In light of Mental Health Awareness Week, we are delighted to have signed Building Mental Health’s charter pledging to raising awareness of mental health within the construction industry.

In joining this campaign, we want to highlight the steps we are taking to promote positive mental health at Howard Civil Engineering both in our offices and on-site. Both Lucie Jones (Pre-Contracts Manager, right) and Wanda Curtis (Health and Safety Advisor, left) qualified as Mental Health First Aiders with CECA in February and have since started implementing improvements on how we support mental ill-health in the workplace.

‘We are initially raising awareness of the support available to employees and the response so far has been very positive,’ commented Wanda.  ‘In addition to assisting employees who approach us directly, we are also gathering information on how we can build on our positive work culture even further to alleviate some of the stressors faced in the workplace.’

Building Mental Health is an online portal of information and resources led by industry leading experts and supported by Lighthouse Club, the construction industry charity. You can view other supporters who have pledged to raise awareness of mental ill-health in the construction industry here. 

If you are experiencing poor mental health or have concerns about a colleague’s mental health and would like further advice, please contact any of Howard Civil Engineering’s Mental Health First Aiders who will be able to help privately and sympathetically. 

Wanda Curtis  Health and Safety Advisor wanda.curtis@howardcivileng.co.uk

Emma Wallbank  HR & Payroll Manager  emma.wallbank@howardcivileng.co.uk

Sophie Henderson Pre-Construction Coordinator  sophie.henderson@howardcivilen

We were delighted to donate some yummy Easter eggs to children at Airedale Hospital Children’s Ward, Keighley, yesterday.

Howard Civil Engineering delivered thirty chocolate eggs to the children’s ward, which cares for children of all ages and attends to both day cases and acute admissions.

Matthew Jones, Site Manager at our upcoming project on Hard Ings Road, Keighley, said: ‘It was wonderful to meet the amazing nurses, doctors and patients in the ward and learn more about the children’s unit.’

‘We wanted to bring a smile to children’s faces this Easter,’ commented Abbie Harrop, Marketing Executive, ‘and it’s nice to get involved with the local community before the work starts. As we’re working in the area for just over a year, we’re hoping to do more to support the hospital in the coming months.’

Howard Civil Engineering are undertaking roadworks on behalf of Bradford City Council to widen Hard Ings Road, a main thoroughfare in Bradford, and create an extra lane on Beechcliffe Roundabout. This work is funded by The West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund. The West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund is supported through the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership Growth Deal – a £1 billion package of Government investment delivered in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to accelerate growth and create jobs across Leeds City Region.

The video below outlines a day in the life of a patient at Airedale Hospital’s children’s unit.

Want to donate? Click here to visit Airedale Hospital’s JustGiving page.

We’re thrilled to hear the University Centre construction site in Rotherham was awarded one of the ‘Most Considerate Sites 2019’ at the Considerate Constructors Scheme National Site Awards.

As the subcontractor of choice for our client, Willmott Dixon, we successfully delivered the groundworks and enabling packages for the University Centre in September 2017.

The Considerate Constructors Scheme National Site Awards recognise the highest-performing construction sites that were completed in 2018 against the Scheme’s Code of Considerate Practice. The Most Considerate Site Awards take into consideration how mindful the site is being towards their local community, environment and workforce, and award only six construction sites across the UK and Ireland.

Considerate Constructors Scheme Chief Executive, Edward Hardy, said, ‘the highest performing construction sites winning the coveted title of Most Considerate Site 2019’ represent ‘the very best of the construction industry in how they have raised their standards of considerate construction to the highest levels.’

The University Centre is expected to bring a wealth of education and training opportunities to the South Yorkshire region, building upon their existing range of degrees, higher-level courses and professional training. The centre will offer a dedicated facility for university students with specialist teaching, study and exhibition spaces, a library, café and social areas.

All award winners are available to view on the Construction Map here.

Read our scope of work and stakeholder testimonail for this project here.

We pride ourselves in taking a long-term approach towards all of our new appointments and aim especially to offer our apprentices permanent positions in the company.

Howard Civil Engineering measure the success of our apprenticeship programme via a series of Key Performance Indicators which include feedback from clients and partners, managers and mentors and from Leeds City College.

Commenting on the importance of Howard Civil Engineering’s dedication to supporting our apprentices, Managing Director Michael Howard said: “Our apprentices are key to our sustained growth and profitability. The apprenticeship programme underpins our vision and ethos of being the best and investing in lifelong learning.”

Commenting on Howard Civil Engineering’s focus on increasing our talent pool of apprentices, Commercial Director John Cartwright emphasised that ‘putting energy into the next generation underpins our business plan’.

Our growth plan moving forward highlights a commitment to developing our own apprenticeship programme and further engaging with learning providers to enhance and expand our candidate resources.

Howard Civil Engineering have invested to improve the safeguarding of our workforce and our stakeholders across all our sites.

Our employees benefit from face fit testing and PressToCheck RPE to ensure they are protected from any type of dust inhalation whilst at work. These reusable filters, which exceed the standard EN143 P3 requirements and pass the enhanced ‘Dolomite’ very fine dust test, are more sustainable and environmentally friendly than disposable alternatives, ensuring minimal waste is produced on each site.

We have also invested in providing cordless electric tools with dust extraction attachments, reducing trip hazards and creating a better working environment for our workforce and minimising pollution for our stakeholders– our clients, customers, site operatives and, most importantly, the general public.

This industry-leading equipment is now in place across all of our sites.

Howard Civil Engineering are thrilled to have been awarded the groundworks package and delivery of RC frames for Hudson Quarter, a new mixed-use development in the centre of York.

We were awarded the package from our long-standing client, Caddick Construction, in March 2019 and we are looking forward to delivering site-wide groundworks, RC frames, external works and hard landscaping ready for Hudson Quarter’s completion in early 2021.

This site is expected to pose some challenges due to its central location in York, but after the success of our similar Kirkstall Road project in Leeds we are confident we can deliver exceptional results with restricted access and a limited site footprint.

Replacing a prominent 1960s office building in the centre of York overlooking the historic city walls, Hudson Quarter will consist of four concrete-framed residential blocks totalling 122,000 sq ft across 127 luxury apartments, a 34,500 sq ft steel framed Grade-A office space in a fourth building and 5,000 sq ft of other commercial space. 

Works will commence April 2019. Read more about this project here.

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