Friday update

What a scorcher of a week it has been with reports of the longest stretch of high temperatures since the 1960’s in some areas. I do hope the heatwave conditions haven’t been too unbearable for you, especially those out on site and unable to seek shade, especially with the new COVID related PPE requirements that we have had to enforce. Welcome relief is forecast with thunderstorms predicted to clear the air but the glorious weather has certainly been most welcome, especially for those of us, myself included, who have managed to take a break this week. Whilst it might not feel like the school summer holidays as we know them given the upheaval faced this year and with a high level of uncertainty we are living with, I do sincerely hope you will find some time to take a break, but please do remain vigilant to the growing list of countries likely to be added to the governments list that are experiencing a surge in infection rate, with France being the most notable recent addition and with more undoubtedly set to join the growing list from which will require a two-week quarantine period on return to the UK if you are planning foreign travel.

I would also like to wish the very best of luck to those of you who have sons, daughters and grandchildren who have received their A ‘Level results this week, and for those receiving their GCSE results this coming Thursday as the pandemic meant they were unable to sit their final exams and which will undoubtedly mean this milestone occasion will not have been greeted with the normal excitement and elation. With potential for many students grades to be detrimentally impacted and unfairly downgraded by the complicated and ever changing system I do hope they will still feel a sense of pride and achievement given the circumstances, and reflect upon their hard work and dedication throughout the year. COVID-19 has certainly taught us all many life lessons, re-addressed our priorities and outlook and required great strength of character, so we should commend these young people for the resilience they have shown in the face of adversity, disruption and disappointment which will serve them well in later life and their accomplishments should certainly not go unnoticed.

Alongside the ever-changing and ambiguous legislation received from government, the views of the media seem to follow suit and after last week’s optimism towards the economic downturn we must brace ourselves once again for “hard times ahead” as the Chancellor Rishi Sunak warns in this week’s news reports. Nonetheless construction remains on track for the predicted and much-needed V shape recovery with output continuously rising, and I stand by my words of reassurance to you all throughout the pandemic that we remain in an incredibly strong position. Our robust forward orderbook of secured and exciting projects will act as a strong foundation as we push forward and through this period of economic turmoil, and I do believe we are better placed than many, given our enviable reputation in the industry alongside the confidence we have in the excellence of our people and unrelenting team ethos.

This month sees the construction-focused issue of the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Thinking Business’ Magazine published and I’m delighted that one of our iconic projects, the Curious Brewery, has been featured as the cover photograph (as pictured below). This seamlessly links to the lead feature ‘Rebuilding the foundations for the future’ which has been written by Ella in her role as co-chair of the Kent Construction Focus Group – Kent’s leading construction support group. Having previously written articles for this publication and South East Business Magazine back in 2014 it is great to be featured once again and promote our capabilities through the flagship projects we are proud to build. With a printed readership of 12,500 distributed at senior level to key businesses throughout Kent as well as wider exposure via the online publication this is hugely valuable recognition for Jenner in keeping us at the forefront of construction across the county and beyond. You can read the full article, which focuses on construction post-COVID and the challenges we as an industry continue to face, on pages 22-23 of the link below, and I would very much encourage you to have a read;

https://issuu.com/benham/docs/thinking_business_august_2020

Last week we received the exciting news that following the success of the Curious Brewery as the WINNER of the commercial category at the RICS Social Impact Regional Awards back in June, after yet further rigorous judging we have now been shortlisted as a NATIONAL FINALIST with the winners to be announced via a virtual Grand Final ceremony in November. This is a remarkable achievement to be recognised at national level with the RICS stating “Your project is a world class example of how the built environment can have a direct positive social and environmental impact on society” and testimony of the high standard and ‘next generation’ of projects we are able to deliver, which is so positive for Jenner. At this point it seems opportune to share time-lapse footage of the project sent by our client which condenses a 63 week build programme into less than 3 minutes and showcases the remarkable efforts extended in delivering this state-of-the-art project.

https://we.tl/t-Wu8yfhk98p

Turning our focus back to our current projects, high praise must be extended to the General Works team who are in the final stages of the sympathetic regeneration of the Old Vicarage in Beaver Road Ashford to convert the former redundant and incredibly run-down property into eight new homes, capable of accommodating up to twenty five people. This is an innovative project that is set to benefit the homeless by addressing essential housing provision in the borough whilst saving taxpayers money and continuing the towns pro-active regeneration programme. The works here have been particularly challenging in light of the COVID-19 pandemic given the close proximity of working required within an existing dilapidated building of this nature, and the team have worked tirelessly, with handover to our client set for next week. Some before and after images are shown below to illustrate the full extent of the absolute transformation of the building. Works of this nature remain critical to the heritage of the Jenner brand and unequivocally as vital to our future as the larger-scale projects. Well done to everyone involved.

To the best of my knowledge there are no personal milestone this week (but apologies if I have missed anything), so that just leaves me to wish you all a very pleasant and relaxing weekend.