Wolseley staff help charity

Posted on by Posted in Useful Resources
worsleyhelpcharityWolseley UK has received a Silver Payroll Giving Quality Mark from the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) for encouraging more than 300 of its employees to donate part of their pay to charity.

Payroll Giving allows anyone who pays UK income tax to donate regularly and on a tax-free basis to a charity of their choice. All donations are deducted from an employee’s salary before tax so each £1 donated actually only costs 80p, and for higher rate tax payers it only costs 60p.

In order to obtain CAF silver accreditation, companies are required to have at least five per cent of its staff taking part in the scheme – and Wolseley met that figure.

Alison Carter, training and HR programmes co-ordinator, said:

“I’ve been donating to charity via my payroll for a number of years now. It was quick and easy to set up and it makes me feel good knowing that I’m regularly able to help others, even in a small way.”

Neil McCawley, head of reward, benefits and policy, added:

“We’re really proud to have achieved the silver quality mark as it reflects the generous nature of our people. We promote Payroll Giving throughout our business and now we are considering how we can encourage our people to hit the next target.”
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Lakes Bathrooms continues to grow

Posted on by Posted in Bathrooms and Kitchens


lakesFurther growth for shower enclosure specialist, Lakes Bathrooms, has seen the company nearly double its storage facility space, just two years after moving to significantly larger premises.

With a whole new mezzanine floor added to its warehouse, space at the company’s UK headquarters expands to 120,000 square feet.

“We could be accused of being under ambitious when we moved to much larger, 60,000 square foot premises in 2012,” said sales and marketing director, Clive Organ.  “But we never dreamt then that in such a short space of time we would have demand for the colossal volume of stock we now need to hold in order to satisfy market demand and maintain our 24/48 hour delivery service across the UK to retailers and wholesalers. It’s a nice problem to have, but means that we have to develop the site to cope with our own success.”

The company’s three acre site near the M5, in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, doubled its previous space and consolidated four factory units into one two-storey building with mixed office and warehouse space.  Capital investment there continues as work starts to replace the entire 60,000 square foot roof. While this work is underway some stock will be moved off site to one of the company’s legacy warehouses to ensure continuity of availability.

Lakes Bathrooms now holds around 20,000 pieces of stock to provide a minimum of eight weeks worth of product to fulfil demand, with the fastest moving lines stocked to even higher levels.  From its headquarters, the company operates its own fleet of 15 delivery vehicles, dispatching daily to over 150 different locations, nationwide.

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Planning permission granted for second Cheddar reservoir

Posted on by Posted in Useful Resources

planningpermissionPlans for the construction of a £125m reservoir in Somerset have been approved by the local council.

Bristol Water submitted an application to build Cheddar Reservoir Two, alongside an existing reservoir, to Sedgemoor District Council in December 2013. The council has now given its approval, subject to Section 106 agreement and planning conditions.

However, there is still a long way to go before any construction, the company said, as the investment must also secure regulatory approval from Ofwat.

Bristol Water’s plan is to build a 9,400 million litre reservoir built close to the existing Cheddar Reservoir.  It would be the first of its kind built in the UK for more than three decades, the company says. It could be fully operational by 2025, filled by surplus winter water flows in Cheddar Gorge.

Arup is Bristol Water’s lead planning and engineering consultant on the project.

 

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Plumb and Parts Center Charity Donation tops £600k

Posted on by Posted in Plumbing Industry News, Useful Resources

keithjonesPlumb and Parts Center has raised £600,000 for Action for Children.

As its ten-year partnership comes to a close and new charity partners are selected, the plumbing and heating specialist has handed over its final donation of £37,642.11.

Staff, suppliers and customers have all supported the charity drive in a number of innovative and fun ways, including sponsored walks, golf days and bike rides – Plumb Center has even helped get the Action for Children logo on the Stenhousemuir FC away kit.

Plumb and Parts Center’s senior director, Keith Jones, said:

“We’re very proud to have raised this money for such a worthy cause. Our suppliers, staff and installer customers have done a fantastic job, and we’re thankful to them for putting in so much effort.

“Action for Children helps to improve the lives of neglected young people in the UK, and we’re proud to have achieved so much in the decade we have supported this worthy cause.”


Emilia Carman, Action for Children’s head of high value fundraising, said:

“Plumb and Parts Center’s fundraising efforts over the years have been fantastic and we’re immensely grateful for the dedicated support of staff and customers.

“This most recent cheque has been very gratefully received and will go a long way to help Action for Children give some of the most vulnerable children and young people in the country the chance of a more positive future.

“On behalf of everyone at Action for Children and the thousands of children whose lives have changed for the better because of its support, we would like to say an enormous ‘thank you’ to Plumb and Parts Center.”

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China proceed with $40bn tidal power project

Posted on by Posted in Renewable Energy

chinaThe large-scale generation of renewable energy from tides has moved closer with the commissioning of an economic study into the viability of building a dynamic tidal power (DTP) facility off the east coast of China.

Chinese National Energy Administration’s potential facility would involve the construction of a dam stretching 60-100 km perpendicular to the Chinese coast between Xiamen and Shantou, and in the entrance to the Bohai Sea. The dam would capture power from the tide through a network of 4,000 turbines that would generate up to 15 gigawatts of energy. This is the equivalent of six large coal or gas power stations and would provide energy for more than ten million homes.

A consortium of eight Dutch companies, including Arcadis and Strukton, is leading the development of the new, patented technology, working with the Chinese government. A series of feasibility projects over the past three years has demonstrated the proof of the principle and assessed potential locations. The che current economic assessment will look at the design and construction costs which are estimated to be in the region of US$40bn.

Rob Steijn, one of the inventors of the technology and director of the river, coast and sea department at Arcadis said:

“We are thrilled about the fruitful co-operation with our Chinese partners. Of course it helps a lot that many tidal conditions along the Chinese coastline are very good for the concept of dynamic tidal power.”

In addition to China, a number of other coastal locations around the world have been identified as having potential for dynamic tidal power. These include the Korean Peninsula and in the North Sea off the coast of the UK and Northern Europe. The Chinese economic assessment is expected to be completed by the end of 2014. If successful, the next stage is the testing and final design with the project potentially being completed by 2020.

DTP is a potential new method of tidal power generation. It involves creating a large dam-like structure extending from the coast straight into the ocean, with a possible perpendicular barrier at the far end, forming a large ‘T’ shape. This dam would harness the tidal waves running along the coasts of continental shelves which contain powerful hydraulic energy.

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