Student Life Last updated 04 February 2016
Students from the Birmingham City Business School visited Walsall based LoCal Homes this week, to see how the cutting edge housing group deals with the business side of such a demanding industry.
Unlike traditional brick and mortar homes, LoCal homes are primarily made of timber, and are examples of what some have come to call “flat pack homes”. These homes are produced within the LoCal factory, before being transported to the housing site and bolted together. LoCal houses come with the benefit of very low carbon emissions, due to their incredible insulation capabilities.
Seven students from the Audit Management and Consultancy course were taken on a tour of the factory in the Reedswood area of Walsall, where one complete home can be manufactured every day. The tour was conducted by the Director of Project Development for LoCal, John Bedford.
The students were able to quiz John on what it takes to be a unique company in an industry that hasn’t really changed in decades. Outside of that, students were given insight into the organisational structure of LoCal and parent company Accord, a not-for-profit housing company.
The students also took in a tour of a nearby housing project, which has been set up in order to fulfill the “LoCal” name by given jobs to local people. It highlighted just what the flat pack house industry could one day become - one experimental house set up to be completely energy self-sufficient generated a three month energy bill totalling just £1.24!
While initially sceptical, the students who took part found the day to actually be very useful. Anthony Okotcha said:
Fellow student Selby Mahloane said:
This is just one of many real world, hands-on experiences Birmingham City University students have.