Leading international infrastructure group Balfour Beatty has been awarded the contract for the 1st Stage of the Scottish Prison Service’s (SPS) project for the Design and Construction of HMP Highland.
This marks a milestone in the SPS’ plans to deliver a modern, fit-for-purpose replacement for HMP Inverness.
The first new prison in the Scottish Highlands for more than a century, HMP Highland will serve the Highlands, Islands and Moray areas, holding up to 200 offenders in purposely designed accommodation units.
The SPS mission is to transform the lives of people in their care so they can fulfil their potential and become responsible citizens. The new prison represents a step-change in prison design and service delivery for the Highlands and has been developed taking full consideration of Highland Council’s Sustainable Design Guide. It is also designed to be community facing; to be physically part of the community and help offenders reintegrate back into the local communities from which they came.
The strategic aims of the prison include delivery of a range of innovative practices in order to stimulate, promote and sustain cultural change within a custodial environment that is more humane, civilised and positively supports offender rehabilitation, reducing recidivism. The prison will build upon the existing community links of HMP Inverness and enable improved service delivery, whilst also improving the experience of visitors to the prison.
Architecturally, the entrance building takes the form of a central roundhouse with an integrated family centre as a focal point for visitors; historically roundhouses were used by communities not only as homes but as places of work and for communities to come together in. The main building reflects the flow of the River Ness and the colours of the Highland scenery. The long winding wave building form through the site means that, from street level, the building can never be viewed in its entirety and is not visibly institutional or custodial in the architectural concept or design of the public facing elements. Internally the focus has been on delivering good design in communal and service delivery areas for staff, visitors and prisoners which are modern, but also secure, safe and ordered.
Sustainability is also a major focus of the design, with energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions on site integral to the design in line with Scottish Government guidance on securing green recovery on the path to transitioning to net zero emissions by 2045.
BakerHicks have been involved in the project from the early stages following their award of the contract for the concept design through the SPS framework in 2016. They have provided multi-disciplinary services on the project throughout the design stages, including architectural, civil & structural, mechanical & electrical, and principal designer services.
Laura James, Head of Scotland at BakerHicks, says the company’s considerable experience and expertise in the custodial sector helped shape the design process:
“We are proud of our continued work with SPS, helping them to achieve their objectives in delivering new and best-in-class prison facilities across the country.
“Our design team have been working on this project since its inception, and it is genuinely ground-breaking in terms of custodial design. This new style of prison creates an environment that helps aid rehabilitation, as well as being more inviting for visitors and family members. It is a far cry from the oppressive prison buildings of the past and I am excited to have the opportunity to have seen the building develop from its original concept right through to construction and completion.”
Hector MacAulay MBE, Managing Director, Balfour Beatty also provided the following comment:
“We are delighted to be engaged by SPS to work up the detailed design and delivery of the new HMP Highland. We will draw on our extensive expertise in Modern Methods of Construction and Decarbonisation to deliver this ground-breaking new facility.”
Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service said:
“The investment that we have received from the Scottish Government means that we can continue to develop a prison estate which is fit for purpose for the 21st century. The award of the pre-construction services contract to Balfour Beatty represents a significant step forward in delivering HMP Highland.”
Openreach’s gigabit-capable, full fibre network passes half a million Scottish homes
Progress welcomed by Scottish Government and Scottish Chambers of Commerce
Eight more Scottish locations – including Stirling, Kirkcaldy and Gourock – are set to benefit from a major broadband boost thanks to a £16.2 million[1] investment by Openreach, the UK’s largest digital network provider used by the likes of BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone and Zen.
Another 54,000 homes and businesses are included in the latest ultrafast full fibre upgrade, with the new network to be built to the majority of premises in Stirling and Bridge of Allan; Kirkcaldy, Dysart and North Glenrothes in Fife; Carnoustie and Monifieth in Angus; and Gourock in Inverclyde.
It follows plans announced last year for nearly a million more Scottish homes and businesses to be given access to Openreach’s new gigabit-capable network, including 300,000 in rural and harder to serve areas. The build has now passed more than 530,000 properties across Scotland, including 20,000 business premises, in places like Aviemore, Aberdeen and Ardrossan.
Robert Thorburn, Openreach’s partnership director for Scotland, said: “Nobody in Scotland is building full fibre faster, further or at a higher quality than Openreach. Full fibre is the gold standard in gigabit broadband and more future-proof than other technologies.
“We’re reaching more communities than ever and our highly-skilled engineers, alongside our build partners, are working hard to deliver some of the fastest and most reliable broadband available anywhere in Europe.
“In 2021 our engineers built around 770 metres of new broadband cables every minute – making ultrafast broadband available to another home every 13 seconds. We’ve already reached more than half a million Scottish homes and businesses, but we know there’s more to do – and we’re committed to doing it.”
Scottish Government Economy Secretary Kate Forbes said: “This is great news for Scotland. Commercial build continues to play a crucial role in helping ensure homes and businesses across the country can access fast, reliable, future-proofed broadband connectivity.
“Bringing full fibre broadband to more urban and rural communities will help protect livelihoods and ensure people remain connected while we continue to recover from the effects of the global pandemic.
“With 54,000 more premises set to benefit from gigabit capable speeds, I look forward to seeing where Openreach goes to next.”
Dr Liz Cameron CBE, Director and Chief Executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, added: “This is a great investment and roll-out by Openreach. Expanding gigabit-capable full fibre broadband to more businesses, homes and locations is exactly the type of infrastructure investment Scotland needs. Digital connectivity is embedded into every aspect of our lives, more so now than ever before, and this latest milestone means more communities will be able to access faster, reliable and more consistent speeds.”
Full fibre broadband is up to ten times faster than the average home broadband connection and around five times more reliable than the traditional copper-based network, providing more predictable, consistent speeds. Across Scotland, 124,000 homes and businesses have already ordered a full fibre service from a range of retail service providers using the Openreach network. But another 406,000 could be benefiting and have yet to upgrade.
Research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) highlighted the clear economic benefits of connecting everyone in Scotland to full fibre, estimating it would create a £4.6 billion boost to the local economy.
Openreach engineers have been working hard to make the technology available to as many people as possible throughout the UK, and the company’s plans are fundamental to UK and Scottish Government targets.
The company will invest billions of pounds to reach a total of 25 million UK premises by the end of December 2026, including more than six million in the hardest-to-serve parts of the UK defined by industry regulator Ofcom.
Openreach employs more than 3,700 people across Scotland, with hundreds more working on the roll-out of full fibre broadband in the supply chain. You can find out more about our Fibre First programme, latest availability and local plans here.
[1] Investment figure based on an average build cost of £300 per premises
We are proud to announce that Bad Dinosaur has been listed on Clutch as a leading software development company in Edinburgh. If you haven’t heard of Clutch before, it is the leader in connecting global service providers with corporate buyers from around the world. The ratings and reviews platform publishes the most extensive and referenced client reviews in the B2B services market.
Each year, Clutch highlights the top B2B companies across different industries. The top companies deliver high-quality customer service and have accumulated profound knowledge in their fields of expertise. Receiving this award is no small feat, and we’re incredibly appreciative of this recognition.
“It’s always great to hear positive client reviews and know that we have exceeded their expectations in delivering a product to market. We are delighted to receive this Clutch award, especially as it is a result of recognition derived directly from projects we have successfully undertaken for our clients. This award caps off a brilliant 2021 for Bad Dinosaur, which saw us double our headcount and take on larger projects. We look forward to continuing to deliver our award-winning services in 2022 that provide real tangible impact for our clients and partners.” – Kyle Whittington, Managing Director, Bad Dinosaur
In addition to this outstanding recognition, we are also highlighted on Visual Objects as a leading software development company in The United Kingdom. Visual Objects allows your business to see a creative agency’s work and visualize a project, something that is essential when making a hiring decision.Ready to get started or need some advice? Get in touch to speak directly with our expert team of product designers, engineers, big thinkers, and innovators.
Newly-published paper details the creation of NapierOne
Cyber security experts at Edinburgh Napier have created a new data set which will support cutting-edge research into ransomware detection.
Ransomware – malware that encrypts files, giving the attacker scope to demand a ransom to restore access – has become a popular and potentially lucrative method of attack for cyber criminals.
However, newly-created NapierOne (www.napierone.com) is now available to help test and evaluate new detection methods, amid concerns that previous data sets used in digital forensics research have become outdated.
The new openly accessible ready-to-use data set will improve consistency by using standard formats allowing earlier studies to be replicated. As such it will improve the pace and direction of research into ransomware, and could help find robust solutions to the threats it poses.
NapierOne’s creators also believe it is generic enough to support many other fields of research that require a varied mix of common files.
Govdocs1
The most well-known publicly available data set used in malware analysis to date has been Govdocs1, now more than a decade old.
It was designed to help reproduce forensic research, but doubts have emerged about how well it reflects current usage, with some increasingly popular file types not being well represented.
And where there have been a lack of useful data sets available to researchers, they have often developed their own and have not distributed them when their work is complete.
In a new paper published in Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation, Edinburgh Napier PhD research student Simon Davies and senior computing academics Professor Bill Buchanan and Associate Professor Rich Macfarlane detail the creation of NapierOne as a complement to Govdocs1.
Their research identified popular file formats for inclusion as they set about creating a data set containing more than 500,000 unique files distributed between 100 separate data sets and subsets.
The paper describes how specific file types were selected, how examples were sourced and how researchers are able to gain free, unlimited access to the data.
The authors see NapierOne as a starting point for an ongoing project which will grow and develop as other researchers provide additional data sets that can be incorporated into it.
Simon Davies said: “It is hoped that the adoption of the NapierOne data set into the implementation, development and testing lifecycles of new ransomware detection techniques will streamline and accelerate the development of more robust and effective detection techniques, allowing independent researchers to reproduce and validate proposed detection methods quickly.”
Associate Professor Rich Macfarlane said: “Ransomware has been around for many years – encrypting and deleting users’ files and demanding a ransom from the victim. It has become increasingly common and its sophistication has increased significantly, leading to it currently being the biggest cyber security problem globally.
“This work aims to provide a research data set allowing scientific rigour in research towards fighting the ransomware problem. The data set has been created and successfully used in our ransomware detection research. Containing over half a million unique files representing real world file types, it is broad and diverse enough to be used in a range of cyber security and forensic research areas.
“We hope the data set will have the same global research impact as the Govdocs1 work.”
Professor Bill Buchanan said: “There are few areas of cyber security that need more of a scientific base than in digital investigations, and thus there exists a need to make sure investigators have appropriate tools that have been verified and properly evaluated. This data set provides a foundation for researchers to prove their new methods, and thus further support innovation in the area.
“The UK is becoming an international leader in the field of safe technology – which involves the development of tools to support digital investigations and threat detection – and this research showcases the development of a strong scientific base.”
CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full fibre network, has teamed up with the Data Education in Schools project at the University of Edinburgh to create a learning tool that helps school pupils develop skills in data science.
Data Education in Schools is part of the DDI Skills Gateway – a £6.9m investment in data skills and education as part of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal. CityFibre’s support of the project comes as it is investing more than £100m to bring its full fibre network to within reach of almost every home and business across the city.
The project supports the SQA’s Data Science National Progression Award (NPA), a school level qualification in data science, which is the first of its kind. CityFibre provided a data set and problem statement which has been developed into an end-to-end example activity, guiding users through the steps of solving a real-world business problem using data.
This allows students to get practical data science experience and develop an understanding of how data is used in society, whilst highlighting the benefits in applying a data solution to a business problem. It has been designed in such a way that it can be done virtually if required, ensuring the programme is accessible to all. It also includes the flexibility so that the business question can be changed and different outputs developed.
The programme has now been successfully trialled in schools, with one school reporting three senior pupils deciding to study data science at university on the back of completing the NPA. Teaching resources are now being developed with the programme being rolled out across the UK.
Elaine Doherty, Head of Data Insights at CityFibre, said: “As soon as we heard about the NPA Data Science award and its potential to encourage the next generation to get involved in data science, we really wanted to support the project. Across our world-class full fibre networks, we handle massive amounts of data and can see the value of managing data well, and the massive benefits data can bring to businesses.
“The skills required to handle data effectively are transferrable across a number of different sectors, and these skills are becoming more and more sought after in an increasingly digital workforce. We are thrilled to see how our partnership has developed into such an engaging tool and hope it helps to encourage the next generation of data scientists.”
Kate Farrell, Director of Development and Professional Learning, Data Education in Schools at the University of Edinburgh, added: “Schools have found it so valuable having access to a local dataset. Educators have appreciated seeing how data science can take place in the workplace and learners find it useful to see that the skills they are learning in class can be applied in the workplace. The CityFibre resource is particularly welcomed by educators because it gives learners an understanding of the assessment for the National Progression Award in Data Science and a chance to practice their skills.”
CityFibre is currently rolling out full fibre digital infrastructure across Edinburgh, future-proofing the city’s connectivity and enabling residents, businesses and services to benefit from fast, reliable internet services.
Across the UK, CityFibre is already working with Vodafone, TalkTalk, Zen and an ever-increasing number of partners, offering some of the fastest and most competitive broadband packages available.
Residents interested in giving their home broadband a boost can find out more about the build and register their interest at www.cityfibre.com/PR-Register
For more information about the University of Edinburgh’s Data Science National Progression Award, visit https://www.de.ed.ac.uk/project/national-progression-award-data-science.
A leading animal rescue centre is encouraging all dog owners to get to know basic life-saving techniques for their pets.
Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home has launched a new dog first aid course that offers practical training for the many emergency situations that our beloved pets can find themselves in. These include chocking, fractures, hypothermia and heatstroke, and other injuries.
The charity said it was important to know when emergency treatment could be given, and when a visit to the vet was appropriate. Jamie Simpson, Director of Operations at Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home said:
“Dogs are important members of the family and just like humans, experience moments of crisis in their health and well-being. It is really important for owners to know what to do in those situations, their actions could prevent further injury or illness to the dog, or indeed save a life.
“If your pet experiences any incident that is life-threatening, a visit to the vet is almost always appropriate. But time can be extremely precious when they are in pain or their life is at risk, and small actions can make all the difference.”
Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home’s Dog First Aid courses provide an ITC certification and are SQA accredited. They are endorsed by both Braid Vets and Abercorn Vets.
Jamie said:
“Our course is unique in that it provides in-person insights from some of our most experienced trainers, who themselves work day in and out with dogs in all kinds of conditions. What’s more, all funds raised through this course will support the care of stray and unwanted pets that reside here on site.”
More information can be found at www.edch.org.uk/DogFirstAid
Due to its commitment to goals beyond profit, Muckle Media is now officially a B Corporation organisation. The creative Scottish PR agency joins big name brands such as Beauty Kitchen, BrewDog, Patagonia and The Body Shop in certifying and pledging to deliver impact through its business model.
Programmes including Muckle Media’s Returners to Communications Programme and Kickstart trainee scheme supported the application, along with Living Wage employer status. Transparency within agency operations and a commitment to continued professional development were also important.
B Corp Certification expects high standard, verified performance in a huge range of social and environmental issues from evaluating your organisation’s mission to reviewing employee benefits and evaluating waste disposal. Complete transparency and accountability are required throughout the process, which involves working with an assessor and evidencing a broad selection of ethical business processes.
Maintaining certification is just as rigorous as achieving the status in the first place and requires involvement and dedication from the whole team. By becoming a B-Corp, Muckle Media has committed to continuing to measure, manage, and improve on the positive impact it has on the environment, employees, clients, the PR community, and all those around us.
Muckle Media MD, Nathalie Agnew said, “Becoming fully B-Corp certified is a fantastic achievement that the entire team is incredibly proud of. We also appreciate that with this comes a responsibility to fulfil our ongoing commitment and dedication to continuously improve our social and environmental standards. Our pledges to environmental, social and corporate governance issues are at the heart of our business and underpin our strategy for significant growth this year.”
“It has been a lengthy process to get to this point and we recognise that this is only the start of our B-Corp journey. We have a long way to go to achieve our impact ambitions, but we are delighted to become part of this prestigious group of leading organisations that have also reached B-Corp status and are paving the way in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy.”
The initial assessment requires a minimum verified score of 80 points to continue with the process, thereafter any gaps are considered to be a work in progress and areas to focus on going forward.
As listed on www.bcorporation.net, in order to achieve certification, a company must:
- Demonstrate high social and environmental performance by achieving a B Impact Assessment score of 80 or above and passing a risk review.
- Make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, and achieve benefit corporation status if available in their jurisdiction.
- Exhibit transparency by allowing information about their performance measured against B Lab’s standards to be publicly available on their B Corp profile on B Lab’s website.
The certification comes as Muckle Media continues to grow with two new hires. Katie Palmer recently joined the agency as an Account Director from Hollicom with experience in luxury brands, whilst Louise Gowans has joined the team as an Account Manager after working at DC Thomson as a Picture Editor.
EDFI ElectriFI and REPP have provided LSL 150,000,000 financing to innovative social enterprise “OnePower”
Burges Salmon has advised the EU-funded Electrification Financing Initiative (EDFI ElectriFI, administered by the EDFI Management Company) and the UK Government-funded Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP, administered by Camco Clean Energy) on the LSL 150,000,000 senior debt and equity investment into Sotho Minigrid Portfolio SPV. This transaction sees EDFI ElectriFI and REPP each provide LSL 75,000,000 through a combination of senior debt and equity investment, and is one of the largest project-financed mini-grid transactions in Africa to reach financial close.
Sotho Minigrid, established by renewable energy provider OnePower Lesotho, aims to provide affordable and reliable electricity services to off-grid villages in Lesotho. EDFI ElectrifFI and REPP, as co-lenders, are facilitating first-time access to clean electricity for 20,000 people in rural Lesotho.
With a rural electrification rate estimated at below 20%, Lesotho is one of the least electrified countries in the world. The funds will be used by Sotho Minigrid to develop, construct and operate a portfolio of solar mini-grids in rural Lesotho. The electricity generated by the portfolio will provide life-changing first-time access to clean solar electricity for 20,000 people living in off-grid rural homes in Lesotho, a further 7 health clinics, as well as schools and small enterprises.
The solar mini-grids developed by Sotho Minigrid are solar PV hybrids with battery storage and limited LPG backup generation. The hybrid design ensures 24-hour, year-round electricity supply.
The Burges Salmon team advising EDFI ElectriFI and REPP on this transaction was led by Stuart McMillan (Partner) and Luke Addison (Associate) from the firm’s Project Finance team. Both Stuart and Luke have extensive experience advising on renewable energy transactions, specifically including the financing of solar projects in Africa. Danny Lee (Partner) and Niall Mackle (Associate) provided specialist advice on the equity investment, Harrison Folland (Solicitor) assisted on the debt financing, and James Horton (Director) advised on construction issues.
Toep Van Mierlo, in-house Legal Counsel of EDFI ElectriFI, says: “It has been an absolute pleasure working with Stuart and his team. Their proactivity, thoughtfulness and dedication helped bring a technically challenging project in Lesotho to successful completion. Working with the project finance team, as well as their corporate colleagues, they worked seamlessly to negotiate and overcome legal hurdles, providing high quality transactional legal advice in their friendly yet exceedingly professional style. We look forward to working with them again.”
Ben Hugues, Investment Director and REPP Lead at Camco Clean Energy, adds: “REPP’s latest investment in OnePower’s Sotho Minigrid Portfolio SPV reflects our belief that this mini-grid project will have a lasting and transformative impact in rural Lesotho, impacting tens of thousands of people. We would like to thank Burges Salmon, who assisted on this transaction, displaying great patience and a high level of responsiveness.”
The firm’s head of Private Wealth, Beatrice Puoti, has been named as a 2022 eprivateclient 50 Most Influential
Burges Salmon’s head of Private Wealth, Beatrice Puoti, has been named as a 2022 eprivateclient 50 Most Influential.
The eprivateclient 50 Most Influential initiative is designed to identify, recognise and promote the leading advisers that provide private wealth advice to clients globally and shows the breadth and depth of talent at the forefront of the private client professions today across the sector, including accountancy, legal, trust and family law.
Those that have made it onto the list are the leaders in the private wealth sector when it comes to providing the best possible advice and service for clients, and to driving innovation in the way the needs of global clients are met.
The 50 Most Influential began with an open call for nominations for those private client practitioners based in the UK and UK offshore who have had a real impact on their profession. They are now selected by PAM Insight judges after an exhaustive selection process and an open call for nominations made to eprivateclient readers. Each nomination was judged by PAM Insight on its strength, the merits of the individual nominated and PAM Insight’s market knowledge.
Beatrice is the head of Burges Salmon’s Private Wealth sector and a partner in the firm’s tax, trusts and family department. She has significantly contributed to the development of the firm’s private wealth sector and European tax and trust practice with a particular expertise on Italian issues. Beatrice also has significant experience in advising financial institutions and trustees on international trust and tax matters and on the ownership, structuring and acquisition of UK and non-UK real estate. Beatrice also specialises in cross-border estate planning issues with a particular focus on all conflicts arising from Roman Law and Common Law application.
Beatrice says: “I am honoured to have received this nomination amongst some of the best in our sector, and I am grateful for the strength of our Private Wealth sector team and the calibre of our clients.”
Acting on behalf of M2M Assets Ltd, Ryden has announced the sale of a high yielding investment portfolio of two industrial units in Scotland’s Central Belt to Vardy Property Group. The portfolio achieved considerably better than the quoting price of £2.9m, which is an initial yield of 7.45%.
The subjects, 15 Dunivaig Road, Queenslie Park, Glasgow and 2 Kelburn Business Park, Port Glasgow, occupy highly accessible locations on established industrial estates.
Both properties are currently leased to AMG Group Ltd, the parent company of the Vango Group, one of the UK’s leading camping and outdoor equipment manufacturers.
15 Dunivaig Road is located 5 miles to the east of Glasgow city centre, enjoying excellent road accessibility to Scotland’s motorway network. Other high quality occupiers on Queenslie Park include Siemens, Soapworks and Bupa.
Kelburn Business Park comprises the premier industrial location in Port Glasgow, 24 miles to the west of Glasgow, and it is home to thriving businesses such as PEAK Scientific and Balmore Group.
Commenting on this transaction, Ian Dougherty, Investment Partner at Ryden, said:
“We are delighted to have achieved a successful sale ahead of our asking price, following a competitive bidding process, and this confirms the continued appetite for assets offering solid income together with development and asset management opportunities.”
Ryden acted on behalf of M2M Assets Ltd in this transaction, whilst Galbraith represented Vardy Property Group.
