News Archives | Baily Garner

Planning Reform, a recipe for disaster or a silver bullet for change?

Is Planning Reform a recipe for disaster or a silver bullet for change?

Senior Architect Bonnie York explores this critical question in our latest bulletin. As we navigate a housing crisis, one thing is certain – we’re not building enough homes. Join us as we delve into key considerations for the future, including significant changes to plan-making, environmental shifts like Nutrient Neutrality and Biodiversity Net Gain, and uncover new catalysts for housing and regeneration projects.

Don’t miss out on vital insights – read more now.

Our Damp and Mould Toolkit

We take immense pride in unveiling our latest initiative—the Damp and Mould Growth Toolkit. Crafted with a meticulous forensic approach, this toolkit is designed to bolster the sector by providing a comprehensive framework for identifying and resolving damp and mould-related issues.

See us at SEC 2023!

In less than three months we will be attending SEC 2023 on 1 November. We are happy to say that we are also event partners for the event.

Baily Garner announced as partner for UKREiiF 2024

We are thrilled to finally announce that we are a Session Partner at The UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF), set to take place between 21st – 23rd May 2024 in Leeds.

NHS SBS Appointment

Baily Garner has been named as a supplier on the NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) Healthcare Planning, Construction Consultancy and Ancillary Services framework agreement. Within this framework agreement we will be able to provide our services to a number of different kinds of projects in the health sector.

UK has some way to go despite retrofit progress

We regularly publish thought leadership pieces on a variety of topics. Our most recent piece ‘UK has some way to go despite retrofit progress’ authored by Matt Allcock, was published in the RICS Built Environment Journal, looked at the current state of Housing Retrofit in the UK.

Shortlisted for two UNZ awards!

The shortlist for the Unlock Net Zero live awards has been released and we are thrilled to announce that we are finalists for two categories.

Clement Close nominated for Brent Design Award!

Our Clement Close scheme has been shortlisted in the Residential Category in the Brent Design Awards 2023.

SHDF Wave 2.1 announcements

Baily Garner have already been appointed by numerous clients to deliver PAS2035, contract administration and strategic consultancy roles on SHDF demonstrator, Wave 1 and Wave 2.1 preparatory programmes of work.

We are now a Chartered Architectural Practice!

Baily Garner are delighted to have achieved RIBA Chartered Practice status for our Architecture team.

National Apprenticeship Week 2023 – Rhiannon Thornton

Our final interview is with Rhiannon, who shows the academic route is only one part of learning about the industry.
Read more >

National Apprenticeship Week 2023 – Reece Simpson

The second of our interviews is with Reece Simpson. He takes us through his choice to take a different route into construction.
Read more >

National Apprenticeship Week 2023 – Hugo Webb

We spoke to Hugo, an apprentice building surveyor at Baily Garner to see what his day to day life an an apprentice is like. Read more >

Interesting Times

Partner Neil Hope has created a thought piece taking a look back at events over the past 12 months.

Matt’s IEMA affiliate membership

Congratulations to our own Matthew Allcock who has joined the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA).

Our T&T Articles

Here you can find all of our recent articles on:

Underfloor Insulation

In the last of our series of articles we hear from Associate Partner Will Gregory. Read more >

Air Tightness Testing

Air tightness is a key consideration when retrofitting a property. Listen to Ben on how we can use it to

Contract Management For Retrofit Projects

Ben Lambon-Ralph, Chartered Building Surveyor and qualified Project Manager, discusses the contract options available, the importance of the contract, and creating a retrofit procurement strategy. Read more >

Retrofitting Non-traditional Properties

It’s estimated that some 1.5 million houses were built using non-traditional (non-trad) materials and methods of construction between the 1940s and the 1970s. Matthew Allcock discusses the key considerations of retrofitting these types of housing projects.

Retrofit Delivery Planning

Planning and preparation are key to any retrofit programme, this article is the first in a series discussing a range of different topics ranging from retrofit to air tightness testing.

Join us at HOMES UK 2022

Come and see us at HOMES UK this November. Not only are we sponsoring the event, but we also have guest speakers at two sessions.

Laura and Sonny accepted onto The Housing Forum’s Futures Network

Two members of our team are part of the Housing Forum’s Network for prospective future leaders.

Joe is shortlisted for RICS Matrics Young Surveyor of the Year

Congratulations to Joe Marshall who has been shortlisted for the RICS Matrics Young Surveyor of the Year.

Finalists at the Building Awards 2022

We have been nominated for a Building Award in the category of Consultant of the Year (more than 100 staff) for the second year in a row.

What you need to know about PAS 9980

This article originally published by the RICS Built Environment Journal, details everything you need to know about PAS 9980.

Richard takes part in ‘The Disrepair Challenge’ round table discussion

Richard Baker took part in CHIC’s round table discussion, ‘The Disrepair Challenge’. Read more >

Winner – Skills & Training Scheme of the Year 2022

We are delighted to have won the Skills & Training Scheme of the Year award at the Insider Midlands Residential Property Awards.

Our updated retrofit toolkit

Following the update to our Future Homes Standard toolkit last week, we have now released an updated version of our toolkit for retrofitting existing homes.

Building Safety Bulletin – June 2022

Two years on from our initial fire safety bulletin, Andrew Little has written an update on the latest developments.

Join us at Housing 2022

The Chartered Institute of Housing’s annual conference takes place from 28 to 30 June at Manchester Central. Read more >

Baily Garner Sustainability Week: in case you missed it

Our first ever sustainability week was jam-packed with practical insights to help you achieve sustainability goals faster and economically. Here’s a recap in case you missed it. Read more >

Our updated practical toolkit towards net zero

Our practical toolkit outlines what needs to be considered to achieve net zero in new build homes.

Join our Sustainability Week webinars

It’s not too late for you to register and join us today for two free webinars. Read more >

It’s day one of our first ever Sustainability Week!

We’re excited to be dedicating this week to sharing our construction sector sustainability knowledge via our website, social media, and webinars. Read more >

Insider Midlands Residential Property Awards 2022

We are excited to announce that we have been shortlisted at the Insider Midlands Residential Property Awards for 2022.

Coming soon…Baily Garner Sustainability Week!

From Monday 13 to Friday 17 June, we will be holding our very first Sustainability Week. Read more >

Our new associate partners

We are pleased to announce the promotion of two new associates joining the partnership. From 1 May 2022, Anil Chandla and Will Gregory will be Associate Partners.

Baily Garner Health & Safety Ltd acquired by PIB Group

On Friday 1 April 2022, PIB Group completed the acquisition of Baily Garner Health & Safety Ltd. Read more >

Our work with the South East Consortium

As part of their mission to influence solutions for the sector’s future, SEC launched its first programme of research projects back in October 2020. Read more >

We are a RIBA Architecture Ambassador!

We are delighted to announce that we are a RIBA Architecture Ambassador. Read more >

Appointed to EPH framework

We have been appointed to the Essex Procurement Hub (EPH) construction consultancy framework.

Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) successes

The APC makes sure candidates are competent and meet the highest standards of professionalism needed to become a chartered surveyor. Read more >

Appointed to LHC’s MDC1 framework

We have been appointed to LHC’s multi-disciplinary consultancy services framework (MDC1) following a highly competitive tender process. Read more >

Goodbye 2021!

It has been an eventful year at Baily Garner. We have been working hard to make sure we are always building success and delivering quality. Here is a snapshot of some of our achievements from 2021. Read more >

Expanding our quality and retrofit capabilities

We are now a TrustMark registered business and a member of the National Centre of Excellence for Retrofit.

Support for those in need this Christmas

We couldn’t get everyone together for a Baily Garner Christmas celebration this year, but we were able to turn a negative into a positive by supporting two worthy causes.

Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) successes

What a great December it’s been for APC results!

Practical toolkit for retrofitting existing homes

Following on from our practical toolkit for achieving net zero in new build homes (released in August this year), we are now releasing our second toolkit, this time tackling the issue of retrofitting existing homes. Read more >

We’re an Approved Partner of ISBL

This month, we became an Approved Partner of the Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL).

Quality Summit 2021 – Building success. Delivering quality.

It’s what we do every day, and last Friday was no exception when we held our fourth annual Quality Summit.

Held at etc.venues St Paul’s, around 170 colleagues came together to share knowledge and best practice as part of our drive to support the quality in construction agenda.

Blackfriars, Battle wins Inside Housing Development Award

We were excited to have two of our projects shortlisted at the Inside Housing Development Awards 2021, and now we’re delighted to announce that one of them has won!

Join us at HOMES UK

After a virtual event last year, HOMES UK is returning to ExCel London from Tuesday 23 to Wednesday 24 November 2021. ,

Not only are we sponsoring the event, but we are also hosts and guest speakers at four sessions.

Tuesday 23 November, Midday – 12.45pm

Partner Mustab Ahmed joins the panel discussing The Future Homes Standard: fit for the future now.

Tuesday 23 November, 2.45pm – 3.30pm

Strategic asset management and customers – unlocking the net zero retrofit challenge is the topic of conversation for Partners Ben Nixon, Laura O’Donovan and John Milner.

Tuesday 23 November, 3.40pm – 4.25pm

Carbon versus safety and the approach to fire remediation works – Anil Chandla, Programme Manager joins the conversation.

Wednesday 24 November, 1.50pm – 2.35pm

Graeme Sargood will discover What can housing learn from other sectors?

Join us at this sector-leading event by registering for your *free ticket.

* Tickets are free for housing associations, local authorities, public sector, housebuilders, master developers, funders, architects, planners and build to rent landlords, student accommodation, retirement living and extra-care providers. Fees will apply to other commercial organisations.

Join us at the SEC conference

We’re delighted to be exhibiting and presenting at this year’s South East Consortium (SEC) annual conference on Wednesday 10 November 2021.

We’re building Firm Foundations

Led by the Mayor’s Fund for London, Firm Foundations is a brand-new campaign which aims to create a stronger and more inclusive industry where young Londoners from all backgrounds feel they belong and can flourish.

Appointed to Fusion21 Consultants Framework

We’ve been appointed to the Fusion21 national Consultants Framework following a highly competitive tender process – worth up to £120m over a four-year period. Read more >

Raising Quality Standards and Awareness

Two important publications to reinforce the industry’s drive towards raising quality standards and awareness

Nominated for Project of the Year – Schools

Our Tufnell Park Primary School project has been nominated for ‘Project of the Year – Schools‘ at the Education Estates Awards. Baily Garner provided Employer’s Agent, Cost Consultancy and Quality Control services for this scheme.

Finalists at the Building Awards 2021

We have been nominated for a Building Award in the category of Consultant of the Year (more than 100 staff).

Education Estates 2021

We will be exhibiting at the Education Estates conference at Manchester Central from 12-13th October 2021.

Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation retained

We have successfully retained our Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation as of 27 July 2021.

Join us at Housing 2021

Two of our partners will be speaking at this year’s Housing 2021 conference in Manchester.

Winner – Skills & Training Scheme of the Year

We’re delighted to have been awarded the Skills & Training Scheme of the Year award at the Insider’s Midlands Residential Property Awards, which took place on Thursday 22 July 2021 at The Eastside Rooms, Birmingham.

Unlock Net Zero – The Future Homes Standard

On Thursday 15^th July, Partner John Milner took part in a panel discussion as part of the Unlock Net Zero webinar series.

Registered Signatory of the Building a Safer Future Charter

Baily Garner is pleased to become a Registered Signatory of the Building a Safer Future Charter.
Read more >

Eight staff pass qualifications

Congratulations to eight of our staff for achieving passes in their respective qualifications in June and July 2021.

Mustab and Will Accepted into the Housing Forum’s Futures Network

Two members of our team are part of the Housing Forum’s Network for prospective future leaders.

Get Ready for Work Webinar – July 21

Partners Bradley Webster and Neil Hope will be providing expert advice and leading three sessions in the ‘Get Ready for Work’ webinar led by our client Network Homes. This one day webinar will consist of various sessions to help in every aspect of job hunting, including everything from how to make an eye-catching CV to how to create a LinkedIn profile.

Met Police project highly commended at awards

The stable refurbishment project at Great Scotland Yard that we completed for the Metropolitan Police Service has been Highly Commended at the National Police Estates Group (NPEG) awards for construction projects over £1 million.

Blue Light Estates Development Conference

We are sponsoring the Built Environment Networking Blue Light Estates Development Conference which will be taking place on 23 June 2021. Partner Rob Ireland will be chairing Session Three: Blue Light Estates – Development Plans at 11:30 am, with a focus on quality in design and construction.

Best Companies Live

Friday 21st May was the Best Companies Live event which saw an awards ceremony for businesses across the UK who are exceptional to work for.

Mental Health Awareness Week 10-16 May 2021

As this week is Mental Health Awareness Week, it is a good time to look back on some of the things we’ve been doing over the last year to support the mental health of our staff.

Promoting and protecting wellbeing in the workplace is important to Baily Garner and is aligned to our key objective of being a great place to work. We recognise that mental health is a vital part of this and, in a year that has been difficult for a lot of people, we have put a focus on the mental health of our staff.

“How are you?” has become the first question at the top of the agenda in all weekly team meetings and in individual one-to-one reviews. Our people managers have been taught to monitor individuals’ wellbeing and be vigilant for signs of demotivation or feelings of isolation.

In November 2020, 23 of our people managers attended a Mental Health Awareness course provided by Mental Health First Aid England (MHFAE), which included how to be more aware of mental ill health in others, how to talk to others about mental health, considering our own mental health and actions we can take to ensure good mental health.

Then in January 2021, we launched our Mental Health First Aiders across the practice. 14 of our team have been trained as Mental Health First Aiders to act as someone to talk to for anyone experiencing any mental health issues and to provide signposting to other resources where needed.

Our employees all also have access to an Employee Assistance Programme through our Healthcare Cash Plan benefit provided to all permanent employees, which provides further signposting and professional help if required.

We provide ways for our staff to support their own mental wellbeing through social activities and our ‘Social, Health and Wellbeing’ Microsoft Teams channel. This week we are using this to launch our first annual photography competition, in memory of one of our former partners, to raise money for charity. The theme of the competition will be nature, to tie in with the Mental Health Awareness Week theme and it’s open for all of our staff and their families to take part.

We are also giving each of our team a gift of a ‘Little Ray of Sunshine’ in the form of a sunflower growing kit. A little bit of nature to take home and ‘grow their own’.

Finally, this week we’ll be launching our Mental Health Policy to formalise all of the above in the way we work and reinforce our commitment to everyone connected with Baily Garner that we take good mental health seriously.

Celebrating five promotions on 1st May

We are pleased to announce five promotions within the partnership, effective from the 1^st May 2021.

Insider Midlands Residential Property Awards 2021

We are excited to announce that we have been shortlisted at the Insider Midlands Residential Property Awards for 2021.

We are IHDA 2021 Finalists!

Two of our projects have been shortlisted at the Inside Housing Development Awards 2021.

Baily Garner part of successful bid to make homes greener and cheaper to run with government funding

A pilot £50 million Government project to improve the energy efficiency of social housing has awarded £4.5m funding to a bid Baily Garner has been working on with a number of partner organisations.

Sponsor of the Housing Forum’s Councils Network

We have agreed to sponsor the Housing Forum’s Councils Network, which is dedicated to building development expertise in councils.

Two star accreditation for outstanding engagement

We are very proud to announce that we have achieved 2 star accreditation by Best Companies for ‘Outstanding’ employee engagement.

Baily Garner Launches ‘The Confidence Challenge’

We are pleased to launch a new personal development programme at Baily Garner, which aims to support and promote women in the construction workplace.

Baily Garner becomes founding partner for Unlock Net Zero

We are pleased to be founding partners of a new knowledge portal that is designed to inform, train and connect people and companies to move into a future of Net Zero emissions.

Rooftop Development – an Architect’s Perspective

Join us for our first webinar of 2021 on Wednesday 3rd March at 10am.

Four more years on SEC Framework

We are very happy to announce that we have been successfully appointed to the SEC framework which runs for the next four years.

Karen Crowley interviewed by PA Life

Karen Crowley, PA To Managing Partner Andy Tookey, has been interviewed by PA Life.

Two partners join SEC research groups

Two of our partners, Andrew Little and Rob Ireland, have joined sector research groups set up by South East Consortium (SEC).

Christmas Charity Donation

We know that 2020 has been a difficult year for many people, so this year we will be donating the £15,000 that we would usually spend on a Christmas drinks event to charity.

Quality Summit 2020

Friday 27th November was the third annual Baily Garner Technical Quality Summit and this year, for the first time, it was hosted virtually.

Karen nominated for PA Life Club Member of the Year

Congratulations to Karen Crowley (PA to Managing Partner, Andy Tookey) who has been shortlisted for the PA Life Club Member of the year award.

HOMES 2020 sponsorship

We are pleased to once again be involved with the HOMES 2020 conference as registration sponsors.

Lockdown 2 offices update

Following the announcement of a second lockdown in England starting from Thursday 5^th November, we will be ensuring we work within the current Government guidelines.

Our Newest Associate Partner

We are delighted to announce the promotion of Ben Nixon to Associate Partner on 1st November 2020.

Ben joined Baily Garner in February 2019 and since then he has become a chartered building surveyor (MRICS) and chartered construction manager (MCIOB).

Andrew Little promoted to Equity Partner

We are pleased to announce that Andrew Little has been promoted to Equity Partner. Read more >

Procure Partnerships Framework

We are proud to announce that Baily Garner has been appointed to the Procure Partnerships Framework Professional Services Agreement, which runs from 2020-2024.

Through this framework we can support our public sector clients in five different geographical regions and the framework allows clients to make direct appointments or to run a competitive tender. Read more >

Success at the LABC London Awards

Northdown Gardens won in the category of Best Individual New Home at the LABC London Awards. Congratulations to the entire project team for all of their hard work. BG provided Professional Services for this project. If you would like to read more about the project and the awards click here.

Opening of our Eltham and Birmingham Offices

After the successful re-opening of our Head office in Eltham earlier in the summer, a small number of staff have now also returned to office working in our Birmingham office, as of Monday 27^th July.

Both offices are now operating successfully within the safety parameters required by government guidelines, but with a reduced level of occupancy.

Please note that at this time all offices remain closed to visitors.

Three New Chartered Building Surveyors

Well done to our three new Chartered Building Surveyors from our Head Office. Jack Plummer, Max Skeet and George Gardner who all passed their APC exams and as of last week are Chartered.

We’re Cyber Essential Plus Accredited

After taking significant steps towards protecting our online systems to achieve Cyber Essential accreditation earlier this year, following a recent audit we are delighted that we have now successfully completed and been awarded Cyber Essential PLUS accreditation. The ‘PLUS’ accreditation means that, as well as our IT procedures and process complying with the standard, “at the time of testing, our defences were assessed as satisfactory against commodity based cyber-attack”. This is a great achievement which we are very proud of – huge thanks go to our IT Department for their hard work in achieving this.

ISO 9001 Audit Success

We are committed to maintaining our Quality Management accreditation and were delighted to receive confirmation, following a recent audit, that Baily Garner’s quality management systems continue to meet the required standards for ISO 9001.