13 May 2016 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal Welsh-based Weston Facilities Management Group has signed a national security contract with integrated services provider Speedy Services. The firm’s chairman is Simon Weston CBE, the Falklands War veteran.  Weston FM is to provide a full range of security services, including security dog units and front-of house-operatives, to Speedy Services’ sites across the UK. Speedy Services operates across the industrial and engineering sector, and as well as having a 12-and-a-half-acre location at Newport Docks, it has sites in England, Ireland and in Abu Dhabi. Simon Weston, chair of the Weston FM Group, said: “Like us, [Speedy] is currently in the process of expanding and growing its operations in the UK, and we are pleased that we are going to be part of that journey. “Not only will this relationship be a huge benefit to both companies, it will create new jobs across the UK in the security sector, and we are looking forward to a long working relationship together.” The deal is the latest step in the Weston FM Group’s growth plans. The company has recently rebranded from Weston Security to the Weston Facilities Management Group, and appointed a new director, Robert Richards, who brings his own security company, Alpha Logistics, into the Weston fold. The merger secures around £1 million worth of contracts for the company, increases its core team to seven, and expands its reach across the UK with new offices in Cardiff, Shrewsbury and London. Source link

The initial framework agreement sets out how HS2 and trade unions will handle issues of employment, development and diversity throughout the project’s supply chain. Measures in the framework agreement include a commitment to the national living wage across the project; an enforceable commitment to direct employment; and a commitment to meet the highest standards of workplace health, safety and wellbeing. It also includes commitments to sustainability, apprenticeships and training throughout the construction of the project. As part of the agreement, a committee will be formed chaired by HS2 chief executive Simon Kirby and featuring its director of HR and managing director for construction, as well as the TUC’s general secretary Frances O’Grady. It will also include two members from RMT and Unite, with one attendee each from Aslef, GMB, TSSA, and Ucatt. The committee will meet four times a year during the initial phase of the project, with biannual meetings thereafter. Mr Kirby said: “Our mission is to be a high-performing, innovative organisation that delivers value for money by applying the best in worldwide design and construction techniques. “To accomplish this mission, we need to lead a safe, valued and effective workforce. This fundamental agreement underlines our responsibility as a direct employer as well as a commitment to the wider workforce that will deliver HS2 across our supply chain.” Ms O’Grady added that HS2 was a “massive opportunity for workers in the construction and rail sectors”, and said the agreement committed to “maximising benefits to the UK supply chain”. Source link

Iain Conn, chief executive of Centrica Centrica suffered a significant protest from shareholders over its decision to pay £3m to Iain Conn for 2015, his first year as chief executive of the group. The British Gas owner said 15 per cent of votes cast by 72 per cent of large shareholders ahead of the annual meeting went against the pay deal. More On this topic IN Utilities The rebellion is smaller than last year, when more than a third of shareholders voted against Centrica’s decision to grant Mr Conn share options worth up to £2.7m on joining the company. It means Centrica will avoid a defeat over pay, as suffered by BP last week over its decision to grant Bob Dudley, its chief executive, a 20 per cent pay rise for 2015. There are still signs of some unhappiness at Mr Conn’s pay, however, given that the company made £857m of operating losses for 2015. John Farmer, one shareholder, told the meeting: “Over the past seven years shareholder returns have been a paltry 20 per cent . . . [but] the chief executive is receiving some £3m.” British Gas revealed on Monday that it had suffered a dip in customer numbers in the first quarter of the year, losing 1.5 per cent of home supply accounts even as the number of customer complaints fell. Centrica said a higher number of customers than normal switched away during the first three months of 2016. Across the market, 500,000 energy customers switched supplier in March. But the company added that it remained on track to make more than £2bn in adjusted cash flow this year. As part of its efforts to do so, it cut 800 jobs in the first quarter, part of the 3,000 job losses it had already announced for the year. Centrica, like other companies with significant electricity generation, has suffered as the price of oil has crashed, bringing down wholesale power prices with it. 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

Savills, on behalf of a private client, is marketing the freehold interest in Chart Hills Golf Club in Biddenden, Kent from a guide price of £2.75 million. The 18 hole golf course is set within a circa 198 acre (80 hectare) site and is located in a rural setting to the north of Biddenden. Included with the property is a modern 27,889 sq ft (2,591 sq m) club house, greenkeeper’s building, 743 sq ft (69 sq m) of converted office space, driving range, bag drop / service hut, putting green and short game practice. A car park for 150 cars is also on site. Chart Hills currently operates as a proprietary club, which also attracts green fees and society usage. The function facilities within the golf clubhouse generate further income in addition to the core golf business. Chart Hills is a championship golf course, which was designed by Sir Nick Faldo and has been a European Tour Qualifying school and also hosted the Ladies European Tour and the Ladies English Open Championship. In May 2017 the course is scheduled to host the prestigious Brabazon Trophy. Additionally an adjacent residential property comprising a converted barn currently used for staff accommodation, together with two grass paddocks is available by separate negotiation. Ian Simpson, director of leisure and trading at Savills, comments: “Chart Hills is a prime golf club in a fantastic location in Kent, which benefits from a range income producing facilities. Golf continues to be a popular British sport and with the excellent credentials of this course we expect to receive strong interest.” Source link