Panorama – Standing Up for The Little Guy!

panorama

You don’t like to see someone being taken advantage of. So when we were contacted by the BBC’s Panorama programme to help them out with a cowboy “investment company” we couldn’t say no. Background Over thirty five Social clubs, sports clubs and working men’s clubs around the country have been targeted by this company. Many […]

2018 Year of Engineering – Westminster Abbey

a year of engineering2

Service of Thanksgiving A multi-faith Service of thanksgiving to celebrate the Year of Engineering took place in Westminster Abbey Thursday 22nd November 2018. “The Year of Engineering” celebrates the significant contribution that Engineers have made to the life of the nation and aims to inspire a new generation of Engineers. Outstanding Contribution Representatives from the […]

Structural Awards 2018

structural awards 2018

“Inspirational” was how John Staves described the Structural Awards 2018! “I was honoured to attend the event at The Brewery, Montcalm in London on Friday night. What a fantastic evening celebrating the world’s most prestigious structural engineering projects – Congratulations to all the award winners!” Supreme Award for Structural Engineering Excellence Tamina Canyon Crossing, Switzerland To […]

Budget 2018: Extending Buildings Upwards – Without Planning Permission

Roof extension

In a bid to boost new house building in Britain the Government are proposing to relax the rules on planning to make it easier for people to build and/or extend. “we are proposing a new permitted development right to allow building up above existing buildings to promote new homes. This will bring particular benefits to […]

Spotlight on Becoming A Chartered Structural Engineer …

what is a structural engineer

Today I’m talking to Oliver Goodyear.. Ollie has been part of the team here at Michael Aubrey Partnership since 2011, starting with us as a Graduate Engineer. In January Ollie sat his Chartered Exams and we are thrilled that he passed first time! Ollie, Why Did You Study Engineering? “I’ve always had an interest in […]

Maintenance of External Fire Escape Staircases and Drill Towers

Fire Escape Structural Inspections

Today I’m talking to John Staves, our Managing Director about the issues of maintaining drill towers and external fire escapes and the need for regular structural checks. Why Are Regular Maintenance Inspections So Important? You have a safety obligation as an owner of that structure to maintain it in a reasonable way so that it […]

“Ask An Expert” @ Grand Designs Live!

Ask and expert Grand designs

Having attended the event as visitors for many years, we were thrilled when we were selected to appear on the ‘Ask An Expert’ panel at this year’s Grand Designs Live show. The event was held over 9 days at the impressively large north stand at ExCel in London’s docklands and covered over 5,000 sq foot […]

ISO 9001 Audit Passed For The Eleventh Year Running!

We are thrilled to have successfully passed our ISO 9001:2015 audit on 27 February 2018 for the eleventh year in a row. Dave Silcock, the Auditor was complimentary of all the systems and procedures and we passed the audit with no major or minor non-conformances. Talking about this year’s assessment John Staves said, “We are […]

John Staves Elected as Vice President IStructE

IstructElogo

We are thrilled to announce that our Managing Director John Staves has been elected Vice President to the Institution of Structural Engineers on 3 September 2018 (on his birthday!) John is a fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers, and Treasurer of the Thames Valley Constructing Excellence Board. He also sits on the Resources Committee at […]

Structural Awards 2017 – 50th Year!

Structural Awards 2017 – a fantastic night celebrating the extraordinary work of Structural Engineers across the world!   The winners and commended projects were announced during The Structural Awards ceremony, held at The Brewery, London on Friday 17 November. The evening culminated in the presentation of The Supreme Award for Structural Engineering Excellence which was awarded to the […]

What We Learnt from Karren Brady …

Baroness Karren Brady is one of the UK’s most high-profile businesswomen and one of the regular judges alongside Lord Sugar on BBC1’s The Apprentice. Determined, hardworking, ambitious, passionate, positive Karren Brady has been called all of these and many more. Along with a select few business leaders, John Staves and myself recently received an exclusive […]

The New Telecoms Code – Are You Equipped?

Comms Code

With the new Telecoms code coming into force this Autumn John Staves gives his opinion on what this new code will mean for site owners. “I believe that the new Telecoms code will have an adverse effect on transactions; rather than easing the process which is the declared intent of the changes, site owners will […]