Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Tue, Mar 15th 2016 A former apprentice who is now a director of multi-million pound turnover business J Tomlinson is backing National Apprenticeship Week. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday A former apprentice who is now a director of a multi-million pound turnover business is backing this year’s National Apprenticeship Week. Pete Woods, operations director at contractor J Tomlinson, began his career in construction in 1994 as an apprentice joiner. Twenty years later he was appointed as a director at the Nottingham-based company, having worked for J Tomlinson since 2000. He now has the responsibility for the regeneration division at the company and the delivery of its contracts, at a time when the firm is experiencing unprecedented growth. During National Apprenticeship Week 2016 – which has the theme of ‘rising to the top’ – Pete and J Tomlinson are shining a spotlight on the opportunities that apprenticeships can create. “I left school with no GCSEs. The training and support I received as part of my apprenticeship gave me the skills, confidence and building blocks for a career that has taken me from an apprentice joiner at a small design and build company in Nottingham to a senior position at J Tomlinson, now one of the most successful, growing contractors in the East Midlands,” said Pete. “Just like me, there are many people who prefer a more hands-on approach to learning and skills development that doesn’t involve sitting in a classroom all the time. Undertaking an apprenticeship can benefit them greatly.”Running from 14th to 18th March, National Apprenticeship Week is coordinated by the National Apprenticeship Service and is designed to celebrate apprenticeships and the positive impact they have on individuals, businesses and the wider economy. “J Tomlinson is currently supporting more than 20 apprentices and trainees within our company, providing the funding and support to help them work towards professional qualifications,” said Pete.“We are continually looking for new talent to develop and therefore are open to supporting many more apprenticeships and training schemes in the future.” Nineteen-year-old customer liaison officer at J Tomlinson Faz Hussain, from Beeston, has recently secured a permanent job at the company following the completion of her apprenticeship this month (March).She has ambitions to be a senior CLO with a few years more experience and progress up, potentially to management level. “There is always the opportunity to progress here, and I have a passion for success,” she said. “Lots of line managers have given me time and I always get plenty of help from other guys who have lots of experience in the job.”IT and telecommunications apprentice Lewis Jones, 17, from Stapleford, is also enjoying his training at J Tomlinson. He needed back surgery early in his apprenticeship, which he mentioned during his interview for the position, and has been delighted with the support he has received before, during and after his operation. “I had to have back surgery, which meant I was out of work for eight weeks. I get loads of support. The atmosphere in the office is awesome,” said Lewis, who left school after taking GCSEs. “Everyone here is so nice, even the directors are awesome, they make you feel welcome and say hello in the yard.” Long term, Lewis aims to get qualified in IT, learn all aspects of his trade, complete more training in telecoms, and has ambitions to become an IT manager. Group systems manager at J Tomlinson Tracy Price is another firm supporter of apprenticeships and trainee schemes. She began working at the company straight from school in 1997 and has progressed up the ranks from administration assistant to her current role of group systems manager, which she took on in May 2014. In this role Tracy is responsible for the entire group systems, delivering appropriate training to the business, and coordinating all operations delivered through IT. “Apprenticeships and trainee schemes, along with continuous development, are a very important part of helping individuals and companies to grow, and I’ve welcomed the training and development opportunities that I’ve received since I left school and joined J Tomlinson almost 20 years ago, which has enabled me to continually develop my career,” she said. J Tomlinson, which has its headquarters at Lilac Grove, Beeston, operates across the East Midlands, West Midlands and Yorkshire, employs more than 380 people, and has been named in Deloitte’s Businesses Leading Britain 2014 report, which provides insights into the UK’s 1,000 fastest-growing businesses with annual revenues between £30 million and £1 billion. The firm offers services in construction, refurbishment, repairs and maintenance, mechanical and electrical engineering, and facilities management, and works across a range of sectors including social housing, emergency services, health and care, education, retail and commercial property. A privately owned company, the business has recently introduced a ‘people strategy’ to ensure that employees benefit from training, development and career progression opportunities.  Source link

9 June 2016 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal Churchill has taken a cleaning contract for three academy schools, part of the Academies Enterprise Trust (AET), as well as the trust’s head office, all in Essex.   The services company will carry out cleaning services at Maltings Academy, New Rickstones Academy, and Greensward Academy from 1st July and has already started work at the head office at Kilnfield House.   The award builds on Churchill’s national portfolio of educational establishments, which now exceeds 600 primaries, secondary and academy-status schools as well as colleges and universities.   The contracts will be managed by a local team based at Churchill’s office in Essex with support from its head office in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.   Other schools Churchill services in the area include The Boswells School, Palmers College and Shenfield High School. Last week, Churchill secured a contract renewal at the City of Norwich School. Source link

Book Course HSL is to run a 1 Day course on COMAH Onshore Major Hazards: New knowledge on flammable hazards. 14 July 2016 This course deals with important flammable risks at Major Hazards sites for which new knowledge or guidance has become available recently. It complements the general course  ‘COMAH onshore major hazards: predictive aspects of COMAH’. The specific risks dealt with include: Assessment  of vapour cloud accumulation at very low wind speeds (overfill and spray releases). These conditions account for a very high proportion of major incidents involving flammables. Explosion modelling for large  low-lying vapour clouds Assessment of risks for packaged chemical storage: drum and IBC stores and warehouses. Carry out vapour cloud dispersion modelling in very low or nil wind conditions. They will use methods described in FABIG Technical Note 12 and learn how to extend the scope of this guidance to sites with slopes. Carry out explosion analyses for large low-lying clouds Carry out simple assessments of the potential effects of chemical warehouse fires Advise on controlling the risks from IBC fires. Introduction This course deals with important flammable risks at Major Hazards sites for which new knowledge or guidance has become available recently. It complements the general course  ‘COMAH onshore major hazards: predictive aspects of COMAH’. The specific risks dealt with include: Assessment  of vapour cloud accumulation at very low wind speeds (overfill and spray releases). These conditions account for a very high proportion of major incidents involving flammables. Explosion modelling for large  low-lying vapour clouds Assessment of risks for packaged chemical storage: drum and IBC stores and warehouses. Delegates will learn how to: Carry out vapour cloud dispersion modelling in very low or nil wind conditions. They will use methods described in FABIG Technical Note 12 and learn how to extend the scope of this guidance to sites with slopes. Carry out explosion analyses for large low-lying clouds Carry out simple assessments of the potential effects of chemical warehouse fires Advise on controlling the risks from IBC fires. Safety professionals and managers who are involved in the co-ordination, writing or updating of COMAH safety reports. Consultants who provide assistance with safety reports. The course will be run at the HSL laboratory in the spa town of Buxton. Buxton is in the heart of the Peak District and has good links to mainline train stations and Manchester International Airport. Details of hotels in the Buxton area can be found at www.visitbuxton.co.uk The cost of this course is £495 per person (includes course notes, certificate of attendance and lunch/refreshments). Book Course Please note the invoice option is not available within 4 weeks of the course date, or for overseas customers. For further dates and additional information email: training@hsl.gsi.gov.uk or contact the Training & Conferences Unit at HSL directly on +44 (0)1298 218806. Back to Health & Safety Training Courses Source link

The Competition and Markets Authority “missed an opportunity” with its energy market investigation, and its remedies could have a “counter effect” on the market, the UK’s largest independent supplier First Utility has warned. The supplier’s chief customer officer for the supplier Ed Kamm told Utility Week: “We clearly feel like the CMA has missed the mark… We are deeply dissatisfied as this is a missed opportunity.  “It is going to have a counter impact and actually make things worse.” Kamm expressed concern that the remedies relating to price comparison websites could cause some distrust between suppliers, and that issues could arise from the timing of some of the remedies. “The really frustrating thing is I think they correctly identified the problem but haven’t delivered the solutions to tackle it. “We spend nearly three years investigating this and we come up with solutions that aren’t strong enough,” he added.   Kamm described the timing as “baffling”, as some of the benefits will not come into effect until the end of the implementation timeframe. First Utility previously challenged the CMA on its figures in March this year, when it published its provisional remedies and claimed that the big six suppliers overcharged customers by £1.7 billion per year. The supplier claimed that this figure was “too low”, and was more likely to be as much as £3.4 billion. In its final report published today (24 June), the CMA amended the figure to £1.4 billion which could have been saved in a fully competitive market. Source link

Rents in England and Wales increased by 0.1% between January and February, the first monthly rent since autumn 2015, according to the latest index. This took the average rent to £791 a month and could be the first of several rises as the private rented sector braces for anti-landlord policies such as tax changes. The data from the buy to let index from Your Move and Reeds Rains also shows that year on year rents are up 3.3%, or an extra £25 a month for the average tenant. Average rents are now rising on a monthly basis for the first time since September 2015, up 0.1% between January and February. Rents across England & Wales now stand at £791 per month as of February, 3.3% higher compared to this point last year – or an extra £25 per month for the average tenant. On a regional basis rent rises were led by the Midlands. In the East Midlands tenants have seen the fastest annual rent rises, up 7% over the last 12 months. This is followed by the West Midlands with 6.3% and the East of England with rents 6.2% higher than in February 2015. These three regions all stand ahead of London on this basis, with rents in the capital 4.8% higher than 12 months ago. As recently as November, London consistently led the field in terms of annual rent rises. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum rents are lower than a year ago in three out of 10 regions. These exceptions are led by the North East where the average rent is now 2.5% lower than in February 2015, followed by Wales with rents down 1.5%, and the South East with a marginal 0.1% annual drop. Five out of 10 regions have now seen rents rising month on month. On this basis the East of England leads with rents in February 1.1% higher than in January 2016. The South East and the East Midlands are joint second on this measure with rents up 0.6% between January and February. By contrast, rents in Wales and the North East are now 0.9% lower and 0.7% lower than in January, respectively. On the back of the latest monthly increases, monthly rents in the West Midlands have set a new an all-time record high, at £596, alongside a new all-time record for Yorkshire and Humber rents at £559. The East Midlands, while home to the fastest annual rent rises in the twelve months to February, has seen rents remain just £1 short of the all-time record high set at £610 in November 2015. Adrian Gill, director of lettings agents Your Move and Reeds Rains, pointed out that rents are rising at a time when demand is growing. ‘Rent rises could now accelerate further. If government attacks on landlords bite, having worsened again in this week’s Budget, the flow of investment from landlords could wilt,’ he said. ‘Landlords are increasingly deliberate in their actions and savvy in their business decisions. But all landlords investing steadily in new property to let are the heroes of the buy to let industry, not the villains. Thanks to the business acumen and persistence of landlords, Britain’s private rented sector has become home to millions of households and the only real backstop against the weakness of other tenures,’ he explained. ‘All landlords, regardless of the number of properties they own, want to provide a quality service as part of earning a reliable return on their investment. For those with the right advice, this is part of operating a successful business model. Avoiding void periods and ensuring a good relationship with reliable tenants is essential. So it is hard to understand the logic behind restricting the flow of new investment, and the competition between existing landlords,’ Gill commented. ‘Additional taxes on the purchase of new buy to let properties will not support the stated aims of these policies, namely to improve home ownership. By attacking buy to let, the government will only serve to push up market rents more quickly, stymieing the efforts of many tenants to raise a deposit to buy a home while also boosting returns for existing landlords with the best advice to navigate new complications,’ he added. The report also reveals that rental yields are proving resistant to rising purchase prices. The gross yield on a typical rental property in England and Wales, before taking into account factors such as void periods, is steady at 4.8% in February, the same as in January 2016. On an annual basis, this is fractionally lower than the 5% gross yield seen a year ago in February 2015. Taking into account both rental income and capital growth, the average landlord in England and Wales has seen total returns of 12.7% over the 12 months to February. This is up from 11.7% in the 12 months to January and now also represents a 17 month record, since total returns previously reached 12.7% in the year to September 2014. In absolute terms this means that the average landlord in England and Wales has seen a return of £23,227 over the last 12 months, before any deductions such as property maintenance and mortgage payments. Of this, the average capital gain contributed £14,767 while rental income made up £8,460 over the 12 months to February. ‘Rising property prices and rising rents are two sides of the same coin. There is not enough supply of housing across the UK to match soaring demand. This is powering a sellers’ purchase market and a landlords’ rental market. Housing costs are rising, and housing wealth is rising, two very different perspectives on the same issue,’ Gill explained. ‘Faced with this dilemma, investment in property is a rational response, and has been proving extremely lucrative for landlords and some home-owners alike. Building more new homes would be an even better response, and where possible is even more profitable. But it is government inaction preventing more homes being built to fill the gap just as it is a government decision to attack those willing to navigate the risk

A pipe manufacturing company based in Newport has been fined for safety failings after seven reported cases of Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) between April 2014 and July 2015. Newport Crown Court heard that employees of Asset International Limited used vibrating tools without proper training or practical controls to reduce vibration risk. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found no sufficient risk assessment or health surveillance had been carried out. Asset International Limited, of Stevenson Street, Newport, was fined a total of £200,000 and ordered to pay costs of £27,724 after pleading guilty to offences under Regulations 5,6,7, and 8 of the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005. HSE inspector Joanne Carter said after the hearing: “The serious and irreversible risks from Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome caused by work with vibrating tools are well known and guidance has been in place since the early 1990s. This case shows there is no excuse for not putting in place a management system which includes risk assessment, control measures, health surveillance and information and training to reduce these risks to as low a level as is reasonably practicable.” For more information about HAV visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/VIBRATION/hav/ 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/  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

10 August 2016 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is reverting to in-house catering after outsourcing the contract for a number of years.   Centerplate, formerly Lindley Venue Catering, had been the South Yorkshire club’s catering partner since 2011.   The services range from the concourses around Hillsborough to numerous hospitality suites and executive boxes within the South Stand area of the stadium.   Joe Palmer, the club’s chief operating officer, said: “The catering strand of the business is a key element of Sheffield Wednesday’s matchday and non-matchday offering to supporters and clients alike.”   Palmer added: “After an ongoing period of diligence and customer feedback – particularly at the club’s steering group meetings – we have taken the decision to bring the catering back in house. This will afford us complete control over the whole operation and makes ideal sense on both a logistic and commercial scale.”   Source link