Government Business 20.3

TOWN PLANNING

ENERGY

FRANCHISING

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Business Information for Local and Central Government TRANSPORT

INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS Making our roads safe, smart and sustainable

PUBLIC OPINION

BUYING MARKET RESEARCH Smarter procurement gets better results

MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY | HOUSING | CONFERENCES & EVENTS | PEST CONTROL

COMMENT TOWN PLANNING

ENERGY

FRANCHISING

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Business Information for Local and Central Government TRANSPORT

INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS

Making our roads safe, smart and sustainable

PUBLIC OPINION

BUYING MARKET RESEARCH Smarter procurement gets better results

MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY | HOUSING | CONFERENCES & EVENTS | PEST CONTROL

Comment

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A TOOTHLESS TIGER? Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson OBE has served the Local Government Association with notice. Through the Liverpool Echo, Anderson remarked that the LGA had not done enough to challenge Whitehall over cuts to town hall spending, describing the Association, which represents over 400 local authorities, as a “toothless tiger” and an “abject failure”.

He told the Echo: “I don’t have any faith that the LGA is listened to by government, they’ve not done anything in the way of getting the government to change its policies, and I think that’s been an abject failure.”

The news is certain to resonate through local government. Liverpool’s membership costs £100,000 a year, and Anderson believes this can be better spent elsewhere.

One year into his Mayoral term, Anderson is an increasingly popular community figure. As the Labour candidate, he gained almost 60 per cent of the vote in last May’s Mayoral election, and at the time, Jon Tonge, professor of politics at the University of Liverpool said “it wasn’t a count, it was a coronation”.

But is it the Local Government Association, or local government itself that is perceived as toothless? Addressing the What is Local Government for? conference, organised by the Bristol Festival of Ideas, Lord Heseltine said he despaired at the continuing “deference and subservience” to London that he witnessed in many local authorities when compiling the No Stone Unturned in Pursuit of Growth report.

Heseltine said: “You need to ‘thump desks and act as if you care’, because only then will you get the attention you need.”

You can view the conference here - tinyurl.com/dyckcen

Danny Wright

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Contents

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

CONTENTS GOVERNMENT BUSINESS 20.3 07 NEWS

Audit Commission end is nigh; ICO monitors Barnet and Manchester City Councils; Mayor to pull Liverpool Council out of Local Government Association; Dinosaur made from computer waste promotes recycling; Section 106 changes become law

15

11 URBAN REGENERATION

Jayne Phenton from charity Living Streets urges local councils to put public health and road safety at the heart of contemporary town planning

15 MARKET RESEARCH

Jane Frost, ceo of the Market Research Society, considers the importance of careful procurement of market and social research

23 31

21 MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY

Alan Leaman, chief executive of the Management Consultancies Association, examines the value of the new buying framework ConsultancyONE

23 ENERGY

51

Alan Aldridge, executive director of the Energy Services and Technology Association (ESTA) takes a look at the arguments for the government’s high-profile case regarding energy efficiency and suggests some practical steps towards savings

31 HOUSING

Manchester Central on 25-27 June will host the biggest event in the UK’s housing calendar, CIH Housing 2013

37 TRANSPORT

Safety & Health Expo has support from key industry partners to give visitors authoritative content leaders voices across the occupational safety and health industry

45 FM - LIFTEX

Liftex 2013 will examine new standards due to be published regarding the specification of new lifts for the transport of passengers and goods

51 AVEX

What’s going on at AVEX, The UK’s largest trade show dedicated to the vending and water industries?

55 FRANCHISING

The British Franchise Exhibition on 21-22 June in Manchester is a must-attend for budding entrepreneurs

59 MARKETING WEEK

Benefit from real marketing insight and advice at Marketing Week Live this June

63 CONFERENCES & EVENTS

Eileen Bolton dishes out ten reasons to choose an academic venue when planning your meeting, conference or event. Plus Jon Proctor from Green Business examines ways to green your event

71 PEST CONTROL

What’s the role of the public, local authorities and professional pest control companies, asks Simon Forrester from the British Pest Control Association

63

Government Business

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LOCAL AUDIT

NEWS IN BRIEF

Queen’s Speech: Audit Commission closure looms

The process of abolishing the Audit Commission moved a step closer when the Local Audit and Accountability Bill was announced on 8 May as part of the Queen’s Speech 2013.

Ministers believe that the Commission’s closure will save taxpayers up to £1.2 billion.

The process to abolish the body began in 2010, but was delayed as officials worked out how to replace it. The Local Audit and Accountability Bill aims to reduce the cost of unaccountable quangos on taxpayers and help tackle the deficit by ensuring councils make sensible savings. The Bill will also put in place a new audit regime, with local authorities able to appoint their own auditors. The National Audit Office will prepare and maintain a Code of Audit Practice to set out the framework within which local auditors will work.

Commenting on the Bill, communities secretary Eric Pickles said: “This government is reining in the quango state, saving taxpayers’ money and giving more power to local people. This Bill extends the government’s localism agenda - ensuring robust scrutiny of council spending, strengthening the role of direct democracy and protecting an independent free press. That’s what taxpayers want, not Pravda-style propaganda.”

The Bill will close the Audit Commission and open up auditing to drive down prices; fee reductions will help council budgets while keeping the same high audit standards.

It also proposes closing the Council Tax loophole to prevent unaccountable levying authorities exerting pressure on Council Tax, and will enshrine the legal status of the local authority publicity code - stopping unnecessary spending on council newspapers.

Tougher rules aim to protect the independent free press from unfair competition by town hall newspapers, strengthening

Council meetings on the radio Following a successful trial earlier this year, Croydon Council will broadcast its meetings live on the borough’s local internet radio station. From 20 May, every council meeting will be broadcast on Croydon Radio and available as a downloadable podcast. A trial show earlier this year saw 200 people tuning in for the live show 14,000 podcast downloads. Tim Pollard, cabinet member with responsibility for communications, said: “The popularity of the trial broadcast in February has proved that this is a service that people value.”

Dinosaur made from computer waste aims to boost recycling in Essex

Pickes: “This government is reigning in the quango state”

the legal status of the existing code of recommended practice on local authority publicity, which some councils are currently ignoring, according to the Department for Local Communities and Government.

In her address to Parliament, the Queen also announced plans to extend the Right to Buy, to ensure more tenants can benefit from the increased discounts to buy their council homes.

Currently, tenants need to have lived in council housing for at least five years before they can take up the Right to Buy, but under changes announced in the Deregulation Bill this will be reduced to three years. The reinvigorated Right to Buy offers eligible tenants discounts of up to £75,000 off the value of their home, with up to £100,000 off in London - three times the level of discount previously available in some areas.

READ THE LOCAL AUDIT IMPACT ASSESSMENT - tinyurl.com/cb3a5f7

PLANNING

Section 106 changes become law Key changes to the planning regime including a neighbour consultation system for larger household extensions, a new arrangement allowing developers with major schemes to bypass poorly performing planning authorities and the opportunity to renegotiate section 106 agreements - have all now become law, following Royal Assent for the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013.

Under the Act, there will be a three-year window when developers will be able to renegotiate S106 agreements that have made a scheme economically unviable.

The Department for Communities and Local Government said it expects this new measure will unblock stalled developments.

GB News

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Developers will be able to submit planning applications directly to the planning inspectorate where the relevant local authority has consistently failed to consider applications on time. The reforms also contain measures affecting town and village greens.

Speaking at the National Infrastructure Planning Association’s annual conference on 8 May, Nick Boles said the service was open for business and ready to help developers who are keen to get their schemes off the ground as soon as possible. Boles said: “Planning delays help no one.”

READ MORE VISIT ABOUT SECTION 106 tinyurl.com/btwm4r2

A massive dinosaur made entirely out of old electrical and electronic equipment is currently touring Essex, as part of a campaign by Southend-onSea Borough Council and Essex County Council to boost recycling.

Steggy the Stegosaurus’ is made from parts of old computers and kettles.

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council’s executive councillor for public protection, waste and transport, Councillor Tony Cox said: “This dinosaur sculpture is such a great way of showing how many electrical and electronic items are thrown away.

“Hopefully Steggy will help prompt people to think twice before putting these items in their black refuse sack.”

Council spray paints dog fouling hotspots In a bid to get owners to clean up after their pets, East Devon District Council will be spray painting messages to dog owners at dog mess hotspots. The campaign, which will see the council spraying a message on the pavement in red degradable paint, will last for two weeks before fading.

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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COUNCIL BUILDINGS

Legislation aims to make repurposing existing buildings much easier New measures which aim to ensure the best use is made of empty and underused council buildings will come into force on 30 May. The changes will make it easier to change buildings for other uses, such as for schools.

The changes support the implementation of recommendations from the Mary Portas review of the high street to reduce restrictive “change of use” red tape by allowing buildings to be used for other purposes. People looking to test out new businesses, start-up ideas and pop-up ventures will be able to do so much more quickly without costly delays from seeking permission to change the use of a building.

New permitted development rights will enable offices to be converted into homes. High street premises will be able to be used for new types of business without permission and existing agricultural buildings (under 500m2) will be able to be utilised for a range of new uses, such as shops or offices, to provide more chances for rural businesses to diversify.

In a move to assist the government’s free schools

agenda, a series of measures will also facilitate the conversion of existing buildings to become new state-funded schools.

Communities secretary Eric Pickles said: “There is huge untapped potential in the many disused existing buildings we have and we’re determined that every one of them is put to good use.

“By simplifying the process and relaxing some stringent rules we can provide a helping hand to those eager to boost their high streets or rural communities by cutting the time and costs needed to start up new businesses.”

Pickles continued: “These reforms will provide a boost to the exciting free schools programme. It will make it easier for parents and community activists to convert buildings into new schools.”

There are areas in 17 local authorities in England, consisting of individual buildings, roads or zones, which are exempt from new rights to convert offices to homes, following assessment of all the cases submitted.

NEWS IN BRIEF

GB News

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

Over 1000 bidders for £1 houses Liverpool City Council’s scheme to bring empty properties back into use by selling them for £1 has attracted over 1,000 bidders.

Launched in February, applicants must be a first-time buyer living or working within Liverpool, and must agree not to sub-let the property for a minimum of five years. Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, said: “It is part of my commitment to bring 1,000 empty properties back into use and help as many local people as possible get onto the property ladder.” Successful bidders will need to refurbish the property to a Decent Home standard within 12 months.

Town hall rich list gets smaller The number of UK council staff earning more than £100,000 fell by 11 per cent in 2011/12, according to the Taxpayers’ Alliance. The pressure group’s annual Town hall rich list, which is compiled from data published by councils and Freedom of Information requests, found there were 2,525 local government employees with six-figure earnings in 2011/12. This is down from 2,839 the previous year, the first fall in the seven-year history of the rich list. At the top end of the scale, 636 council employees received total remuneration over £150,000.

South Bucks DC blocks Pinewood Studios expansion plans South Buckinghamshire DC has blocked the £200m expansion of Pinewood Studios, home to the James Bond franchise, the Guardian reports. The council said it had concerns about the development of 100 acres of green belt land – but Pinewood chair Lord Grade said the decision was “depressing” because it was important to create jobs.

READ MORE -tinyurl.com/codykpw

READ THE STATEMENT

tinyurl.com/bozt8lg

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

ICO monitors three bodies The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has announced that three public authorities will be monitored this quarter over concerns about the timeliness of their responses to freedom of information (FOI) requests.

The Metropolitan Police Service, the London Borough of Barnet and Manchester City Council are being monitored after the ICO received a significant number of complaints about each authorities’ failure to respond to requests within the statutory time limit.

The monitoring period will last until 30 June 2013. Commenting on the announcement, information commissioner Christopher Graham said: “Responding

to freedom of information requests within the time limit of 20 working days is not only a legal requirement under the FOI Act, but also an important means of demonstrating transparency and accountability to the UK taxpayer.”

Barnet Council’s deputy leader councillor Daniel Thomas said: “The ICO’s decision seems based on a small number of historic complaints received rather than our current performance.

“The council has taken huge steps to improve its FOI performance over the past two years, recruiting extra officers across the council.”

TO READ THE REPORT VISIT tinyurl.com/dy3jdfv

Mayor to pull Liverpool out of the LGA According to the Liverpool Echo, Mayor Joe Anderson is to pull the city out of the Local Government Association, the leading body representing local councils. Anderson told the paper he was planning to write to the LGA explaining his decision. He called the organisation a “toothless tiger” and an “abject failure”. Mayor Anderson also said the organisation, in which Liverpool Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Richard Kemp is a senior figure, did not represent the council’s views.

A week after the LGA published a report warning of considerable difficulties for councils to properly provide services if further cuts are made by the government in the 2015/16 budgets, Mayor Anderson said it had not done enough to challenge Whitehall over cuts to town hall spending.

“They do not represent us, and we are in the process of giving notice to the LGA that TO READ MORE PLEASE VISIT... we are pulling out of it” tinyurl.com/cm4ncmx he added

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TOWN TOWN PLANNING PLANNING

Written by Jayne Phenton, media coordinator, Living Streets

HAVE WE BEEN DRIVEN OUT OF OUR TOWNS?

Urban Regeneration

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Local councils must prioritise pedestrians in their urban planning and design, says Jayne Phenton, media coordinator for Living Streets, the charity that campaigns for safe and attractive streets The art of town planning is shaped and informed by the ebb and flow of the people who will occupy the outcome.

Our towns and cities have emerged from forts or trading posts, in response to the growth or movements of population and associated economic developments.

While the Greek Hippodamus is credited as ‘the father of town-planning’, we know that all roads lead to Rome. The Romans liked the efficiency of straight lines and right angles, but seemingly traffic management was an issue then.

In 45 BC Julius Caesar introduced road space rationing in Roman cities as carriages and carts created serious congestion. The centre of Rome was closed to all vehicles except those transporting priests, officials, visitors and high‑ranking citizens between the hours of 6am and 4pm. The ‘Zona a Traffico Limitato’ is enforced in the historical centre of Rome today.

A FLOURISHING CITY At the time of the French Revolution, Paris had a population of 650,000; by 1866 that number had swollen by almost a million. The flourishing capital needed to accommodate the huge expansion of residents – in particular the increasingly affluent bourgeoisie.

While Napoleon’s ambitions for the city

included safer streets, better housing, more sanitary conditions, shopper-friendly communities and better traffic flow (actually not unlike many of the policy calls Living Streets makes a century and a half later), he

THE TIME OF THE MOTORCAR I suggest that in more recent times, the built environment has been designed to accommodate the motor car. At the beginning of the century, motoring was a luxury hobby,

There are many anecdotes of commentators at the time suggesting that pedestrians were responsible for their own fate if they didn’t get out of the way quick enough, but in 1930 the Road Traffic Act introduced the Highway Code after lobbying by the newly formed Pedestrian Association (later Living Streets) also wanted streets on which troops could be mobilised quickly to quell any rebellion. The wide avenues designed by Baron Haussmann may afford grandeur and sweeping vistas, but primarily they were designed to be too broad to build barricades across.

So whether it’s logistics, commercial efficiency or political manoeuvre, our urban environment, how we occupy it and how behave within it, has always been subject to socio-economic pressures.

but during the 1930s, the price of cars began to fall and the expanding middle classes were eager to buy into the glamour and freedom which the new automobiles represented.

Widespread car ownership had begun and was about to have one of the most profound impacts on our society and our infrastructure.

By 1934, the average car could achieve speeds of up to 70 mph and that year saw the highest ever number of road casualties – 7,343 deaths, of which half were pedestrians, E

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TOWN PLANNING  compared to 453 pedestrian fatalities in 2011. There are many anecdotes of commentators at the time suggesting that pedestrians were responsible for their own fate if they didn’t get out of the way quick enough, but in 1930 the Road Traffic Act introduced the Highway Code after lobbying by the newly formed Pedestrian Association (later Living Streets).

Local authorities now had power to regulate traffic with one-way streets, roundabouts, road signs and traffic lights. Our urban streets began to take on the familiar appearance they largely assume today, although during this period there were only around 2 million cars on Britain’s roads rather than the 28.5 million today.

ng Designi eas r urban a strians de with pe not only in mindroad users, s benefit nts and the reside ity, it saves n commu lives and both ney mo While there are a raft of factors

A BIG INFLUENCE Car ownership represented an irresistible combination of affluence, success and personal freedom and by the 1950s was increasingly attainable.

In their recently published book, Carscapes, architectural historians Kathryn Morrison and John Minnis explore the architectural impact of the motor car. They assert that the ‘motorisation’ of our culture has been instrumental in the design, aesthetics and architecture of our towns and cities.

The range of this influence can be seen in the sublimely ornamental Michelin Building on London’s Fulham Road stretching to the brutalist architecture of the Trinity Square car park in Gateshead. The latter, now demolished, originally featured a roof top restaurant and shops and epitomised the ‘modern age’, but is now embedded in the imagination as the ubiquitous ‘multi-storey’ – grey, bleak, malodorous and imprinted with the image of Coronation Street’s Alf Roberts being propelled from the uppermost floor, being ‘a big bloke, but in bad shape’.

DRIVING PEOPLE AWAY Rather like the character in Get Carter, poorly maintained and unloved, the concrete monoliths that dominated many of our city centres were also in bad shape.

Shoppers recoiled from the grim concrete, complained about the escalating cost of parking and embraced the out-of-town shopping centre, the retail park and the large supermarkets – sanitary clean with free parking and no offensive aromas.

These attractions have been credited with luring consumers away from ‘the British High Street’ and impugned for the demise of local trade. The last few years have seen a number of retailers disappear with a wave of familiar brands like Peacocks, La Senza and Clintons Cards closing down.

implicated in the loss of retailers on the high street – including the growth of online shopping and the wider economic landscape – the loss of footfall is clearly a significant one. Research shows that shoppers on foot linger longer and that making town centres more accessible, pleasant and easier for walking can boost retail sales by 40 per cent. Put simply, pedestrians spend more than drivers. A lively presence on our streets also delivers the dividend of greater safety and community confidence and lower crime rates.

I contend that in the process of engineering our urban environment to prioritise the car, we have compromised the integrity of our urban landscape and are now reaping the environmental and economic consequences. Have we literally been driven out of our towns and cities?

If so, how do we reclaim our streets?

AN APPEALING ENVIRONMENT In a Living Streets survey conducted last year, 39 per cent of people said they would walk more in their local area if it was better maintained and more attractive.

The decision whether to walk to the shops or not is governed not just by distance, but by the quality of the walking experience.

Evidence shows that a safe, attractive environment encourages people to be more active in their neighbourhood.

The latest National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued its guidance on walking and cycling in November 2012, proposing that getting the UK population more active on a daily basis is a public health priority. Furthermore, NICE recognised the need for infrastructure and a supportive environment sympathetic to active travel.

“Pedestrians (and cyclists) should be prioritised over motorised transport.”

Given that responsibility for public health lies with local authorities from April 2013, encouraging active travel looks set to become a core part of local transport investment and

planning. Removing the barriers to walking in our towns and city centres will be key to enable local authorities to meet Public Health Outcomes Framework objectives, air quality targets and revive local economies.

Signposts at public transport hubs indicating distance or walking times to key destinations, lowering traffic speeds, good pavement maintenance and accessible road crossings are all measures which make towns more accessible and more easily negotiable on foot. But to truly impact on the health, well-being and quality of life of the urban dweller, we need to identify a driver which will inform planning.

Urban Regeneration

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PUTTING THE PEDESTRIAN FIRST Placing pedestrians at the top of the hierarchy of highway users could be that singular driver.

Manual for Streets, published March 2007, though focused on the design of residential streets, highlights the need to differentiate between the functions of a ‘street’, which may be multiple, and a ‘road’ which may primarily facilitate the movement of traffic.

Shared surface streets with minimal or no kerbs, signs or other demarcations between pedestrian and vehicular traffic can encourage low vehicle speeds and promote social interaction, while roads can be engineered to nudge drivers into travelling more slowly. The case for 20 mph speed limits is growing and recent Government guidance on speed limits has encouraged local authorities to implement the lower speeds.

The introduction of 20 mph speed limits in cities such as Bristol and Portsmouth has already reaped benefits in reductions of up to 40 per cent in pedestrian fatalities, with children being the larger number of beneficiaries of the lower statistic.

THE LESS MOBILE One in four children born today is likely to live to 100. We know our population is aging and local infrastructure has a huge impact on the mobility and quality of life of older people. Pavement maintenance is a key issue for older people and those with mobility issues who are more vulnerable to trips and falls and the consequences are more impactful, long-term and costly.

Designing our urban areas with pedestrians in mind not only benefits other road users, residents and the wider community by making neighbourhoods safer, less polluted and more pleasant, it saves lives and it saves money. Road traffic incidents cost around £15 billion a year; motor traffic congestion costs the UK about £22 billion a year.

By putting public health and road safety measures at the heart of our contemporary town planning, it is possible to deliver a better quality of life for everyone.

Even the chariot drivers. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.livingstreets.org.uk

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PROCUREMENT

BETTER PROCUREMENT, BETTER OUTCOMES

Market and social research, whether qualitative or quantitative, is the provision of systematic information to assist and guide business and policy decisions.

Within this overall framework, the specific objectives of research projects and services are quite diverse and can be designed to meet virtually any need in government; as long as the research has been conducted appropriately, by experienced and skilled research professionals.

The role of market and social research in government is crucial – for example in understanding public behaviour and motivations to manage demand and increase engagement, in making decisions on which policy path to take, how to implement it and in understanding its impact, and in knowing how to recruit and talk to those members of the public such as the harder to reach.

PROCURING RESEARCH Historically, research has been procured by government from a variety of private sector

providers – large, small, specialists and full service plus some academic and social science institutes. However, with research budgets having been tightened and research specialist departments such as COI having closed, government research procurement is undergoing a period of significant change.

The pressure for the procurement of high level intellectual capital services, such as research services to fit with procurement models used cost-effectively in the procurement of products and low-level servicing requirements, is strong. However, such approaches are highly unsuitable for the procuring of research or indeed any other highly specialist service.

Using standard ‘one size fits all’ approaches runs the risk of creating significant obstacle to SMEs participation in government research procurements; stifling innovation, restricting access to the latest thinking with the result that government may not get the right research which provides the return on investment required. An example of this is procuring research by methodology, rather than by considering the research challenge that needs to be addressed and then seeking a solution that addresses that problem in the best way. To procure research methodology is to

strip research down to its tools, rather than the more appropriate consideration of the knowledge and skill that a good researcher will bring to any research project.

CRITICAL EVIDENCE The Market Research Society (MRS) is the world’s largest research association and the UK’s professional body, trade association and regulator for market, social and opinion research. It represents 75 per cent of all the research businesses in the UK and on the issue of public sector procurement, its members – most of which are SMEs – have been calling for change. Market and social research provides evidence which is critical for effective decision making in government and it therefore needs to be carefully commissioned.

Despite this, it is not always done effectively and the MRS has been campaigning on behalf of its members for a change to the status quo.

Good procurement is also essential. It should be based on an understanding of the market dynamics from which the client is sourcing, it should reduce bureaucracy, increase transparency on both sides and encourage innovation and creativity. But this isn’t always the case and MRS has been making strides in working with government to improve procurement practices, moving away from what can sometimes be a blanket ‘one size fits all’ approach to a more flexible and fruitful alternative. E

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

Written by Jane Frost CBE, ceo, the Market Research Society

Market research provides evidence which is critical for effective decision making in government and therefore needs to be carefully commissioned, urges the Market Research Society’s Jane Frost

Market Research

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PROCUREMENT

Procurement pitfalls There are some procurement practices which are becoming more common, particularly in the context of tighter budgets and greater scrutiny of spend.

 THE RESEARCHER’S POINT OF VIEW As part of MRS’ consultation with its membership in 2012 on the issue of procurement, research agency Step Beyond surveyed members of the Independent Consultants’ Group (ICG), a 400-strong group of research professionals. The extract from the survey report, below, highlights what SMEs in the sector are calling for when it comes to public procurement and government support: “The issue from my point of view was that the client demanded the fees as a condition of remaining on the roster, which felt like an abuse of power,” said a founder of a market research agency who spoke to MRS about her experience. “The audit involved a questionnaire of over 100 questions and the auditor spent a day in our building, interviewing everyone in the company.

“The areas we were said to ‘fail’ included such minor issues as not having passport photos of employees in their personnel file, and not having a weekly record of fire alarm practice. I can see why they might need to do this for major suppliers of goods, but we had only had one small project from them – and no guarantee of more. It was the assumptive and blanket nature of the demand, not to mention the inappropriate nature of the investigation in relation to the services we supply, which was so galling.”

of research procurement. Prior to that, in 2011, MRS was involved in a pan-European research response to the EC’s Green Paper on modernising EU public procurement.

MRS is also, in partnership with the Social Research Association, leading a Research Commissioning Group to improve procurement practices in the public sector.

The Group includes procurement staff working within government as well as researchers from across the field.

From this work a picture of intelligent procurement of research has emerged.

At its heart, this is a move away from a one size fits all approach towards a flexible, inclusive, transparent and streamlined alternative which benefits both providers and commissioners. Crucially it requires commissioners to distinguish services based on intellectual capital from supplies of material products or services such as hotels and catering.

Intelligent procurement involves a reduction in cost; huge cost savings and increased return on investment are possible with the right approach and focus.

MRS Company Partners and members that adhere to the MRS Code of Conduct should be used to ensure ethical and reliable findings on which good decisions can be based.

Research should be procured by business issue, not by methodology and it should not be procured on the basis of lowest cost, but marking that includes considerations as to quality. It should be procured as a two-stage or restricted processe to reduce wasted efforts.

It should also be procured with less administration in mind; research experts should be used in the procurement process to ensure the right decisions are made and that there is no unnecessary activity for providers or commissioners.

SMEs should be supported when procuring research. The research market

Good nt me procure based be should erstanding nd on an uhe market h of t m whic o r f s c i dynam e client is th g sourcin

TOWARDS ‘INTELLIGENT PROCUREMENT’ Following the closure of the Central Office of Information in 2012, MRS has been engaging with the new Government Procurement Service (GPS) to advise on the procurement of research services. Extensive consultation with the membership of MRS was undertaken, providing recommendations on improving the efficiency and effectiveness

Market Research

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

THE ONLINE AUCTION In theory, all potential suppliers compete on a level playing field; the ultimate aim is to reduce costs for the buyer. However, the auction process can just commoditise research. It typically offers bidders little opportunity to demonstrate their specific expertise for, and understanding of, a particular brief and allows for no consideration of the personality and ‘fit’ of the client‑supplier relationship, which is key. It can also harm the buyer if some suppliers then choose to ‘play the game’ – reducing their hourly or day rates but padding out the job to produce a higher fee overall.

THE COSTS ‘DOUBLE WHAMMY’ Many standard contracts ask suppliers to pass on expenses and production items incurred at cost; the same contract can also ask suppliers for volume discounts based not just on fee but costs too.

The result is that suppliers not only bear the cost of buying in items upfront, they then lose money on them. So, many suppliers who are excellently qualified for a brief choose not to tender – reducing the pool of research agencies to choose from – and those who do find that margins are impacted. is SME‑dominated and procurement should be open to suppliers both large and small. Any barriers to SMEs should be removed such as onerous auditing processes and volume discounts on costs incurred as part of the services procured.

What’s more, standards should be ensured. The decisions made on the basis of research must be reliable and ethical if they are to be defended.

Thought should also be given to innovation.

Rosters should be flexible and open to new providers and methodologies as they evolve. Providers should also feel able to give feedback on the process to allow improvements to be made – the existing ‘Mystery Shopper Scheme’ for SMEs is a good working example of this.

GUARANTEEING GOOD RESEARCH MRS is both membership organisation and regulator for market and social research, and its Code of Conduct sets out the standards to which its members (either as qualified individual researchers or accredited E

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

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PROCUREMENT

Three golden rules

 Company Partners) must adhere. These are regularly updated to take into account methodological developments such as the use of social media, or on ethical matters such as best practice on research with children. The MRS Code of Conduct is supported by robust compliance framework including disciplinary and complaint procedures and an advisory helpline, Codeline.

The UK government recognises MRS’ role as the regulator and liaises frequently with MRS on all issues regarding research practice. Only research conducted by MRS members and Company Partners is regulated research. MRS is campaigning for all government research to use only those providers listed in the Research Buyer’s Guide which MRS produces – if research procured is going to inform policy and business decisions, it needs to be relied on, ethical and able to withstand scrutiny (internally, from the press and from the public). The MRS Research Buyer’s Guide lists MRS Company Partners and organisations with MRS members, their contact details, geographic area and research specialisms.

All organisations and individuals listed in the Research Buyer’s Guide are committed to adhering to the MRS Code of Conduct.

Only using MRS members and Company Partners ensures reliable and ethical research at all times. Procuring in this way also helps to manage risk around cost and value for money. The former COI recognised the Code

of Conduct and set out that all research procured should adhere to the Code.

FINAL THOUGHTS Professional research can best be delivered through an enlightened procurement process and there is excellent scope for the research and procurement communities to work together. MRS can advise buyers how to best commission research in line with fair business practice and in a way most likely to deliver research rooted in insight and evidence, so that good decisions can be made – on policy and in business. We will continue to work with the GPS and Research Council UK Shared Service Centre (which is taking the lead in the development of the new research framework) to ensure the voice of both SMEs and larger agencies is heard and that ‘intelligent procurement’ practices are taken up to benefit both those procuring research and those providing it. The UK is the second largest research market in the world (second only to the US) and the UK research sector is recognised as leading the way in the development of creative and innovative research approaches. The public sector should be making the most of this. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.mrs.org.uk

Research innovations from a company prepared to put its neck on the line RED C Research & Marketing Ltd is a full service market research agency, predominately servicing the markets in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK. Since its foundation 10 years ago, the company has grown to now stand as one of the largest independent market research companies based in Ireland.

RED C conducts the full range of research services, both qualitative and quantitative, for government, telecoms, banking, retail and FMCG industries.

The company uses the latest research innovations married with traditional techniques to develop research solutions that provide real insight to its customers.

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variety of different projects for government and semistate organisations, including passenger and journey tracking, business-to-business trading condition reports, customer satisfaction, key driver targeting, advertising evaluation and tracking, segmentation, policy review analysis and political polling.

Projects are conducted using a variety of approaches: including by phone from its call centre in Dundalk, face-to-face field force across Ireland and Northern Ireland, online and by post.

Have a specific and well-considered brief for potential suppliers. The aim should be to evaluate which suppliers have relevant experience, respond well to the brief’s requirements, offer value for money, will demonstrate return on investment and can be trusted.

Take a tailored approach as the skills set for each brief can be very different – from data analytics to psychological insight.

Market Research

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

Develop a partnership. Ultimately, a client is buying intellectual capital, and considerable innovation; this needs a trusted partner ethos rather than a more distant buyer/ supplier relationship. A good rapport offers honesty and integrity, and creates the right environment for the generation of creative and innovative solutions for clients.

Focus on quality. While upfront cost will always be important, so too is the quality of the research and insights produced, and the eventual return on investment brought by decisions made on the basis of sound evidence.

Get to the heart of your customer base with Tpoll Tpoll is a full service research agency specialising in online customer communities, managing them on behalf of clients to offer a direct connection with customers, facilitating conversations, collecting survey data and conducting online qualitative research. The communities are managed by Tpoll’s research team who get to the heart of your insight requirements. The company designs and implements research programmes and works closely with clients to translate the results into action.

Tpoll’s philosophy is to be an effective extension of your team and create a long-term partnership that gives you all the benefits of working

with highly experienced research professionals.

Underpinning Tpoll’s communities is bespoke software developed in-house over the last 12 years by a team of IT experts.

Designed for researchers, the software can host customer communities, moderated discussion forums, interactive questionnaires and longitudinal journey‑tracking studies to provide a single “customer view”.

Tpoll links with a client’s customer database to combine the insight with purchasing and behavioural data.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 0870 1611850 mark@tpoll.com

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 00353 1 818 6316 www.redcresearch.ie info@redcresearch.ie

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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a better way forward

The UK’s management consultancy firms can prove extremely valuable in the government’s aim to transform departments, reduce costs and improve services. Alan Leaman, chief executive of the Management Consultancies Association, examines the value of the new buying framework ConsultancyONE As I write, the Government Procurement Service is putting the final touches to its new ConsultancyONE framework, the list of suppliers who it has qualified to provide consulting services to central government and every other part of the public sector that wants to use it. When it goes live, this framework is set to become the single route through which government will purchase these services.

This is an important moment. It follows a long period after the 2010 general election in which ministers have clamped down on departmental spending on consultancy, imposing tight controls and promoting the argument that their Labour predecessors were careless buyers. That, in turn, followed a number of critical reports from the NAO which questioned the ability of public sector clients to evaluate the value that they received from consultancy.

BUYING WITH CONFIDENCE Thankfully, this story should be about to improve. More people in government can see that they need access to the input and expertise that is provided by the UK’s outstanding management consulting firms. Now, I hope and believe, they have the means of buying it that gives them the confidence that they will be tested on their business case and can generate best possible value for taxpayers.

Independent research for the MCA found that, on average, clients see immediate value from consulting projects worth around six times the fees that they pay. The public sector can easily achieve these levels of return on its investments. ConsultancyONE, by opening up public sector business to more quality consulting firms, including smaller specialist firms, and by requiring improved buying and the evaluation of results, can

ensure that it does so. Forthcoming industrywide data from the MCA suggests that this corner may have been turned already.

After two years of dramatic falls in public sector spending on consulting services, there has been a levelling off and, even, some increases in particular areas.

This is not surprising. Spending on consulting often drops when a new government is elected since it is, at that point, concentrating on developing policy and legislation.

Consulting often comes into its own when policy has to be turned into action, and major reforms are being implemented.

The impact has been exaggerated this time, of course, by the scale of the deficit and the new government’s determination to reduce it.

Equally, however, ministers and senior officials increasingly see that there are significant risks to them if they are not open to the use of consulting – and that opportunities may be missed if they are not prepared to use ConsultancyONE to access our industry.

RISKY BUSINESS One example of the risks is the recent West Coast Mainline franchise fiasco, where a decision was taken early on not to engage outside assistance. As the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons recently concluded: “The government’s moratorium on using consultants combined with the Department’s over-optimistic view of its own capacity to undertake financial analysis were significant contributory factors in the failure of this project.”

In others areas, it is the scale and ambition of government reforms that will require consulting support and input. One effect of the recent changes to the NHS, for instance, has been to increase the demand for consultancies which can help commissioning groups to

CASE STUDY The following case study with West Midlands Police shows how the intelligent use of consulting services can save money for taxpayers, while also improving services for the citizen. Multiply these many times over and consulting can provide the government with the transformation in organisation and quality of services that they are often looking for, while also reducing the deficit in the public finances.

The government’s 2010 spending review called for £134 million in budget cuts; a huge challenge given that results in the West Midlands had been declining, with rising crime and falling detection levels.

The joint KPMG/client team completely changed the structure, operational processes and roles of officers, creating smaller, more specialised teams to focus on emergency response, crime investigation, community engagement and custody.

Officers and staff moved to new shift patterns and trained in new processes and IT systems – all in just 24 weeks.

This seismic shift took place in a ‘live’ policing environment where failure could have put lives at risk; therefore officer commitment was critical. By spending time on the beat and observing their challenges, KPMG’s team won the trust of officers.

The organisational transformation busted the prevailing myth that you can’t cut costs and improve results. Despite officer numbers being reduced by 900, crime is down by a staggering 13 per cent, which is more than double the national average. Detection rates are back on the rise and customer satisfaction in some areas is up from 61 per cent to 98 per cent. L

Written by Alan Leaman, chief executive, the Management Consultancies Association (MCA)

BUYING-IN SKILLS AND EXPERTISE

prepare and carry out their role, support hospitals which need to become more efficient and effective for patients, or improve the health sector’s use of IT and other technology.

These are all essential tasks, and the future of our NHS depends on them being carried out to a high standard. Fortunately, there are many management consultancies in the UK which have an in-depth understanding of the issues and of how to work with the staff of the NHS to get the best results for patients and taxpayers.

In a period of public sector austerity and public sector reform, the challenges for government are great. Ministers have been tasked with transforming their departments, boosting productivity, reducing costs and improving services.

The UK’s management consultancy firms are ready and able to help them to do this. They know, more than ever, that they must deliver high quality and high value services. They want to contribute to the wider, public good. ConsultancyONE can help ensure that they are able to do so.

Management Consultancy

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

FURTHER INFORMATION www.mca.org.uk

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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GOVERNMENT PREPARES A ROBUST CASE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURES

Energy

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

Alan Aldridge, executive director of the Energy Services and Technology Association (ESTA) takes a look at the arguments for the government’s high-profile case regarding energy efficiency and suggests some practical steps to realising much-needed savings and optimising consumption While the government is pushing ahead with its new nuclear strategy, it does seem to have accepted that it is not possible to just build its way out of the country’s energy supply problems. Energy, whether from conventional fossil fuels, nuclear stations or renewable sources, is becoming ever more expensive.

And building the power stations that provide the electricity the country runs on is also a very long and expensive process.

Successive governments have paid lip service to the idea that investing in energy efficiency is less costly than building new supply, but for decades reducing energy consumption through energy management gained less traction than the lure of large ticket construction projects.

Yet something now seems to have changed. And there can be no more powerful symbol of the change in approach than the presence of the Prime Minister at the launch of the government’s

energy efficiency mission, held earlier this year at the prestigious central London venue of the Royal Society.

COHERENT STRATEGY At the mission launch, prime minister David Cameron referred to a range of policies and programmes to encourage energy efficiency and reward consumers, whether domestic, business or public sector, that adopt energy efficiency technologies and reduce consumption. But Cameron acknowledged the need to join them all up into “one coherent strategy to make Britain the most energy efficient country in Europe”.

That is a big challenge, but the energy supply companies warned once again in late March that there is a “very real risk” that the lights could go out. Energy regulator Ofgem has also warned of the likelihood of supply shortages. Now it takes some time to plan and build new power stations so the only way to minimise the risk of blackouts in the short

Energy s ie compan re is e warn th al risk’ re a ‘very ights could l that thet. Reducing go ou tion would p consum the risk of reduce ckouts bla

term is to reduce consumption, for example to use energy as efficiently as possible.

ENERGY PRICE SHOCKS The prime minister focused on the economic benefits of pursuing energy efficiency.

He noted that it is “the businesses that are best insulated from energy price shocks who will be the most successful, it is the consumers who are the least vulnerable to energy prices whose household bills will be the lowest and who can be the most confident about their future”.

Cameron added that the countries that prioritise green energy will secure the biggest share of jobs and growth in a global low-carbon sector set to be worth $4 trillion by 2015.

REFORM PROCESS Also at the launch event, energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey referred to his determination that energy efficiency should be explicitly recognised in the energy market reform process currently underway. Davey argued that energy efficiency should always be the “first policy call of choice when it is the cheapest option”. It is very likely that late amendments will be E

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Energy

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

Neglecting a review of your company’s oil heating installation could prove to be a false economy The date of your company’s next oil heating installation review is something all facilities managers should know, but many don’t have adequate plans in place.

With budgets tight, this is an area that is often neglected but, with fuel prices rising, it is important to keep your heating system running as efficiently as possible. There are also the dangers and costs associated with equipment failures to consider.

These can range from contamination following leaks to the risks associated with carbon monoxide poisoning. Neglecting your oil heating assets is a false economy.

In early 2012, in partnership with local authority building control, OFTEC launched a new consultancy service with an aim of providing independent on-site inspection and advice for customers whose requirements fall outside the range of services normally provided by heating installation and servicing companies.

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house technical team, who have an unrivalled knowledge of oil heating. OFTEC oversees standards across the industry so the advice it offers is guaranteed to be impartial.

Its inspections check compliance with building regulations and other industry codes of practice. This can be valuable in a range of situations, such as when reviewing existing installations or helping to resolve disputes between owner and contractor.

The company also helps you plan upgrades

OFTEC Consultancy Services Impartial and independent assessment of oil-fired heating and cooking installations: • On-site inspections of oil-fired installations to ensure compliance with Building Regulations and industry codes of practice • Evaluation service to help you make high quality, cost effective system upgrades • Flexible service tailored to your particular needs and requirements • Detailed, illustrated inspection reports with findings and recommendations • Delivered in partnership with LABC • All inspections carried out by OFTEC’s experienced in-house technical team • Managed and delivered by OFTEC – the authoritative and impartial voice of the oil heating and cooking industry.

As a not-for-profit organisation OFTEC offers the impartial and independent inspection service that our customers demand. Our technical team have all the knowledge and expertise you need to review and manage you oil-fired cooking and heating systems.

Contact OFTEC today to discuss your requirements: T: 0845 65 85 080 E: enquiries@oftec.org W: www.oftec.org

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GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

that are fully compliant with the relevant legislation. Following an on-site inspection or simple table-top study, all clients receive a detailed, illustrated report, tailored to their needs.

OFTEC has helped many clients review existing installations, often detecting potential problems caused by poor system design or maintenance before they happen. It has also investigated after problems occurred, advising on the cause and checking the condition of other assets, sometimes across a number of sites. Advice is always geared towards helping clients develop effective strategies for the future.

Many managers find oil heating continues to provide the high levels of reliability they need. Often, upgrading an existing system can dramatically improve its efficiency and at much lower cost than making wholesale changes. OFTEC can provide advice when you are developing your plans and assist in evaluating tenders to ensure the work will achieve the desired return on your investment.

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ENERGY SAVINGS  added to the energy bill to incorporate and rebalance towards demand side issues.

The big question is how to get individuals, as well as businesses and public sector organisations, to become more energy efficient. And perhaps the Prime Minister has identified a key part of the problem.

There are a number of programmes that promote energy efficiency as well as several schemes, like the carbon reduction commitment energy efficiency scheme that penalise those who are wasteful. But there needs to be an overarching appreciation that all of these exist to make the UK a place where resources are used efficiently and environmental impact is kept to a minimum.

It should be part of every organisation’s operational strategy to optimise energy consumption by managing it wisely. And there are now a number of tools available to demonstrate that this is being done. As the public sector has a reporting responsibility to central government on energy usage – as well as a need to use all its resources as effectively as possible in a period of financial austerity – such tools will become increasingly important.

With the advent of the international energy management standard ISO 50001, there is now a globally recognised framework for

Energy

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

Rigorous evaluation enables worthwhile projects to be separated out from those which are more speculative, it also helps identify why projects have failed. Project proposals to rigorously assess performance are more likely to attract funding addressing this task within organisations of all sizes and functions. The new standard was developed from the established ISO 9000, a family of standards which deals with quality assurance, and ISO 14001, which deals with environmental management systems.

Members of ESTA were closely involved with the development of ISO 50001 so that it represents the needs and insights of users.

A standardised framework makes it much easier for others in the organisation to see and comprehend what is being done in terms of effectively managing this increasingly expensive part of the operational budget. Reporting is made more transparent while a readily accessible framework means that it is easier to engage other departments and staff in implementing efficiency programmes.

SCALE OF SAVINGS One of the complaints often made by auditing bodies and grant-making bodies, for that matter, is that the scale of savings made through energy management programmes is often very difficult to quantify or verify.

Indeed, the government’s energy strategy recognises as one of the main barriers to improved energy efficiency a lack of trust in the outcomes of projects. Methodology may not be very robust and the data not complete. In such cases, these bodies have difficulty validating the estimates and effectiveness of such programmes.

So, in parallel with its support for the operational rigour of ISO 50001, ESTA has been actively promoting the use of measurement and verification techniques.

Working with the international authority E

Environmental and Energy Awards The annual Environmental and Energy Awards recognise and celebrate excellence, innovation and best practice within the energy industry and serve as a tribute to professionalism and commitment.

The 2013 event, held in Birmingham, included the category ESTA Energy Manager of the Year. This was won by Wendi Wheeler of Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council for demonstrating personal vision and leadership to reach substantial energy savings.

Also, honoured with an award was professor Martin Fry for Outstanding Contribution to the Energy Industry. He has been in the energy management consultancy business since the 1980s, and played a leading role in the development of the energy efficiency accreditation scheme, now known as the Carbon Trust Standard.

Martin now plays a major role in international energy management standards, chairing committees for the British Standards Institution.

As chairman, Martin helped establish ESTA as a major force in the development of energy management and energy services.

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Energy

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

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Energy usage is clearer with the benefit of AMR Advantages can be gained by monitoring energy consumption using automatic meter reading (AMR). The most obvious being accurate billings based on actual reads, eliminating estimates.

Daily meter readings and consumption profiles allow understanding and control of usage and energy bills.

Many go about their business without thinking of the impact actions may have on the energy consumed.

Organisations may not be aware of how much gas is being consumed overnight, during weekends and holiday periods when premises are unoccupied. Profile data from meter readings allows managers to understand what is happening in buildings every day.

Often substantial reductions are obtained from simple actions, such as correctly setting timer controls for the season, but it all starts with knowledge of the consumption throughout the day.

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GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

ELC 54755

ENERGY SAVINGS  on measurement and verification Efficiency Valuation Organisation (EVO), ESTA has organised a programme of professional training and keeps a register of those who have achieved the certified measurement and verification professional (CMVP) qualification in the UK. The techniques are based on the globally recognised international performance measurement and verification protocol (IPMVP), developed by the US Department of Energy to promote transparency, completeness and objectivity and is available through the EVO. Being able to demonstrate the savings achieved to an agreed external standard may be especially important where there are contractual implications but this is important in other contexts, too. Rigorous evaluation enables worthwhile projects to be separated out from those which are more speculative. It also helps to identify why projects have failed or have not achieved the results predicted.

In addition, those project proposals which include undertakings to rigorously assess performance are more likely to attract funding.

ROBUST PROCEDURES IPMVP is already used as the basis for energy service company contracts in the Greater London Authority’s successful RE:FIT framework and is set to be rolled out nationally as part

Energy

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

Arnie’s all for energy efficiency Following the launch of the government’s energy efficiency schemes, a video message of support was shown from Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former governor of California, in which he congratulated the UK Government on its leadership in the field of energy efficiency and he presented David Cameron to the stage.

Schwarzenegger said: “I want to congratulate Greg Barker and prime minister David Cameron for their great leadership and for announcing this energy efficiency strategy. In

of the strategy of the government’s energy efficiency deployment office.

The introduction of robust procedures for energy management, both in operational frameworks and performance accounting, offers great opportunities to develop the case for energy efficiency within an organisation.

Verifiable savings and transparent frameworks for managing energy provide an evidence base for further programmes and for more resources. These will help

California we are 40 per cent more energy efficient than the rest of the United States because we have added a strategy and a plan and a vision and we went after it relentlessly. And that’s what of course they’re now going to do through this strategy.”

prove what the energy management community already knows, that energy efficiency makes economic and environmental sense – and now we can prove it. L FURTHER INFORMATION ESTA represents over 100 major providers of energy management equipment and services across the UK: www.esta.org.uk For more details of CMVP training, visit www.esta.org.uk/training

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Energy

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

Camel Solar’s collectors for low-carbon heating and hot water generation

Reduce energy costs and consumption through various bespoke solutions

Solar power is fast becoming a viable alternative to traditional methods of energy generation.

Camel Solar is a manufacturer of solar thermal panels (collectors) that generate heat directly from the Sun’s energy.

The company’s solar thermal systems are capable of providing alternative heat generation for many given applications, with minimal operating and maintenance costs.

Capital investment can be recovered over a relatively short period of time and, with added incentives available to domestic and commercial consumers, this proven technology becomes increasingly attractive.

Camel Solar has developed some of the most efficient thermal collectors available using advanced materials and manufacturing techniques. Its products come fully certified and are listed on the Energy Technology List, enabling

Independent consultancy energyTEAM was established in 1976 to help organisations manage energy expenditure.

Over the years the company has developed a range of services to help its clients with all aspects of their energy needs. energyTEAM offer a variety of energy procurement options dependent on their client’s needs and appetite for risk.

These range from fixed price arrangements to risk-managed and portfolio solutions.

With the vast majority of clients having no formal contract with energyTEAM, its ability to deliver value is demonstrated through the longevity of its working relationships, with some clients working alongside them for approaching 20 years.

Increasingly, new energy legislation is introduced by the government to force companies to reduce their carbon footprint. energyTEAM has the

enhanced capital allowances for UK businesses looking to modernise their existing heating and hot water systems.

In addition to competitive prices, Camel Solar offers full system design advice, equipment supply and installation services.

Housing projects, universities, schools, offices, hospitals, swimming pools and industry can benefit from renewable heat generation, reduced energy bills and lower carbon emissions.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01342 310400 www.camel-solar.com lucy@camel-solar.com

experience and knowledge to help organisations meet the requirements of current and new energy legislation including regulations set out in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.

Reducing energy costs and consumption is a key goal for many organisations, and energyTEAM provides the support needed to implement lasting carbon-reduction strategies delivered through bespoke energy solutions from qualified environmental professionals.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01444 460500 info@energyteam.co.uk www.energyteam.co.uk

Kitchen efficiency and Slash costs with Energy time are improved with Metering Technology’s smart monitoring systems Food Industry Technical The basic principle of automatic monitoring and targeting (aM&T) is to monitor energy and water consumption against a target based on variables that determine energy demand and look for mismatches. The aim is to detect excess consumption so that expenditure and emissions may be minimised.

The benefits of aM&T include: utility cost reduction, environmental pollutant monitoring and data to make informed utility management decisions.

Energy Metering Technology, the UK’s pathfinders in this field, has released the 4th generation telemetry product DATABIRD4 for multi-utility monitoring.

DATABIRD4 provides flexibility, effectiveness and reliability.

DYNAMAT2050 meter data analyses software has also recently been launched.

This year has been cold: degree days are up by 20 per cent with unit price increases, so energy bills could be up by 40 per cent.

28

The application of aM&T would mitigate the consumption, with average savings of 20 per cent generally found.

Leicester City Council (LCC), Energy Metering Technology’s customer since 1999, persuades small and medium enterprises (SME) to buy into its aM&T-based energy bureau scheme, which has led to savings across the board.

SME Label Apeel achieved savings of 54 per cent. LCC spoke at the Energy Services and Technology Association’s aM&T Conference on this saving.

FOR MORE INFORMATION www.energymeteringtechnology.com

GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

Food Industry Technical leads in the area of kitchen energy management control, combining airflow measurement, data logging through remote access, energy monitoring and energy control.

By using intelligent controls and sensors to detect when cooking activity is taking place, the energy used is programmed to reflect the amount of activity.

Using Food Industry Technical’s innovative systems, it is able to offer a number of solutions to its customers, enabling them to improve efficiency of their kitchen, monitor and meter their energy usage, reduce equipment failure, help them meet their environmental targets and improve profitability.

Upon implementation, fans will run at 30-50 per cent for the majority of the time.

The unique and patented Cheetah system has been installed in over 1,800 areas, throughout the UK and Europe.

Food Industry Technical works in all areas of commercial catering, with clients including Whitbread, Mitchells & Butlers, JD Wetherspoon and Tesco.

With energy prices changing, the environmental lobby becoming more vocal and sustainability of more importance, the company’s expertise, advice and products help its customers achieve their Corporate Social Responsibility goals and reduce operating costs.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01189 739310 emma.brooks@ foodindustrytechnical.com www.foodindustrytechnical.com

SOLAR POWER

Energy

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT FOR THE SOLAR INDUSTRY Once the preserve of the “green” brigade, the use of solar panels used to be seen as an eccentric technology. However, this form of energy generation is quietly becoming mainstream Solar is booming in the UK, as installation costs fall and the government targets 22GW of capacity by 2020, equivalent to one-third of the nation’s peak demand. There are big opportunities for cash-strapped government services, according to Robert Goss, UK managing director of Conergy, Europe’s biggest supplier to large solar projects, which is also on Department of Energy & Climate Change’s (DECC) solar strategy working group.

In an era of austerity, anything that can help increase revenues, cut costs or maximise the potential of existing assets, will tend to get the ear of the financial director. Solar can do all three. Leading local authorities have been experimenting with rooftop installations on council buildings, schools and swimming pools, and the benefits have been obvious.

With 500MW installed in the first quarter of this year, more than double last year’s total, the trend is towards larger projects.

CLEAN, FREE ELECTRICITY A few years ago, panels were an eccentric technology, the preserve of “green” enthusiasts. Since 2010 there have, however, been over 400,000 installations, mainly on private homes. Solar is quietly going mainstream. The government will shortly announce its first solar strategy, targeting 22GW of capacity by 2020, about onethird of the country’s peak demand. This is no pipe dream: last year in Germany, which is no sunnier than the UK, solar produced 22GW of electricity several times, equivalent to 20 nuclear power stations.

Producing clean, free electricity on your doorstep has an undeniable logic to it, and is one reason 84 per cent of UK residents support the technology, according to a recent survey by DECC. High costs of installation were the principle barrier to deployment.

An 80 per cent fall in the cost of panels over the last five years and installers gaining in experience and efficiency has seen costs fall much faster than predicted.

Fund managers, such as Aviva Investors and Octopus Investments, are now ploughing tens of millions into solar projects across the country, on both rooftops and free-field sites.

PLANNING APPROVAL While these investments have predominantly been focused on private land and property, growing awareness of the bankability of solar is opening up opportunities for

government services as well. Peterborough City Council is currently developing a 83MW solar park, for example, which would produce 100 million pounds a year, supplying enough energy to power the entire city.

British solar farms are typically much smaller, ranging from 1MW across five acres, to the more usual 40-acre 5MW site, which produces enough electricity to power 1,500 homes.

Siting them on low-grade agricultural land or brownfield sites can help with planning approval, and construction can take as little as six weeks with experienced contractors.

GENERATING YIELD Solar farms are primarily about generating yield and financial returns. The electricity is typically sold to the grid on long-term power purchase agreements, while additional revenues are available from selling government-mandated renewable obligation certificates to utilities.

The quality of the equipment is important, as are bankable warranties to secure finance.

The renewables obligation certificate scheme will be unchanged until 2016, providing much-needed visibility for larger projects.

With rooftop installations, the focus shifts towards combating rapidly rising energy bills, which are continually adding to the pressure on stretched government budgets. Rather than exporting energy to the grid, owners of solar systems are incentivised to use the energy themselves.

SELF-SUFFICIENCY With electricity prices of, for example, 12p per kilowatt, property owners earn 60 per cent less for selling solar-generated energy to the grid than if it is used on-site.

The greater the proportion a building’s

peak power demand can be supplied with free solar energy, the greater the savings.

Conergy calls this increasing a building’s autarky or self-sufficiency. There are already many examples in the private sector. Bentley Motors recently installed a 20,000-panel, 5MW system on the angled, south-facing roofs of its factory in Crewe, which will save 2,500 tonnes of carbon emissions a year and increase the factory’s autarky to 40 per cent. This means 40 per cent of Bentley’s energy requirements will be self-generated.

Supermarkets, such as Sainsbury’s, and food suppliers, like J Saul, which both use substantial amounts of electricity for refrigeration, have also installed large systems.

New mounting systems mean most roofs have a dedicated solution. An innovative system was used on the flat roofs of Nationwide Building Society’s headquarters in Swindon, which are unable to take heavy loads.

GREATER INDEPENDENCE The drive towards greater autarky will only increase. Solar storage units are already available in Germany, allowing solar energy to be used at night. Together with smart meters and intelligent appliances, new technology is expected to increase potential autarky to 60-70 per cent in the coming years, heralding even greater independence from rising energy prices.

Since solar panels are designed to last at least 20 years, it pays to think ahead. In these straitened times, government services should be asking some straightforward questions: how much roofspace do we have? And how much of our land lies currently unproductive?

FOR MORE INFORMATION www.conergyuk.co.uk

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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CIH HOUSING 2013

Housing

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

GETTING READY FOR BIG CHANGES IN THE HOUSING SECTOR 2013 is set to be a big year in housing. The potential impact of Welfare Reform, direct payment of housing benefit, Local Authority self-financing and stimulus schemes for new build have been talked about for some time, but over the next 12 months we will see these big changes roll out and change the housing sector in some fundamental ways. From the 25-27 June, Manchester Central will open its doors to more than 7,600 professionals for the biggest event in the UK’s housing calendar.

After a successful move from Harrogate to Manchester in 2012, the team behind the CIH Housing have spent the last year recreating the exhibition and visitor experience to produce an event that is a must for anyone involved in housing.

The CIH Housing Conference will address key issues facing the sector, and aim to deliver thought-provoking, practical and controversial debate, the latest thinking and pratical solutions to help housing professionals adapt to the changes ahead.

Experts due to take to the stage include Housing Minister Mark Prisk, Lord David Freud, Lord Michael Heseltine, TCPA chief executive Kate Henderson, former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and many more.

PREDICTING THE FUTURE The range of keynotes, interactive panel discussions and debates will aim to predict the future and enable delegates to pick up a wealth of strategic ideas. The conference will focus on four main themes; Growth and Markets will help to deliver a better understanding of the economic operating environment, current trends and new markets.

Competition and Dynamism will discuss and debate what a healthy competitive provider looks like and the different funding methods, business models and range of products and services on offer.

With welfare reform, localism and government cuts changing the relationship between landlord and tenant, the Social Impact sessions will explore the way housing professionals currently work and how we can maximise benefit to the communities we work in. The fourth theme, People, will focus on how housing can drive up professional standards, ambitions and skills further with a focus on the real issues that are affecting the industry on the ground right now. These themes have been designed to allow delegates to take away strategies and knowledge that can be applied in their own organisations.

Conference director Penny Gruber said:

Expertse to tak due to include e the stag inister Mark Authorities, ALMOs, providers and M d, partners as well as leaders from Housing rd David Freu e the worlds of politics, finance, o n business and journalism will Prisk, L ichael Heselti on Manchester Central Lord M ormer deputy forconverge three days of networking, f . and escott sourcing and learning. Over 300 of r P n h o PM J the industry’s key suppliers will be

“In this unprecedented time of change for the sector, with all of the associated risks and opportunities this change affords, we know you want speakers who don’t prevaricate, pull punches or dodge the question.

“You want interaction and challenge, and to take away tangible and practical ideas and solutions that can be put to work in your organisation, and that’s what we believe the speakers at Housing 2013 will deliver with bells on.”

Professionals from Housing Associations, Local

present, including Trowers and Hamlins, Winckworth Sherwood, Jones Lang LaSalle, Mears, Keepmoat, Lovell, Eon, Npower, British Gas, Gentoo, Wheatley Group, Capita, Civica, Orchard, Savills and Willmott Dixon as they showcase the latest products and services.

BRINGING THE HOUSING WORLD TOGETHER Visitors will get the chance to learn from the experiences of others in three E

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR 08:50 LOCAL Page AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk CDP ADVERT 16/04/2013 1

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New Charter Housing Trust Group is a top employer after landing tenth place in the 2013 Sunday Times 100 Best Not-For-Profit Companies to Work For survey, as voted by colleagues.

Here at New Charter you’ll always have our full support to go the extra mile for yourself and the community. If you’d like the opportunity to work for an organisation that truly values the benefits of a diverse workforce, log onto www.newcharter.co.uk

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Flexibile Solutions for Complex Problems

We’re exhibiting at this year’s Chartered Institute of Housing Exhibition, at Manchester Central on 7th & 8th May.

Come visit us on stand C34 to find out how we can help you improve the energy efficiency of your housing stock.

0800 56 44 56 enquiries@sigenergy.co.uk www.sigenergy.co.uk

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GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

Plastil Gates and Fences PVC gates and fencing are gaining ground... ...and are becoming increasingly popular with specifiers for residential and commercial projects. Plastil offer products to suit all tastes and budgets: • Fully-recyclable, with recycled variants available • Bespoke or standard • Maintenance free; no rot, no painting • Durable and hardwearing • Available in a wide range of styles and colours

For more information, please contact us on: (01952) 292852 info@plastil.co.uk www.gateandfence.co.uk or www.plastil.co.uk

CIH HOUSING 2013

Housing

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

 streams of free educational seminars at the Ideas Exchange. Best-practice sessions will focus on issues such as resident engagement, housing management, asset management, sustainability and fire safety.

Exhibition features will centre on the material issues facing the housing world. The Green Room will look at sustainability, energy efficiency, fuel poverty and place-making; the Community Initiatives Café will showcase some of the best housing sector partnerships.

New for 2013, the Hub will offer professional advice to help delegates adapt and innovate at the ever-increasing pace of the housing sector.

PROCUREMENT FOR HOUSING Co-located with CIH-Housing, PfH Live returns this year and will feature up to 100 suppliers. A supplier showcase area where exhibitors will discuss frameworks and innovations is a new additipon this year.

PfH Live will feature masterclass seminars delivered by procurement experts and leading consultants, focusing on the leading role procurement must play within key agendas, such as driving commercialisation and performance; sustainable homes; implications of universal credit and direct payment; training and jobs for tenants; legislation, legal challenge and fraud. All of which are free for PfH and CIH Housing visitors. A focus on fire safety will see live demonstrations of the latest technology.

As the only national procurement organisation dedicated to the needs of the social housing sector, PfH is an essential business tool for social landlords. The consortium generates substantial savings by harnessing the collective purchasing power of housing organisations. By reducing procurement costs, organisations can reinvest resources in front-line services, decent homes and vibrant neighbourhoods.

PfH is currently delivering significant savings for housing organisations right across the UK. Amid the array of purchasing consortia promising the sector big results E

PfH Live will feature masterclass seminars delivered by procurement experts and leading consultants, focusing on the leading role procurement must play within key agendas.

CIH welcomes new legislation The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has welcomed the introduction of the Care Bill and Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill outlined in the Queen’s Speech on May 8.

CIH submitted written and oral evidence that helped shape the Bills, announced as part of this year’s legislative programme.

Gavin Smart, director of policy and practice at CIH, said: “We worked very closely with the government to ensure that housing had a voice in the creation of the Bills on care and anti-social behaviour.

The Bills will simplify complicated structures and will help housing professionals to focus on prevention and effective resolution of social problems.”

The Immigration Bill was also announced. Smart said: “We recognise the public concern about immigration but we do not want to see a complicated system around restricted access to housing being introduced because it risks limiting mobility and flexibility, and increasing bureaucracy for prospective tenants, landlords and local councils.”

Advance your professional career and skills with CEM Studying by supported distance learning with The College of Estate Management (CEM) means you can work and study anywhere in the world, gaining excellent qualifications, developing practical skills and building up your CV. CEM has played a key role in the property world for more than 90 years, and it provides a rich interactive learning experience through a state-of-theart virtual learning environment. This includes tutor contact, feedback from mentors, discussion forums and support.

Most available courses are accredited by a range of professional bodies,

including the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and/or the Chartered Institute of Builders.

CEM offers a range of diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate courses, designed for professionals by professionals for the property and construction industries.

The College also offers professional development courses and tailormade corporate training solutions.

An international institution, reflecting a global industry, CEM gives you the

opportunity to gain the skills you need, to succeed in the career you want.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 0800 019 9697 www.cem.ac.uk

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Housing

34

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

Save time and money on print procurement with CDP Print Management

New Charter remains committed to supporting its diverse workforce

If you want to save time and money on your print procurement, CDP Print Management recently saved one of its clients 34 per cent.

Print audit is the simple process that highlights areas of savings. Providing an unbiased analysis on areas of clients’ business that use or purchase print. If you want “print” to cost you more, that’s your business.

If you want “print” to cost you less that’s the business of CDP Print Management.

Acorn, CDP’s online print management system, streamlines procurement and reduces time and effort when ordering.

With over 360,000 registered print buyers and in excess of 550,000 product lines, the Acorn web ordering system has proven itself to be flexible in exceeding the needs of today’s market.

Easy post is an office mail service that is as easy to use as sending an email.

New Charter Housing Trust Group was awarded tenth place in the Sunday Times 100 Best Not-for-Profit Organisations to Work for 2013 survey.

New Charter employs more than 900 people and is proud to be recognised as an “extraordinary” place to work, and a three-star company for employee engagement.

The company formed in 2000 as the new landlord to own and manage homes transferred from Tameside council in Greater Manchester. New Charter is one of the region’s largest registered providers of social housing, owning around 18,600 homes.

It was the first organisation to take part in the Chartered Institute of Housing’s Positive Action for Disability programme as a way of demonstrating its commitment to supporting the careers of people with a disability.

The first trainee was employed in 2009 as a trainee debt

If your organisation still produces mailings by hand; if it has a mailing room and franking machine lying idle for 80 per cent of the time; allows staff to process their letter mail instead of focusing on core business, and if your organisation still pays full price for its postage, these are all areas in which easy post, the office mail service from CDP Print Management comes into its own.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 0151 724 7000 info@cdp.co.uk www.cdp.co.uk

advisor and has since been promoted to debt advice manager. Two more trainees under the disability programme are gaining work experience within housing management, customer experience and property development.

New Charter’s mission of “great homes, great neighbourhoods and great people” needs individuals with the right mix of skills and attitude to make a difference for its customers.

The group values the benefits of a diverse workforce and will, wherever possible, gives full support to its employees.

FOR MORE INFORMATION www.newcharter.co.uk

Make an entrance with maintenance-free gates, fencing and store doors

All-round energy solutions from part of Europe’s leading specialist suppliers

In recent years, an opportunity has appeared on the market for a product to replace wooden gates, fencing and store doors.

Many companies have investigated the benefits of composite versions, but each has found that the cost implication outweighs the benefits.

Now, the innovative ideas of Telford-based company Plastil (UK) Ltd has developed a range of uPVC products that have proven to be of interest.

These are being used by an increasing number of housing associations and local authorities.

In a recent study, it would be expected to have to repaint a regular wooden store door four times, at a typical cost of £183.52, over a ten-year period.

However, using Plastil’s uPVC version, this incurs no cost at all; so the lack of in-life costs makes this an appealing concept.

Plastil’s portfolio of products

SIG Energy Management provides whole-house energy solutions to the new-build and retrofit markets.

An installer of energy efficiency and micro-renewables products, it provides solutions in five core product ranges: cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, solid wall insulation, renewables and heating.

The business is part of the FTSE 250-listed SIG PLC group of companies: a specialist supplier to the construction and industrial markets.

SIG Energy Management works with a diverse range of businesses and organisations, and its main customer base is major housebuilders and large social housing providers, including housing associations and local authorities.

For residential refurbishment projects, SIG Energy Management is part of the InSight Programme: a start-to-finish solution that uses thermal imaging and

extends from a utility store door, through all types of fencing styles, to side-entry gates and an outdoor store, in recycled or recyclable uPVC, in a range of finishes to suit all tastes and budgets.

And each product is designed and built to the customer’s own specification, with guaranteed workmanship and durability: an ideal way to reduce ongoing maintenance costs.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01952 292 852 info@plastil.co.uk www.gateandfence.co.uk www.plastil.co.uk

GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

computer modelling to assess the energy efficiency requirements of a property. The results are then used to inform the selection and installation of the most appropriate and cost-effective measures.

SIG Energy Management is an accredited Green Deal assessor and installer, and SIG PLC is a registered Green Deal provider, offering a full-service solution for private and commercial customers looking to take advantage of the government’s flagship Green Deal and ECO schemes.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 020 8532 0055 www.sigenergy.co.uk

CIH HOUSING 2013  ‘in the future’, PfH has been getting its head down and achieving those results today. We’re determined to sustain and better these efficiencies in the future.

NETWORKING Networking is an integral part of CIH Housing with over 30 fringe activities held across the three days. These take place both throughout conference and outside the main event hours, providing further networking into the night.

Whether you join fellow attendees at the Event Drinks on Tuesday 25 June for a catch up in an informal environment, or decide to celebrate the heroes of the housing world at the Welcome to Manchester Dinner before the event begins, there is something to suit everyone’s taste at CIH Housing this June.

“Last year, the first CIH annual housing conference and exhibition in Manchester was a huge success – and I’m excited that this year will be packed with more debate, innovation, ideas and most importantly, solutions.”

Grainia Long, chief executive, CIH. FURTHER INFORMATION To find out more about what’s on offer at this year’s CIH Housing Conference and Exhibition, and to register for the event, visit www.cihhousing.com

Housing

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

CIH Housing - event information

Dates: Location:

25th – 27th June 2013 Manchester Central, Windmill Street, Manchester, M2 3GX

OPENING HOURS Tuesday 25th June Wednesday 26th June Thursday 27th June

9.00am – 5.30pm 9.00am – 5.30pm 9.00am – 4.00pm

Travel: Manchester has direct rail connections to all major UK cities and is at the heart of the Northwest’s motorway network with easy access from all directions onto the M60, the city’s orbital motorway. Once on the M60 exit at Junction 12 and join the M602 signposted towards the city centre. If you are using sat nav, type in M2 3GX, which will take you to the car park at Manchester Central.

Full travel and car parking information can be found at www.cihhousing.com or www.manchestercentral.co.uk

Routledge Books Visit www.routledge.com/ architecture to browse our thousands of built environment publications.

Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/routledgearchitecture and Twitter: follow @RoutArch

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Public Sector Business Mobility is on the Move.

At Alphabet we’re always developing new, more efficient ways of moving public sector employees from A to B. It’s all part of our vision for the future of mobility.

Existing forms of fleet management underpin this vision. But there’s certainly more to come.

Take AlphaCity for example. As ingenious as it is simple, it’s a public sector car sharing scheme set to change the way you finance, manage and use company vehicles.

It’s yet another step forward in clever fleet thinking from Alphabet.

Find out more:

Tel: 0870 50 50 100 Email: alphabet@alphabet.co.uk www.alphabet.co.uk

INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS

Transport

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

SUSTAINABLE, SAFE, AND SMART ROAD NETWORKS

Transport and access to mobility pose many challenges, as well as opportunities for global development. Current scenarios highlight stark policy choices. Get these wrong and we could be confronted with close to 9,000 megatons of global CO2 emissions from transport vehicles by 2030, contributing significantly to climate change, and combined with other emissions, burdening millions of people with health problems provoked by air, water, soil and noise pollution.

Meanwhile, an anticipated 30 per cent increase in traffic congestion by 2025 in some countries could cost billions of pounds in fuel as well as lost time and productivity.

Within the same timeframe, upwards of 1.9 million people will be killed annually on the world’s roads, costing society a further estimated $100 billion dollars a year, quite apart from the toll in human tragedy.

To compound matters, growing economic uncertainty makes major investments in road up-keep politically unpalatable and financially prohibitive.

And yet, it is being increasingly acknowledged – notably in the context of the post Rio+20 agenda – that sustainable mobility is vital for social and economic development as well as the integration of local communities, regions and states.

ROADS ARE GETTING SMARTER As a key voice in the international road infrastructure and transportation community, the International Road Federation (IRF) in Geneva takes responsibility for providing evidence-based solutions to dilemmas such as these. In the words of Caroline Visser, the Federation’s deputy-director and ITS/road financing specialist: “Roads are no longer

Figure 1 Summary of key policy recommendations in the IRF Vienna Manifesto on ITS

just a stretch of tarmac but are becoming increasingly smarter. IRF believes that with Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), road operators have a highly efficient tool at hand to ease congestion, reduce accidents and provide travellers with a comfortable drive and transfer to other modes of transport.

IRF makes the case for ITS in a smart way.”

Despite a proven track record, ITS still suffers from a lack of recognition and support from politicians, high-level policy makers and the general public. IRF has taken up this awareness challenge by creating a dedicated Policy Committee on ITS, which was launched in 2008.The mission of the Committee Members is to foster the deployment of ITS. It supports the development of national and regional ITS strategies and encourages governments to integrate ITS as a major tool for achieving their transport policy objectives in a manner that is safe, sustainable and efficient.

In support of this vision, IRF Geneva launched the Committee’s landmark IRF Vienna Manifesto on ITS – Smart Transport Policies for Sustainable Mobility during a Ministerial round table convened in Vienna at the outset of the 19th ITS World Congress, which was hosted in the Austrian capital from 22-26 October, 2012.

The Manifesto calls for the furtherance and more complete integration of Intelligent Transport Systems into overall transport policies. It provides clear, evidence-based policy recommendations that, if accepted and implemented, will significantly advance the goal of access to sustainable mobility for all.

The Manifesto is about the role ITS can play in improving the efficiency and fluidity of transport; and the benefits for society, both qualitative and quantitative, that can be achieved by optimising the integrated use of technology.

It is particularly targeted at political decision makers at national, state and local levels and high-level decision makers within transport authorities, as well as their respective advisors – who are all urged to undertake a comprehensive series of policy actions aimed at stimulating the adoption and use of smart technologies to their full potential.

Written by the International Road Federation

With mobility needs anticipated to triple by 2050, the traffic and carbon emissions emitted on our roads is a major issue. Although suffering from a perceived lack of political support, Intelligent Transport Systems have a proven track record in easing congestion and reducing accidents, reports the IRF

CHANGING BEHAVIOUR The key recommendations are summarised in figure 1 and fully developed in the text of E

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS  the Manifesto. At their most fundamental level, they include the need to encourage sustainable mobility behaviour across the board so as to balance people’s growing mobility demands with the overarching imperatives of preserving the environment and quality of life.

Olga Landolfi, secretary general, TTS Italia – one of the eminent international specialists who have contributed comments and endorsements for the Manifesto in its preface, said: “Mobility is a fundamental right. It underpins all aspects of societal development allowing everyone, from individuals up to whole nations, to develop and prosper. ITS has already demonstrated [that it is] an essential tool for improving mobility and quality of life. The challenge now is to start using it to its full potential, to maximise the benefits that ITS can bring to society.”

“The technology is there; now is the time to commit,” echoes Visser.

FACE THE CHALLENGE The Manifesto addresses a comprehensive range of interdependent challenges – from traffic flow and travel time reliability to the potential of ITS for business development and job creation.

On the environmental front, the document stresses that climate change remains one of the major issues facing the transport sector today. Current projections suggest that, under present scenarios, global CO2 emissions from transport are expected to continue to grow by approximately 40 per cent from 2007 to 2030. The road sector continues to dominate total transport CO2 emission production, and is only surpassed by emissions from the energy production sector.

Transport

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

Modifying the behaviour of road users and their vehicles in ways that make them less carbon‑intensive represents a realistic proposition for Intelligent Transport Systems Restricting mobility runs contrary to the free movement of people and goods and cannot constitute an economically rational – let alone sustainable – solution.

Modifying the behaviour of road users and their vehicles in ways that make them less carbon-intensive, on the other hand, represents a far more realistic and costeffective proposition. ITS can achieve this through a combination of ‘encouragement’ and ‘enforcement’ measures.

The former are illustrated by electronic payment schemes whereby the cost of access to selected routes, zones or facilities, varies according to the type of vehicle or time of day; while the latter might include the monitoring of average speeds so as to mitigate practices such as speeding that are both socially dangerous and environmentally damaging.

It has, indeed, been estimated that reductions in the speed limit through effective enforcement across the United Kingdom could save around 1.4 megatons in carbon emissions for the period 2009-2020.

Meanwhile, the 2006 Eddington Transport Study estimated that ‘eliminating existing congestion on the [UK’s] road network would be worth some £7-8bn of GDP per annum.’

It further concluded that, if left unchecked, congestion would waste an additional £22 billion in lost time for England alone by 2025.

The text of the Manifesto is underpinned by a comprehensive series of case studies, including details of the Low Emission Zone scheme implemented in Bologna, Italy, which led to a 47% reduction in particle matter emissions

LIGHTENING THE LOAD ITS technologies have the capacity to alleviate the politically untenable pressures of congestion by capitalising on the capabilities of computerisation, mass data storage and improved communications systems to significantly improve both traffic flow and travel time reliability.

Such an evolution is likely to become increasingly critical given that the need for mobility is anticipated to triple by 2050, compared to 2000 levels. As most of this increase will occur outside the developed countries, we are likely to see a significant shift in the demand for mobility capacity.

Such shifts in transport will require new mobility concepts and responses. Travellers will change their preferred methods of getting around, technological changes will make travel more user-friendly, while at the same time making networks more resilient; and there may even be new modes of transport.

As the Manifesto urges: ‘change is inevitable and we need to start thinking about it now.’

ITS will be the integration tool. It will enable local, regional and national governments in developed countries to improve already established infrastructures.

It will allow those in developing nations to leap-frog over previous-generation networks by enabling solutions that are smarter and more eco‑friendly than building new road infrastructure.

For densely-populated urban areas, ITS offers a tool to enhance multiple objectives, such as safeguarding quality of life, public health, the urban environment and historic areas, alongside the efficient management of road traffic and public transport.

In these respects, the Manifesto underscores that transport and mobility issues typically manifest themselves locally, but their combined impact is global. Since transport challenges are complex and multidimensional, their solutions must be cross-cutting and inter-sectoral. Cooperation at local, regional, national and, increasingly, even at an international level is required.

POLICY TO DRIVE CHANGE As emphasised by POLIS, the network of European cities and regions working together to develop innovative technologies and policies for local transport, ITS must be policy-driven. In this context, the Manifesto authoritatively explores the most relevant policy areas for ITS deployment. These include mobility, the environment, transport funding & investment, spatial planning and social services. E

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

The City of London Corporation is committed to making the Square Mile an inclusive environment for all and to eliminating any inaccessible design which prevents disabled people from participating fully in society. The City’s Access Team promotes inclusive design principles to ensure that buildings and external environments meet the access needs of everyone including people with physical, mobility, sensory, cognitive and learning impairments. The team provides professional advice on access adjustments and improvements to the City of London’s public buildings, as well as the City’s Streets and open spaces, some of which fall outside of the business district.

City of London • PO Box 270 • Guildhall • London EC2P 2EJ (Site Postcode: EC2V 7HH) Tel: 020 7332 3795 Email: rob.oakley@cityoflondon.gov.uk

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GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS

Transport

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

Citroën Berlingo Electrique

 With reference to each area, the Manifesto compellingly demonstrates how ITS can contribute to achieving key objectives.

It describes the policy challenges that governments are typically faced with and highlights – on the basis of concrete examples – how ITS can cost-effectively and efficiently expedite viable solutions.

IRF is playing an active advocacy role on behalf of its members in this evolution, so that they may be at the forefront of a new generation of roads, integrating innovative technologies and the latest cutting-edge progress in energy, materials, information and vehicles.

ITS applications ranging from satellite based positioning to road weather information systems and real time traveller information services – taken together with the developments in vehicle‑to‑vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure interaction – will undoubtedly be at the vanguard of progress towards making IRF’s maxim of ‘better roads, better world’ a living reality. L

The 2013 Commercial Vehicle Show With more than 18,000 people visiting over 430 exhibitors during the three days, the 2013 Commercial Vehicle Show confirmed its standing as the UK’s premier road transport and logistics event.

This year has demonstrated beyond doubt that the key factor in the success of the CV Show lies with the diversity of its exhibitors; there really is something for everyone and a vehicle to suit every application.

James Morrison, Corporate Marketing Manager for MINI UK, said: “We were delighted to showcase the new MINI Clubvan at this year’s Commercial Vehicle Show.

As our first time at the Show, we were delighted by the volume and seniority of attendees and, of course, to the fantastic response to the MINI Clubvan.”

Meanwhile, Scott Michael, Citroën’s Head of Commercial Vehicles and Business Centre Programme, enthused: “The 2013 CV Show was another great success for Citroën with a good mix of visitors representing both large fleets and SME companies.

FURTHER INFORMATION Download the IRF Vienna Manifesto on ITS for free at www.irfnet.ch.

For more information on the ITS Policy Committee, contact Caroline Airtab Advert 178x125 ol_Layout 1 02/04/2013 11:08 Page 1 Visser at cvisser@irfnet.org

As ever, Citroën found the Show to be an excellent way of reaching its customer base.”

The UK road transport sector has long been a strong indicator as to the health of the rest of UK plc. On that basis, the indications for the future of the industry in general and the Commercial Vehicle Show in particular are very good indeed.

The 2014 CV Show will be held at the NEC, Birmingham, from 29 April-1 May. The Commercial Vehicle Show is owned by the CV Show LLP comprising the Road Haulage Association, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and IRTE Services Ltd, the trading company of the SOE (Society of Operations Engineers).

FURTHER INFORMATION www.cvshow.com

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ROAD MAINTENANCE

SUSTAINABLE HIGHWAYS MANAGEMENT FROM TOTAL

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Diminished budgets and an estimated maintenance backlog in the region of £10bn on UK roads mean the entire highways supply chain is now under scrutiny. Best value, sustainability and innovation are being driven by austerity and pragmatic clients, writes Total Bitumen Total Bitumen identified these challenges some time ago, through market analysis and a need to innovate their product portfolio in response to the new commercial and technical challenges the industry was identifying.

Clients are tasked with maintaining their network above intervention level for skid resistance, keeping ride quality acceptable and considering sustainable construction techniques in the face of an ever increasingly politically sensitive and litigious society.

It is now apparent some thin surfacing just isn’t lasting as long as originally anticipated.

This is often through misguided material design but also through inappropriate applications. The TS2010 SMA design recently introduced to the Scottish network is one solution to this issue which specifies a premium performance PMB is utilised in SMAs. HIGHWAY ASSET MANAGEMENT Sustainability through durability is Total Bitumen’s approach to highways asset management. Durability is only achieved when the correct materials are used in the correct applications taking into account all possible variable parameters such as weather conditions, drainage issues and installation methodology.

To address this Styrelf X, Styrelf eXcel, and Styrelf eXtreme polymer modified binders each offer distinct performance levels within a variety of grades from hard to soft and Styrelf has been installed on several Transport for Scotland TAITs. Styrelf eXtreme binder is also being utilised in various schemes nationally were high fatigue resistance is required combined with resistance to high temperature softening Traditional thin surfacing can be protected through a planned surface treatment programme throughout a life cycle rather than an expensive reactive scatter gun approach to pothole patching.

A lot of the UK network is historically evolved construction rather than scientifically designed and these roads can give sustainable value long into the future provided surface treatments are installed at key points throughout a pavements life.

Correct design procedures can seal the surface, restore skid resistance, and inhibit the formation of cracks and potholes before more expensive deeper obtrusive repair work is required.

Polymerisation of the binders used

mix applications and tar remediation.

Emulsis binders behave in a more elastic manner than traditional grade emulsions.

The polymer modification levels in the range give clear benefits in terms flexibility and resistance to extremes of temperature. This makes Emulsis less brittle at low temperature or less likely to ‘black up’ at high ambient temperatures, reducing risk to the client and increasing safety for the travelling public.

in these treatments has enhanced the systems performance dramatically in recent years and has significantly reduced the levels of premature failures.

Binder performance in traditional bitumous emulsions is limited by viscoelastic and thermoplastic properties.

Adding polymers to the bitumen system significantly enhances the performance of these materials. Total Bitumen’s Emulsis range incorporates specific polymer levels and performance enhancing additives developed to answer modern challenges.

A SOLUTION FOR THE CHALLENGE Total Bitumen’s Emulsis range now incorporates emulsions to address many of the modern highways asset management scenarios.

In the surface dressing sector Emulsis Ultra, Emulsis Satis & Emulsis Supreme offer three class leading performance levels tailored to specific applications and budgets.

Clients install the surface dressing binder best suited to their end use in terms of value engineering, site stresses, historical wear and previous failure modes, balancing unit cost against the expected life cycle.

The Total Emulsis range includes Emulsis MSS (micro surfacing binder); Emulsis MG (for cold coating recycled aggregates and tar remediation); and Emulsis Chip Clean (for cleaning surface dressing chippings and reclaimed chippings).

Azaltfoam binder is also available for foam

DROPPING THE TEMPERATURE Traditional site practice is to spray emulsions in the temperature range 80 - 90ºC. This involves having to reheat the emulsion during a shift to maintain spraying temperature and achieve a satisfactory viscosity for adequate spread rates and aggregate wetting. This reheating delays the surfacing operations increasing downtime as the surfacing crew wait for emulsion.

Ultimately this affects how many m² of carriageway per shift a crew can surface dress.

Using Emulsis enables a drop in the minimum working temperature to 65ºC giving a greater working temperature window and potentially more m² surfaced per shift.

A dressing season is brief – typically 90 days during the mid summer. This saving in man hours can give substantial benefits to the contractor and client with typical time savings of 45 – 65 hours per tanker in a season.

Effectively an extra weeks surfacing added to a typical crew’s season! Total Bitumen has produced models to demonstrate the typical savings in heating fuel and CO2 reduction possible with the Emulsis product range.

Azalt ECO2 and Styrelf ECO2 are Total’s answer to the warm mix asphalt market and are ready to use alternatives to hot mix binders. They are modified for use in conventional mixing plants at around forty degrees less than equivalent hot mix asphalt.

This product is now on sites throughout the UK and France giving benefits in terms of CO2 reduction, early opening to traffic and increased tolerance to haulage distance and adverse weather conditions, addressing some of the critical issues clients are experiencing.

FOR MORE INFORMATION richard.ashton@total.co.uk www.bitumen.total.com

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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How are your lifts performing?

• Web-based performance monitoring of any lift and escalator.

• At-a-glance status information using simple visual dashboards.

• Management of maintenance and repair contracts, saving time and money.

• Key Performance Indicator reporting.

• Instant alerts of lift/escalator breakdowns.

CMS Anywhere Lift and Escalator Monitoring CMS Anywhere is the latest innovation in 24/7 lift and escalator remote monitoring. This web‑based system allows you to view your equipment status over the internet anywhere, anytime.

A monitoring unit is fitted to the lift or escalator, the equipment status is then automatically transmitted through telephone line, GSM or network connection. Breakdowns, trappings or service visits are a few examples of the time-stamped events that are immediately transmitted enabling managers to provide immediate responses.

Alerts and reports can be viewed through remote devices such as tablets, iPads and smart phones. The system can also alert managers and security staff using text messaging or emails.

Reports give equipment performance history thus enabling managers to qualify KPI measurements as well as proving key information to asset investments.

Thames Valley Controls | Manor Farm Industrial Estate | Flint | Flintshire | CH6 5UY | (t): +44 (0) 1352 793222 | (e): info@tvcl.co.uk | (w): www.tvcl.co.uk

EVENT PREVIEW

Liftex 2013

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

COUNT DOWN TO LIFTEX LIFT-OFF

Liftex 2013 will examine new standards due to be published regarding the specification of new lifts for the transport of passengers and goods, and their impact on public sector projects

New standards are due to be published in 2014 regarding the specification of new lifts for the transport of passengers and goods. These will replace the existing standards and will have a profound impact on the specification, building interface and design of new lifts.

The effect of these changes will need to be assessed in detail by the public sector as soon as possible to ensure that procurement and relevant specifications reflect the new standards, especially on projects which may straddle the handover period between the old and new standards.

LIFTEX 2013, which is due to take place on 22-23 May at ExCel London, will give visitors a clear understanding of all these upcoming changes, as well as showcasing some of the latest products and innovations from a wide range of international suppliers. Organised by The Lift and Escalator Industry Associations

Liftex 2013 onwill ay 22-23 Mors a clear it give visstanding of under islation for new leg snporting the tra ods and of go gers

passen

(LEIA), the UK’s leading trade association and advisory body, with a membership covering some 85 per cent of the lift and escalator industry, it offers an authoritative environment in which to discover and discuss best practice.

This year’s event is already confirmed as being 15 per cent larger than its previous event and it will be packed with a range of new and exciting features.

INFORMATION FOR THE PUBLIC SECTOR As well as a focus on commercial buildings and property development, LIFTEX has been created to deliver key information to the public sector, especially the provision of disability services, specialist health authority considerations and social housing

management. With home-based care an increasing priority the event also shines a spotlight on personal mobility and access solutions.

LEIA has been particularly active in the standards and regulation area of both the industry as a whole and its constituent products and services, with a specific focus on maintaining the best standards of quality and workmanship. Emphasising the importance of ensuring all products are adequately maintained, LEIA will be launching its Code of Practice for Maintenance at LIFTEX 2013 with strong recommendation that a regime of maintenance and thorough examination is put in place for all equipment that falls within the scope of the Association and its members. E

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

Lift Management Dashboards

Temporary Passenger Lifts Maintain lift services during the refurbishment or replacement of a building’s existing lifts, minimizing disruption to residents with our Temporary Lifts which are similar to conventional DDA compliant lifts providing independent disabled access to all floors.

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LIFT ENGINEERING Lift Engineering Courses and Services available at the University of Northampton • Higher National Certificate in Lift Engineering • Foundation Degree in Lift Engineering • MSc in Lift Engineering • PhD/MPhil Postgraduate Research • Research and Consultancy If you are interested in Lift Engineering course, research or consultancy then please contact Professor Stefan Kaczmarczyk at the University of Northampton stefan.kaczmarczyk@northampton.ac.uk call 01604 893075 or visit www.northampton.ac.uk/sci-tech/engineering

UN_SciTech_Lift_Engineering_Ad_125x178.indd 1

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GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

01/05/2013 16:33

EVENT PREVIEW About LEIA Liftex is organised by the Lift and Escalator Industry Associations (LEIA), which is the trade association and advisory body for the lift and escalator industry, formed in 1997 by the merging of two long standing associations with a history dating back to 1932.

With a membership covering some 95 per cent of the lift and escalator industry, LEIA represents a single voice for the sector.

LEIA members supply passenger and goods/service lifts, stairlifts, homelifts, lifting platforms, escalators, passenger conveyors and a range of component parts for such products. LEIA members also undertake the maintenance of over 250,000 products falling within the scope of the Association.  With this in mind, the event will feature a free Seminar Hub which will address the specific implications for the lift and escalator sectors in relation to the European economy and the training and legislatory frameworks.

Devised in consultation with key industry authorities and stakeholders the presentations are designed to enhance existing knowledge and give clear insight into the future. The seminar hub is a pivotal section of the event as a whole. With an impressive line-up of expert speakers it will both challenge and inform the attendees.

On day one, the seminar will focus on regulatory and standards issues including: A preview of the key changes in EN 81-20 and EN 81-50, which will be published in 2014. These will have a profound impact on the specification, building interface and design of new lifts since they will replace the current new lift standards The seminar will also examine safety and compliance matters impacting the industry in 2013; and the importance of firefighting lifts – their use, maintenance and modernisation.

Speakers will include Matt Ryan from the London Fire Brigade, Robert Cooper from the HSE and Ian Jones, convenor of the CEN TC10 WG1 committee.

requirements and the need to improve standards through effective partnership between clients, consultants and contractors.

LIFTEX 2013 offers all sectors of the public sector a singular insight into the specification, maintenance and operation of lift and escalator equipment; including architects, building and facilities managers, surveyors and leasing managers. It is also relevant to individuals tasked with enforcing health and safety legislation and ensuring that regular and efficient maintenance is taking place to guarantee the safety both of users and those working on the equipment.

The exhibition itself will be showcasing the leading players in the lift and escalator industry from across the world. Organisations such as TVC, who have just been awarded the contract to supply their new Ethos Navigator Control System for the refurbishment of 1 London Bridge in conjunction with the London Lift Company PDERS, will be showcasing their products. Essex based company Drucegrove will be showcasing their range of high quality elevator parts while Spanish company GLE will be on hand to discuss both their standard range of lifts which are currently in use in residential buildings, hospitals, shopping centres and offices and their complete custom design service. Multi-national Alimak Hek are renowned for their rack and pinion elevator, hoist and work platform brands and will be exhibiting their range of products designed to deliver vertical access solutions in some of the harshest and most hostile environments.

Liftex 2013

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

All of this activity will happen on 22-23 May at ExCel London. Entry to the event is free of charge for pre-registered visitors.

MOVING FORWARDS Following extensive research amongst LEIA members, exhibitors and visitors to the last show, by popular demand the event will remain on a three-year cycle.

Commenting on this decision Terry Potter, managing director of LEIA said: “The industry has given us a very clear signal that their wish is to keep the exhibition on a three year cycle. As the trade association representing their needs, we welcome this direction and look forward to building on the established success of LIFTEX to deliver an even better show for the industry.”

As part of the move forward for the exhibition, a new event organiser, CatalystEvents, has been appointed to expand and develop the show. Terry Potter said: “We are delighted to have secured the services of CatalystEvents at this important time for the industry. The team come with a great track record of delivering professional trade events.”

New ideas include an expanded seminar programme to conference level. This will include CPD qualifying workshops and with the support of the European Lift Association and other international groups, there will be an important focus on UK and European issues that affect the whole industry. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.liftex2013.com

SAFETY, TRAINING, MAINTENANCE The second day seminars will enable visitors to get to grips with the safety, training and maintenance issues associated with lift and escalator products. Ish Buckingham from Elevation will be chairing a panel of speakers including David Cooper of LECS, David Warr of Titan Elevators and the LEIA’s Nick Mellor. These experts will be sharing their opinions on maintenance

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Liftex 2013

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

Suite sound of success TVC at the forefront of lift monitoring and control for lift-related degrees Thames Valley Controls (TVC) announces the launch of its latest innovations in lift monitoring and control at Liftex 2013, at ExCel London on 22-23 May. CMS Anywhere is a comprehensive 24/7 web-based lift and escalator performance monitoring system, enabling managers and contractors to view equipment status remotely.

Key performance indicator information transmitted from a module fitted to the equipment can be viewed on the internet, alerting staff instantly to equipment breakdown or misuse.

Ethos 2 is a new lift controller building on TVC’s Ethos 1. It features an intuitive touch-based navigation system, designed to

facilitate easy installation and set-up. Ethos 2 offers shaft selflearning and default performance settings to ease installation.

The comprehensive diagnostics suite includes the RideSensor 3-axis accelerometer recording facility and condition monitoring tools. Controller design data is easily accessed through TVC’s new web portal using QR codes, a first for the industry.

Visit Stand D26 at Liftex 2013 to see these products and the navigator hall call destination system.

To register for Liftex 2013, visit www.liftex2013.com FOR MORE INFORMATION www.tvcl.co.uk

The University of Northampton’s School of Science and Technology is unique within the lift industry, offering a complete suite of research degrees, consulting services and educational courses that support employees.

The programmes address worldwide interest in the development of safe and costeffective vertical transportation in modern built environments.

Additionally, the School includes industry-sponsored postgraduate research provision, involving a study of the advanced principles and philosophy underlying Lift and Escalator Technologies.

The internationally recognised research and consultancy conducted by the Lift Technology

team addresses various aspects of vertical transportation technologies. These include traffic design and analysis, as well as the influence of adverse environmental conditions on the operation of elevator systems.

The School and an international lift manufacturing company have agreed to establish a strategic partnership. This will complement the programmes offered and lead to increased research and innovations.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01604 893075 stefan.kaczmarczyk@ northampton.ac.uk www.northampton.ac.uk/ sci-tech/engineering

Flexibile Solutions for Complex Problems

We’re exhibiting at this year’s Chartered Institute of Housing Exhibition, at Manchester Central on 7th & 8th May.

Come visit us on stand C34 to find out how we can help you improve the energy efficiency of your housing stock.

0800 56 44 56 enquiries@sigenergy.co.uk www.sigenergy.co.uk

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GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

Energy efficient lift solutions for all types of lifts from Wittur UK

InsightApps ‘dashboards’ drive lift service provider improvements

Wittur is the leading independent manufacturer of lift components, worldwide. Based in North Wales for over 20 years, the company offers global solutions combined with local service.

Wittur’s range covers complete lift systems, from machine roomless traction and hydraulics, doors for residential to anti-vandal standards, gearless and geared machines, lift cars, slings, safety gears and controllers, all manufactured by Wittur Group.

The company’s products are developed to comply with all relevant standards and there is a large range of energyefficient solutions to meet the demands of the market.

The UK centre can provide sales visits, specification compliance, design, manufacturing and product support. Products can be seen in its showroom,

Organisations often have all the data they could want sitting in silos across the business; everything from a spreadsheet to a full relational database, but still don’t have the management information they want sitting at their fingertips. ‘Dashboard’ implementation addresses 2 primary issues, it provides a mechanism for the instant interpretation of data in a highly useable format, for rapid decisions and it makes existing enterprise software more relevant, effectively extending its life and protecting long term investments.

InsightApps™ is a new and exciting, web-based, business intelligence ‘Dashboard’ designed to address these issues by allowing you to easily monitor and develop the performance of your service providers in ‘real-time’ 24/7.

With a proven record of dramatically increasing the

where working units can also be viewed. Wittur works closely with lift installers, consultants and end users to ensure project delivery meets expectations.

Visit Wittur at Liftex 2013 (Stand B30) on 22-23 May at ExCel London, to see many of the company’s solutions.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01352 707470 info@wittur.co.uk www.wittur.co.uk

TM

level of lift service provider control, through easily accessible ‘portal-views’ of day to day activity and trend analysis, InsightApps™, effortlessly brings your raw data to ‘life’ as meaningful and focussed management information, freeing your valuable time from administration, allowing you to communicate and drive the necessary improvement actions.

Analysis dashboards include; call-outs and ‘out-of-service’ reviews; service completions; breakdown analysis; insurance reporting and KPI measurements that match your organisational goals.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01525 838084 www.dmcelevation.com

Less disruption for residents as temporary lifts reach new heights

Unique large capacity lifts created in the UK and installed Europe-wide

Alimak Hek Temporary Lifts maintains lift services during the refurbishment or replacement of a building’s existing lifts, minimising disruption to residents.

The Alimak Hek Temporary Passenger/Goods Lift range has been developed from experience gained from thousands of permanent lift installations.

The lift car runs on a structural mast and is driven up and down by a rack and pinion, so no shaft or machine room is required.

The structural masts for the lifts are tied in to the structure of a building and, because the masts are modular, the lifts are quick to install and dismantle.

Temporary lifts are similar in use to conventional Disability Discrimination Act-compliant lifts: fully automatic and meeting all the required safety regulations.

Lift pits are not required,

DeSeM Lifts designs and manufactures EN81-compliant high-quality bespoke reliable large capacity lifts in the Midlands, and installs them throughout the UK and Europe, including Scandinavia.

The company is licensed to carry out the final testing and CE marking without aid, including ATEX hazardous high-risk or low-temperature environments.

DeSeM units start from 13-person capacity and the company specialises in 2,0005,000kg passenger/goods and goods-only hydraulic units.

It also supplies suitable structural steel shafts. This increases the speed of installation and reduces site disruption.

Having completed 32 26-person lifts for Safestore’s UK sites, individually ordered for its rolling program, DeSeM has received two additional orders. Delivery times are 10-12 weeks to site from agreed details.

however, as ramps are installed to provide full wheelchair access, which therefore allows lifts to be used independently so there is no need to factor in the costs of a supervisor or lift operator.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01933 354700 www.alimakhek.co.uk

Liftex 2013

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

DeSeM has been the preferred supplier of new lifts to this commercial sector for several years now, due to its competitiveness and, more so, the company’s unrelenting (renown) reliability.

DeSeM uses LEIA bonds, terms and waivers to cover performance and retention.

Most orders are repeat business, if not by recommendation, and the company has 98 per cent customer retention over the last 10 years and believes product success is embedded in close attention to detail.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01782 811055 www.desem.co.uk

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Pure still fruit juices Pure fruit smoothies Fair Trade fruit juices Juice Drinks The most comprehensive range of fruit formats available from a single UK supplier

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Multiple Marketing Ltd. 95 Camberwell Station Road, London, SE5 9JJ Telephone: 020 - 72746090 Email: sales@multmark.co.uk Websites: www.sunmagic.co.uk www.eatnaturalstore.co.uk Contact: Kevin Ward - National Accounts Manager Tel: 01775 720453 Fax: 01775 720279 Mobile: 07930 328760 Email: sales@lin-kon.co.uk Six quality brands, containing no artificial ingredients, additive, preservative, colours or E numbers Ideal for wholesale, Retail , Vending, Licensed trade, Foodservice, Catering and Hostpitality

EVENT PREVIEW

AVEX 2013

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

VENDING AND WATER SPOTLIGHT

Explore, discover and network at AVEX 2013, the exhibition showcasing the best of the vending and water industries The UK’s largest trade show AVEX 2013 is dedicated to the vending and water industries and takes place at the NEC in Birmingham on 11-13 June. This year’s show, held in conjunction with the European Drinking Water Cooler Association (EDWCA), is set to be even more memorable than previous years.

For the first time ever, it will run for three days and will also play host to the inaugural FM Vending Show, which has been specially created with facilities managers in mind.

Visitors to the show can interact with 150 specialist vending and water suppliers and attend free seminars run by industry experts from the Facilities Management Association (FMA) and vending consultants 24Vend.

SEMINARS The facilities management sessions being held on Tuesday 11 June will play an integral part in the launch of the new FM Vending Show. This “show within a show” will specifically focus on providing advice for professionals on how to increase profits.

The headline speaker at the FMA seminar will be Steve Davies, MD of Compass.

This will be followed by a panel discussion with Chris Hoar, CEO of FMA, Compass’ Steve Davies and two end‑user companies.

The focus of the seminars run by 24Vend on Wednesday 12 June will be healthy eating and will include a morning conference where delegates can enjoy sampling a range of healthy new products across snack and beverage categories, it also includes a light and healthy networking lunch. The seminar programme will focus on how to incorporate healthy options into existing vending portfolios to attract new vending consumers as well as continuing to drive profits.

The judging panel will be made up of: Tracey Graham from Abercromby Vending (winner of Scotland’s Healthy Living Award), Gillian White from 24Vend and Coeliac UK, Tim Franklin-Heys from Unilever (sponsors of the Food Development Award), Bernard Schumacher lecturer at University College Birmingham, AVEX chairman Paul Howard and Lee Holdstock from the Soil Association.

To enter, Birmingham’s students were asked to create new food and packaging concepts for six different vending markets, addressing some of the key issues of today, such as obesity, recycling of packaging, allergens and government regulations regarding salt and sugar levels. The winner will be announced at the inaugural Vending Industry Awards on the evening of 12 June.

Thursday 13 June is set to bring an innovative and competitive spirit to the AVEX seminars, with the chance for engineers and the more technically minded to fault-find a vending machine under timed conditions.

Combining fun with expert knowledge, this session will highlight the importance of on-going professional training and will be run by the Automatic Vending Association’s (AVA) training partner Vending Intelligence.

With r’s this yea ning MEET THE n EXHIBITORS: WATER AVEX ruee days, r Visitors to the Vivreau h t r ove ,a g stand (434) will be able n i d n e FM V in a show to taste, see and touch ith the future of water show w at facilities provision.

As the experts aimed ers will be and innovators of the in-house mains-fed Table manag nched Water Bottling System, Vivreau lau

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Also on 12 June, visitors get the opportunity to watch students from University College Birmingham as they present their healthy vending products for judging by an expert panel, to be in with a chance of winning the University Food Development Award.

continues to be at the forefront of filtered water dispense and the company will be showcasing a range of equipment specifically designed for vending operations. Vivreau will be showing operators how they can revamp their water offering, whilst also helping to improve their profits.

Water filtration experts Aqua Cure will be on stand 480 with some examples of its product range. These include the new Hydro+ Eco range with its reusable housing, designed to save operators money on replacement filters and help lower their carbon footprint.

This product has big savings, easy installation and high-quality filtration (1 micron carbon block to European Drinking Water

Cooler Association standard). Aqua Cure staff will be on hand to answer technical questions, while bulk discounts will be available during the show. Aqua Cure will share its stand with goods handling experts Expresso, who specialise in hand trucks.

The eco-friendly water cooler company Blupura will be exhibiting its innovative BCC Vision Cooler. This water cooler, which has built-in video and audio facilities for promotional activity, can be seen at stand 726.

Diversified technology company 3M will be displaying its high-performance scale-reduction filters on stand 232. This includes the ScaleGard LP2-BL Dual Port Reverse Osmosis (RO) Filtration System, the full ScaleGard Pro Range of water filters and AP2-G water filters. All designed to reduce scale build-up, helping to minimise service costs on water, coffee and vending equipment.

SWEETS AND SOURS Mars Chocolate will be at stand 260, showcasing its latest product Maltesers Teasers. This new chocolate bar is a huge new launch, featuring crunchy honeycomb pieces floating in milk chocolate. This is a great new addition to the confectionery vending market.

Mars has advised that Teasers is forecast to grow the block category by 3 per cent and this exciting new launch is being supported by a £4 million marketing and TV campaign.

For the savoury snack vending market Walkers crisps (stand 450) will be featuring the latest versions of “the nation’s favourite crisps”. The flavourings for its crisps are now being made from delicious home-grown ingredients sourced from the UK. Building on Walkers’ commitment to using 100 per cent British potatoes, British ingredients are now being introduced across the core range to boost flavour, including Cheddar from Somerset, tomatoes from the Vale of Evesham, salt from Cheshire and sour cream from Dorset.

For the first time under its new name, Mondelez International (formerly Kraft Foods E

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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AVEX 2013

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

AstroSystems’ evolving range is ready to showcase at Avex 2013

Consumers drive demand for products that are free from artificial additives

AstroSystems Ltd is looking forward to Avex 2013, an event which will once again showcase the various benefits of the company’s award-winning Global Bill Acceptors (GBA) and Microcoin brands of currency validation equipment.

Offering a suite of product lines perfectly suited to the rigours of the industry, vending has been a core market for AstroSystems Ltd since its inception nearly 20 years ago.

Solutions such as the GBA ST1, a highly reliable, modular and secure note stacking option, and Microcoin SP, the market-leading and versatile, not to mention jam-free, coin acceptor model, will be on show at Avex 2013.

While the aforementioned lines are fully established in the global

Multiple Marketing is a family owned business, founded in 1980 originally as a brokerage by its parent company RM Curtis (established in 1850), the longest established supplier of culinary nuts to the catering trade.

In 1996, Multiple Marketing diversified and became a brand owner, having identified a growing consumer demand for products without artificial ingredients, additives, preservatives, colourings and E numbers.

Multiple Marketing’s first brand, Sunmagic Pure Still fruit juices, was launched with just six stock-keeping units (SKU).

Now, with over 50 SKUs, it is the most comprehensive range of fruit juice formats available from a single UK supplier.

vending marketplace, AstroSystems’ range is continually evolving.

An example of this is the Microcoin RE1, a newly released coin escrow device that combines user-friendliness, by allowing full control of a transaction, including the opportunity to cancel, from start to finish, with a unique rotary mechanism that promotes long-term reliability.

Representatives from AstroSystems Ltd will be present at Avex 2013 (on Stand 200) to answer any questions, and further explain the beneficial effects that choosing the GBA and Microcoin brands can have on individual vending operations.

Multiple Marketing continues to develop and there are now six brands in the company’s portfolio. It diversified and became a manufacturer in 1997 with the launch of its second brand, Eat Natural.

Funtime flavoured milks, Sirco fruit juices, GoldenLife Real Dairy Cream UHT and Fielding Dairies UHT long life milks are the other brands that make up the company’s current portfolio.

Annual turnover has increased over the last ten years, proof that consumers like products that are free from dodgy additives.

Multiple Marketing: delivering quality and taste, naturally.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 0207 274 6090

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01235 772201 info@astrosystems.co.uk

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Visit us at AVEX Show Birmingham – Booth 430 June 11th-13th, 2013 Contact us tel: +33(0)556.448.572 e-mail: info@winixeu.com web: www.winixeu.com

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GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

EVENT PREVIEW  UK) will be exhibiting at AVEX, showcasing its extensive range of snacking and hot drink brands on stand 366.

Mondelez International spans the full range of daily snacking opportunities from breakfast through to the evening. Its morning offering includes Kenco Millicano and the UK’s number one biscuit brand Belvita. It will also be showing the core seven chocolate singles from Cadbury (Twirl, Wispa, Double Decker, Crunchie, Dairy Milk, Boost and Dairy Milk Caramel). These will be joined by Oreo’s six packs and the new Cadbury Crispello.

Barr Soft Drinks will launch two new flavours to its range of Rockstar energy drinks on stand 426. The two ‘tongue-tingling’ variants, BubbleBurst and Green Apple, will tap into a growing consumer trend for sour flavours.

According to Adrian Troy, head of marketing for AG Barr, Rockstar SuperSours has performed exceptionally in consumer tests.

With 85 per cent of those interviewed stating the range is new and different from any other energy drink currently available in the UK, and 68 per cent confirming they would buy it.

“Of those interviewed, 46 per cent said they would buy Rockstar SuperSours alongside their current energy drink purchase, meaning the brand will drive incremental sales in the category,” stated Troy. “Retailers should prepare to stock up to make the most of a fantastic sales opportunity.”

Blakemore Wholesale will be hosting stand 334, where it will be promoting its “One Stop Shop” delivered vending solution, offering a full range of ambient products ideally suited for vending machines. Blakemore will be running a series of special offers exclusively available for orders placed at the show, and it will be holding a free prize draw, too.

VENDING MACHINES Amongst the vending machine manufacturers represented at AVEX 2013 will be Westomatic, which has two stands (34 and 156). Alongside its full range of hot beverage/food and snack

machines there will be live demonstrations and new revenue-increasing developments with the award-winning Sigma Touch.

Westomatic’s marketing assistant Charlotte Summersby commented: “It’s all about the customer service this year, delivering the support and innovative machine designs that operators need to produce high-street quality drinks at coffee shop prices.”

Bravilor Bonamat, on stand 220, will be launching the Esprecious, its new compact bean-to-cup coffee machine. Each cup of coffee is freshly brewed with great in-cup quality thanks to the innovative in-house developed horizontal-brewing system. With powdered milk, the Esprecious offers a range of bean-to-cup coffees at the touch of a button, effortlessly and without the associated maintenance of fresh milk machines.

Adam Phillips, Bravilor’s marketing manager is excited about the new product launch: “Esprecious’ fantastic new software is intuitive and comprehensive enabling the customisation of every part of the beverage-making process, delivering drink recipes that are truly individual. The innovative horizontal brewer is the heart of this machine, delivering quality beverages time and time again. The Esprecious is something special and should not be underestimated.”

PAYMENT SYSTEMS The future of vending payment will be a big focus this year. For visitors looking to improve their electronic payment systems, Coges will be showcasing its latest cashless vending payment system: The Coges Engine (stand 432).

MEI, at stand 336, will be launching its European version of the CashFlow 4-in-1 eCash terminal, which is a fully EMV and PCIDSS certified cashless terminal. The CashFlow 4-in-1 accepts all consumer cards whether they are magnetic stripe, chip or contactless based. It is also future-proof and ready to accept mobile (NFC) payment.

Crane Payment Systems will be at stand

AVEX 2013

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

AVEX 2013: more information To register for your free entry to AVEX 2013 and to obtain a full list of exhibitors, visit www.avexshow.co.uk To book a place on either of the seminars or to enter the engineers’ competition, visit: FM/AVA at www.ava-vending.co.uk, 24vend Ltd at www.24vend.com, Vending Intel at www.vendingintelligenceagency.co.uk The awards and gala dinner will be run jointly by the Automatic Vending Association and Vending International and will take place on the evening of Wednesday 12 June at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole.

For any sponsorship, awards or ticket enquiries, contact Claire Davison on 01622 699170 or email her at cdavison@datateam.co.uk

376 to show visitors the latest additions to its range of payment systems and technologies.

Highlights will be the innovative solutions that have been developed for interactive cashless paying via mobile phones, including the NFC cashless payment system “currenza NFC Vend” and the QR code reader for vending machines.

These innovative systems are intended to make vending machine purchases as easy as possible for consumers, whilst reducing margins and increasing profits.

More details on the new products being showcased at AVEX will be released during the build-up to the event. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.avexshow.co.uk

Benefit from pure air and water in both your living and office environments WINIX is a South Korean designer and manufacturer, specialising in air and water treatment products.

Founded in 1973, WINIX has evolved from a supplier of key components for the appliance industry into a finished goods manufacturer of products that enhance healthy and comfortable living environments.

Today, the company provides products such as air purifiers, air washers, dehumidifiers, fan heaters, water dispensers and water filtration systems for the home and office environments.

WINIX operates in a global network, including three sales offices located in the USA, Europe and South Korea.

It is now developing its activity through WINIX and FINECEL brands, as well as other OEM projects, with international companies such as Electrolux, Samsung and Fellowes.

To support its sales activity in Europe, WINIX opened a sales office in France in January 2012 and a warehouse in the Netherlands.

The company is now focusing and has great expectations of distributing WINIX products to the European market.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: (+33)556.448.572 info@winixeu.com www.winixeu.com

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

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GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

EVENT PREVIEW

Franchising

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

STARTING A NEW VENTURE

A visit to the British Franchise Exhibition on 21-22 June in Manchester will allow budding entrepreneurs to research the options and explore the career opportunities in different sectors

Paul Siner, a retired police officer, from Liverpool visited The British Franchise Exhibition, and his positive feedback captures the thoughts of many visitors to the event.

He said: “This is the first show I have been to and it’s been very useful. I’d identified particular franchise businesses that I wanted to focus on but, having looked around the show, I have now broadened my horizons.”

Many people looking to start a new venture may have an idea of the industry in which they would like to develop their business.

However, it is essential to research the options and be open to exploring career opportunities in sectors not previously considered.

A visit to The British Franchise Exhibition taking place 21-22 June allows budding entrepreneurs to do just that.

DISCOVER THE OPTIONS Visitors will be able to discover the many franchise businesses available across sectors such as property, finance, social care, food and drink, fitness and many more. These include etyres, Kare Plus, TruGreen, Dream Doors, Anytime Fitness, Rosemary Bookkeeping, Platinum Property Partners and Expense Reduction Analysts.

The British Franchise Association (bfa) is exclusively supporting The British Franchise Exhibition in Manchester, meaning all exhibitors have followed the bfa’s code of ethics so visitors can have full confidence in the companies showcased at this event.

The British Franchise Exhibition covers everything there is to know about franchising with expert speakers, advice and support all under one roof. There is an extensive conference programme featuring seminars hosted by various franchise businesses as well as the bfa covering an introduction to franchising, franchising your own business and high-level investment.

At ish the Britise Franch on, Exhibitin get a ca visitors nsight into i unique nald’s and McDo nchise its fra mme progra

CAREERS CLINIC For guidance on the next steps to take on the career path, the Careers Clinic has experienced advisors on hand to work with visitors to assess their experience to date and discuss what options are available to them.

When undertaking a new business venture, finance is an essential element to consider.

The Finance Clinic enables visitors to speak to experts in confidence about how to gain funding for their business and receive E

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Franchising

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

Build a business and clean up with a franchise from Minster Cleaning Services

Saving businesses time and money on essential spend Ignite a new passion for your career BCR Associates is one of the fastest growing and most considered business cost reduction companies in the UK...

We have built a team of successful franchise owners who have the passion to build their business with our proven business model and we are seeking motivated professionals to expand our brand across the UK. Unlike others in the marketplace, our unique business model means 100% of the savings we realise are passed on to our clients without any commissions or fees.

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GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

K

Minster Cleaning Services is the UK’s largest commercial cleaning franchise. The commercial cleaning market is vast and Minster’s large territories offer franchisees virtually unlimited potential.

Minster is a full British Franchise Association member.

Annual turnover is £30 million, with an average of more than £700,000 across 41 branches.

Many branches have achieved annual sales of over £1 million.

Franchisees joining get the help needed to ease the transition from employment to selfemployment. On-going support is provided, including bookkeeping, training, marketing, employment law, and health and safety.

By following Minster’s systems, franchisees have the opportunity to build a valuable, saleable business for the future.

New franchise opportunities include Cambridge, Doncaster, Durham, Leicester, London, GovtBusinessAD1.pdf Middlesex, Guildford,

Peterborough and Swansea.

Initial start-up cost is £28,225 + VAT, which covers licence, training, computer software and hardware, stationery, machinery, equipment and materials. In addition, between £40,000 and £60,000 working capital will be needed. Finance is available from leading banks, subject to status.

There are also established franchises available for resale in South Wales, Bristol, Derbyshire, North West Midlands and Dundee at a fee of £10,000 + VAT, in addition to the purchase price of the business.

1

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 0121 386 1722 minster@minsterfranchise.co.uk 11/04/2013 17:39 www.minsterfranchise.co.uk

EVENT PREVIEW

Independent care services is just one area which can be successful for franchisees

Franchising

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

The British Franchise Exhibition To register for The British Franchise Exhibition, call +44 (0)844 257 8668 or visit www.franchiseinfo.co.uk.

Admission on the door is £10, however visitors can gain free admission by using the promotional code MGOV when they register on the website.

The British Franchise Exhibition is open from 10am each day, closing at 5pm on Friday 21 June and 4pm on Saturday 22 June 2013.

For the latest news and updates about The British Franchise Exhibition, follow the exhibition on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ ukfranchising, join The Franchise Exhibitions Group on Linked In or become a fan of the FranchiseInfo group on Facebook.

 guidance on the all important business plan.

A very popular feature at the exhibition is the Real Franchise Stories, drawing crowds to listen to a panel of franchisees sharing the benefit of their experience. The speakers provide an exclusive insight into their lives as franchisees, covering all essential aspects of making the transition from employed to becoming self-employed, from the positives, to the challenges they overcame and how they achieved success.

McDonald’s is hosting a series of Open Sessions exclusively on site at the exhibition where visitors are able to meet with staff and gain a unique insight into the world‑renowned company and its franchise

programme. McDonald’s is particularly interested in looking for female franchisees and, as part of this recruitment drive, there will be an open session at 14:00 on Friday 21 June 2013.

FRANCHISE CASE STUDY Here’s an example of a successful franchise.

Suki and Nav Samarai are a husband and wife team that have both had successful careers in the NHS over the years, but after government cutbacks led to a lack of opportunity, they decided to look at other potential ideas providing care services to the NHS and private sector.

Suki says: “I could see the potential to build a sustainable, long-term independent

When undertaking a new business venture, finance is an essential element to consider. The Finance Clinic enables visitors to speak to experts about how to gain funding for their business and receive guidance on their business plan

business and I felt that I had the right experience to make it a real success, and so I began to think about working for myself.

We decided the franchise route would be the much safer option as we had issues with a previous venture and on visiting the franchise exhibition came across Kare Plus.”

Many of Kare Plus franchises are owned by GPs, pharmacists and others previously employed by the NHS as they recognise the business potential in providing medical and non-medical services. It is the only independent business that is a licensed supplier to the NHS. Nav continues, “Kare Plus got our attention straight away. We liked the fact that the service was medical as well as domiciliary, it was an up and coming franchise and it was affordable. After our business plan was approved, we set up our offices, completed the induction training and recruited nurses and care staff, we approached local nursing homes and hospitals where Kare Plus is already on the Preferred Supplier List (PSL).

The nursing homes that we’ve already done business with are more than satisfied with our staff and our service. We’re reaching our targets each week. The next step is to obtain our Care Quality Commission (CQC) license, and then we can make a start on the domiciliary part of our business.

“Although we’ve only been running a matter of months, I am so confident that the business will be successful.” L FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 0844 257 8668 www.franchiseinfo.co.uk

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

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Iconic venue hire The British Museum offers you a flexible suite of facilities in an ideal central location hosting everything from all-day conferences, product launches and private screenings to elegant receptions and dinners.

If you would like to receive more information, arrange a site visit or discuss a booking, please contact our dedicated team: +44 (0)20 7323 8136 or corporate@britishmuseum.org Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG Tottenham Court Road, Holborn, Russell Square britishmuseum.org Dicus-thrower (Discobolus), Roman copy of a bronze original of the 5th century BC. From Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli, Lazio, Italy.

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GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

EVENT PREVIEW

GATHERING UP THE MARKETING COMMUNITY

Benefit from real marketing insight, advice and get the answers to burning marketing questions at Marketing Week Live this June Open for registration now, Marketing Week Live 2013 continues to deliver on its promise as the premier show for marketing within Europe, providing the marketing community with a cutting-edge resource of ideas and inspiration.

This year, the fully comprehensive marketing event, running on 26 and 27 June at London’s Olympia, expands into eight dedicated zones. Reflecting the connected specialisms within the marketing discipline, the event is arranged across eight interlinked areas: Digital & Data; Customer Loyalty; Insight; Retail; Live; Promotional Merchandise; Agency Ask the Experts and Career Development. Within these zones, the show brings together the dynamic offerings of 500 exhibitors with a thought-leading conference programme.

FREE EDUCATION Marketing Week Live’s Centre Stage and conference programmes have been designed to address the burning questions on all marketers’ minds, from how to translate big data into sales, to better ways to engage with consumers’ passions. Learn from the best in an unrivalled programme of free educational sessions from global brands. Some of the business world’s brightest minds will share their expertise on Centre Stage, where sessions guaranteed to capture the imagination include Ian Cranna, UK VP of marketing for Starbucks on the use of technology in culturally sensitive campaigns and Diageo’s Kathy Parker on future strategies for customer engagement.

Plus the programme features conferences

dedicated to marketing sectors including customer loyalty, digital & data, insight, live, promotional merchandise and retail. A host of experts from companies including Orange, Nectar and M&S will be leading you through their fascinating case studies. In the supplier seminars, you can join leading suppliers as they explore how brands have used the latest industry techniques to engage effectively with customers and clients. Hear from inspirational senior company specialists in the digital, data and insight fields, and apply their findings to your marketing campaigns.

Centre Stage, conference and supplier seminar sessions are free to attend and no booking is necessary. Simply turn up 15 minutes before the allotted start time and seats will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

TWO NEW SHOW ZONES This year’s event is particularly focused on providing marketers with hands-on advice and guidance. Marketing Week Live has created two new zones: Career Development, giving marketers the tools to achieve goals and ambitions, and Agency Ask the Experts, which provides the opportunity for one-to-one meetings with a range of agency experts.

The new for 2013 Career Development zone brings together everything you need to assess where you are now, and more importantly, how to take your career to the next stage. We recognise that digital is no longer optional for marketers which is why we’ve partnered with market leaders Econsultancy to bring you

the Digital Talent Challenge to evaluate your competence levels and to then offer you the best advice and guidance on how to close any gap. Career development agencies, training course lecturers and professional bodies will be on hand to convey their knowledge on how you can improve your skills to increase your value to your organisation. The conference will feature free to attend sessions enabling visitors to strive for that all important promotion, while some of the UK’s top professional bodies including the CIM, PRCA and CIPR will offer highly valuable training and advice to help you to advance up the career ladder.

Marketing Week Live

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

DEMANDS ON MARKETERS Whatever stage you are at in your career, demands on marketers have never been greater, so it’s no surprise that many are turning to agencies for their specialist knowledge and experience. Discover the power of agency-driven campaigns with our diverse line up of specialist agencies in the new Agency Ask the Experts zone.

A unique opportunity for marketers to get free advice from a wide range of agencies specialising in PR, creative and design, digital, media buying and planning, sponsorship, market research, advertising, branding, live or customer experience design. If you are an SME thinking about using agency for the first time or a global brand considering reviewing your campaign strategy we have the experts on hand to help. Book yourself in for a free 20 minute meeting with one of our agencies, and discover how the experts can help transform your campaigns.

Marketing Week Live is free to attend, with all Show features also being free to participate in. It allows you to learn from the best brands and speakers, benchmark 500 suppliers, see the latest technology and network with over 15,000 proactive marketers at Europe’s premier event. Whether you are a specialist or integrated marketer, the show’s eight key zones allow you to beneficially immerse yourself in innovation and inspiration.

FURTHER INFORMATION Register at www.marketingweeklive.co.uk

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Inspired by our top class facilities...

Captivated by outstanding natural beauty Our facilities lend themselves perfectly to residential conferences, day meetings, training away days, lectures, exhibitions, gatherings and award ceremonies.

Discounts available

for government groups

Fir st class d i ni ng | O n s i t e b a r | S p o rt a n d l e i s u re fa c ilitie s

w w w. b a n g o r. a c . u k / c o n f e r e n c e s please contact us for further information on: 01248 388088 | conferences@bangor.ac.uk

inspirational

refreshing

outstanding

Get all the advice you need Keep track of your clients’ from the CIM team at needs with online research you need feedback qualitative research projects and Marketing Week Live 2013 Whether on policy changes, are carrying social engagement. It’s a platform The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) is a leading international professional marketing body with 40,000 members worldwide.

Established in 1911, CIM has defined marketing standards; offering training, qualifications, membership and research.

The CIM team will be at Marketing Week Live 2013, in the Grand Hall, Olympia, London, from 26-27 June 2013.

Located on the first floor, G108.

At Marketing Week Live 2013 CIM will be providing something a bit different in the form of the CIM Marketing Clinic. This will be staffed by experts providing advice on how to enhance your marketing expertise, gain knowledge and you can pick up techniques.

You can also receive answers to questions about CIM’s Qualifications: core marketing, digital marketing and sales.

Training: over 120 courses

covering all marketing disciplines for individuals and in-company.

Membership: the benefits, plus all options and grades.

Chartered continuing professional development programme (CPD): a career development framework for marketers.

Whether you are thinking of studying marketing, are in your first marketing job, a senior marketer or if marketing forms a part of your remit, take advantage of CIM’s presence at Marketing Week Live 2013 by visiting the CIM Marketing Clinic.

To register for Marketing Week Live 2013, see www. marketingweeklive.co.uk/CIM

out community consultation at any stage of a new initiative or have key questions to discuss with a group of stakeholders, VisionsLive has a solution that is cost-effective, easy to deploy, and delivers trackable results.

VisionsLive’s online software can help you achieve real social engagement by revealing the needs, wants and opinions of real people. It is built on the world’s leading online qualitative research platform trusted by companies worldwide, and is available in over 25 languages.

VisionsLive is a feature-complete easy to use system for running your public consultations,

Marketing Week Live

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

to let you gather answers to the most pressing questions, from the people that matter.

With the software, you can also set and track structured discussions, activities and tasks; empower stakeholders and widen the reach of your consultations; capture key points and themes in depth, and get the answers you need and understand more.

Meet the VisionsLive team at Marketing Week Live 2013 (Stand F108), 26-27 June, Grand Hall, Olympia, London.

FOR MORE INFORMATION www.visionslive.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION www.cim.co.uk

Be the talk of the town with an event held at the iconic British Museum The Clore Education Centre, located in the lower level of The British Museum’s Great Court, is available to be used for a number of events, including conferencing, product launches, film screenings, receptions and dinners.

The Clore Education Centre incorporates two state-of-the-art lecture theatres with adjoining foyer spaces for up to 323 guests (seated and standing reception) and smaller satellite rooms for meetings from ten to 80 guests, featuring Barco HD projectors and a green room.

Some of the experienced suppliers available to cater for your choice of specialised event include: benugo hospitality, Jackson Gilmour, Zafferano, White Light and Event Concept.

The following is a testimonial from one of Clore’s clients, Sally Miller, senior communications officer for the government’s Department for Culture, Media & Sport: ”Just want to say thank you for your help with our event. Everyone was very pleased with how smoothly the event went.

And what a lovely backdrop the British Museum provided. Everyone couldn’t have been more helpful or accommodating.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION Corporate@britishmuseum.org www.britishmuseum.org/space

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BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

Conference Roehampton offers a range of event spaces in some

of the area’s most Roehampton notable historic buildings as well as offering Conference lecture theatres, and seminar rooms with a more modern feel. offers a range of event spaces Our Georgian Mansions, Grove House & Parkstead House, both hidden in some the area’s most in the heart of of Roehampton on the edge Richmond Park offer a unique mixture of traditional meeting rooms, exquisite banqueting suites and notable historic buildings as modern lecture halls. Our two conference centres, Duchesne and Queensas Building, both havelecture state of the theatres, art lecture theatres holding well offering up to 300 delegates ideal for conferences, meetings and team away days. and seminar rooms with Conference Roehampton can offer the choicea of more en-suite and standard bedrooms across all four venues in the summer months. modern feel.

Iconic buildings, modern facilities, professional service

To learn more or book an appointment please call our events team on n offers a range of event spaces in some 020 8392 8100 or visit www.conferenceroehampton.co.uk Our Georgian Mansions, Grove ble historic buildings as well as offering House & Parkstead House, both minar rooms with a more modern feel. hidden in the heart of Roehampton on

central london locatIons Conveniently placed for transport links, most of our buildings are close to the River Thames between London Bridge and the Houses of Parliament.

the edge of Richmond Park offer a unique

of traditional meeting rooms, Grove Housemixture & Parkstead House, both hidden exquisite banqueting suites and modern n on the edge Richmond Park offer a unique lecture halls. Our two conference centres, ting rooms, exquisite banqueting and Duchesne and Queen’ssuites Building, both have state of the art lecture two conference centres, Duchesne and theatres holding up to 300 delegates ve state of the ideal art lecture theatres holding for conferences, meetings team away days.

Conference or conferences, and meetings and team away days.

Roehampton can offer the choice of an offer the choice of en-suite and standard en-suite and standard bedrooms across enues in the summer months. all four venues in the summer months. appointment please call our events team on To learn more or book an appointment, w.conferenceroehampton.co.uk please call our events team on 020 8392 8100

• Choice of over 200 different spaces for both private and public sectors Historical and modern buildings • State-of-the-art facilities and AV equipment • Residential accommodation available, summer months • Our Waterloo Venue is near to the South Bank Centre, Waterloo Station and the IMAX Cinema. contact us: tel +44 (0)20 7848 1700 email kingsvenues@kcl.ac.uk www.kingsvenues.com

or visit www.conferenceroehampton.co.uk

Promoting University of Essex hotel and conference venues

n Opened as a purpose-built conference centre in support of our

academic vocation, Robinson College Cambridge has been excelling as a conference venue for over 30 years by exceeding expectations. n Silver level AIM accredited venue n Your event objectives and delivering on those are of utmost importance to us n Service + portfolio offering an extensive choice of event support services and delegate management tools n “Early Bird” and “Try Before You Buy” offers always available n Year-round residential conference facilities and central location with easy access and parking n Reputation for outstanding imaginative food and great service n Experienced Event Managers, IT & AV support on site n Complimentary fast wireless broadband connection and social media options

Call the Conference Office on 01223 332859 or email conference@robinson.cam.ac.uk to find out more or arrange a site visit Robinson College Grange Road Cambridge CB3 9AN Telephone 01223 332859 Fax 01223 315094 conference@robinson.cam.ac.uk www.robinson.cam.ac.uk/conferences

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GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

Make Essex your next venue



Exceptional meeting spaces with exceptional service



Flexible, tailored conference packages with a warm welcome



Vibrant venues to stimulate ideas



Competitive rates to suit your needs T 01206 872358 E venues@essex.ac.uk

www.venue-essex.co.uk

ACADEMIC VENUES

GOING ACADEMIC

Conferences & Events

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

Eileen Bolton dishes out ten reasons to choose an academic venue when planning your meeting, conference or event business is a valuable revenue to colleges and universities. The cost of the conference facilities is supported by a number of services already employed to deliver a service to students, so the costs can be competitive when passed on to the conference buyers.

FLEXIBILITY In Being flexible is key for any e h t , venue which is why colleges the UK jority a and universities offer very m t s va d n flexible space with equally a s ge flexible furniture to of colleties offer i accommodate a number s r unive t venues at of different room n e l , l y e e layouts, such as theatre, c n x o e for m d e cabaret, boardroom, u l a v l rea classroom, U shape, require with allilities banquet, horseshoe, group circle, reception, and chevron. fac

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY From reducing waste, pollution and carbon emissions, to working with local suppliers (who also have strong sustainable credentials), colleges and universities are in the forefront of green initiatives.

Sustainability is also a key part of a college’s or university’s wider policy on CSR where they closely examine their impact on resources, environment and the local community.

VALUE FOR MONEY This is the number one influencing factor when booking a conference. Conference

AUDIO VISUAL Audio Visual (AV) is often built into the room and the overall cost, making it far more competitive in colleges and universities than in hotels/conference venues and free internet comes as standard.

AVAILABILITY With many colleges and universities having dedicated conference facilities at their fingertips, their portfolio of venues tends to increase massively out of term time giving even greater choice of availability for large scale conferences, meetings and events.

NETWORKING Colleges and universities are built with

large numbers of people in mind with specific areas designed for congregating groups. These provide great networking/ breakout spaces which is a key requirement for many organisers and often the most important aspect of meetings.

CUSTOMER SERVICE Colleges and universities usually have a lower turnover of dedicated staff. For the client this means: continuity of service, attention to detail (as staff remember clients from previous bookings), friendliness, and – as they are not part of a large hotel chain – they can often offer a more flexible and individual service.

CHOICE There is so much space to choose from including sports halls to great halls, lecture theatres to meeting rooms, exhibition spaces to large open outdoor areas.

UNIQUE EXPERIENCES Colleges and universities offer something different from your standard hotel or conference room. You could be having your meeting in the most amazing historical building or the latest architectural masterpiece with fantastic views.

Written by Eileen Bolton, Wessex Conference Centre at Sparsholt College

The public sector currently spends £238 billion on goods and services a year – roughly 15 per cent of the UK economy and £1 for every £7 spent in Britain. Last November, government launched a package of radical reforms setting out a new approach to public procurement that will use the public sector’s purchasing power to deliver greater efficiencies and support.

In the UK, the vast majority of colleges and universities offer excellent venues at real value for money, many of which are available all the year round, with all the facilities you could possibly require.

Here are top ten reasons to choose an academic venue when planning your conference, event or meeting.

ASK THE EXPERTS Most colleges and universities have dedicated conference teams or on-site specialists who are able to meet and discuss the requirements of the client and then hopefully exceed expectations. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.thewessexcentre.co.uk

Venue Essex offers a full-service package of inspirational and vibrant event venues Venue Essex is a one-stop service for conferences and events facilities at the University of Essex. It offers a full-service conference package, including top-quality meeting spaces, accommodation and competitive rates to suit all your event needs.

The Colchester and Southend campuses offer a selection of flexible meeting and conference rooms, with audiovisual equipment and video conferencing options.

The Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall is a flexible space, ideal for exhibitions and conferences, with theatre-style seating for up to 1,000.

High-quality, modern meeting space for up to 64 is available at the Tony Rich Teaching Centre and the Elmer Suite.

registration, exhibition and catering.

In addition to these, the iLabs in Colchester and Southend campuses are inspirational facilities designed to encourage creative thinking and problem solving, transporting groups from their everyday environment into an extraordinary space.

The iLabs have a proven track record of high customer satisfaction in areas including strategic planning, conflict management, organisational change and consensus building.

The Lecture Theatre Building has nine tiered theatre-style rooms with space for

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 01206 872358 www.venue-essex.co.uk

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Tel: 0845 2711 902 Fax: 0845 2711 903 contact@modpb.co.uk

Modular and Portable Buildings provide quality new and used single and multi-storey modular buildings and portable cabins. This flexible method of off-site construction is suitable for a number of market sectors with uses such as offices, classrooms and living accommodation. Our bespoke solutions offer many key benefits such as costs savings and accelerated build times.

Rent or buy...

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You can purchase outright or hire the building for the duration of its requirement. You can even spread the cost with our in-house finance packages.

Modular & Portable Buildings can provide you with a newly constructed or fully refurbished quality modular building of any size to suit any requirement.

We provide cost saving solutions for companies allowing them to continue to expand without posing too much financial burden on themselves

Call us today on 0845 2711 902

www.modpb.co.uk Education

Commercial

Healthcare

Retail

Construction

Leisure

Harper Adams University’s Hillscourt is a beautiful rural location is a unique setting for your training venue for any unique event and conference needs If you are after a high-quality conference venue in the West Midlands, Harper Adams is the ideal choice. Suitable for everything from corporate parties and conferences, training and team-building, to weddings and other celebrations, this is the place to hold any event.

The campus combines contemporary facilities with a peaceful rural environment and a friendly, welcoming service. Facilities include an impressive library, IT training rooms with computing and engineering design suites, and large lecture theatres.

The campus also features specialist laboratories, teaching rooms, the University Farm, postgraduate and professional development centre, and West Midlands Regional Food Academy.

Facilities on offer include modern, high-spec AV and multi-media equipment, and video conferencing facilities

are available. Wi-Fi with free access is also available.

The award-winning culinary team prides itself on food that is local, ethically sourced and beautifully prepared in pleasant surroundings. With the majority of ingredients from local producers, the University Farm, or Fairtrade accredited.

The venue is located just 20 minutes from the M54 and M6 motorways, while being close to Telford, Stafford and Shrewsbury.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01952 815324 conferences@harperadams.ac.uk www.harper-adams.ac.uk

Set in 25 acres of attractive grounds near Bromsgrove on the southern border of Birmingham, Hillscourt offers an ideal environment for conferences and training events.

A former school, now owned and operated by teachers’ trade union NASUWT, Hillscourt is centred around Hillscourt House, a Victorian mansion which has been extended and modernised to provide excellent meeting and catering facilities.

Hillscourt offers a 100-seat restaurant and fully licensed bar.

Most of the 55 bedrooms are in a 1989 purpose-built block, with en-suite shower room, direct dial telephone, remote control colour TV, and tea/coffee facilities.

The nine conference rooms range in size from the conference hall, for up to 150 in a theatre-style layout, to the boardroom, designed to accommodate eight delegates.

The conference hall is equipped with a modern audio-visual system, incorporating the latest

data/video projection facilities.

Featuring a ceiling-mounted projection unit, which projects images from a computer or video source on to a retractable screen. The system comes complete with built-in induction loop to assist hearing-aid users.

Portable multimedia units and laptops are available for use in the smaller meeting rooms.

The ample car parking facilities are covered by 24-hour CCTV. There is also an entrance/exit barrier system, offering added security for delegates.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 0121 457 6100 www.hillscourt.co.uk

Cambridge’s Robinson College grabs AIM silver and is now going for gold

Conference facilities at the home of science, engineering and medicine

AIM is the nationwide kitemark for accredited venues and service providers in the meetings, conference and events industry: a reassurance that users are buying professionalism, quality and value for money.

Robinson College is proud to have achieved an AIM Silver accreditation and is now using Aiming for Gold to drive its improvement agenda and ensure even higher standards and achievements for the benefit of its customers. Robinson believes that the added investment will give it huge returns.

The college’s recent assessment resulted in high scores across all key areas of the operation, including legal compliance related to health and safety, food hygiene and disability discrimination, in addition to facilities and customer service.

The accreditation team was particularly complimentary about Robinson’s staff, describing them

The Royal Society is a selfgoverning fellowship of many of the world’s most distinguished scientists drawn from all areas of science, engineering and medicine, and the UK’s national academy of sciences.

The Society’s mission is to recognise, promote and support excellence in science, and encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity.

It has hosted and organised some of the most important events in the scientific world and regularly hosts visiting heads of state and government and members of the Royal Society.

There are 12 meeting rooms and complimentary Wi-Fi throughout the building. Meetings and events can be hosted from four people to conferences for up to 300 guests in the Wellcome Trust Lecture Hall.

Also on offer is a dedicated suite of rooms, ideally suited to

as “trained, dedicated and highly motivated”. This year’s score of 91.3 per cent also improved from the 86.7 per cent three years ago.

The assessors were impressed by the introduction of a “12-part service level guarantee”, to ensure customer service not only meets but surpasses expectations.

The Meetings Industry Association’s ratings given to accredited venues are a guarantee to customers that the facilities assessed are of a high enough standard to meet the criteria.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01223 332859 www.robinson.cam. ac.uk/conferences

Conferences & Events

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

training events and seminars.

The Royal Society is located in Carlton House Terrace, along the Mall, with views of St James’s Park and excellent public transport links.

The Society is an ideal location for meetings, seminars, training events and conferences, and our dedicated events team will look after all your event needs.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 0207 451 2207 conference.admin@ royalsociety.org www.royalsociety.org

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BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

Historic Hanbury Manor

Cotswold Water Park Four Pillars Hotel • 328 bedrooms accomodating over 600 delegates (additional rooms can be arranged within walking distance, increasing the number of rooms to 400) • Two main large conference suites each catering for up to 400 delegates • Permanent rigid sided marquee, catering for up to 500 delegates and can be extended to take up to1000 delegates • The marquee is often used for product launches as it can take vehicles weighing up to 2.5 ton • 21 meeting rooms in total, many of which sub divide • Over 2000m2 in total conference and exhibition space • Restaurant lunch capacity for 400 in one sitting with two permanent buffets • 100mb super high speed and completely free Wi-Fi across the resort • 56 acre site with private lake and grounds • Free car parking onsite for 500 vehicles • Spa, pub and apartments also part of the resort • Conveniently located 20 minutes to the M4 & M5, 1.5 hour from London

For further details contact one of the team on 01285 864333 or visit www.cotswoldwaterparkhotel.co.uk

Historic Jacobean-style mansion Hanbury Manor, a Marriott Hotel & Country Club based in Ware, Hertfordshire offers 161 traditional bedrooms, two restaurants, daily servings of traditional afternoon tea, spa facilities, 18 hole PGA championship golf course, 14 unique banqueting spaces ideal for business, weddings and social events.

For further information, please contact the hotel on: 01920 487722

Hanbury Manor, a Marriott Hotel & Country Club Ware, Hertfordshire, SG12 0SD Website: MarriotHanburyManor.co.uk

Corporate & Social Events The Crown Moran Hotel is the place to meet for all corporate and social occasions • Preferential bedroom rates • Air conditioned rooms • Event rooms for 2 - 300 people • Daily Delegate packages available from £39 per person • Social event packages available from £28 per person 142-152 Cricklewood Broadway, Cricklewood, London, NW2 3ED Tel: 020 8452 4175 Email: cb.crown@moranhotels.com

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GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

GREEN EVENTS

GREENING GREAT BRITAIN’S MEETINGS

With the Olympics becoming a wonderful memory of last summer in the UK we are looking at how the meetings and events industry can develop a positive legacy for the future of meetings. Large events now have ISO 20121 to help them bring sustainability to their supply chains and event planning. This is great for regular events particularly if they are held at the same venues as they can demonstrate continuous improvement compared to previous events.

However many events and meetings may be one off activities or may be hosted in a range of different building types and locations. Therefore a more holistic approach is also required. Sustainable venues can seek to gain a certification. For example in Canada the Vancouver Convention Centre was built along sustainability themes and gained a Platinum LEED certification for its design and build. In the UK the Building Research Establishment operate BREEAM a certification for sustainability used in designs and developments.

In order to assess the management of buildings and businesses ISO14001 was created many years ago and the Green Tourism certification operated by Green Business UK covers the hospitality sector specifically with three award levels Bronze Silver and Gold. This certification is updated every four years and is now operating version four.

The award covers the management of the business (and its products and services), awareness of staff and the achievements in minimising the footprint of the building.

Written by Jonathan Proctor, technical director of Green Tourism

There are various industry standards and certification that the events sector can gain to prove its sustainability. But there are also simple ways to green any event, writes Jon Proctor

Conferences & Events

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

meetings through his own experience of how the leaders in the industry are applying sustainability to conference centres as well as on the small scale through hotels and other venues.

“The first rule we operate under is that any building can be classified as sustainable (provided it operates best practice in management and resource use issues). This means that historical houses and venues can tackle sustainability just as well as new build developments.”

In fact as evidenced through Green Tourism assessments a number of new developments have significantly larger carbon footprints than historical properties.

Thermal imaging surveys carried out on historical properties show that historical E

Large e hav events to help 21 ISO 201 stainability bring suir planning to the ply chains. and sup ble venues a Sustain also seek can tion certifica

SUSTAINABILITY AGENDA We asked Jon Proctor, technical director of Green Tourism to provide some top tips and insights into the development of green

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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DEMO DAYS

GREEN EVENTS

About the author

 shutters massively reduce heat losses and together with good temperature and humidity control can be extremely effective in helping a historic venue have a very low energy demand, much lower than many new builds with double or triple glazing.

Proctor continued: “Secondly, we find the best benchmark for focusing on improvement is to look at your history. A significant number of the hotel brands we deal with have annual targets of five per cent reductions in energy and water. This may not seem to be a high objective but if all of us in the UK did this from 2013 to 2020 we would be on target with a 40 per cent reduction in carbon and what with the efforts of the energy supply industry would easily meet the governments tough objectives on climate change.”

“Thirdly we need to share our objectives in an engaging manner. We deal with many wonderful properties (over 2,400) and they often miss the opportunity to engage with the customer as well as they could. Having recently returned from British Colombia where we are rolling out Green Tourism Canada we noticed how much better North Americans are at telling their story. Somehow we in the UK are reticent about saying why we care, how much we

are achieving or would like to achieve. Some businesses hide behind a rather dry policy rather than positively engaging with their customers about sustainability issues.

THE ROLE OF THE BUILDING Proctor added: “Finally another tip is to build from the foundations. Can a meeting be sustainable in a non-sustainable building?

Personally I think not. To me the two things are inextricably linked and part of the reason we established Green Tourism in the first place. Hospitality is not only a major economic driver it is part of the lifeblood of a successful economy and community. Humanity and sustainability are not defined by what we take but by what we give and altruism works as well in the economic world as in the ecological one. I think this is the great lesson from this present recession and there is plenty of evidence that good supplier relations are key to progress in the 21st century.

What we have to do now is drive them towards ever more sustainable solutions.

“When people buy into events and venues it’s because of the stories they can share or become a part of, whether a concert, a conference or a board meeting.

There are some simple practical actions which any venue can adopt to green its meeting however we would warn businesses about over-spinning their actions or plans as these can be very damaging, hence the real value in getting a third party assessment,” concluded Proctor.

There e pl are sim reen g ways toing: car a meet cal bottled ; lo sharing r; seasonal wate enue; and v menus; chandise mer

Simple tips to green your event Travel. Help people plan their travel to and from the destination Water. Serve local or iced tap water linked to a donation to a good cause (such as water aid) Menu. Seasonal food is often less expensive than non-seasonal food imported from abroad Be efficient. Consider the venue’s facilities and see how your event can be more efficient Reduce waste. Avoid excessive merchandise such as bags and give away items Minimise Carbon. Find out how much energy will be used for the event and minimise it Support biodiversity. Why not sponsor an endangered species and have it as your event mascot?

Tell your story. Ensure there are a few minutes to explain to delegates how your greening the event

TIPS TO GO GREEN There are many simple ways to green a meeting. For example, you could help people plan their travel to and from the destination. Help with car or taxi sharing, promote public transport options and consider the value of a minibus pick up.

Consider the water delegates drink.

Local or home bottled or iced tap water linked to a donation to a good cause (such as water aid). This not only should reduce costs compared to bottled waters but the saving can be donated thus helping us all realise access to clean drinking water should not be taken for granted.

Also bear in mind the menu. Choosing a seasonal menu helps ensure local items are supported. Why not consider something which is a taste of the region?

This provides a sense of place and a positive impression for future bookings.

Seasonal food is often less expensive than non‑seasonal food imported from abroad.

What’s more, consider the venues facilities and see how your event can

Jonathan Proctor is technical director of Green Tourism’s business scheme.

Jon has worked in the field of sustainable tourism and energy advice for over 20 years. Originally from Manchester, Jon started his professional career in Shetland where he established a successful environmental consultancy Shetland Environmental Agency Ltd. He is a co-founder of Green Tourism’s business scheme and has a key role in maintaining the technical standards as well as training the Green Tourism assessors. During the past 15 years Jon has assisted in the development of green networks and certification programmes in Europe, New Zealand, Sweden and Canada.

Conferences & Events

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

be more efficient such as switching off certain lighting or appliances. Having a cold buffet. Install sensors or timers and avoid over heating or cooling spaces.

Avoid excessive merchandise such as bags and give away items.

Consider the embodied energy of some materials such as USB keys. Establish a zero waste to landfill policy for the event with waste contractors.

ENERGY USE Find out how much energy will be used for the event and minimise it. Convert the kWh into carbon and support a project which will absorb these emissions (such as tree planting or a social energy programme).

You could also support biodiversity.

After climate change this is the most pressing environmental challenge. Why not have a mascot for the event, sponsor an endangered species at the local zoo or aquarium or support a wildlife charity, plant a native tree in the grounds.

You could then use it to tell your story. Ensure there are a few minutes to explain to delegates what is going on both front of house and behind the scenes. Be simple and fair and don’t over spin your plans or achievements.

A simple story told well will create a lasting memory which will ensure your meetings contain a unique selling point. One which will help us all succeed through challenging times.

I hope this helps you consider how to approach sustainability in meetings. If you do need further help in greening your meeting or venue, please get in touch.

Otherwise encourage the venues you deal with to operate good and best practice in sustainable development. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.green-business.co.uk

Volume 20.3 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Product Profile

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

1.25 million pound expansion helps PRV Engineering re-enter the fabrication and construction markets PRV Engineering has just completed a 1.25 million pound expansion and upgrade project at its site in New Inn, Pontypool, South Wales.

With the addition of an 8000 sq ft building to its already 28000 sq ft facility and the addition of a 10 Tonne overhead crane capacity, PRV have set themselves up to reenter the fabrication and construction markets that it retracted from some years ago to concentrate on developing its internal engineering and fabrication services.

The project has also added to the company’s portfolio 4 State of the art CNC machining Centres, namely, a Mazak Multi Tasking Integrex i400 machining centre, a Mazak VTC 800/30SR 5 axis 3 metre machining centre, a Mazak Turning Centre with Live tooling and the latest in Horizontal Machining centres, a DMG Mori Seiki NHX5000.

All machines come fully equipped with the latest Renishaw inspection plus probes and software, tool break

detection and work piece orientation.

Adding this equipment to the company’s already impressive list of machines has meant that it can provide any customer with all manner of simple or complex machined component within its size range. And after securing contracts with companies such as AMG Mercedes and General Dynamics the company is looking to expand its already impressive customer portfolio into other similar customers.

Export is firmly in the sights of PRV

engineering’s CEO Simon Jones who has already developed the company’s activities to represent 23 per cent of its total output which in 2012 reached 4 Million.

The company currently employs around 51 personnel and has taken on 7 new employees in the past 12 months.

Recruiting is still high on the company’s agenda and it is always looking to add skilled engineers to its workforce.

With the machining facility, fabrication, deep hole drilling, presswork, paint and powder coating services already provided by the company, the additions and expansion has reinforced PRV Engineering Ltd’s position as a true one-stopshop facility capable of providing a whole host components and services from the smallest up to 10 tonne in single section weight.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01495 769697 enquiries@prv-engineering.co.uk.

email: enquiries@prv-engineering.co.uk

www.prv-engineering.co.uk

Tel: 01495 769697 Fax: 01495 769776

Services • CNC Turning • CNC Milling • CAD/CAM • Conventional Machining • Deep Hole Drilling • Fabrication • Sheet Metal Work • Presswork • Prototyping • Mechanical Installation • Project Management • Design & test • Wet spray Painting • Powder Coating • Shot Blasting • Toolmaking

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GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

Products • Busbars • Acoustic Covers • Rail & Track Products • Copper Braids • Architectural Staircases & Railings • OEM Spares • Gauges • Special Purpose Tooling • Electrical Sleeving • Conveyor Systems • Electrical Contacts • Electrical Connections • Material Handling Equipment • Access Platforms & Ladders • Complete Machined Castings • Balustrades & Balconies

HEALTH & SAFETY

Pest Control

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

PUBLIC HEALTH PEST

Pest control has been seen as an easy target for cuts, often without consideration of the consequences should public health be adversely affected.

Reputations can be ruined and businesses destroyed if pest activity is allowed to develop in sites and businesses.

Media and social networking sites rapidly pick up on and report about pest infestations, throwing organisations in to the media limelight without always considering the facts. Turnover and occupancy in hospitality related businesses can be seriously damaged by adverse publicity, significantly reducing operating profits.

Pests and pest activity is of general interest to many members of the public, and media coverage can be sudden and intense. So for a whole borough to be seen as a haven for pests is just as potentially damaging, and will invoke the wrath of the local community.

THE HEALTH RISKS Many pests carry an associated health risk, and those that spread diseases are termed ‘Public Health’ pests. Rats for example carry a number of diseases including the potentially fatal Weils disease (Leptospirosis), and common houseflies carry a number of pathogens.

Not only can pests spoil foodstuffs and stored goods, they can also damage the fabric and fixtures of building. Rodents are especially problematic in this respect as their incisor teeth grow throughout their life, and they must gnaw to wear them down. Items that can typically be gnawed are electrical wiring and water tanks, leading to fires, flooding and the risk of electrocution.

Those of us with even the longest memories find it difficult to imagine major epidemics caused by pests – our eradication and control measures have kept such problems at bay. So pest control may be its own worst enemy; a victim of its success, if you will.

Coupled with this lack of awareness is the economic situation which focuses activity into key areas, with pest control often not being seen as vital. The situation in councils across the UK is worrying. BPCA carried out our

second National Survey of Pest Species, which involved contacting every local authority across the UK to gauge their pest control activity, and allowed some analysis of trends and forecasts of future intent. The picture does not look good.

Over one fifth of Councils lost pest control staff last year and did not replace them. In the capital the problem is worse, with 40 per cent of London councils cutting back on staffing last year, despite the major tourist draws of the Jubilee and London 2012 bringing increased visitor numbers.

The number of Councils still offering free or subsidised pest control has also plummeted; yet research from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health shows more than half of the public see local authorities as the persons responsible for pest control, and a similar percentage would ask their council first for advice on a pest problem.

biology and behaviour, this problem is acute, and for the untrained public, who often don’t read the label of the products they buy from their local DIY retailer, their success rate is very much lower. So with all these challenges, how can we maintain control?

The British Pest Control Association believes that we must work together to avoid significant outbreaks of public health problems brought on by pest activity. There is of course a role for both the public and private sector pest control professionals. But the third part of this equation, the local authority pest control service is also vital. In-house pest control teams offer local knowledge and experience, while being embedded in the body corporate ultimately responsible for the maintenance of public health. After all, if the public and private pest controllers fail to maintain control, it will be thrown back onto Councils to reduce pest infestations under the relevant legislation such as The Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949. Local authorities can also deal with insect infestations under the terms of the Public Health Act 1936/1961, and where infested or contaminated food is served by eating establishments, prosecution is possible under the Food Safety Act 1990.

Many y rr pests caated ci an asso sk. Rats i health r ber of fatal m u carry a nses, including disea Disease Weils irosis) (Leptosp

WILL THE PROBLEM FLOURISH? So is the gap between the public’s perception of pest control and reality causing pest species to flourish? As we know, pests are designed to thrive in the most adverse of conditions, and with very little reduction in control measures, their populations can expand rapidly. For example mice will reproduce at such a rate (6-8 offspring every 6 weeks) that a single breeding pair in an apartment block void will quickly spread throughout the complex and beyond, making control both expensive and difficult.

Similarly, rodents adapt so well to man’s attempts to control them that resistance to common rodenticides is growing, and both rats and mice are becoming more and more ‘bait-shy’, ie learning that the tempting food in the plastic box is best avoided. For professional pest controllers trained in pest

Written by Simon Forrester, chief executive of the British Pest Control Association

The British Pest Control Association’s Simon Forrester examines the UK’s growing pest problem and how local authorities have a central role in maintaining control of public health pests

OUTSOURCING Almost 20 per cent of UK councils now contract out pest control services, and more worryingly, another 35 per cent currently have no in-house pest control service at all, leading us to the question ‘how are the public’s needs being met?’ One concern is E

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Pest Control

HEALTH & SAFETY  that as local in-house knowledge is lost, the tendering process becomes more difficult, and once this recession ends the re-establishment of an in-house service is made that much more difficult.

Local authorities are either contracting out, or trying to become more commercial, setting up contracts with the local RSL or even promoting their services alongside private sector companies.

It could be argued that if local authorities begin to charge, the public will either pay, go to a private contractor, or will try a DIY treatment. The evidence from CIEH shows the majority of people will pay something, but it is likely that this will be the last-chance option. So what of the ‘Do It Yourself’ route? While there is clearly a role for the public in pest control, one of the major concerns is that the public are not sufficiently knowledgeable to deal with pests in their homes. Apart from the wasted expense of trying and failing to treat an infestation, the public may be storing up problems by increasing resistance to pesticides, or worse than that, causing poisonings of non-target species.

Dealing with some species, such as cockroaches or pharaoh ants, requires skills that have been perfected over many years.

Our belief is that it should be left to the experts, and that councils are the first port of call, supported by specialists in specific areas like bird management or bed bug control.

they are a cute and cuddly species (sadly most people who have met a rat have seen one as a domestic pet, not in its more common environment of a sewer pipe or under decking). The recession is expanding the belief that pest control is somebody else’s problem, when in fact it is a problem for us all to face together.

And in terms of the use of commercial pest control, there are professionals and ‘professionals’. Because pest control is virtually unregulated (there exists no licencing scheme for public health pest control), and access to biocidal products is relatively easy (they are classed for ‘professional use only), it’s said that anyone can be a professional pest controller if the definition of ‘professional’ is someone who ‘does a job for money’. The belief of BPCA is that the definition of a professional must include proper training to a recognised level, plus regular updates to their knowledge of legislation, products, methods and systems.

You wouldn’t go to a surgeon who trained 50 years ago and still used the same tools and methods, so why accept this from a pest controller? The HSE’s Chemicals Regulation Directorate recently wrote to local authority CEOs about pest control, emphasising the importance of professional users (using BPCA’s definition of professional).

expertise, where are they directing the public? The pest control industry has reacted to this need by supporting the BASIS PROMPT scheme, an independent register of professional pest controllers currently with over 2,000 technicians on it. While it is easy to find a professional pest control company (such as a BPCA member), the staff who visit a site need to be trained and competent. If a Council recommends their residents use company X, but the staff sent to treat the infestation had no training, how would this reflect on the local authority? Our suggestion is to only recommend to the public that they allow pest controllers with the BASIS PROMPT card to treat within their homes. On this theme, our suggestion to Councils is also to ensure their sub-contracted pest control companies have 100 per cent of technicians on a recognised CPD scheme – without this how can you ensure the technicians know their job, and are not storing up problems for you to deal with later?

Another route to peace of mind is to use a member of a recognised trade association, which provides its members with advice and support, and regularly audits their practice.

Councils who contract out services or who point residents to external providers should consider only recommending companies who are members of a trade association such as the British Pest Control Association which is the only UK pest control body to fully audit all its member companies.

So in summary, the three key players in public health pest control (the public, local authorities and professional pest control companies) have an interdependent role which must be preserved in order to maintain control. Each can learn from and help the other, vital in the current economic climate where many people’s first response is to do nothing, unaware of the long-term effects of their inactivity. L

THE SKILLS FOR THE JOB If local authorities have no in-house

FURTHER INFORMATION www.bpca.org.uk

Almost nt population ce has established it 20 per uncils o will rapidly expand of UK c tract out to seek new shelter, n now co rol services, food and water sources.

And control in multint pest co re worringly, occupancy sites is and mor 35 per cent difficult at best. People’s to pest species anothe no in-house arereactions difficult to gauge – have control some may even say that the rat infestation is fine, because pest

DOING NOTHING But if the Council is charging for the service, the fourth option is of course to do nothing.

And this is where the problems begin to multiply. Ask any private or public sector pest controller, and they will tell you that it is much easier to maintain control than to try to gain control of a pest population. Once a

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The Watertight package offers protection for you and your property against the risk of flooding. Above all, it offers peace of mind.

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GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

PRINTING

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Advertisement Feature

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Graham Lowes, marketing director at OKI Systems UK discusses why compatible consumables are not the answer to reducing print spend, especially when local government can achieve better value and drive efficiencies by adopting smarter printing pratices At first glance, you may think that public spending has increased from £689.63bn in 2010-11 to £694.89bn in 2011-12. However, once inflation is taken into account, it is in real-terms a cut of 1.58 per cent, or £10.8bn. In fact, first impressions can be deceiving, just as, on first glance, the use of cheap compatible consumables may seem tempting in order to reduce print spend.

It’s not surprising that there is a temptation to purchase cheaper print consumables rather than those from the original manufacturer, which in most cases can be more expensive.

However, delve a little deeper and it becomes apparent that buying poor quality substitutes can negatively affect a printer’s performance, may adversely affect manufacturer warranty and lower print quality. There are far more cost effective approaches to take; for example, deploying OKI’s managed print services.

DON’T BE FOOLED The majority of cheap compatible consumables are not likely to meet the high technical demands of a local government’s printing needs. As a result, these poor quality substitutes can damage both the performance and print output quality, leading to unnecessary printer downtime.

In the long run, the use of ill-fitting consumables will eventually take its toll on the printers’ life span. Local governments may well end up having to replace devices, which is far more costly than simply buying the correct consumables in the first place.

Especially as the use of compatible goods can invalidate the devices warranty, so the cost of fixing or replacing a printer may rocket.

OKI offers a standard warranty of 12 months for its products but uniquely in the market, it also offers an extension to the warranty to three years upon registration. This is a valuable additional safeguard for ensuring reliable performance. However, it’s still important that users don’t damage this warranty with the use of compatible consumables.

Buying original consumables makes sense because in an independent Consumables Evaluation Report, conducted by Buyers Laboratory Inc (BLI) and commissioned by OKI, which compared original OKI print cartridges with third party brands, it was found that OKI solutions had 100 per cent reliability and for image quality they outperformed all competitor cartridges. When compared to the poorest quality competitor, OKIs colour page yield was more than 19 per cent higher.

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the likelihood of purchasing a counterfeit.

A foil security seal helps to denote that the packaging and its contents are genuine.

MOVE TO MANAGED PRINT SERVICES There is no need for any local government to jeopardise their printing processes with the use of compatible consumables, not when alternative options for reducing print costs can be utilised, such as managed print services.

OKI’s managed print services, is an approach that unifies and manages all print processes, while ensuring printing operations are more closely matched to an organisation’s workflow and specific goals, such as reducing costs, energy consumption and carbon footprint reductions.

Managed print services provides the perfect solution for any local government looking to streamline print operations as the first part of the process delivers an all-inclusive analysis of the print environment. From this, a long-term print solution is designed, one that ensures print devices are used in the most resourceful manner and that printing practices are unified and managed more closely.

THINK SMART AND ACT SMART A major part of managed print services is printing smart. For example, simply working with the most advanced printers can help to reduce energy consumption and costs.

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Leading the way, OKI is now building ‘AutoPower Off’ technology into many devices; the setting automatically powers down the printer after extended periods of nonusage, which can be determined by the user.

While Deep Sleep mode, available on all OKI devices, reduces power consumption to the barest minimum (often less than one watt).

Managed print services is not just about the deployment of new printers, but adopting smarter working habits as well. Best practice print processes should be used across all devices such as default double-sided and mono printing, which reduces paper and toner costs. While, printing in-house, it becomes possible to eliminate the overruns typical of outsourced printing and by raising the level of ‘right first time’ printouts, it reduces the need to repeat work.

Instead of cutting corners for shortterm gain and buying inadequate, cheap printer consumables, local government should consider adopting smarter printing practices with OKI’s managed print services.

Deploying managed print services, it becomes possible to streamline operations and ultimately reduce print costs both in the short and long term, eliminating the need for compatible consumables.

FOR MORE INFORMATION www.oki.co.uk

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GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

Award-winning safety knee-pads save injury, time and loss of earnings

Hear the government’s plans for growth at the Planning Convention 2013

Redbacks is an award-winning, non-foam based, safety knee-pad, which maintains its maximum cushioning effect throughout consecutive or prolonged use.

Cliff Lockyer, CEO of CL-7 Limited, manufacturers of the new UK-designed Redbacks cushioning knee-pads (winners of the 2012 SATRA Best Innovation in Occupational PPE Award), claims: “[Redbacks] can help prevent up to six months’ downtime and subsequent loss of earnings through knee injury in the workplace.

“There are over 80,000 registered knee operations by the NHS each year,” says Cliff Lockyer. “Sixty per cent of which are due to injuries resulting from soft tissue ‘wear and tear’ or osteoarthritis caused by inadequate protection whilst kneeling.”

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Focusing on the key issue of growth, RTPI’s Planning Convention 2013 on 11 July will cover a broad vision of the future we should now be planning for; drilling down into the practical mechanisms planners on the ground are using to create growth.

At the event this year, the Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, will deliver the keynote address. And he will be joined by leading edge speakers from across the industry.

Delegates will also have the opportunity to hear the latest updates and insight from government at the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG)’s popular surgery, hosted by DCLG’s chief planner Steve Quartermain.

The packed programme features plenaries, special interest sessions, exhibition and high quality networking,

feature a soft and flexible TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomer) leaf-spring set within a unique honeycomb matrix.

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and is the leading event for anyone working in planning.

There will be additional study tours in London on the day before the event, as well as the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Awards for Planning Excellence.

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Get free tickets for The Eco Technology Show’s SMART Business Conference

JJ Food Service offers up new ways to shop and pay through its website

Through its conference and two-day seminar programme, The Eco Technology Show gives legislative, regulatory and market context to the products and services on offer. The conference will hear from business and public sector leaders on the opportunities for saving money, growing profits and developing new products and services in the face of sustainability challenges.

Confirmed speakers include: David Altabev, future cities demonstrator manager, Technology Strategy Board, demonstrating the opportunity for economic growth and technology leadership that will come about from the Government investment in a centre of excellence for “smart city” and environmental solutions.

Geoff Snelson, director of strategy, Milton Keynes Council, discussing how Milton Keynes is optimising city systems to support economic and housing

JJ Food Service is a privately owned company with a history of almost a quarter of a century supplying all sectors of the food industry. The company has a product range of ambient, frozen, chilled, fresh, packaging and cleaning products.

JJ Food Service has branches in Enfield (head office), Basingstoke, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Doncaster, Sidcup and Leeds.These eight purposebuilt fully operational distribution centers are strategically placed to offer a full national coverage.

High specification cold rooms hold chilled and frozen goods at each branch, with over 200 multi-temperature E5 vehicles for distribution.

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growth, whilst minimising the impact on the environment.

Steve Bowyer, head of economic development, Opportunity Peterborough, on working with European “cleantech” cluster networks. Geoff Raw, strategic director of Place, Brighton & Hove City Council, will also provide a case study.

Other confirmed speakers include Kingfisher, BT and Ambiental, on the commercial opportunities deriving from sustainability challenges.

For free tickets, register at www.ecotechnologyshow.co.uk quoting promotional code GB18.

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Collect’ or ‘Call and Collect’ from one of its branches.

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Advertisers Index

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

Rada: providing practical solutions for infection control in healthcare With more than 80 years of heritage and a determination to provide solutions that meet the needs of today’s healthcare environment, Rada is leading the way in hand washing and showering solutions.

Part of the global Kohler Co., Rada designs and manufactures a wide range of commercial showering and washroom control products from its centre in Cheltenham and services a wide range of hospitals, clinics and NHS trusts across the UK. The Rada product portfolio offers a wealth of TMV3 approved products that meet the specific challenges posed by hospitals.

From taps with innovative InsutechTM safe-to-touch technology to intelligent, digital non-touch controls, important in the fight against HCAIs. Rada has also been a key advocate in the fight for improved infection control and a holistic approach to fighting

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New template strategy for government sectors The Template Company specialises in making Microsoft Office work for you. The company started out producing templates for the legal and banking sectors, with ease of use and speed of productivity in mind.

Of course, customised templates with the aim of making it easier to “be on brand” are a natural outcome, but it’s clear that productivity is equally important.

A company spokesman said: “Similar organisations tend to have similar core processes.

We’d like to bring those organisations together and standardise processes while enabling effective branding that will bring out the individualism of the organisations.”

After a successful project for UK Trade & Investment, The Template Company has made a strategic decision to take their ideas and solutions further into the government sectors as this is where productivity can be a huge gain, allowing those organisations to focus on their core “real work”.

If The Template Company can get people out of admin tasks and back into the real business of government, then their potential can be unleashed and utilised effectively.

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ADVERTISERS INDEX

The publishers accept no responsibility for errors or omissions in this free service Active IQ 42 Airtab UK 41 Alimak Hek 46,49 Alphabet 36 Amazon Irrigation 38 Astro Systems 52 Aura Graphics 40 Bangor University 60 BCR Associates 56 BDRC Continental 16 Benchmark Woodworking 10 Britmet Tileform 27 Calfordseaden 6 Camel Solar UK 28 CDP Print Management 32,34 Chartered Institute of Marketing 61 City of London 40 CL-7 (Redbacks Kneepads) 58,77 Cloth Court Communications 77 Concateno 76 Conergy UK 29 Conference Roehampton 62 Cotsworld Water Park Four Pillars Hotel 66 Crown Moran Hotel 66 CTS Bridges 10 Desem Lifts 49 DMC Elevation 46,49 DSDM Consortium 8 Eco Technology Show 77 Energy Metering Technology 28 Energy Team 28 Etyres.co.uk 56

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GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE | Volume 20.3

Flutter Eyes Franchise 54 Food Industry Technical 28 Foxy Rentals BC Hanbury Manor 66 Harpers Adams University 65 Hastoe Housing Association 74 Hillscourt 65 Hoppings Softwood Products 12 JJ Food Service 77 Jungle Green MRC 16 Kings Venues 62 Kohler Mira 78 Labcold 72 Lowell Financial 20 Minister Services Group 56 Misco UK IBC Modular Portable Buildings 64 Multiple Marketing 50,52 Mystery Shoppers 16 New Charter Housing Trust 32,34 Northstar Research 18 NSM Research 18 Ocean Media 30 OFTEC 24 Oil Tank Supplies IFC OKI Systems UK 75 P & MM Employee Benefits 74 P.S Mailing Services 76 Pilot Navigation 68 Plastil UK 32,34 PRV Engineering 70 Red C Research and Marketing 19

Robinson College 62,65 Scarab Sweepers 72 Service Master 56 Shell UK Oil Products 4 SIG Energy Management 32,34 Skopos 18 Solar Advanced Systems 26 Solar Media 74 Solen Energy UK 22 Start Traffic Management 12 Strategic Telemarketing 76 T Poll Market Intelligence 19 Taylor and Francis Group 35 Technolog 77 Thames Valley Control 44,48 The British Museum 58,61 The College of Estate 33 The Royal Society 65 The Template Company 78 TNS BMRB 14 Total UK 43 Tundra Wood Heating Systems 26 University of Northampton 46,48 Venue Essex 62,63 Vision Critical 18 Visions Live 58,61 Wagging Tails 54 Watertight 73 Winix Europe 52,53 Wire Watcher 40 Wittur 48,49

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