June 2009
Lakehouse signs £75M framework deal with Southampton City Council
Lakehouse is one of 22 contractors to sign a £75M framework deal with Southampton City Council. The agreement will run for four years and covers general building works which will include refurbishments, renovations, extensions and new build schemes.
Southampton City Council will award individual projects via a mini-tender process to ensure best value for money.
Lakehouse named one of the 'best of the best' in construction
A special report by Construction News has highlighted the best employers in the construction industry, listing Lakehouse as one of the 'best of the best' when it comes to putting people first. Following objective analysis of a range of independent audits Lakehouse has been listed in the top fifteen alongside some big players including Wates, Balfour Beatty and Kier.
It comes as no surprise to Lakehouse's Managing Director, Sean Birrane, who started as a trainee Contracts Manager and was promoted to Commercial Director before doing an MBA. Sean said "People development is important to us and internal promotion is encouraged. We welcome women in all areas of the company and some who started in administrative roles are now doing an NVQ level 5 to become Contracts Managers." All staff are trained to at least an NVQ level 2 and the company even employs a Culture and Personal Development Manager to ensure that staff needs are met.
Lakehouse recently achieved the Best Companies accreditation and was listed in the top five of the Good Employer Guide. Carol King, Human Resources Director, said "To be listed as one of the 'best of the best' by Construction News is a massive achievement for Lakehouse. We are going through a huge growth period and making lots of changes so it is especially good to be recognised as a company that looks after its people."
Camden women in Apprentice final
Just like Sir Alan Sugar's apprentice final, eight women have successfully completed a two week 'Decent Homes' challenge, giving them a taster of the construction industry. One of them, Samantha Grant, showed such promise, wowing everyone she came into contact with, that Lakehouse has offered her a position as Resident Liaison Officer. Samantha is due to start work with Lakehouse later this month.
On 12 June the women celebrated their success at King's Cross Construction's headquarters in Camden, all receiving certificates of achievement, CSCS cards and toolkits, courtesy of Lakehouse. Christine Townley, Director of the Construction Youth Trust, gave an inspirational speech about her career in the industry, encouraging all the women to believe in themselves and take control of their futures.
'Women in construction' was jointly delivered by King's Cross Construction, Lakehouse and Carillion. The women were all provided with some basic training on the installation of kitchens and bathrooms, followed by two-week placements with various Lakehouse professionals to get more hands on experience.
The combination of college and work based learning has given the trainees the chance to experience jobs such as plumbing, tiling and carpentry. Lakehouse is recruiting for ten apprentices in the Camden area to start in September.
Lakehouse takes on Everest in a Day challenge
On 13 June Lakehouse staff took part in the 'Everest in a Day' challenge at Trellick Tower, where the company is undertaking £2.4M of Decent Homes work for Kensington & Chelsea TMO. Thousands of residents will benefit from vital improvements to their homes and 60% of those affected will receive new kitchens and bathrooms.
The idea behind 'Everest in a Day' is simple - 100 people climb the 31 storeys of Trellick Tower, one of London's biggest landmarks, and then abseil 322 feet down with the help of the British Army. A 322 foot drop done by 100 people is 32,200 feet, more than 2,000 feet higher than Mount Everest!
Funds raised through this event are going to the 'Next Generation Programme' which was set up in 2006 with the aim of inspiring young people to take control of their own lives, to be achievers and to confront their limitations. It offers disaffected youth a fully mentored and supported 10 month programme of outdoor and expedition related skills training, culminating in a five-week wilderness expedition.
Lakehouse launches Management Academy
In order to support the vision and growth of the company and acting on feedback from the staff surveys and the IIP review about management competencies, Lakehouse has set up its own Management Academy.
The programme is designed to develop the capabilities of our people and teams and enable them to develop their competence and confidence to new levels of performance.
A group of 28, including senior management and all the Directors, is currently taking part in the innovative programme, which measures current competence and identifies areas for improvement, prior to providing specific workshops and personal coaching. Learning will encompass behaviours and personal skills, important elements in companies that are experiencing growth and the inevitable changes that growth demands.
Over a period of several months staff will undertake training tailored to their individual needs in order to develop their skills and knowledge as well as their ability to apply the new learning. A re-assessment will be carried out at the end of the programme to measure success and demonstrate the improvements made.
Director, Ken Power, says "This is a huge investment in our people. Early feedback from all involved has been very positive and the initial assessment of our managers' competences, even before training and coaching, is above the construction average. Our training provider, Metricate, has a demonstrable track record of improving competences during the programme so things can only get better."
Subject to a successful outcome of the current programme the intention is to run the programme again next year for the next batch of managers, raising performance levels throughout the company.
