Last week Ahlsell announced their acquisition of CJ Järn & Maskin AB. It has been revealed that the company will acquire all shares of CJ Järn & Maskin AB. Ahlsell is a market leading Nordic distributor of installation products including tools and supplies. The company works with installers, contractors, facility managers, industry and infrastructure companies as well as the public sector. The unique company offers a great number of different services and solutions for its clients and employs around 5,00 employees. Ahlsell has more than 200 stores and three central warehouses that helps them help their customers. CJ Järn & Maskin is a family owned business that was first established in 1870. The company offers a wide variety of tools, machinery and personal protective equipment to be used in the professional market. The industrial supplies business works from Vårgårda, and there is a branch of the company in Vara. The company has a strong position in their regional market. The customers for CJ Järn & Maskin come mainly from the industry segment. The company will be a valuable asset for Ahlsell and will expand the customer database for the distributor. The CJ Järn & Maskin branch that is located in Vårgårda will be redesigned to resemble an Ahlsell branch. This new branch will contain an assortment range and will be complimented with other products such as the HVAC & Plumbing and Electricals. The acquisition will allow the company to cross-sell their products to their industrial customers. The company has been a partner of the Tools reseller chain until October 2016. Closing is expected in early May and it is thought that the acquisition will have a slightly positive impact on Ahlsell’s result per share for 2017. Hopefully the acquisition will lead to success in the future that we can report on.

New House of Lords report supports APHC apprenticeships findings Published:  19 April, 2016 A new report by the House of Lords social mobility committee says that young people who do not study for A-levels or degrees are “overlooked and left behind”. The research, which indicates that young people are let down by over emphasis on higher education and a lack of training options, supports recent findings by APHC which reveal that the majority of people believe that apprenticeships should be encouraged as an alternative to attending university. The Lords report argues that there is a strong focus on numbers entering university, despite the fact that the majority of young people choose not to continue their academic studies after the age of 16. In England in 2013-14, a total population of 1,285,800 16 and 17 year olds, only 47% (601,500 people) started A-levels, whereas 53% (684,300 people) did not. APHC’s research reflects this need for schools to promote careers in trades alongside university, with 86% of people agreeing that school leavers should be encouraged to consider an apprenticeship as an alternative to higher education and only 2% disagreeing. Malcolm Trobe, leader of the ASCL Head Teacher’s Union said: “The intense academic focus of the existing curriculum is too narrow for some students and a new approach is needed. Careers advice and education are being delivered in a way which means that too many young people simply drift into further studies or their first job, which too often has no real prospect of progression.” Another important point highlighted by the report is that young people can become disheartened by the heavy focus on academic results in schools, especially those who are middle-ability achievers, something which in turn can have an impact on social mobility. This aligns with APHC’s findings, in which 19% of respondents acknowledged that higher education is not suited to everyone, with other perceived benefits including a better chance of getting a job, the opportunity to gain a broader experience of life within the workplace and the chance to learn a useful skill. John Thompson, chief executive at APHC said: “We welcome this new report from the House of Lords, which supports our recent findings about attitudes towards careers in trades in England and Wales. We hope that government will take heed of this information by making it a priority to promote apprenticeships as an alternative to higher education in our schools.” Source link

Boiler manufacturer urges Chancellor to remember that ‘simplicity is key’ ahead of budget announcement Published:  15 April, 2016 Worcester, Bosch Group has called for the Chancellor to ensure that any schemes introduced to improve domestic energy efficiency as part of this week’s budget are as simple as possible for the nation’s homeowners to access. Neil Schofield, head of external affairs at Worcester, Bosch Group, has welcomed industry bodies’ calls for a national boiler replacement scheme, but believes it is vital that bureaucracy is kept to a bare minimum for any scheme to have a desired impact.  “The reason why we’ve seen a boiler scrappage scheme work so effectively in the past is because it is a simple and very tangible offer of cash for the homeowner in return for them upgrading their old boiler. There is no need for red tape, no extra qualifications or accreditation requirements of the installer and products, and no need to restrict it to the fuel poor only,” he explained. “Simplicity is the key to ensuring homeowners take action in reducing their emissions – something Boris Johnson has led the way on of late through the London Boiler Cashback Scheme. “A scrappage scheme not only offers the desired overall benefit of lowering carbon emissions, but is also likely to rid the country of non-condensing boilers and prompt the upgrading of controls which in turn allows for lower fuel bills.” Mr Schofield also believes the Chancellor has an opportunity to extend the scrappage concept to other easily-upgraded technologies to make an even bigger dent in the nation’s emissions targets. “If we do see the reintroduction of a boiler scrappage scheme, why not extend its remit even further to cover hot water storage cylinders too? Poorly or non-insulated hot water storage cylinders go hand in hand with energy wastage in domestic properties, so a large-scale overhaul is sure to have a direct impact on fuel efficiency. “By prompting homeowners to have boilers and cylinders front-of-mind through the introduction of a simple-to-access scrappage incentive, we might just be able to cut the number of fuel poor British homes. Boris has got the right idea – why don’t the rest follow suit?” Image courtesy of Shutterstock/kenary820 Source link