Target April 2024 Edition

April 2024

Retirements & New Faces

Collace Planning Approval Granted to 2052

Page 6 Pages 4/5/21

S IN ’ T A WH !

ITION D E THIS

Page 22

GREEN LIGHT FOR DRIVER CPC Page 13

Page 10-11

RE-APPROVAL

UCH D M N A E! MOR

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Our Sign Shop has been very creative

Grapevine Hello everyone, Welcome to our Spring edition of Target, bursting with loads of blooming good articles, which showcases your brilliant achievements, and highlights why the communities of Tayside are so reliant on our people in Tayside Contracts, and the services we provide.

This edition is a mix of different themes - such as our peoples’ many achievements (including our apprentices reaching the World Skills Final, our success with Job Academies, achieving Driver Professional Accreditation, and of course our fabulous nominees for the Tayside Excellence Awards).

The edition also celebrates securing the long term benefits for our communities including fantastic national cycling network improvements; extending the life of Collace Quarry for future generations; and the great work of our Signshop team. Helping communities’ wellbeing in other ways is well showcased through the success of our Community Fund work, our charity donations, and the availability of life saving defibrillators (not only by TC but also the good work of Unite Dundee Branch). We also say goodbye to valued colleagues and warmly welcome new arrivals into the TC family.

So there is a lot of great info for you to enjoy. I want to make a special mention for everyone who took the time to compose and submit articles- and once again, well done to Angie Dodds and her team for adding the presentational sparkle that brings our Target stories to life.

I hope you enjoy reading this Target as much as I did. It really gives the reader a boost to see the great work you do. Thank you.

Keith 2

Charities Christmas Donations In the run up to the festive season, we had some gifts very kindly donated by some of our suppliers. However, in accordance with our Hospitality and Gifts Policy, these were all handed in and shared between our nominated charities of choice, CHAS and SCAA. Both charities were delighted to pop in for a visit to Contracts House to receive a mixture of chocolates, vouchers and a few bottles.

Fiona Young from Children's Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS) pictured above, was delighted with the gifts presented by Keith McNamara. Find out more about CHAS here

Claire from Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) was also delighted with the gifts presented

by Lesley McLauchlan. Find out more about SCAA here www.scaa.org.uk

👉🏼

👉🏼 www.chas.org.uk

Gus MacKinnon Retiral After 23 years with Tayside Contracts, Angus (Gus) decided to retire in March of this year.

Having initially started working within the frontline squads with Perth, Gus advanced to various Project Agent roles, initially within Perth and Kinross, until eventually becoming the Project Manager for Angus Operations in 2014. In September 2021, Gus took the option of flexi-retirement and began working with the Business Improvement Team based at Contracts House.

During his time with the team, he was pivotal in creating and supporting improvement actions, and was of great assistance to the estimating team. His longstanding relationships with operational staff was invaluable, and his wealth of experience was an endless source of wisdom and humour.

In his recent work on the Community Fund Programme, Gus worked closely with charities throughout the entire process, providing a friendly face from start to finish and personally mediating between construction operations and prospective candidates. His attention to detail and positive attitude was vital to the success of the initiative, earning him a nomination for outstanding personal contribution at this year’s Tayside Excellence Awards.

During his retirement, Gus intends to continue keeping fit through circuit training and playing squash, as well as travelling the world, with trips this year planned for the likes of Thailand and Australia.

We wish Gus a very long and happy retirement.

Mark Melynk Business Improvement Manager

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Collace Staffing Changes Over the last few months, there has been notable staffing changes at Collace.

Andy Burnett

Andy Burnett has retired from working at Collace Quarry after 7 years’ service.

Andy operated one of Collace’s loading shovels and assisted with the regular maintenance activities the quarry requires to run reliably each day.

We wish Andy a happy retirement and Peter well in his future at Collace.

Furthermore, Peter Nicol commenced employment at Collace on 4th March as a quarry operative. Peter previously worked with HRN Tractors for 15 years, working with various agriculture plant and has previous experience within the construction industry with MAM Contracting, where he worked on a varied range of plant including excavators and loading shovels. In his spare time Peter enjoys long dog walks, fishing and attending tractor pulling events.

Greg Campopiano – Quarry Manager

Peter Nicol

Tayside Contracts received some excellent news in January with the application for the extension of Collace Quarries planning consent approved without any formal objections.

This approval is of significant operational importance, as it provides planning consent to allow for quarrying operations, including coated roadstone production, to continue through to 2052, therefore securing the longer-term service provision of these materials to our three council partners and a long-term source of commercial income, for the sale of these materials to other customers.

The approval was granted with no formal objections being received, which was undoubtedly the result of the significant efforts undertaken in advance of the application being submitted in consulting with all relevant parties associated with the proposal such as local residents and community groups.

Initial works to allow the extension plans to progress were undertaken within late February, with a new boundary fence installed (picture attached) which makes clear the new extents which can be quarried under the new planning approval. Further work will follow in the coming months which will focus on tree felling and stripping of topsoil to allow the extraction of quarry material to begin over the coming years.

In line with the longer-term strategy for Collace Quarry, the planning approval and the recently completed decommissioning of the fixed crushing facility provides long term security for future development opportunities such as the siting of a new coating plant, to see Collace working well into the future.

Dougie McKay, Head of Operations

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Collace Guided Tours At the end of 2023, a selection of Perth & Kinross Council design engineers expressed an interest in visiting Collace Quarry to be better understand how Collace operates day to day, and the challenges faced in manufacturing and delivering a varied range of coated and dry material throughout Tayside, both to internal and external clients.

Co-ordinating everyone’s availability posed a challenge given all the attendees busy workloads, however two dates were secured in March which suited all parties.

Over the two days, twelve visitors from Perth & Kinross Council attended the walk around, with a mixture of design engineers and road inspectors taking time to attend the tours.

Those in attendance found these tours insightful and informative, with the Quarry Manager providing a detailed insight into how Collace Quarry operates, including answering any technical questions as they were posed throughout the tours.

Greg Campopiano – Quarry Manager

Streetlighting Partnership The Streetlighting Partnership has recently welcomed Doug Seery into the role of Project Supervisor. Doug, who leaves his role as Technician Electrician within the Dundee partnership, takes over from Dave Findlay who departed the service last October. In his new role, Doug will act as Supervisor for both the Dundee and Forfar Streetlighting Partnership teams.

Lisa Chiles – SLP Manager

Are you planning on doing some fund raising, volunteering or something else amazing?

If so, let us know about your fantastic efforts!

Just email us at target@tayside-contracts.co.uk and we’ll see you in the next edition.

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NCN 1 EXTENDS Target has previously reported on the successfully delivered National Cycle Route 1 (NCN 1) betterment projects carried out by the Dundee Roads Maintenace Partnership as part of the Broughty Ferry to Monifieth active travel suite of works. As a continuation to these works, the Angus operations team, working out of Cairnie Depot, has been hard at work delivering further phases of upgrades to the NCN 1 from the Dundee border, deep into the Angus countryside. From the summer of 2023 until March of 2024, the following four phases of the NCN 1 have been completed at a cost of just over £1.22million: NCN 1 Barry Station NCN 1 Carnoustie Golf Course NCN 1 Elliot Links Arbroath NCN 1 Marine Drive Monifieth

With active travel having sustainability at its heart, these works were similarly delivered with this in mind, with the reuse and recycling of materials key elements in the project’s delivery.

As part of the four projects, no material was sent to landfill, with 2,700t of soil being reused throughout the projects and 2,822t of recycled type 1 manufactured by the Collace Quarry team at our Cairnie Depot within Arbroath. This proactive and forward thinking approach led to recognition at the Scottish Cycling annual conference, with the project at Barry Station praised by Patrick Harvie MSP for its high quality finish and sustainable ethos.

Thanks to the large number of people involved for the successful delivery!

Scott Banks, Works Manager Angus

It’s been a busy few months at Tayside Contracts Signshop, with the end of year push by client partners across all areas of operations creating a diverse and demanding workload for the Signshop team. As always, the Signshop have assisted with a full end to end, design and installation service assisting our client partners throughout Tayside.

Some projects of note are as follows: Wayfinding Totems, Dundee - Aged wayfinding totems throughout Dundee were in dire need of refresh. Existing totems showed the effects of years of weathering, vandalism and had outdated information contained within them due to the ongoing redevelopment of Dundee’s Waterfront.

The Signshop was tasked with producing the new totem artwork, which involved printing the new artwork in reverse then laminating said artwork on to new acrylic sheeting, ready for installation. The newly laminated artwork was then installed in place of the aged artwork, with the prints revealed to be the correct way round, protected by the acrylic as if by magic once installed in each totem.

These can be found all over Dundee and an example of one of these new Wayfinding Totems can be seen below.

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Replacement Advanced Directional Signage, Perth & Kinross – Advance directional signs give advance notification of the destinations available at the next junction, assisting motorists in safely planning their journey and upcoming manoeuvres.

Damaged signage on the A91 near Milnathort was identified by area inspectors (before/after photo for reference) with the Signshop tasked with undertaking a redesign of the existing damaged signage and installation of new signage.

The new sign plate was cut, riveted, printed and manufactured all within the Signshop. Once on site, two new sign poles were installed and the new advance directional sign mounted on the newly installed poles.

Active Travel Signage, Angus & Dundee - Bespoke Active Travel signs were installed between Broughty Ferry and Monifieth on the National Cycle Network 1 (NCN 1).

Additionally, while undertaking these works, the Signshop also replaced general information plaques in Monifieth which had been damaged. The plaques were removed and stripped so new graphics could be applied and installed. Undertaking both sets of signage work as part of the same visit offered the client for the these works financial savings, another advantage of utilising Tayside Contracts Signshop.

Stevie Doyle – Signshop Manager

A defibrillator is a computerised medical device that delivers an electrical current through the chest which aims to shock the heart back into a normal rhythm allowing it to pump again. Rapid response using automated technology can significantly improve the quality of life of a survivor, as the longer the brain is starved of oxygen, the more damage that can occur.

An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable defibrillator especially designed for people with little or no medical background. When applied to the casualty, voice commands and screen messages will guide the user step-by-step through the process and its intelligent technology will only allow it to shock a ‘shockable’ heart rhythm.

Sudden Cardiac Arrest happens around 140,000 times a year in the UK and is the cause of over 2,000 deaths a week in the UK alone. This is the equivalent to a jumbo jet crashing every day making it one of the UK’s largest killers. After a cardiac arrest, every minute without CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation) and defibrillation reduces an individual’s chance of survival by 10 per cent. For the best chance of survival, a shock to the heart should be delivered within the crucial time period of the first 4-6 minutes; therefore early access to an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is vital.

Tayside Contracts recognises the importance of AEDs in saving lives and has invested in these devices to ensure that any individual experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest within/near to any of our depot or office locations has the best possible chance of survival. Our AEDs are housed in defib cabinets and are located in the following Tayside Contracts buildings: • Aberfeldy Depot – External, Main Entrance • Blairgowire Depot – Internal, Opposite lift • Cairnie Depot – Internal, Front Entrance • Collace Quarry – External, Rear Entrance • Contracts House - External, Main Entrance • Fairmuir Depot – External, Security Cabin • Forfar Depot – External, Entrance to the Canteen • Peasiehill Workshop - Internal, Reception Corridor • Ruthvenfield Depot – Internal, Canteen • Taycuisine – Internal, Rear Exit

All our first aiders have been trained on the use of the AEDs but they are for use by anyone who comes to the aid of an individual who is experiencing cardiac arrest. The AED talks the user through the steps to be followed in order to administer the electric shock and will not administer it if it finds a regular heart beat i.e. an individual who is not experiencing cardiac arrest. The AEDs are selftesting units with a battery life of 5 years (if not used).

by Leanne Reilly, HR Manager

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GREEN LIGHT FOR DRIVER CPC RE-APPROVAL

A review into how Tayside Contracts manages its Drivers CPC Periodic training demonstrated an excellent understanding of the record keeping and internal quality assurance requirements.

The purpose of the review, carried out by the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), was to identify whether current rules for, and organisation of, Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (DCPC) training for Tayside Contracts employees complied with the requirements of periodic training rules and to consider any actions which may improve the value of future delivery.

The review was carried out on 6th February 2024, chaired by a DVSA Quality Assurance Auditor who comprehensively analysed information, evidence and training records for the period 23 April 2018 to 09 November 2023, in total 6 years’ worth of evidence. In that time, we have delivered 223 training events for a total of 1870 learners.

The auditor, after 4 hours of thorough checks, gave us 1 Action Point and 1 Continuous Improvement Point which we will take on board as we remain committed to raising the quality assurance and monitoring of our Driver CPC Periodic Training.

A special thanks must go to those who have been involved in the delivery of our CPC training since 2018, especially our Business Support colleagues led by Gail Johnston who have diligently retained the necessary papers without compromise and aided the audit in an efficient and timely manner and to all our 1870 learners who helped through attending their course on time and with the correct ID, participating willing and completing the Course Feedback sheet!

To everyone, thank you very much!

Leanne Reilly, HR Manager

We are delighted that the live event is back on and we are looking forward to celebrating the excellent work that has been carried out over the last year by our employees. The live awards ceremony will take place in the Invercarse Hotel, Dundee on Friday 10th May. Judging was again carried out by the Convenor and Vice Convenors of the Tayside Contracts Joint Committee and Keith McNamara, Managing Director.

To be chosen as a finalist in an organisation that employees over 2,500 people it is a wonderful achievement and you should be immensely proud The finalists in our Unit awards, those nominated by supervisors and managers are:

Catering Excellence:

Cleaning Excellence:

Montrose Academy, Angus RDM Scone Westend Campus, Dundee

Aberlemno Primary School, Angus Perth Grammar St Fergus Primary, Dundee

Outstanding Performance from and office-based employee or team Finance Unit Gail Johnston, Business Support Assistant Lesley McLauchlan, Procurement Manager

Construction Excellence: Construction Ops Cairnie and Forfar Depots Albert St Regeneration, Dundee PRMP Surfacing Team

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FM Excellence: Brechin Campus, Angus Harris Academy Cluster, Dundee Perth Grammar, Brian Arnott

The finalists in our Open to All awards, those nominated by colleagues and peers are:

Apprentice of the Year: Ailsa Bruce, Apprentice Sign Manufacturing Operative Jack Cottrell, Apprentice Roadworker, Perth Robbie Gibson, Apprentice Roadworker, Dundee

Environment Award Collace Quarry Galin Zhivkov, Fleet Performance Manager Galin Zhivkov, Fleet Performance Manager and Joshua Moore, Environmental Improvement Assistant

Excellence in Customer Service: Loch Leven Community Campus Catering Team Pitlochry FM & Catering Team, Pitlochry High School Robbie MacKillop, IT Engineer

Outstanding Individual Contribution: Angus MacKinnon, Business Improvement Assistant David Kay, Senior IT Engineer Nikhil Mohan, Estimator/Quantity Surveyor

Best Service Team: Carlogie Primary School Catering Team, Angus Daniel MacLachlan & Alan Sturrock's Construction Squad Royal School of Dunkeld Cleaning Team

2023 Leadership Survey Update Our previous Target article give a very quick overview of the return rate of the Investors in People/Tayside Contracts Leadership Survey.

I am pleased to report that we achieved a 34% return rate across the organisation when you match the previous survey against per employee rather than posts which was reported as 28% in previous article. So, a big thank you to all employees who took the time to complete the survey and give us written comments.

The chart below shows the percentage of return rates by Unit/Division

The survey consisted of 9 keys sections and 38 questions, containing 7 scorings ratings from Strongly Agree/Agree/Somewhat Agree, Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat Disagree/Disagree/Strongly Disagree

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The chart below identifies in blue the positive responses to each section.

Employee Comments After each section employees were asked to comment, a sample of some of the comments can be found below. These have been issued direct to the appropriate designated senior manager.

Satisfaction Rate The satisfaction rate is taken from the average of the scorings both “positive responses” and “neutral responses”. In 2021 the organisation achieved a 75% satisfaction rate, however in this most recent survey we achieved 83% which is really encouraging.

What does the survey tell us?

The table below highlights the top 3 areas where we appear to be getting it right and conversely, where we need to improve as identified by participants:

What have we done since getting the survey results?

Since the survey results have been analysed the following has been going on: Corporate and Senior Leadership Team briefed on results.

Designated Senior Managers were briefed on their results and have been issued with full data reports and access to their area “employee comments”.

Our Trade Union representatives and Full Time Officials were briefed on the results at the recent JCC meetings on 13 and 20 March.

On 19 and 20 March our Investors in People Assessor interviewed small groups from around Angus and Dundee where a “below 34% return rate” was achieved to explore the reasons behind completion or non-completion of the survey.

During the above days we also gave the trade unions representatives the opportunity to meet with the assessor.

What are the Next Steps?

Our Designated Senior Managers are reviewing the results for their respective teams/areas and will be developing action plans based on the feedback received.

We also have a corporate IIP action plan which is being reviewed to take account of the feedback received from employees both from the survey and the employee focus groups held on 19 and 20 March.

Thereafter the timetable for our next IIP assessment is as follows:

How can you help as an employee?

Look out for and complete the next survey due to be issued in September 2024. We are talking to managers on the best approach to encourage a higher percentage return rate.

Let us know what you think by participating in the employee interviews if asked to come along in November 2024.

By Susie Newton, Training and Development Adviser

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JOB ACADEMY PARTNERSHIP WITH DISCOVER WORK

e ic v r e S y it il b a y lo p m E lt u Ad

Tayside Contracts were delighted to once again partner with Discover Work - Adult Employability Service to run a Job Academy for the fourth time. The Academy focussed on recruiting for our Catering, Cleaning and School Crossing Patroller roles in Dundee, running for two weeks which commenced on Monday 5 February 2024.

An information session was held on 25 January 2024 and Diane Wilson, Area Catering Supervisor gave a presentation explaining who Tayside Contracts are, the type of roles we have to offer and why we are an employer of choice. The session was well attended and resulted in 30 participants signing up for the Academy, with 24 completing the full two weeks.

During the Academy, Gary Chmiel, Facilities Officer, attended to provide information on our various facilities roles and Diane provided information on our catering roles. The Academy included training on customer service, employability skills, food hygiene, COSHH, application support and interview skills.

To mark the end of the Academy, Tayside Contracts were invited along to a small celebration session held on 23 February 2024. Heather McKenzie, Assistant HR Adviser presented participants who completed the course with a certificate.

We are delighted that from the 24 participants who attended, to date, 14 have gone onto apply for vacancies with Tayside Contracts and 1 has a conditional offer of employment.

Participant/Employee Testimonial Fiona Hislop was one of the participants who attended the Job Academy in October 2023 and was successful in obtaining employment with Tayside Contracts as a School Cleaner.

Here’s what she had to say about the Job Academy and what it is like working for Tayside Contracts: “I loved the Job Academy, and it was one of the best academies I have been on. I felt like it was well informed and well run and it was definitely worth going on for the two weeks. It helped with confidence and building me more skills to feel more confident in going into a new work environment and even meeting new people in the academy was a good thing.

I have been working as a School Cleaner for three months and I work with good people and enjoy my new job. It is more accessible and suitable to my needs. I feel well supported and trained to do my job. I can call my supervisor and ask for help or just advice. If I need a bit more help or more training I can just ask.”

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Sheena Aitchison started with Tayside contracts in 1991 albeit she had previously been in the post with Tayside regional council since 1985.

‘Sheena started on the cleaning buffing floors till they were gleaming now she keeps us girls in line getting the dinner out on time.

Her voice is known far and wide and if you cross her woe betide the shriek will bellow round the room followed by a wooden spoon.

The Tay awards were very nice She got us there not once but twice The bus on the way we got some stares But that was because of the gummy bears.

Keith McNamara- Managing Director , Sheena Aitchison, her Husband George Aitchison, Christine Innes - Facilities Officer, Mr John Donnelly – Campus Leader / Head teacher.

The time has come to say goodbye We’re all going to miss her and that’s no lie We wish her all the very best She certainly does deserve the rest.’

Steps and handrail repaired at Killiecrankie Village Hall, Perth

A new path at Letham Climate Challenge, Perth

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Tayside Contracts is proud to work alongside local communities, and we have set up a Community Fund (with generous Community Benefit Funding from Brakes Scotland, one of our main suppliers) where we can give free services to local community groups and charities, for services that we specialise in. Here are some examples of the difference our people in Tayside Contracts have made

A new path at Blair Atholl Village Hall, Perth

Retexture of the existing ramp at Craigo Community Hall, Angus

The grass was lifted and a path laid at Dundee East Community Sports Club

Paths and parking relevelled at Chapelhill Hall, Perth

A colleague who has mobility challenges is really pleased with the path up to the hall front door and the square is so much better than it was. 22 tons later !

Many many thanks we all really appreciate it Chair of the Trustees

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Unite the Union The use of a defibrillator to save the life of a young footballer, and a Tayside Contract employee, has inspired his branch to sponsor a number of the life saving pieces of kit in local teams in their area.

Steven Smith is a roadworker with Tayside Contracts in Dundee and was playing for his amateur team, Monifieth Athletic AFC, when he collapsed on the pitch. Two players from the opposing team, who were first aid trained, rushed to his aid and delivered CPR on the pitch.

While they carried out CPR one of his teammates ran to the nearest shop and grabbed the defib from the wall. This took nearly 15 minutes, and Steven had died three times waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

The first raiders and the defibrillator kept Steven going until the paramedics took over , but it was a worrying time for everyone at the match, including Stevens' young son, William.

Speaking to The Courier after recovering in hospital Steven said: "One of the worst things for me about it all is that William was watching.”

“Everyone was really great and tried to shield from him what was going on but he’s not stupid and he could see what was happening,” Colin said that, following the incident: “Some of my branch members and I decided to do something about this and asked the Dundee Area Activist Committee if they can help.”

Unite Dundee Branch already sponsors five football teams with football strips. Two of teams are for overweight players getting back to fitness and losing weight, so it was only right that we supply them with a defib.

Monifieth Athletic AFC

The teams that the branch sponsors are Monifieth Athletic AFC, Cannon Fodder FC, Dundee West FFIT, Dundee Discovery FC and Dundee East Craigie JFC. Following one presentation, Dundee Discovery FC thanked the Unite branch, saying: “We would like to give a massive thanks for Unite the Union in Dundee for the very generous donation of a portable defibrillator to take to all of our matches.”

Dundee Discovery FC

The events at Monymusk Park were witnessed by team members and friends alike and have given a stark reminder of how things can change in an instant.

The provision of defibrillators also helped secure free CPR training for the club and means they now have a trained user ready available to help if the worst happens again.

Colin stated ‘the branch was very happy to sponsor these bits of life saving equipment’ and added that: ‘I hope this can lead to more awareness in the football world that a defib on the side-lines can save lives.’

Dundee West FFIT

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Apprentices

Two of our apprentice mechanics, Callum Stewart in Dundee and Thomas (TJ) Twaddle at Peasiehill, Arbroath have been nominated through Edinburgh College to compete in the World Skills competition.

Only three apprentices in total have been nominated by the college, so this speaks volumes about their commitment and skill set.

Both nominees have now completed their initial online test, and if successful, a further announcement will made in June where it will be revealed who has made it through to the National Finals in November.

Should they be successful, they will have the opportunity to compete in the World Finals in Shanghai in 2026.

We wish them all the best going forward.

Paul Anderson Paul recently started working for us as Workshop Supervisor in Perth which also covers Blairgowrie. He previously worked for the MAN Dealership at Halbeath, Dunfermline for 11 years so his new post is a bit of a change of direction for him but a challenge he says he is looking forward to.

Again, we wish him well in his new roll.

Bob Ritchie – Transport Services Manager

Many people are currently struggling with rising living costs. That’s why it’s important to know what help and support is available now that could benefit you, a relative, friend or neighbour.

Help is available to anyone finding times tough - you don’t have to be claiming benefits or out of work.

Click on your Council area below to find help and support.

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