friday update

As we welcome in December many of you will have witnessed that Christmas has most certainly arrived this week at Century House and the office is looking very festive. I hope this goes some way to lifting spirits, and getting you all in the mood for Christmas this year even though we remain intrenched in such unusual and unsettling circumstances.

All office staff should have received their Christmas Hampers by now, and I am informed these are in the process of making their way out to those of you based on site. Sadly we could not deliver these to you in the entertaining manner we have done in previous years as we simply could not risk the chance of COVID-19 cross-contamination with multiple sites visits by the ‘Jenner Elves’, and as such felt the best way would be to get these to you via your contracts managers. I do hope, once received, you will enjoy your hamper of locally sourced products as a token of appreciation from myself and my co-directors to once again thank you for your continuing enthusiasm and commitment to deliver our sites throughout a very difficult year.

With news this week of declining infection rates and that the UK has become the first country worldwide to introduce ‘en masse’ an approved vaccine against Coronavirus, and as we move out of lockdown (albeit for those of us who reside in Kent into the highest possible level of ongoing restrictions) it does seem we are starting to turn a corner and slowly move forwards in the ongoing fight to overcome the pandemic. Naturally the media remains true to form and is quick to counter this optimism with warnings that this will be “a huge logistical challenge” and that there will be “no immediate return to normal after vaccination” so whilst we are right to remain realistic in what this means for us in the immediate future I do feel we should nevertheless have good reason to view this as a very positive breakthrough, and at the very least it gives us some comfort that we can better protect from the virus those most vulnerable as well as the highest priority keyworkers.

Focussing on our industry, construction remains buoyant fairing far better than any other industry sector, with promising signs for the future and remaining firmly at the heart of the nations recovery plan. Whilst growth may be slow it is in the right direction and a vastly improved position from where we found ourselves just 9 months ago. The construction industry has shown tremendous resilience and adaptability and this has most certainly been reflected here at Jenner, and I remain confident we will emerge even stronger in 2021.

Following the Curious Brewery’s recognition at the National RICS Social Impact Awards last week, more good news follows this week as the project is also shortlisted for the prestigious South East Regional RIBA Awards, which recognises design excellence which we brought to life in the built form. Again this is a huge accolade to be shortlisted for, and as part of the awards there is also a ‘Peoples Vote’ category where you can cast your vote for the project, via the following link: https://lnkd.in/dXXfiCc and it would be really appreciated if you would do so. You really cannot miss the big green ‘Vote Now’ button, and if you are happy to do this please ensure you have registered your vote by Wednesday 9th December at 6pm. It would be fabulous to see further recognition for the flagship Jenner project.

This week our project in Wateringbury has successfully achieved practical completion delivering 51 extra care apartments and our second successful project for Rapport Housing and Care and which looks absolutely fantastic. Professional photographs were taken yesterday which I look forward to sharing with you all in due course and in the meantime a few internal images are shown below. Weather has unfortunately prevented Tom Welch from capturing latest drone footage so hopefully we can gain these images when the wind and rain subsides. Well done to everyone involved every step of the way with this project.

Within the General works team Ivy Court Surgery in Tenterden is progressing incredibly well and remains on target for handover to our client in February 2021, and has this month achieved ‘Performance Beyond Compliance’ in their Considerate Constructors Scheme scoring which is always a pleasure to hear. This is particularly encouraging in current times, clearly illustrating that we can continue to deliver to our renowned and exceptional standards without compromising quality, safety or community engagement in the face of restrictive working conditions caused by the pandemic. Again, well done team and keep going in the final push to complete.

Finally, this is the last call for any items to donate to our Christmas charitable initiative for the Samaritans ‘Operation Christmas Child’ Appeal. Please do ensure any monetary donations or items for the boxes are with Katie by midday on Monday (7th Dec) as the boxes will be prepared and sent off later next week. I appreciate there are lots of requests for your kind generosity especially at this time of year and it can be difficult to support them all, so there really is no pressure whatsoever to donate but if you can support this even with something small it will no doubt be hugely appreciated and brighten the Christmas of a child far less fortunate than ours.

That’s all from me for another week other than to wish you all well for an enjoyable and relaxing advent weekend.

Stay safe and well.