Delivering social value for our customers and our stakeholders is of great importance to us and we were really pleased to provide a significant contribution in the provision of a new cupboard at The Arc Community Centre, Islington in partnership with the Hyde Group. Claritas sourced and funded the project with DGP Logistics despatching the manpower to complete the work. The cupboard was required as a valuable asset to the community food bank which operates from the centre.

Damien from The Arc said “The work that you guys have done is absolutely vital to the smooth running of the centre.  The cupboards also mean that everything can be safely stashed away and out of sight enabling us to use the room for more community activities and hire the space to generate essential income as well as reducing wastage through lack of suitable storage”.

Claritas continue to work with the Hyde Group and the Hyde Foundation through our involvement with the Hyde Main Contractors framework and, as we deliver 126 new homes for them in Stafford Road Croydon. So far we have created two job vacancies, and we have set targets for local spend as well as training and learning opportunities for a variety of groups within the community. The whole team at Claritas is keen to contribute and colleagues from across the company have pledged volunteering hours to work across a range of community projects.

Claritas is delighted to announce our appointment on the new £15.6bn Residential Delivery & Development Framework with SCF Frameworks. We have secured a place on Lot 2 Larger Value Projects of 65+ units within the sub regions of London and the South East.

Created to support public sector residential construction and development, SCF Residential is a four-year framework available to all public bodies in the South East, London and the South West.

It gives them access to market leading tier one and SME housebuilders and has been designed to be flexible and responsive to industry pressures, including carbon reduction, driving MMC and tackling the ongoing housing crisis.

Claritas CEO, Jon Wardle “This is a fantastic result for Claritas. Having secured a place within the framework amongst some strong competition we are now looking forward to working with SCF and our fellow framework providers in delivering on our promises and driving the #SCFvalues of collaboration and open book two stage tendering culminating in trustworthy, equitable and ethical contract delivery”.

For more information on the new Residential Framework –  www.scfresidential.org.uk

Following a tendering process, Tandridge District Council has awarded the contract to redevelop Bronzeoak House in Caterham to Claritas Group Ltd.

The development, which forms part of the Council Housing Building programme will provide affordable rented housing to applicants on the Council’s housing register who cannot afford to buy or rent on the open market. Twelve flats will be available to families and 14 flats to older people. The sheltered housing is designed to meet the needs of local older people including those looking to downsize from larger homes.

The Council is working with Claritas to make sure disruption to businesses and residents is minimised. Claritas Group Ltd is registering the site with the independent Considerate Constructors Scheme and will adhere to their code of conduct throughout the construction phase, to ensure the site:

• Is well maintained.
• Respects the local community.
• Protects the environment.
• Adheres to the highest level of health and safety and values its workforce.

Jon Wardle, Chief Executive Officer of Claritas Group, said: “We are pleased to be working once again with Tandridge District Council in the delivery of this important development for the local area.  Our site team will work hard to ensure our presence on site will be a positive one for all affected by the work.”

Tandridge District Council spokesperson said: “Having now awarded the contract to redevelop Bronzeoak House, we are looking forward to the Claritas Group starting on site soon and helping us deliver more affordable and attractive rented homes for families and older people in Caterham.”

There are plenty of opportunities for SMEs working in the right sectors, says Claritas’ Simon Wilkinson

On the day that Boris Johnson announced lockdown, we took the keys to our brand-new office in Bromley that had just been fitted out. Rather than move in, we had to lock the front door and walk away.

All our sites shut too. We felt we had to do that for safety reasons but, within three weeks, we started back up on site, with only a few people working in the office.

We furloughed about 20 staff in the beginning but, as sites reopened, we took them off incrementally, with all off by the end of July. The furlough scheme has been really helpful to us but there does not seem to be a strong enough case for it to be extended past October for construction. For other sectors, that is a much harder call.

Tier ones are having to make some big changes that could be a benefit to SMEs

Working from home has been more successful than we could ever have imagined, so there was not a big rush to get back – and that allowed us a bit of time to plan for a structured return. We have capacity for 60 desks with only 25 people allowed in at any one time.

There is a booking system, so different teams by function have access on rotation. It is working well, though for some people things might change when the schools go back – which could make it easier for some, or it could be more of a challenge. We are trying not to be too rigid and to see how things go.

Productivity on sites has inevitably suffered, but not everywhere. It really depends on the stage of the project. If it is at groundworks stage, then productivity levels are pretty good. It is not like it was pre-covid but, on the 13 sites we currently have, people are getting used to the new measures in place and working efficiently.

I have been amazed at the potential new work coming through, particularly for residential and our modern methods of construction business. Inquiry levels almost feel higher than before lockdown.

But the challenge is getting clients to commit – to get to the contract signing stage. Projects are stacking up, which is good, but it is also because decision-making is being delayed. It is something we have to watch because, if confidence suddenly comes back, we could have a sudden rush to market.

Our turnover ambitions will have been slightly dented by delays on projects and completions, but we will still see growth for 2021 and I am even more optimistic about the year after. I think we can see a sufficient pipeline of work to sustain our aspirations.

We are also aware that not all firms are as fortunate as us in terms of the sectors they work in, and that tier ones are having to make some big changes that could be a benefit to SMEs like ourselves that are looking to grow and recruit talent. There are opportunities out there, without a shadow of a doubt.

Simon Wilkinson, business director at Claritas

Claritas Group has been appointed as design and build contractor for the development of 111-113 Mellish Street as part of London Borough Tower Hamlets’ strategy to provide quality affordable housing within the borough. The project involves the demolition of an existing Community Centre building adjacent to a primary school and the construction of two buildings, one residential over 5-storeys and one a 3- storey community building. Completing the scheme will be a community garden in a central courtyard. The work will be phased to allow the use of the existing centre during construction prior to the new community facilities completion. Images credits to Bell Phillips Architects and Plus Visual Inc

We hope all of our customers and stakeholders are staying safe and well during the Covid 19 crisis. Whilst we cant be ‘together’ at Claritas it has been lovely spending some quality ‘social’ ‘times with our Claritas family as we host various social’s via Microsoft Teams, thanks to our colleague Emma who organises them and always thinks of an interesting topic to get us all having some fun and laughter during these ‘different’ times.

Claritas has been appointed by HGG London Limited as principal contractor to deliver the redevelopment of 134 Old Street in the heart of Shoreditch, East London. The scheme involves the demolition of the existing two storey building and construction of a new seven storey building to provide office use on floors 1-6 with a retail unit at Ground Floor. The site, which is a tight infill site in a busy central London location, will comprise a CLT frame with attractive curtain walling to the front elevation. We are pleased to be working with Mary Duggan Architects (Mary Duggan) and Measur (Brian Woodhouse) to achieve the successful delivery of the project adopting our ‘two-way transparency’ culture. Works start on site in August 2020. The award of this project adds to Claritas’ recent significant wins in the London Commercial Sector