MSM have recently commenced the £1m refurbishment of Bostock House at the Royal Victoria Hospital for the Belfast Health & Social Care Trust (BHSCT). Bostock House is an existing 9-storey building located next to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children and was originally constructed in the early 1950’s to provide nurses’ accommodation, although the building is currently used for administration purposes. This project is being undertaken to accommodate the decanting of the BHSCT Estates Department from their existing temporary accommodation, which is required to be demolished to facilitate the future development of the Royal Victoria Hospital site.

Extensive refurbishment works are being carried out on the lower ground and third floors, with minor works on other floors. Non-construction areas of the building will remain ‘live’ throughout the project duration. Works will involve stripping out existing interior finishes, alterations and upgrade works to existing M&E services and complete interior fit-out works.

Project managers on this contract are AECOM working in conjunction with Isherwood + Ellis Architects. On-site works commenced during mid-June 2015 with a 19-week timescale and phased completions will be required to suit BHSCT requirements.

In order to accommodate their expansion plans, Creative Composites have recently awarded MSM the £1.2m contract to construct a 2,400m2 portal frame extension at their advanced Lisburn manufacturing plant.

Creative Composites are a leading UK manufacturer of high quality composite components in the automotive, aerospace and construction sectors.

The 26-week construction programme started during mid-May with completion planned for mid-November 2015. The works are programmed in phases to cause minimal disruption to manufacturing operations. The external works are programmed during weeks 1-12 and construction of the extension is to be completed during weeks 13-26.

The extension is approximately 46m x 52m, comprising vibro-compaction during ground stabilisation works, reinforced in-situ concrete floor slab, structural steel frame, Kingspan composite roof and wall cladding panels, roller shutters and M&E services installations. Extensive external works are being undertaken at the following 4nr locations:

– extension to the main car park to provide 31nr additional car parking spaces

– construction of a new reinforced concrete roadway to an existing stoned access route

– construction of a concrete facilities/marshalling area, approximate area 2,700m2

– extension of existing concrete roadway along the north east site boundary

MSM recently entered two five-person teams into the RiverRock Belfast City Marathon Team Relay 2015 event, with all funds raised going to our chosen charity, Macmillan Cancer Support. Even though we looked the part in our specially printed ‘MSM running for Macmillan’ t-shirts, we did not expect to be competing for the fastest time, our intention was to complete the course before the roads opened up again to the traffic!.

Most importantly, in the run-up to the event our team members and staff put in a great fundraising effort at our two offices, construction sites and with family and friends to raise a final total of £1,555 for Macmillan. We invited Joanne Young, Macmillan Fundraising Manager, to our Belfast office on Friday 05th May 2015 to meet some of the team members and for presentation of the cheque.

The ‘Was A Good Idea At The Time’ team comprised Jimmy Boyd, Martine Gaston, Greig McNeill, Tanya McNeill and Adrian McElhatton, finishing the 26.2 mile course in 4 hrs 29 mins and crossing the line in 4 hrs 36 mins, were the appropriately named ‘Scrambled Legs’ team of Ryan Phillips, Charlene Patton, Charlie Patton, Laura Feehan and Lorraine Patton. A great day was had by all who participated and our company is extremely happy to have supported this worthwhile cause.

MSM were pleased to invite Sandra Gordon from Cancer Focus Northern Ireland to deliver a ‘Staying safe in the sun’ awareness presentation on 27 May 2015, at our Castle Hill Events Space project in Dungannon for Mid Ulster Council. We invited MSM employees, our subcontractors and council employees to this PowerPoint presentation that sought to raise awareness on the dangers of over-exposure to UV radiation both on our construction sites and in our family lives.

Information was given on types of skin cancer, skin types and tips on how to spot early signs of skin cancer developing. Preventative measures were discussed, including use of hats, sunglasses, sunscreens, as well as underlining the importance of maintaining sufficient levels of vitamin D in our bodies. Following the presentation, a number of MSM employees and subcontractors participated in a screening session using a specialist skin scanner. Headshot images were taken of each person to identify signs of skin damage and potential signs of skin cancer.

MSM would like to thank Sandra for delivering this informative presentation at our Castle Hill Events Space site and for raising awareness on this important issue.

For further information on the work of Cancer Focus Northern Ireland, please go to      http://www.cancerfocusni.org/