Leicestershire BUILDER Magazine • NOVEMBER 2016 • Tel: 01530 244069
Stepnell celebrates £25m of East Midlands project wins
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RENTAL SUPPLY SLOWDOWN
Four out of ten UK towns and cities suffer fall in new buy-to-let properties listed on market FOUR OUT OF TEN (40.4%) major towns and cities in the UK saw a drop in the number of new buy-to-let properties being advertised in September compared to the previous month, according to research by property crowdfunding platform Property Partner.
NOTTINGHAM-BASED construction specialist Stepnell is celebrating winning East Midlands projects totalling £25 million since the start of the current financial year. The family-owned company’s Nottingham office – based at the Eldon Business Park, Chilwell has expanded significantly since its launch in June 2014, now employing 20 office- and 25 sitebased staff and providing work for 40 local subcontractors and suppliers on construction projects across the region. “Our Nottingham office has quickly established itself as a leading local full-service construction provider and we’re delighted by the solid growth achieved over the past two years,” says Stepnell operations and commercial manager Thomas Sewell, who leads Stepnell’s Nottingham team. “This year we expect our office turnover to be in the region of £25 million which is up 300 per cent from last year. The development of strong and effective relationships with our clients, employees and supply chain partners has played a significant role in this success, combined with the company’s financial robustness and ability to deliver innovation and quality. The comprehensive technical expertise of our in-house team is complemented by the skills of our tried and trusted supply chain and this enables us to deliver consistently excellent results for our clients. This is reflected by the fact that we are already securing repeat business with a number of clients.” Current projects in the region include the company’s appointment by iconic motorcycle manufacturer
Major new conference and events venue completed for De Montfort University, Leicester. Royal Enfield – the world’s oldest motorcycle company in continuous production – to a £3.5 million contract to build its brand-new design and research centre at Bruntingthorpe in Leicestershire. Stepnell is also delivering two construction contracts – together worth £5.4 million – as part of a significant development programme at market-leading talent management, payroll and business analytics provider MHR’s base in Mere Way, Ruddington, near Nottingham. Stepnell currently employs 10 apprentices in the East Midlands region and will provide more than 50 work placements for East Midlands based-based college students over the next year. As part of its commitment to giving back to local communities, Stepnell continues to work in partnership with local business charity Leicestershire Cares to provide mentored work placements for ex-offenders locally. The successful partnership has led to three people being taken on full-time by Stepnell following their placements. Major recent projects completed by Stepnell’s Nottingham office include the construction of a new gallery for the University of Leicester’s Attenborough Arts Centre, and the delivery of the first phase of a new hub for student life at the University of Nottingham. Stepnell has also completed work on a major new conference and events venue at De Montfort University in Leicester and a motor vehicle workshop for Leicester College.
The study identified 89 UK towns and cities, analysing the number of new rental properties being advertised* between 1st September and 28th September, and then comparing it to the same period in August. Researchers at Property Partner found that of the 36 towns and cities, which saw a decrease in rental supply in September, 80% (29) of those also experienced a decline in August. The table shows the 29 UK towns and cities Grimsby, which that saw the decreases in new rental property fared better in listings for both August and September August with a relatively small drop (-5.15%) in new rental listings, was the worst hit last month (a fall of -26%). The next three locations were in the South East – Oxford (-24.4%), Canterbury (-23.9%) and Brighton (-18.7%) but no region or nation was unaffected by the shortage in supply of new buy-to-let properties. Of the major English cities, London saw new rental property listings up only marginally by 1.43% in September – although a considerable improvement from August when the supply of new buy-to-lets dropped by 16.4%. Meanwhile, in Manchester and Birmingham, new rental ads fell 13.04% and 13.69% respectively.
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