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intouch 49 October 2021 Projects & developments
intouch 49 October 2021 Contents
Contents Projects & developments Quarry Products’ recycling collaboration Page 3 Waste Solutions’ latest depot
Page 4
Performance Homes’ success at launch
Page 5
Win with Move to Improve
Page 11
Safe Drive Stay Alive
Page 12
Our people Homes’ building success
Pages 6–7
Retirements
Pages 8–9
Remembering Damian Bond
Page 10
Coming Down the Other Side
Page 20
Community Earl Kitchener at CarFest
Page 13
Supporting local community projects Pages 14–19 Competitions Spot the puck!
Page 20
Pictured on the cover are (left) Peter Andrew, Group Director – Quarry Products and (right) Ben Avenell, Managing Director – Wiltshire Grab Hire.
Publishers Note intouch is published by The Hills Group Limited. It is distributed to employees, pensioners, shareholders and friends of The Hills Group. Each copy of intouch is collated and mailed by Swindon charity Phoenix Enterprises who work with people recovering from short and long-term mental health problems www.phoenixenterprises.co.uk. Issue No 50 will be published in quarter 1, 2022. Please submit news and photographs (if possible) to the communications department, either to the address opposite, by telephone 01793 714977 or via email to info@hills-group.co.uk The Hills Group Limited makes every effort to verify all information contained within intouch but does not warrant to its accuracy. No view or opinion expressed within intouch should be considered to be that of The Hills Group Limited, its associated companies or any director or officer in its employment. Please recycle your copy of intouch when you are finished with it.
Viewpoint Mike Hill, Chief Executive
Quarry Products creates recycling facility at Shorncote Quarry
Semblance of normality… At last we appear to be living and working in an environment which resembles pre-pandemic life! The amazing success of the NHS vaccination programme looks as if it will defeat coronavirus and free us from the restrictions it imposed on our day-to-day life. I would like to thank everyone that has had the vaccine and encourage people to take up the vaccination when it is offered to them. I sincerely hope going forward it will prevent us ever having to live through a similar situation again. Business as usual Many of our employees have worked throughout the pandemic in front line roles and I commend everybody for the determination and resilience they have shown to get us through the last 18 months. This edition of intouch highlights this spirit and shows that despite the pandemic we have continued business as usual, building new partnerships at Shorncote Quarry and expanding our business in Bristol. During this period, we have also continued to invest in our people including the rollout of Group wide driving safety awareness training, the relaunch of our Move to Improve scheme and you can also read about the achievements of our Homes employees. In addition, we have continued to maintain links with the community, funding many local facilities and sporting activities through Landfill Community Fund grants and Hills sponsorship. As employees that have been working from home return to their workplace I am sure they will draw on the buzz of once again physically working together side by side with their colleagues. The benefits this gives to personal wellbeing, company culture and added value of informal communication are significant.
Unloading material from a customer’s site.
Sorting and separating the material.
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the_hills_group TheHillsGroup
The Hills Group Limited The Hills Group Limited, Wiltshire House, County Park Business Centre, Shrivenham Road, Swindon, Wiltshire SN1 2NR Tel: 01793 781200 Email: info@hills-group.co.uk Web: hills-group.co.uk
A collaboration with Wiltshire Grab Hire has seen land at Shorncote Quarry repurposed for recycled aggregate to be sold. Land at Quarry Products’ site, which is located in the Cotswold Water Park, is leased to Wiltshire Grab Hire to bring in product collected from inert sites (such as construction or demolition sites) for it all to be sorted and segregated into size and type of material to be sold on to customers. Peter Andrew, Group Director – Quarry Products said: “This is a perfect collaboration for us and Wiltshire Grab Hire. The recycling area provides a great solution for the public wanting to have spoil removed from their sites, arranging for Wiltshire Grab Hire to collect. The material is sorted and customers who want to purchase recycled aggregate from us are able to do so. The process helps to support the circular economy.” Our working relationship with Wiltshire Grab Hire continues to expand with them recently taking a three year lease of commercial land at Purton Industrial Estate owned by Hills and locating their offices and a vehicle depot at the site.
Time to reflect The sudden passing of our colleague Damian Bond was a great shock to those who knew and worked with Damian at Hills. We should not forget that whilst coronavirus has taken all the headlines, many of us have had additional personal challenges and losses to overcome.
@HillsGroup
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Loading reusable topsoil for delivery to another customer.
Ben Avenell, Managing Director – Wiltshire Grab Hire said: “We are really pleased to be working together with Hills. Thanks to Quarry Products we have been able to build this part of our business and it is proving successful so far.”
