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Triple shortlisting at the South East Construction Awards

Best Apprentice, Best Construction Project and Best Construction Contractor categories all recognise Coombs

We’re excited to be the only contractor shortlisted in 3 different categories at the upcoming South East Construction Awards. The Awards were established to celebrate the region’s heroes in the industry. The categories Coombs are in the running for are:

Best Construction Contractor

Celebrating the region’s most outstanding main contractors, who have carried out exemplary projects in the commercial, residential, industrial and infrastructure sub-sectors, and who have demonstrated the highest levels of innovation, quality of work, sustainability, health and safety and well-being, training and development of people.

Best Apprentice

Recognising those apprentices  who stand out from the crowd with outstanding achievements and have demonstrated excellent promise, commitment and initiative. Louis Clarke, is one of three shortlisted for Best Apprentice. He was nominated due to his impressive approach to learning. From the moment we interviewed Louis, his enthusiasm was clear to see. We’re thrilled he’s being recognised at these awards.

Best Construction Project

Celebrating the region’s most outstanding new construction projects and recognising the teams involved for their high standard of work, client satisfaction and budget control in a safe and healthy working environment.The Sunshine Café, Dreamland has once again received industry recognition, being one of five projects shortlisted in this category.

Winners will be announced as part of South East Construction Expo 2019, to be held at the South of England Event Centre in Ardingly on 26th September. Last year’s hugely successful event saw over 2,000 leaders from the region’s construction industry network and sample the industry’s latest technology.

This year’s trade show is bigger and better than ever. It is a ‘must visit’ for anyone in development, property and construction.

Creating a park for Faversham to be proud of

Located in the heart of Faversham and already enjoyed on a daily basis by many in the local community, Faversham Recreation Ground is set to get even better.

Established over 150 years ago, the 20-acre site is one of Swale’s most significant heritage parks. Our project to restore historical features and improve facilities is part of the Parks for People improvement project.

Parks for People is a joint Heritage Fund and Big Lottery Fund programme which aims to protect and enhance historic parks, helping to ensure that future generations can continue to enjoy these important public open spaces.

The Heritage Fund announced in July 2018 that the project had been awarded £1.6m for an ambitious, heritage-led, regeneration scheme of more than £1.9m that will restore many of the park’s historic features, and improvements to facilities.

The aim of the project at Faversham Recreation Ground is to ensure that this heritage is protected and that people have more opportunities to visit, understand and be involved with the park and learn about its history. Improvement works will create a park local people can be proud of whilst breathing new life into well used historic buildings. Improvements and activities include:

  • Refurbishment of listed features (including the former Gardeners Lodge and Loggias) as well as the main changing pavilion.
  • Restoration of original wrought iron gates and boundary fencing.
  • Reinstatement of areas of historical planting and paths.

Working with Swale Borough Council, the Heritage Fund,  Wynne-Williams Associates and Purcell, this project will make sure the park continues to be enjoyed for generations to come.

SECBE Awards feature Sunshine Café, Dreamland in blog

The Sunshine Cafe, Dreamland finalist in Constructing Excellence SECBE Awards

As part of the countdown to the Constructing Excellence Awards at the end of June, SECBE have featured our Sunshine Café project at Dreamland. Our project is a finalist in the Preservation & Rejuvenation category.

Delivered in partnership with Thanet District Council and Judge Architects, The Sunshine Cafe was our second phase of major redevelopment at Dreamland.  The amusement park continues to play an important part in Margate’s heritage following our previously completed programme of works to Dreamland’s Grade II listed buildings.

The Constructing Excellence Awards are unique in their recognition of outstanding built environment companies and projects that have delivered improvements in all-round performance through collaborative working and a real desire to make a difference.

You can read the post and find out more about how local staff with family connections to Dreamland have helped preserve this building for future generations here.

Further details of our work at Dreamland and the Sunshine Cafe can be found on our website.

 

Maximising local economic impact with Canterbury Christ Church University

The Creative Arts Building is an exciting c.2650 sqm project, which will contribute to the social and economic growth of the region by developing sought after skills in the creative industries.

We always look to maximise the positive local economic benefit of our construction projects. With the Creative Arts Building being prominent in our local community, this was no different. Our approach focused on the three pillars of sustainability: Economic, Environmental & Social.  An overview of some of the positive outcomes of our work with Canterbury Christ Church University are highlighted below.

Economic

We always look to maximise the local economic impact of construction, The Arts Building was no different:

  • Estimated £2.51 local economic benefit from every £1 spent on construction: based upon the Local Economic Multiplier Effect and our efforts to capture spend locally.
  • Maximising local economic benefit: as a Canterbury-based contractor, we used our local staff to deliver this Canterbury-based project. Thereby maximising retention of expenditure for both Canterbury and Kent. Our staff our proud to have delivered a project in their local community which will benefit the region for years to come. 54% (14) of our staff on the project live in Canterbury; with 16% (4) in Medway and 28% (7) in Thanet. 100% of our staff involved in the Arts Building live in Kent.
  • Capturing local spend: 52% of subcontract orders were placed with companies based within 20-miles. Over 21% with companies based within 5-miles.
  • Developing much needed creative skills: The Arts building will support the development of Canterbury’s economy and cultural capital by providing key skills in the creative industries and helping create a supply of graduates with the right skills sets to find employment. The Creative Industries currently contribute £10.5m per hour to the UK Economy.
  • Utilising local apprentices: The Arts Building gave a number of our existing apprentices the opportunity to continue their training. A Canterbury-based carpentry apprentice; a Canterbury-based bricklaying apprentice and a Medway-based carpentry apprentice all gained first-hand experience. In addition to our own apprentices, the Arts Building hosted training for apprentices from our supply chain. A further 5 apprentices worked on the project including two electrical apprentices; two mechanical apprentices and a carpentry apprentices from our subcontractors.
  • Enhancing local construction skills: we provided in excess of 500 training days for Kent-based staff.

Environmental

The environmental impact of The Arts Building was minimised in a number of ways.

  • BREEAM “Very Good”: energy saving measures include maximising natural light through large areas of glazing and roof lighting; thermally efficient concrete frame; building management system; solar gain control in addition to water efficient fixtures, use of recycled material and tree protection measures.
  • 100% of waste was recycled: working with a local waste management company over 260 tonnes avoided landfill.
  • Reducing C02 and local congestion by eliminating c.3,000 car journeys. Our Site Management adopted the “Cycle to Work Scheme”. Following the good example of our Site Managers members of our supply chain started cycling too – at least another 6 operatives cycled including mechanical & electrical trades and labourers.
  • Minimising CO2 emissions by using local skills: 18 subcontractors were based within 15-miles of site minimising the carbon miles.

Social

The Arts Building will provide a variety of benefits to wider society for years to come. For instance, it will provide an important additional location for arts events throughout the year and be part of the Canterbury Festival. While the arts community housed within the Arts Building will help enhance Canterbury’s cultural capital. During works we engaged with the wider community, including:

  • Supporting the “Minilympics” teaching 140 pupils from 9 local primary schools about sport, healthy eating and teamwork.
  • Sponsoring the University’s Women’s Football Team and their Women’s Cricket Team.
  • Working with the University’s Archivist to document the build.
  • Meetings with Havelock Residents Group discussed concerns and upcoming works.
  • The design celebrates the historic foundations of the campus, exposing sections of the original St Augustine’s Abbey wall beneath a glass floor.

Overview

The building is arranged over two and three storeys. A café and central exhibition space are at ground floor along with specialist music, practice, rehearsal, recording and performance spaces. On the first and second floors studio spaces are provided to house courses in graphic design, web design, multimedia design, digital media, illustration and photography. To place students at the heart the building, central open learning spaces are provided on the first and second floors.

The Arts Building is the latest in a long line of projects for Canterbury Christ Church University. Previous projects include The Salomans Centre, Tunbridge Wells , Maxwell Davies Building and St Gregory’s Music Centre both in Canterbury. More information about the courses on offer at the Arts Building can be found here.

Help raise funds for “Children with Cancer UK”

Ian would like your help in supporting “Children with Cancer UK”

A member of our team will be running both the London Marathon & Endure 24 to raise funds for “Children with Cancer UK”.  Through Virgin Money Giving, you can sponsor Ian and donations will be quickly processed and passed to Children with Cancer UK. Virgin Money Giving is a not for profit organisation and will claim gift aid on a charity’s behalf where the donor is eligible for this. I really appreciate all your support and thank you for any donations. https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/IanPearson8

Children with Cancer UK actively raises and invests money into vital specialist research to save the lives of every child with cancer and keep more family together. There vision is to improve survival rates and the quality of survival in young cancer patients and to find ways to prevent cancer in the future.

They work as a family, actively engaged in collaborative projects to inspire people to contribute to a better future for their children. Their focus is to liberate visionary researchers and accelerate breakthroughs. They match extraordinary children with extraordinary research, often unleashing hope as a force of good.

A message from Ian

Here we go again! So, to everyone that knows me will be aware that since my dad passed away from cancer in 2010 aged just 65, I’ve welcomed any opportunity to support or raise money to help fight the battle against this awful disease.

This year, I have the pleasure of running for the amazing charity ‘Children with Cancer UK‘ through running both the London Marathon in April & Endure 24 in June. Endure 24 for those not familiar, is a continuous 24 hour race which I’ll be running as part of a team of 2, where if all goes to plan, should complete in the region of 60-80 miles each over the 24 hours.

It will be a huge challenge, however not nearly as hard as what some children & their families are going through. Please help me support this fantastic cause by donating whatever you can afford. Your money really will help save the lives of children with cancer & keep families together.

Thank you

Ian 🙂