Adam Gross, director of Manchester-based developer Citybranch, is on a roll.
Next week he will find out whether he has been selected by the Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust to build a 35,000 sq ft hospital at Railway Street in Altrincham. He is also in discussions with Manchester City Council about the proposed regeneration of 100,000 sq ft of retail and offices at Chorlton shopping centre just outside the city.
This follows the news last month that Citybranch had secured Development Securities as a partner to redevelop the £35m Hale Barns shopping centre …

Brian Thompson, director at Drivers Jonas Deloitte, answers frequently asked questions on good contract management and how it could help save you money:
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Contract management sounds dull but is it? No. It demands innovative thinking, aligning conflicting interests, an understanding of government policy in practice, changing the behaviours of colleagues and contractual partners, spotting the wood among the trees, diplomacy and negotiating skills, and a rare ability to follow the money.
In the government’s drive to deliver efficiencies and raise the standard of public services, it can’t afford to ignore one of …

A war has broken out over the private finance initiative (PFI) in the election campaign.
Labour last week published a list of 750 schools it said would miss out on PFI-funded redevelopment and refurbishment if the Conservatives took power.
Labour wants to keep the funding mechanism that allows the government to defer payment over several years in areas where it needs to develop projects quickly and spread risk.
The Tories and Liberal Democrats diasgree.
Both say PFI gives poor value for money and leaves taxpayers paying interest for decades.
Treasury figures published alongside last month’s …

Wales’s seven local health boards have commissioned DTZ to review 14m sq ft of NHS property so they can draw up property plans.
The Welsh boards, which are equivalent to England’s Strategic Health Authorities, have commissioned DTZ to produce an asset life report. This means assessing the remaining useful lives of buildings, which DTZ is to do under a 10-week contract.
This is necessary for accounting and would enable the boards to plan for their future property needs.
DTZ was originally appointed by the Cardiff & Vale University Health Board to do asset …

NHS subsidiary the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital has moved into a new £5m Outpatient Assessment Centre, officially opened today by the Duke of York.
The three floor Bolsover Street centre, which was developed by Ridgeford Properties and Manhattan Loft Corporation,  will offer orthotics, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, pre-operative assessment and plaster theatre.
The Outpatient Assessment Centre has been built on one of London’s historic hospital sites, according to the hospital.
The RNOH is the largest specialist orthopaedic hospital in the UK and is regarded as a leader in the field of …

Plans for Malvern’s £17.7m Community Hospital have been unveiled today.
The new-build Malvern Community Hospital (new plans pictured), which is scheduled to open in autumn 2010, will provide 24 beds. It uses Combined Heat and Power as well as geothermal energy in a bid to deliver on low carbon targets.
The NHS is currently responsible for 3% of England’s total carbon dioxide emissions and has an annual energy bill of over £500 million.
The building will include in-patient and out-patient facilities, x-ray and ultrasound, day rehabilitation and therapies, palliative care and visiting mammography …

Fareham Community Hospital in Hampshire has been officially completed and will start curing patients in June.
NHS Hampshire and public-private partner body Solent Community Solutions announced the completion yesterday.
Fran Buxey, Project Manager for NHS Hampshire said: “This new purpose built facility will bring together services that are currently in several locations round the area and will enable more people to receive their health care locally.
We are delighted with the design and appearance of the building.”

David Lawrence, chief executive of healthcare consultancy Inventures (which was acquired by Capita Symonds in February), question whether the strategic property vehicles the government announced in last week’s Budget are the right way forward for the NHS:
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The government has flirted with this policy for a while, including the idea of a sale and lease back of large parts of the civil estate in the hope of a significant capital receipt.
However, previous deals such as PRIME in the Department for Work and Pensions and STEPS in HM Revenue & Customs …

PMP Health Group plans to invest £250m in developing doctors surgeries and healthcare property.
The group, which has developed more than 60 healthcare facilities in the UK, has hired Ian Webb, development consultant at Wilky Property, to run the new venture, PMP Capital Partners, alongside David Robson.
It has secured investment from a group of private investors, most of whom are Asia-based investors with UK-based advisers.
It began fundraising at the beginning of the year and, with debt, now has £250m to spend. Several banks are providing debt, in addition to Aviva, which …

Local authorities and the NHS could be forced to provide land for allotments under a new government initiative launched today.
Government departments Communities and Local Government and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have said they want to encourage public sector bodies to provide unused land for allotments. It said it planned to set up a community land bank to act as a broker between landowners and those who want land to grow food.
The government is due to work with the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens on …