The Herald:

HELLO and welcome to the AM Business Briefing, as Glasgow-based Akela Ground Engineering has hailed securing a second electric vehicle infrastructure contract in quick succession.

The firm is to deliver piling solutions at a new electric vehicle charging hub at Palace Grounds Retail Park in Hamilton, which follows the work that Akela recently completed at the UK's most powerful EV charging hub in Oxford.

Appointed by ACS Construction on behalf of Dutch company Fastned, the Palace Grounds Retail Park electric charging site will contain 8 ultra rapid EV chargers - delivering 100% renewable energy.

Work is scheduled to begin in January and will see Akela GE using steel repurposed tubular piles and innovative plant equipment to efficiently install the steel tube piles, helping to reduce the disposal of surplus materials to landfill and reduce the site’s carbon footprint by 97% when compared to using newly manufactured prime steel tube.


The Herald:


The latest two EV charging hub projects come as the Akela Group continues to diversify and expand into new markets. The group has also recently expanded into the English market with a regional headquarters in Leeds.

Mark Markey, Akela Group managing director, said: “This project marks a step towards helping Scotland to achieve Net Zero ambitions by decarbonising the transport sector and it is a unique opportunity for our company as we continue to place sustainability at the core of our business and expand into new markets.

“At Akela we continue to look at the materials and processes we are using to reduce both our, and clients’, carbon footprint through the use of innovative solutions, and through our work on these electric vehicle charging hubs, sustainable benefits will continue to be realised long after we finish on site.” 


Russell Borthwick: Ministers failing to understand vital role of the office

Does our government have some kind of hidden agenda against office working?

We frustratingly continue to have the ‘work from home where possible’ mantra at the core of public health policy, but with what justification? Where is the evidence to back up that offices are some kind of super-spreader?