The Pegasus Report - Issue #137

In the North West, an ambitious £50m plan to transform Southport has been submitted to the Government as part of the Southport Town Deal. Construction has started on the first phase of a £120m 500-home development on the site of the former Castle Irwell student village in Salford. In Gorton, work has started on delivering 45 shared ownership houses on the site of the former vehicle factory. In Preston, the green light has been given to develop 294 luxury flats across four blocks in the city centre, as part of its strategy to deliver 1,500 homes in the UK by 2025. Construction of a 500-home urban village on the edge of Manchester has commenced,  the £120m development is on a swoop of land bounded by the River Irwell that was once the site of Manchester Racecourse.

In the South East, London’s Mayor has approved plans to build a 19-storey tower at the Paddington central scheme in West London. As part of a £150 million project, building work has begun on London Gatwick Airport’s huge new railway station concourse, as the first train arrived at one of the platforms that has been rebuilt. The City of London has given the green light to an eight-storey office block close to Barbican tube station. Plans have been confirmed to transform Exchange Square at the Broadgate office complex into a new 1.5 acre public park for London. In East London, construction is set to start next year to build to build London’s largest film and TV production centre, Dagenham film studios.

In the South West, the go-ahead for a £130m contract to complete the final phase of the refurbishment of the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil has been given. A £4m programme to reduce the carbon and ecological footprint in Bristol has been approved, it is designed to be an ambitious yet achievable response to the climate and ecological emergencies.

In the Midlands, a contractor has been appointed to undertake the detailed design and build of the new £56m Birmingham University Station. In Dudley, work is under way on the £24m Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre, at the old Dudley Train Station in Castle Hill.

In Yorkshire, a contractor has appointed by the University of York to build a new research centre as part of its £35m investment by the York Global Initiative for Safe Autonomy. In North Yorkshire, Willmott Dixon has been appointed to a £7 million contract to build a crematorium on the outskirts of Thirsk. In Leeds, work has started on the latest phase of a £50m residential development in Hunslet, the development will comprise 95 apartments over two mills.

In Infrastructure, the main construction work on the North West’s latest motorway upgrade, along the M56 in Greater Manchester and Cheshire, will get underway this month. The four-mile section of motorway between junction 6 at Hale and junction 8 at Bowdon is one of the busiest in the North West – carrying 100,000 vehicles a day as part of the important corridor between Manchester and Manchester Airport and the Midlands.

In this episode, I am joined by Rennie Dalrymple of Concert; the new name of Bruce Shaw London. In this wide ranging chat, we discuss;

Why the change of name and why Concert.

How to best deal with the ongoing challenges of Covid.

Rennie’s thoughts on the future of the office.

Why they are pursuing a sensible growth rate and their plans for expanding into Europe.

Choosing projects carefully and the danger of taking on very long projects for a small consultancy.

The danger of escalating salaries for the industry.

Rennie’s thoughts on the future of the industry, including MMC and why a focus on Whole Life Cycle costing is critical.

Lastly why the industry is still not doing enough to sell itself to those at school and Higher Education age.

This week’s technology news.

This week’s green news.

This week’s global round up.

The days are shorter and another lockdown is upon us, many of us are feeling the weight of it all, hopefully some of this week’s articles will share some ideas about remaining resiliant through the tough times.

If you have any feedback as to how we could improve the Pegasus Report or if there is anything else inparticular you would like to be included, then please do drop me a line.