UK: Akela Group subsidiary Akela Ground Engineering has appointed John Ward as its Precast Concrete Manager to support an expansion of the Glasgow, Scotland-based company’s production footprint into England. Ward will be based between Akela Ground Engineering’s offices in Glasgow and Swadlincote, England, and will have a special focus on sourcing a manufacturing base for the company’s ABeam precast concrete elements, currently produced in Glasgow.

The Scotsman newspaper has reported that Ward brings over 35 years of managerial experience, including at Green Piling, Centrum Pile, Aarsleff Ground Engineering UK and DEL Piling.

US: Geiger Ready Mix has requested city authorities in De Soto, Kansas, to rezone a plot on which for it to build a new ready-mix concrete plant. The Kansas City Business Journal newspaper has reported that Geiger Ready Mix’s plans include a 780m² batching plant, a 600m² workshop and a 630m² office building.

Australia: Permacast Future Industries, a joint venture of nickel slag-based cement developer Suvo Strategic Minerals and precast concrete producer Permacast, has signed a binding two-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) to supply its reduced-CO₂ concrete to wind farm developer Wind With Purpose (WWP). WWP will explore the use of the concrete in wind turbine foundations and towers. The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper has reported that WWP’s upcoming wind farms in Western Australia require 500 turbines, each using 1000m³ of concrete.

US: South Carolina-based concrete producer Knight’s Companies has appointed George Kuhn as Vice President of Technical Services of its Ready-Mix Concrete division. Kuhn will be responsible for building and sustaining relationships with the division’s existing customers and partners and supporting further growth through strategic development initiatives.

Kuhn was previously Technical Services Manager at Virginia-based Chandler Concrete, where he worked since 1988. He holds an Industrial Engineering degree from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.