Fires can happen to anyone and at any time, with or without warning, and when it does happen it is more important to make sure that everyone is safe before trying to save the property. More often than not, fires can ravage a home, a business and any other property,
Plans have been lodged for a new £125m large warehouse in West Yorkshire for retail giant Next, which could lend the region to more than 1,000 jobs. Next, supported by Q+A Planning and pHp Architects, has submitted an application to Wakefield Council for a site south of Field Lane in
They say that an investiture will be one of the most proud and memorable moments of anyone’s life and Bell Group Chairman and Founder, George Bell, would most definitely agree. On Tuesday 19th November 2019, George attended Buckingham Palace for his investiture ceremony and was awarded his OBE by the
The answer is that this description has simply been used in the belief that the product will be a higher quality of plywood and will be suitable for application. Marine Grade Plywood compliant with the standard BS 1088 was not originally intended for construction applications, as the name suggests, it
There are so many factors to consider when you’re deciding on the type of packaging for your company. One of these factors is whether you should use child resistant packaging or not. This type of packaging comes with hard-to-open bottle caps that are formulated to be child-resistant. This type of
Leading UK construction, refurbishment and fit out contractor, Gilbert-Ash, has won a £17million design and build contract at one of England’s most historically significant colleges. Trinity College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, was granted planning permission last year for the erection of the new high-quality building.
BALI Registered Contractor Ground Control has been awarded the British Association of Landscape Industries’ (BALI) prestigious Grand Award at the 43rd BALI National Landscape Awards 2019, sponsored by BALI Registered Affiliate and Headline Sponsor of the Awards Green-tech. Ground Control’s project, The Children’s Garden, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew was entered
Did you know that the biggest selling type of vehicle in USA are trucks? With over 17 million vehicles sold every year in America over 60% of them are a variation of truck. Yet so many body shops are still investing in old painting technology that doesn’t really cater for
Too much work, time pressures and unprepared customers – these are the top three causes of stress at work, according to a new survey of almost 600 tradespeople by IronmongeryDirect. Work-related stress and mental illness now account for over half of all lost work days in the UK*. However, despite
An ever-expanding population and declining planetary health could lead to gigantic air domes combatting the leading cause of death, air pollution, and the total destabilisation of global weather patterns. This is according to one of the four future scenarios for our planet in a new report released today by global
Fires can happen to anyone and at any time, with or without warning, and when it does happen it is more important to make sure that everyone is safe before trying to save the property. More often than not, fires can ravage a home, a business and any other property, as fires can go on burning until it ran out of oxygen or all that could be burned had already been burned. Most of which actually is the latter, thus, those who have had the misfortune of having their properties burned must navigate through all the issues and problems in order to rebuild their properties. It is a legal requirement to take out a fire insurance policy on any property that you plan to purchase, since fires are the most common accidents that could happen to destroy your property. However, making a fire insurance claim is much difficult and complicated than it really is and you need a fire claim adjuster to make sure that you get the most of your insurance claims. What is a Fire Claim Adjuster? A fire claim adjuster is a public adjuster that has been licensed by the state to represent insurance policy holders who are filing insurance claims from their insurance providers. The responsibility of the fire claim adjuster is to ensure that the insurance policy holder gets the amount agreed on by their policy and whatever other benefits it may have in respect of their fire insurance claims. A fire claim adjuster is authorized to represent and negotiate with the insurance providers for the insurance policy holder, and by doing so will work for the benefit of the policy holder and not that of the insurance companies. Thus, they attend to meetings, inspections, negotiations, and prepare documents, reports and claims for the policy holders. They also make follow-ups, call insurance companies if they are taking too long to process the claims and ensure that you get paid as soon as possible so that you can also get to rebuild your home or property the soonest. Why You Need to Hire Your Own Fire Claim Adjuster? It is a reality that making a fire insurance claim and being compensated with the amount on your insurance policy agreement are two very difficult processes and even if you are willing to do this on your own, the truth is hiring your own fire claim adjuster is more cost-effective in the long run. With your own fire claim adjuster, you will be assured that your best interests are being protected and that the fire claim adjuster will make sure that your rights are protected and that you are represented in all meetings and proceedings. Most of the time also, insurance companies will not deal directly with the policy holder, they will have to assign a fire claim adjuster to be your representative, and this is not what you want or need at this time. Insurance companies will choose a fire claim adjuster and introduce him or her to you and will basically function in the same way as regular public adjusters do, however, these fire claim adjusters will not have your best interests at heart, instead they are working for the insurance providers and their only job is to see to it that you get paid with the minimum amount the insurance company wants to give you. Thus, it is better to hire your own fire claim adjuster who will work for your interests even if you had to pay them yourself, rather than accepting the offer of the insurance companies. How Do You Find A Fire Claim Adjuster? Insurance is a thriving business and there is good money to be made in it, thus, there are also a lot of establishments who do provide fire claim adjuster services, there are of course the expensive ones with stellar track records and the cheaper ones with less experience. Who to hire will depend ultimately on you own preferences and whether you want to take a risk on the new players or ensure the success of your claims with the more experienced one. You simply have to weigh it out and find one that will be a good fit for you. Someone you can communicate with, someone you can trust and who is really sincere and committed to working for your interests. You can find a fire claim adjuster in any of the businesses that specialize in this kind of things. But, you need to make sure that that service provider has the track record to prove that they are really good at what they do and they have verified and licensed public adjusters. You also would want someone that really has a physical office or location that you can go to, and schedule an appointment for a consultation, in that way you can actually get to experience how responsive they are to their client’s needs and decide for yourself whether you want to hire them for your fire insurance claim needs. Another way of figuring out which fire claim adjuster to hire is to ask for referrals from people you may know who have gone through the same experience as you did, and was either able to get the most from their insurance policy or not. Even if these people may not point you to the right fire claim adjuster, they can also tell you which ones to avoid. This is why experience and success rate is important, you would want someone who already have had the experience navigating through the complex process of making fire claims, someone who knows the language, has the right skill set and tools and one who can tell when insurance companies are playing hard or lowballing. You Now Have A Fire Claim Adjuster, What To Do Next? After the fire, and you and your family or employees are safe and without any injury, then you can move on to inspecting your property and assessing just how
Plans have been lodged for a new £125m large warehouse in West Yorkshire for retail giant Next, which could lend the region to more than 1,000 jobs. Next, supported by Q+A Planning and pHp Architects, has submitted an application to Wakefield Council for a site south of Field Lane in South Elmsall. Full planning permission is sought for a 777,000 sq ft facility comprising warehouse space and ancillary offices. A new pedestrian bridge would be built to link the new facility with Next’s existing operations north of Field Lane. The proposal also includes 47 HGV loading bays and road infrastructure works. The proposed development represents a capital investment £125m. It has been estimated to provide about 1,100 new jobs (including construction jobs) for Wakefield, of which more than half will be net additional roles. It could also generate an estimated gross value added (GVA) to the economy of more than £46m per annum. The new warehousing and distribution unit is required to cope with an expected increase in online sales for Next in the coming years. A planning statement submitted as part of the application said the proposed development would provide an “extension of the local purchasing, recruitment, skills development, career progression and community benefits already associated with the existing Next distribution operations in South Elmsall”. It would also assist in “safeguarding the future of Next’s existing operations in South Elmsall, and the substantial local employment and benefits to the local economy that this existing development provides”.
They say that an investiture will be one of the most proud and memorable moments of anyone’s life and Bell Group Chairman and Founder, George Bell, would most definitely agree. On Tuesday 19th November 2019, George attended Buckingham Palace for his investiture ceremony and was awarded his OBE by the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William. Starting himself as a painting and decorating apprentice, George has dedicated his career to building Bell Group and ensuring that our people and communities remain at the heart of the business. This award recognises his contribution to the painting and decorating industry through Bell Group’s work to support communities; his notable involvement with the Scottish Decorators Federation, Scottish Enterprise and CITB ConstructionSkills to actively promote apprenticeships within the painting industry; and his contributions to the industry as a part of the advisory panel for Scottish Parliament. George Bell, OBE: “To say I’m delighted is an understatement, I feel very honoured to receive this award. I have always been passionate about our industry and ensuring a bright future for both those I work with and the communities we work in. I am so proud of the company that Bell Group has become and in my mind this award is for everyone that has contributed to that.” About The Bell Group Bell Group is a commercial painting and building maintenance contractor with over 1600 directly employed tradesmen and staff. Our purpose is to maintain, protect and improve the aesthetic of the built environment by providing a value for money service for our clients and a memorable experience for their customers. We have 31 branches throughout the UK and our key sectors are social housing, property managers, local authority, defence, healthcare, education and leisure. https://www.bellgroup.co.uk
The answer is that this description has simply been used in the belief that the product will be a higher quality of plywood and will be suitable for application. Marine Grade Plywood compliant with the standard BS 1088 was not originally intended for construction applications, as the name suggests, it was produced for the boat/shipbuilding industry. In today’s world the availability of legal and sustainable hardwoods to produce Marine Grade Plywood is very limited, which makes the product relatively expensive to produce. Construction specifications should be satisfied with products that are fit-for-purpose taking into account the application and the particular performance criteria required. With this in mind, Hanson Plywood have worked to develop and present a product that is specifically intended for the construction industry and offers full technical and environmental classifications. Performance Plywood® is the result of this work and is a reliably branded hardwood plywood produced specifically for construction applications. It is CE marked and tested to meet EN 636 Use Class 3 thus making it suitable for use as structural components in exterior conditions. The product carries FSC® chain of custody and is FLEGT licenced to verify legality under the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR). Use in Exterior Conditions EN 636-3 specifies the requirements for plywood for use in external applications as defined in Use Class 3, where the moisture content will frequently be above 20 per cent. Use Class 3 is defined fully in EN 335:2013 but essentially it outlines situations in which wood or a wood-based product is above ground and exposed to the weather (particularly rain). The wood can be disfigured by fungi as well as attacked by wood boring insects including termites. Essential elements of plywood for EN 636–3 Bonding quality: The bonding quality of the plywood needs to comply with the requirements of Bonding Class 3 of EN 314-2. Biological durability: It is important to assess whether the durability of the plywood is sufficient for prevailing climate conditions. If it is not sufficient, then it is worth considering another solution such as the preservative treatment on the plywood. Guidance on factors affecting durability can be found in CEN/TS 1099. When specifying plywood for Use Class 3, appropriate surface and edge coating should also be considered. Legal and sustainable Performance Plywood® is imported from Indonesia and is FLEGT Licensed. Following the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry’s implementation of a robust timber legality assurance system (SVLK), the country has fully complied with the legal requirements set out by the European Union. Indonesia is the first country to offer FLEGT Licensed timber products that are fully compliant with EUTR requirements. In addition to this attestation to legality, the timber in Hanson Performance Plywood® is sourced from FSC® forest management units. On visiting the mill, Hanson Plywood staff came into the knowledge that the mill incorporates a robust reforestation scheme into their forest management, sustaining the forest for future generations. Performance Plywood® not only adheres to a long list of applicable standards, but also follows a strict due diligence process. This ensures the product is safe, and fit for use in a multitude of applications, specifically construction. www.hanson-plywood.co.uk
There are so many factors to consider when you’re deciding on the type of packaging for your company. One of these factors is whether you should use child resistant packaging or not. This type of packaging comes with hard-to-open bottle caps that are formulated to be child-resistant. This type of packaging has its advantages and disadvantages, so before you decide, you must know everything about child-resistant packaging. You’re in luck as we will be discussing them in this article. What is Child Resistant Packaging? Child resistant (C-R) packaging or special packaging, as others call it, is used to minimize the risks of poisoned children. Children usually ingest potentially hazardous items such as prescription and over-the-counter medications, household chemicals, and pesticides. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has the right to regulate child resistant packaging via the Poison Prevention Packaging Act (PPPA), which has become effective since 1972. Based on the PPPA, the term child-resistant packaging means packaging that is designed to make it significantly difficult for children who are under five years to open a product that may contain a toxic or harmful amount of substance. It is also designed so that it’s easier for adults to open the product. What Products Need Child Resistant Packaging? You can find the complete list of substances that require child-resistant packaging in the 16 CFR §1700.14. But for your reference, below are specific examples of over-the-counter medications that require child resistant packaging: acetaminophen aspirin diphenhydramine ibuprofen iron-containing drugs and dietary supplements imidazolines methyl salicylate mouthwash naproxen OTC switch drugs What are the Advantages of Child Resistant Packaging? The purpose of using child-resistant packaging is to ensure children’s safety. More products in the domestic environment are potentially dangerous to children. This can be anything from bleach to liquid nicotine and other household products. As a matter of fact, two companies in the US have had to do a full product recall because the essential oils that they were supplying weren’t in child-resistant packaging. Using child resistant packaging for your products will help ensure that your products are packaged in a way that minimizes the risk of potential ingestion when it is taken into the home. It is your responsibility as a brand owner to protect children from potentially harmful substances. Take cannabis, for example. Now that it’s slowly being legalized, a lot of people are bringing up the topic of child-resistant packaging. They aren’t just focusing on it, but they’re also reinventing it. We can’t deny that the sales for legal cannabis have been higher than expected, so the packaging laws are being addressed along the way. That’s because cannabis is potentially harmful to children. Children mistake edible cannabis (gummy bears, brownies, lollipops, etc.) for regular food, so they end up eating it without knowing it’s harmful. Edible cannabis contains very high amounts of cannabis, so the symptoms are severe when children eat it. Small children are at higher risks based on their size and weight. Many young children who have eaten edible cannabis need to be rushed to the hospital due to the severity of the symptoms. With child-resistant packaging around, you are 110% sure that no child will be at risk of accidentally consuming cannabis. What are the Disadvantages of Child Resistant Packaging? While child-resistant packaging may have its advantages, it also has its disadvantages. This type of packaging can be a problem for some aged people or individuals with disabilities. Regulations need to test the designs first to verify that most adults won’t have this problem, and for them to easily access the package. Some jurisdictions may allow pharmacists to give medications in non-child-resistant packages only if there aren’t any children in the household. The regulations are based on the protocols of performance tests of packages done with actual children. This is to determine that the packages can be opened. Recently, they are doing additional tests to determine if aged people or individuals with disabilities can open the same packages. Do You Need Child Resistant Packaging for Your Company? You’re the only person who can best answer this question because it all depends on what kind of products you’re selling. Are your products potentially harmful to children? If your answer is yes, then you need child-resistant packaging. How do you make your products child-resistant? There are five ways for you to make your products child-resistant. See below: Avoid visual cues. Children love shapes and bright colors, so make sure to avoid such to instruct users on how to open the package. Use visual cues that are unique to adults instead, as children find it unappealing and unrecognizable. Also, use text instructions on the labels. Dexterity. Children develop their motor skills when they’re around eight years old, but they can already push and open containers at a younger age. Add applied force to the packaging so that children won’t have the strength to open the product. Increase the packaging size. Increasing the size of your packaging is a simple way to make your product child-resistant. For example, if a user needs to open a container using two fingers, it should be customized to fit adult fingers. This, together with dexterity, will make it harder for children to open the product. The smaller the container is, the more accessible it is to children. Test your product packaging. You should remember to test your packaging to stay compliant. Do this by performing a routine test with children, and put them into groups. You’ll need 50 children (between 0 to 5 years old), separated into 3 categories per test. They need to open the containers with their teeth in a 10-minute test. Unit-dose packaging. Most pharmaceutical companies package pills in bottles. Their small containers have caps that you can easily twist to open. Because of this, children have the opportunity to open the bottle easily. To make sure that your product is child-resistant, you need to design it in a way that users need to apply force to open it. This is something
Leading UK construction, refurbishment and fit out contractor, Gilbert-Ash, has won a £17million design and build contract at one of England’s most historically significant colleges. Trinity College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, was granted planning permission last year for the erection of the new high-quality building. It is set to provide teaching facilities, residential accommodation and a multi-purpose auditorium. Gilbert-Ash will construct 45 new en-suite study bedrooms, five dedicated teaching rooms, three multi-purpose areas for music practice rooms, additional teaching rooms and a basement for plant and storage. Advanced logistical planning is pivotal in this project as the new building will be located on a sensitive site close to several listed buildings and gardens. It represents the first major building project at Trinity College for over 50 years. The new building will also be home to additional formal study spaces, a new reception area designed as an orangery overlooking the gardens and two additional student kitchens. There will be a kitchen to provide catering facilities, laundry and basement storage facilities, as well as male, female and gender-neutral bathrooms and ancillary accommodation. It has been designed in a classical manner with traditional materials being carefully considered to reflect the established architectural character elsewhere in the college. It will have stone-faced elevations finished in a honey coloured ashlar limestone to complement buildings across the college and ensure it sits comfortably with its historic setting. Having constructed the student accommodation at Wadham College, Gilbert-Ash has a well-established working relationship with the University of Oxford and has a deep knowledge of working in areas of significant historical importance. Raymond Gilroy, Gilbert-Ash Construction Director, commented, “Gilbert-Ash is really pleased to be working on this major project for Trinity College. We are excited about the new building and what it will offer to the university community. We are in no doubt about the challenges which lie ahead, working in a tight location surrounded by listed buildings and grounds, but our team has the experience to meticulously plan for and work through any challenges which present themselves. We are ready to roll up our sleeves and work with our partners to deliver this prestigious project.” Working as one with Trinity College and the design team at Adam Architecture, Gilbert-Ash has developed a thorough plan to ensure the project objectives are delivered to the highest possible standard. The structural challenges have been addressed through the sub and superstructure strategies, which include contiguous piled basement retaining walls, internal load bearing piles with in-situ concrete basement and ground floor slabs. The superstructure will be an in-situ RC frame up to roof level with proprietary timber trusses and large concrete transfer beams at first and ground level to accommodate large open column free spaces. The project is due for completion in August 2021. Highly detailed design, advanced logistical planning and development goes into every Gilbert-Ash project, with the team skilled in delivering the finest quality projects in the UK and globally, including historic building and educational developments. For more information on Gilbert-Ash visit www.gilbert-ash.com
BALI Registered Contractor Ground Control has been awarded the British Association of Landscape Industries’ (BALI) prestigious Grand Award at the 43rd BALI National Landscape Awards 2019, sponsored by BALI Registered Affiliate and Headline Sponsor of the Awards Green-tech. Ground Control’s project, The Children’s Garden, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew was entered into the Community and Schools Development category. The annual BALI National Landscape Awards, held at the iconic JW Marriott Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London celebrates the skills, hard work, quality, commitment and successes of BALI Registered members and are the largest landscape Awards in Europe. They recognise excellence in landscape design, construction and maintenance both in the UK and overseas, as well as awarding Affiliate customer service and employer excellence. Ground Control, a UK-based multi award-winning grounds maintenance provider specialising in winter maintenance, took home the top Award for The Children’s Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens, the first significant development within the Kew Gardens estate for over a decade. Ground Control developed the initial design concept, engaged with Kew’s visitors, local community groups and larger public organisations before transforming a large under-used area into a unique play and learning space. Children of all ages can now enjoy a beautiful adventure space unaware they are learning about nature, plants and the environment. This year’s BALI National Landscape Awards’ Adjudicators, led by Chair of the Adjudication Panel John Melmoe, jointly commented, “The quality of the finish on this hard and soft landscaping scheme is absolutely superb. The contractor has embraced the design and created an amazing play and learning space for children, complete with a beautifully constructed oak tree circle walkway, meticulously installed play equipment, carefully sited rockery boulders, and a skillfully laid plethora of different surfacing including artificial grass, composite boarding, gravel pathways and safety surfacing. Every aspect, without exception, has been tackled with skill, precision and exemplary attention to detail. The planting scheme softens and enhances the hard elements and, despite the garden’s popularity and consequent heavy use, seems to thrive in spite of the attention of many small hands and feet. This is landscaping at its very best and a worthy winner of this year’s BALI Grand Award.” 145 entries were judged by BALI adjudicators over the summer with 91 National Landscape Awards bestowed on 63 members of the Association in September, with 23 Principal, 8 Special and the coveted Grand Award announced live on stage at the glittering ceremony. Other notable wins came from BALI Registered Designer Rosemary Coldstream MBALI who won three Principal Awards, two for her Modern Garden Hampstead and one for Copper Courtyard whilst BALI Registered Contractor Blakedown Landscapes (SE) won a Principal Award for the Venetian Waterways, Great Yarmouth and was also the recipient of two Special Awards; Best Community Involvement for the aforementioned project and Outstanding Memorial for Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham – Sousse and Bardo Memorial. BALI Registered Contractor Bridgman & Bridgman also received a Special Award for Best First Time Entrant and BALI Registered Contractor NAO Landscapes took home a Special Award for Best Newcomer to BALI. This year also saw several records broken, including the most entries received in the last 10 years, the highest number of first-time entries at 51 and 34 International entries ever received. This was the second year the Awards were successfully delivered in-house by the team at BALI’s Landscape House. Events Project Manager Leah Brookes, who attended the 2018 Awards and project managed the 2019 event said, “It has been an immense pleasure managing the BALI Awards 2019. From attending the event last year, to meeting and working alongside the expert adjudicators, to managing the whole entry process and advising members on their submissions. To see the fruition of a year’s work come together on this special day and celebrate together with each and every member is fabulous. I send my heartfelt congratulations to all our winners and thanks to all our sponsors, adjudicators and stakeholders for their continued support of the prestigious National Landscape Awards.” Sport and lifestyle presenter Mark Durden-Smith played host for the afternoon’s proceedings in front of over 1,000 BALI VIPs, members and guests, including Adam White MBALI, President and Fellow of the ‘Royal Chartered’ Landscape Institute and BALI Registered Designer; Chair of the Society of Garden Designers, Sarah Morgan; Rod Winrow, Chairman of the Association of Professional Landscapers; Sue Biggs CBE, Director General of the Royal Horticultural Society and Gerald Bonner, President of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture (CIOH). BALI’s Chief Executive Wayne Grills said, “Once again I am delighted that the level of quality and professionalism demonstrated at our 43rd Awards is set at the highest possible level. Our well-deserved Grand Award winner for 2019, Ground Control, seriously impressed adjudicators who recognised their outstanding contribution to landscaping with a flawlessly executed standard of workmanship and professionalism in The Children’s Garden scheme. This delivered in excess of the expected levels of quality as a BALI Registered member and also achieved the highest level of client satisfaction. Congratulations to them and all of our winners this year, and thank you to our sponsors, who without them, the event would not be possible.” Benefitting from a collection at the event, this year’s chosen charities were Perennial and the BALI Chalk Fund who will both split £4,905 between them. A full list of award-winners and a description of the winning schemes is available on the BALI Awards website here.
Did you know that the biggest selling type of vehicle in USA are trucks? With over 17 million vehicles sold every year in America over 60% of them are a variation of truck. Yet so many body shops are still investing in old painting technology that doesn’t really cater for this growing market. So, the question becomes, why should you give yourself a competitive advantage? With Growing Concern Over Climate Change Big Vehicles Are Gone This is perhaps one of the biggest reasons that car painters offer for not needing to upgrade their booths to be able to cope with larger vehicles. Surely with the decrease in large cars and trucks any jobs that come in could just be handled manually. While small zippy cars are great for very short trips when there is just two of you, for anyone with children they simply aren’t big enough to cope with day to day activities. Around the world governments are increasingly stringent about the safety requirements for children traveling in vehicles. This means large, correctly fitted car seats are mandatory in most places – which in turn means that a teeny car isn’t going to fit those car seats. An even bigger issue comes when the children start to play team sports or want to travel anywhere with friends, as each child needs to be in their own car seat. So, for a family, trucks like the Toyota Rav4 or Nissan Rouge become the perfect mode of transportation. However, because families have no money (ask any parent), it isn’t just the need for extra room that is driving the purchase, but the fact that these vehicles are surprisingly economic to run. Hybrid vehicles are becoming more and more popular, making a larger option only marginally more expensive that a little two door shopping trolley. How Do Repair Shops Increase Their Revenue? Unless you have a specialist contract you are unlikely to need a paint booth that will be large enough to fit a bus (although this could be an untapped niche in your area, so don’t discard it immediately). However, distracted parents driving large SUVs do have fender-benders. Kids opening car doors in crowded carparks with an energy only achievable by an 8-year old, do cause a lot of damage. In fact, just living the average American family’s normal life is hectic enough to keep most paint businesses in work for years. Which is why you can increase your yearly turnover by investing in a large truck paint booth like one of these: https://www.paintbooth.com/truck-paint-booths/. A paint booth allows for a quicker turn around time, and a better finish, meaning that you will be able to get your customers’ back on the road faster. Of course, the ultimate result of this faster turnaround means that you can book more cars through, and your customers are going to be so excited by your work ethic and professionalism that they tell all their dent prone friends. Marketing Your Business & ROI Still on the theme of increasing your profit, marketing is a of course a key component to this. But to successfully market yourself you need to have a point of difference and a target market. A key reason to invest in a larger booth is that this allows you to focus on who your target audience is. While you may decide that you do not really want to get all the business from every single soccer mom in your area, perhaps you would rather work with RV owners, truck firms or specialist equipment. If you are in an area with manufacturing start-ups, a little investigation will likely yield a lot of information about their needs for powder coating and how you could work with them to increase your business and get theirs off the ground. To ensure that any investment in equipment, particularly large investments, are going to pay off you will need to do your homework, looking at your current business, where the source of current clients come from, then consider the opportunities that may be available. Bear in mind that investing in a larger operation will not prevent you from being able to work with smaller units, but it will give you scope to expand your business if you can develop the opportunities. You will also need to ask yourself if this investment in equipment is going to be the best use of your funds. Will other options increase your turnover? Do you need to multiphase plan to increase and grow your revenue? What Type Of Paint Booth Should I Get? This is a technical question that will certainly require research. There are a variety of options, but things to think about are: how large can you physically fit in your current space? How longer will it need to be to comfortably fit the largest vehicle you want to work on What is the air flow like? Will it meet your businesses worker safety protocols (see here) What are the maintenance and delivery/installation costs like in comparable models? Cross draft or side downdraft or downdraft? What sort of filters are used, are they going to be adequate for your needs? There are a variety of options that will fit into most current auto shop setups, you just need to make sure that you get the right one. It is a large investment, but if you talk to the right supplier, it is an investment that could pay for itself, and then some, very quickly.
Too much work, time pressures and unprepared customers – these are the top three causes of stress at work, according to a new survey of almost 600 tradespeople by IronmongeryDirect. Work-related stress and mental illness now account for over half of all lost work days in the UK*. However, despite this, the survey found that only 11% of tradespeople have taken any time off work in the last year because of mental ill-health. With over a third (34%) reporting regularly feeling stressed, this research paints a worrying picture. Almost half of the 587 respondents (43%) also believe there is still a stigma in the trades surrounding mental health, with respondents citing a ‘macho culture’, embarrassment, weakness and pressure to ‘get the job done’ as some of the contributing factors. The survey also revealed some generational differences, with tradespeople aged 18 to 30 being 20% more likely to talk about their mental health at work than their peers in the 50 plus age group. Despite the pressures of the day job, over half (56%) still feel that they have a good work/life balance, which is significantly higher than the national average of 33%** for all working people. The most commonly reported ways to relax when off the job include watching TV, walking the dog, and spending time with friends and family. Commenting on the survey findings, Marco Verdonkschot, Managing Director of IronmongeryDirect, said: “This survey has revealed an interesting insight into the physical and mental wellbeing of people working in the trades. Although great progress has been made across the sector when it comes to talking about workplace mental illness, it is clear that there is still a way to go and it’s vital that employers spot the signs of mental ill-health and create the right environment where staff feel they can speak up. It is very positive, however, to see that despite working in a demanding industry, many tradespeople still have a high level of job satisfaction and feel that their employer cares about their general wellbeing.” IronmongeryDirect has over 18,000 products available and in stock. Orders can be placed as late as 8pm for next day delivery from Sunday through to Friday and by 4pm on Saturdays. Free, no quibble returns are available on all products. For more information, visit IronmongeryDirect.com or call their team of specialist advisors on 0800 168 28 28.
An ever-expanding population and declining planetary health could lead to gigantic air domes combatting the leading cause of death, air pollution, and the total destabilisation of global weather patterns. This is according to one of the four future scenarios for our planet in a new report released today by global engineering consultancy, Arup. With the global population expected to increase by 2 billion people, from 7.7 billion to 9.7 billion, by 2050, ‘2050 Scenarios: Four Plausible Futures’ depict how we could live in 2050, based on the intersection between our planet’s health and societal conditions. The four divergent futures in the report – Humans Inc., Extinction Express, Greentocracy and Post Anthropocene – range from the collapse of our society and natural system, to the two living in sustainable harmony. In ‘Humans Inc.’, global temperatures have exceeded the 2°C target and coordinated action on a global level continues to struggle. Here, increased frequency and severity of weather events continue to have a detrimental effect on our cities and ecosystems, yet technological advances have reduced poverty, improved education and ensured jobs are abundant. ‘Extinction Express’ details the dramatic decline in planetary health and human society, where global temperatures far exceed 2°C and the long-term inaction of society and continued exploitation of planetary resources have resulted in colonies on the moon and underwater. ‘Greentocracy’ shows an improvement in planetary health but this has been enabled by severe restrictions on human society: poor living conditions, conflict and authoritarian regimes prevail. The global mean temperature rise remains below 1.5°C due to climate action and fostering biodiversity being at the top of the agenda. ‘Post Anthropocene’, in this future, human society and planetary health exist in a harmonious relationship. Large-scale climate change consequences, such as 15% of artic sea ice melting, catalyse global cooperation on climate change action, helping the global mean temperature rise to remain below 1.5°C. Society only consumes resources at the rate at which can be replenished, and everyone has a carbon quota. Josef Hargrave, Global Foresight Manager at Arup, said: “The four scenarios that we have projected are each extreme yet plausible. To some they may seem alarmist, to others not extreme enough. In every case they help us gain a deeper understanding of both the opportunities and threats we are facing over the coming decades and possible pathways towards these futures. We have the power to shape our future, but which future do we actually want?” The report is intended to inform decisions on the design and planning of our built environment. Each scenario has been developed using detailed research of trends and projections from think thanks, governments, statistical data, NGOs and research institutions, and shows how progress towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) can drive change for our planet and outlook for humanity. Jo da Silva, Global Sustainable Development Leader at Arup, commented: “Sustainable development is fundamentally about creating a balance between the needs of a growing world population and the finite resources and health of our planet – our life support system. As engineers, scientists and planners, we all have a responsibility to make sure that the decisions made today have a positive impact on our future. We must act now in our shared quest for a safe, resilient and resource-efficient world for all.”