Chinese developer looks beyond London

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22 Sustainable Business
The £2.8bn of work on offer
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24 Regulation Debate over
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30 Inside Knowledge
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Chinese developer looks beyond London
Chairman says ABP
will ‘develop across
the country’ and
bring Asian firms
into the UK market
CLIENTS
ROBYN WILSON
[email protected]
The major Chinese developer
behind a £1.7bn scheme in east
London is planning further
investment across the UK and
wants to introduce Asian firms
into the UK construction market.
ABP chairman Xu Weiping
(pictured) told Construction News
that the company had ambitions
for UK developments beyond its
transformation of the Royal
Albert Dock.
“We will develop across the
country,” he said, adding that he
was interested in areas including
Birmingham, Cambridgeshire,
Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester
and Oxford.
Initially the company will look
to work near its debut Docklands
development and purchase
surrounding land for new
projects, according to Mr Xu, but
it will also look further afield.
Speaking through a translator,
Mr Xu said: “We will develop
across the country but here is
very important because it’s the
first step.”
ABP was chosen by the Greater
London Authority to transform
the Royal Albert Dock in May 2013.
The developer plans to turn the
14 ha site into a new business port
aimed at Chinese and Asian
businesses. But despite ABP’s
commercial focus, Mr Xu said he
would be interested in developing
residential units in future.
He also said he would like to
bring Asian firms into the UK
market. “My understanding is
“I would like to
introduce some
Asian contractors
to the UK to work
on the ABP project”
XU WEIPING, ABP
ROYAL ALBERT DOCK
Phase one
n 1.4m sq ft in total.
n 35 buildings, of which 28 will
be terraced offices, plus the
restoration of two listed buildings.
n Around 500,000 sq ft of groundfloor retail and leisure space.
n Commercial service centre to
house energy provision, parking
and estate management services.
n New high street and square.
n Construction to begin in 2015.
n Completion of first buildings in
2017, including the 28 offices and
new high street.
n Completion of phase one in 2018,
in time for Crossrail.
that the construction market in
the UK is not really open to Asian
countries, which is a shame. But if
it is, then I would like to introduce
some Asian contractors to the UK
to work on the ABP project.”
For Royal Albert Dock, the
chairman said he had his eye on
“the top three” construction
companies in the UK and would be
looking to choose the firm that
Olympic death ‘non-suspicious’
SAFETY
ROBYN WILSON
[email protected]
The death of a 44-year-old worker
at the Olympic Stadium in
Stratford last weekend is being
treated as non-suspicious, the
Metropolitan Police has said.
An investigation launched by
the Health and Safety Executive
concluded that the death was a
non-work-related incident.
Officers and paramedics were
called at 7.30am on Sunday after
the worker fell from the stadium
but he was pronounced dead half
an hour later.
Formal identification has not
yet taken place but the police
confirmed the deceased was a
subcontractor.
Balfour Beatty is carrying out
conversion work on the site.
David Goldstone, chief
executive of London Legacy
Development Corporation – the
company responsible for
redeveloping the stadium – said
he was “devastated” by the news.
“As yet the exact cause of death
is unexplained, but the police are
treating it as non-suspicious and
the HSE has concluded that the
matter is not a workplace incident.
“Work on the stadium has
resumed in full.”
The LLDC will be conducting its
own investigation of the events.
A Balfour Beatty spokesman
said: “We worked fully with the
police whilst they carried out
their enquiries which concluded
on Sunday.”
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“best fits ABP”. It will select a main
contractor for the first phase of the
scheme before October with a view
to complete this stage by 2018.
He added that his “dream”
would be for UK and Chinese firms
to bid for work as joint ventures,
likely featuring UK contractors
and Chinese companies involved
in technology. “The collaboration
of east and west is the most
powerful thing,” he said.
In November last year,
Construction News revealed Mace
had entered into an agreement
with China Building Technique
Group to bid for work at ABP’s
Royal Albert Dock. CBTG
specialises in construction
research, materials supply and
building standards and is wholly
owned and governed by China
Academy of Building Research,
the largest R&D organisation in
China’s building industry.
As part of the agreement, it is
understood that CBTG would
bring Chinese design expertise
to the partnership as well as
funding, while Mace would
contribute UK building and
integration expertise.
Mr Xu would not confirm which
contractors ABP is engaging with.
Asked whether ABP had plans
to rival established UK developers,
he said “competition is inevitable,
so prepare yourself”.
“China is not as experienced
as the UK, but, in the past 30
years, since ABP’s first project
in China, we [have become]
used to competition, so we are
very confident.”
He said both Chinese and UK
construction markets could learn
from one another.
“This is obviously a largescale project so it will bring
returns for UK contractors and
more importantly they will
understand more about Chinese
culture, habits and needs in
terms of construction.”
He said that the merging of
cultures was having an influence
on ABP’s design, with projects
“incorporating classic Georgianbuild style”.
He added: “In the future we will
bring more Far East elements into
the design and landscape, so this
is also an opportunity for
contractors to learn.”
More on Royal Albert Dock
View more images of the £1.7bn
scheme exclusively online at
cnplus.co.uk/news
The Royal Albert Dock is
expected to be worth £6bn to the
UK economy when complete.
A report published by Pinsent
Masons has estimated £100bn of
Chinese investment will flow into
the UK by 2025. It found Chinese
construction companies will play
a “catalytic role” in transforming
the UK industry through joint
ventures and partnerships.
In April, Construction News
revealed Chinese developer
Wanda One had selected a
UK-Chinese joint venture to
build its £900m One Nine Elms
development in central London.
Industry excellence recognised at CN Awards
AWARDS
Laing O’Rourke took the
Judges Supreme Award at the
Construction News Awards this
week where more than 1,300
guests and shortlisted teams
gathered at London’s Grosvenor
House Hotel.
The contractor took the top
honour after earlier claiming the
gong for Project of the Year over
£50m. The winning scheme saw
Laing O’Rourke and Manchester
City Council transform a Grade
II-listed town hall in a feat of
engineering excellence.
The team created 78
apprenticeships, kept 82 per cent
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of procurement spend within
scratch,” she said. “He set up
Greater Manchester and recycled
Lakehouse from his bedroom,
98 per cent of project waste.
taking on its first job doing £8,000
Lakehouse founder Steve
of repairs to a pub.
Rawlings was inducted
“From that point on,
into the Construction
Steve presided over the
News Roll of Honour
growth of the
for his contribution
company all the way
to the industry.
until its listing on
Attendees at the the stock exchange
Presenting the
CN Awards
award, Construction
earlier this year.”
News editor Rebecca
His achievements
Evans said Mr Rawlings
also include the creation
would leave a legacy through
of London training provider
the organisations he had founded. Building Lives.
“Steve Rawlings made his name
Contractor of the Year went to
building the £300m-turnover
Speller Metcalfe for its “industrycontractor Lakehouse from
leading” work in areas such as
1,300
employee engagement and
innovation. The firm celebrated
many highlights in 2014,
including opening a fourth
office in Wolverhampton.
Staffing levels rose by 30 per
cent for 2014 and it boasted a staff
retention rate of 97 per cent.
Speller Metcalfe has broken
into different sectors and secured
work with new clients, including
schemes for Colliers Motor Group
and Audi Stratford.
More on the CN Awards
Read all about this year’s winners
plus pics from the ceremony at
cnplus.co.uk/awards
3 July 2015 | 3