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Archaeologists uncover more of the Guildhalls’ rich history in latest findings

Archaeological investigations have uncovered a previously unknown Roman road, currency and an abundance of Roman pottery at the site of the Guildhall as restoration work continues.

Over the last six months, York Archaeological Trust (YAT) has been working on behalf of City of York Council, to monitor and record any archaeological deposits or features that are exposed through the ongoing redevelopment and restoration work of VINCI Construction UK at the Guildhall complex.

While much of the site has, in the past, been extensively disturbed by modern drains and foundations, some significant discoveries have been made.

In the South Range area of the development, the excavation of new foundation trenches recently revealed an area of cobbled surface dated to the Roman period. Buried over 1.5m below modern street level, the surface contained an abundance of Roman pottery and a silver coin. Furthermore, the excavation of a small trench revealed that three distinct surfaces had been laid, suggesting that it remained in use for a considerable period.

The relatively rough construction of the surface may suggest that it represents a yard or lane rather than a main road, however, its location is significant. The surface is situated close to both the projected location of the Roman crossing point over the River Ouse and the junction of Roman road 2 (broadly followed by modern Coney Street) and the Via Praetoria; the road leading into the Porta Praetoria gatehouse and under modern Stonegate to the centre of the Fortress.

Local suppliers are invited to join in the Guildhall’s historic renovation.

Guildhall

City of York Council are hosting a Local Supplier Event in partnership with VINCI Construction UK to invite the city’s local supply chain to take part in the ongoing work to restore the Guildhall.

The £20 million Guildhall project will see a “business club” established in the building. The viability of the project has been strongly criticised by some taxpayers

The Guildhall is one of the city’s most prestigious and historically significant buildings. The complex contains a collection of Grade I, II* and II listed buildings built around the 15th century hall and riverside meeting room. The site is undergoing a full restoration and redevelopment to secure its long-term future, offering high quality office space, community use, a cafe, a new riverside restaurant and better access for local residents.

The event will take place on Wednesday 8 January 2020 at West Offices, Station Rise, York, YO1 6GA.

At this event York’s local businesses will be provided with information on the work packages VINCI Construction UK have available at the Guildhall. This invitation extends to businesses in York who may or may not have worked with the council before.

Chris Winspear, Regional Director at VINCI Construction UK, said: 

“One of the key contributing factors in the success of our business is securing the support and services of a high-quality, skilled supply chain of businesses and specialist trades within the local areas in which we work. We look forward to meeting as many local suppliers as possible at this dedicated event, to learn how the tradespeople of York can support the regeneration of the Guildhall.”

VINCI Construction UK were awarded the contract to restore and renovate of the city’s Guildhall which began in September 2019. As part of their procurement submission, VINCI outlined their ambition to engage with the local supply chain in York to advertise packages of work.

This work may include:

•           Painting and Decorating

•           Carpentry

•           Joinery

•           Cosmetic Repairs

•           Timber flooring/doors and other repairs

•           Stone Mason

•           Pavement Lighting

•           Roofing (single ply, slate tiling, zinc, glazed and lead)

•           Windows and Doors (Aluminium)

This event will allow City of York and VINCI to inform and engage local businesses in the work that has been completed so far at the Guildhall and what work is required moving forward. Details of packages, values and timescales will be provide at the event on Wednesday 8th January 2020.

To register attendance or find out more please contact Chloe Wilcox chloe.wilcox@york.gov.uk or call 01904 551307. Capacity is limited and therefore, attendance is restricted to one person per organisation.

£20 million contract signed for the conversion of the Guildhall into a business club

Almost comatose leadership has allowed the York Council to slip into a £20.2 million project which will see the Guildhall and neighbouring development site converted into a business club and restaurant.

Weed infested, stonework stained, windows caked with dirt. The neglect of the Guildhall since 2012

Neglect of the Listed building since 2012 means that some of the money will be needed to underpin parts of the old building while an new roof will also be necessary.

On even the most optimistic of income estimates, York Council taxpayers will be left with an annual bill of £574,000. Most of this is interest charges on additional borrowings of £16 million.

The York Councils PR department has been busy working on a, very awkward looking, video seeking to justify the £20 million scheme. Their time might have been better spent updating residents on what is being done to address failings with the bin emptying service, overgrown paths etc.

There have been numerous occasions over the last 8 years where decisive leadership interventions could have reduced the risk to taxpayers. (click)

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So now we move on to managing the contract and subsequently letting the newly created space.

The Council has committed itself to a £20 million cost envelope and an opening date in “spring 2021”.

The Councils record on major capital projects has not been good in recent years. The £42 million Community Stadium costs escalated from an original plan to invest £16 million and, 3 years after its target completion date, it is still not open.

Taxpayers will be monitoring progress on the Guildhall project with anxiety. Even after completion the authority will be faced with the task of renting out the new office space for £595,000 per annum. Failure to do so would mean an increased subsidy from taxpayers.

 Ironically the Council may then find that it is in competition with itself as some of he office space being built at the Community Stadium site has still not found an occupier.

Guildhall repair costs escalate to £20 million

Growing concern about debt levels as Council pledges to borrow more money

In December 2011 the then Labour controlled York Council was urged to make a prompt decision on the future of the Listed parts of the Guildhall.

The building became empty when the Council moved to “West Offices”.

It was to be the start of 7 years of prevarication. The fabric of the building deteriorated and repair costs escalated

Business plan 2014

The Council had embarked on an expensive and ultimately pointless design contest for the site.

Eventually the Council opted to use the building as a “media centre” although it was some time before a cost of £9 million for the conversion work was published.

Keeping the building empty was costing taxpayers over £150,00 a year in maintenance costs. The fabric continued to deteriorate.

A new “coalition” administration took over in York in May 2015.

Business plan 2016

They had been critical of Labours plans and the expectation was that they would test the market to see what the private sector might do with at least part of the site. They failed to do so and instead hatched a behind close doors deal to turn the complex into a “self funding” business centre.

They could not find any public or private sector partners who would be willing to share the risk on this patently uneconomic project.

The cost of the project was put at £12.7 million. Councillors claimed that it would still break even with rent income offsetting the costs of borrowing.

By 2018 the estimated cost of the project had soared to £17 million. Councillors ignored pleas that the site be put on the open market. There was interest in providing residential, hospitality or prestige office accommodation on the site. The Council decided to plough on regardless

Business plan 2017

 

6 months ago the neglect of the building had become apparent to passers-by.

Yesterday the Council published a report saying that the project costs had risen to over £20 million. They admitted that taxpayers will have to find nearly £600,000 per annum to pay interest charges on the additional borrowing

NB. This year 11% of taxes paid by York residents were used to pay interest charges on the Councils borrowing. This will have increased to 21% by 2022.

By the same date, the Council total debt will have increased to £479,000,000.

Business case Feb 2019

Guildhall redevelopment deal collapses

Interserve (ICL) taken off contract as costs escalate

York Guildhall

The York Council’s, accident prone, plan to redevelop the Guildhall as a business centre has collapsed.

They have been unable to agree a final cost target with preferred contractor ICL.

ICL were awarded the contract last year, with the overall expenditure on the controversial plan then put at over £12 million.

The Council were criticised for putting so much taxpayers money at risk on what was a speculative venture.

A report published today says that

“In accordance with the contract ICL advised their tender submission would be delayed and made an initial stage 2 tender submission on 16 February 2018. Unfortunately this was significantly in excess of the current project budget and contained a number of outstanding cost items which did not provide sufficient proof that the submission evidenced value for money”

Guildhall project layout plans

The Guildhall has been largely unused since the Council moved its operation to West Offices in 2013. Initially it had been expected that a private sector partnership would lead the redevelopment of the site which is in a Conservation area and which includes two important Listed buildings (Guildhall and Council Chamber).

It is unclear what will now happen although there are growing concerns that the empty buildings will continue to deteriorate with taxpayers facing an increasing annual maintenance burden.

The Council has already spent over £1 million on the aborted project.

Contract for building works at Guildhall to cost £10.8 million

The Council has confirmed that the contract for building works at the Guildhall complex will cost £10.8 million.This varies from the amount indicated in November but is in line with the budget agreed last spring.    

The contract was been awarded to Interserve

The work is expected to be completed by November 2019

The Council’s approach to redevelopment of the Guildhall area has been the subject of controversy since it became clear that no private sector firm was prepared to share the risk on the contract. The approved total capital cost for the project is £12.8 million.

To this should be added any shortfall on running costs

 

Ironically, 4 years ago, the then Leader of the Council, quoted the Guildhall contract when explaining how attendance at the Cannes estate agents jamboree “Le Marché International des Professionnels de l’immobilier (MIPIM)” would generate investment in the Guildhall project.

The next MIPIM event takes place in March in a modest little venue in Cannes (see below). The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (formerly Leeds City Region) – part of the budget for which income from York taxpayers – will be represented there, as they have for each of the last 5 years.

Local companies encouraged to bid for Guildhall refurbishment work

Local companies can get into pole position for contracts on the £9m Guildhall redevelopment at a special event tomorrow Tuesday. (28 November).

City of York Council has appointed main contractor Interserve, who will be working in partnership with York-based M&E contractor SES Engineering Services, to transform the complex into a world-class civic and business venue.

Part of Interserve’s winning bid involved a commitment to using local suppliers. Now they want to meet the local construction companies who can help to deliver the high quality and best value redevelopment of the listed building.

There are opportunities for any construction-based companies and suppliers such as roofing, scaffolding, dryliners, demolition, groundworks, joinery, plastering, steelwork, masonry, heritage specialists, decorators, glazers, floorers, fire safety, lighting, mechanical, electrical wholesalers and more.

You can meet the team and find out more about available contracts and work on the scheme at the ‘Meet the Buyer’ event, which runs from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at West Offices.

Businesses can register their interest here (click): https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/york-guildhall-meet-the-buyer-tickets-39832969484

 

Contractor appointed for £9m Guildhall transformation

City of York Council has appointed Interserve to carry out the £9m transformation of the iconic Guildhall into a world-class civic and business venue.

Under the current plan Council officials will attempt to directly manage the taxpayer funded facility with £12.4 million at risk.  Much of the work is being funded by borrowing. At best, the business plan would see a minimal forecast surplus of  £1000 a year on the investment.  This would be after covering interest charges on the planned £8.7 million of extra  borrowing needed to fund the project.

Earlier in the year the Council announced that it had failed to find either public or private sector partners willing to share the financial risks on the project.

Today the Council says, “Interserve demonstrated that it has the expertise to deliver a high quality and best value remodelling of the listed building complex during a highly competitive tendering process. The construction company has worked on other significant listed buildings including Kirkgate Market in Leeds, Durham Castle and the former Co-op store in Newcastle”.

The council’s Executive approved plans to redevelop the Guildhall complex in March 2017. The redevelopment will “make the most” of the listed buildings, allowing riverside access to the complex which will host public and civic events, a restaurant and state-of-the-art business centre.

Interserve’s bid showed strong proposals for creating  the river access, and that the company understood how to overcome the significant challenges of carrying out construction on the site.

The appointment means that work should begin in January 2018, after contracts are signed and exploratory works are completed.

City of York Council’s Full Council meetings will be hosted at The Citadel, the former home of York’s Salvation Army now owned by York City Church, during the construction period.

“Financial inclusion” project set to be launched in Westfield

£250,000 is set to be invested in helping less well-off members of the community in the Westfield, Clifton, Guildhall, Heworth and Hull Road wards. The wards are among the lowest ranked using a national “Index of Multiple Deprivation” (IMD). The project will last for two years.

In some ways, the project will seek to emulate the Kingsway Project, of the last decade, which did achieve some success in getting residents to apply for the benefits to which they were entitled. Paradoxically a low score in the IMD is influenced by the number of claimants – meaning that the more successful a benefits campaign is, the lower the score will be!

Some neighbourhoods – such as Chapelfields – have relatively small numbers of retired people and are less likely to be regarded as “deprived” using the national definitions.  However, the Council is, rightly, intending to roll out its project across the whole of the Westfield ward

A key target for any project like this must be to get more people into work. In KIngsway this proved to be difficult because of the large proportion of elderly and retired people in the area. These days the high employment level in the City means that there are a lot of jobs around so progress may be possible for the long term unemployed.

The Council has produced a summary of the key indicators of “deprivation” (below).  Many of these are unlikely to show a measurable improvement over just a couple of years (life expectancy being one example).

Instead of setting measurable  firm targets, the Council says, “Social Return on Investment produces a description of how a project creates value and a ratio that states how much social value in £s is created for every £ of investment”.

This is the management speak equivalent of Voodoo.

Guildhall plan – York Council goes it alone.

York Guildhall

The York Council has failed to find a commercial partner to sustain the planned small business club which will occupy a refurbished Guildhall.

It means that Council officials will attempt to directly manage the taxpayer funded facility with £12.4 million at risk.

At best, the business plan being considered by the Council’s Executive next week would see a minimal forecast surplus of  £1000 a year on the investment.  This would be after covering interest charges on the planned £8.7 million of extra  borrowing needed to fund the project.

However, this does not include the need to fund a direct grant of £1.759 million from the Council’s capital programme (part of which is also funded through borrowing) or the need to repay loans to the Councils internal “Venture Fund” which is set to bear revenue losses on the project of over £568,000 during the next 5 years.

Taxpayers will also indirectly fund a £2.5 million contribution from the Leeds City Region “Local Enterprise Partnership” which may also have to be repaid from any surplus.

As recently as July, the Council was saying that it could only recoup around £500,000 from the rent of office space. Now it says that £785,000 a year is possible, at “88%” occupancy levels, plus £25,000 for the rent of café/bar space.

The project is also dependent on leasing a large section of the building for use as a restaurant. This element is expected bring in £180.000 a year in rent income.

The viability of a (separate) bar/café is dependent on securing a licence on what is a site – under the Councils own rules – located within a “cumulative impact zone” where alcohol abuse has become a significant problem for the City.

The project has had a very chequered history.

The Guildhall was effectively abandoned in 2013 by the then Labour controlled Council when they upped desks and moved to West Offices. They opted in 2013 for a £1.4 million conversion into a “Digital and Media Centre” (DMC).

The listed buildings were left empty and their condition rapidly declined to the point where a £2.5 million backlog in maintenance work developed.

The Council went through a time consuming and expensive design competition, but it was late 2014 before they confirmed their intention to use  the buildings for a DMC.

By then costs had escalated to £9.2 million.

2016 options

An incoming coalition Council in May 2015 seemed to be transfixed by the problem, but after 12 months they scrapped the media centre plan instead opting for a seemly safer business centre scheme.

They rejected a less risky, and financially more prudent, option which would have seen some residential units provided on the site.

A Heritage Lottery bid was turned down leaving the Council to seek commercial partners.

These have also now failed to materialise.

At no time has the sale of the site been tested on the open market.

The Council has an indifferent track record when trying to directly manage specialist facilities. The Barbican concert hall and pool – which cost taxpayers nearly £1 million a year in subsidies, in addition to a capital construction cost of £12 million – remains fresh in many memories.

The Barbican eventually had to be leased to a professional leisure operator.

The refurbishment of the Mansion House, which is adjacent to the Guildhall, is also running 12 months behind schedule.

& then there is the Community Stadium saga!

So we doubt whether we have heard the last of the Guildhall project.