XBuro is proud to announce we are now Living Wage Accredited Employers. 

This means we support the ethos that “A hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.” Our accreditation as a living wage employer further aligns with our values and our vision at XBuro as responsible employers committed to creating a culture driven by our passion, our creativity and our honesty. 

As we expand and grow in our fourth year of business, we know that at the heart of our company is our people. Everyone in our company has and will always be paid the living wage at a minimum and we are delighted to sign up officially to Living Wage Scotland. 

Co-founders Thomas Brady and Michael Gribben, said:  

“XBuro is proud to be accredited as a Living Wage employer. As a company, we are fully committed to fair and equitable working practices including paying all staff more than the living wage, offering flexibility to our people, and creating a thriving and collaborative place to work. Pledging our support to the Living Wage is an important milestone for all employers and we are delighted to join more than 2,700 like-minded employers in Scotland in our commitment to pay a fair day’s wage for a hard day’s work.” 

XBuro is a UK-wide Mechanical and Electrical Engineering company with offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London. Founded by Thomas Brady and Michael Gribben in 2018, XBuro employs more than 15 staff across its operations and works across a range of sectors including healthcare, defence, education, commercial, industrial and residential. The company is predicting a further growth in 2022 having expanded its services to the East Coast in 2020.

Engineering consultants trusted to deliver 55 projects worth a value of more than £100 million since March

Scottish mechanical and electrical engineering consultants XBuro has announced a significant expansion into the south of England – including the launch of a new London office and a recruitment drive ­– to meet increasing demand during the coronavirus lockdown.

Among the 55 contracts taken on by XBuro since March are eight substantial projects for the NHS, including the Covid-19 test facility at Gartnavel Hospital by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the Western General Infrastructure Works project by NHS Lothian.

In 2019, XBuro UK delivered 500,000 square feet of healthcare projects across the UK. Since the pandemic began, the company has delivered 750,000 square feet of healthcare projects.

Director Michael Gribben, who founded XBuro UK alongside fellow director Thomas Brady in 2018, said: “At the beginning of the first lockdown, a lot of projects were delayed, so there was some uncertainty.

“However, very quickly we began to receive a huge influx of enquiries, particularly in the healthcare sector. This demand has remained consistently high since then. We were able to deliver important projects quickly, while never sacrificing quality.

“We have been proud to have been able to play a small part in a much larger effort by helping to deliver vital public health projects during our nation’s time of need.

“During this period, we have also delivered numerous private sector projects and we’re also delighted to now be recognised as a trusted partner of developers and fund managers across the UK. Our pitch success rate is rising all the time as our reputation grows.”

In recent months, directors Michael Gribben and Thomas Brady have bolstered their team with the recruitment of design director David Russell from HKA and senior electrical engineer Ian Menzies from Charles Scott and Partners.

The Glasgow-based company’s robust Covid-19 Risk Assessments and Method Statements (RAMS) allowed the influx of projects to begin without delay and to truly deliver projects without delay or interruption.

Last year, the company carried out condition inspections on over seven million square feet of both private and public sector real estate across the UK. This is set to reach 12 million square feet by the end of 2020.

XBuro are working alongside Ryden, JLL, PMP, Doig and Smith, Currie and Brown, Thomson Gray and Avison Young on high-profile commercial real estate projects – including major office redevelopments in Glasgow’s St Vincent Street and Buchanan Street.

In addition to the major NHS works, project wins in the public sector include being appointed quality monitor for schools across North Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire, as well as projects in the defence sector.

Michael added: “With an increased number of projects and our reputation growing south of the border, adding experience to our team and securing a London office was the next logical step.

“We look forward to delivering more projects successfully across the UK, which will further establish ourselves as a high-quality provider in the industry as we continue to grow.”

Read more in The Herald.

Xburo UK was established in November 2018 with a strong focus on delivering commercially focussed and experienced Mechanical, Electrical & Public Health Engineering(MEPH) advice and solutions. 

Established by Thomas Brady & Michael Gribben, who are both Chartered Engineers & CIBSE Corporate Members.

Thomas & Michael originally met while working on significant healthcare projects for a national engineering consultancy in 2000.

Since then, both Thomas & Michael have gone on to deliver significant healthcare, commercial office, education, logistics and transport portfolios of projects.

Uniquely however, Xburo have significant commercial experience in the delivery of detailed design, technical due diligence(TDD) for sale and acquisition, development monitoring planned and preventative maintenance (PPM), dilapidations and landlord approval representation. 

The combination of these experiences ensure Xburo are amongst the most commercially aware and technically robust consultancies in the United Kingdom. 

Both Thomas & Michael have seen the quality of MEPH deliverables deteriorate in recent years as the demand for contractor design portions increase. They have established Xburo UK to offer solid and commercially sound solutions that can be constructed, with a key focus on testing and commissioning to ensure the quality of each commission is never compromised. 

In these unprecedented times the Westminster and Holyrood response measures to combat the spread of the Covid-19 virus has resulted in a number of buildings now being unoccupied and, in some cases, mothballed for an indefinite period of time. 

During these periods it is crucial for building owners to protect their assets. Mothballing of buildings and in particularly building services, is normally planned and is usually a long-term approach as part of a broader strategy around the asset itself. 

Unplanned and immediate shutdown of buildings and the associated building services systems can present building owners with some difficulties.

In such instances Xburo would offer the following considerations for building owners and managers to ensure that when ‘normal service’ resumes the building services systems are responsive. 

When closing the building, 

• Take meter readings of all the utility meters both manually and electronically through your Building Management System (BMS), 
• Make a record of your building management system (BMS) operational profiles, for reinstating later
• Set heating and cooling services onto frost protection for the spaces and ensure a regular flow of water and air, such as a daily purge or simple operation for a short period, 
• Flush all your domestic water outlets, both hot and cold for a period of 3 minutes, 
• If isolating water services to the building wholesale, be aware of systems that may rely on water top up and assess the impact of that, 
• Visually inspect your emergency lighting systems
• Locally test your fire alarm system throughout the building and remedy immediately any identified faults
• Locally test and check your security, door access and CCTV systems throughout the building and remedy any identified faults
• Ensure all Redcare or emergency response numbers are up to date, 
• Notify your insurers of what you are planning to do and the measures you have taken, such as those above. 

When reinstating the building for resumption of services:

• Visually inspect all areas of your building, looking for leaks or other signs of damage.
• Engage your maintenance contractor to inspect your heating and cooling primary plant elements and slowly bring back into the normal operating conditions
• Work with your maintenance contractor to check that motorised elements such as dampers and actuators are responsive and operating as desired
• Flush all your domestic water systems as per your water hygiene policy and subsequently record water temperatures
• Take temperature readings of the water storage plant
• Visually inspect your emergency lighting systems
• Locally test your fire alarm system throughout the building and remedy immediately any identified faults
• Locally test and check your security, door access and CCTV systems throughout the building and remedy any identified faults
• Ensure that all services are operating as desired for a reasonable period before reinstating business as normal operations. 

BSRIA’s SFG 30 and CIBSE Guide M offer further advice on mothballing and maintenance generally. Further information will be available from members of the MEPH industry and your building maintainers, which can be tailored specifically for your needs.