Composites UK has announced the Application Process for the 2017 Composites Industry Awards. The application process for the awards has been opened by Composites UK. The trade association is looking for applications that show new innovations with composite materials as well as exceptional systems companies and personnel. This includes applications that look in to composite manufacture, design and materials. The deadline for the applications is the 31st of July 2017. A shortlist form the applications will be drawn up and announced in September, with the winners of the Composite Industry Awards revealed at the Industry Awards Dinner that will be held on the 1st November. This even will take place at the National Conference Centre in Birmingham. Over the course of the last few years, event organisers have said that they have seen the number of applications to the awards grow. The growth of the Awards is thought to be down to the support that they have received from other organisations such as the Advanced Engineering Show and thee Composites in Manufacturing Magazine as well as the improvement of the UK composites supply chain, which is considered the best of its kind in the world. This excellent supply chain means that the sector has a great deal to recognise and celebrate. Application forms for the awards are available at the Composites UK website. For the application, companies can nominate themselves or someone else. It is free to apply however it is expected that is the applicant is nominated for the shortlist, they will attend the Awards Dinner in order to find out who has won the prize. In previous years, Airbus, Broadwater Mouldings, Dura Composites and ELG Carbon Fiber have been named as the winner of the Composite Industry Awards. Prices for booking single seats or tables for the Awards ceremony are available at differing rates for members and mon-members. There will also be some sponsorship available for those companies that are interested in joining the Axillium and the National Composites Centre.

Brian Godfrey is an architect from South Devon and has been awarded with awards to recognise his contribution to architecture in the UK. These two prestigious awards have been given to Brian who is the Senior Architect of the Godfrey Partnership and is based in Teignmouth, Devon. The Godfrey Partnership is a company that looks to deliver architectural and structural survey services across the South West of the country. The company was established in 1964 and includes team members that have expertise across a multitude of disciplines with experience of modern and contemporary disciplines. Last Year, Brian was awarded with The Freedom of the City of London and also a Citizen & Chartered Architect of London. The Freedom of the City is one of the oldest traditional ceremonies, and was thought to be started in 1237. Other people who have been awarded with this accolade includes J.K Rowling, Jessica Ennis and Bob Geldof. The traditional perks of being awarded with this award includes the ability to drive sheep and cattle over London Bridge and also being able to sell their wife to the Bishop of Bath and Wells on their birthday. These are quite outdated perks may not be necessary today, but the esteem of the award remains. Since being made a freeman, Brian Godfrey has also been selected to be the Freeman of the Company of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects. The Worshipful Company of Architects is a modern Livery company that aims to promote quality architecture in the City of London as well as the global architecture profession. The Worshipful Company also supports education through awards and prizes and also offers support to a wide variety of charities. Brian Godfrey is one of only a small number around the world that has both the RICS Chartered Surveyor and a RIBA Chartered Architect. Godfrey has been working within the UK architectural industry for 50 years, with these two new prestigious accreditations is a massive achievement.

The UK is big on retail tech and with events like the annual WIRED Retail Startup Showcase fueling enthusiasm for innovation in the retail sector, there’s perpetual excitement for what the future might hold. One major aspect of retail technology set to see massive upgrades and could be more easily adapted for use in retail outlets across the country is shelving, especially concerning its role in improving the shopping experience. Electronic display In the future, we can expect to see stationary price tags being replaced with digital shelving. With the Pioneer Group and troniTAG partnering to bring electronic shelf labeling (ESL) to the UK and Ireland, we have started taking baby steps towards that not so distant future. The ESL system replaces traditional paper price tags with E-paper displays, adopting the same technology used in electronic books for use in retail outfits. According to ABI Research, ESLs will have accrued over $4 billion in global revenues by 2022, with the market likely to see massive growth within the next two years. The technology eliminates the need to manually swap paper labels as an administrator can simply update prices on a limitless number of labels located in a single store or across multiple stores from a central dashboard. What’s more, the displays are highly energy efficient as they only consume energy when being updated, meaning the batteries won’t wear out for years. ESL systems offer an additional feature that links stock management systems to the shelves, allowing retailers and supermarkets to maintain an updated pricing arrangement. Smart shelves While traditional acrylic shelves and regular slatwall accessories are going to remain in popular use for a long time, especially with innovative suppliers such as Slatwall Accessories, the retail industry is very receptive of new technologies. Using a similar technology deployed by online retailers to track customers and retarget ads to entice them back, smart shelves could bring extensive analytics of consumer behaviour to retail outlets. In Cold Spring, Ohio, a Kroger store has shelves that display digitized pricing labels and product information. The company is looking to take the technology further by making it more personalised, with price tags lighting up in aisles containing the customer’s preferred products. A startup, Perch Interactive, is able to detect when a product is picked up by a customer, using laser and motion sensors. The company keeps track of how customers interact with the products and informs retailers about which products get picked but are not bought. The technology has an additional feature that provides recommendations based on what products a shopper picks up. It is expected that by 2021, 77% of companies will be aware of the presence of specific customers in their stores and will be able to create a personalised experience for them. Supermarket chain, Waitrose, is testing out video shelf-edge technology in its wine aisle to provide customers with wine tasting notes and recommendations, as well as food and wine matching.

Apprenticeships endangered by Levy uncertainty, warns FMB Published:  08 June, 2016 Growth in apprenticeship numbers in Scotland could be scuppered unless the Scottish government commits to ring-fencing the new UK-wide Apprenticeship Levy for training, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) Scotland has warned. Modern apprenticeship starts in Scotland achieved their annual targets in 2015/16, with 25,818 being started against the 25,500 target. The Scottish government has committed to increase apprenticeship starts to 30,000 by 2020. This year, 79% of apprentices beginning their courses were aged between 16 and 24, while the number of starts at level 3 and above has increased by 1% to 65%. Over a third of all Scottish apprenticeship starts were in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) frameworks, with 19% being specifically tailored towards construction skills. Of the apprentices, 59% were male and 41% female. Responding to the figures, which were published by Skills Development Scotland (SDS), Gordon Nelson, director of FMB Scotland, said: “Although the increase in apprenticeship numbers is welcome, the quality and employment outcomes of apprenticeships should take precedent. Equally there is now a fear that this good work could soon be undone if the Scottish government doesn’t commit to re-investing funds raised by the new UK-wide Apprenticeship Levy. There is a leadership vacuum in terms of demonstrating how the Apprenticeship Levy will be implemented in Scotland.” The figures in the SDS report related to modern apprenticeships where there is a public funding contribution administered by SDS on behalf of the Scottish government. Mr Nelson continued: “In the Scottish government’s defence, the Apprenticeship Levy has been foisted upon them with no or very little consultation. The business community in Scotland has been particularly frustrated as it was impossible to properly engage with policy-makers on this important matter in the run-up to the Scottish Parliamentary elections. “Now that the elections are behind us, and the relevant Ministers are in place, we want a clear message from the Scottish government that they will engage with the construction industry and others to develop a workable policy for investing the Apprenticeship Levy that works for the Scottish construction sector.” The FMB’s latest State of Trade Survey showed that nearly half of SME employers are struggling to recruit carpenters, and that more than one in three are finding it difficult to source plumbers, something Mr Nelson said could have “a potentially disastrous effect” on the nation’s key housing and infrastructure objectives. “The only way to ensure that Scotland keeps building is by developing more home-grown talent, and to achieve this, the construction industry needs the government to prioritise quality apprenticeships and the upskilling of existing workers,” he concluded. The full report can be found online here: https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/media/41664/modern-apprenticeship-statistics-quarter-4-2015-16-2-1.pdf Source link

Heating businesses should think now about new apprenticeship levy, says OFTEC Published:  21 July, 2016 OFTEC is urging heating businesses to consider whether they can take advantage of the new Apprenticeship Levy to help them recruit fresh, young talent and contribute towards stemming the industry’s skills shortage. The Apprenticeship Levy comes into force on April 6 2017 and will see companies with annual wage bills in excess of £3 million pay a 0.5% tax on payroll. All businesses will then be eligible to claim back funding from the money accrued to help offset the cost of employing apprentices. The move is part of the government’s pledge to create three million more apprenticeships in the UK by 2020. The number of young people starting apprenticeships in England rose by 14% during 2014/15, the first time the total has increased for three years, a trend government hopes will continue in 2016. Currently the majority (73%) of apprenticeships are concentrated in the services sector, but according to OFTEC, this pattern needs to change to provide opportunities in the sectors where there is most need – such as the heating industry. “It’s very encouraging to see the number of apprenticeships in England increased last year. Quality apprenticeships are an invaluable part of further education and can give young people a real opportunity to start a rewarding and secure career,” said OFTEC training manager, David Knipe. “With the Apprenticeship Levy coming in next year, heating businesses should be asking themselves now, could and should they draw upon the available funding to help them take on an apprentice? Recruiting young talent in this way can provide an affordable route to business expansion with the advantage of being able to train an apprentice to the high standards you expect. “With the heating and plumbing sector identified as one of the industries most affected by the UK’s growing skills shortage, it’s imperative we encourage the next generation of technicians and equip them with the right skills to take the sector forward.” Following a government review, ‘Trailblazer’ apprenticeships are now replacing the old Specification for Apprenticeship Standards for England (SASE) framework to provide a new style of apprenticeship which is more employer focused. OFTEC fully backs the apprenticeship reforms which aim to ensure the new on-the-job training schemes equip young people with workplace skills that are relevant to both business and industry. “The skills shortage felt across the heating industry is also being exacerbated by the number of skilled workers now reaching retirement age with too few trained younger people coming through to plug the gap,” continued Mr Knipe. “The introduction of better quality, more focussed apprenticeships which are fit for today’s economy and the future, will hopefully encourage greater uptake and go some way towards addressing this very real issue.” Source link

Build UK’s The State of Trade Survey, compiled in partnership with Glenigan, found that 52 per cent of Build UK members expect workloads to grow over the next 12 months. Costs and labour supply remained the biggest worries for most builders, with 39 per cent of respondents reporting an increase in business costs and 43 per cent an increase in labour costs in the latest quarter. In total, two thirds of contractors reported higher labour costs year-on-year. Many contractors voiced additional concerns over recruitment difficulties, particularly with supervisory, managerial and technical staff. 53 per cent of those surveyed cited skills shortages as one of the main reasons for their recruitment difficulties, with 48 per cent reporting a lack of qualifications and 53 per cent a lack of required experience amongst their applicants overall. However, this was an improvment on last year where companies reported that 62 per cent of applicants lacked the required skills and 54 per cent required more experience. Build UK chief executive Suzannah Nichol said: “There continue to be mixed messages in terms of growth, however industry intelligence shows increasing levels of activity over the last quarter. “Employers are experiencing both rising material and labour costs as they head towards maximum capacity and this continues to highlight difficulties in recruiting appropriate skills at all levels.” Build UK was formed following the merger of the National Specialist Contractors Council and the UK Contractors Group in May 2015. The organisation represents over 11,500 specialist contractors and some of the largest main contractors and trade associations across the country. Source link