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PRESS RELEASE NOVEMBER 2009
RESULTS ANNOUNCED: BBC RADIO 4 FOOD & FARMING AWARDS
Top celebrity chefs, including Raymond
Blanc, tasted Bluebells Bourbon Vanilla and Devilishly Chocolate
flavoured Real Dairy Ice Cream at the BBC Radio 4 Food &
Farming Awards. This was held at the BBC Broadcasting House, London.
HRH The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were present at
the event and discussed farming, ice cream making and future
business potential with the Brown family. It was the 10th
anniversary of the awards which were established to celebrate the
best of British food and the people who produce it. Well known food
and farming celebrities including Raymond Blanc, Mark Hix, Alex
James, Angela Hartnett, Jimmy Doherty and Hugh
Fearnley-Whittingstall were present on the day.
Bluebells travelled from
Brunswood Farm in Spondon, Derbyshire to attend the awards. The
Brown’s launched their Real Dairy Ice Cream, Café, Farm Shop,
Children’s Play Area and Animal Patch in December 2008. The Brown
family business, Bluebells, reached the final stage of the
competition, as one of three finalists for the Farmer of the Year
category. This category has been created to recognise farm
businesses rising to challenges in the 21st Century.
Bluebells have achieved this by creating Real Dairy Ice Cream to
add value to the milk produced by their dairy herd.
They have shown their commitment to the future of the industry by
involving the third generation of the Brown family in this new
enterprise.
On the day Bluebells were
Runners-Up, alongside George Steriopulus for his Manx Loaghtan Sheep
in the Isle of Man. The overall winner of the award was Andrew
Dennis with his Woodlands Organic Farm business in Lincolnshire.
Andrew won the award for his commitment to providing fresh local
produce to consumers with his organic box scheme. The awards were
presented by Alex James, former band member of Blur.
To have been awarded Runner-Up ,
after only twelve months in business, is a fantastic achievement for
the Derbyshire based family business.
Oliver Brown, Business Owner, commented:
"We had a fantastic day in London and we are delighted to have
been recognised for this prestigious award. It was excellent to meet
so many inspiring food and farming personalities, we have come away
from this event with a positive approach for 2010."
Editors Notes
The winner of the Farmer of the
Year Award was announced on a special episode of Farming Today on
BBC Radio 4, to listen again please use the following link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nxclp
To view the full BBC Press Release please
use the following link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/11_november/25/food.shtml
‘Outstanding’
honours for Hodgkinson
Hodgkinson
Builders (Midlands) Ltd have added more trophies to their
business honours display cabinet.
The Pride
Park-based company made the finals in three sections of the
first-ever business competition organised by a regional
newspaper group and won a ‘Highly Commended’ in the
Community Contribution of the Year category.
 Managing
director Ian Hodgson was also a finalist in the Entrepreneur
of the Year section and the Business Personality of the Year
category.
Judges praised
Hodgkinson’s “outstanding contribution” to the community and
described Ian as “an outstanding business leader”
The awards were
presented at a prestigious black-tie evening at Hassop Hall
in the Derbyshire Peak.
Engineering company’s latest big order tops its 30th
anniversary celebrations
December 15, 2009
AN Ilkeston engineering firm which has been celebrating its
30th anniversary is ending the year on a high
note by winning the second biggest contract in its history.
Rayden Engineering has just won a seven figure order, its
biggest this year, from Scotia Gas Networks for work at
Farningham in Kent to build a gas handling facility that
will serve the south and south east of England.
This will include everything from excavating, installing the
pipework, re-instating the land, to fitting security fencing
and gates.
Work will start on January 4 and last a year. It will
include setting up a small field campus with temporary
buildings for administration, storage and workers’ welfare.
The contract is eclipsed only by another from Scotia Gas
Networks for a similar plant at Hardwick in Buckinghamshire
which finished in August last year after three years.
“Although we were satisfied with the value of our order book
for 2010 winning the Farningham contract is the icing on the
cake for us in this, our 30th anniversary year,”
said Rayden’s managing director Richard Hayden, a former
welder who set up the firm.
It was started to provide a specialist high-pressure pipe
welding and fabrication service which has diversified over
the years into a multi-disciplined company.
This includes installing pipework from initial greenfield
stage to final re-instatement, repairing, maintenance and
modifications to live gas installations.
The company has only just finished a critical contract in
Algeria, diverting a 40 inch diameter pipeline. Over the
years it has undertaken projects in Ireland, Portugal,
Turkey, Russia, Georgia and Gabon.
Current work includes a project at Romsey, Hampshire,
similar to that at Farningham, gas pipeline work in Cumbria
for United Utilities, work on aviation fuel pipelines and
storage facilities for military and civil air bases across
the UK, and providing a pipeline maintenance service to
National Grid Pipeline Maintenance Centres throughout the
British Isles, something it has done for 22 years.
The company is also doing large bore fabrication projects
for Elster-Instromet, including pressure testing,
inspection, and painting, at its premises in Wentworth
Street, Ilkeston, its home of 12 years.
The majority of its 100-strong workforce of highly-skilled
fitters, fabricators, technicians, welders, machine
operators, carpenters, steel fixers, and concrete finishers
are engaged in mechanical and civil engineering work
countrywide.
Many have worked for the company for a large number of years
and helped it achieve UKAS accreditation to ISO 9001 14001
and 18001 for quality, environmental and health and safety
management.
“It’s being tough-going at times, but I have enjoyed every
minute,” said Richard. “Our main focus is to look after our
customers and our employees – and this has paid dividends.”
Despite the recession, the company has continued to flourish
and invest year by year in new vehicles, plant and
equipment.
Small company takes on bigger role
by sponsoring Borough Enterprise Agency
November 17, 2009
ILKESTON company Derwent Analytics has become a sponsor of
enterprise agency Erewash Partnership which works to
regenerate the borough.
The company, based at Falcon Court on the town’s Manners
Industrial Estate, makes bespoke solutions which are used in
analysing for impurities in liquid processes, checking clean
water streams at manufacturing plants and monitoring
pollution to ensure product consistency and quality.
Earlier this year it announced that it had done a deal with
Coca Cola in the UK who are using Derwent Analytics’
know-how to test that the product they sell is the real
thing.
The company, which employs nine people, was set up in 2001
by chemist Ian Hopkinson and his wife Bev.
It has been a member of the Partnership since that time and
has now upgraded to become a sponsor.
Ian said: “I am committed to the local economy growing and
value the help that we had from Erewash Partnership when we
started.
“We want to ensure that such help for potential new
businesses is still there for the foreseeable future.”
Partnership chief executive Ian Viles welcomed the company’s
move. “I’m particularly delighted that a home-grown business
has become our latest sponsor,” he said.
It’s not very often that Ian needs us these days because
he’s capable of running his business successfully, but he
clearly valued the initial support that the Partnership gave
him.
Ian joined the board earlier this year as a director and has
now further strengthened his company’s links with us and
obviously wants to give something back to help others.”
Family
firm’s analytical work provides solutions so that drinkers of
leading brand do have the real thing
August
25, 2009
EVERY time
people in the UK swallow a drink made by the world’s largest
beverage company they may be surprised to know that a small
Ilkeston firm has played a part.
And soon
people across the globe may have the same re-assurance that
Derwent Analytics has helped make sure that they are drinking
the real thing.
For the
company based at Manners industrial estate, which has only nine
people working for it, has bottled up a deal with Coca Cola to
add to its list of corporate giant customers.
Derwent
Analytics is mostly involved in analysing for impurities in
liquid processes, checking clean water streams at manufacturing
plants and monitoring pollution to ensure product consistency
and quality.
It does
this by making bespoke solutions, mainly from mined minerals,
which cause a chemical reaction.
The
solutions are used to condition kidney dialysis machines and
check oil refinery performance, food and brewing, water and
power utilities, and chemical plants around the world.
The company
also helps airports nationwide to analyse effluent run-off from
the apron and make sure that there are no contaminants such as
anti-freeze or fuel going into local water courses.
But its
biggest deal is a long way from its first project in 2001 when
it provided solutions for analysing equipment to monitor
pollution from a Glasgow plant that makes sausage skins for
manufacturers worldwide
Derwent
Analytics has supplied Coca Cola through a third party, but
director Ian Hopkinson, a chemist, persisted with calls to offer
a service directly.
Eventually,
he was asked to go to Coca Cola’s plant at Wakefield, its
biggest in Europe, to discuss a particular issue.
“I realised
that we could improve the quality of the solutions that they
were using for the testing of the final product,” said Ian.
“We made a
trial sample which was so successful in resolving the problem
they had got that they are now using the products at their four
plants nationwide, of which we are very proud.
“There’s
talk about our product being used by the company in their plants
worldwide.
“So from
next year it’s likely that every time somebody has a fizzy drink
made by Coca Cola it will be made with know-how from Derwent
Analytics.
“It’s an
exciting prospect,” said Ian. Apart from the kudos it could be a
massive boost to the annual £500,000 turnover.
“Nationwide, this is likely to bring in up to £60,000 a year.
But if it goes worldwide and we are sole suppliers this could be
worth £3.5m a year.”
Derwent
Analytics has also had a breakthrough with another major
company, BP Chemicals, who were having a problem making their
own calibration standards
Derwent
Analytics came up with a solution which is now under evaluation.
This could be worth more than £40,000 annually if used by a
number of plants.
The company
delivers its liquids to 170 sites across the UK by its own
transport or courier.
When he
started from home Ian was juggling his new company with a
full-time job, averaging 91.5 hours a week. Bev worked full-time
for the company and part-time elsewhere.
They moved
to Quarry Hill Industrial Park but rapidly outgrew the premises,
transferring to the present site.
Bev is
production planner, finance director, processes orders,
generates delivery notes, prepares containers for filling,
invoices customers and chases payment as well.
Ian is
quick to acknowledge her contribution. “It could not be done
without Bev,” he said. “I would need to employ up to three
people to do what she does.” To add to the family feel Bev’s mum
Maureen also works there.
For further
information contact Ian Hopkinson of Derwent Analytics on 0115
944 0450
News Release
New site to train construction workers for when industry
recovers from slump
August
11, 2009
A skills
development company is setting up its own venue to train
workers for the construction industry and so provide labour
when the economy improves.
Upskill,
of Wharncliffe Road, Ilkeston, is investing £100,000 in the
initiative which it hopes will supply a useful pool of
trained workers locally for when the dormant construction
industry rises from the recession.
Twin
brothers Frank and Mick Dunne, who are directors of Upskill,
know only too well the uphill challenges facing jobless
workers.
They
were both made redundant from the construction industry in
the last recession when they each had young families. But
they re-built their careers and 18 months ago set up their
own business helping unemployed people gain qualifications
to get them into work.
They are
proud that in that time they have had a 97 per cent pass
rate, with more than 600 learners nationwide achieving
qualifications.
Now they
have leased a site of almost one acre on the Ladylea
industrial estate at Horsley Woodhouse to provide a
simulated construction site to train people for what they
believe is a major gap in the skills market.
Initially, two portable buildings will double as classrooms
and the company is investing in plant, vehicles and tools as
well as taking on a couple of extra trainers – making a
total investment of £100,000.
As well
as theory, learners will get hands-on experience of the
basics in infrastructure – new roads and streetworks,
groundworks, and construction plant operations – giving them
a head start when applying for jobs. .
“Learners will be able to get a taste of the construction
industry within a safe environment,” said Frank.
“Colleges which used to do a lot of this training have cut
back for various reasons. We are reacting positively and
speedily to the needs that we hear of from colleagues in the
construction sector.
“We want
to bring our expertise and our track record of delivery to
this area because we think we can make a difference.
“We are
prepared to invest in the hope that we will provide the
qualified workers that the construction industry will need
as the economy recovers.”
The
courses will be aimed at re-training unemployed people and
those who were previously in the construction industry but
left because of the downturn and now need a refresher if
they want to rejoin.
And in
breaking what is traditionally a male-dominated scene, there
will also be women-only courses run by women.
The
courses are set to start next month, leading to City and
Guilds and other recognised industry qualifications.
Upskill
hopes to put through 200 trainees in the first year of the
new facility and is hoping to tap into public funds to
offset costs.
Anybody
interested in taking part should contact their local
Jobcentre.
For
further information contact Frank or Mick Dunne at Upskill
on 0115 932 7376
Member Success
Award-winning businessman Ian
Hodgkinson stars in a new promotional film about the
construction industry fronted by first-ever Big Brother
winner Craig Phillips, now a popular television presenter.
The managing director of
Pride Park-based Hodgkinson Bricklaying Contractors features
in a marketing DVD with Craig in which they explore the role
of bricks in a range of development projects with which
Ian’s company has been involved.
Hodgkinson’s are now the
largest brickwork and masonry contractors in the Midlands
and, says Craig at one point in the film, ‘have probably
laid enough bricks to build another Great Wall of China’.
The Avent-production company
DVD will be released to key contractors in the industry,
training agencies and business-development groups within the
next few weeks. The film will also be featured on ‘You Tube’
and Hodgkinson’s own website ( www.bricklayers.com).
It’s not the first time Ian
and Craig have worked together on film or marketing
projects.
They originally met ten years
ago, shortly after Craig won the first Big Brother series.
Ian was invited to join Craig in the Sky television
programme ‘Conversion’ when they completely refurbished a
Victorian house in Liverpool.
Ian subsequently helped Craig
with the launch of his construction industry training centre
in Liverpool which was formally opened by Cherie Blair.
They came together again late
last year for ITV’s ‘Sixty Minute Makeover’ programme when
the pair worked with Bev Callard, Coronation Street’s Liz
McDonald, to modernise a playground for special needs
children in Manchester by giving it a Corrie theme.
Around the same time, Ian
also found himself starring in a BBC ‘Homes under the
Hammer’ programme. A camera crew followed him as he bought a
dilapidated property at auction in Derby and totally
transformed it into a modern home within just a few weeks.
Ian, this year’s Derbyshire
Chamber of Commerce ‘Entrepreneur of the Year, said this
week: "People keep asking if I’m going to give up the
construction business to concentrate on a career in
Hollywood.
"And, much as I love this
job, I might just do that . . . but only if they offer me
the role as the next James Bond."
Accountant introduces new scheme
to take the pain out of doing the books
March 24, 2009
A Derby accountancy firm has
introduced a new system to help small businesses take the
headache out of number crunching when doing the books.
Book Keeping Plus, based at
Victoria Way in Pride Park, has become the first franchisee
in Derbyshire of Crunchers, a new system of bookkeeping
software.
Paul Wood, managing director of
Book Keeping Plus, has 20 years experience, seven of them
heading up his own firm which moved to Pride Park in 2006.
He has 80 clients and does work including VAT returns and
payrolls as well as bookkeeping and accounts.
"Bookkeeping is usually the one
thing that firms, particularly small ones, hate to do," he
said. "For years I have been trying to simplify it for them.
"Most bookkeeping software
systems rely on the user having an amount of accountancy
knowledge. But Crunchers have come up with an amazingly
simple system which, in my experience, is the easiest to
use.
"We are trying to encourage
small businesses to do more for themselves which makes our
job easier.
"This new system takes the aggro
out of bookkeeping which will reduce the amount of time
taken to go through the books and therefore reduce clients’
fees. In this tough economic climate any savings in time and
money must be welcome."
Clients can either rent the
software from Crunchers Pride Park, as the franchisee is
known, or pay a service fee for the work to be done in house
using the system.
Crunchers Pride Park is one of
around 20 franchisees, the nearest ones being in Nottingham,
Stockport and Doncaster.
Book Keeping Plus will still
offer its usual range of services.
For further information call
Paul Wood at Book Keeping Plus on 01332 613720
It’s win, win, win as health and safety response by
employees draws results
April
28, 2009
A health
and safety campaign by a manufacturer produced winners all
round – a reduction in accidents to workers, employees who
won prizes, and a local hospital which also gained from a
donation. All were beneficiaries from a ‘near miss and
hazard alert’ scheme run by pre-cast concrete drainage
products manufacturer Stanton Bonna, based at
Stanton-by-Dale, near Ilkeston.
Under
the scheme, the 140 employees are encouraged to write on
cards details of any near misses – incidents that had the
potential to result in injury although had not done so – or
hazard alerts – unsafe equipment, substances, or procedures
– so that management can take appropriate action.
In a
rare occasion at the company’s premises in Littlewell Lane
production stopped and shopfloor workers and office staff
gathered to hear about the success of the scheme which
started almost a year ago.
Since
then 482 cards had been filled in and operations director
Rob Fifer told the employees that this was estimated to have
prevented 18 minor and three major accidents at the
premises.
He said
this was a direct benefit to Stanton Bonna, its parent
company Consolis, and all the individuals who work there
because it was making Stanton Bonna a safer place – there
had not been any time lost through an accident since last
October.
“This is
a day of celebration and pride for everybody,” said chief
executive Barry Cooper. “Everybody has played their part in
delivering a strong improvement on our safety record.”
The
company has matched the efforts by giving £1 for each card
submitted and Barry Cooper presented a cheque for £482 to
Mike Perry, president and chairman of the League of Friends
of Ilkeston Community Hospital
It's hats off to safety,
after the £482 cheque handover to Ilkeston Hospital League
of Friends are: (left to right) Stanton Bonna chief exec
Barry Cooper, vice-president and secretary of League of
Friends Jean Thomas, vice-president of Consolis Vincent
Guelfucci, and Ilkeston Hospital League of Friends president
Michael Perry
The
money will go towards the £28,000 cost of creating and
equipping a third minor operating theatre at the hospital,
which will enable it to treat 3,000 more patients a year who
would either have to wait longer or attend a major hospital
in Derby or Nottingham.
Stanton
Bonna employees who fill in a card are entered for a monthly
draw to win £25 of shopping vouchers, but in celebrating the
success of the health and safety scheme management gave away
a top prize of a 40 inch flat screen television.
A delighted Zbyzsek
Brzezinski receives his flat screen television from: (left
to right) Paul Moore (Health and Safety Committee),
vice-president of Consolis Vincent Guelfucci, and Stanton
Bonna chief executive Barry Cooper.
Vincent
Guelfucci, vice-president of Consolis, made the draw which
was won by production operative Zbyzsek Brzezinski.
Originally from Poland, he came to Britain looking for work
and has been with the company for six years. He lives in
Lenton, Nottingham, with his family, and until the draw did
not have a television!
Other
prizes of a digital recorder and a digital camera were won
by fellow production operatives Hugh Logan, of Long Eaton
and Simon Morrill, of Kirk Hallam.
Presenting the prizes, Vincent Guelfucci, who had travelled
for the occasion from Consolis head office in Brussels,
stressed that safety within the group was as important as
financial performance.
For
further information contact Stanton Bonna marketing manager
Murray Howitt on 07966 138386
Business honour ‘a bitter sweet
affair’ says entrepreneur Ian
Pride Park businessman Ian Hodgkinson has been voted
Entrepreneur of the Year in the 2009 Derbyshire Business
Awards.
But the managing director of Hodgkinson
Builders (Midlands) Ltd has described his success in the
prestigious competition as a ‘bitter-sweet affair’.
He told guests at Friday’s gala awards
dinner hosted by actor Brian Blessed that the honour, which
rewards business excellence, came just 24 hours after his
father’s funeral.
“He was the man who introduced me to
the building business and I am truly sorry that he did not
live long enough to share in our success tonight but I want
to dedicate this trophy to him,” said Ian.
His father, Brian, who died last week,
has been described as ‘the best plasterer of his day in
Ilkeston’.
Family, friends and staff were at Pride
Park for the Derbyshire Chamber dinner and heard Ian praised
for his entrepreneurship, innovation and business acumen.
He was also applauded as ‘a man with a
strong sense of mission who is not averse to putting his
name on the line when it comes to fighting the corner for
the British building industry and its workers as well as a
strong supporter of community charities and deserving
groups’.
After receiving the trophy, Ian
insisted that the business award had to be shared by every
Hodgkinson employee.
He declared: “This is, genuinely, a
team award. Each and every Hodgkinson employee deserves this
honour. They keep turning economic challenges into business
successes and it’s thanks to them, Hodgkinson can continue
to fight the corner for British industry and those workers
who don’t have the clout to fight for themselves. To us,
that’s important.”
New financial advice practice has many years
of sound experience
March 3, 2009
A new company offering financial
advice has been set up in Derby, but although it is a start
up business it is backed by many years of experience.
Midland Financial Solutions has
been formed by independent financial adviser Kevin Edwards
joining forces with four partners from leading chartered
accountants and business advisers Mabe Allen, who have
offices in Derby, Ilkeston and Ripley.
Kevin Edwards qualified as an
adviser in 1995 and has experience of working in-house with
a firm of accountants in Nottingham and solicitors in Derby.
Over several years Mabe Allen
has referred clients to him. In discussions Kevin had with
partners at Mabe Allen the idea was floated of setting up a
new company to extend this service.
The new venture is an extra
service that Mabe Allen can offer its clients but as an
‘arms length’ company.
Kevin Slack, Managing
Partner of Mabe Allen is the Managing Director of Midland
Financial Solutions and Kevin Edwards will be the
Operations Director with the task of developing business as
well as providing financial advice.
The three other directors are
John Allen, senior partner at Mabe Allen, his son David, who
is a director at the firm’s Ripley branch and another
partner from that office, Chris Hopkinson.
Initially, Midland Financial
Solutions is operating from Mabe Allen’s head office on
Osmaston Road, Derby, and can also be contacted through
their offices at St Mary Street, Ilkeston, and Derby Road,
Ripley.
The new company is offering
advice to businesses, individuals, and clients of other
professional firms such as solicitors and accountants.
The main areas of advice
provided will be investments, pensions and retirement
planning, school fees planning, inheritance tax and trust
matters, and long-term care for people living in residential
and nursing homes.
It will not be covering
mortgages or equity release advice but can refer enquiries
on these to independent mortgage brokers.
"There’s not much that we can’t
do or don’t know of somebody who can," said Kevin Edwards.
Some people may think it unusual
to set up a financial advice company in the current economic
climate with daily headlines in the news over concerns about
investments, but Midland Financial Solutions is confident it
can overcome the fear factor by offering straightforward,
practical advice.
"In Midland Financial Solutions
we have a combination of my experience plus many years of
expertise and financial acumen from senior figures at Mabe
Allen, a well-established and much respected accountancy and
business advisory practice," said Kevin Edwards.
"In addition, between us all we
have a wide range of contacts in the sector that we deal
with, so this should add up to extra re-assurance for
clients."
The company is operating solely
on a fee basis – one of few to do so in the East Midlands –
so that clients pay for the services they require as opposed
to the adviser being reliant on commission from product
providers.
This is usually done on a
time-spent basis although fixed fees can be agreed for
certain areas of advice. A free initial consultation is
offered in all cases.
Kevin Slack said: "Midland
Financial Solutions is offering a one-stop shop with a
complete financial and tax planning service to individuals,
companies, business pension schemes, charities and trusts.
"We are looking to give an
easy-to-understand, independent and transparent service."
For more information please contact Kevin Edwards on
01332 345370/345546
Training company helps workers fight the recession – at the
double!
February
12, 2009
TWIN
brothers who were made redundant from the construction
industry in the last recession are now helping people to
find work in the current downturn.
Frank
and Mick Dunne are directors of Upskill - an Ilkeston
company which is celebrating its first year, during which
they have trained hundreds and helped people find jobs, some
of them as trainers themselves.
And
while many companies and workers are finding life tough the
twins are upbeat about Upskill which is on target for a £1m
turnover and set to expand, doubling its workforce.
Twin
brothers Mick (left) and Frank Dunne with trainers: David
Resoda, Steven Slater, Damien Dunne, Jackie Dunne and Angela
Filipe, in their UpSkill premises in Ilkeston.
The
identical twins know what it is like to be out of work,
having both lost their jobs in the construction industry
during the early 90s when they each had young families.
Frank was out of work for a couple of months, and Mick for
more than a year.
Mick
eventually got back into the construction industry and Frank
worked for Derbyshire County Council’s roads maintenance
department.
Frank
got involved in training and through various company changes
he was involved with Carillion where he helped adult
learners. Mick also joined Carillion and became a regional
manager.
The
brothers decided to pool their skills and experience to go
it alone and start their own business, which they did last
February, initially working from home.
They
received financial support and advice from enterprise agency
Erewash Partnership and last year moved into adjoining
offices at the agency’s headquarters in The Old Police
Station on Wharncliffe Road.
“We help
unemployed people gain formal qualifications, regardless of
their academic achievements,” said Mick
Or, as
Frank says: “We are giving people a second chance. We help
unemployed people learn skills which will, hopefully, get
them into work. For those in work we provide opportunities
to gain qualifications and improve their prospects.”
The
company delivers training courses in various subjects, such
as construction, warehousing and logistics, to meet
employers’ needs. This is done throughout the country, using
Upskill staff, but sometimes hiring in others.
So far
they have had 500 learners on their books, and this is set
to reach 600 later this month.
Of
these, 125 have achieved National Vocational Qualifications
at levels 2-4. Forty have been helped into work,
including eight with Upskill, who hope to take on another 10
in the next year.
“We are
delighted that some of those who have been helped into work
have been long-term unemployed, including some young men in
their early 20s who have never had a job,” said Mick. “They
are now working in roads maintenance and earning good
money.”
“We even
had a mum ring up and thank us for helping her son into work
because she thought he would never have a job. He had had
problems at school, under-achieved, and suffered low
self-esteem.
“But
with the right support from us, he has now held down a job
for a year building a hospital in Portsmouth and he is doing
really well.”
Upskill
has helped 20 people on courses at the Partnership’s
Enterprise Centre in Cotmanhay, over half of whom have found
work.
“Rather
than deliver courses in a lecturing style, we take a
hands-on approach with unemployed people,” said Frank. “We
talk their language and can empathise with them.
“We have
been through the dark days of one recession and are now
rising to the challenge of another. It’s our passion and we
feel we can make a positive contribution. We are even
training unemployed people to become trainers.”
About 40
companies, including Carillion, Costain, and Leicester City
Council highways division use Upskill to deliver training
programmes.
For further information call Frank or Mick Dunne on 0115 932
7376
School gains new status and benefits thanks to architect
drawing up ideas
January
28, 2009
An
architect’s first venture into education projects has helped
a school achieve new status, a new learning facility and
extra Government money.
Alan
McGowan Architects, of Tamworth Road, Long Eaton, helped
Brackenfield School in the town to achieve specialist
college status for cognition and learning.
The
Bracken Road college, which is under the auspices of
Derbyshire County Council, caters for 60 pupils aged 5-16
from a wide area who have autism, learning difficulties or
behavioural issues.
Alan did
a feasibility study and initial designs for an extension to
the premises to provide an extra learning area in
conjunction with its bid for specialist status.
That was
granted by the Government along with a £100,000 grant to
build the extension and extra funding of £60,000 for each of
the next three years.
Planning
permission has now been given for the 60 sq metre extension
which will provide a multi-use teaching area that can be
adapted for various uses including a meeting room.
Work is
scheduled to start later this year and be completed in time
for the new school year in September. In keeping with
Brackenfield’s eco-schools award the extension will use
sustainable cladding and be well insulated.
“I’m
delighted that we have been able to help a local school
achieve specialist status,” said Alan.
Brackenfield headteacher Phil Ormerod said: “It’s thanks to
Alan’s work on the feasibility study that we have been able
to achieve specialist status.”
He said
that Alan had also helped by securing charitable donations
from the local business community towards the £20,000 cost
of the bid.
“Alan
has given a good quality of service and been a great friend
to us, giving extra help over and above what we had
commissioned him for.”
Alan
McGowan Architects is the only chartered practice of
architects in the borough of Erewash.
After
qualifying in 1989 Alan worked with designer Sir Terence
Conran in London and at a firm in Nottingham. He was senior
lecturer in architecture at the University of Derby for 10
years before starting his own practice in 2002.
His work
involves housing, community and sports buildings – he
designed Belper Rugby Club’s clubhouse and changing rooms.
Brackenfield was his first venture into school buildings. “I
hope that this successful venture will lead to similar work
for other schools,” he added.
The
school will be celebrating its success at a special event on
February 6 for invited guests including representatives of
The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust.
For further information call Alan McGowan on 0115 875 8021
For further information please contact Darren on 07828
625812
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