The concept cost is the most important consideration in business took a sharp knock following a survey of its members by Select, the electrical sector’s campaigning trade body, which showed quality and service are the overriding factors.     Newell McGuiness, Select MD, unveiled the results of the survey at the Regional Business Forum of the Electrical Distributors’ Association, which represents the electrical wholesale distribution industry within the UK.   The event, at the Glynhill Hotel in Renfrew last month (19 May), highlighted Select’s survey and the message the electrical industry is more concerned with getting things right than doing them cheaply.   Newell McGuiness said: “It is quite revelatory that hard-pressed businesses, who are under pressure to cut costs wherever they can, are still insisting on quality as the primary consideration in major purchases – in the interests of their own customers.”   The survey showed, when choosing a particular manufacturer, 65% of respondents based their decisions on quality, compared to only 19% who decided on price.   Availability also scored highly at nearly 51%, indicating that respondents were keen to deliver promptly and efficiently to their customers. After sales service was also seen as being particularly important.   Electricians were also more likely to buy a product if it had been manufactured in the UK, indicating not only a propensity for quality goods but also an inclination to support other locally-based manufacturers.   Quality of service and availability also featured strongly, at 50% and 41%, when respondents were asked what they based their purchase decisions on when they were selecting a distributor.   Most purchases were made at a trade counter, with phone, email and web purchases following in descending order. It was also very clear, at 75%, that purchasers expected the distributor to ensure that products were compliant with British and EU standards.   Alan Wilson, head of membership and communications at Select, who was also at the EDA Forum, said: “The survey makes it clear that quality products are sought by properly qualified electricians and poor installations and poor products can impact on the reputation of manufacturers and distributors.” Source link

A company in Derbyshire has been fined after a worker fell thirteen metres down a service riser shaft. Leicester Magistrates’ Court heard how a 36-year-old worker, who was from Romania, was dismantling falsework (a form of temporary structure) in a building that was under construction at Fletcher Development, De Montfort University, Leicester. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident which occurred on 15 June 2015 found that there was an unsafe system of work and inadequate supervision of workers. David Ashley Construction Limited, of Lydford Road, Alfreton, Derbyshire pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, and was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,776. For further information on Work at Height visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/safetytopics/workingatheight.htm Notes to Editors: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk/  and guidance at HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases. Source link

Torbay plumber and the company who contracted him prosecuted after illegal and dangerous gaswork Published:  11 July, 2016 An illegal gas fitter and the company that hired him have both been prosecuted after work was left in a dangerous condition at a home in Torquay. Director of 1st Maintenance, Marc Robertson, contracted Mark Baker, an unregistered plumber, to fit a gas boiler at a property on Coker Avenue where his company was carrying out home improvement work, Exeter Crown Court heard on 1 July. After Mr Baker had installed the gas boiler at the property he told the homeowner that he had commissioned the boiler but left them with no paperwork and did not register the gas boiler with the Local Authority, both of which are legal requirements. The homeowner had a number of problems with the gas boiler and came to a head when another properly qualified engineer visited her property on an unrelated matter. They raised concerns about the gas boiler installation and the homeowner contacted Gas Safe Register. A Gas Safe Register Inspector found significant failings in the work carried out by Mr Baker and classed the boiler as ‘At Risk’, which indicates a potential risk to life. Mark Baker, of Daison Crescent, Torquay pleaded guilty to two breaches of gas safety regulations and was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, was ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £4,197.28 in costs. 1st Maintenance Ltd of Grange Road, Allacombe, Torquay pleaded guilty to a single breach of gas safety regulations and was fined £16,000 and ordered to pay £640 in costs. HSE inspector Simon Jones said: “Mr Baker put lives at risk by undertaking gaswork which he was neither qualified nor registered to undertake, work which put the homeowner’s life at risk. “1st Maintenance Ltd also risked the life of its customer by failing to check if Mr Baker was on the Gas Safe Register by asking to see his register membership card, checking the installer page on the register website or calling Gas Safe Register.” Source link

©Reuters Swiss business marks two important anniversaries this month. On July 1 last year, Tidjane Thiam, the high-flying boss of the UK’s Prudential, became chief executive of Credit Suisse, a bank struggling to find a sense of strategic direction. Ten days later, Holcim formally merged with France’s Lafarge. New chief Eric Olsen, a French-speaking American, began integrating two very different companies into the world’s largest cement group. A year on, neither Credit Suisse nor LafargeHolcim has convinced investors that their ambitious plans will work. The companies’ share prices are down 60 per cent and 40 per cent. Both bosses are under pressure. More On this topic Inside Business Less obvious, however, are the behind-the-scenes strains on the two companies’ chairmen. Given the importance of a company’s titular head in Switzerland’s system of corporate governance, they could prove as relevant — if not more so. At Credit Suisse, Urs Rohner, a former chief operating officer, has been chairman since 2011. As the bank’s woes have mounted, so have the questions: did he wait too long before bringing in Mr Thiam to revamp the bank? Has he chosen the right person? At LafargeHolcim, Beat Hess, a veteran Swiss corporate lawyer, will have much to explain to shareholders if the merger fails. He was appointed in February after predecessor Wolfgang Reitzle quit to become chairman of Linde, in his native Germany, after apparently deciding he could not commit the time needed to streamline a sprawling portfolio of underperforming cement operations. As Mr Reitzle discovered, Swiss chairmen have much larger workloads and shoulder more responsibility than in other European countries or the US. They take charge of strategy, risk management, executive compensation, budgets and emergency plans — as well as relations with shareholders. In fact, “chairman” is a mistranslation if it suggests a neutral or control function. When speaking German or French, the Swiss use “president”, which better reflects the leadership role. There are rewards: Swiss chairmen are paid a lot more than counterparts in other countries — including the US, the country with the highest-paid chief executives. The median salary of large Swiss company chairmen was €1.2m last year. In the US it was just €448,000, according to HCM International, a corporate governance and compensation consultancy. The responsibilities of Swiss chairmen have increased in recent years. Under anti “fat cat” measures approved in a referendum three years ago, they face re-election every year at shareholder meetings — so they need to show regularly that they have a grip on strategy and that the right people are in top management posts. Chairmen frequently call the shots at Switzerland’s biggest companies. That looks likely to be the case, for instance, at Nestlé, the world’s largest food and drink company, which last week announced that Paul Bulcke, its chief executive since 2008, would take over as chairman from next April after a minimum “cooling off” period. Breaking 94 years of tradition, Nestlé chose an outsider as its new chief executive. Ulf Mark Schneider impressed analysts with his performance at Fresenius, the German healthcare company. But at Nestlé he will be part of the “Nestlé system” and under the tutelage of a company veteran. LafargeHolcim has a similarly demanding chairman. Mr Hess was a top lawyer at ABB in 2002 when the Swiss engineering group came close to bankruptcy as a result of US asbestos claims. He then was at Royal Dutch Shell from 2004 when the Anglo-Dutch oil group was embroiled in a costly scandal over the overstatement of oil and gas reserves. Now Mr Hess is pressuring LafargeHolcim’s top managers to speed up cost-cutting and centralisation programmes. At Credit Suisse, much will depend on the success of Mr Thiam’s plans to push into fast-growing Asian markets and to downsize Credit Suisse’s investment bank. If he hits his targets, the pressure would also ease on his chairman. The Swiss system works when the chairman and chief executive have common interests and form an effective team. The dangers are of personality clashes, of chairmen interfering, and of responsibilities being shirked. When things go badly, there is more than one head that can roll. ralph.atkins@ft.com Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Source link