Grapevine

13^th September 2019

Got a story for us? Please send news stories & press releases to: grapevine@twinfm.com

World Suicide Prevention Day

September 10 was World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD), a day in which organisations across the world were expected to raise awareness about suicide prevention.

With over 6,507 suicides registered in the UK last year alone, Grapevine agrees with the organisers that it is vital we open up a conversation about how we in this sector and business in general can help (and help others) spot the signs that someone might be contemplating taking their own life - and do something about it.

ThisWeekinFM and Grapevine believe that the Mates in Mind campaign is really one to get behind. In response to the latest report released by the Office of National Statistics for 2018 which shows suicide rates have risen for the first time since 2013, James Rudoni, MD of Mates in Mind said: “Every suicide is a preventable death. There is a need to focus on men in their late 40s who remain the highest-risk group by age.

"We affirm there is both a moral as well as clear business case for organisations to be aware of this issue, understand that they have a duty of care and recognise that they can play a critical role in tackling it.

"Just getting people to create a space at work to open up a conversation about mental health continues to be the most immediate and effective starting point. We cannot underestimate this important first step – helping to provide clear language, create general awareness and help people to recognise that everyone has mental health the same way that they have physical health. In this space, part of the messaging is about people recognising the signs in themselves but awareness also is about enabling people to spot the changes in behaviour in others, combined with having increased confidence to know how to appropriately open up a conversation with a colleague.

"We encourage businesses to download our resource pack or get in touch with Mates in Mind for more advice and support.”

To find out how to get involved with Mates in Mind, get in touch with the dedicated Programme Support Team on 020 3510 5018.

Recycling Week & Wonder Day

Recycle Week gets underway on September 23 and runs until the 29th.

As part of Open House London on Saturday September 21, Veolia will share a rare glimpse inside their Southwark Integrated Waste Management Facility in what they are calling Wonder Day.

Contract Caterer Delivers On The Planet Mark Commitments

Bartlett Mitchell has achieved certification to The Planet Mark sustainability programme - becoming the first caterer to achieve the accolade following a rigorous measurement and reporting process.

The Planet Mark and ThisWeekinFM have shared a partnership over the past six years. We recommend any company operating in this sector to join the programme.

For more information - Click Here

Certification to The Planet Mark strengthens a company’s position on sustainability by measuring and reducing carbon footprint.

This is Bartlett Mitchell’s first year of business carbon footprint reporting. The firm first calculated the carbon footprint of its Surrey operational site for the year ending December 2018 and set a target to reduce emissions by 5% annually. This year’s footprint includes emissions from purchased electricity, waste, business travel and printing paper for its operational site.

Sainsbury's To Halve Plastic Packaging

Sainsbury's has joined Waitrose in pledging to reduce the amount of plastic packaging for goods in supermarkets and is extending an environmental campaign to ask the public, business partners and business in general to submit ideas on how the company can go even further.

Grapevine believes those operating in the FM and wider real estate sector can certainly offer innovative ideas and gain innovative ideas and should be partnering with companies such as Sainsbury's and The Planet Mark et al, to share best practice.

What A Load Of Old Compost

Grapevine was dismayed to learn this week that a Parliamentary Committee (Environment, Food And Rural Affairs) believes that we (and the retail sector in particular) should not currently put a focus on replacing single-use plastic with compostable or recyclable alternatives.

The reason? The UK is not geared up to deal with compostable or biodegradable materials effectively. Just when I thought it was OK to throw Co-Op compostable bags in my bin (where plastic bags are banned), I discover I've been sold yet another pup!

ThisWeekinFM has been referring to the Great Recyclable Swindle - products branded as recyclable that simply can't actually be recycled in this country. When will suppliers learn that a huge backlash is coming their way when companies up and down the country start to rage at the effective lie they have been told?

Come On You Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur FC will be trialling the use of reusable beer cups across all bars located on Level 5 of the football club's spanking new stadium, including those used by the Bottoms Up pouring system - beer poured at incredible speed through a slot at the bottom of the receptacle.

The reusable beer cups will be used for the first time at the Crystal Palace match on Saturday September 14.

The initiative is part of the Spurs' continued drive to reduce single-use plastic across its operations. If the trial is successful, reusable beer cups will be used across the entire stadium in future.

The cups will be collected and taken off site after matches to be washed and then returned for further use.

For this process to work effectively, the club needs fans to use the bespoke units where beer cups ONLY are to be disposed that are mounted to the recycling bin units throughout the Level 5 concourse.

A club statement reads: 'It is crucial that beer cups are disposed of only within the bespoke units provided. Please refrain from placing the cups within our General Waste or Dry Mixed Recycling bins as this could undermine our recycling strategy. We kindly ask that fans do not take the cups out of the stadium after the match and that they are either disposed of within the correct units or returned to the bar'.

Climate Strike

September 20 and as we've mentioned before, Greta Thunberg, the TUC and associated unions and Extinction Rebellion are calling on workers around the world to stop work for just half an hour in protest at climate change.

Grapevine thinks it might all go off like a damp squb...but who knows? So get the date in you diary - either because it might cause disruption at your workplace or because you might want to organise the people in your workplace to join in.

Heathrow Pause Paused

Some of those behind Extinction Rebellion were also behind the plan to fly drones within the Heathrow Airport exclusion zone.

That was before the fuzz arrested five of the collaborators (are you old enough to remember when collaboration was a criminal offence rather than the in-thing to do at work?) at different addresses and those who got near Heathrow at 3:00am on Friday 13 were out of luck at they couldn't get their drones to fly...the clever dicks at the airport have (apparently) deployed a jamming signal to cover such eventualities.

Workplace Week London 2019

The full line-up of workplace tours has been announced for the week commencing 11 November 2019.

30 organisations have confirmed their support for the ninth outing of the philanthropic week, which over its previous eight year history has raised over £100,000 for BBC Children in Need.

More than 15 organisations new to the line-up will open their doors to the public for the very first time, including some of the world’s biggest tech, media, entertainment, facilities management, legal, fashion and finance firms.

Workplace Week London 2019 premieres include:

Dr. Martens in Camden, LinkedIn on Farringdon Road, Deliveroo's river-side location, Skyscanner - one of London’s ‘Coolest Office Spaces in 2018’, Hearst in Leicester Square, ASOS at Mornington Crescent, Framestore: Oscar winning visual effects firm, Framestore at 28 Chancery Lane and Photobox (Europe’s leading digital consumer service for personalised products and gifts) at Herbal House.

Other participating organisations include but are not limited to Ricoh, Lloyds of London, Macquarie, Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP, Lego, Jellyfish, PwC, Aviva Digital Garage, British Heart Foundation, Huckletree West, Viacom, Zoopla, Condé Nast International, Mitie Group, The British Film Institute, Frank PR, JustGiving and Innocent Drinks.

www.workplaceweek.com

In A Spin

Would you believe it - 65,000 of the Whirlpool tumble dryers that were eventually recalled had faults in them that could have caused fires.

It was unreasonable that the company tried to avoid the recall and it is likely that not every purchaser returned their machine.

Meanwhile, Grapevine attended another conference this week, part of which focused on the post-Grenfell Building Regs etc. More talk and more talk - I hope when the talking is done, we haven't seen more lives lost to inaction.

Interserve Cleans Up

The Interserve Group has adopted a series of improvements to the way its cleaning business runs that have resulted in tens of thousands of bottles per year being saved from landfill.

The company employs more than 24,000 cleaners across its Support Services business who are based at clients ranging from supermarket chains through to small private businesses, the NHS and Government offices.

The company’s cleaners use roughly £17 million worth of products per year.

Two changes included installing dilution-controlled cleaning and cutting down on the variety of products used to create economies of scale.

Janet Park, director of cleaning, said: “We changed from a glug-glug approach in which our cleaners were using thousands of products from 1,800 different product lines to a rational approach using one system comprising four products.”

The company has further reduced consumption by installing product dispensing systems ensuring each cleaner uses the correct quantity of product.

Most Brits Think They Are Too Old For An Apprenticeship

Two thirds of UK workforce wrongly believe they are too old to become an apprentice and that the age barrier is between 16-24 when in fact, there is no age barrier.

What a shame we are not doing more to encourage employees to have a go at a career change or even enticing people in from outside the industry with the promise of training.

To read the full ThisWeekinFM story - Click Here

Theft Of Tools From Vans Continues To Rise

The cost of insurance claims for theft of tools from vans have increased by more than half - 55% - in the past year according to analysis by ECIC, the specialist insurer for the building services sector.

With recent reports of increased keyless entry vehicle thefts, including vans and the average theft of tools claim reaching £2,685, ECIC is warning contractors that keeping tools in a locked van is not enough to protect them from determined thieves.

To read the full ThisWeekinFM story - Click Here

AJ Products Partners With The Elite Ice Hockey League

AJ Products UK will be the official sponsor of referees in the UK’s Elite Ice Hockey League for the 2019/20 season.

Established in Sweden in 1975, the AJ Group has a long history as an official sponsor of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, supporting the tournament every year since 1989.

“For many years, AJ Products Sweden have sponsored the Ice Hockey World Championships. For the forthcoming season, AJ Products (UK) Ltd are pleased to be sponsoring the UK Elite League,” said UK MD, David English. “With AJ’s passion for health and wellbeing in the workplace, what better sport to sponsor to demonstrate what is possible through dedication and fitness.”

245 Hammersmith Road

NJC, the cleaning and support services company, has announced its contract win at 245 Hammersmith Road, the new flexible, collaborative workplace incorporating offices, retail units, public plaza and an urban park.

NJC’s fully integrated model will include self-delivery of internal and external cleaning of the common areas, window cleaning, specialist cleaning, washroom services and waste management. Social value will be provided through local employment, training and work experience, local supply chain use and working with local agencies in support of communities and disadvantaged people.

London Is The Most Productive Region In The UK

London is the most productive region in the UK, closely followed by the South-East and Scotland, according to new research from Durham University Business School - can that be down to London's workspaces?

The researchers also found that the least productive region was Wales, with London having productivity levels over double the amount of Wales.

This research was conducted by Richard Harris and John Moffat, who are both Professors of Economics at Durham University Business School. To collect these results, the researchers used state-of-the-art econometric techniques to analyse ONS data between the years 2010-2016, to produce levels of productivity in each part of Great Britain.

The researchers produced estimates of total factor productivity, as opposed to labour productivity because it measures the productivity of all factors of production, including capital and intermediate inputs. Economists believe this is a more accurate way to evaluate actual productivity.

Professor Richard Harris said: “A major priority today for the UK Government is to boost productivity as well as achieve greater ‘spatial rebalancing’ of the economy to address the so-called north-south divide in terms of GDP per capita. Our research clearly shows that the levels of productivity are drastically higher in London and its surrounding areas. However, locational factors do account for, on average, between 41-50% of the differential between London and other Local Economic Partnerships, depending on the sector considered, clearly showcasing the importance for companies to be based in or near, London."

Getting Designs On The Design Museum

The Design Museum has appointed Pareto FM to provide hard services at a new venue in Kensington, London.

Cancer Centre

VINCI Facilities has won a five-year contract worth £1.05 million annually to deliver hard FM services to the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust.

Calling At All Stations

c2c, the train operating company owned by Trenitalia that operates and manages stations and trains from London Fenchurch Street to Southend, has extended its established relationship with Cordant Cleaning with the award of a new deal worth in excess of £3 million a year. The contract will run until 2029 when c2c’s train franchise next comes up for renewal.

Southampton District Energy Scheme

Solent University’s new sports complex has been successfully connected to Southampton Geothermal Heating Company’s pioneering district energy scheme after signing a £2.8 million deal with energy and services specialist, ENGIE, over the next 20 years.

Waltzing In To Contract

Serco Group, through its Australian subsidiary, has received notification of an initial two-year extension to its contract with the Australian Government’s Department of Home Affairs for the provision of onshore immigration detention facilities and detainee services.

Long Shot

The Considerate Constructors Scheme - the national organisation established to improve the image of construction - will see Amanda Long will join as Chief Executive from 16 September 2019.

Growth In Belfast

Independents by Sodexo has been awarded two contracts in Belfast – a brand new catering contract with Victoria College and a cleaning contract addition to existing services at Rathmore Grammar School.

So Young Hyun

Sodexo has appointed workplace specialist So Young Hyun as workplace experience leader. So Young is the first hire to Sodexo-owned workplace experience consultancy Wx in the UK and Ireland.

Yannick Villar, CEO and co-founder, Wx, said: “The UK and Ireland workplace market, especially in London and Dublin, is strategic for Wx given its maturity. The experience So Young brings will helps us transform these opportunities and create more value for our clients. This is a critical first step in our planned investment in this market and in other key business cities around the world.”

So Young has over 15 years’ experience in workplace strategy, environmental science, sustainable design and building optimisation. She joins Sodexo from Mitie, where she was responsible for driving the strategic development and operational delivery of its Workplace proposition. Prior to this she worked at global engineering firm Arup in their London head office.

Tranquil Dawn

I know that your marriage has failed and you father just died. I know you are in debt up to your eyeballs and you can't make ends meet. But please step away from the edge of the building. Everything's gonna be fine coz we are painting the office in Tranquil Dawn.

Tranquil Dawn is the colour of the year for 2020 that according to those who chose it (and accompanying palettes) creates a feeling of calm and contemplation and areas painted in it will provide a sumptuous space for self-expression and storytelling and evoke a feeling of deep relaxation and peace.

It is time that we stopped believing the setting of a workplace can have such huge impacts on wellbeing unless the critical elements personal interaction have been remedied. We have to stop saying we are changing the lighting and thus we are curing mental health. We have to create a sumptuous spaces for self-expression and storytelling where the stories and self-expression are a bit darker...a bit truth-like...a bit waving not drowning. Places where people are free to say 'I need help - will you just listen for a while?'

Smart Buildings Show Is Open For Registration

The UK’s cornerstone Smart Buildings event is back with more visitors, more stands and more conference content for 2019. The free-to-attend event takes place at Olympia London October 9-10.

ThisWeekinFM are pleased to be a Media Partner to the Smart Buildings Show. See our Technology section for more details and links to the registration page.

ThisWeekinFM Celebrity Open

The ThisWeekinFM's exclusive Celebrity Open at the marvellous Woburn Golf Club (Thursday October 3) now has the remaining team positions open to individual players. There are only a very limited number of places available, so if you would like to register your interest, email dave@twinfm.com

Facilities & Workplace Networking Club October 31

Tickets have just gone on sale for the FWNC meeting on Thursday October 31. We've opened things up so no invitation is required this time around which means tickets will go fast. You will need a promo code to make a purchase - found at the bottom of the Event Page.

To grab your ticket - Click Here

Breakfast Briefing

Trends In The Workplace

ThisWeekinFM is co-ordinating applications to attend a CBRE Breakfast Briefing that will consider the trends in the workplace that are most affecting FM professionals. The topics to be discussed by experts in their fields are Workplace Strategy, Smart Buildings, Technology and Customer Experience.

The event will take place 8:30-10:00am, Tuesday October 8 at Schroders, 1 London Wall.

There are only a very limited number of places available, so if you would like to register your interest, email dave@twinfm.com

FWNC Festive Season Lunch - Thursday November 28

ThisWeekinFM has set the date for a winter highlight on the networking calendar - the Facilities & Workplace Networking Club Festive Season Lunch will take place on Thursday November 28.

Set the date in your calendar now.

To see the event page for details and booking options - Click Here

Please Note Sponsorship Packages Are Now Available - For the Brochure - Click Here

Smart Buildings Breakfast Briefing - Apply For Tickets Now

Influencing strategies, procurement, sustainability, design, operations and performance - are all topicS that will be covered at the next Property Affiliates & ThisWeekinFM Smart Buildings Breakfast Briefing on September 18.

The Briefing takes place on from 8:00am on September 18 at Avison Young, 65 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7NQ.

A Large Number Of Applications Have Been Received For This Exclusive And Paid For Event - £25 Plus Eventbrite Fees

To Apply For Tickets Directly, Email The Organiser At michael-green4@sky.com

6^th September 2019

It's Still Summer?

Hello and welcome on this fine meteorological autumn day. Meteorological autumn started on September 1. Astronomical autumn won't begin until Monday, September 23.

At ThisWeekinFM we believe our role is to inform but that doesn't mean we can't wander off the editorial reservation once in a while - so long as we can make some kind of a link back to our core subject (the core subject being FM if you hadn't have guessed).

So in the example above, the link is tenuous at best (really it is just an idle fact I thought you, dear reader, would find amusing) but it is now the time of the year when employees are back from their summer hols, the nights are getting longer and the days often have a chill to them. And every good facilities manager is wondering when they'll have to put the heating back on...

There you go! (It's still tenuous at best).

Young Hearts Run Free?

I noticed on the Beeb (the Beeb is the working title for the BBC's product and service that is due to rival Alexa et al...but even with my genius, I could not find a way to link this idle fact back to FM). Sorry, let me start that again...

I noticed on the BBC a report from the British Medical Journal that says vegans and vegetarians have fewer heart attacks but more strokes than those who consume a more 'traditional' diet.

Facilities managers who have gone through hoops to change their catering arrangement to accommodate the mostly young vegans and veggies that come to their premises will be beside themselves wondering when it will ever stop - when will stuff that's 'good for you' one day stop being 'bad for you' the next.

First of all it was smoking - good for you, then declared bad...who would have thought? Then it was red meat; then white; then oily fish; exercise; red wine - the list goes on and on.

(And don't get me started on Statins - which the Daily Mail or is it the Express will tell you one day are good for you heart and the next they are deadly).

The theme here is all that vegan food you've just ordered might be clogging up the arteries of the youthful eaters at your establishment - how'd you feel about that?

Trade Skills 4U Launches New Website

On the topic of the young and healthy (or not so healthy), Trade Skills 4U, the electrical training company, has launch of a brand new website.

The new website allows visitors to browse the widest range of electrical training courses and qualifications in the UK. It has been designed to help users find the right course to either get qualified to pursue a successful career in the electrical industry.

Rebel, Rebel - Not Such Hot Tramps

Extinction Rebellion 'occupied' Deansgate, Manchester's city centre shopping street, through last weekend and in to Monday to highlight the ecological emergency.

There was super-glue as some protestors stuck themselves to buildings. And then there were workshops, talks, food, art, performances - and music.

All powered by a by a whopping big diesel generator.

A solar powered generator would have cost £8,000 to hire and it seems the lentil munching classes don't have that kind of money knocking around to fund their beliefs.

Surely, they could have got one fuelled by used cooking oil. But who knows where that comes from these days?

Not Inter Miami

The site that David Beckham has earmarked as the place to build a stadium to home his Inter Miami football (proper football) franchise has been found to be contaminated with arsenic.

The golf course that is currently on the land had been closed.

ThisWeekinFM is pleased to be a Media Partner to Contamination Expo which runs alongside the Recycling & Waste Management (RWM) Show next week, September 11-12. Contamination Expo covers the thorny topic of contaminated land and RWM pretty well covers what is says on the tin.

Exposure to arsenic causes skin disorders, cancers of the lung and bladder and cardiovascular issues. It is a product famously used in top hat making before the madness its fumes educed became recognised - hence the phrase, mad as a hatter.

The Hatters is the nick-name of the Luton Town Football Club that was much beloved by Mr Eric Morecambe. And yep, there is no reason whatsoever for publishing that idle fact other than amusement value. Hey-ho!

GDPR

The Swedish Data Protection Authority has hit a local authority with a fine under GDPR for using facial recognition technology in a school.

The idea was to see whether a trial of the system would work to identify which students were on the premises and thus by deduction, work out who was playing truant.

Now the school has learned a lesson the hard way that GDPR incorporates privacy law, with a £17,000 fine which would have been much larger had the trial used a larger data-set or had actually gone live.

Recognising Wrong-Doing

The Metropolitan Police Force, King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership and developer Argent are all in for a rollicking (and quite possibly big fines) for deploying facial recognition systems in public places without so much as a by your leave.

The Met are in particularly deep water for supplying pictures of known unsavoury characters to put into the system to make it work and then denying that they'd ever done so.

It will be interesting to see who goes round to arrest who. But for now, you can read this story (with links to our previous coverage) if you return to News via the home page or via the link at the top of the right-hand column.

A Leap Into The Unknown

By the time you read this, members of the ThisWeekinFM Team will have completed a Sponsored Parachute Jump in Portugal to raise funds for a pre-school for children who have movement difficulties and delayed development...but it is not too late to donate.

To go to the JustGiving page - Click Here

To read more about why - Click Here

Senior Associate In Real Estate Team

Law firm, Ashfords LLP have promoted Real Estate lawyer Stephanie Gillam to Senior Associate in the firm’s Exeter office.

Gillam now acts on site assembly and development projects, disposals and acquisitions. She advises on a wide variety of commercial real estate matters, particularly mixed use development schemes and energy and waste related land and development.

Cluttons Boosts Lease Advisory Offer

Cluttons, the property consultancy, has appointed Chris Jakes as head of lease advisory and compulsory purchase.

Previously at CBRE and Kinney Green, Jakes is a RICS Registered valuer with experience in advising both landlord and tenants on rent review and lease renewal negotiations across all commercial sectors throughout the UK.

He also has expertise in compulsory purchase and compensation and has advised both acquiring authorities and claimants on major infrastructure and regeneration projects.

Just The Job

Construction consulting and design agency McBains have moved into new premises in Manchester city centre as the company expands the scale of their work in the North-West.

The company has re-located from Spinningfields to Piccadilly to accommodate nearly 20 staff. Additional staff are currently being sought to join the growing team of quantity and building surveyors, project monitors and engineers.

McBains offers project management, building surveying, quantity surveying and monitoring services with full design services via the wider business, including a London office.

Projects that McBains have worked on in the North-West include regional office restructuring and fitouts for RBS; major projects for BAE at Barrow in Furness including a new training centre for 5,000 apprentices; Britvic Drink production facilities; and project monitoring on residential projects, care homes, offices and industrial projects. The company has recently been appointed by the Department of Work and Pensions to fit out nine Job Centres.

Going VIA

VIA Outlets – the fast growing owner-operator of premium outlet shopping destinations in Europe has confirmed both Hammerson and APG have each increased their ownership in the business by over 3% (6.25% combined) and now each own a 50% stake in the €1.6 billion business.

Hammerson and APG have purchased the balance of shares for €32 million each from former operating partners Value Retail and Meyer Bergman.

Ahead of the change in ownership, a new management structure has been introduced, led by Chief Executive Otto Ambagtsheer, formerly the COO of VIA Outlets, alongside a an operating team.

HSE’s New CEO Falls InTo Role

Sarah Albon, the new chief executive of Britain’s workplace health and safety regulator took up her post on Monday September 2.

Ms Albon has vacated her post as inspector general and CEO of the Insolvency Service, where she has been since 2015 to take charge of the Health and Safety Executive. She replaces acting chief executive David Snowball who has held the post since June 2018 and will be retiring from at the end of the year.

New Commander

Commander Richard Smith has been appointed as the new Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command (CTC).

His appointment follows the retirement of Acting Commander Clarke Jarrett, who had been leading the CTC since May 2018.

The CTC – also known as SO15 – is part of the national counter-terrorism policing network. It has responsibility for countering the terrorism threat in London but also has national and international responsibilities, which includes units such as the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit and the National Terrorism Financial Investigation Unit.

Record Number Of Women In Work

New figures from the Office for National Statistics show the UK workforce is more gender diverse than ever before, with the number of women climbing to a new record high.

The ethnic minority employment rate is also at a near record high. Sectors such as manufacturing and construction are experiencing the big increase in number of jobs, with 85,000 more people employed in the last year.

The London Build exhibition has hosted the largest annual Women in Construction networking event in the UK since 2015. Over 1,200 across all sectors are expected to attend the next one at London's Olympia, November 27-28. See our News section for more details.

ThisWeekinFM are pleased to be a Media Partner to London Build.

Smart Buildings Show Is Open For Registration

The UK’s cornerstone Smart Buildings event is back with more visitors, more stands and more conference content for 2019. The free-to-attend event takes place at Olympia London October 9-10.

ThisWeekinFM are pleased to be a Media Partner to the Smart Buildings Show. See our Technology section for more details and links to the registration page.

Delivering To Specialist Hermes

Arcus FM has been awarded a contract with courier services, Hermes to service over 100 buildings including four head offices, two large-scale distribution centres and 26 depots, with the remainder being sub-depots.

Services include M&E planned and reactive, building fabric, compliance, fire alarm/extinguishers, landscaping, drainage and drainage PPMs. Arcus will also provide a Helpdesk facility from its Redditch office.

Hermes delivers more than 335 million parcels a year.

Wayne Young, Facilities Manager at Hermes said: “Our partnership approach with Arcus will simplify our internal process helping us to improve our standards and provide the best service to our end customers.”

Defence Employers Recognition Scheme

Veolia, has been recognised for its work with the armed services by being awarded Gold status in the Defence Employers Recognition Scheme, ERS.

Believed to be the first time this Gold standard has been made to an environmental solutions company, the award highlights Veolia as an exemplar within their market sector by advocating support to Defence People issues to partner organisations, suppliers and customers with tangible positive results.

The MoD’s Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Awards represent the highest badge of honour available to those that employ and support those who serve, veterans, and their families and encourages employers to support defence and inspire other organisations to do the same.

Manchester’s Our Town Hall Project

NG Bailey's engineering division have been selected to support the 'Our Town Hall' project which will see the historic Grade 1 listed Manchester Town Hall protected for future generations.

The company has been appointed by Lendlease on behalf of Manchester City Council to join them in a pre-construction services agreement to define the scope of work, assist in the development of the design and work within the council's previously agreed budget to finalise the costs for the safeguarding and partial refurbishment of the landmark building.

The Town Hall is more than 140 years old and while it remains structurally sound, it is now seriously showing its age with many elements reaching the end of their natural lifespan. The refurbishment project will not only transform users' experience of the building putting more of its civic treasures on show and making it easier to get around, it will also protect the building for future generations to enjoy and reduce the building's carbon footprint and energy costs.

Brexit

Vertas Group Limited and its educational brands ‘eats’ and ‘Vive’, freshly prepares approximately 40,000 meals daily for school children and college students across East Anglia.

The group’s commercial catering arm ‘Churchill Catering’ runs operations at around 50 UK sites, including Forestry England sites.

Since 2016 Vertas we been liaising closely with our supply chain to ensure both their main and local suppliers of produce have robust contingencies in place in the event that no deal is agreed with the EU.

The Vertas Group has also put in place plans to increase orders of products with a longer shelf life (eg dried goods, tinned produce, cheese) and store them locally, in both kitchen storage areas and at various Vertas hubs.

Menus are being planned around the ‘in season’ UK products as much as possible to mitigate any supply shortages.

Concerns have been raised in the national press regarding the threat of legal school meal nutrition standards needing to be discarded in the event of a no-deal Brexit.