Britplas on board with Bristol office development

/in ,

Britplas have been awarded the contract to provide the vertical exterior facade to a new commercial building at Bristol Business Park.

The package, worth around £1m, is Britplas’ first for main contractor Bowmer and Kirkland and will see them carrying out the design and installation of all external glazing, cladding and doors. The building (no. 100) will provide 86,000 sq. ft. of Grade A offices over 5 floors and is set to become the new headquarters of Babcock International Technology, the UK’s largest maritime support company to the Royal Navy.

Britplas are due on site from May this year, with an eight month programme taking them to the start of 2019. The team will be installing a range of products and systems including Schüco FW 60 SG, Schüco ADS70 manual doors, Schüco ASS70 and Boon Edam Crystal Tourniket manual revolving drum doors.

Bristol Business Park is an established office park situated five miles north of Bristol City Centre with excellent transport links and within easy access of the M32, M4 and M5 Motorways.  Building 100 will be the first of three phases for the 7.3 hectare site, which will eventually total 150,000 sq. ft.

Living our values with a team trip to the rugby

/in ,

At Britplas, teamwork is at the very heart of our culture and operations, and we express this through ‘Better together’ – one of the three key themes which sum up our corporate values.

One expression of this theme is our annual programme of staff social events – organised by our people for our people, they provide a perfect opportunity for everyone to get together outside a work environment, meet people from outside their own department and enjoy social interaction away from the pressures of work.

It was perhaps apt then, that the first social of this year involved two of our most famous local teams, with a large Britplas contingent taking in the Super League match between Warrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors, at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Everyone enjoyed a meal before braving the sub-zero temperatures to watch the Wire beat Wigan 16-10, a scoreline which didn’t reflect Warrington’s dominance throughout. The result, played at the top level of the English Rugby League structure, ended Wigan’s winning start to the season as Warrington deservedly won the local derby.

Having been founded and always based in the Warrington area, Britplas has strong ties to the local community with the majority of staff based nearby and regularly attending games.

Britplas pedallers take on the “Tour d’Italia” for Warrington Youth Zone

/in ,

Two staff members from Warrington-based glazing specialist Britplas along with three of their friends are undertaking a mammoth cycling challenge next month to raise funds for Warrington Youth Club’s new Youth Zone.

Britplas employees Martin Finnegan and Terry Reid will be leaving the UK on the 23rd of March to complete a 532 mile bike ride across Italy over 5 days. They aim to raise a total of £5,000 in sponsorship for the new Warrington Youth Zone, of which Britplas is a founder patron.

Lyndsay Darlison from Warrington Youth Zone commented, “We’re thrilled to have such amazing support from the team at Britplas, they are Warrington people working for a Warrington company, raising money to give young people in Warrington a brighter future. With the support of local businesses like Britplas we really can make a difference and ensure young people will always have somewhere to go, something to do, and somebody to talk to”

Warrington Youth Club is currently raising funds to create a new purpose built Youth Zone at Winwick Street, Warrington, which will provide them with a permanent base from which they can continue to provide excellent social and educational opportunities for children and young people from across Warrington.

Martin Finnegan, Britplas’ Special Projects Manager, had this to say: “All the riders are from Warrington and know how much a centre like this would mean to the community. We’ve done a few similar rides like this before, including one across Spain and Portugal in 2016, and we’re delighted to do something similar for this cause.”

The “Tour d’Italia” bike challenge will see the team complete 11,500 feet of climbing over the gruelling 5 day ride. Terry and Martin will be starting in Venice, working their way down the Italian Adriatic coastline before cutting across and finishing on the Amalfi Coast for a well deserved holiday.

The team’s Virgin Money Giving page can be accessed here httpss://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Britplas2018

Britplas start on site at Honeybourne Place

/in ,

Britplas are starting work on site at Honeybourne Place, a new £12m office development in the heart of Cheltenham.

The Honeybourne Place façade schedule is due to run until mid-2018, and represents £3.5m to Britplas for the design, manufacture and installation of the majority of the external envelope, a striking glazed façade designed by architects Roberts Limbrick. Located in central Cheltenham, the 60,000 sq. ft. scheme is the first of its type in several years for the Gloucestershire town, with demand for high quality office space outstripping supply.

The initial SFS load bearing sub-structure is being installed prior to the arrival of the first glazed units and cladding next week. When completed, it will feature Schüco FW50+ curtain walling, steel fire resistant screens, finished with a large range of cladding varieties.

Britplas are due to install stone, ceramic, composite, brick slip, aluminium rainscreen, brise soleil and architectural fascias and soffits creating a challenge for our procurement and on-site teams.

Safevent Access now available in uPVC

/in ,

2018 looks set to be another year of innovation for Britplas with our latest window model, the Safevent Access, now available in uPVC. Originally developed in aluminium, uPVC prototypes were developed and tested throughout 2017, and the new window is now finalised and in production. Working with our profile suppliers Eurocell, new dies have been cast to ensure that production capacity is able to match demand for the new Safevent Access. The product is already proving of interest to several of our key clients within the mental health sector.

The continuous development of the Safevent aims to ensure that our clients have the most comprehensive range of solutions available to choose from. The Access offers a high degree of flexibility for maintenance and ease of access whilst retaining industry leading levels of robustness and natural ventilation.

Since its inception in 2006, Britplas has supplied and fitted over 40,000 Safevent windows to facilities around the world. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch should you have any questions regarding this or any Britplas product, or if you would like to request a demonstration.

Continuous improvement for Britplas Fabrications

/in , ,

Following another year of record sales, Britplas has modified the layout at its 42,000 square foot Warrington fabrication facility in order to further streamline its manufacturing operations and cope with increased demand going forward. The changes have been designed to help ensure continuous working lines for both aluminium and uPVC, with a newly consolidated façades area dealing with curtain walling and door orders.

The Britplas factory manufactures the company’s patented Safevent window, allowing for tight quality control of this specialist product, and is also now set up to deal with the various different product types and systems required by the wider commercial facades market.  A number of factory staff have been cross-trained, and supplemented with specialists brought in to ensure we remain at the forefront of manufacturing best practice.

The new modifications mean that lines can be adapted for free flow of product on any given day, with the following results already achieved:

  • Improved workflow
  • Adaptable workforce
  • Efficiencies expected to be plus 20%
  • Designated visitor route with information points
  • A safer environment to work in.

Further amendments will continue to be made as we look to adapt and optimise to keep providing the best service possible to our customers.

Westgate Oxford opens to the public

/in ,

Oxford’s new £440million Westgate Shopping Centre, where Britplas delivered the full external glazing package for two blocks, was completed and opened to the public on the 24th October.

Britplas were appointed to the two stage project, which brought with it various challenges particularly around access, by main contractor Laing O’Rourke. Westgate block 1 comprised the installation of multiple aluminium door varieties and a unitised curtain walling system creating a technical challenge for our design team which was overcome with collaboration from the system supplier, Schueco. Block 4 involved the manufacture, supply and installation of aluminium doors, Schueco FW60+ curtain walling and fixed light glazing. Together these packages totalled £2.4m and represented several months on site for our installation team.

The Westgate development was a joint venture between Land Securities, The Crown Estate with Westgate Oxford Alliance to improve facilities in Oxford City Centre, with the revitalisation of the 1970 built shopping precinct central to this. 125 shops including the major new John Lewis with its Britplas façade are expected to bring in triple the amount of shoppers as previous years.

Britplas proudly become founder patrons for Warrington Youth Club

/in ,

Commercial glazing specialist, Britplas, based in Woolston Grange, has recently become a founder patron of Onside Warrington Youth Club. The company led by Kevin Gorman, John Blackwell and Colin Duncan has been working closely with the charity to gain a clear understanding of the impact that the new Warrington Youth Zone will have in the town. Employing over 90 people locally, the company is firmly grounded in Warrington and has strong connections with the local community.

Warrington Youth Club is the largest voluntary sector youth club in the town and currently works with over 2000 young people each month from ages 7-25. They believe in “Inspiring young people to achieve”. As well as their action-packed school holiday clubs they support young people with social, emotional, fitness, educational and personal development programmes. The club is currently raising funds to create a new purpose built Youth Zone at Winwick Street, Warrington which will provide them with a permanent base from which they can continue to provide excellent social and educational opportunities for children and young people from across Warrington every day of the year.

Britplas’ support as a founder patron includes a financial commitment over the next four years and the company will be encouraging staff to get involved in fundraising and other volunteering opportunities. Through this invaluable support the charity will move a step closer to making the vision of a new Youth Zone in Warrington a reality.

Colin Duncan of Britplas, commented “We are very proud to be associated with OnSide Warrington Youth Club and the development of a purpose built Youth Zone in Warrington. As a local business, we are always keen to give back to the community in which we operate and our staff are really looking forward to getting behind the cause and doing some fundraising.

The new facility will allow the charity to give local young people the same excellent support and opportunities they have in many other towns across the country.”

Dave McNicholl, CEO said “I am delighted that Kevin, John, Colin and the team from Britplas have decided to support OnSide Warrington Youth Club, we recently had the opportunity to talk at their staff conference and one issue connecting us both is mental health. One of our members explained how the Youth Club had provided a support net for her when she was faced with severe mental health issues. As a registered charity we are not guaranteed funding and rely on supporters and fundraising. Founder Patrons give us a regular source of income towards the development of the Youth Zone and its running costs which currently stand at £1,250,000.

We are absolutely thrilled to have them on board as we enter the next stage of the development of the charity which was established in Warrington in 1930.”

Annual Britplas Team Conference

/in ,

Britplas recently held its Annual Team Conference at Craxton Hall near Chester.

A fixture in the Britplas calendar since 2014, the day sees all employees coming together for a review of business progress over the past year and an update on strategy and targets moving forward, followed by some fun team-building activities. Staff also received an introduction to Warrington Youth Club, which Britplas will be supporting as a founder patron from 2018. “Our annual away day is an important fixture in the Britplas calendar” commented Britplas Chairman Kevin Gorman. “Bringing the team together helps reinforce one of our core values, being Better Together, and it’s important to reflect as a business on where we’ve been and where we’re going next.”

Following the morning’s presentations, the latter part of the day consisted of 90+ employees competing in the Crystal Maze, luckily, in some nice Cheshire weather.  The mixture of mental and physical activities tested the 12 groups with the Blue team coming out on top by one extra ticket collected in the Dome.

Britplas secure Honeybourne Place contract

/in ,

Britplas have secured a £2.9m glazing contract at a new commercial development in Cheltenham, Honeybourne Place. The mixed use development consists of ground level retail units and penthouse apartments, with the bulk being office space.

The £12m build will complete the redevelopment of the old St James railway site in the heart of Cheltenham, and provide a much needed 64,000 sq. ft. of office space as well as bringing 500 jobs to the area. Britplas are again working with contractor Barnwood Construction who broke ground at the site last month, with Britplas due to start on site towards the end of 2017.

Britplas’ package of works includes the design, manufacture and installation of Schüco FW60+ curtain walling, Wrightstyle SR60 steel fire resistant screens, finished with composite and brick slip cladding.