Nominated on the Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award shortlist, this elderly housing scheme by architect Patel Taylor is a breath of fresh air. In the face of ever lengthening waiting lists for social housing in England’s capital, and a million fewer affordable London homes predicted for 2018 compared to 1980, housing availability for older […]
French contractor Bouygues has inked a deal to deliver Battersea Power Station’s third redevelopment phase, making the contractor the linchpin in the UK’s biggest ever building contract. High bidders Bouygues beat shortlisted competition Balfour Beatty to land the £1bn+ construction contract. The French company will follow up the work of Carillion’s phase one, Sanska’s phase […]
More and more, there are reports of illegal gas work being undertaken in domestic properties across the UK. Unqualified gas engineers who haven’t undertaken any training at all simply put people’s lives at risk and the penalties for such dangerous undertakings are on the rise. The disregard for the rules imposed by Gas Safe Register […]
It’s not easy going solo and taking on the working world single-handedly, especially when you don’t have any self-employed contacts to give you advice, or any experience of running your own “gig” to fall back on. In this article we’re going to assume you’ve got the basics sorted out; you’ve registered for self assessment, you’ve […]
If you’re a self employed tradesperson you’ll know that it’s often easier to cough up than to faff with your tax. But a little bit of nous and a small investment of time could save you a lot of money when it comes to your bill from HMRC. If you don’t want to cough up […]
It is now that time again to get your house ready for the big Christmas get together. Are you looking to get your house looking like a home for Christmas and you need the right skills to get you going? Look no further than Able Skills Painting & Decorating short courses, we have the perfect […]
Utilising a disused brownfields site in Milton Keynes, this brand new HQ for Network Rail has won CIBSE’s (Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers) 2015 New Build Project of the Year (over £10m). With an Excellent BREEAM rating and an EPC A rating, this £106 million project has been a revelation both for Network Rail […]
Hello practical people, are your fingers itching for a fresh fortnight of projects? Every two weeks the Able Skills team share some of their favourite Instructables and DIY hacks, throwing down the gauntlet to find out exactly what your making is made of! If you’re looking for a project for a rainy autumn day why […]
Mike is at the halfway mark of his 10 Week Tiling Course and he has progressed massively during this time due to his hard work and passion for tiling. Everything Mike has learnt during his 5 weeks has been extremely relevant to him. The reason for this is that he has always loved tiling and […]
James has just finished his NVQ Level 2 Bricklaying course at Able Skills and he had extremely high praise for the course and his instructors. He is another happy student who has left Able Skills with excellent skills and a great qualification. Before Able Skills, James didn’t know the first thing about laying a brick […]
A competition watchdog commissioned by the Government has drawn up plans to prevent cement companies from sending out blanket price rise letters across the construction industry. During a review of competition in the sector, the watchdog found cause to push for greater competition in the sector, which has long been subject to high cement prices […]
London Hotel owner needs to fix up his rooms! James, who has now completed our Introduction to Plumbing course, wanted to get an insight into how certain aspects of plumbing work. So he started off with the introduction course so he could begin with the basics. Unlike a lot of our students James hasn’t […]