With its own locally recruited direct workforce, apprenticeship schemes, and long standing partnering agreements, Balfour Beatty Refurbishment shows its commitment to sustainability time and time again

Traditionally, Balfour Beatty Refurbishment Limited (BBRL) has worked within the boundaries defined by the M25, where it has forged a strong reputation working within the field of social housing.

On the basis of that solid grounding, gained over some 19 years in the business, it is looking to spread its remit further afield to the South East of England. That is not to say that the company, a specialist division of Balfour Beatty Construction Scottish & Southern Ltd, with a current turnover of £65 million, is looking to step away from the capital - quite the contrary. The company has a long-standing commitment, having fostered some strong relationships with RSLs in the boroughs of London. It is, for instance, an active framework partner with LAPN - the London Area Procurement Network - and is also currently engaged in work for five boroughs throughout the capital.

The work in question is the refurbishment and renovation of properties, including projects in the commercial sector, but it is Decent Homes that understandably has accounted for a huge chunk of its operations, accounting for around half of its £45 million turnover in 2007. It was in 2003 that BBRL got its first taste of large-scale Decent Homes work with Hounslow Homes. This became very much a showcase for the company that led to more doors being opened to BBRL by impressed clients.

“Homes for Islington was the first one,” said framework manager Clive Hancock. “They visited Hounslow and were very impressed with the work that we were doing.”

More followed and while the Hounslow work is complete the partnerships formed on the back of that successful delivery are very much in process. The company is currently working in Barnet, Islington, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, and Barking & Dagenham.

Sustainability is a key theme for the company. No matter where it works, it is leaving behind a positive legacy for the community above and beyond the improvements carried out to people’s homes and neighbourhoods. Economic benefits are perhaps the most tangible, fostered by the use of local labour and local businesses for the supply chain.

Alongside the human face of sustainability, BBRL also does its bit for environmental sustainability too. It endeavours to recycle as much site waste as possible, to reduce the amount that goes to landfill. Indeed, across the company, last year saw a 24 per cent reduction of the amount of waste sent to landfill. As with the rest of its operations, this is an area it continually assesses to further create improvements.

“Sustainability means different things to different people, but to BBRL it is all about helping our clients to create communities where people want to live and work,” Hancock added. “That’s a sustainable community and we are working to fulfil the commitments we have made by using local labour where we can and by providing apprenticeships to local communities.”

BBRL has its own direct labour organisation, which provides the vehicle for employment and apprenticeships on the schemes where it is working, thereby injecting both skills and employment - and the wages these bring - into the local economy. And it isn’t just the cash benefits of sustainability, but the contribution to the sense of personal and social wellbeing that the skilled trades involved - electricians, plumbers and carpenters are the company’s three most used - in refurbishment bring to bear on the communities involved.

“One of the first apprentices we took on in Hounslow qualified with us last year,” Hancock said. “He was working in a supermarket, and not to knock it, but he thought that was as good as it got - he’s now a qualified tradesman.”

Besides this direct form of community benefit, BBRL strives to engage with the community, whether through the organisation of open or fun days, working with local schools - in part to convey the essential safety messages about construction sites but also to promote the careers available in the industry - or taking a hand in refurbishing local facilities such as community centres. All told, they add up to leaving behind a sustainable legacy that the community can build upon.

It’s something made possible by the length of the partnering frameworks, such as Barnet, where BBRL has entered the fourth year of the five year contract, and the other active partnerships which are ongoing. The work for Barnet Homes is considered an excellent exemplar of the approach, as Hancock explained.

“We have started a scheme to provide local teenagers with a vocational skills work experience placement, with the co-operation of one of our subcontractors who will supervise the youngsters,” he said. “We are also looking at a new initiative with Barnet Homes to employ local residents on the improvement works through the existing framework. We are seeking to use a local company and local labour whilst demonstrating value to Barnet and those leaseholders affected.”

Beyond Barnet, BBRL is engaged with two contracts at the Grosvenor and Blackstock estates for Homes for Islington. It is also set to carry out £5 million of external works on the Andover estate, putting in door entry systems, removing raised walkways and improving the estate to create a greater sense of ownership for the residents.

In Hammersmith & Fulham, it is into its second year of the framework, engaged with a steady stream of work valued at around £48 million either on the go or in the pipeline. For Ealing Homes, BBRL has recently completed two external projects and a further three schemes valued at some £8 million are scheduled to commence in the summer.

The newest relationship began earlier this year in Barking & Dagenham, when the company moved onto site to carry out a pilot Decent Homes project. Valued at around £1 million, the company is hoping that the full programme will begin in earnest next month for a
full Decent Homes programme as well as external works such as roofing work and new windows. There is clearly a lot to keep the company busy.

The company’s direct labour force is the engine driving these frameworks to successful outcomes. Currently, it employs 120 tradesmen, with six apprenticeships. Among its accreditations, it carries Corgi for gas and it is also NICEIC accredited. The company has also been the recipient of the Considerate Contractor Awards as well as two ROSPA Gold awards for health and safety.

Direct labour has brought both business and community benefits, not only providing employment to the communities where it works, but bringing in new blood to the industry. As with many of the company’s approaches to successful delivery, it was a model it pioneered and refined in Hounslow. The core team is augmented by local subcontracted labour to ensure that every contract gets the carefully tailored approach it needs to be successfully completed.

“We work closely in conjunction with our human resources department to make sure our training programmes are tailored to what the apprentice needs to learn and carve out a successful career with Balfour,” Hancock added. “We’ve got five apprentices in Hammersmith & Fulham at the moment, and in Islington we’re looking to start another two. We’re approaching sustainability with a lot of vigour. That’s the way construction has to go. We have to start bringing people into the industry and get them enthusiastic about it.”

Evidently, BBRL is doing its bit to achieve that on the home front.