In this issue
Demonstrating the Best in Welsh Education
RICS BIM4SME Awards Ceremony 2015
Value Wales Bulletin
Construction Enquirer: Taxman calls time on umbrella companies
Table Bookings



RICS BIM4SME Awards Ceremony 2015

Networking London (Venue TBC), 18 Jun 2015

Showcasing excellence in the use of Building Information Modelling

RICS are proud to work with the BIM4SME and the BIM Task Group to host the inaugural RICS BIM4SME Awards. These awards will recognise and promote the achievements and adoption of BIM by small and medium businesses, showcasing excellence, promoting best practice and highlighting the tremendous opportunities BIM presents.  Join in the celebrations and be among the first to discover the winning projects in each category.
Book your place with colleagues, partners, clients and industry friends now to avoid missing out on the BIM event of the year!  
The awards will bring together key players and practitioners in architecture, engineering, construction and operations.
The categories are: 

  • Best BIM Project – Medium Enterprise
  • Best BIM Project – Small or Micro Enterprise (1-50) 
  • Best SME BIM Blog 
  • Best SME BIM website 
  • Best SME Newcomer
  • Best SME Innovation
  • Best SME Training Strategy 
  • Best SME Engagement and Support Programme 

If you have a project of any size that you would like to enter into the judging process, please download the RICS BIM4SME Awards 2015 entry pack on the right-hand side of this page.  


Closing date for entries is Friday 17 April 2015.

DownloadApplication   

Download: Awards details


Value Wales Bulletin

In this edition:

1. Minister announces fair employment practice guidance 

2. A Joint Bidding success story 

3. Our procurement events are here

4. SBV Courses for March / April

5. Save the date!

6. Vacancies 


Minister announces fair employment practice guidance

New guidance for   public bodies which aims to require fair employment practices on publicly   funded projects in Wales was announced by the Minister for Finance and   Government Business Jane Hutt this week.

The Procurement Advice   Note will help deal with issues of false self employment and the increased   use of umbrella payment schemes operating unfair methods of calculating pay   and affecting workers rights on construction sites. For more information visit the website.


A Joint Bidding Success Story

Value Wales worked   with the Wales Co-operative Centre and Wales Council for Voluntary Action   (WCVA) to develop the Joint Bidding Guide. The Guide is designed to support   consortia tendering for public contracts and is structured to guide both   Buyer’s and Supplier’s through the Procurement process. Watch our short video to find out more about Joint   Bidding. 

 

Allied Construction   Consortium Limited is a consortia that successfully bid for a public sector   contract worth over £750,000. The Consortia is comprised of four different   companies that merged to bid for work, with a successful outcome. Find out   more about the approach the Supplier took via our short video.

 

The Consortium was   successful in winning work on Caerphilly County Council’s WHQS External Works   framework agreement. This is a five year agreement with an estimated spend   value of £21m, and the work has been divided into two lots: Lot 1 for work   packages below £750,000 and Lot 2 for work packages above £750, 000. To find   out more about the approach the Buyer’s took watch our short video.

 For more   information about Joint Bidding please visit the website.


Our Procurement events are here....

Procurex

Procurex Wales live   event on Wednesday 18 March. For more information about the day visit   the Procurex Wales website. 

 

 

Procurement Week

Monday 16th March –   The Creative Procurement Academy will kick off Procurement Week 2015 with a   careers day themed around recruitment and training.

Thursday 19 March – A   day themed around the principles of procurement and the EU Directives

Friday 20 March – the   week will conclude with a day themed around ideas and Innovation

For full details on   Procurement Week, including speakers and how to register please visit the Procurement Week website.


SBV Courses for March / April

Courses are fully   funded until the end of May, at which time it is likely that a small charge   will be introduced. Keep checking our bulletin for new dates and for updated   dates and venues.  For more information and to book visit our website or email peter@sbvltd.co.uk

March 

20th – Preparing for the new EU Directives, Bridgend

20th – Developing Specifications, Mold

25th – Contract Management, Merthyr Tydfil

26th – Introduction to EU Directives and awareness of changes, Mold

26th – Preparing for the new EU Directives, Merthyr Tydfil

27th – Community Benefits and Procurement, Mold

31st – Contract Management, Haverfordwest

April

14th – Responding to market and supply chain initiatives, Bridgend

15th - Preparing for the new EU Directives, Merthyr Tydfil

15th – Introduction to Procurement, Ruthin

16th – Contract Management, Ruthin

22nd – Developing a Business Case, Ruthin

23rd – Supplier Relationship Management, Ruthin

30th – Competitive Dialogue, Ruthin 


Save the date!

The time is nearly upon us to get our Procurement grey matter together, in other words the regional events will soon be here. Exact details of timings and the agenda will be communicated to you at a later date but we wanted to give you as much notice as possible.

North Wales event – 7th May 2015 PM (Llandudno Junction office) 

South Wales event – 13th May 2015 PM(Waterton Centre, Bridgend)

If you have anything you would like to see covered on the agenda for these events please email Rebecca.Rees2@wales.gsi.gov.uk 


Vacancies


Procurement Officer, Swansea University (Ref: SD566)

Salary: £27,864 to £31,342

Working Hours: Full time, Permanent

Location: Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea

Details, contacts and applications can be found on the Swansea University website.

Deadline for applications: 18 March 2015. 


Procurement Officer, Bangor University (Ref: BU00817)

Salary: £31,342 to £37,394 (Permanent)

Location: College Road, Bangor 

Responsible to: Director of Procurement 

Details, contacts and applications can be found on the Bangor University website.

Deadline for applications: 7 April 2015. 


If you would like to recieve this bulletin in Welsh please click here.

Construction Enquirer: Taxman calls time on umbrella companies

A leading payroll company has conceded that Budget changes “effectively signal the end for umbrella schemes as they stand”.

Chancellor George Osborne announced the latest planned crackdown on travel and subsistence tax reliefs used by umbrella schemes.

But companies operating in the sector have already been contacted by HMRC outlining stricter revisions to current rules.

Howard Hughes, CEO of payroll specialist, Ship Shape Pay said: “The budget wording itself promised to ‘restrict’ travel and subsistence relief.

“Yet intermediaries, including Ship Shape, that were involved in the consultation, today received communications from HMRC that confirmed relief would be ‘removed’ for anyone under supervision, direction or control – so basically every worker that umbrella was designed to service.

“The bottom line is that in April next year all current umbrella workers will require a new payment solution, or they will seek a new employer.

“If HMRC has its way, direct employment in industries where umbrella is common will experience an increase in the cost of labour approaching 20% through increased National Insurance and paid absence.

“That will need to be absorbed in higher charges to end hirers, reduced agency margins and lower pay rates to workers currently paid through umbrella.”

Hughes added that “agencies and their clients should instead properly analyse their contract workforce in order to identify if umbrella workers should transition to PAYE (direct, through the agency or a payroll bureau), or allow limited company status or self-employment where supervision, direction and control in the workplace can be proved absent.

“This analysis should be supplied to recruitment agencies right now by their existing payroll companies.”

“Great progress has been made by agencies that outsource worker registrations, timesheets, pay, bill and compliance management onto the more advanced umbrella companies.

“Taking this administration burden and cost back in-house would be a backward step.

“Agencies confused about the worker contract options available to minimise cost of labour and concerned about meeting pay, compliance or other administration requirements should seek out a dependable payroll services partner with a clean bill of health to find peace of mind.”

Link to the Constructon Enquirer Article:

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