Friday Update

I hope this finds you all well and that this week’s legislative changes haven’t impacted on your social plans too much. It certainly does feel like one step forwards and two steps back but we must accept this new ruling in the hope that this will readdress the R rate, stabilise the statistics and keep us away from stricter interim measures or a potential second national lockdown, which I do agree with Boris, when he states this would be “disastrous and wrong”.  With media reports of record rises globally, the pandemic most certainly remains at large and growing once again after months of calm. As such we must all address our responsibility, stay alert and adhere to the government’s latest slogan: Hands – Face – Space! Wash your hands regularly, cover your face and give yourself and others space through social distancing.  I am sincerely grateful that everyone at Jenner swiftly adapted to our enhanced safety and hygiene measures and urge you all to continue to follow our guidance at all times. Monitoring your temperature when entering the main office or any of our sites, whilst a simple measure, remains our key frontline defence and as such it is imperative that everyone follows this rule, without exception, in consideration of yours and others safety.

As September saw the return to school, a surge in demand for testing has inevitably followed, causing test centres to buckle under the pressure with many children kept away from school unnecessarily awaiting a negative result as the coughs and colds so prevalent and to be expected at this time of year, are questioned as potential coronavirus cases.  If you do experience childcare issues caused by this scenario then please do speak with your line manager so that we can support you as best we can at this time.   

Positively, and regardless of current uncertainty elsewhere, the ‘V’-shaped recovery of the construction industry continues with demand for labour steadily increasing as building sites become more and more productive and I am glad that we remain fully aligned to this trend.  Progress across all our sites remains strong which is highly encouraging and as always I am thankful to you all for your continued concerted efforts and unrelenting enthusiasm to deliver amidst challenging times. 

Courtesy of Absolute Surveys it is a pleasure to share some aerial footage of the excellent progress being made on site at The Hill in Littlebourne, to be known and marketed as ‘The Laurels’, which will deliver 87 new homes on behalf of Leath Park Developments and Moat Housing. The images depict the show homes as you enter the site which we anticipate will be ready for viewing by late November, and the excellent progress of Phase 1 at the lower end of the site.

Folkestone Seafront has recently completed their first Considerate Contractors Report with excellent scores achieved all round which is a pleasure to read. The second tower crane has now been erected on site (as shown below) which again marks the excellent progress being made as the development pushes forward.  As part of our commitment to the community in delivering this project we are exploring ways to proactively engage and as such have been approached by Folkestone Town Sprucers who need volunteer manpower to assist with litter picking and beach cleans. This is an initiative co-funded by Sir Roger de Haan and I feel this would be an optimal opportunity to show our support as a local contractor and employer within Folkestone.  If anyone would be willing to volunteer their time please do let Chris Page or Ella know and we will rally a group for a future date.  I’m sure this could be followed by sociable refreshments of some sort (albeit in groups of 6) in recognition of your kind support and a great PR opportunity too. A similar initiative is already underway with the team at Charing assisting with woodland clearance of neighbouring land next weekend (26thSept), and I look forward to sharing details of this with you in coming weeks. 

As reported last week, Sussex Plants is now on site and already progressing well.  Josh welcomed his groundwork subcontractors in style earlier this week who chose to fly in by helicopter – alright for some!!  Don’t get any ideas just yet Josh about a Jenner-copter, as convenient as that might be to serve our expanding portfolio of Sussex projects.  

Almost one year on from the launch of our new branding I would like to politely remind everyone that by now we should be incorporating the new logo within any company documentation now the old brand is becoming obsolete (apart from costly items such as vehicles that are gradually being rebranded etc), to ensure we present a consistent and professional message externally.  The marketing team will continue to review site requirements and if you do need any new mugs or other branded merchandise then do let them know.

Please do keep sending us your updates and as always I wish you all an enjoyable weekend and please do stay alert and stay safe.