Building Briefs – January 6th

Turner & Townsend appoints new global director to capitalise on downstream opportunities

Independent professional services consultancy Turner & Townsend has appointed Aileen Jamieson as global director of downstream to help drive further business growth, supporting major refineries around the world.

Aileen, who started her career as a chemical engineer, has spent much of her 20 years’ experience in downstream operations, research and consulting.

In her new role based in London, she will be responsible for business growth, strategy and marketing of the consultancy’s downstream sector. Since joining Turner & Townsend in 2010, she has been a director and vice president of natural resources, and has worked in both Edinburgh and Houston, supporting oil and gas clients across the upstream industry. Aileen will continue to head up the Performance Forum joint industry project, the leading provider of upstream project cost and schedule benchmarking.

New changes to Dornoch holiday flats plans

Developers behind a luxury holiday apartments development next to a world-famous golf course are hoping it will be third time lucky with an amended planning application.

In 2011, a 37-apartment complex at the Royal Golf Hotel grounds in Dornoch was given the go-ahead, but fresh proposals were submitted for 33 properties, which involved reducing one of the three blocks from four-storeys to three.

And now, applicant Dornoch Developments, a consortium of north businessmen who own the hotel, aims to lodge further amended designs with local authority planners.

Details of the changes will emerge later this month, but it is understood that the revised plans do not involve increasing the number of apartments.

The reason for the delays in building work are thought to be linked to the current economic climate of uncertainty.

Restoration plan for Wester Ross yard moves ahead

Plans to restore a Highlands fabrication yard that operated in the 1970s have moved forward following a £500,000 investment.

The Kishorn yard in Wester Ross was one of the largest dry docks in Europe, employing about 3,000 people.

Welsh marine engineering company Harris Pye is to test the gates on the dry dock to see if they are still working. The investment was made by Kishorn Port Ltd with the backing of Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Kishorn Port Ltd is a joint venture between Ferguson Transport (Spean Bridge) Ltd and Leiths (Scotland) Ltd.

It is hoped the yard can become a base for decommissioning north sea oil rigs.

Apprentices fire up electrical firm

An electrical business based in the North-east is pursuing its targeted organic growth by boosting its number of apprentices by four to total 11.

NES (North Electrical Services), based in Inverness and Elgin, added that since setting up four years ago with 14 staff it has grown its workforce to 48, and has also won various awards from SELECT, the electrical contractors’ association of Scotland.

The firm’s director Keith Paterson said its strategy has been to grow in-house and produce its own future staff, adding that it sees this as “the right thing to do and it means we have a stable and loyal workforce”.

Education centre refurb project complete in Edinburgh

Work on a £65,000 education centre refurbishment project in Edinburgh is now complete.

The Education Room in the David Welch Winter Gardens has been redeveloped to provide better facilities for school and community groups.

Features include new glazing, flooring and a sink unit, with the building now wind and water tight.

The project was parted funded by £40,000 from the Education and Children’s Services committee revenue underspend, with the remainder coming from the late Lorna Doreen Russell Legacy Fund.

In addition, the Education Room will act as an added resource to Duthie Park, as additional workshops and activities can now be held. The park’s cafe is also set to re-open this spring following a major refurbishment.

The 134-year-old park had previously undergone a £5 million refurbishment in 2013.

Gas pipeline upgrades continue near Aberdeen recycling centre

Scotland Gas Networks (SGN) is continuing work to upgrade the existing gas network pipelines near Greenbank Crescent Household Waste Recycling Centre.

As part of the project, visitors who use the Centre are being advised to use the Aberdeen’s four other centres from next week due to the urgent works programme preventing road access.

The restrictions are to be in place from 5.30am on 09 January until 10pm on 17 February.

Inverclyde water mains upgrade work continues

Clancy Docwra is continuing to upgrade water mains in Inverclyde.

The company is working on behalf of Scottish Water to install a stretch of new water main in Greenock.

As part of the project, lane closures will be implemented near the junction of Wellington Street and Captain Street from 16 January. Traffic management, including the use of three-way temporary traffic lights, will be in place for around five-weeks.