Over the past two months we have welcomed three new trainees to Hobson & Porter, all working within different areas of the business.

Providing young people with professional experience is something we regard as being crucial for the long term success of the business and for the future of the construction industry as a whole.  Traineeships of these kind, are just one of the ways where we strive to facilitate such experiences.

Over the years our firm has given many students work experience on a wide range of sites and within varying areas of the business as well as engaging with young people and students in workshops, site visits and other educational activities.  Each experience is aimed at giving youngsters an insight into the industry and to inspire the industry’s next generation of talent.

Lewis Kemp, one of our new trainees, has joined the team on a 3 year Design Apprenticeship working alongside our experienced Design Manager Peter Mills and our Assistant Design Manager Blake Wright. Lewis currently works with us for two days a week while completing a professional construction studies qualification at Hull College

Lewis said: “I am really enjoying my time at Hobson & Porter. It is something new and exciting. I have always been interested in design and I am especially enjoying working and learning more about computer-aided design. My colleagues are also very helpful and are teaching me a lot, supporting me every step of the way.”

Jordan Hadfield our new trainee Site Engineer is working alongside our experienced Site Engineer Mark Young, working on various project sites. Jordan has joined Hobson & Porter as part of his diploma in construction, and is really making the most of the opportunity, considering half-term and summer holidays as an opportunity to experience working on a full-time basis.

Jordan recognises the invaluable insight work-based traineeships provide, and said: “I have learnt much more in one month’s work with Hobson & Porter than I have studying construction for six years.  Already, I have gained great experience of how buildings go from an idea in the planning stage, to setting out and beginning work”.

Our third trainee, Charlie Walsh, joins the company as an apprentice bricklayer, and combines this training with his studies at Hull College where he is completing his Level 1 qualification in Bricklaying and is to start his Level 2 in September. Charlie has been working at our Hull Dry Dock site which is providing a whole range of great learning opportunities.

Our Employment and Skills Coordinator, Pauline Steele said: “The progress our trainees have made already, in such a short space of time demonstrates the advantages to be gained in supporting studies with first-hand experience.  The hard work and commitment the trainees show is invaluable to us as a business and we are proud to be supporting such initiatives”.

Hobson & Porter, has successfully handed over the completed works for an industrial development to commercial property management agent, Garness Jones.

The buildings, which are designed and built to a high-specification, are located between St Andrew’s Quay and Albert Dock, separated from the Humber by Clive Sullivan Way. The site was formerly used by Heron Foods; however, Garness Jones sold the plots on behalf of Heron Foods who was then retained to market and manage the once finished development.

Hobson & Porter’s successful track record in the local area and collaboration with Garness Jones Chartered Surveyors and CAD Associates has ensured that the high specification industrial units have been delivered as expected by the client.

The smaller of the two buildings is a single unit measuring 243m² at ground floor level; a first floor mezzanine refuge deck (in the event of flooding) comprises a workshop and open-plan office / reception with disabled toilet. There is also a parking/delivery area, which is contained within a security fence and accessed from Wassand Street using an existing footpath crossing.

The second build contains four individual units, each with a self-contained parking/delivery area separated by palisade security fences – with private access for each occupier through a secure gate. Two units are accessed via Wassand Street, with the other two accessed via Walcott Street, with new crossings. The four identical units comprise a workshop, entrance lobby with staircase, waiting/reception and toilets to the ground floor (401m²) and two offices and a unisex toilet to the first floor (87m²).

Hobson & Porter began work on the project in May 2015, handing over completed work on 18^th January 2016. Kevin Barker, Senior Site Manager for Hobson & Porter, said: “We are very pleased with the standard of work which has gone into the two buildings in Walcott Street and Wassand Street in Hull. These units are suitable for a wide variety of industrial clients, with excellent office and staff welfare facilities, strong road links and local facilities and a high level of security.

“The project is a continuation of our successful working relationship with Garness Jones. We were delighted to handover in January with zero defects, which should stand us in good stead for further work of a similar nature in the future.”

Andy Ward, Contracts Manager for Hobson & Porter, managed the scheme from inception through to completion and is extremely pleased with the end result.

“This project illustrates what we at Hobson & Porter can offer our clients and how our approach builds effective working relationships upon which we can build upon in the future. The entire project team deserves credit for the success of the scheme, in which working collaboratively both internally and with the client was key.  It was a pleasure to work in such a prime location within the city.”

We are proud to announce that we have recently helped a number of students from the Grimsby Institute to gain work experience in construction, giving them the opportunity to gain practical knowledge on one of our company’s biggest ongoing projects.

Four students worked alongside staff from Hobson & Porter and other subcontractors working on the Cleethorpes Road Care Home site, which, due to its size and innovative nature, gave the students a wide and invaluable insight into Hobson & Porter’s work.

Dan Horsewood, one of the students involved, said: “I have really enjoyed working with staff from Hobson & Porter and subcontractor Carbon, they are all very knowledgeable and I have no doubt that I will really benefit from this work experience.”

Once complete, the Cleethorpes Care Home will provide a 70 bed care facility. The building will consist of a nursing wing and dementia wing and will feature an artificial bowling green, post office and shop fronts to create a village-like environment for the benefit of the patients who are suffering from dementia.

The project has involved a wide range of work ranging from the demolition and refurbishment of the Old Lynsey Primary School, to construction of the new build elements.

Our company has long committed itself to providing young talent with opportunities to progress, providing work experience on several of our sites and running workshops and other educational events. Not only does this provide the students with the knowledge needed to pursue careers in the industry, it ensures the growth of companies like ourselves by nurturing the fresh and innovative insight of young people like the Grimsby Institute students can offer.

Pauline Steele, Employment and Skills Coordinator for Hobson & Porter was involved in facilitating the work experience and said: “We’re delighted that this project has benefitted so many generations in the local community, giving young people the advantages they need to succeed, whilst also providing care and comfort for our elderly residents.”

Volkswagen’s new corporate specifications have created a nationwide scheme to revamp its showrooms. As part of this scheme, Hobson & Porter has completed a £630,000 redevelopment of the Volkswagen dealership on Saxon Way, Hull, on behalf of JCT600.

The 11-car showroom was expanded to 400 square metres, almost doubling its size. This involved demolition works, new drainage installation, internal steelwork to support feature walls, groundworks, reconfiguration of the carpark and internal cladding to certain areas of the build.

The refurbishment of the interior has created a desk-free showroom featuring “comfort zones”, café areas with leather sofas, interactive screens, a business lounge and a customer quiet zone. It also includes JCT600’s popular kids zone, complete with gaming station and iPad. To meet the high specification of the brief, a full range of buildings works was employed – plastering, tiling, mechanical and electrical works, plumbing (to install vanity units to the customer washrooms) and resurfacing of the car park.

Upon handover to the client, Paul McKenzie, Project Manager for Hobson & Porter, said: “The refurbishment as a whole has run on schedule and has been completed on time. The dealership continued to operate as usual throughout the duration of the works. Working in a live environment can be difficult for all parties but thanks to our experience in these kinds of works, we managed to keep disruption to a minimum whilst on site. We were also delighted that the client complimented us on the exceptionally high standard of our works which we achieved without impacting sales revenue and operations at the branch”

Mark Taylor, property director for JCT600, said: “It’s great to see the £1m transformation of our Hull showroom completed on time and to such a high standard by Hobson & Porter.  Volkswagen’s latest retail concept is designed to further enhance the customer experience and we’re sure that our customers will enjoy visiting our fantastic new facility”

Completion and handover to JCT600 signals a new era for Volkswagen along with a new experience for customers visiting the Hull showroom.

Hobson & Porter has handed over the refurbishment of Pocklington Arts Centre to the town’s council.

We were extremely excited to have secured the contract to carry out works in the center of Pocklington, commencing in November last year.

Working on behalf of Pocklington Town Council, Arts Council England, Pocklington Arts Centre and the Friends of Pocklington Arts Centre, the scheme involved a variety of demolition and refurbishment works.  The initial programme was adjusted to ensure completion of the project within the client’s timescales. This involved undertaking a number of different kinds of work in all areas of the building at the same time:

• Refurbishment of the existing projector room and associated areas, with demolition of walls and floors to allow a new staircase to be installed. At the same time, a full refurbishment of the central heating and boilers was carried out.
• Demolition of an external wall to the rear and a new link corridor, to allow access to the new bar areas.
• Refurbishment of the first floor, transforming the space into the new bar area. This included replacing items such as windows and fire places. The entrance was also replaced, offices were refurbished and a new kitchen area was added to the ground floor.

During the project, we gave students from Bishop Burton College the opportunity to experience the live sites. As well as being able to see Hobson & Porter’s construction staff at work, students and tutors were given information regarding the history of Pocklington Arts Centre, a tour of the site and an explanation of the works being undertaken.

Pete Shaw, Contract Manager on the project, said: “We were delighted to be able to showcase this project to students, demonstrating how Hobson & Porter undertakes different types of work alongside one another in a live building environment. The works, which had an overall value in excess of half a million pounds, were brought to a successful completion on time, with no complications or safety issues. Well done to everyone concerned.”

The project was secured through the Yorbuild construction framework, which was developed to provide an efficient and collaborative approach to the procurement of construction projects.