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Staffordshire-based bathroom products supplier Silverdale has been wound up with the loss of 26 jobs after administrators failed to find a buyer for the business. Matt Ingram, who ,last month was appointed joint administrator of the Newcastle-under-Lyme business with fellow Duff & Phelps colleague John Whitfield, said he regretted having to close the business, but said new orders had dried up since the company had gone into administration. He said: “The resulting loss of turnover meant that the business was incurring unsustainable losses, which left us with no option but to close the doors.” He said it was still possible the bathroom manufacturing could return to the site, as the infrastructure remains in place. “However, at present, we do not have anyone indicating such …

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Three top tips for improving safety in warehouses Safety should never be an afterthought, or even worse completely ignored, in a warehouse. These large facilities are filled with people every single day, not to mention all the equipment that is used, the complex tasks that go on within their walls and the vehicles that are driven around to complete deliveries. To ensure that everyone is kept out of danger and accidents are prevented wherever possible, make sure to bear these three important safety points in mind: 1.       Provide everyone with adequate safety equipment There are so many tasks that go on inside a typical warehouse where safety equipment is essential. Anyone who is working with loud machinery must protect their ears from permanent damage, while eyewear is …

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Specialist air conditioning hire firm, Andrews Sykes, has responded to MPs’ Early Day Motion to introduce a new law for maximum temperatures in the workplace.

According to Andrew Sykes, while Linda Riordan, MP for Calderdale, is right to raise the issue of workplace temperature, her approach in pushing for a law requiring bosses to send staff home if workplaces get hotter than 30°C puts unreasonable pressure on hard pressed businesses.

Stewart Owen, marketing manager at Andrews Sykes, said: “If MPs’ objective is to pressurise employers in to providing decent, appropriate and comfortable working environments in order to prevent mass walkouts, it certainly has merit. But a more workable solution is to initially provide a set of industry-specific guidelines, allowing employers the opportunity to put measures in place to make the workplace a more tolerable temperature.”

He continued: “Excessive heat is of course dangerous and every effort should be made to control the indoor climate during a heatwave, but we have reservations that this motion has not been adequately considered.

“In today’s economic climate, it is simply not feasible to even consider allowing workers to down tools and of course there are industries where that’s just not possible.

“This plan contains practical guidelines to ensure organisations remain operational even in extreme conditions. We have absolute sympathy for anyone working in unreasonable conditions but mass walkouts are surely not reasonable, practical or sustainable in the long term,” he concluded.

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 Hire Jungle

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Property website Rightmove has raised its forecast for annual British home price growth after housing witnessed a seventh consecutive month of price increases in July.

Rightmove expects 4% growth in house prices in 2013, up from the previous forecast for a 2% growth, as the sector experiences a broader-based recovery fuelled by the ‘aggregation of marginal gains’.

The website added that asking prices increased 0.3% on month in July to £253,658 ($383,024, €293,090). From the year-ago month, home asking prices increased by 4.8%, with all regions’ prices increasing for the first time in nearly three years.

“The market is currently benefitting from the ‘aggregation of marginal gains’ where incremental improvements across a range of market drivers help to slowly but surely build momentum,” Miles Shipside, Rightmove director said in a statement.

“Rightmove’s lead indicators show increasing enquiries to agents and developers, new sellers and marketing prices. An important signal for a broader-based and sustainable recovery is that all regions of the country now have higher prices than a year ago”.

Consumer confidence has also increased as the number of home-movers, anticipating average prices to be higher in next 12 months, has increased to 62% from 31% a year ago.

On the demand side, the number of transactions on Rightmove website increased by 5% in the year-to-date period. Meanwhile, email enquiries to agents and developers increased by 18% on 2012, as the surveyors are “struggling to cope” with demand.

The improvement also underlines HMRC’s recent data saying house transactions increased by 5% on 2012 and the Bank of England’s figures for mortgage approvals that are up 6% on last year.

Funding for Lending and Help to Buy

Rightmove added that the current borrowing environment is boosted by governmental measures, such as the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) and the Help to Buy Scheme.

The FLS has eased mortgage rates and increased loan availability while the Help to Buy, currently available for new build only, is capturing prospective buyers’ interest.

Last year, the Bank of England launched the FLS that helped banks to provide loans at lower interest rates to businesses and individuals.

In addition, the government’s Help to Buy Scheme, launched earlier this year, has helped first-time buyers with eased mortgage rules. The number of loans given to first-time buyers increased by 41.8% year-on-year to 25,100 in May,the Council of Mortgage Lenders reported earlier.

“The ability to borrow is increasing as the Funding for Lending Scheme starts to really deliver, though it still favours those with better deposits. Lenders are squeezing their margins and, with the prospect of no base rate rise for three years, consumers are increasingly aware of moving options rather than debt burden,” Shipside added.

“The Help to Buy scheme, the centre-piece of the last Budget, has already created a marked upturn in the new-build market as recently reported in some developers’ trading updates.”

In addition, markets do not expect an increase in base rate until the latter half of 2016, said the property website.

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E.ON is urging all UK energy providers to support its call for an industry-wide end to the process of automatically renewing fixed term contracts for small businesses. 

A consultation with customers found that 86 per cent of our small business customers would prefer to negotiate a new contract or move to a more flexible agreement rather than automatically being ‘rolled’ on to a new long-term fixed deal1 which is currently standard practice across the industry.

E.ON’s call – submitted to industry regulator Ofgem – follows major improvements in how the company works with its small and medium-sized business customers; including contract end dates on customer bills, a fair negotiation policy for customers who have missed their renewal window, a commitment to a maximum one-year period for backdated bills and helping to set up an independent code of practice for business energy sales.

These initiatives have been well received by customers with complaints well down and higher levels of engagement and negotiation.

Anthony Ainsworth, Sales and Marketing Director of E.ON UK, said: “The message from small businesses is clear; they want greater simplicity, straight-talking and fair play.

“We know from our own business customer panel and from independent research that the majority of small businesses just don’t like the automatic rollover process and find it too complex which is why we are urging the industry to work together to make things simple and more straightforward.

“If this is going to work the industry and the regulator have to work together and create a level playing field, offering clarity, consistency and simplicity for customers. For any one supplier to act alone risks layering greater complexity on to an already confusing situation.”

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Three firms including Crown House Technologies have been ordered to pay a total of £685,787.31 in fines and costs after a plumber died and six other workers were seriously injured by a barrage of flying gas cylinders.

Adam Johnston, 38, from Sutton, Surrey, was hit by one of 66 cylinders as they rocketed at speeds of up to 170 mph at an HSBC data centre construction site

The carnage was caused after one toppled over discharging high-pressure gas before colliding with others and setting-of a horrific chain reaction.

Johnston was walking with a colleague on the site at Mundells in Welwyn Garden City when he was struck by one of the argonite gas cylinders as they were propelled around the building.

He suffered multiple injuries and died at the scene.

Several other workers, including electricians working in the argonite store room, suffered injuries and long term effects resulting from the trauma of that day.

The carnage caused by the exploding cylinders

An HSE investigation into the incident, on 5 November 2008, found that Johnston died as a result of a series of unsafe practices relating to the installation of fire suppression equipment at the new-build storage facility.

Crown House Technologies Ltd of Dartford, Kent, was principal contractor for the project and engaged Kidde Fire Protection Services Ltd, of Slough, Berkshire, to supply and install fire suppression equipment at the new facility under construction.

This work was carried out by Kidde Products Ltd, also from Slough.

St Albans Crown Court heard that 80 cylinders, nearly two metres high and each weighing 142 kg, were stored without their safety-critical protection caps and left without being properly secured in racks.

Other trades involved in the construction project were also working next to these potentially unstable cylinders, unaware of the deadly risks involved.

One or more of these cylinders was de-stabilised and probably fell over, causing its unprotected valve to shear off near the cylinder neck.

This released an uncontrolled jet of liquified argonite gas under high pressure, the force of which caused the cylinder to move, colliding with others.

These, in turn, were also knocked over and sustained similar damage.

A chain reaction developed rapidly and for several minutes terrified workers desperately sought shelter as they endured a barrage of heavy cylinders rocketing around them.

This continued until 66 of the 80 cylinders had been discharged.

Some of the cylinders travelled at estimated speeds of up to 170mph and developed sufficient energy to penetrate walls and ceiling voids, travelling into more remote parts of the building.

Johnston, a father of two, who was employed by Crown House Technologies Ltd, was struck by one of the cylinders as it was propelled from the room.

Six other workers sustained injuries. The building itself was severely damaged.

Crown House Technologies Ltd pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to safety breaches and was fined £117,000 and ordered to pay costs of £119,393.65

Kidde Fire Protection Services Ltd pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and was fined £165,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £59,696.72.

Kidde Products Ltd, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and was fined £165,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £59,696.72.

The court was told that the three companies involved failed to recognise the significant risks involved in the project or to carry out an adequate risk assessment.

The principal contractor and the main contractors failed to co-ordinate the scheduled work activities or to co-operate meaningfully in light of the risks.

There had also been insufficient training and supervision.

After the case, HSE Principal Inspector Norman Macritchie, said: “There is little evidence that those involved were competent to undertake this work, or that safe systems of work were provided, or that there was suitable cooperation between the contractors involved.

“Employees of other companies were allowed to enter the argonite store while it was potentially unsafe to do so, and there is no evidence that anyone explained the risks to them, or acted effectively to control these risks.

“This incident was devastating for his family and yet it could have been avoided had there been effective planning, management, monitoring and coordination of the relevant activities.”

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Information about the CSCS Card

Health and safety may not be the most interesting subjects to research and think about, but it is one of the most important, particularly when it comes to working on a construction site.  There was a time when it was left solely to the discretion of the construction site owners to ensure that their employees where up to speed with safe working procedures.  Over the years though, this meant that the construction industry, although not the only one, was the industry that contributed to the most accidents, injuries and deaths in the workplace in the UK.  This is why a few decades ago; the UK government introduced a scheme that would reduce the number of workplace accidents, injuries and fatalities.  This scheme is what became known as CSCS.

CSCS, if you are not familiar with the initials, is the Construction Skill Certification Scheme.  It is not only a good qualification to have if you a skilled tradesman of some kind, but it is legally essential if you work on a construction site in the United Kingdom.  CSCS training is widely available throughout the country and gives all participants the knowledge and understanding about what constitutes good health and safety with regards to working practices on a construction site.  Whereas in the past, there was severe amounts of negligence on the part of employers and employees were oblivious to proper working conditions, there now is now excuse.

In fact, an employee knowingly working on a construction site without a registered CSCS card or an employer who knowingly hires workers without the appropriate CSCS cards, if caught – will face legal problems.  At the end of a CSCS course you are given a CSCS card, which is the most important piece of ID for construction workers as it not only proves you passed the appropriate CSCS course, but also serves as an introduction to a prospective employer to your range of skills and experience.

It is a relatively straight forward process obtaining a CSCS card.  The first thing you have to do is work out which is the right for your circumstances and profession.  There are actually several different CSCS cards, that are colour coded and each is suitable for a different type of employer, employee or even visitor to a construction site.  So whether you have a skilled trade or not, whether you are a manager or supervisor or whether you are just a general labourer will have an impact on the type of CSCS card you need to apply for and the deepness of your CSCS training course.  The one thing that is for sure, if you want to work directly on a construction site, or work in a profession where you will be visiting construction sites, you have to have a CSCS card and CSCS training.

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Landlords, banks and mortgage brokers are capitalising on the phenomenal resurgence of buy-to-let and now the taxman is cashing in too, with related revenues exceeding £2bn a year.

The buy-to-let tax-take is up 13pc year on year, according to the latest available data, with the number of property investors standing at a record 1.9m.

Accountants UHY Hacker Young, which produced the figures, warned that the popularity of buy-to-let has prompted HM Revenue & Customs to clamp down on the sector.

A special taskforce has been established to tackle property tax cheats, according to Hacker Young. It predicts HMRC will become “far more aggressive in pursuing undeclared rents and disposals”.

Latest data from a range of sources confirm buy-to-let is at the vanguard of the housing recovery, with existing landlords enlarging their portfolios and new investors joining the sector. They are helped by low mortgage rates, driven down in part by the Government’s Funding for Lending initiative.

Nationwide Building Society, the second largest landlord lender after Lloyds Banking Group, offers the lowest-ever landlord rate – a two-year fixed deal of just 2.49pc. The mutual says landlord lending is up 14pc over the past 12 months and “all indications show growth will continue”.

Specialist lender Paragon, which only lends to landlords, said its customers reported increased access to finance during the second quarter and a “sharp increase” in buying intention. The average yield enjoyed by a Paragon client jumped to 6.4pc in the three months to the end of June.

“Tenant demand remains very high with 93pc of landlords describing demand as growing or stable,” the lender reported.

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July , 2013 – Construction firms are at serious risk of losing business by leaving customers hanging on the telephone for more than 30 seconds at a time, new research has revealed.

A survey of 3,630 UK companies by audio branding specialist PH Media Group discovered the construction industry leaves customers on hold for an average of 32.21 seconds per call.

The implications for profitability are grave. Previous research has shown 50 per cent of callers will hang up within 20 seconds if forced to listen to silence while on hold.

“These results represent a significant challenge for construction firms and could pose a threat to profitability,” said PH Media Group Sales and Marketing Director Mark Williamson.

“Callers are simply unwilling to wait on the end of the line while subjected to silence, muzak or beeps so firms are putting themselves at serious risk of losing business.

“Good call handling is often overlooked as a key sales and marketing tool but the telephone still acts as an important touchpoint and first impressions count. If each caller enjoys a positive experience, customer service standards will go through the roof.”

Of all callers placed on hold, 34 per cent were subjected to silence. A further 26 per cent were made to listen to music, while 26 per cent heard beeps.

The amount of time construction firms placed callers on hold was marginally lower than the UK average of 33.48 seconds but hold time isn’t the only consideration for businesses wanting to make a good first impression on callers.

As part of the study, PH Media Group also audited each company, giving them a score out of 100 based on overall call handling practice. Construction companies averaged just 30.

Elements including the time taken to answer a call, the number of tiers a caller experiences before reaching the necessary department, use of consistent voice and music, professional and personalised voicemail and out-of-hours messaging were weighted to reflect their importance.

“Good customer service is paramount for any business so it is important to evaluate all aspects of call handling to ensure calls are dealt with appropriately,” added Mark.

“Inevitably, not every call will be answered within a matter of seconds, so when callers do need to be placed on hold for any length of time, informative and entertaining audio messages can help to maintain their attention and decrease perceived waiting time.

“Brand congruent voice and music are also vital in order to present customers with a consistent image of the company, reinforcing brand values and establishing a reassuring, coherent presence.”

Signmakers came out worst from the research, leaving their callers on the line for 72.64 seconds in an average call, while garden centres performed best, logging an average time of just 17.44 seconds.

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