Training academy opens for plumbing students

Posted on by Posted in Plumbing Industry News

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Coleg Gwent has become the first college in Wales to launch a training academy with Baxi, allowing students to train with state-of-the-art equipment before putting their skills into practice.

In an innovative partnership Coleg Gwent has teamed up with Baxi to launch a renewable energy training centre called the Baxi Academy at Coleg Gwent’s City of Newport Campus.

The launch of the centre enables a wide range of brand new short courses, related to the servicing and installation of heating appliances in domestic property, to be run at the Coleg Gwent campus for the first time.

Students, apprentices and professionals studying plumbing and heating qualifications will benefit from working hands-on with a wide range of live domestic heating systems, from high efficiency boilers to renewable energy products like solar heating panels, supplied by Baxi.

City of Newport Campus director Gary Handley said:

“The new academy provides an exciting opportunity for students to work first-hand with the latest technology, and ensures that the skills students learn are directly linked to industry employers.
“This fantastic facility will also enable current industry professionals to up-skill, retrain or refresh their qualifications with equipment which is right up to the latest industry standard.”

Coleg Gwent’s Apprenticeship programmes are part financed by the European Social Fund through the Welsh Government.

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Nailed It!

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Plumber-Of-The-Year-13

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OFTEC Age UK help older people stay warm this winter

Posted on by Posted in Heating

oftecOFTEC has teamed up with Age UK, the UK’s largest charity for older people, to provide a free guide, offering key advice to help older people using oil to stay safe and warm throughout the remainder of the winter period.

Excess winter deaths are affecting more and more people in the UK as energy costs continue to rise, with the elderly particularly at risk. Latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show that winter deaths increased by 29% in 2012-13 to 31,100 and 28,500 of these were aged over 65.

The new winter information guide includes money saving tips, advice on energy efficiency and oil tank security, heating payments and schemes for the elderly, useful phone numbers and general guidance on staying warm.

Malcolm Farrow, of OFTEC, said: “We’re delighted to work with Age UK on this important project to support older people who live in rural areas and use oil heating. The majority of the one million UK households using oil are located in rural areas off the mains gas supply and these properties tend to be older and poorly insulated, making them harder to heat.

“According to Age UK, a higher proportion of over-65s live in the countryside than in urban areas, so we feel it’s vital to provide the elderly with as much information as possible to help them save money and keep warm through the coldest part of the year.”

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “Many of the poorest and most vulnerable older people live in rural areas and rely on oil heating to keep warm. But with high numbers of older households struggling to afford the fuel they need, it’s essential that people know what they can do to keep their fuel bills low and stay warm and well over the winter months.

“We are pleased to be working with OFTEC to provide information specifically aimed at those who heat their homes via oil-fired central heating systems.”

Malcolm added: “We want to help as many people as possible save money on oil and have made this information available online through the Oilsave website. However, we were very aware that this may not be reaching the most vulnerable group, the elderly, which is why we’ve worked with Age UK to produce the new printed guide.”

Anyone can order a copy of the winter heating guide, free of charge, by calling OFTEC on Freephone number: 0800 023 62 11. Alternatively, a digital copy is available to download at: www.oftec.org/consumers/keeping-warm-saving-money

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Could YOU be the UK’s best plumber?

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localtraders (1)Tradesperson recommendation services, localtraders.com is looking for the UK’s best plumbers, following the launch of the UK Trade Awards 2014.

Businesses or single plumbers can nominate themselves for an award, or customers who have received an excellent service from their local plumber can also nominate if they think they deserve to be recognised.

To be in the running, nominees need to visit the website, give their name, company name and give a brief outline of why they think they should win the award.

Each entrant should encourage their customers, friends and family to support them by casting their votes via the nomination form. Localtraders.com will then also help with votes by promoting each entrant within all the company’s communication platforms.

There is also a download area on the nomination site, which contains a poster and A5 leaflets that can be printed off and handed out to customers to help encourage voting.

The top three nominees for each category will be invited to an awards ceremony, which will take place in December, where winners will be announced and prizes given out.

All individual trade winners will then also be in the running to receive the overall winner award and be crowned ‘The UK’s Best Trader 2014’.

If you would like to nominate your business or you know a local tradesperson that deserves to be nominated then cast your vote or nominate by visiting: www.localtraders.com/uk-trade-awards/

Voting closes on September 3, 2014. The top three nominees will be informed by September 10, 2014.

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Green Deal not achieving expected results

Posted on by Posted in Renewable Energy

fmbThe Green Deal has been given a lukewarm verdict, scoring just two out of five in a one-year anniversary ‘report card’ from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), which concludes the government must try harder to broaden the appeal of its flagship energy efficiency policy.

Brian Berry, FMB chief executive, said: “It’s clear that the Green Deal simply has not achieved the desired results in its first full year, with the majority of small and medium installers and homeowners failing to engage, and the financial package underpinning the scheme proving unattractive to most consumers.

“Our report card shows that the main problem the Green Deal faces is that consumers are not interested because of the limited appeal of the financial incentives currently being offered. This in turn means that most small local builders are reluctant to spend their time and money becoming certified Green Deal installers, when the potential customer base is really still in its infancy.”

Brian continued: “As a financial package, the Green Deal just doesn’t stack up. There are many attractive high street alternatives out there, with loans and credit cards generally available at more competitive rates to fund both the lower and higher value types of eligible energy efficiency project. Other government incentives such as the recently announced reduction in stamp duty for those taking up the Green Deal are also not inclusive. The pot of money is too small and, worse still, this incentive will only apply to people who are buying or selling their home.”

“The government needs to accept that the Green Deal’s first year has been underwhelming at best. The single most effective measure to kick-start demand would be to reduce the rate of VAT from 20% to five per cent on all domestic repair and maintenance work, including energy efficiency improvements. This would be a real incentive to homeowners across the board to think about getting a professional tradesperson in to quote on a variety of repair and maintenance projects.”

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