Construction Industry ‘devastating’ ISG Crash

In today’s news, “devastating” is how the chief executive officer of a building trade association described the failure of ISG, which may lead to the failure of other companies. During this time, re-flow was present at GroundsFest 2024, which is the most prominent landscaping and grounds management expo in the United Kingdom. Also, the first bison bridges ever built in the United Kingdom are currently being constructed in Kent woodland. In a case involving a $86 million scam, the United Kingdom has extradited a leader of a construction company to South Africa.

Construction Industry ‘devastating’ ISG Crash

Original Source: ISG collapse ‘devastating’ for construction industry

The CEO of a building trade association called ISG’s failure “devastating” and might lead to other firms failing.

Build UK CEO Suzannah Nichol told BBC’s Today programme that many smaller supply chain enterprises would not receive money, putting their survival at risk.

Workers and suppliers told the BBC they are “shocked” and “demoralised” by ISG’s bankruptcy.

The corporation with over £1bn in government contracts went bankrupt last week, laying off 2,200 staff.

Business Committee chair Liam Byrne was “deeply concerned” about what transpired.

ISG, owned by Cathexis, is the sixth largest UK construction firm by turnover, according to the Construction Index, external, with £2.2bn in revenues.

It built the 2012 London Olympics velodrome.

The company had been struggling financially for months, but rescue attempts failed.

‘I’m devastated’

ISG has employed Nottingham project manager Neil Hallsworth for almost 15 years.

He is “gutted” and feels “raw” after losing his job, but he is optimistic he can find another.

He says there were rumors on Thursday that ISG was in trouble, but “we were told, no jobs, no money” at 4pm on Friday.

Totally demoralizing. His disappointment is immense.

(“Some contractors are owed a fortune.”

In Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, Paul Margan operates a small family business that just finished an ISG order for over £20,000. He is terrified he will not be paid.

He stated ISG’s administration “shocked” him and was “really disappointing and demoralising”.

The government should tighten limits on when corporations can trade, he believes.

Mr. Margan believes “no doubt a lot of companies will go under” but believes his firm will survive.

In an unidentified BBC interview, another ISG supplier said the failure “would really hurt us” and they were due hundreds of thousands of pounds.

“I know of other contractors who are owed over £1m and I suspect some of them will go to the wall,” added.

The supplier said the shockwaves would affect the industry, but “given the big shortages in labour and skills in the sector, I’d expect most [ISG] employees to be OK”.

Construction ‘undervalued’

In an email to colleagues last week, ISG CEO Zoe Price blamed “legacy issues” from “large loss-making contracts” signed between 2018 and 2020.

Data analysts Barbour ABI found ISG worked on 69 government contracts, including Ministry of Justice jail refurbishment.

It was working on 22 MoJ projects, including a £300m Grendon Springhill 2 prison extension and a £155m three-prison expansion.

One MoJ spokesperson said the ministry has “robust contingency plans in place” to mitigate ISG’s collapse.

“We will collaborate with administrators to find alternative project delivery methods.”

In addition, Barbour ABI worked on 16 projects for the Departments of Education and Work and Pensions.

The previous Tier 1 major contractor to fail (Carillion in 2018) delayed works like the Royal Liverpool and Midland Metropolitan Hospitals by up to seven years, which must be included into the cost, said Barbour ABI analyst Ed Grifiths.

ISG’s collapse is the most high-profile in UK construction since Carillion’s administration in 2018.

With profit margins at 2%, its downfall is indicative of industry issues, say observers.

Ms. Nichol told Today: “People misjudge construction costs.

Since Carillion six years ago, there have been reforms, but not enough.

“We know construction has thin margins. Just one project going wrong and delayed can cause cashflow concerns “said.

“ISG had two major contracts which they started, mobilised and then were stopped by the client and that happens time and time again in construction.”

The failure of ISG could “imperil thousands of jobs” according to Liam Byrne.

“It’s why we’ve got to transform the quality of UK accounting so it once again provides the early warning system that investors, workers and suppliers deserve.”

Professional Landscapers Gather at GroundsFest 2024

Original Source: GroundsFest 2024: a hub for landscaping professionals & Electrician in Dubai

Re-flow attended GroundsFest 2024, the UK’s leading landscaping and grounds management show.

GroundsFest 2024, annually 10-11 September in the Coventry outskirts, has become one of the UK’s top landscaping and grounds management events.

While exploring new technologies, products, and hands-on learning opportunities, the Re-flow team met with old and new clients and loved demonstrating their field management software. They won another awards.

GroundsFest presentations were insightful.

This year’s program had two memorable speakers. The first, Protecting Pollinators, explored how landscapers may help bees and other insects. The panel discussed how careful management of native and non-native plants can produce healthy habitats in landscape designs. As climate change affects the normal cycles of critical species like bumblebees, plant diversity is essential for resilient ecosystems.

Their solution helps worldwide companies fulfill net zero commitments and reduce carbon emissions, according to Re-flow. The second session addressed landscapers’ greater role in climate change, in line with this motivation. Statistics and practical suggestions on how industry professionals may make a difference dominated the debate. The presentation recommended incorporating ecological methods into every landscaping project, from reusing soil to avoiding tree removals.

Catching up with clients and industry leaders at GroundsFest

The Re-flow display was busy throughout the event, with existing and new customers passing by to meet with the staff. Well-known companies like Wildside and Grove Ground Services visited to catch up and discuss the latest advancements. Even newcomers were excited to learn how Re-flow’s field management software might optimize their operations.

How Re-flow helps landscapers

Re-flow’s field management software helps landscapers solve their biggest problems. Inefficient paperwork, poor communication, and time-consuming manual processes plague many industry businesses. Re-flow’s digital platform helps teams manage jobs, schedules, and resources more efficiently, solving these difficulties and more:

• Re-flow allows customers upload job packs, forms, and papers to the app, minimizing office trips.
• The program alerts teams when cars or machinery need maintenance, assuring top efficiency and decreasing emissions.

These features save time and reduce unneeded travel’s environmental impact.

Award-winning presence

After two great days at the event, Re-flow won the award for best interior display.

GroundsFest 2024 again provided landscaping professionals with education, networking, and innovation. Re-flow used it to interact with the industry and demonstrate how our software is helping businesses adapt to an eco-conscious world.

First Bison Bridges in UK Being Built in Kent Woods

Original Source: UK’s first ever bison bridges under construction in Kent woodland

Bison can cross four bridges beneath public footpaths, and tourists can see them from above.

Once placed into a woods near Canterbury, Europe’s heaviest land mammals were expected to thrive and make room for other creatures.

European bison have thrived in West Blean and Thornden Woods, hence Britain needs its first bison bridges.

Four £1m bridges are being erected to allow introduced bison, who are hazardous wild animals in the UK, to travel the old forests’ tangle of public footpaths without interacting with people.

The one-ton bison will stroll beneath the bridges, with trails over the top keeping tourists apart and giving them a good view of the growing bison.

This pioneering restoration project by Kent Wildlife Trust and the Wildwood Trust released the bison herd into the forests near Canterbury in July 2022. Unbeknownst to the project, one of the three female bison was pregnant and gave birth fast. The herd now contains six bison, including a German bull and a calf born in the woods.

Bison have wandered 50 hectares (123 acres) of woodland since their release. The herd will cross 200 hectares on bridges supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Highways, the Michael Uren Foundation, Veolia Environmental Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation, and private donors.

Bison, along with free-roaming pigs and ponies, are breaking up old conifer plantations to produce a more natural biodiverse woodland that stores more carbon for the Wilder Blean project.

European bisons are related to steppe bisons, which became extinct in Britain 6,000 years ago. Reintroductions from captive breeding populations in zoos have revived the European bison, which now roam freely in Germany, Switzerland, and Poland. The last wild bison was shot dead in the Caucasus in 1927.

Bison are ecosystem engineers: they peel bark from trees, creating deadwood that nourishes insects, birds, and bats, and they dust-bathe to build burrowing bug habitats. Trampling vegetation helps wildflowers by creating light and space.

In Romania’s Southern Carpathians, where a herd of 170 bison has been reintroduced since 2014, a study found that the animals capture 54,000 tonnes of carbon a year, nearly 10 times more than without them.

Kent Wildlife Trust thinks the bison introduction will inspire similar operations across Britain. Conservationists warn that bison’s continued classification as dangerous wild animals—requiring 27 miles of fencing in the Blean Woods complex and bridges to keep them away from the public—makes other rewilding and restoration schemes expensive. Bison interact with people in other nations, like on Dutch rewilding projects.

Simon Bateman-Brown of Kent Wildlife Trust said: “Our wildlife is in trouble, and we need to think differently about how we deliver conservation projects in the UK to change our future. Wilder Blean is a groundbreaking proof of concept project, and we are paving the way to make it easier for other organizations to reproduce.

“We know miles of fencing and bridges prevent rewilding projects, but we must show what can be done to advocate for change. Bison are no more harmful than domestic animals and roam freely in public in other countries.

Our long-term goal is to remove the steel fencing and control the herd with electric fencing, but until the government makes rewilding legal, we will continue to advocate for initiatives like this so they can be replicated.”

The bridges have planning approval and the first two should be finished this year.

Article updated 20 September 2020. Instead of the Wildwood Trust, the Woodland Trust was credited with the repair.

Construction Boss Extradited to South Africa in $86m Fraud Case

Original Source: UK extradites fugitive construction boss to South Africa in $86m fraud case

More than three years after his April 2021 arrest in London, UK, former Tubular Construction chairman Michael Lomas was extradited.

The South African Times claimed that he arrived at OR Tambo International Airport in a wheelchair under heavy police escort.

He was sought for fraud and bribery during the construction of the enormous Kusile coal-fired power facility in eastern Transvaal.

‘Fled the nation’

South African Police Services spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe told AFP: “Lomas was an Eskom contractor and is wanted for fraud and corruption in excess of 1.5 billion rand [$86m] that happened between 2008 and 2018 at Kusile Power station.”

She said he altered contracts. He escaped to the UK after being detained and granted bail.”

In December 2019, South Africa indicted Lomas and four others: two ex-Eskom executives and two businessmen.

Lomas was granted £100,000 bail with a £250,000 surety after his 2021 London arrest.

After South African authorities argued they could supervise Lomas’ mental health, a London court determined this month that he may be extradited.

Eskom executives Frans Hlakudi and Abram Masango, businessman Maphoko Kgomoeswana, and Tubular Construction CEO Antonio Trindade are charged.

South African authorities allege that Trindade and Lomas bribed Eskom administrators with $1.7m apiece, causing supplier overpayments and power station price increases.

Power issues

The South African government began auctioning property confiscated during its probe into Kusile project misconduct in April.

In 2008, South Africa began a program to reduce electricity shortages that caused frequent blackouts.

Meanwhile, Eskom began building the Medupi power station in Limpopo.

Both would feature six 800MW turbines, increasing the country’s installed capacity by 9.6GW.

It resolved supply issues, but both projects experienced labor unrest, absenteeism, violence, flawed design, poor craftsmanship, and widespread corruption.

It took 16 years for Kusile to add its fifth unit to the South African grid, increasing its total production to 4GW. The sixth turbine should be synchronized in November.

The Kusile project is estimated to cost $8.7bn, up from $3.9bn in 2007.

The World Bank loaned $3.8bn and the US Export–Import Bank $806m to meet the original price.

Summary of today’s construction news

Overall, we discussed the BBC was informed by employees and vendors that they are “shocked” and “demoralised” by the bankruptcy of ISG. Last week, 2,200 employees were laid off after the company that had contracts worth over £1 billion from the government went bankrupt. Liam Byrne, who chairs the Business Committee, expressed “deeply concerned” at the events that unfolded. While this is happening, one of the best landscaping and grounds management events in the UK, GroundsFest 2024, will be held on September 10th and 11th in the suburbs of Coventry. Meeting with both existing and potential customers, the Re-flow team delighted in showcasing their field management software as they investigated novel goods, services, and chances for practical learning. One another accolade came their way. Bison, who are invasive and potentially dangerous wild animals in the United Kingdom, will be able to cross the maze of public pathways in the old woodlands thanks to four bridges that will cost £1 million. Tourists will be able to see the one-ton bison as they meander beneath the bridges, with pathways leading up to the bridges providing a barrier and a great vantage point. Apart from that, ex-Tubular Construction chairman Michael Lomas was extradited almost three years after he was arrested in London, UK in April 2021. According to the South African Times, he was accompanied by a large number of police officers when he arrived at OR Tambo International Airport in a wheelchair.