North East Scaffolder’s Contract Success

Grahame Anderson
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North East Scaffolder’s Contract Success

Interlink Scaffolding (ISL) has been working on a major contract worth £5 million involving the worlds biggest waste energy plant currently under construction.

The Atlantic Project Company were looking for a scaffolding contractor to complete the works on the boiler-furnace, and all the associated tasks surrounding the biomass project, at the MGT site on Teesside. North East based ISL had already been appointed in 2018 to work on both the internal and external of the 16 silos storing the biomass. ISL said they used a complex design utilising the Layher Allround system scaffold to offer a working platform to the inside of the silos. With the scaffolding material being purchased directly from Layher for the project. The firm worked alongside both PHB and Technicas Redundas from Spain, on this phase of the job. Later, a meeting was arranged with main contractors to discuss the possibility of ISL pricing works for the rest of the scheme. In fact, ScaffMag understands, 10 companies were asked to tender for the package as the Tyne and Wear scaffolders found themselves up against some big names within the industry. With five then being withdrawn, ISL then found themselves in a due diligence meeting to select the final two. ISL Managing Director Darren Maratty, who is also Vice Chairman of the NASC Northern and North Wales Region told us: “A few people were a little sceptical of a predominantly ‘street work company’ tackling this type of project. We showed some of our past engineering and offshore projects alongside our recent Project of the year success. We also had a slight advantage over our competitors given our knowledge of the local workforce, and also our strong presence in the north-east. In the end, this probably contributed to ISL eventually winning the contract back in October 2019.
ISL Managing Director Darren Maratty
Interlink Scaffolding (ISL) Managing Director Darren Maratty
“We have shown in the last few months that we can achieve the deadlines and programs tasked to our management and scaffolding teams. These together are a mix of long term ISL employees from within the north-east area and a mix of new employees mainly from the Tees side area. This Takes our total work workforce to 236 employees. “The increase in workload should also work in nicely, with our planned new purposely built £1.2m office and training complex, currently in for planning permission. With building work expected to start this summer. – Completion date to be arranged.” In terms of the project, ISL has said 1,800 tonnes of scaffolding materials have been used to date. Wrapping scaffold around the main furnace proved complex, With the furnace hanging from the 57m level and scaffold needed at most of the joints where the pipework meets the boiler, alongside other areas where pipe joints were located. It was nothing however, the Birtley based set up couldn’t handle. ISL is capable of providing access scaffolding and temporary works to almost any market sector including housing, commercial building and civil engineering, industrial sites and rail infrastructure. They have been pursuing the heavy industrial and engineering sectors for the past few years winning some impressive contracts along the way. But this is the largest to date with an approx. value figure of £5 million. Darren added: “I personally think this will take us to the next level with offshore and now heavy industry in our back catalogue. It’s also another feather in our cap. This will increase ISL’s turnover by 50 percent taking us too well over £10m turnover this year. We will be looking to capitalise on this and probably double our turnover in 2021. “This contract win has also shown we as Interlink Scaffolding can compete at the highest level and we will now be actively pursuing the bigger projects within the engineering sector in the UK and Worldwide.”

New design and technical roles introduced at HAKI

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New design and technical roles introduced at HAKI

System scaffolding provider, HAKI, has announced the appointment of Ross Turner as Chief Technical Officer (CTO) and promoted design engineer, Priscila Escobar, to UK Design Manager; both newly created positions within its business.

Ross Turner has joined the senior management team at HAKI Group following the company’s acquisition of Span Access in December last year, where he was Managing Director since 2012.

With more than twenty years’ experience in the access industry, Turner is well-placed as CTO to deliver on the company’s technical requirements, HAKI said in a statement.

He will be responsible for driving pioneering technical solutions and methodologies that encourage safer working practices in temporary works from the organisation’s new innovation centre in Scotland

Turner will be overseeing the entire engineering and technical team across all markets.

Priscila Escobar, who has been working in a design capacity at HAKI for three years, will now lead the design engineering function for the UK market.

Embracing the UK Design Manager role, Escobar will liaise directly with customers to develop effective tailored solutions for their specific projects. HAKI has said, she will also work closely with external consultants and in-house design teams, to ensure all designed works using HAKI provide the highest levels of safety and efficiency.

Escobar will also assist with the testing of new products, maintain all technical literature, develop and integrate design and BIM tools alongside the VDC team, and form part of management to work on other key UK initiatives.

The introduction of both roles reflects the increased demand for design engineering and technical services, particularly in complex temporary works projects, where Safety by Design is becoming a necessity.

Turner commented: “It goes without saying I am excited about my future at HAKI and the opportunity to place innovation at the centre of our business.

“It’s clear the merging of both Span and HAKI technical teams will benefit the development of our core products as well as a range of new market-leading solutions for complex temporary works. 

“I truly believe that the future of temporary works is evolving and further development of our BIM and VDC tools is essential in delivering first-class solutions and technical support for our clients.

“We are also very pleased that Priscila has accepted the role as Design Manager. Her knowledge of our products, design capabilities, and overall enthusiasm for the temporary works sector has led to some outstanding work over the past three years. The promotion is well-deserved, and we look forward to seeing her thrive in the new position.”

Speaking on her promotion and concluding, Escobar said: “It is very exciting to be part of HAKI during this new chapter in the company’s expansion. The integration of Span Access within the business paves the way to a larger offering of access solutions and new development opportunities.

“I am very excited to be taking on this new role under Ross’ leadership and look forward to further support our clients with the very best solutions as we continue to grow.”

Altrad Services bags more work on Teesside

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Altrad Services bags more work on Teesside

Altrad Services has won more work at the site of the former Redcar Steelworks.

In a project partnership between Altrad and the South Tees Site Company, the firms are set to commence the environmental remediation of equipment at the site of the former Redcar Steelworks. The work will involve the treatment and removal of contaminated waste to allow future redevelopment of the site and creating opportunities for future local industrial development. Over the next two years, the project partnership will generate new job opportunities for the local community, some of which has already commenced, says Altrad. Altrad Services Managing Director, Tony Jester said: “We are delighted to be working with the South Tees Site Company and local organisations such as Middlesbrough College to create job opportunities for the local Redcar and Cleveland area. “Developing the land at the site of the former steelworks is a crucial part of the region’s redevelopment and will allow new industries to invest in the area, creating jobs for the future.”

KAEFER ac­quires Wood’s in­dus­trial ser­vices busi­ness

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KAEFER ac­quires Wood’s in­dus­trial ser­vices busi­ness

KAEFER has announced the acquisition of Wood’s industrial services business from John Wood Group PLC in the UK and Ireland.

The global industrial services firm has stated the business is becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of KAEFER Group. It’s understood that the two companies will merge into one company that will operate as KAEFER all over the UK and Ireland. Reports suggest Wood’s industrial services business was sold for an initial payment of $104 million. A potential further $14 million will be paid pending on the business achieving agreed financial goals. KAEFER has said the merger will provide its clients with additional capacities, know-how and project management capabilities. Wood’s in­dus­trial ser­vices busi­ness em­ploys ap­prox­im­ately 2,000 highly skilled people at 16 loc­a­tions all over the UK and Ire­land. The com­pany provides high-end ser­vices for in­dus­trial op­er­a­tions, such as the ap­plic­a­tion of pro­tect­ive coat­ings, ac­cess solu­tions, thermal in­su­la­tion, pass­ive fire pro­tec­tion and spe­cial­ist ser­vices. “Our cli­ents will con­tinue to re­ceive the same high-qual­ity ser­vice they have come to ex­pect plus the ex­tra value offered by both com­pan­ies work­ing to­gether,” says Steen E. Hansen, Co-CEO at KAEFER.
KAEFER merges with Wood Industrial Services
Steen E. Hansen, Co-CEO at KAEFER.
“Wood’s in­dus­trial ser­vices busi­ness and KAEFER work in dif­fer­ent, yet re­lated in­dus­tries, which is why they com­ple­ment one an­other so well. These com­bined cap­ab­il­it­ies will sup­port our cli­ents’ suc­cess and in­crease our com­pet­it­ive strength. We are cer­tain that this is an ex­cel­lent step to­wards reach­ing the goals es­tab­lished in our stra­tegic pro­gramme.” adds Hansen.

Prison sentence after scaffolder dies from 30ft fall

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Prison sentence after scaffolder dies from 30ft fall

A scaffolding company boss has been jailed after a scaffolder fell 30ft to his death while dismantling a temporary roof in Kensington.

Southwark crown court heard how the boss of G&L Scaffolding and Roofing, Kevin Leathers, 41 had ignored previous safety warnings which lead to the death of scaffolder Jon Currie, 36.

An experienced scaffolder

The experienced scaffolder lost his footing while dismantling a temporary roof of corrugated sheets. Mr Currie was not wearing a safety harness and suffered “catastrophic brain damage” in the fall in July 2017. Mr Leathers pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of his employees and was jailed on Monday for eight months, according to the Evening Standard. He had been warned previously by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in April 2017. His employees including Mr Currie had been spotted working dangerously in Kensington without safety harnesses. The court heard Mr Leathers had been sent a letter reminding him of strict health and safety requirements. Prosecutor Simon Denison QC said: “This was a clear warning that practices were unsafe. It is obvious that being up on a temporary roof and without safety equipment is highly dangerous.” Its was also found that no risk assessment had been carried out and Mr Currie was not qualified for the job he was doing on the day he died. Mr Denison added: “Mr Leathers failed to exercise his duty of care and as a result, Jon Currie died while working for him. Mr Leathers intentionally breached, or flagrantly ignored, the law.”
Scaffolder Jon Currie with partner Maxine Carter
Scaffolder Jon Currie with partner Maxine Carter. Credit: Evening Standard
After sentencing, Mr Currie’s partner Maxine Carter said: “Jon was one in a million. He was a loving man who doted on his family and worked really hard to ensure we were all provided for.  “Jon’s loss has been a huge blow to our family and he provided our only income. His death has caused us to have to move out of our home and move into several temporary accommodations. “We miss him terribly and are pleased there has finally been some justice.” Mr Currie was working on an extension to a double-storey basement when he died. Judge Joanna Korner QC said: “After the letter in April, Leathers could not have been warned in clearer terms about the dangers of the activities undertaken.  “He failed to take appropriate steps. If death results from such failures you must expect to receive an immediate prison sentence.”

Kewazo scaffolding robot raises €2.5M funding strengthens management

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Kewazo scaffolding robot raises €2.5M funding strengthens management

Munich based Kewazo has raised a further €2.5 million in funding for its scaffolding robot and added ‘high-calibre’ industry experts to its management team.

The Kewazo scaffolding robot has now raised a total of €3.6 million in funding, the firm now aims to obtain certification of the product and to release the first batch of the series systems “Liftbot” to the market.  The former managing director of Layher Germany Dr. Helmut Kreller and Uwe Braun former managing director of Losberger have both joined Kewazo’s management team. The duo brings many years of experience from the construction and scaffolding industries.  In 2018 we reported that engineers at Kewazo had created a scaffolding robot which is set to make the erection of scaffolding more efficient by delivering scaffolding materials to scaffolders where and when they need them.

The Kewazo Scaffolding Robot – how does it work?

The Kewazo scaffolding robot works by moving up, down and along a scaffold by means of a special track attached to horizontal and vertical tubes of the job. After a successful bauma trade show in April 2019, the company is currently piloting the system on construction sites.  Dr. Helmut Kreller said: “I will be happy to support KEWAZO with my technical and industry-specific experience to advance digitization and automation in the industry. Scaffolding assembly services are in a state of change due to an increasing shortage of skilled workers and a permanent need for optimization. I am convinced that such innovative solutions as Liftbot, which significantly reduce costs of scaffolding assembly and at the same time increase safety, will change the industry in the long term.”  Uwe Braun added: “I am looking forward to investing all my energy, experience and enthusiasm in such a young and dynamic startup. I see an enormous automation potential for the traditionally labor-intensive scaffolding assembly with the Liftbot. It is an exciting and challenging task for me to accompany the highly motivated KEWAZO team into a promising future.” KEWAZO CEO Artem Kuchukov concluded: “We are very proud to have Dr. Helmut Kreller and Uwe Braun in our management team. With their decades of experience and operational knowledge in scaffolding and construction industries, we are all set for the upcoming challenges. The new investment will help us to reach our certification milestones and to ship the first systems already in this year. We are grateful for the strong support of our investors and their believe in us and in the power of construction automation.”

International Scaffolding Championship 2020

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International Scaffolding Championship 2020

The International Scaffolding Championship 2020 is again set to take place this April.

System scaffolders from around Europe are poised to once again compete in the now annual Scaffolding Championship organised by the Baltic Scaffolding Association (BSA). Registration is now open for this year’s event which is set to take place on 24th April in Vilnius, Lithuania. The free registration is open to any teams with six persons who have the skills and knowledge of the Layher Allround System. To register please visit scaffchamp.com. ScaffMag covered last year’s successful event which saw nine teams participated from five countries, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Russia. Each team had to safely erect and dismantle a designed freestanding scaffold within two hours. The teams were against the clock and the scrutiny of industry expert referees.
Lithuania Scaffolding Championships 2019
Last years Championships, Image credit: ScaffMag
Lithuania based firm HOTREMA took first place in 2019, while Adelante Tellingud from Estonia was placed 2nd with Poland’s ARAD bagging a 3rd place spot. Speaking after last years Scaffolding Championships, Žaneta Baltreniene Head of Training at the BSA said: “The championships were a big challenge, to have nine teams from five different neighbouring countries and to make everything run smoothly was not easy. We are proud to host such an event for the first time in Baltic states.”

NOCN issues apology over CISRS card delay

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NOCN issues apology over CISRS card delay

The company that took over the management of issuing new CISRS cards from the CITB has publicly apologised over the fiasco.

NOCN job cards took over CISRS card scheme administration services in December 2019. In a bid to resolve the backlog of card applications it has now put an emergency plan in place. It’s been reported the company is also having major problems in issuing the Construction Plant Competence Scheme (CPCS) cards after NOCN took over the management of this scheme also. “We would like to apologise to all customers for the problems that NOCN Job Cards are having in issuing CPCS and CISRS cards,” NOCN said in a statement. “On 1 December 2019 NOCN Group fully took over the issuing of CPCS and CISRS cards from CITB. Much time was put into our systems by both NOCN and our supporting service providers to ensure the transfer would occur as well as possible. “There have been a number of data/administrative/technical issues that have occurred due to the in-flight transfer of such large and complicated card schemes. This has resulted in a backlog in processing applications that were made in November and December 2019.” NOCN added: “We are very sorry for the impact of this on customers’ ability to work and the frustration that this is causing. We are working very hard, together with our service providers to rectify this problem as quickly as possible. CITB are being especially proactive and providing substantial support.” ScaffMag understands that due to a different IT system CISRS card applications are having to be processed manually. “We are printing hundreds of cards per day and are actively catching up already,” NOCN said.

Construction giant opts for ‘NASC-only’ firms

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Construction giant opts for ‘NASC-only’ firms

Multiplex has become the latest main contractor to specify ‘NASC-only’ scaffolding firms for its UK-based projects.

The news comes after Multiplex a multinational company, which builds large-scale and complex structures across the world signed the NASC Safe Scaffolding Charter. The move means only NASC member contractors will be eligible to work on its UK-based projects. Multiplex follows Amey, Hinkley Point C developers Nuclear New Build Generation, DE Construct and Knight Harwood in signing the NASC Charter. Andrew Ridley-Barker, Multiplex’s Operations Director for Europe, said: “At Multiplex we recognise the value of the NASC membership as a quality mark bringing a consistent and assurance-led approach to improving safety in one of the industry’s highest risk aspects of work at height.  “Our work in creating iconic high-rise buildings demands exacting standards to protect the workforce and the public from falls and falling objects and we see the use of NASC-only contractors as being in the best interests of everyone affected by our undertakings.”    According to the trade body, the Charter is open to any organisation that has specified ‘NASC-only’ in their scaffolding-related tender documents and/or has had an established commercial relationship with a full NASC member for at least a year. Robin James, NASC Managing Director, said: “We are pleased that Multiplex has signed the NASC Safe Scaffolding Charter and happy to recognise their efforts with an NASC Safe Scaffolding Charter Signatory logo and certificate.  “Our Wall of Honour on our dedicated Charter webpage is beginning to take shape but we know there are hundreds of companies across the UK that are eligible to feature and would encourage them to come forward to get the recognition their exemplary scaffolding procurement decision deserves.”

CN Specialists 2020 finalists revealed

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CN Specialists 2020 finalists revealed

The Construction News Specialist Awards has announced it’s 2020 finalists.

Now in its the sixteenth year, the Construction News Specialists Awards are the only national awards recognising the outstanding achievements of specialist contractors. Focusing on our sector the Access & Scaffolding and Apprentice of the Year categories have been shortlisted and well represented by scaffolding firms across the country. The Construction News (CN) say finalists in the Access & Scaffolding Specialist category showed different ways of managing logistical challenges, prioritising workforce wellbeing and diversifying workloads.

Access & Scaffolding Specialist of the Year Finalists:

CastleBuild Scaffolding

The Spalding based firm has recently undertaken a number of complex projects, which included the erecting of a temporary roof and maintenance access for the restoration of a 16th-century inn in Lincolnshire.

LTC Scaffolding

LTC Scaffolding overcame a number of logistical challenges when working on a high profile project at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in central London.

PHD Modular Access

PHD is continuing to strive to challenge the common misconceptions of scaffolders. They have focused on improving training and mental health within its business. The firm has introduced in-house mental health first aider and is rolling out mental health workshops to employees.

QFS Scaffolding

QFS has in the past year broadened its workload by completing projects in a variety of different sectors including, prisons, asbestos-contaminated environments and high-rise buildings.

Rose System Scaffolding 

Despite being a relatively new business it has more than tripled its turnover from £700k to £2.2m. They have sought to invest in training, out of 37 employees, six are apprentices. The firm is planning to increase that number further.

Apprentice of the Year Finalist:

CN Specialists Awards
Stephanie Betts, Image Credit: CN
The scaffolding sector has also been represented in the Apprentice of the Year category. Stephanie Betts from Trad Scaffolding has become a finalist in this category. She was the first woman to join Trad’s Management Scheme in March 2018. Stephanie created a template for lead scaffolders and daily checks, which has been rolled out to operatives across the company. The judges will reconvene for the final stage of the judging process, where they will interview finalists face to face before weighing up their achievements and deciding on a winner. The awards take place on the 25th March 2020 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.
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