WET News

4 WET NEWS SEPTEMBER 2014 News+ Costain reports a record order book so far this year • Engineering solutions provider reports a strong performance as its order book reaches a record level. C ostain has announced an record order book along with an increase in un- derlying operating profit for the half year ending June 2014. The order book has risen 10% to £3.2B for the half-year, compared with £2.9B for the corresponding period in 2013, with more than £700M of new contracts and extensions secured. Also, Costain had main- tained a strong preferred bid- der position of more than £400. The group has reported an underlying operating profit of £11.2M this year compared with £10.7M in the first half of 2013. Turnover was up from £462.9M in 2013 to £529.1M this year. David Allvey, chairman at Costain, said: "We have deliv- ered a strong performance in the first half of the year. As well as increases in revenue and underlying operating profit, our order book continued to NEED TO KNOW Costain is part of thames Water eight2O alliance through its joint venture with Veolia and Atkins The group's AMP6 framework with Severn Trent Water is worth around £50M a year to Costain Costain comprises two divisions – infrastructure and natural resources The natural resources division comprises Costain's activities in the water, oil and gas, and nuclear process sectors Costain is not pursuing any further contracts in the waste sector grow and now stands at a record £3.2 billion. "Costain has an established reputation for innovation that enables the group to win large, long-term contracts addressing the UK's essential energy, water and transportation needs. The successful capital raise earlier this year is enabling us to take advantage of a growing number of opportunities to accelerate the Group's development." Allvey added that Costain remains on course to deliver a result for the year in line with the board's expectations. The group's natural resources division, which includes its water activities, reported revenue of £169.4M which was down of the £199.2M recorded last year. The division's reported a loss from operations of £2.6M, compared with a £0.1M loss last year. Costain said the loss includes additional costs for the completion of the waste PFI contract awarded in 2007 for the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority. Excluding GOOD MONTH BAD MONTH The CAA has given the go-ahead for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to operate commercially, meaning, urban flood specialist RAA can offer an aerial service to help combat the threat of flooding. Civils contractors are taking on apprentices at more than double the rate of the wide industry to meet future skills demand. Ofwat tells United Utilities, Thames Water and Bristol Water to slash £1.3B from their AMP6 plans. Thames Water fined by Newbury Magistrates after pleading guilty to two offences under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991. those costs, the division would have returned an operating profit. The company said it contin- ued to deliver successfully the water AMP5 frameworks for United Utilities, Southern Water, Severn Trent Water, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water and North- umbrian Water. It also continued with the delivery of large wastewater treatment plants at Liverpool and at Brighton & Hove. Good progress is also being made in the early mobilisation and development of AMP6 appointments for Thames Water and Severn Trent Water, it said. The division, which also includes Costain's activities in the oil and gas and nuclear pro- cess sectors, has a £1B forward order book (£1.2B in 2013) and the level of estimating and ten- dering "is high across all three of the division's sectors". CONTRACT WINS • Kier is Sembcorp Bournemouth Water's new delivery partner for its £3.5M a year planned and reactive maintenance pro- gramme. The two-year deal, with a potential five-year extension, includes repair and maintenance, mains laying and meter installation. • Morrison US has a three-year extension to its existing Water Services Agreement deal with Yorkshire Water. The contract means Morrison US has sole operational responsibility for all water networks repair and maintenance, and developer and metering services. • APEM has become one of three suppliers on Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water's Environmental Services Framework. The company will provide support including environmental monitoring and assessment for prospective drought permits, studies of water quality in reservoirs. • Water company outlines its position on fracking as an oil company withdraws it application for exploratory boreholes. Portsmouth Water not a statutory consultee on fracking planning P ortsmouth Water has is- sued a statement outlining its position on fracking for shale gas in its area, emphasising that it works closely with the En- vironment Agency (EA) and Hampshire County Council (HCC) regarding any application for ex- ploratory boreholes. The company said it recently worked closely with the EA regarding an application for an exploratory borehole in the Havant area. It had objected to the work on the basis of adverse risk. The oil company has withdrawn its application and considering the EA's comments. In the statement, Portsmouth Water said its responsibility in the area is to ensure the provision of safe and high quality water. "It is our responsibility in this area to ensure such a service is not compromised by such activities as fracking for shale gas. "There are arguments for and against fracking, it is the role of government to balance these, not Portsmouth Water." The company said a number of statutory applications must be made by the oil exploratory com- pany before fracking for shale gas may commence. However, Portsmouth Water stressed it is not a statutory consultee to the planning process. Portsmouth Water said it will continue to work closely with the EA. NEED TO KNOW • A study by engineering consultancy Amec has warned of the strain on UK wastewater- handling facilities caused by fracking • Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, involves pumping water, sand and chemicals into rocks at high pressure to extract gas • The main issue with fracking is that the process could cause contamination of the drinking water aquifers that overlie shale gas reserves by allowing gases such as methane to permeate into drinking water sources • In the US, exploration and production companies have been under pressure to reduce the amount of freshwater used in dry areas like Texas • The US market to treat wastewater from shale-gas drilling will grow by 28% annually, taking it to £5.5B by 2020 Costain said good progress is being made in the early mobilisa- tion and development of AMP6 appointments for Thames Water and Severn Trent Water • Employers implement new standards that become the Apprenticeship standard for their sector. Water and waste collaboration trailblazes new apprentice standards T wo new Trailblazer Ap- prenticeships that will meet the future needs of both employers and Apprentices have been developed by the En- ergy & Efficiency Industrial Part- nership, the collaboration com- prising water and waste management industries. The government's new Trail- blazer campaign provides employers with the opportunity to develop and implement new apprenticeship standards, and water and waste management employers have risen to the challenge by developing their first set of Apprenticeship standards. Following submission to the Departments for Business, Inno- vation & Skills and Education, the Level 3 Water Process Tech- nician and Utilities Engineering Technician Apprenticeship standards have been approved. This means that the standards developed by the Trailblazer will become 'the' Apprentice- ship standard for these occupations. Employers can now begin to define the detailed content and assessment needed, so appren- tices starting in September 2015 will embark on the first fully employer-led apprenticeships for their sector. "We have delivered a strong performance in the first half of the year. As well as increases in revenue and underlying operating profit, our order book continued to grow and now stands at a record £3.2 billion" David Allvey, chairman, Costain Commenting on the stand- ards, skills minister Nick Boles said: "I'm delighted that Energy & Utilities Trailblazer has devel- oped new Utilities Engineering Technician and Water Process Technician apprenticeship standards. Since 2010 there have been 1.8 million apprenticeship starts and Energy & Utilities are leading by example in the devel- opment and delivery of high quality apprenticeships that give people the chance of suc- cessful careers and help busi- nesses get the skills they need to grow." Water company employers involved in the collaboration include Northumbrian Water, Severn Trent Water, South West Water, Southern Water, Thames Water, United Utilities and Welsh Water Jan Newberry, training man- ager at South West Water and chair of the water and waste management Trailblazer Appren- ticeship Group, commented: "We're delighted that through a great collaborative effort between employers in the water and waste management sectors we have developed these two new stand- ards as part this ground breaking government initiative. All involved in the group have worked extremely hard to define these employer led standards, which will ensure our Appren- tices have the right skill sets needed to meet the business challenges that lie ahead." Employers involved in the collaboration will match the government's £33M investment in the partnership to help deliver around 70,000 new learning opportunities including appren- ticeships and traineeships. NEED TO KNOW More than 80% of employers that recruit apprentices agree they make the workplace more productive, whilst 92% believe apprenticeships lead to a more motivated and satisfied workforce The five-yearly cycles have created peaks and troughs of workload in the industry The regulated periods have resulted in up to 40,000 job losses Thames Tideway will increase promotion of graduate and trainee positions with a view to encouraging a greater proportion of applicants from women from the 2013 baseline

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