Energised - Issue 3 - November 2022

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Hello and welcome to Issue 3 of Energised after what has been another very busy sixth months here at Davies Partnership.

With the holiday season just around the corner, we’re looking forward to finishing the year strongly and continuing our growth in 2023.

This issue features a wide range of topics that highlight some of the things that have been keeping us busy recently.

From the bittersweet retirement of the company’s Founder Phil Davies to our 25+1 Birthday Celebration, our long-awaited Dublin to Galway Charity Bike Ride, and even a sweepstake for the upcoming World Cup,

there’s plenty of content to keep you informed and entertained on the latest happenings.

Make sure to grab a drink and have a read when you get a spare 10 minutes. We’re sure you’ll enjoy finding out what we’ve been up over the last six months.

A note from the Editor

Issue Highlights

Phils Retirement 25+1 Birthday Celebration

MBO Completed

Family Run Business of the Year Winners!

Dublin to Galway Charity Bike Ride

LCR Culture & Creativity Awards 2023

Ryan Jones Marketing & Commercial Senior Executive

Project News

Five minutes with: James Chaffer

New Starters & Promotions

Bangor-on-Dee Races

World Cup Sweep Mental Health Awareness November Events Education Support Star Baker: Mihaela Moglan Road Map to Net Zero Carbon Client Listening Issuu Portfolio Careers

Family Run Business of the Year Winners!

Take a look at our recent Award win at #COLBA22.

Dublin to Galway Charity Bike Ride Mission accomplished after a two-year delay!

New Starters & Promotions Meet the newest members of our ever-growing team and those recognised for outstanding contributions to the business.

Road Map to Net Zero Carbon Find out how we can assist you with your NZC journey.

Phils Retirement The conclusion of a fantastic 55 year career as Phil announces his retirement 26 years after founding Davies Partnership in 1996.

“Hasta la “Hasta la vista, vista, baby!” baby!”

A truly bittersweet moment for the industry as Phil officially announced his retirement in July after a fantastic 55-year career, 26 of which spent at Davies Partnership since founding the business back in 1996.

We are sure everyone will be thrilled for Phil as he gets to enjoy his retirement spending time with friends and family, watching motorsport and

playing as much golf as possible, but those of us who worked with Phil every day are sad that he wont be around day to day.

During the announcement of Phil’s retirement at our 25+1 Birthday Celebration, our Managing Director Tony spoke fondly of Phil and presented a few special gifts from our board of Directors Gemma, Peter, and Richard.

We even created our very own cocktail in honour of Phil and suitably named it ‘The Gentleman’.

We’re sure you will join us in wishing Phil a long, healthy, and happy retirement after a fantastic 55-year career where Phil dedicated himself to his profession and created countless opportunities for aspiring engineers.

“Sad in many ways as Phil has been a great client over the last decade or so. On the other hand, this gentleman should enjoy his retirement and look back and be proud of his achievements. All the best sir!” (Paul Havard)

“Congratulations on your retirement Phil, enjoyed working with you over the years.” (Tom H)

“Very best wishes to an absolute legend and quintessential gentleman!” (Stephen Osuhor)

“A true and great gentleman retires, leaving a great business as a legacy. Enjoy your Retirement Phil.” (Mark Blackie)

“My congratulations to Phil on his retirement. A nicer man you’ll never meet.” (Scott Grayson)

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Better late than never, we celebrated our 25th year in business on Thursday 21st July where we hosted an intimate event on the stunning rooftop of cocktail bar FIVE Liverpool.

Our 25th anniversary was marked in 2021 but due to the restrictions in place during the covid pandemic, we were not able to celebrate as we would have hoped to.

We couldn’t let such a significant milestone pass by and so we were delighted

to finally raise a glass in recognition of this amazing achievement.

The event was made extra special as we honoured Phil on the night as he announced his retirement, a wonderful 26 years since founding the business back in 1996.

Our Managing Director Tony spoke fondly of Phil and presented a few special gifts from our board of Directors Gemma, Peter, and Richard.

We even created our very own cocktail in honour of Phil and suitably named it ‘The Gentleman’.

We’d like to thank all our team, clients and industry friends who came along to support us for an unforgettable night.

Here’s to another 25 years of Energising Environments!

MANAGEMENT BUYOUT

The company has recently undergone a management buyout (MBO) which has seen our Board of Directors make up the new ownership structure.

This includes Managing Director Tony McDonnell, Business & Finance Director Gemma Davies, Operations Director Peter Lyke, and Technical & Quality Director Richard Lewis.

The MBO comes at a very exciting time for the company following a period of significant growth that has seen us move into some new office space in Manchester to support our Liverpool, Chester, and Conwy offices.

Tony McDonnell, Managing Director commented: “As we move forward to begin the next phase of our growth, we will continue to make new hires and launch new products and services to meet future demand.

We have also set our own Net Zero Carbon target for 2035 and want to help our clients minimise their impact on the environment too through the advice of our skilled team.

Our team have a rich diversity of skill sets brought together through a shared culture and vision to make a difference to the projects that we work on.

We have an eclectic mix of talented individuals at Davies Partnership, so the future looks extremely bright.

We will dearly miss Phil, but this really is an exciting time for our business and we are all looking forward to what lies ahead!”

The company were advised by Paul McGerty, Owner & Chartered Accountant at Your Virtual Finance Director.

FAMILY RUN BUSINESS OF THE YEAR WINNERS!

We are absolutely delighted to have won the Family Run Business of the Year Award at the City of Liverpool Business Awards 2022 hosted by Downtown in Business.

A very special award to win and anybody who knows the company will know just how proud we are of our family roots that run deep within the business.

A big thank you to Carolyn Hughes for sponsoring and presenting the award to us at the 15th edition of the annual awards ceremony.

We also had the pleasure of sponsoring the Employer of the Year Award with Managing Director Tony McDonnell

announcing the very worthy winners to be Krol Corlett Construction.

Congratulations to all the other winners and nominees on the evening, the city certainly is full of incredible businesses.

The sold-out event took place in the stunning Sefton Park Palm House on Thursday 7th July, and was attended by over 200 business leaders.

The City of Liverpool Business Awards (COLBA) were established by Downtown Liverpool in 2004 to acknowledge and celebrate companies and entrepreneurs

that have made a successful and significant contribution to economic growth in the city region.

Commenting on COLBA22, Downtown CEO and Group Chairman, Frank McKenna said; “After an incredibly tough few years, it is fantastic to see the amount of entrepreneurs in the city region who are all doing incredible things for the city.

Liverpool has an abundance of fantastic entrepreneurs as shown by the quality of not only the winners, but all the nominees.”

DUBLIN TO GALWAY

We had originally planned the event for June 2020 but had to cancel due to the coronavirus pandemic, so it was fantastic to finally be able to reorganise and tick it off our list.

The event was a huge success, and we would like to say a special thank you to everyone for the tremendous support in helping our fundraising for two very worthy causes.

We are absolutely thrilled to have reached our fundraising targets by raising over £4200 for Claire House, and over £3100 for the Stroke Association to support the amazing work that both charities do.

As most of you will know, Claire House has been a long-standing charity partner and one we have had a great relationship with for several years now.

The Stroke Association however was chosen specifically for James Chaffer, one of our Senior Engineers who had a stroke in 2019. James has fortunately

The cohort of riders tackled all kinds of weather conditions on the first day as they cycled from Dublin to Athlone, and were more than relieved with better weather, a shorter ride, and Guinness within touching distance on the second day of the ride.

A massive thank you to all the riders who took part and congratulations for completing the marathon journey. A weekend that will make for some great storytelling in the future.

amazing West Derby facility that Claire House moved into in 2018.

Claire House Children’s Hospice helps seriously and terminally ill children make the most of the time they have however long or short that may be.

The Stroke Association supports people to rebuild their lives after a stroke by providing specialist support, funding critical research, and campaigning to make sure people affected get the very best care and support.

LCR CULTURE & CREATIVITY AWARDS 2023

We’re delighted to be continuing our support of the Liverpool City Region Culture & Creativity Awards by sponsoring the Environmental Award at the 2023 Awards Ceremony.

It’s been a real pleasure to have been involved in the awards the last two years having sponsored the Impact Award for Environmental Sustainability. This year we are proud to sponsor the ‘Environmental Award’ and are looking forward to announcing the very worthy winners on the evening.

Previous winners of the Environmental Award include Metal, Friends of Princes Avenue

and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse who have all been doing incredible work across the city region for many years now.

The Awards Ceremony will be hosted at the Shakespeare North Playhouse on Thursday 9th March 2023, and we are very much looking forward to attending what is sure to be a fantastic night of celebrating the best of the city regions culture and creativity offering.

The LCR Culture & Creativity Awards forms part of Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram’s ‘1% for Culture initiative’ and are designed to honour the value and contribution that the cultural and creative sector

brings to the Liverpool City Region – making it one of the most vibrant and exciting places to live, work, study, visit or do business in.

Culture and creativity are an incredibly important part of our collective identity. Whether it’s our museums, art galleries, theatres, or our music - they all provide huge social benefits and encourage both creative and analytical thinking.

We’re delighted to be working on another residential project in London for Sheen Lane Developments.

Sutton Park House currently comprises an 8-storey red brick office building located in Sutton, South London.

The project will see the building converted from office use to residential and commercial accommodation consisting of 149 self-contained residential units along with flexible ground

floor and lower ground floor commercial space.

The redevelopment will see the erection of an additional three floors along with two new roof terraces and a landscaped courtyard garden for residents.

The project forms part of the wider regeneration of the area with Sutton Council having granted full planning permission for the scheme and committing to several other initiatives that will transform the local area.

LABC BUILDING EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2022

Great news for a couple of our projects for Read Construction as they received recognition at the recent LABC Wales Building Excellence Awards 2022.

In the category for Best Public or Community Building, our Crown Buildings project was awarded the winner, whilst our Borras Park CP School project received a ‘highly commended’ award.

The Crown Buildings is now shortlisted at the Grand Finals which will be taking place in London on Friday 27th January 2023, so we will be keeping our fingers crossed for some more success then.

We’re extremely proud to have provided the MEP Design Duties for both projects, from the highly sustainable focus on the Crown Buildings, to our Operations Director Peter Lyke’s old Primary School in Borras Park.

It was a pleasure to work with both design teams and congratulations to all involved for some welldeserved recognition.

PLANNING APPROVED

Fantastic news for one of our commercial and industrial schemes for FI Real Estate Management Ltd which was approved for planning recently. The project will see the redevelopment of the iconic Botany Bay site to create a new complex of 33 industrial units whilst providing a major boost to employment and commercial opportunities in the area.

The 33 units will be built across 10 blocks covering 405,000 sq ft of commercial and industrial space. The majority of which has been designated for light industrial use with the wider space allocated for landscaping, pedestrian routes, a car park, and a takeaway food business.

We are thrilled to be working with FIREM and their construction division FI Construction, along with the

extended design team providing the full range of MEP Design and Sustainability Duties.

The project will have a significant impact on Chorley and create hundreds of jobs that will boost the local economy.

We’re looking forward to updating you on the progress with completion targeted for the first quarter of 2024.

NATIONAL AWARD SUCCESS!

We’re thrilled to share the news that our state-of-the-art teaching hub project at Meole Brace School in Shrewsbury has won the first ever National Constructing Excellence Award for the Net Zero category.

The project formed part of Shropshire Council’s ambition to create sustainable education

provision with future school expansions and successfully achieved a BREEAM Excellent rating.

The Vanguard Building was designed to ensure Net Zero Operational Carbon and was built to achieve the internationally respected Passivhaus standard.

FIVE MINUTES WITH JAMES CHAFFER

James has been part of the Davies Partnership team for over a decade having joined the company back in 2011. Being one of our Senior Mechanical Engineers and having worked in the industry for over 25 years, James is an invaluable member of the team and provides expert knowledge and experience in building services design and project management.

Q. How would you describe your job role?

A. My job role is primarily designing mechanical building services such as heating, air conditioning, hot and cold water, mechanical ventilation, and above ground drainage.

This involves creating detailed drawings, equipment schedules and specifications. I also prepare reports and undertake site surveys and quality inspections.

Q. How did you get into the industry?

A. I undertook 2 weeks work experience for a M&E Contractor when I was 15 which I really enjoyed.

After leaving school I was then given the opportunity to become an Apprentice Heating Engineer with the same company which I gratefully accepted. I have remained either installing, project managing or designing building services ever since!

Q. What advice would you give to your younger self?

A. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to more experienced colleagues as no one knows it all when they first start out. Always be honest with yourself and others, and do every job the right way without taking any shortcuts.

Q. What has been your favourite project to work on and why?

A. When I started at Davies Partnership, I spent a few months based at the Airbus UK Factory in Broughton.

I was tasked with surveying the mechanical services within the main wing manufacturing building for producing record drawings.

I was fortunate to see first-hand the sheer scale of operations and production within such a large international organisation.

Q. What do you enjoy most about working for Davies Partnership?

A. I enjoy the general variety of work we undertake. Everyone gets on very well in the business

and are all approachable. Though we have grown a lot in recent years, we still have the same teamwork and family culture from when I joined back in 2011.

Q. If you weren’t an engineer, what would you be?

A. I would probably still be involved in Building Services or the wider Construction Industry in some capacity as this has been my whole career from an early age.

Q. What are your interests/ hobbies outside of work?

A. Watching football is my main interest. My first match and season ticket was at Everton the year they won the FA Cup in 1995. I’m more of an armchair fan now as I’ve realised that was the exception rather than the norm!

I also enjoy watching other live sports, films, and documentaries. On the weekends I try to keep active by cycling and walking, and also enjoy getting stuck into some DIY.

NEW STARTERS & PROMOTIONS

We’re delighted to have welcomed several new members to the team over the last few months as we prepare for our next phase of growth following our recent move into Manchester.

New starters include Sami-Ullah Mahmood and Philip Connell as Senior Mechanical Engineers,

and Sam Evans and David Harrop as Electrical Design Engineers.

We also made some muchdeserved promotions with Ritchie Goff being promoted to Principal Electrical Engineer and Walter Holmes promoted to Senior Electrical Engineer.

BANGOR-ON-DEE RACES

Following a fantastic day out at Chester Races in May, we will be attending Bangoron-Dee Races in December for the Christmas Special fixture.

It’s been a very busy year for the team, and we are all

looking forward to another great day out together to kick start the festive celebrations.

We’re hoping for some better luck with the weather this year as last time we had planned to attend, the fixture was cancelled due to a waterlogged course.

Given the torrential rain on the first day of our Dublin to Galway charity bike ride, it’s surprising we don’t have a line in branded waterproof ponchos.

We continue to invest in our people in order to fuel a culture of reward and opportunity for all.

Our team are essential to achieving our business purpose to energise environments and positively shape the world around us.

As we look ahead to the strangest World Cup ever, 20 members of the team have entered our sweepstake consisting of the Top 20 teams in the tournament.

Make sure to keep an eye out on our social channels to stay updated and find out which lucky ones will be taking home our cash prizes.

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS

10th October was World Mental Health Day, whilst 9th May marked the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Week with this year’s theme centred around loneliness.

Loneliness can be a difficult thing to deal with, and one in four adults feel lonely some or all of the time. There is no single cause or one solution.

Nowadays, we are encouraging our team more than ever to look after their mental health and are proud to regularly be looking for ways to help combat issues such as loneliness.

In the last year, we have organised many events to help bring our team together including Chester Races, our North Wales Four Hump Challenge and Bangor-on-Dee Races coming up in December.

As good as social events are it is just as important to be able to talk to someone you trust.

We are also proud to be partnered with Emma Dredge at Project Awesome Life who has been providing monthly mindfulness sessions for our team to talk to in confidence when needed.

Our Mental Health is a focus not just for World Mental Health Day or Mental Health Awareness Week, but all year round. Our team are always available for a chat to whoever may need one.

We had a fantastic time at the JDA Charity Ball in Manchester on Friday 18th November.

The event was the first after a two-year break due to postponements and it was great to host a table for some of our industry friends and catch up with so many others on the night.

Hosted in the Deansgate Suite at the Hilton Hotel in Manchester, the event was in support of Mustard Tree - a

charity that helps to combat and prevent poverty, inequality and homelessness across Greater Manchester.

We’d like to say a big thank you to Rob, Karen, and the rest of the JDA Team for organising a brilliant night as usual and we’re already looking forward to next year’s ball.

A huge amount was raised on the night for what is a great and very worthy cause.

LIVERCOOL 2022

On Thursday 24th November, we’re attending the ‘Livercool’ Awards at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Liverpool City Centre.

This years’ event is the twentieth edition of the awards which was established by Downtown in Business to celebrate individuals from the city’s business community who have made a significant contribution to enterprise and economic growth in the city region.

Our Managing Director Tony McDonnell has been nominated for Business Personality of the Year alongside some esteemed company, and we’re looking forward to celebrating some of the best in business on the evening.

Other award categories on the evening include Male and Female Networker of the Year, Employee of the Year, Young Entrepreneur of the Year,

Property Personality of the Year and Hotel General Manager of the Year.

Over the years, the Livercool Awards have had several creative themes ranging from Winter Wonderland to the Eighties, and Hollywood to the Jungle, so we’re sure the DIB team will have plenty of surprises for the evening.

EDUCATION SUPPORT

We’re looking forward to strengthening our relationship with education providers across the UK over the coming years as we actively look to engage with young people and create opportunities that can lead to a long and wonderful career in the Building Services industry.

We recently met with some of the Coleg Cambria team at their Deeside Campus to explore how we can share knowledge and provide real world input, particularly around fast-paced topics such as decarbonisation and technological advancements.

STAR BAKER: MIHAELA MOGLAN

Move out the way Paul Hollywood, we have our very own Star Baker in the form of Electrical Engineer Mihaela Moglan.

When she hasn’t got her hands full with her daughter Iris, Mihaela swaps electrical design for cake design and has even been keeping our Chester office well-looked after by bringing in home-made cakes for the team to enjoy.

Some of our Liverpool office have even been spending a little more time in the Chester office lately. Coincidence? I think not!

Mihaela’s baking skills range from fruit meringues to cakes decorated in all kinds of toppings such as ice cream cones and bitcoins (literally).

We will also be delivering a number of technical masterclasses to the students as part of our ongoing commitment to the college.

We have also visited Riverside College and Cronton Sixth Form College recently and been given guided tours of the campus’ to see some of the fantastic facilities the students have at their disposal.

This included sensory and immersion rooms, engineering workshops, and an IDEA Centre for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

Collaboration is one of our three core values here at Davies Partnership and we recognise that working together is working better. We are sure these ongoing relationships will provide added value to students and help to open doors for aspiring engineers of the future.

ROAD MAP TO NET ZERO CARBON

We have been very busy over the last year assisting Clients on the journey to a Net Zero future.

We have set our own Net Zero Carbon target ahead of the UK target at 2035, and we want to help clients minimise their impact on the planet too by using our unique carbon reduction and road map management services underpinned by sound carbon engineering.

The Net Zero Carbon target is often clear but the road map less so. By using the principles of the internationally recognised British Standard PAS 2060: Standard for Carbon Neutrality and its four key stages, Measurement, Reduction, Offsetting and Documentation, we can help develop and tailor your carbon road map. Here’s how we can help…

Measurement:

Site surveys to establish the level of energy metering already in place and develop the metering strategy to ensure all energy and carbon emission sources are adequately measured.

We can incorporate process, transport, scope 3 supply chain and scope 4 home working emissions into your carbon model. Offsetting When you have done all you can, but still have a small amount of carbon emission to deal with, we can help introduce you to a carbon offsetting scheme which is both suitable and verifiable. This could be driven by maximising the carbon tonnes per pound or consideration of wider nature or communitybased solutions.

Documentation

We have developed the latest world-renowned EOS management system to help manage the carbon road map. This ensures the carbon management team structure is optimised from the outset and the necessary accountability established throughout the team. Through this EOS management software we can help you: Run your carbon meetings using the innovative and success based format, either in person or via TEAMs / Google Meet to keep you on track with the carbon road map.

Update and manage key actions, raise issues and update their quarterly tasks using the cloud-based software in advance of the next meeting.

Reduction:

Helping to set realistic carbon goals based on what is achievable for each organisation reflecting geographical location, core business function, the condition of its existing facilities, transport requirements, supply chain considerations, staff working arrangements and capital available to invest in carbon reduction schemes.

Identify and quickly prioritise your carbon investment and focus on comfortable gains while planning for the more stretching outputs.

Use our in-house IES carbon modellers, to ensure there are no unintended consequences for carbon improvements.

Signpost carbon grants and align the implementation of carbon reduction projects with future grants.

Prepare detailed drawings and specifications for the carbon reduction works and for public sector clients, prepare project briefs for advertising on procurement portals for consultancy and installation works.

Davies Partnership can provide: A proven in-house track record in Sustainability.

In-house capability to carry out the detailed design of the carbon reduction measures necessary.

Management of your carbon road map process using an innovative EOS based carbon management approach ensuring you remain on track.

Access to supply chain partners who can provide a turn-key process for carbon reduction projects.

Source and suggest, credible carbon offset opportunities for those remaining emissions that you are unable to eliminate in any other way.

If you would like to discuss your carbon journey with us, please contact our Technical & Quality Director Richard Lewis by clicking HERE.

CLIENT LISTENING

We care about what our clients think about Davies Partnership.

We are in the process of evaluating both the performance of our team and our service delivery, and also working to understand how we can deliver a more valuable service in the future.

Listening to customers has always been important to us and as we continue on our journey of talking to our clients, we wanted to share some feedback we have already received in both words

and testimonials. Once the process is complete, we will share our Net Promoter Score.

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a common customer experience metric used by companies globally to benchmark against industry and competitor scores, and monitor improvements in products or services.

Our new approach to client feedback and structured Key Account Planning allows both refinement and creation of services needed to futureproof

and grow our business, but also better measure client relationships to understand which ones need more time invested to ensure we are delivering against our purpose.

If you would like more information, please contact a member of our team who will be glad to provide further details.

“We have worked with Davies Partnership for many years because they are professional, get the job done well and are innovative. We see Davies Partnership pushing the boundaries of what is possible

and focusing on the future of the built environment.”

Wil Jones, Read Construction

“We have worked with Davies Partnership for many years and the team are approachable and respond to queries quickly, in a clear and concise manner. The quality of service and level of detail is

excellent. Their solutions are innovative and future focused and we would be very happy to recommend them.”

Gareth Jarvis, Torus

*Data received from initial client listening sessions with: Torus, TACP Architects, Read Construction, Conwy County Borough Council and ADRA.

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CAREERS AT DAVIES PARTNERSHIP

Our team are essential to achieving our business purpose: to energise environments and positively shape the world around us.

We invest in our people and empower them through collaboration and strong leadership.

This is how we build stronger internal and external relationships by unlocking the energy and ideas within our dynamic team to deliver unique and tangible value for our customers and stakeholders.

We are always on the lookout for experienced and also aspiring new talent so if you would like more information about opportunities to join Davies Partnership, please get in touch

We love meeting new people who share our values.

Davies Partnership Work-Life Balance Charter

Birthdays Off

THANKS FOR READING.