As students across the country get stuck into the new academic year, UK Construction Week is celebrating education and training of all kinds – highlighting that there is more than one way to build a successful and rewarding career in construction. Key to this is the UK Construction Week Career
Dedicated materials store enables increased repair and maintenance efficiencies and cost savings Managed Services, part of Travis Perkins plc, which provides maintenance materials and supply chain planning for public sector organisations, has opened a new store in West Oxfordshire, exclusively for housing association Cottsway. Cottsway, the largest housing association in
One of Europe’s leading workwear manufacturers, Danish company F. Engel have introduced a wide range of high visibility safety workwear in accordance with the new International and European standardisation EN ISO 20 471 With customers’ safety as the company’s prime concern, each item of warning-clothing is produced with the largest
As students across the country get stuck into the new academic year, UK Construction Week is celebrating education and training of all kinds – highlighting that there is more than one way to build a successful and rewarding career in construction. Key to this is the UK Construction Week Career Centre, a dedicated area within the Build Show where house builders, construction firms and other industry experts will be on hand to offer construction specific careers advice to visitors. Covering apprenticeships, on-going training and professional development, the centre will cater for all levels – from seasoned professionals scoping out their next move, to new starters looking for their first break into the construction sector. Supported by a host of industry bodies, the Career Centre will give visitors a useful insight into a variety of career paths in building, civil engineering, integrated technology installation and other crucial construction trades. Key partners include the Home Builders Federation, the Institute of Civil Engineering and the Women’s Engineering Society, as well as construction skills and apprentices network K10 and major UK house builder Cala Homes. Visitors will also be able to gain inspiration by hearing the stories of other people who have built a career for themselves in the industry. For example, Heidi Perry, a generator engineer at building machinery supplier Finning, will be sharing her experiences as a female apprenticeship in a male-dominated industry. Heidi, who took up an apprenticeship after sixth form college, commented: “Finding an apprenticeship wasn’t easy so I applied to Finning to work in the parts department. It wasn’t my ideal job but it was a foot in the door. Luckily, at my interview they asked if I’d prefer to work on the machines and I landed an apprenticeship working on diesel standby generators. “Now I travel across the country fault-finding, servicing, working on the electrical control systems or fixing broken parts. Apprenticeships are a great way to learn. If you’re thinking of making the move into construction, do it. It’s brilliant fun and you won’t regret it.” Nathan Garnett, show director commented: “Employing more than 2.2 million people, the construction industry has been the major force behind the UK’s economic recovery – and with £125 billion of public sector and infrastructure projects in the pipeline, the demand for skilled workforce is set to create even more employment opportunities in the years to come. The Career Centre at UK Construction Week will be a really useful source of information for visitors looking to take advantage of this booming work market.” Bringing together nine shows under one roof, UK Construction Week will be the biggest construction trade event the UK has seen in years. Taking place at the Birmingham NEC from 6 – 11 October (with the trade only days from 6 – 8 October) the event will unite 1,000 exhibitors with an expected audience of 55,000 visitors. Visitors will be able to attend the Build Show (incorporating Civils Expo), Timber Expo, the Surface and Materials Show, Energy 2015, Kitchens & Bathrooms Live, Plant & Machinery Live, HVAC 2015, Smart Buildings 2015 and Grand Designs Live. For more information please visit www.ukconstructionweek.com or follow @UK_CW on Twitter.
Dedicated materials store enables increased repair and maintenance efficiencies and cost savings Managed Services, part of Travis Perkins plc, which provides maintenance materials and supply chain planning for public sector organisations, has opened a new store in West Oxfordshire, exclusively for housing association Cottsway. Cottsway, the largest housing association in West Oxfordshire, manages all day-to-day responsive repairs and empty homes maintenance work for a portfolio of 4,500 homes, including houses, flats and bungalows, and also specializes in housing for the over 55’s.In addition to general repairs, the Cottsway team provides tenants with access to aids and adaptations to their homes including green technology installations. The new store, which officially opened on 4th August 2015, is now fully managed by Managed Services and is part of a contract that will last a minimum of 4 years. Stocking all required heavy and light side materials, this dedicated store will provide everything Cottsway needs to maintain its properties in the local area with improved efficiency and at a lower cost. The dedicated store will ensure that the repairs and maintenance staff at Cottsway have instant access to whatever stock they need, whenever they need it – either by arranging delivery or paying a visit to the store. The partnership with Managed Services will also help to ensure that Cottsway secures better-value products and more efficient stock levels – with a reduction in the reliance of third party suppliers. The implementation of Managed Services full-spectrum trade supply planning system; which includes full supply chain support and a dedicated relationship manager, will enable Cottsway to reduce the amount of time spent sourcing and transporting appropriate materials, which in turn will help the repair and maintenance teams increase their work rates. The arrangement will also have a positive impact on tenants, enabling them to get their much needed repairs finished in a timely manner, whilst at the same time increasing the efficiency of scheduled property refurbishments. Sue Lakin, Operations Director at Cottsway, said: “Our new central stores, run in partnership with Travis Perkins, is handling all our stores, waste and hire needs as well as delivering materials to our repairs team on site. This will significantly increase productivity, reduce costs and deliver a better service to customers.” Stuart Hough, Managing Director of Managed Services said: “We are very proud to be opening our first Managed Services store dedicated for Cottsway and look forward to our continued partnership with the housing association. We have been working on streamlining processes and reducing costs, and the dedicated stores will help to achieve this. At Managed Services, we not only strive to improve service by providing better value and the right product selection, but seek to enhance the management of the supply chain by providing easy access to materials – freeing up employees and contractors to work more efficiently.” A study commissioned by Managed Services has revealed that housing associations and local authorities around the UK could save over £285 million each year by re-engineering their repair and maintenance (R&M) materials purchasing and management. The analysis of a range of social housing providers, undertaken by MindMetre Research, found that by re-engineering R&M materials purchase and management procedures, social housing organisations could stand to save £1.7 billion in social housing R&M costs by the end of the decade. The study highlighted that with social housing R&M constituting a significant proportion of running costs, addressing supply chain issues could enable housing authorities and social housing providers to make substantial efficiency and productivity gains, as well as large cost savings.
One of Europe’s leading workwear manufacturers, Danish company F. Engel have introduced a wide range of high visibility safety workwear in accordance with the new International and European standardisation EN ISO 20 471 With customers’ safety as the company’s prime concern, each item of warning-clothing is produced with the largest possible fluorescent and reflective areas thus ensuring the safest levels of visibility both day and night. LOXY high visibility reflector tape, proven for its hard wearing and effective performance, is used throughout the range. In addition to the focus on safety, most garments are made with a high specification of polyester and cotton mix to give long term durability and provide a perfect, comfortable fit, giving stretch and freedom of movement; attention is also paid to important practical details such as concealed zip and stud fastenings for added weather protection, and secure, functional pockets. Linings made from a new, soft and durable blended fabric of 70% polyester/30% cotton with a 100% filament yarn warp and a mixed fibre weft, provide guaranteed inner warmth. Most items also have a water, oil and dirt repellent finish and the fabrics have been tested to comply with the new EN ISO standards to over 50 industrial or domestic wash cycles. The Engel high visibility Safety range will be on display along with new additions to the company’s big selling Galaxy and Combat workwear collections, on stand number A16 in Hall 3 at the A + A Exhibition in Dusseldorf, 27th-30th October. For more information visit: http://www.fe.dk/en/ email: Mark McBrayne at mmc@f-engel.com or telephone: +44 (0) 7933 150197
