Ben Woodward appointed sales and estimating director

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Britplas has announced the appointment of Ben Woodward to the new position of sales and estimating director.

Ben, who has been with the business since 2015 and previously led the pre-construction and estimating department, will be responsible for the overall sales strategy for the Britplas Group, heading up the sales and estimating teams and leading new business development.

Having doubled its turnover over the last five years to some £27m, Britplas carries out the design, manufacture and installation of glazed façades to large commercial developments throughout the UK and also supplies a specialist patented window to the mental health sector.

Current commercial projects include the £250m Kampus mixed use development in Manchester City Centre and the new Edinburgh St James Quarter for main contractor Laing O’Rourke.

The new role will oversee the sales functions of both the commercial and healthcare divisions of the business for the first time.

“Ben has been an integral part of the senior team at Britplas for some years now” commented Britplas managing director John Blackwell. “He has an in-depth understanding of our markets and shares our vision for future business growth. I congratulate him on this well-deserved promotion.”

Ben commented “I am delighted to be stepping up to the position of sales and estimating director. Despite what has been a challenging year for most businesses, we have a firm strategy in place supported by an excellent team and I am looking forward to the next stage of our development.”

Building Awards Specialist Contractor of the Year

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Britplas has won the Specialist Contractor of the Year award in the 2020 Building Awards.

These prestigious annual awards, run by Building Magazine, celebrate the very best of UK construction.

Winners were announced in an online film published on 3rd November. The full list of award winners can be viewed here.

 

Safevent windows selected for Springfield University Hospital

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Britplas is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a £1m+ contract to supply Safevent windows to the new state of the art mental health centre being built at Springfield University Hospital in Tooting.

Commissioned by South West London & St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust (SWLSTG) and with build now underway by main contractor Sir Robert McAlpine, the £150m development will include eight new inpatient wards and is set to open in 2022.

SWLSTG has selected aluminium Safevent windows featuring Multask handles for the new buildings, which have been carefully designed with input from clinicians and service users to provide the most supportive environment and innovative facilities for the delivery of mental health care.

Image: C.F. Møller Architects  

Britplas shortlisted in 2020 Building Awards

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We are delighted to announce that we have been shortlisted in the 2020 Building Awards in the category of Specialist Contractor of the Year.

The full shortlist can be viewed here.

Winners will be announced online on Tuesday, 3rd November with a live screening of Building Awards 2020: The Movie.

Britplas appointed to new IDRM build at Oxford University

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Britplas is pleased to announce that they have been awarded a contract to complete the design, manufacture and installation of the building envelope to the new Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine (IDRM) at Oxford University Old Road Campus.

Working with main contractor McLaughlin & Harvey, the project is expected to start on site in October this year with a completion date next spring.

Designed by SRA Architects, the 6,000 sq m, 3-storey building will include laboratory and write-up spaces for each of three research themes, cardiology, neurology and immunology, with shared meeting / seminar rooms and specialist / ancillary labs for the purpose of life sciences research.

The building envelope is to comprise rock wool-based composite panels finished in naturally weathered Corten Steel, glass rainscreen and Schueco curtain walling, triple glazed to attain a required U value of 0.9. The building will also feature glass brise soleil. All components are being designed to meet Passivhaus standard with an air tightness of 1.0.

Britplas pre-construction manager Ben Woodward commented: “We are delighted to be working with new client McLaughlin & Harvey on such a prestigious scheme and returning to Oxford where we have a great track record of similar projects over the past few years.”

Image: SRA Architects

New group finance director joins the Britplas team

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Britplas is delighted to announce the appointment of Richard Lincoln to the new position of group finance director.

Richard has extensive senior management experience, having been a finance director for various businesses over the last 18 years. He has worked mainly in the manufacturing and distribution sectors and also had a spell in support services working for Toyota Tsusho.

In his most recent role he was finance director for Tedd Todd, one the UK’s leading hardwood flooring specialists, which is based just around the corner from Britplas at Chesford Grange.

Richard said: “I am extremely pleased to be joining an organisation that has a clear vision and an excellent reputation in its sector.

“I look forward to working to ensure the Group is optimally structured and maintains its financial strength to deliver its ambitions.”

Richard is married with three children and lives in Southport where he moved to 18 years ago from Shropshire.

Britplas to construct building envelope at new Moxy Manchester hotel

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hotel facade contractor

Britplas has been appointed to deliver the external facade package to a new hotel in Manchester city centre by main contractor Gilbert-Ash.

The project will see a former hat factory (Invicta House) in Manchester’s Spinningfields district, transformed into a stylish new 145 bedroom hotel under the Moxy brand, part of the Marriott International portfolio.

Britplas will be installing the full building envelope including Kawneer curtain walling, SFS and weathered-effect aluminium rainscreen, some of which is perforated to resemble the punch cards of a Jacquard loom as an echo to the site’s textile history. The scheme will retain and preserve the building’s listed Victorian facade.

The project is due to start in Q4 this year, with completion in May 2021 and the hotel has a planned opening date of late next year.

Britplas appoints new group commercial manager

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Britplas is delighted to announce the appointment of Chris Kennedy to the new position of group commercial manager.

Chris joins Britplas from Laing O’Rourke where he started his career in 2007 as a trainee Quantity Surveyor, obtaining his degree on a day release basis and achieving MRICS status shortly afterwards.

Over a 13 year career, Chris worked his way to a commercial manager position working across various sectors for both public and private clients including the NHS, Transport for Greater Manchester and Manchester City Council. Chris has gained extensive experience in both pre and post construction activities leading numerous tenders and framework submissions as well as delivering complex and prestigious projects such as the redevelopment of Wythenshawe Hospital, Altrincham Interchange and Nr 2 St Peters Square in the centre of Manchester.

Chris will be responsible for leading the Britplas commercial department and working closely with our estimating, pre-construction, procurement and operational teams to develop and implement the group commercial strategy.

John Blackwell, managing director of Britplas Group, said: “Chris brings considerable commercial leadership experience to our business and I am delighted to welcome him to the team. I look forward to working with him as we continue to drive our key strategic objectives and deliver continued growth across the group.”

Safevent Access windows supplied for specialist Covid-19 Assessment Ward

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Britplas has completed the manufacture and installation of a set of externally sliding Safevent Access windows to a new Covid Assessment Ward for mental health patients at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant.

Mark Blake, Senior Projects Officer at Cwm Taf University Health Board, described his latest experience of working with the Britplas team:

As a result of the Coronavirus Pandemic Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB (CTUHB) were required to provide a Covid Assessment Ward to assess and care for higher risk mental health patients with Covid19 symptoms. To ensure there were enough beds in place to cover potential early demand the conversion of an existing office space into a compliant mental health unit had to be started immediately with a targeted 4 week turnaround.

From the outset new specialist windows were identified as having a typical 8 to 10 week lead-in – too long in keeping with the 4 week turnaround. To that end I contacted Britplas to ask if, as a Covid project, the lead-in could be reduced. The answer was not only yes but within the 4 week turnaround!

Within days all measurements had been taken and the windows were being manufactured. Installation of the Britplas windows took part after three weeks of the project starting and was completed to a very high standard within 6 days as per the agreed programme.

I worked closely with Britplas on several mental health projects going back over 12 years and have always known them to be thoroughly professional from initial project discussion through to the final product installation.

New Southport MHU featuring Safevent windows now open

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A new £21m mental health hospital using Britplas Safevent windows has opened in Southport.

Twelve years on from their first collaboration, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust chose Britplas to deliver Safevent windows to the brand new unit which replaces the Boothroyd Unit and Hesketh Centre.

Hartley Hospital consists of 44 en-suite bedrooms, each of which has been fitted with a Safevent Access externally sliding aluminium window. The facility also features inner garden courtyards, a café, two gyms, a family visiting room and multi-faith area. This state-of-the-art facility takes a lot of features from Mersey Care’s award-winning Clock View Hospital.

Every Safevent is covered with marine grade powder coating as the £20m facility is on the Lancashire coastline. The hospital’s internal areas all have names that reflect this coastal connection such as Dunes Ward, Marsh Ward, Mere Suite and Marine Suite.

Work was carried out by main contractor Farran Heron Joint Venture (FHJV) with the plans drawn up by Gilling Dodd architects.

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