Wood Group has been awarded a new industrial services contract by BAE Systems Submarines.
Effective immediately, the two-year contract is to provide insulation installation services to the UK Royal Navy’s Astute class submarines based in Barrow-in-Furness, and includes up to three one-year extension options.
Wood Group is currently contracted by BAE Systems to provide a range of industrial services including painting, cleaning and insulation to the Royal Navy’s existing surface ship fleet and its Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers under construction in Rosyth.
Dave Stewart, CEO for Wood Group’s Asset Life Cycle Solutions business in the Eastern Hemisphere, said: “Wood Group has supported the Royal Navy for 40 years in the provision of marine painting. This award builds on our reputation for providing industrial services and protective insulation technologies to the marine sector.“We look forward to continuing our strong collaborative relationship with BAE Systems, delivering engineered hull and pipe insulation to the Astute class – the Royal Navy’s largest and most powerful fleet of attack submarines.”
Jamie Mines on the mend following scaffolding nightmare
Scaffolder Jamie Mines who lost both arms and a leg following a massive electric shock on a five metre high scaffold has been allowed home from hospital.
The 33-year-old dad of two and talented lower league footballer from Somerset, has spent six months recovering following his horrific injuries sustained while helping construct the scaffolding.
Jamie was taken to Southmead Hospital just two weeks before Christmas after the accident at Kendrick Industrial Estate on Galton Way in Swindon.
The injuries were so severe he was placed into an induced coma and also lost the toes on his remaining leg. His girlfriend Harley Ware kept a bedside vigil as he lay in a serious condition while friends set up a fundraising page to support his young family.
She revealed: “After being told of his electric shock my heart sunk. It just kept getting worse. It seemed every time I’d get a phone call was to tell me that he’d have another limb removed. I couldn’t stop crying all week, each time something else had happened. But the overwhelming support for Jamie from strangers around the world kept him going.”Jamie receiving specialist amputee care, image credit: mirror.co.uk
Jamie underwent an intensive rehabilitation receiving specialist amputee care, and was given the very best prosthetics the south west had to offer. Described as ‘a goal machine’ during his career with Frome Town FC, his plight soon reached the ears of Stars including football legend Alan Shearer, boxer Joe Calzaghe and old school pal Jenson Button amongst others.
An appeal raised more than £142,000. Hayley added: “The money will be used for any treatments Jamie needs such as prosthetics and help with day to day life.”
And now, Jamie can finally be with his twin baby girls Isabella and Savannah, who were five-months-old when he was admitted to hospital. Jamie admitted to, ‘feeling blessed’. The Health and Safety Executive are still investigating the incident at Kendrick Industrial Estate in Swindon, Wilts.
Scaffolding is now visible as a three-year programme of essential works to conserve the Elizabeth Tower, the Great Clock and the Great Bell, also known as Big Ben gets underway.
Over the next three to six months scaffolding will continue to creep up the UK’s most famous clock tower. In a carefully planned program of works in consultation with Historic England, The scaffold will reach a height of 96 meters to enable access for contractors to carry out essential external works lasting three years.
The scaffolding will be progressively dismantled from the top, and at least one clock face will be on show at all times.
Extensive conservation works was last carried out on the 160-year old tower more than 30 years ago between 1983 – 1985, significant work and an investment of £29m is now required to ensure it remains in good condition and is safeguarded for future generations.
Steve Jaggs, Keeper of the Clock, said:
“This historic clock is loved by so many people. It is both an honour and a great responsibility to keep it in good working order for public enjoyment. Every day our team of highly skilled clock mechanics cares for this Victorian masterpiece but, in order to keep the Clock ticking, we must now take the time to thoroughly inspect and restore it. These essential works balance value for money with Parliament’s custodial responsibility to the building as well as to those visiting and working in the Elizabeth Tower. This project will enable us to give one of Britain’s most famous landmarks the TLC it so desperately needs and deserves.”
Avontus Software has launched two new websites to manage their ever-growing global footprint. Customers can now securely place credit card orders in GBP, Euro, and USD, as well as manage their subscriptions.“Our customers want to buy our software and instantly use it. A good portion of our business is Pay-As-You-Go, which is a subscription that has an affordable startup fee and a small monthly payment. After purchasing, customers are able to activate and use their new software within minutes. They can also log on and manage their payment methods and activate or deactivate their software online whenever they want,” says Andrew Smith, Avontus UK Sales.
Both Avontus.com and Avontus.co.uk are mobile-friendly sites that run on secure https, ensuring that all customer visits are encrypted.In addition to the helpful content found on the site, how-to videos are kept up to date with the current releases of the software. Additionally, visitors are not required to provide personal information or create an account to see how the software works.Manufacturer catalogues are freely downloadable on both websites to support the ever-expanding manufacturer base that is supported in Scaffold Designer.“Not only do we work to constantly improve software for our customers, we also recognize the need to automate our internal processes. This keeps us efficient internally and allows self-service for our customers,”says Brian Webb, Avontus Founder and CEO.
For more information please visit Avontus at https://www.avontus.com or https://www.avontus.co.uk/.
You should always be aware of scaffolders who ‘get the goat.’ But in the case of Jack Barett from Burnley, he literally wouldn’t be without one. And both neighbours and locals know he’s not kidding, when he expresses love for his long haired pet, ‘Eric’. Yes, we’ve all heard of Monty Python’s Eric The Viking, but Eric The Pygmy Goat?
Jack milks the fact the dad of two not only shares his home with his four-month-old goat but also takes him on holiday, shopping and on long walks in the park. Inspired to take in ‘Eric’ after seeing the Australian TV programme ‘The Jimbo and Gary the Goat comedy show’, he can often be seen in Townely Park with goat happily on lead.
Passers by think it’s great, which is probably why Eric has more than a 100 followers on his own dedicated instagram page.
“He’s got quite a chilled personality, he’s laid back and gets a positive reaction from people when I walk him,” explained 39-year-old Jack.
“It’s fantastic, he’s very tame and well behaved.. He gets on with my children really well, my oldest, Max has cerebral palsy and he loves to stroke Eric and play with him. I’ve owned cats and dogs in the past, but a goat tops the lot.” There can’t be many families spotted holidaying on Lake Windermere with a goat in tow!
Image credit: Lancashire Telegraph
Related to the West African dwarf goat they were transported to Europe during the colonial era. The male of the species can weigh up to 39 kilogrammes and stand up to more than half-a-metre tall. Jack added: “I would recommend them as pets, they’re really great. We’ve tried to get Eric into a routine with his toilet habits, he’s slowly getting used to it.”
As for keeping them as pets, well they could almost be classed as a big dog. In fact, Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, anyone responsible for an animal has legal responsibility to meet five basic welfare needs, including a proper diet, somewhere suitable to live, the need to be housed with or apart from other animals, an allowance to express normal behaviour alongside protection and treatment from illness and injury. But if the thought of owning a goat has been knawing away at you – you must remember extra laws governing goats include identification, registration on land they are kept, transport and medicine records. And of course, there’s the vets bills – or should that be………Billy’s? In Jack’s case of course, there’s little doubt they make the very the best pets, ‘Baa none’.
A Scaffolder is fighting for his life after being caught up in the terror attack on Monday night.
Phil Hassall, originally from Runcorn, was at the Manchester Arena when a suicide bomber detonated an explosion, killing 22 and injuring 120 as concert goers were leaving the Ariana Grande gig.
Phil Hassall
Phil attended the concert with his daughter, his partner and her daughter.
He was badly injured in the blast and has undergone numerous operations, including brain surgery, and has only just come out of a coma.
Fellow scaffolder and close friend of 10 years Ian Bland, said he was ‘absolutely devastated’ when he heard his friend was one of the victims.
Ian has launched a fundraising campaign to raise money for Phil while he is recuperating and unable to work.
Ian said fellow scaffolders have rallied round, heeding the call for a fallen colleague and donations have poured in, amassing more than £7,300 at time of writing on the Just Giving website appeal set up by Ian.
“The response has been amazing. We have received lovely messages from people who don’t even know him. I’ve been close to Phil for 10 years. He would do the same for me. We are scaffolders we always stick together.” Ian added.
If you would like to donate please click here
Actavo Hire and Sales Glasgow branch has constructed a partnership with Northseal to supply scaffolding for vital projects. Their latest joint activity is the supply of scaffolding for a £130,000 project on behalf of East Ayrshire Council.
The current contract with East Ayrshire Council involves Actavo supplying scaffolding solutions to install external wall insulation to homes on the New Farm Loch estate. This combination of medium-rise residential blocks and terraced homes, emerged between 1968 and the mid 1970’s. And now the properties are badly in need of new insulation, meaning large volumes of scaffolding are required.
Billie-Jane Calder, Actavo’s area sales representative, said: “The local authority was carrying out insulation work throughout the estate to improve the energy efficiency of the older housing stock. As the appointed scaffolding contractor, Northseal needed a supplier to provide large volumes of scaffolding to cater for both the blocks of flats, and the long runs of terraced homes which were all being worked on concurrently. From the installation perspective, we needed to supply a quick and easy solution so that work could start as soon as possible, thereby minimising disruption for residents.”
The project will see Actavo utilising the K-Lock system, a unique method of connecting ledgers and transoms to the standards in one, single action without using nuts, bolts or wedges. This node-locking principle makes K-Lock one of the fastest systems to install. Northseal of course, supplies and erects scaffolding to commercial, private and local authority customers throughout Scotland, from their Galston base in East Ayrshire.
Aerial views of New Farm Loch estate, East Ayrshire
Speaking about the partnership, director at Northseal Scaffolding, Lara Zavaroni, explained: “We’ve been working with Actavo’s Glasgow branch for just over nine months and our business relationship has always been very professional. Our business with each other is expanding month by month. Actavo is our main supplier. We look forward to having a continuing relationship with such a progressive company.”
Actavo has worked with Northseal to supply scaffolding services for residential blocks at Prestwick Toll, the Stewarton housing project and the Kelloholm project.
HAKI have announced a networking and launch event at their new state-of-the-art CISRS training center in Milton Keynes. In a series of events spread over four days HAKI will be raising awareness on some of the latest innovations in scaffolding and access.
The system scaffolding giants will also be unveiling a range of new products with live demos, including the HAKI Public Access Stair, the HAKI Bridge System and the HAKI QuickDeck, that is said to be perfect for bridge under-decking or offshore applications.
Adding to the event lineup, attendees will hear from a large list of guest speakers from industry leading contractors, trade associations, suppliers and manufacturers.
HAKI UK Sales Manager Steve Coshall said:“HAKI are very excited about the forthcoming series of networking and launch days in June. The aim is to help raise awareness of some of the latest innovations in scaffolding and access, to showcase HAKI’s new state-of-the-art CISRS training centre and to allow delegates to network with potential clients and subcontractors. We are also keen to ensure a strong focus on education and awareness, so we have a great list of guest speakers lined up”.
HAKI say There are also some great prizes up for grabs for delegates who attend, including 4 balls at the Belfry Brabazon, PGA and Derby courses and a weekend for two in the world’s first luxury tree-house on a crane!
The event takes place from the 13th to the 16th of June 2017.
to find out more or register your interest email [email protected] quoting ‘networking event’, or call 01827 282525 (option 1).
International engineering solutions company, Actavo, has announced the appointment of Charles Price as CEO of Actavo’s Industrial Division.
Charles Price CEO Actavo | Industrial Division
Charles joins Actavo from CLH Pipeline System Ltd, where he served as CEO. Previously, he held leadership roles at Oil & Pipelines Agency (Chief Executive & Accounting Officer) and Alderley Plc (working in Africa, the Middle and Far East and Russia), having started his career at ICI Plc, a FTSE30 company.
A member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Charles has a B.Eng in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management (University of Liverpool) and an MBA (University of Bath).
Welcoming Charles’s appointment, Chairman and CEO of Actavo, Sean Corkery, commented:
“Charles is a CEO with extensive international experience and a proven track record over 25 years in chemical, oil & gas, capital equipment and infrastructure across both the public and private sectors. His appointment comes as Actavo this month celebrates the 50th anniversary of its Industrial business. Under Charles’s leadership, we look forward to Actavo | Industrial Division embarking on a new chapter of sustained growth in the UK, Ireland, Kazakhstan and further afield, providing essential engineering services to the world’s leading industrial companies in the petrochemical, power, oil and gas, marine, nuclear and pharmaceutical sectors.”
Graham Burke CEO of Scaffolding, Access & Rigging New Zealand (SARNZ) met representatives of NASC at their London office on the 17th of May.
The NASC have reported that the meeting proved to be the perfect opportunity to discuss a number of key issues involving the industry. According to a recent statement, Mr Burke was particularly keen to learn more from an established trade body in the work at height sector.
NASC MD Robin James (left) meeting with Graham Burke of SARNZ & NASC’s Ken Johnson (right)
Mr Burke had previously run a scaffolding business and latterly President of SARNZ, and made a tremendous contribution to the development of Australian and New Zealand scaffolding standards. With more than 100 members the New Zealand trade body is already making great strides. However administration and support is limited and Mr Burke is having to wear a number of hats as he tries to grow the organisation.
The meeting was arranged to coincide with a family visit, offering the chance for this influential role model to further develop working relationships.
NASC Managing Director Robin James said: “The confederation is delighted to develop a relationship with SARNZ. We had an excellent meeting with Graham and discussed many areas of common interest and concern.Unsurprisingly some these are identical to those which the NASC itself faces here in the UK construction industry. We look forward to supporting the continued emergence of SARNZ and seeing the benefits of this relationship for many years to come.”
Mr Burke has been extremely influential on other important initiatives including the development of good practice guidelines for scaffolding in New Zealand, industry training standards and lobbying on skilled scaffolder shortages.
“This historic clock is loved by so many people. It is both an honour and a great responsibility to keep it in good working order for public enjoyment. Every day our team of highly skilled clock mechanics cares for this Victorian masterpiece but, in order to keep the Clock ticking, we must now take the time to thoroughly inspect and restore it.
These essential works balance value for money with Parliament’s custodial responsibility to the building as well as to those visiting and working in the Elizabeth Tower. This project will enable us to give one of Britain’s most famous landmarks the TLC it so desperately needs and deserves.”
“This historic clock is loved by so many people. It is both an honour and a great responsibility to keep it in good working order for public enjoyment. Every day our team of highly skilled clock mechanics cares for this Victorian masterpiece but, in order to keep the Clock ticking, we must now take the time to thoroughly inspect and restore it.
These essential works balance value for money with Parliament’s custodial responsibility to the building as well as to those visiting and working in the Elizabeth Tower. This project will enable us to give one of Britain’s most famous landmarks the TLC it so desperately needs and deserves.”
“Our customers want to buy our software and instantly use it. A good portion of our business is Pay-As-You-Go, which is a subscription that has an affordable startup fee and a small monthly payment. After purchasing, customers are able to activate and use their new software within minutes. They can also log on and manage their payment methods and activate or deactivate their software online whenever they want,” says Andrew Smith, Avontus UK Sales.
Both Avontus.com and Avontus.co.uk are mobile-friendly sites that run on secure https, ensuring that all customer visits are encrypted.
In addition to the helpful content found on the site, how-to videos are kept up to date with the current releases of the software. Additionally, visitors are not required to provide personal information or create an account to see how the software works.
Manufacturer catalogues are freely downloadable on both websites to support the ever-expanding manufacturer base that is supported in Scaffold Designer.
“Not only do we work to constantly improve software for our customers, we also recognize the need to automate our internal processes. This keeps us efficient internally and allows self-service for our customers,” says Brian Webb, Avontus Founder and CEO.
For more information please visit Avontus at https://www.avontus.com or https://www.avontus.co.uk/. 
“Our customers want to buy our software and instantly use it. A good portion of our business is Pay-As-You-Go, which is a subscription that has an affordable startup fee and a small monthly payment. After purchasing, customers are able to activate and use their new software within minutes. They can also log on and manage their payment methods and activate or deactivate their software online whenever they want,” says Andrew Smith, Avontus UK Sales.
Both Avontus.com and Avontus.co.uk are mobile-friendly sites that run on secure https, ensuring that all customer visits are encrypted.
In addition to the helpful content found on the site, how-to videos are kept up to date with the current releases of the software. Additionally, visitors are not required to provide personal information or create an account to see how the software works.
Manufacturer catalogues are freely downloadable on both websites to support the ever-expanding manufacturer base that is supported in Scaffold Designer.
“Not only do we work to constantly improve software for our customers, we also recognize the need to automate our internal processes. This keeps us efficient internally and allows self-service for our customers,” says Brian Webb, Avontus Founder and CEO.
For more information please visit Avontus at https://www.avontus.com or https://www.avontus.co.uk/. 
The system scaffolding giants will also be unveiling a range of new products with live demos, including the HAKI Public Access Stair, the HAKI Bridge System and the HAKI QuickDeck, that is said to be perfect for bridge under-decking or offshore applications.
Adding to the event lineup, attendees will hear from a large list of guest speakers from industry leading contractors, trade associations, suppliers and manufacturers.
HAKI UK Sales Manager Steve Coshall said:“HAKI are very excited about the forthcoming series of networking and launch days in June. The aim is to help raise awareness of some of the latest innovations in scaffolding and access, to showcase HAKI’s new state-of-the-art CISRS training centre and to allow delegates to network with potential clients and subcontractors.
We are also keen to ensure a strong focus on education and awareness, so we have a great list of guest speakers lined up”.
HAKI say There are also some great prizes up for grabs for delegates who attend, including 4 balls at the Belfry Brabazon, PGA and Derby courses and a weekend for two in the world’s first luxury tree-house on a crane!
The event takes place from the 13th to the 16th of June 2017.
to find out more or register your interest email [email protected] quoting ‘networking event’, or call 01827 282525 (option 1). 
The system scaffolding giants will also be unveiling a range of new products with live demos, including the HAKI Public Access Stair, the HAKI Bridge System and the HAKI QuickDeck, that is said to be perfect for bridge under-decking or offshore applications.
Adding to the event lineup, attendees will hear from a large list of guest speakers from industry leading contractors, trade associations, suppliers and manufacturers.
HAKI UK Sales Manager Steve Coshall said:“HAKI are very excited about the forthcoming series of networking and launch days in June. The aim is to help raise awareness of some of the latest innovations in scaffolding and access, to showcase HAKI’s new state-of-the-art CISRS training centre and to allow delegates to network with potential clients and subcontractors.
We are also keen to ensure a strong focus on education and awareness, so we have a great list of guest speakers lined up”.
HAKI say There are also some great prizes up for grabs for delegates who attend, including 4 balls at the Belfry Brabazon, PGA and Derby courses and a weekend for two in the world’s first luxury tree-house on a crane!
The event takes place from the 13th to the 16th of June 2017.
to find out more or register your interest email [email protected] quoting ‘networking event’, or call 01827 282525 (option 1). 
