calendar. It has grown year on year and we really look forward to working with Business & Innovation Magazine to make 2020 our best Annual Conference yet.”
Tickets to the CEGlos Annual Conference are free but must be booked in advance through the Club’s website.
SAVE THE DATE: Tickets will be available soon but, in the meantime, please save the date: 12:30 pm – 5:30 pm on Wednesday 24 June
On Wednesday 18th September we held our first joint event with Society for Construction Law (SCL). Siân Mirchandani QC (4 NewSquare Chambers) presented to over 50 attendees at The Queen’s Hotel, Cheltenham on the subject of design liability. Noting that CEGlos members represent a true cross-section of our industry, Siân’s talk was addressed to both contractors and construction professionals and had everyone hooked.
As usual, before the formal part of the event got underway, our members and guests enjoyed an opportunity to network. We were pleased to welcome re-joining and new members, and Committee Members had a lot of interest from SCL members in joining our Club.
To celebrate this joint event, Sean Gibbs (Hanscomb Intercontinental) who is both an SCL co-ordinator and a CEGlos Committee Member, opened proceedings by welcoming everyone and introducing Ms Mirchandani QC who had kindly travelled up from London to speak to us. CEGlos Chair, Kevin Harris (Bamboo Technology) echoed Sean’s welcome and took the opportunity to welcome new Club members and highlight our busy autumn events schedule.
During her talk, Ms Mirchandani QC, a barrister with over 20 years’ experience in construction disputes including court proceedings, arbitrations and adjudications, talked about different legal cases and how they apply to our every day working lives. Having reminded listeners that factual context is always key, she then explained the different duties of care in respect of design that are owed by architects as opposed to design and build contractors. Siân brought her talk to life with examples of case law with subjects as diverse as the indoor/outdoor dining experience at a shopping centre in Finchley, a collapsed ceiling in a Liverpool museum, a wind farm and a residential job during which the client fell out so badly with the architect that he said that “”when this is finished (the building) I am not going to rest until I have taken you out and I have got the money to be able to do it” (the client lost the court case).
Continuing to take care to ensure that all attendees found the talk relevant, Siân also broke down common amendments to the JCT Design & Build contract as well as analysing the RIBA, ACE and NEC4 forms of professional appointment. Of particular interest to listeners was the potential “liability gap” between design and build contractors and their sub-consultant design team, many of whom are initially appointed on terms negotiated by the client and then novated across.
Having considered the different design duties as set out in contract, attendees were reminded of their concurrent duty in Court and there was a discussion on liability periods under contracts. Interaction with the audience showed that being on the hook for 6 or 12 years remains a hot topic as businesses continue to monitor and manage risk. Finally, Ms Mirchandani QC touched upon statutory duties looking at both the Defective Premises Act 1972 and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (the CDM Regulations).
The presentation had the audience hooked from start to finish and clearly provided much food for thought with many attendees leaving with a renewed enthusiasm for the daunting task of reviewing contracts prior to signing them.
CEGlos were delighted to partner with SCL for this event and Ms Mirchandani QC has kindly offered to make this an annual event.
On the evening of Tuesday 3rd September, we held another fantastic site visit event in the grounds of The Milestone Special School in Gloucester to find out about the new facility which has been designed by CEGlos members Quattro Design Architects and is being built by fellow Cllub members Speller Metcalfe (Gloucester) Limited. Marie Owen, chair of the trustees for the Chamwell Centre Charity said:
“It gave us great pleasure to welcome the members of Constructing Excellence to the new Chamwell Centre at The Milestone School. It is the first building of its kind in England, and is unique in addressing the needs of a special school during school hours and those of disabled people in the community of Gloucestershire at other times, bringing together a wealth of skills, professional expertise and facilities, for sports, therapies, social opportunities and leisure.
We have had to draw on many areas of expertise in the building design, construction, business planning and not least finance – with a £5.1 million fundraising target over three years.
Now that the building is roughly halfway through its build period, it is a great pleasure to welcome such a distinguished group of experts in the field to see the work in progress and to receive your encouragement and helpful comments.
I very much hope that Constructing Excellence will visit Chamwell again once the building is completed. “
After a few quick words from our Chairman, Kevin Harris (Bamboo Technology Group), some networking and refreshments, Marie Owen took our members through a brilliant presentation all about the Chamwell’s origins, its early stages, plans and her vision of the centre upon completion.
The Chamwell Centre Charity (named after Chamwell School which was on the site until 1998), was registered in 2016 and the appeal launched in November 2016 to raise £3.6m (now £5.1m). The new £5.1 million facilities will enhance the lives of all pupils and members of the public with a disability.
The new facilities provide an unrivaled range of services that improve their well-being, physical fitness, and social interaction whilst having a positive impact on how they feel about their lives as a whole.
The Chamwell Centre will be able to provide exciting, modern facilities for all of the children attending the Milestone School, which they can all access despite their very challenging medical conditions and additional needs.
Whilst muchis known anecdotally about the physical effects of therapies such as hydrotherapy, athletics or sport on the physical development of children with disability, the area is surprisingly lacking in formal research. This is why through their links with the University of Gloucestershire, they are carrying out research to develop scientific evidence base for the sports and therapies that the centre will offer, in order to establish sound criteria and guidelines for their use.
It is without a doubt that the new centre will transform the lives of disabled children and adults across Gloucestershire. Through its café and community areas, Chamwell will provide a local resource for leisure and relaxation, accessible to all. The Centre and all of the work on site is due for completion in 2020.
Robert Walder, Director at Quattro Design Architects followed with a talk on the specialist design aspects of the new state-of-the-art centre before taking our members on a guided tour of the site. As well as seeing first hand the site part way through the build programme, CEGlos Club Members and guests had the opportunity to use Quattro’s Virtual Reality headset to have an in situ preview at what the finished building will look like.
Our Site visit to The Chamwell Centre was excellent. It gave us an eye-opening insight into the construction and design of a specialist centre, and we are extremely excited to visit the finished centre upon completion.
We’d like to say a huge thankyou to Marie Owen and Robert Walder, for delivering a captivating and informative presentation and tour of The Chamwell Centre.
From 1st October 2019, there will be a fundamental change to the way that VAT is accounted for within the construction sector. On Wednesday 22nd May, we heard from Julian Millinchamp, the VAT Director of Hazlewoods LLP, on the background of the new regime and the latest detailed HMRC guidance.
After networking and refreshments, Julian began his presentation regarding the upcoming implementation of domestic reverse tax changes. The relevant document, issued on 20th March 2017, aims to combat missing trader fraud in the construction sector following significant losses from this type of fraud.
Domestic reverse charge is already applicable to the sale of mobile phones, wholesale gas and electricity, computer chips and wholesale telecommunications. It accounts for output tax shifted from the supplier (sub-contractor) to the recipient (contractor), so the payment of VAT is removed from the transaction.
Construction sector domestic reverse charges (CSDRC) can only apply when both the provider and purchaser of the transaction in question are VAT registered and under the CSDRC, the purchaser pays less to the supplier but more to HMRC. This can, therefore, have an impact on businesses and their “payments on account”.
Furthermore, a variety of VAT rates apply in the construction sector and it will now be the responsibility of the purchaser (contractor) to identify the correct rate. This may be problematic as it is not always easy to do so.
The stages of the legislation implementation process are as follows:
The new legislation applies as of 1st October 2019. For normal tax point rules, refer to single payment contracts. For transitional rules for applications for payment, please refer to the government website.
So, who does the CSDRC apply to? The CSDRC applies to the following:
– B2B suppliers of building and construction services.
– Goods and materials supplied in conjunction with construction services.
– If there is a CSDRC element in a mixed supply, the whole supply is subject to reverse charge.
– Any subsequent supplies on construction where the CSDRC has previously applied, providing both parties agree.
CSDRC does not apply to services supplied to an end customer, onward supplies to a connected company or zero-rated supplies.
Following the implementation of this legislation, you should consider the following actions:
– Review supplies made to and from other VAT registered contractors.
– Review your accounting system. Invoices must include wording to indicate that CSDRC applies. And the customer must complete a VAT return.
– The impacts on cash flow. The supplier no longer benefits from collecting VAT from the customer in advance of paying to HMRC.
We’d like to thank Julian for a fantastic and insightful presentation, as well as all those who attended. Our next event is our annual conference, which will take place on 26th June at Gloucester Rugby Club. With live drone survey demonstrations and over 200 construction professionals in attendance, it is the perfect networking opportunity.
On the evening of Wednesday 17th April 2019, we gathered at Gloucester City Council, located in the heart of Gloucester, to hear from Councillor Paul James on the regeneration of the city. The Council Chamber on the top floor of North Warehouse, as can be seen from our photographs, provided the perfect setting for over 60 attendees to be reminded of the city’s architectural history and to look forward to changes ahead.
“It was a real pleasure to present to the Constructing Excellence group on the city’s regeneration. It is important that we work with our partners in the private sector to deliver projects and many of them have played a role in the city’s revival to date. I am sure that partnership will go from strength to strength as Gloucester’s regeneration gathers momentum.” – Paul James.
As a member of the Conservative party representing the ward of Longlevens, Paul James has been the leader of the council for 12 years and the leader of regeneration for 15.
After a few words from our Chair, Kevin Harris (Director of Operations, Bamboo Technology), Paul gave our members and guests, an overview of the reasons for regeneration, the progress made thus far and what the council plans to do in the future in regard to the development of Gloucester.
Following a period of development during the 1960s and 70s, Gloucester suffered a lack of investment and political consensus which led to it falling behind neighbouring towns and cities. In turn, this had a negative impact on the high street, the citizens of Gloucester and its visitors.
Fortunately, the city has evolved tremendously over the last decade and with over £700 million invested, the extensive regeneration of Gloucester is well underway.
Many attribute the regeneration programme’s success to the Gloucester Heritage Urban Regeneration Company, which brought influential figures from the public, private and voluntary sectors together, thus, developing investor confidence and securing the government funding required to subsidise the private investment.
With this in mind, the City Council released a comprehensive 10-year strategy and vision for the city. This was adopted in 2012, following consultation with almost 2,000 individuals. The central part of this vision is “to deliver:
A flourishing economy and city centre
A vibrant evening community
A city which improves through regeneration and development”.
Following a period of development during the 1960s and 70s, Gloucester suffered a lack of investment and political consensus which led to it falling behind neighbouring towns and cities. In turn, this had a negative impact on the high street, the citizens of Gloucester and its visitors.
Fortunately, the city has evolved tremendously over the last decade and with over £700 million invested, the extensive regeneration of Gloucester is well underway.
This vision has already been implemented throughout Gloucester with significant completed projects including St Oswald’s retail park, Blackfriars Priory, Gloucester Docks and the Quays, supported by critical transport improvements with the completion of the Inner Ring Road and South West bypass. It is estimated that 1,000 new jobs have been produced and 700 new homes have been built.
Whilst developing new infrastructure, the Urban Regeneration Company also wants to preserve and maintain Gloucester’s brilliant heritage, in line with the city’s status as one of England’s most historic cities.
With a clear vision and comprehensive strategy, the future of Gloucester seems promising and the hard work of the council and its partners are being recognised.
Two of the regeneration projects have been nominated for prestigious awards, with both the Gloucester Transport Hub and King’s Walk attracting regional attention for their brilliant work in the local community.
Our evening at Gloucester City Council was excellent. It gave us a fantastic insight into not only the history of Gloucester but also its future.
We’d like to take this opportunity to extend our gratitude to Councillor Paul James, for delivering both fascinating and informative account of the regeneration of the city of Gloucester. Huge thanks also to David Evans, City Growth and Delivery Manager (Gloucester City Council) and all those who were involved.
Our next event is our Annual General Meeting and Committee Elections, on 2nd May, at The Growth Hub on Oxstalls Campus, Longlevens. Following a networking breakfast, we will hear a report on club activities over the past 12 months and elect our new committee. This event is open to members only – please remember to renew your membership for 2019/20. We look forward to seeing you there.
We are also looking forward to an open event on 22 May 2019 when Hazlewoods LLP will be talking to us about Reverse VAT.
Constructing Excellence Gloucestershire hosted our latest site visit at Formal House, Cheltenham. After securing an exclusive opportunity for a behind the scenes tour and a chance to hear from guest speakers including the client, Nick King, and the Architect, Joe Roberts about the challenges and awards of this fantastic transformation.
The Civic Award-winning unique warehouse style working environment in the heart of Cheltenham allowed for the perfect networking event to be held, causing the event to sell out.
Nick King of Formal Investments kick-started the formal talk by giving an insight into his vision and the development stages of the project. The continuous tweaking of the brief generated issues for the team, but this is what brought into existence this unique work environment -“it is amazing when you come through these things as a team.”
Joe Roberts followed with a presentation on the transformation, and execution of the “great workspace.” Joe Provided information on how the design and the different building materials that helped with the transformation. The project’s lead architect recalled the early client brief as “Shoreditch boutique hotel meets Cheltenham”.
“It was great to get the opportunity to speak to Constructing Excellence members about an exciting project that we are very proud of. It was challenging but certainly a result of a team effort. Working closely with Formal Investments, Barnwood Construction and Yiangou.” – Joe Roberts
Guy Cook of Barnwood Construction described the 4-story steel frame building as a “builder’s dream” but also gave an insight into the nightmarish challenges of the groundworks section of the works. He talked about how the “non-habitable” construction site was transformed into a “habitable area” and how his construction team worked alongside the street traffic and occupying tenants to transform Formal House into the “fantastic and superb building” that it is today.
Lastly, Paul Ainsworth of Yiangou Architects, the Interior Designer on the project, gave an insight into his vision on the potential he saw in the building. Joining the project late, Paul deemed the project exciting as it had a “nice feel in terms of creative people.” His aim was to keep the industrial aesthetic of the building by designing a perfect user journey of the building, extending the heritage, creating a unique and memorable experience for users and building a space that is practical and fit for purpose.
“It was great to introduce people to this hidden gem of a space in the heart of Cheltenham, to tell the story from inception to completion and to acknowledge all the hard work and effort of the team! Well done all!”– Paul Ainsworth
The guided tour around the building provided the perfect end to the event and CEG members and guests agreed that this fantastic space certainly met the client brief. We even overheard one attendee booking out one of the meeting rooms before he left!