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Prime Minister visits MTX fast-track 'Project Speed' at Hereford County Hospital

“Build better. Build greener. Build faster” – Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.

After declaring the UK Government’s intention to deliver ‘Project Speed’, including a £3billion capital investment into the NHS, we were excited to welcome the Prime Minister to visit our latest £12million, fast-track ward project at Hereford County Hospital.

Boris visited our latest scheme on 11th August, keen to see for himself the progress of the new ward project aimed to give the NHS a total of 72 extra beds across 3 state-of-the-art wards, in just 11 months.

Part of the Government initiative to ‘to build better, to build greener, to build faster’ the new ward scheme is being constructed using our most innovative fast-track methods aimed to reduce build time by up to 50%.

With the Government’s ‘Project Speed’ well underway, described as “the most radical reforms of our planning system since the end of the second world war”, we believe our offsite methods are a clear way to deliver on the PM’s promises.

“The first of the 20 new hospital upgrades that this government has embarked on…
The beginning of a record programme of investment in our NHS’

Prime Minister, Boris Johnson

MTX Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) delivers:

‘Build Better’

  • An engineered solution
  • Exceptional factory QC process
  • Reduced vehicle movements
  • Reduced on-site operatives
  • Safer construction sites
  • Minimised disruption to operational estates

‘Build Greener’

  • Increased opportunity to recycle
  • Upto a 60% reduction in waste from construction activities
  • Improved building energy performance
  • Reduced carbon emissions during construction

‘Build Faster’

  • Programme savings of up to 50%
  • Sub-structure and super structure constructed in parallel
  • Utilisation of pre-manufactured MEP services
  • Utilisation of off-site finishes

Find out more details about Project Speed

What is Project Speed?

Project Speed is the name of the UK government’s new Infrastructure Delivery Taskforce. This taskforce will be led by the UK Chancellor.

The intention is for Project Speed to help the UK not just to recover from the Coronavirus pandemic but also to address a number of issues that have become an increasing problem in the UK over the past three decades.

The stated aim of Project Speed is to ‘build better, build greener, build faster’. The taskforce will do this by making changes to the current government strategy and policies to ensure that the time it takes to commence and complete a construction project is dramatically reduced.

This doesn’t mean that the UK will be returning to the 1950s when tower blocks were being thrown up wherever there was a space for them. Although Project Speed will result in construction projects being fast-tracked, the taskforce will be concentrating on ethical construction projects.

However, it does mean that the UK will be using the construction sector as a major driver to ensure that when the Coronavirus pandemic is over, the UK will emerge much stronger than it was prior to the pandemic.

Which sectors will Project Speed benefit?

The NHS will be the obvious beneficiary of Project Speed. New hospitals are being built which will increase the UK’s resilience to potential future pandemics.

Project Speed will also other deliver other benefits to the NHS. In addition to new hospitals, money will also be invested in hospital maintenance and improvements to hospital facilities to enhance patient care and A&E capacity. Mental health dormitories will be eradicated.

Other public sector investment projects will also benefit. Project Speed will be working to ensure that infrastructure and social housing projects through the UK are fast-tracked.

The education sector will benefit through fast-tracked investment in schools and further education facilities, and the skills gap will be addressed by virtue of the fact that apprenticeship opportunities will be created due to increased activity in the construction sector.

And the environment will benefit. Project Speed will be removing the outdated ‘red tape’ that frustrates many developers, but not at the expense of the environment. Ethical construction will still be a major component of government strategy.

How can companies and hospitals get involved?

Companies and public sector organisations such as hospitals have often found that the hurdles that they have had to overcome when they have been considering undertaking construction projects have made those projects unviable. There were too many hoops for them to jump through.

Project Speed will make it easier for those companies and public sector organisations to partner with construction firms to work on ethical construction projects. It will also make it more cost-effective for them to do so. As a result of Project Speed, many ethical construction projects that had previously been put on hold may now be projects where it may be practical to start working on them.

MTX is already working with hospitals to help those hospitals take advantage of the opportunities that Project Speed offers. An example is the Hereford County Hospital project that will add three new wards with a total of 72 beds in just eleven months.

What is MTX’s role in Project Speed?

The MTX approach is ideally suited to Project Speed projects because this approach ticks all three of the Project Speed boxes – ‘Build Better, Build Greener, Build Faster ‘.

First, MTX use modular construction which helps achieve the ‘Build Better’ ambition.

As much of the construction work happens off-site, this means that there is less disruption to the people and businesses in the immediate vicinity of the construction site in terms of noise, dirt and dust nuisance. It also means that the construction process benefits from improved health and safety.

Second, the modular buildings that MTX construct are designed with ethical construction in mind, helping with the ‘Build Greener’ ambition.

These modular buildings are built using sustainable materials and processes, and there is less waste produced in their construction. They are also built to be energy efficient.

Finally, by constructing the new buildings off-site MTX don’t have to wait until the demolition of any existing buildings and the groundworks at the site have been completed. This dramatically reduces the amount of time required to complete projects and delivers the Return on Investment more quickly, achieving the ‘Build Faster’ ambition.

We’d love to talk to you about how we can help you use Project Speed to fast-track your ethical construction projects. Feel free to get in touch to find out more.