Under the Roof Avonside Staff Newsletter - August 2018

UNDER THE ROOF p ISSUE 07 AUGUST 2018

UNDER THE ROOF Avonside’s In-house Branch Wide Newsletter

Pivotal Marketing help launch revamped Avonside Newsletter

INSIDE THIS ISSUE u PIVOTAL MARKETING u GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR, TONY BURKE u HOUSING 2018 DEBUT

WE’D LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO THE PIVOTAL MARKETING LTD TEAM, WHO HAVE DRIVEN THE RE-DESIGN AND REVAMP OF OUR QUARTERLY STAFF NEWSLETTER. — Their friendly and experienced team: Director – PHIL HATFIELD Business Development Manager – HEATHER OTWAY Account Manager – JAYNA PATEL Junior Website Developer – TAYLIA TINGLE Digital Marketing Assistant – JORDAN HATFIELD — Also work to keep Avonside’s blog, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts active and engaging whilst providing vital website support.

We hope you enjoy the newsletter as much as we have enjoyed creating it! Any feedback feel free to email jayna@pivotalmarketing.co.uk – she would love to hear your thoughts!

u RIBA & EAA AWARD WINNING PROJECT u VITUAL GOLF u SAVING ENERGY & MONEY WITH ECO ROOF u INLAND HOMES u DECRA ROOFING AWARD u HOUZZ 2018 CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD u NEW STARTER u APPRENTICE, OLI GREEN u WORLD CUP SWEEPSTAKE RESULTS u FANTASY FOOTBALL u COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROJECT u NEW HOME FOR AVONSIDE GLASGOW

If you have a story for the next issue – simply visit THE NEWSDESK to submit your branch news! – we look forward to reading it!

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Building strong client relationships TONY BURKE Group Managing Director

IT’S THE HOLY GRAIL FOR ANY BUSINESS - STRONG MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL, ONGOING AND PROFITABLE CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS. SOUNDS LOVELY DOESN’T IT? BUT IN REALITY, LIFE IS NEVER THAT SMOOTH AND PREDICTABLE; THE REALITY IS THAT WORKING IN THE CONSTRUCTION ENVIRONMENT CAN BE UNPREDICTABLE, DEMANDING AND UNFORGIVING. —

So how do companies ‘square the circle’ and build those long term strategic relationships?

The answer is usually a blend of several things underpinned by hard work, commitment and transparency. If we take a closer look I can highlight some of the things that have worked well for Avonside Group, but you may have your own ideas and solutions in addition.

The first thing we believe in is honesty. If you enter into a project and relationship on the basis of over promising against what you can actually deliver, then you are setting yourself – and your client - up to fail. I believe you have to take responsibility as the ‘expert’ in your discipline and tell the client like it is. It may make you unpopular, it may even lose you some work but from my perspective, as unpalatable as that is, it’s a price that’s worth paying.

Failing to be honest will result in you losing something far more important if you are seeking long term relationships and that is – credibility. This underpins every meaningful relationship, and once you have this you may not be the most popular >>>

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sub-contractor, but you may well be the most respected, and importantly, you won’t saddle yourself with impossible deadlines that result in acrimony later on.

Being honest doesn’t mean being negative; look for creative decisions, even be prepared to ‘try’ and achieve the impossible for your client – but at least you are doing so with everybody fully understanding the situation.

It might well be a cliché, but it doesn’t make it any less true that you must communicate well and at all levels with your client, whether that’s good news or otherwise. The phrase ‘bad news early’ rings true because it means all parties have more opportunity to react and overcome adverse situations. It also runs back into the honest approach.

In today’s modern society with social media and telecommunications it’s never been easier to convey messages, but it needs to be underpinned and utilised by each member of your team, and that’s about taking responsibility.

As an industry we have made great strides over the last two decades to ensure that we work in a safer environment, and although this is about ongoing vigilance, it relies upon a zero-tolerance culture with regard to personal safety. By persuing this approach it further supports your client and their employees as well as your own.

This is absolutely fundamental.

So far, so uncontroversial I can hear you thinking – well maybe this next element is a little more thought-provoking.

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It is my belief that you often build a better, stronger relationship with clients by communicating your expectation that you will be profitable and expect to make a profit in your transactions with them. It may seem obvious, but if you don’t operate profitably you stand little or no chance of being around for a long-term partnership.

So, I am unapologetic about communicating this to clients – after all, if you are delivering a first-class job, on time for them then you should expect to make a profit – and be paid promptly for your services.

All these things should be woven into the fabric and culture of your business, and in my experience the best way to deliver this is to be clear and open to all of your clients about that values that are important to you, your business and the people in it.

It’s not about fancy mission statements, just a few clear and simple values that you have that everybody in your business demonstrates day-in-day out.

So, whilst not exhaustive, these are the few simple guiding principles I have operated by to build up a successful business based upon successful client relationships.

I hope some of these principles can work for you.

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AVONSIDE’S HOUSING 2018 SHOWCASING DEBUT

THE BID TEAM WERE DELIGHTED TO EXHIBIT AT HOUSING 2018 – EUROPE’S BIGGEST HOUSING EVENT – FOR THE FIRST TIME DURING THE FINAL WEEK OF JUNE. — The thriving annual housing festival saw over 200 speakers, 350 of the sector’s biggest suppliers and over 11,000 visitors network and share industry insights and ideas.

Avonside had a stand next to energy efficient hardware manufacturing and software design specialists, Prime Hybrid Energy at the housing festival, which also serves as the Charted Institute of Housing’s (CIH) annual conference. We’re working in partnership with Prime Hybrid Energy to deliver innovation and energy saving solutions into the housing sector to reduce energy bills and help solve fuel poverty.

Highlights of Housing 2018 included Gordon More, Chief Investment Officer of

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Homes England, announcing his organisation’s support for the acceleration of housing output via modern construction methods and CIH Founding Director and Chief Executive, Mark Farmer discussing how the housing sector could learn from the automotive sector with the new for innovations.

Group Business Development Director Philip Bull MIoR said: “Events like CIH provide us with a platform to showcase how our various divisions including residential, renewables and energy can provide energy saving and sustainable roofing solutions for social housing.

“We are committed to working with local authority and councils nationwide, to offer solutions to achieve and contribute towards the development of social housing schemes in the future.

“CIH was an extremely well organised and worthwhile event at bringing issues within social housing to the forefront and provided a great opportunity to network with existing and new clients.”

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Avonside Edinburgh Contributes to RIBA and EAA Award Winning Project OUR AVONSIDE EDINBURGH BRANCH WERE THRILLED THAT THE ST CECILIA’S HALL RESTORATION PROJECT THEY PLAYED A LARGE ROLE IN HAS SNAPPED UP THE COVETED EDINBURGH ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION (EAA) REGENERATION AND CONSERVATION AWARD, WHILST BAGGING AN ESTEEMED EMERGING ARCHITECT SPECIAL CATEGORY ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS / ROYAL INCORPORATION OF ARCHITECTS IN SCOTLAND (RIBA / RIAS) AWARD. — Avonside Edinburgh demonstrated their slating and tiling expertise by supplying and fixing Cupa H3 Spanish Slates in diminishing courses to perfectly replicate traditional Scotch Slate as part of the re-development of Scotland’s oldest purpose-built concert hall, which originally opened in 1763.

Our Edinburgh branch worked alongside multinational UK-based contractor Interserve and Glasgow-based PagePark architects to repair and conserve the Category A listed building so that the historic musical instrument collections of the University of Edinburgh could be housed under one (beautifully restored!) roof.

The University of Edinburgh owned building has also had its gallery spaces and elegant Concert Room fully expanded and revamped and the support functions within the new extension building modified, so the treasured venue can be accessible and enjoyed by all.

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AVONSIDE EDINBURGH & GLASGOW CELEBRATE NEW OFFICE WITH VIRTUAL GOLF Our Avonside Edinburgh and Glasgow Residential Roofing branches marked the opening of our new Glasgow office in style by joining together for a few fun-filled games of Virtual Golf at The Golf Lounge. Of the enjoyable staff night out, which took place on 29th June in Glasgow, Area Director, Chris McClean said: “Despite the fact it was 32’C outside and we missed the big game (Panama v Tunisia) a great time was had by all. “Gary Coull took the honours with 47 Stableford Points. His handicap is now under review!”

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Ploughcroft Help Another Customer Save Energy and Money with Eco Roof™ OUR HOME IMPROVEMENT EXPERTS, PLOUGHCROFT LTD ARE PLEASED TO HAVE HELPED ANOTHER CUSTOMER TOWARDS DOMESTIC ENERGY EFFICIENCY

BY INSTALLING THEIR INNOVATIVE ECO ROOF™ THERMAL BLANKET FOR A HOMEOWNER IN BRIGHOUSE, WEST YORKSHIRE. — Ploughcroft are the proud founders of Eco Roof™, a clever combination of high-tech room-in-roof insulation and a high-quality re-roof, which works harder to keep precious heat within a home.

The recipient of Ploughcroft’s latest Eco Roof™ project, Mr Swales, will benefit from saving up to £500 a year on heating costs – so much so that the Eco Roof™ will eventually pay for itself! The thermal blanket will also help Mr Swales increase his property value by up to 14% and raise this Energy performance Certificate for his home by two bands!­ —

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FLAT ROOFING DIVISION SEALS THE DEAL WITH INLAND HOMES AVONSIDE FLAT ROOFING DIVISION ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT THEY HAVE SIGNED THE PRESTIGIOUS FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT WITH INLAND HOMES. — The agreement has been secured with southern based private house builder and brownfield developer, Inland Homes which will see Avonside Flat Roofing Division provide up to 60% of the roofing across all their sites. The majority of sites will be serviced by our London and Cobsen branches due to the catchment that Inland Homes operate within.

The contract was signed between Inland MD Gary Skinner and Avonside’s Flat Roofing Divisional Director, Eddie Stanton, both of whom look forward to seeing the properties and results that the promising partnership is sure to bring.

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Avonside Cobsen-Davies Worthing Win Decra Roofing Award AS A COMPANY, AVONSIDE LOVE HAVING A POSITIVE IMPACT ON LOCAL COMMUNITIES SO IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT WE’RE EXTREMELY PROUD THAT OUR AVONSIDE COBSEN-DAVIES WORTHING BRANCH WON AN AWARD FOR THEIR BRILLIANT ROOF SHEETING WORK ON THE ALLMOND CENTRE IN COWFORD. — Working with Fowler Building Contractors Ltd, Avonside Cobsen-Davies Worthing clad the roof of the combined community hub and sports pavilion in Decra roof sheets, metal tiles meant to emulate roof tiles.

Their outstanding work was recognised with an award from Decra, Roof Systems, who are part of the BMI Group (a merger of Braas Monier and Icopal), the largest producer of flat and pitched roofing and waterproofing solutions in Europe.

The brand new Allmond community centre and sports pavilion is equipped with a bar, modem kitchen, spacious community room and changing rooms, complete with state-of-theart conference facilities. The community hub celebrated its grand opening on May 12th and hopes to play host to many future community and business events.

Our Home Improvement branch, Ploughcroft Ltd were tasked to install a durable and corrosion resistant, environmentally-friendly Zinc Dormer Roof for a customer in Leeds and they did so, surpassing the customer’s expectations.

Zinc is a brilliant material to work with, with its flexibility allowing it to be formed to solve challenging roofing patterns, making it ideal for moulding flashing around chimneys as well as for use on the main body of a roof. Zinc is also a highly sought-after metal in roofing due to its long lifespan and being entirely recyclable.

Ploughcroft’s Zinc Dormer Roof Project ensured the customer made great use of the surrounding roof by furnishing the dormer with stylish Bi-Fold doors with a pleasing end result.

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PLOUGHCROFT EARN BEST OF HOUZZ 2018 CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD THROUGH CUSTOMER REVIEWS WE ARE HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT OUR HOME IMPROVEMENT BRANCH, PLOUGHCROFT LTD WON THE BEST OF HOUZZ 2018 CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD EARLIER THIS YEAR – THANKS IN NO SMALL PART TO THE NUMBER AND QUALITY OF CLIENT REVIEWS THEY HAVE RECEIVED ON THE LEADING HOME RENOVATION AND DESIGN PLATFORM. — An annual analysis of over 40 million monthly unique users that make up the Houzz community revealed that Ploughcroft is among the top-rated home improvement professionals on Houzz, which has more than one million active home building, home improvement and design industry professional members.

For Ploughcroft’s Managing Director, Chris Hopkins good customer service is at the heart of how Ploughcroft operate: “Customers are why Ploughcroft go to work; every member of the Ploughcroft team strive to offer professional and friendly service to each customer, no matter if we are installing an Eco Roof™, repairing a roof or carrying out a conservatory roof replacement. Therefore, customer feedback is of great value to us and constantly shapes how we deliver our home improvement services.

“We’re very grateful to Houzz and our customers for the Houzz Best of Customer Service award.”

Marcus Hartwall, Managing Director of Houzz UK and Ireland said: “We’re so pleased to award Best of Houzz 2018 to this incredible group of talented and customerfocused professionals, including Ploughcroft Ltd. “Each of these businesses was singled out for recognition by our community of homeowners and design enthusiasts for helping to turn their home improvement dreams into reality.”

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NEW STARTER: Angela Guy, Sales & Office Administrator, Ploughcroft.

Our home improvements specialists, Ploughcroft Ltd were glad to welcome Angela Guy as their new Sales & Office Administrator earlier in the year.

Angela enjoyed her first day at the business on 2nd May and has so far found her experience working at Ploughcroft very interesting.

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It’s a Pass for Bracknell Roofing Midlands Apprentice, Oli Green!

SKILLED OLI GREEN, 21, IS THRILLED TO HAVE PASSED HIS TWO NVQ LEVEL 2S – ONE IN ROOFING AND OCCUPATION AND THE OTHER IN SLATING AND TILING, FOLLOWING A TWO -YEAR VARIED APPRENTICESHIP AT BRACKNELL ROOFING’S BURTON-UPON-TRENT OFFICE. — Oli credits his apprenticeship success to the diverse range of projects he has had the privilege of working on and is excited for his future career in the industry. He said: “I’ve had opportunities to work on some interesting and challenging projects with Bracknell Roofing that I probably wouldn’t have had anywhere else and that’s the best way to learn because I can see how far I’ve come in a short space of time.

“The team at Bracknell Roofing have been very supportive and the structure of the NVQs has been a great way for me to benchmark my overall progress and the development of my skills.”

Praising Oli and discussing the issue of apprenticeships in roofing, Bracknell Roofing Divisional Director Simon Smith said: “The roofing industry needs a continual pipeline of young people coming into the industry. Apprenticeships are critical to that, as they offer a structured approach to learning and the developments of skills – which show the benefits of roofing as a great career opportunity,” “Oli is a great example of a young man who has grabbed the opportunity with both hands and in a short space of time has become a skilled roofer who can work as part of our team in the Midlands.”

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KEY CONTRACT WINS: AVONSIDE HONITON RESIDENTIAL ROOFING: Bovis Homes – Sherford £335,000 p AVONSIDE HONITON RESIDENTIAL ROOFING: Backhouse Housing - Castle Cary £435,000 p AVONSIDE HONITON RESIDENTIAL ROOFING: Larkfleet Homes – Ivybridge £99,000 p AVONSIDE HONITON RESIDENTIAL ROOFING: Taylor Wimpey - Cranbrook Phase 1 £129,000 p AVONSIDE HONITON RESIDENTIAL ROOFING: Bovis Homes - Seaton Phase 4 and 5 £149,000 p AVONSIDE HONITON RESIDENTIAL ROOFING: Elan Homes - Castle Cary £99,000 p

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AVONSIDE HEAD OFFICE WORLD CUP SWEEPSTAKE WORLD CUP FEVER GRIPPED THE AVONSIDE HEAD OFFICE AS ALMOST EVERYONE IN THE BRANCH TOOK THE PLUNGE BY PICKING AT LEAST ONE TEAM THEY FANCIED AS THE WORLD CUP WINNERS. — Each team cost £5 which meant, with 32 teams in the competition, the prize pot totalled £160.00. Frist place received £80 whilst second and third place won £50 and £30 respectively.

— The results were as follows: 1st Group Business Development Director PHIL BULL picked winners FRANCE - he promises it wasn’t a fix!

2nd Management Accountant SHARON MILLINGTON selected CROATIA 3rd Accounts Assistant JAMIE BARRY had BELGIUM —

AVONSIDE EDINBURGH: Barratt Homes - East Scotland New build housing - 245 units £582,466 p AVONSIDE EDINBURGH: Avant Homes – Scotland New build housing - 79 units £310,073 p AVONSIDE EDINBURGH: Dandara Ltd New build housing - 25 units £174,637 p

Time’s Running Out to Enter Avonside Fantasy Football!

STILL MOURNING ENGLAND’S WORLD CUP LOSS? To keep the football fever alive, we’re putting together a work Fantasy Football team with The Telegraph.

1st place will receive 70% 2nd place will get 20% 3rd place will take 10% Hurry though, Premier League season kick off is Friday August 10th!

Anyone from the Avonside Group can join – so what are you waiting for?

Contact Jamie Barry (jamie.barry@avonsidegroup.co.uk) to join the fun!

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AVONSIDE EDINBURGH CONTRIBUTE TO AWARD WINNING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROJECT AVONSIDE EDINBURGH’S HIGH SPIRITS CONTINUED THIS SUMMER AS THEY CONTRIBUTED TO ANOTHER AWARDWINNING PROJECT: THE DALBEATTIE LEARNING CAMPUS, WHICH WON THE CONSTRUCTION NEWS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROJECT OF THE YEAR AWARD! — The aim of the project was to replace Dumfries and Galloway Council’s range of nursey, primary and secondary schools with one single, innovative learning campus.

Contractor Graham Construction made the project a reality with Avonside Edinburgh pleased to have delivered 6000m2 of slating, flat roofing, RWG, leadwork and PPC flashings whilst employing local Operatives on the impressive project.

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What is notable about the project is the time and effort the contractors put into getting feedback from pupils, with the majority of students’ suggestions being incorporated into the project.

One pupil recommendation included moving sinks for handwashing to the outside of bathrooms as this would help towards preventing bullying. The campus’ contractors and designers obliged and reflected the idea in the final building.

Brilliantly, one child requested a slide to enable them to leave school at the end of each day by riding down it…much to the child’s (and no doubt many teachers’) delight, a slide was installed!

Congratulations Avonside Edinburgh and Graham Construction!

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Avonside Glasgow Have a New Home!

THE TEAM AT OUR AVONSIDE GLASGOW RESIDENTIAL ROOFING BRANCH ARE DELIGHTED TO HAVE RECENTLY LEFT THEIR QUEENSLIE OFFICE AND RELOCATED TO THEIR NEW PREMISES AT CRAIGHALL ROAD. — The new office is situated on High Craighall Road, just off Junction 16 of the M8. A larger office space, the team’s new home boasts spectacular views of the city and is another great step forward to the branch.

To celebrate, the team joined in with the Edinburgh branch and enjoyed a night out, which included a few games of ‘Virtual Golf’ at Glasgow’s very own The Golf Lounge.

WE HOPE THEY SETTLE IN WELL! —

Got a winning story you can’t wait to share with your colleagues?

IF YOU HAVE NEWS ON:

u Projects your branch are proud of u Branch news, such as apprentice achievements or awards won u Personal news, any professional qualifications or training your staff have done, for example u Charitable events your team members have participated in u Any new contracts won u Any other positive team news Simply fill out the quick and easy form HERE to effortlessly submit your story for the next issue of the staff newsletter!

Best story, as judged by Group Managing Director, Tony Burke wins a

£50 AMAZON VOUCHER! www.avonsidegroupservices.co.uk