North East company, Seymour Civil Engineering, has recently been appointed to Yorkshire Water’s Minor Civil Framework, worth up to £290million, and is set to deliver requirements around the entire operational area of Yorkshire Water. Yorkshire Water has recently awarded £1billion of Civils Frameworks for 2020-2025, covering the full range of
Unblocktober, the world’s first awareness month aimed at protecting the UK’s sewers and seas, is launching this week – and it’s not too late for businesses and individual householders to join the thousands who are already involved in this groundbreaking initiative. Having launched on October 1st, the campaign aims to
North East company, Seymour Civil Engineering, has recently been appointed to Yorkshire Water’s Minor Civil Framework, worth up to £290million, and is set to deliver requirements around the entire operational area of Yorkshire Water. Yorkshire Water has recently awarded £1billion of Civils Frameworks for 2020-2025, covering the full range of civil engineering requirements across its clean and wastewater assets with a total of 18 partners after a 12-month procurement process. Seymour is the only company to be appointed within both Yorkshire Water’s Minor Civils Lot 1 and 2 and will be carrying out civil engineering works to existing assets on operational treatment and distribution facilities. This will also include refurbishment and repairs to clean potable water and wastewater structures including reservoirs respectively. Karl Brennan, Pre Construction Director at Seymour Civil Engineering, said: “This is a key milestone for the business to achieve this strategic growth in Yorkshire and it provides a platform for further growth and development. “The work will commence later this year or early 2020 and will last over an eight-year period with a review after five years. “This will result in creation of jobs and many opportunities to deliver social value as well as reinforcing our position as a multi discipline specialist civil contractor in the region.” The journey began in 2017 with a strategic objective to grow the business, as Seymour’s skillsets suit the water industry. This therefore made sense to look at Yorkshire Water as their ‘neighbouring water authority.’ Seymour were aware of the AMP 6 cycle coming to an end and that Yorkshire Water would soon be publicising notices for AMP7 frameworks. They attended the AMP 7 supplier events and were impressed by the actions Yorkshire Waters procurement team were taking, to engage with suppliers, stating that they wanted to achieve a ‘collaborative and family feel.’ Mark Baker, Head of Programme Delivery at Yorkshire Water, commented: “We are excited to see the conclusion of this process and welcome our partners to support our ambitions and challenges into AMP7. “They will assist in the formation of a truly collaborative, innovative and efficient delivery vehicle to help meet our Enterprise delivery model aspirations. “The alignment of our objectives and a Programme First approach is a new direction for Yorkshire Water and we are confident that our partners can support this ambition.” Karl Brennan continued: “As Seymour has grown from a family business, this appealed to us and the decision was soon made to declare an interest in the Minor Civils framework. “The framework was a three-stage process and we competed against some of the UK’s main contractors before securing our position. It took a lot of resource, input and effort from our team to get to this position and we are proud of our achievement. “We are now in the process of implementing our proposal to go and deliver the work and build our relationship with Yorkshire Water.”
Unblocktober, the world’s first awareness month aimed at protecting the UK’s sewers and seas, is launching this week – and it’s not too late for businesses and individual householders to join the thousands who are already involved in this groundbreaking initiative. Having launched on October 1st, the campaign aims to fight plastic pollution and fatbergs by encouraging people across the country to make small changes to their waste disposal habits in their kitchens and bathrooms for the whole month, helping them establish new routines that will be better for their drains and for the environment as a whole. Data from Lanes Group plc shows that at present, 48% of British people admit to pouring fats, oils and grease (FOG) down their drains, with the resulting blockages doing significant damage to the UK’s waterways. Additionally, an estimated eight million tonnes of plastic are dumped in the ocean every year – often in the form of wet wipes, which contain hidden plastic content that makes them unsuitable to flush down the toilet. Over 1,500 participants – a combination of individuals and organisations – have signed up to tackle these trends. Lanes Group, the creators of Unblocktober, are urging those who are still interested to join these numbers by signing up to take part this week. The campaign has been backed by the national Love Water initiative, which includes over 40 organisations and is jointly spearheaded by the Environment Agency and Water UK. It is also officially supported by leading industry organisations such as Thames Water, Southern Water, Yorkshire Water, The Future Water Association, The Rivers Trust, United Utilities and many more. To take part in Unblocktober, participants must ensure they are putting none of the following items down their drains or toilets throughout the month of October: Cooking oil – pre or post-cooking Margarine Butter Lard Cooking sauces and condiments Food – even crumbs! Anything containing plastic, including: Wet wipes Tampons, applicators and wrappers Sanitary/menstrual pads and towels Nappies Condoms Cotton buds Contact lenses Bandages and plasters Razor blades Dental floss Michelle Ringland from Unblocktober said: “It’s hard not to be aware of the environmental challenges facing the planet at the moment – and yet many remain oblivious to the damage that carelessly flushing non-biodegradable items down the drain can cause. “In many cases, this is simply due to a lack of education or awareness, which is why we’re so keen for individuals and businesses to get involved with Unblocktober. By making this small commitment to improving your habits for a month, we’re hopeful that participants can lay the foundation for lasting change that will make a big difference to the environment. “By getting as many people as possible signed up to take part in Unblocktober from October 1st onwards, we’ll be able to show that Britain is serious about protecting our sewers and seas for generations to come.”
