Nick Williams

A row of seven houses for local people will be built on a former site of garages in Barking after councillors gave the green light to plans from Be First at a town hall planning committee this week. The development in Wivenhoe Road, Barking, will feature five two-bedroom houses and two three-bedroom houses. Jennie Coombs, […]

A statue of Jesus at a former convent in Dagenham has found a new home in Southend this week after an agreement between The Sacred Heart Church in the seaside town and Be First, Barking and Dagenham Council’s pioneering regeneration company. The celestial move will allow Be First to develop the former Sacred Heart Convent

Barking and Dagenham Council’s cabinet member for education met the Head Teacher and pupils to see how the building works at Barking Abbey School are gathering pace. Councillor Evelyn Carpenter met Head Teacher, Jo Tupman, and students at the school’s Longbridge Road campus to see how the new specialist teaching accommodation with dining hall, and

Be First, Barking and Dagenham Council’s pioneering regeneration company, has agreed a deal to build a new 78 room hotel adjacent to the site of the soon-to-be largest film studios in London. The hotel will be run by Travelodge and built by Barnes Construction through a funding agreement with Berkeley Square Developments on behalf of

Be First has appointed two top class teams to deliver the next phases of its ambitious development programme. Jerram Falkus, together with architects Pollard Thomas Edwards, will be providing up to 90 new flats on the site of Sebastian Court, Barking, which is scheduled for redevelopment. Their imaginative proposal is for three separate mansion blocks

Barking and Dagenham Councillors granted outline planning permission earlier this week (11 June) for an exciting 850 home development on the Gascoigne West estate, in Barking. The proposal, which involves demolishing and replacing 179 flats bordering St Pauls Road and Abbey Road, Barking, will also mean an extra 671 homes are built, with more than

Be First, Barking and Dagenham’s pioneering urban regeneration company, is now advertising for contractors to join a brand new development framework, estimated to be worth £1 billion over the next four years. The company, whose mission is to accelerate growth in the east London borough, has more than 44 projects in the pipeline and will

Be First has appointed architects Archio to work on the development of a former Synagogue site in Dagenham. Barking and Dagenham Council’s pioneering regeneration company gave the east London firm the green light after they submitted designs for ‘two villas on a green carpet’. The villas will deliver around 20 homes for shared ownership. Pat

From abbeys and artists’ quarters to Ford factories and film studios, Barking and Dagenham’s history has shaped the country’s economic past and sign posts its future. To celebrate this, Be First, Barking and Dagenham Council’s pioneering urban regeneration company, has launched a unique free bus tour of the borough to give an insight to why

Be First has announced two winners of its competition to design the next phases of regeneration of Barking’s Gascoigne East estate. White Arkitekter and HTA design consortia were selected by Barking and Dagenham Council’s pioneering regeneration company, to take forward phases 2 and 3 respectively, of one of London’s largest regeneration schemes. Jennie Coombs, Head