The Pegasus Report - Issue #139

Starting this week in London, a pre-construction services agreement for main building work on the sustainable £195m Timber Square development in London has been signed. Turner & Townsend has been appointed by St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to develop a new estate strategy, they will guide the trust’s management and investment in its estate over the next five years. Plans have been revealed to build a major office scheme in London on stilts to allow trees and open public space to run beneath the building. In North London. Enfield Council has signed off a £170m Government funding deal to deliver infrastructure to unlock the £6bn Meridian Water project.  Durkan has been chosen to deliver the second phase of the regeneration of Sherwood Close in West Ealing, London, the project will create over 100 mixed-tenure affordable homes.

In the North West, a deal to complete the fit-out of a new studio and office complex in Manchester has been agreed. Proposals have been submitted for nine blocks ranging from eight to 33 storeys on the former Rochdale Road Gas Works site, the latest project in Manchester’s £1bn Northern Gateway masterplan.  In Altrincham, a new ‘Shipping Container Street Food Village’ is set to open, the area is being transformed into a thriving new community space of shipping containers featuring a variety of local traders serving up delicious food and drink. Approval has been granted to push ahead with revised plans to redevelop the former Granada Studios, reducing the number of hotel rooms from 210 to 175 and increasing the amount of office space. The region’s transport body has detailed its preferred route for the £39bn Northern Powerhouse Rail project, including a line from Liverpool to Manchester via Warrington, and urged the Government to back the plans.  Liverpool Football Club last week officially opened their new £50m training base in Kirkby that includes a ‘secret’ stairway for sneaking potential signings into the building

In the Midlands, a planning application for 370 new homes in the heart of Wolverhampton’s historic Canalside Quarter has been submitted. Three West Midlands councils have named the winning line-up of firms for a next generation construction framework in the region, projects valued up to £5m will have a pipeline worth £600m and large projects of above £5m are expected to account for £1.5bn of work. In central Birmingham, the go-ahead has been given to build a new 39-storey, £260m tower to deliver 722 homes for rent. In Birmingham city centre, images have revealed of how a city centre car park could be transformed into a sprawling 722-home development if planning permission is granted.

In Yorkshire, it has been announced that construction will start early next year on the vast York Central regeneration scheme around the city’s railway station, a £77m infrastructure works package has been approved. In Leeds, plans for a new logistics and industrial hub at Leeds Valley Park have been put in, proposals include the construction of six light-industrial ‘mid-box’ units of varying sizes and styles.

In infrastructure, HS2 has announced that it will spend just over £5m on teams set up to oversee its construction work, according to the minister in charge of the project.

In the episode I am joined by Robert Dale, Senior Partner of Daniel Connal Partnership, a QS led multi-discipline consultancy that has been trading for 75 years and has three offices. In this episode;

The value of giving back to the community.

Managing the dynamic of three different cost centres in a small business.

Robert’s thoughts on AI.

Robert’s view that specialising is bad for your career.

How a mad Dutch man is influencing everything in Robert’s life currently!

This week’s technology news.

A bumper section of ‘green news’ this week following Boris Johnsons announcement of a 10-point plan to move into a ‘green industrial revolution’.

This week’s global round-up.

Working from home, a very popular conversation piece currently! Some love it, some hate it. This week’s first article looks at how to be happier working from the dining table.

For more mid-week discussion follow me on LinkedIn - Link below! Have a great week.