"Very good" for Lafarge under BES6001 Responsible Sourcing Standard

10th March 2010

The UK's leading cement manufacturer, Lafarge, has become the first UK cement producer awarded the prestigious BES 6001 Responsible Sourcing Certificate developed by BRE Global.

The 'Very Good' classification applies to all bulk and packed cements from Lafarge Cement as well as its packed ready-to-use range. It has also achieved 'Good' classification for its bulk loads of Fly Ash meaning that products supplied to ready mix, precast or packed customers are now responsibly sourced.

Erdogan Pekenc, Managing Director of Lafarge Cement UK, commented: "Having products responsibly sourced wins additional credits under the Materials section of the Code for Sustainable Homes and BREEAM; it adds vital extra credits towards the Code targets, which is important for clients working to improve their rating."

Further details can be found in our Press releases section.

Evans Concrete Chairman Wins Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Garry McBride and Guest of Honour; Commonwealth gold medal winning swimmer Ross Davenport

2nd March 2010

Garry McBride, Chairman of Alfreton-based bespoke precast concrete specialist Evans Concrete, is celebrating after winning the Entrepreneur of the Year category in the Derbyshire Chamber of Commerce Awards.

Garry has led the development of Evans Concrete since acquiring the company in 1998. Over the years he has forged excellent business relationships with long standing customers, helping to secure high levels of repeat business, and has also succeeded in attracting many new customers.

“I am absolutely delighted to have won the Entrepreneur of the Year Award – it means a great deal to me,” said Garry. “I was born in Derbyshire, was educated here and still live and work in the county so it is very personal to me. I am also extremely passionate about what I do and about the business. I am very proud to be chairman of Evans Concrete and appreciate all the support I get from every member of staff, all of whom have helped to make us what we are today.”

Further details can be found in our Press releases section.

British Precast is pleased to announce that MDL Meadowstone have joined the Federation

1st March 2010

The Meadowstone brand has been a market leader in cast stone for many years. MDL Meadowstone is a very welcome addition to our membership. Their reputation for high quality products and service is well merited. Cast stone has been under-represented in our membership for some years yet it was at the foundation of the Federation from its earliest days. We are keen to work with them and others to develop the cast stone market and to support MDL’s move into innovative precast products.

We wish the team under the leadership of Mark Johnson and Simon Tibble a long and successful time in membership. Mark and Simon have already pledged MDL Meadowstone to the Concrete Targets scheme.

Tarmac achieve "very good" under BES6001 Responsible Sourcing Standard

26th February 2010

British Precast Member Tarmac Building Products has become the second member company to achieve “very good” rated certification under BES 6001:2008 Standard for the Responsible Sourcing of Construction Products. All of its aggregate and aircrete blocks from all manufacturing sites have gone through the exacting processes required to obtain this prestigious certification. The benefit to specifiers is that this certification translates into the maximum 3 credits available on the Code for Sustainable Homes matching anything available from competing materials. To download the certificate click here.

Highlights in the history of concrete – raising money for Haiti

23rd February 2010

Martin Clarke of British Precast is available to speak on Concrete through the Ages through 2010 to raise money for the Haiti Appeal. A minimum donation to the charity of £500 is necessary from sponsors. Evenings are preferred and early enquiries about dates are necessary. Please email info@britishprecast.org if interested.

The matching publication Concrete through the Ages (12.3MB) is available here as a free download.

The Opportunities and Costs of Cutting VAT

25th February 2010

The effects of selected reductions in the rate of VAT on the labour element of housing repair, maintenance and improvement: a report by Experian for the Cut the VAT coalition (3MB)

British Precast and the Modern Masonry Alliance are members of the Cut the VAT Coalition.

The Coalition believes that reducing VAT from 17.5% to 5% for all maintenance and home improvement works would benefit the UK by creating tens of thousands of jobs at a time of high unemployment and that it would enable the Government to achieve its target of cutting carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. This new report from Experian finds that such a cut would also have considerable social and financial benefits for the public sector in terms of reducing the VAT bills of housing associations and local authorities, enabling more of the spend to be used for improving the UK’s 4.8 million units of social housing stock, thus supporting the Government’s Decent Homes programme. Furthermore, it would benefit millions of UK homeowners by reducing bills for those who cannot afford vital repairs to their homes; help bring empty properties back into use thereby assisting with the alleviation of the housing supply crisis; remove the perverse incentive to demolish existing buildings to avoid the VAT bill; and help protect consumers by cutting the competitive advantage of the £6.4bn a year informal economy.

MPA Calls on the Government to Pursue Realistic Carbon Reduction Targets

27th January 2010

With just days to go before international governments declare their domestic carbon reduction commitments under the 2009 Copenhagen Accord, the Mineral Products Association today called on the government to resist moves to increase its commitment to a -30% carbon reduction target until further comparable unilateral commitments are made by other major economies.

Dr Pal Chana, MPA's Executive Director Cement and Lime, said “the government should stick to its current EU policy commitment of -20% when the issue is debated at the European Council meeting on February 11 unless other countries agree to fall in line.”

Further information can be found in our Press releases section

10% Discount for British Precast Members on BSI Eurocode Masterclasses

15th January 2010

1-4 February 2010, BSI Headquarters, London
9-12 March, 2010, Marriott Hotel, Manchester Airport, Manchester

Prepare your organization for the transition from British Standards to Eurocodes by attending BSI's series of Eurocodes Masterclasses.

The Eurocodes Masterclasses will provide you with detailed information about the Eurocodes most relevant to you, with a specific focus on the UK construction industry. Through case studies and discussion groups, you'll gain a full understanding of specific Eurocodes, as well as the cost and time commitments involved.

Get information on the Eurocodes most relevant to you by attending one, two, three or four days of classes. A full listing of classes is available here.

To book your place and claim a 10% discount, please call the BSI Customer Service Team on +44 (0)20 8996 9001.

Non-discount bookings can be made online at here

Assembly calls for investigation into fire safety of London's buildings

14th January 2010

The London Assembly has unanimously asked its Planning and Housing Committee to set up a scrutiny investigation into fire safety in buildings, following a series of fires in the capital involving tall and timber-frame constructions.

A motion agreed yesterday highlighted the Colindale fire in 2006, during which a six story timber-framed building burned to the ground in less than nine minutes, and the series of recent fires in Peckham involving timber-frame buildings under construction.

Assembly Members called on the Committee to look into possible changes to building regulations, with a view to making recommendations to the Mayor of London and central government.

Darren Johnson AM, Chair of the London Assembly, said: "The tragic deaths of six people at the Lakanal House fire last July and a series of recent blazes involving timber-framed buildings have all too graphically highlighted the vital importance of fire safety when designing and building people’s homes. An Assembly probe into how such incidents might be avoided in the future is the least we can do to minimise the fire risks to Londoners.”

Navin Shah AM, who seconded the motion, said: "A spate of recent incidents have emphasised the need for a swift review of construction methods and their impact on the fire safety of London’s buildings. We must do all we can to highlight areas where improvements can be made that may save lives in the future.”

A webcast of the meeting can be viewed here.

BPCF announce Lafarge Cement UK as the 2009 British Precast Sustainability Champions

15th December 2009

The 2009 British Precast Sustainability Champion award has been won by Lafarge Cement UK with runner up J&P Building Systems.

The award goes to the Associate member who has done the most in the last 12 months to assist the sustainability programme of the UK precast concrete industry.

Lafarge Cement at Hope, Derbyshire – driving sustainability forward

Lafarge Cement UK won the award for a series of interlinked projects:

• Reducing CO2 by the use of waste
• Stakeholder and community engagement
• Reducing river water consumption
• Exemplary safety training programme

Martin Clarke, Chief Executive of British Precast, commented “I am delighted to announce that Lafarge Cement are this years Sustainability Champions. They “get” sustainability and understand what our manufacturing members are trying to do. Lafarge Cement, along with the other UK producers, are playing a major role in the greening of concrete and are helping the precast sector to reduce its carbon footprint significantly. As well as our strong relationship within the British Precast agenda, it is a pleasure to work with them on the Concrete Industry Sustainable Construction Forum where together we are working to put concrete at the top of the materials leader-board by 2012. Every one of our valued Associate members has an important role to play in our green agenda and we look forward to an even stronger push in 2010.

J&P Building Systems are worthy runners-up with the Key2Concrete website and educational resource. Martin Clarke commented “In Key2Concrete, J&P and Cliff Billington have opened up a new international and home on-line audience to best practice in precast design. It is a great platform to present the best in lean and green design.”

British Precast Council agrees 2012 sustainability targets for precast concrete industry

BPCF President Steve Parker, Roger Bullivant signs the targets flanked by Martin Clarke[l], Chief Executive BPCF and Darren Waters[r], Tarmac Building Products, Vice-President BPCF

8th December 2009

The Council of the British Precast Concrete Federation have set targets for 14 sustainability indicators to be achieved by the sector by 2012. The targets were signed by President Steve Parker after the December meeting. In July 2008, the Federation signed up to the Sustainable Construction Strategy for the UK Concrete Industries developed by the Concrete Industry Sustainable Construction Forum (CISCF) in which it made these eight commitments:

The precast commitments will now be combined with the rest of the cement and concrete sector commitments as they are made. BRMCA targets for readymix were issued last week. Details of the BPCF targets will be published in the next issue of Sustainability Matters.

Protect your company from bad debtors

British Precast has launched a scheme to help protect Members from bad debtors. Creditlook is a web-based service that allows members of a federation or association to collaboratively share information about customers that are trading outside of agreed credit terms. This shared information helps limit the risk to members of bad debtors, by enabling them to identify high risk customers before any goods are supplied.

How it works

If a customer trades outside of agreed credit terms with any member, that member can instantly register the customer and incident details on Creditlook. For each customer listed, Creditlook records how many members have been affected, whether correspondence has been sent in relation to late payment and any legal proceedings that have taken place in order to recover such payment.

Creditlook brings members together to protect their individual and collective financial position.

For more information about the scheme and to register, please call Russell Lawley Gibbs on 01628 581058. Once registered, you just have to click on the Creditlook logo above to enter your login details and you can start tapping into this invaluable resource.