diff --git a/configs/docker/build/Dockerfile b/configs/docker/build/Dockerfile
index fb37f2078542e9434c18696030700f8ccd7e305f..26242dd196c036610fc9163351adb88490d88106 100644
--- a/configs/docker/build/Dockerfile
+++ b/configs/docker/build/Dockerfile
@@ -3,10 +3,30 @@ FROM ubuntu:24.04 as base_image
 
 SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-c"]
 
+#install system packages
+RUN apt-get update;apt-get install --assume-yes python-dev-is-python3 python3-dev python3.11-venv wget unzip emacs gdal-bin libgdal-dev build-essential gfortran zlib1g zlib1g-dev libbz2-dev apt-utils liblzma-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev default-jre openssh-server libfribidi-dev libfontconfig1-dev libspatialindex-dev git;
+
+#sets the timezone to London
+RUN DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive TZ=Etc/UTC apt-get -y install tzdata
+
+#these usernames and ids match the production server (IaaS), override when building a local image if needed
+ARG GNAME=ews
+ARG UNAME=ewsmanager
+ARG UID=1006
+ARG GID=1008
+RUN groupadd -g $GID $GNAME
+RUN useradd -m -u $UID -g $GID -o -s /bin/bash $UNAME
+
 #run mkdir as root
 RUN mkdir -p /storage/app/EWS_prod/regions/EastAfrica/workspace
 RUN mkdir -p /storage/app/EWS_prod/regions/SouthAsia/workspace
 
+RUN chown -R $UNAME /storage
+
+#swith to the user before installing stuff
+USER $UNAME
+
+
 #create dirs
 WORKDIR /home
 #RUN mkdir /home/ewsmanager/code
@@ -15,40 +35,13 @@ WORKDIR /home
 #COPY ./conda-env-py3EWS-nobuilds.yml .
 COPY ./requirements.txt .
 
-#install system packages
-RUN apt-get update;apt-get install --assume-yes python-dev-is-python3 python3-dev python3.11-venv wget unzip emacs gdal-bin libgdal-dev build-essential gfortran zlib1g zlib1g-dev libbz2-dev apt-utils liblzma-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev default-jre openssh-server libfribidi-dev libfontconfig1-dev libspatialindex-dev git;
 RUN echo "alias e='emacs -nw $1'" >> ~/.bashrc;
 RUN alias ll="ls -ltr"
 
-#sets the timezone to London
-RUN DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive TZ=Etc/UTC apt-get -y install tzdata
-
-# Install miniconda
-#ENV CONDA_DIR /storage/app/miniconda3
-#RUN wget --quiet https://repo.anaconda.com/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh -O ~/miniconda.sh \
-#    && /bin/bash ~/miniconda.sh -b -p $CONDA_DIR \
-#    && rm -v ~/miniconda.sh;
-# Put conda in path so we can use conda activate
-#ENV PATH=$CONDA_DIR/bin:$PATH
-
-#build the conda env(s)
-#RUN conda env create --file conda-env-py3EWS-nobuilds.yml --prefix /storage/app/EWS_prod/envs/conda/py3EWS
+#build the venv
 RUN python3 -m venv /storage/app/EWS_prod/envs/venv/ews_prod
 RUN source /storage/app/EWS_prod/envs/venv/ews_prod/bin/activate;pip install -r requirements.txt
 
-#tidy
-#RUN rm -v conda-env-py3EWS-nobuilds.yml;
-#RUN rm -v requirements.txt;
-
-#these usernames and ids match the production server (IaaS), override when building a local image if needed
-ARG GNAME=ews
-ARG UNAME=ewsmanager
-ARG UID=1006
-ARG GID=1008
-RUN groupadd -g $GID $GNAME
-RUN useradd -m -u $UID -g $GID -o -s /bin/bash $UNAME
-USER $UNAME
-
 RUN echo $PYTHONPATH
 
 WORKDIR /home/ewsmanager