NEWS
The McAvoy Group has announced the appointment of Ron Clarke as CEO following the retirement of Mark Lowry, who will remain with the business as Non- Executive Director. Ron was appointed COO in March 2021, following senior roles with construction leader Graham - where he played a key role in the growth of the business nationally - and more recently with Mac Group. Mark Lowry joined McAvoy in March 2019, shortly before funds advised by Blantyre Capital became the new majority owner. He has since steered the business through a challenging period and spearheaded its return to profitability. Ron Clarke commented, “Mark has played a pivotal role over the past two years in leading an ambitious growth strategy and, together with our very talented and experienced management team, I am looking forward to taking the business into the next phase of its development. We McAVOYGROUP ANNOUNCES NEWCEO
The Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA) has welcomed proposed changes to Building Regulations by the Department of Finance, which would require new buildings in Northern Ireland to be more energy efficient. Speaking about the new measures, Ciarán Fox, Director of the RSUA said the launch of the draft technical documents to require Nearly-Zero Energy Buildings was an important “first step” on the road to reducing heating bills and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from buildings. Adding, “In terms of the energy efficiency of our buildings we are currently behind all other regions of the UK and Ireland but this will help us catch up. “There has been a lot of news recently about gas prices rocketing up. The best way to protect people from rising home heating costs is to build houses which don’t require much heating at all. “Architects and the whole supply chain have already demonstrated the ability to deliver to these higher energy performance standards. Therefore, we look forward to the speedy implementation of these standards across the board.” If approved after consultation, Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) will become the legal standard in Northern Ireland. The proposed changes will be open for consultation until December 19, 2021. RSUA WELCOMES STEP FORWARD IN NI’SRESPONSE TOCLIMATE EMERGENCY
Ron Clarke, takes the reins as CEO for The McAvoy Group.
continue to make significant investments in growing the company, including the expansion of our hire fleet.” The McAvoy Group is one of the leading offsite and MMC specialists in the UK and Ireland.
CONSTRUCTIONSECTORACTIVITY SLOWS –ULSTERBANK
The Ulster Bank Construction PMI in Ireland – which track changes in total construction activity - posted a five-month low of 56.3 in September 2021 from 57.5 in August. However, it still points to a marked growth of increase after Covid-19 curbs were lifted.
Activity in housing slowed (59.8 vs 62.2 in August) while civil engineering work shrank for the second month in a row (43.3 vs 48.6). Meantime, commercial output grew faster (56.7 vs 54.9). New order growth eased despite rising for the sixth straight month, and staffing levels
gained at the softest pace since April amid difficulty in sourcing staff. Efforts to build stocks of inputs also contributed to the latest sharp rise in purchasing activity. Suppliers’ delivery times lengthened substantially due to further delays, Brexit, and lack of drivers. Prices data pointed to another steep rise in input costs, with the reading fractionally softer than July’s series record. Looking ahead, sentiment hit a seven- month low but remained above the series average, on hopes for pent-up demand.
10 | NI BUILDER
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