Long service - Hills Group

PEOPLENEWSLong serviceThere are many employees who have worked for the Company for a considerable periodof time and we would like to acknowledge those who have reached significant milestonesin the year 2008.These milestones start at 10 years’ service and go on to include service for every fiveyears thereafter. Congratulations to:10 years’ serviceRobert Sparrow, Production DirectorNathan Carr, Depot ManagerRosemary Hill, Legal ExecutiveKenneth Webb, Recycling Collection SupervisorJackie Manley, Purchase Ledger ClerkAdrian Knowles, Finance DirectorSimon Pocock, Transport SupervisorTrevor Tuck, Area ManagerColin Dennis, LGV DriverRobert Laird, Management AccountantFrances Doris, Sales Office SupervisorKevin Hester, Plant OperativeNigel Townsend, LGV DriverWedding BellsNigel Wood, LGV DriverHazel Partridge, Credit AdministratorMark Scanlan, ForemanByron Galloway, Kerbside Loader15 years’ serviceRichard Bond, Key Account ManagerRobert Broadhurst, Plant OperativeAlan Mackenzie, Divisional ManagingDirector20 years’ serviceTony Stepp, ForemanTerry Paget, Disposal Support ManagerResults for our ‘Road Runners’Richard Bond, Key Account Manager, Simon Collins, SalesRepresentative and Gary Kelly, Transport Co-ordinator alldonned their running shoes in the past couple of monthsto take part in some local marathons.Richard and Simon both entered and “happily” completedthe Stroud Half Marathon in October (with Simonnarrowly beating Richard to the post). Running his firsthalf marathon in his home town was a “great experience”said Simon, who is determined to better his time nextyear.Garry Kelly, not one to be beaten, entered two halfmarathons in the same month! He completed theCricklade Half Marathon in October, achieving his besttime yet, and then the following week ran the SwindonHalf Marathon, beating his previous year’s record. He ranso fast, we did not manage to snap a picture of him.Come on Richard and Simon – the challenge is on! Richard Bond Simon CollinsWelcomeA warm “Hills” welcome to the followingemployees who joined the Companybetween 1 August – 31 December 2008.Alec Paterson, Drives MateStephen Barratt, Kerbside LoaderAdam Chandler, Kerbside LoaderLuke Chinery, Kerbside LoaderMartin Ford, Kerbside LoaderChris Harris, Kerbside LoaderPeter Niemeyer, Kerbside LoaderAdam Slater, Kerbside LoaderKevin Adams, Kerbside LoaderSymon Coombs, LGV DriverClare Brewer, ReceptionistAlex Henderson, Company SecretaryAlan King, Recycling Sorter/Relief MPOLynda Duggan, PA to Divisional MDStephen Barnes, Kerbside LoaderGary Raper, Maintenance Repair PersonChris Robinson, Kerbside LoaderKatie Hemmings, AdministratorStephen Cass, Kerbside DriverSven Chinneck, Kerbside LoaderShaun Harvey, HRC Recycling OperativeColin Langford, Mobile Plant OperativeNew arrivalsCongratulations to:Ceri and Dave Bevan, Finance Director, ababy girl, Georgina, born on 17th September.Amy and Gavin Walton, Business Manager, ababy boy, George Anthony, born on 4thSeptember.The Hills Group NewsletterintouchIssue 17 January 2009Celebratingthe career ofRobert Hill(See special featureon pages 4-5)16 intouchAbove: Liana Barratt,Recycling Operative, andTyrone Shadwell, WeighbridgeOperative, were married atthe Cross Hands Hotel, OldSudbury on 25th July. Theyspent their honeymoon inthe Maldives.Right: Edwyn Dodd,Disposal Team Manager,and Catherine Phelps weremarried at Somerton Housein Somerset on 30th August.They spent their honeymoonon the Island of Hvar in theAdriatic, Croatia.Catherine and Alex Marland, DevelopmentManager, a baby girl, Annabelle, born on 13thNovember.Clive Phillips, Post/Accounts Administrator,first grand daughter, Ava Madeleine, born on10th October.Designed by The Lines Group, Cheltenham. Tel: 01242 244830KerbsideHeroics(see page 6)Victor Harold Hill– in memoriam(see page 3)

SPOTLIGHTRobert Hill honouredLunch held for long time leader of the CompanyThe Bear at Hungerford was the venue for a lunch held in December tocelebrate the career of Robert Hill who retired as Group Chairman lastApril after 43 years with the Company. The Company’s long history hasbeen peppered with many great occasions and this was up there with the bestof them. It was a truly memorable day befitting of such an extraordinary man.Robert was joined by 47 guests made up of family, work colleagues both present andpast and old business friends.After the meal, Robert’s son, Group Chief Executive Mike Hill, paid a humorous andheartfelt tribute to his father. Mike gave an amusing account of Robert’s life andcareer with the Company making particular reference to Robert’s vital role of bindingtogether the family as shareholders, and to his loyal support of the non-familyexecutives over the years.had worked for 38 years of his 43 years. He then did what he does best,reducing the guests to tears of laughter with one his favourite stories.The warmth and goodwill continued to flow in the bar for another couple ofhours before Robert pointed out that all great Hills celebratory lunches alwaysinclude dinner! He led a contingent of hardcore revellers to the Lamb Inn inMarlborough and then to Pino’s Italian Restaurant to eat.It was a genuinely happy occasion and a good day was had by all. As MikeWebster, Divisional MD of Waste Solutions, pointed out “They don’t make themlike Robert any more. He is the definitive ‘Top Banana’!”Mike thanked Robert on behalf of the Company and the shareholders for everythingthat he had done and presented him with a silver sculpture of a racehorse,representing one of Robert’s lifelong passions.Mike was followed by Bill Bolsover, Group Chief Executive Officer of AggregateIndustries and long time friend of Robert, who thanked Robert on behalf of theguests. Bill amused those present with stories of his old friend who he described asthe ‘Godfather’ of the quarrying industry. Everybody joined Bill in raising their glassesin a toast to Robert.Robert Hill and Don Howard (Joint MD 1969 – 1983)A clearly touched and emotional Robert then stood and thanked the speakers andeverybody for coming. He then singled many of the guests in the room relatingmemories of them as he went. He gave special mention to Alan Pardoe with whom he(left to right) Philip Morgan, KPMG, Chris Elias, Natwest, Robert Hill, Bill Bolsover,Aggregate Industries and Ross Snape, United AsphaltTop: Robert addressing ‘the throng!’Middle: (left to right) Tony Bailey, Beta Gas, Alan Pardoe, Chairman, & Robert HillBottom: Bill Bolsover, reflecting on a great dayLeft: Robert with HRH PrinceCharles and Alan Pardoe on aprivate visit to Clattinger Farmnature reserve in 1998Robert,pictured at thecentenary celebrations ofMarlborough Golf Club in 1988Robert with oneof his racehorsesRobert (second right) pictured at the opening of Hills Home ImprovementCentre in Kingshill, Swindon in 1977 with (left) Grahame Hill, Robert’sfather and Chairman of Hills from 1954-1977, Eric Morecambe, comedian,and Don Howard, previous Joint MD of HillsRobert and wife Rosiein 1991 when theycelebrated their 25thwedding anniversary4 intouch intouch 5

WASTE SOLUTIONS & RECYCLINGKerbside Loaderis fire heroThank youDevizes HRCHills staff at Devizes HRC know athing or two about customer service– their impressive service prompteda customer to write the followingto us:-“My husband and I would just like toput on record a huge commendationfor the Household Recycling Centreon the Hopton Industrial Estate inDevizes. The people who work thereare extremely polite (to be called sir /madam is a treat), they are hardworking,very knowledgeable andextremely enthusiastic. They go outof their way to help and are a creditto yourselves. They are also exceptionallyproud of the amount ofrecycling the site achieves.We don’t live in Devizes, we live inMiddlesex, but have been sorting a lotof things from my mother’s property,hence we have made countless tripsto Hopton over many months.The Hopton site is extremely wellmanaged, has the facilities to recycleso much and is an absolute pleasureto see.Thank you for employing suchgreat staff.What’s ‘Freecycle’?StantonSt Quintinis topsThe star performer for the highest‘Recycled Tonnage’ at an HRC inNovember was Stanton St QuintonHRC. Nigel Bray, Site Supervisor,and his team of operativesmanaged to recycle a whopping83.86% of total tonnage received.Nigel Bray (left), Site Supervisor, andStuart Thatcher, Recycling OperativeBob Tapp (left),Area Manager,& Richard Craftfrom Bradfordon AvonFreecycle withthe banner atTrowbridge HRCYellow WoodsChallengeLocal school children showed theirsupport for a greener South Wiltshire byhelping to recycle 14 tonnes of oldYellow Pages directories.Twenty schools in South Wiltshire tookpart in the Yellow Woods Challenge – thesimple, educational and fun environmentalcampaign run by Yellow Pages,the Woodland Trust, Salisbury DistrictCouncil and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust.Pupils were encouraged to bring oldYellow Pages directories into school forrecycling whilst learning about greenissues in the classroom. The schoolscompeted against one another to wincash prizes for recycling the highestnumber of directories per pupil.Woodford Valley CE School scooped the‘Gold Oak’ title and were rewarded with£300 for recycling 11.37 old directoriesper pupil. They won a further £100bonus prize for collecting the mostdirectories in total.Dennis Japser, Kerbside Loader, has been hailed as a hero afterputting out a kitchen fire while out on his rounds.Dennis was delivering Black Box recycling leaflets in Trowbridge, when mum Jo Browne cried out forhelp. Her gas cooker had accidentally caught alight, setting fire to the kitchen and blowing out theglass in the door of her house. Mrs Browne was at home with her daughters and grand-daughter atthe time. They had been in the back garden when the fire took hold and had to run past it to escape.Mr & Mrs Spittal, Staines, Middlesex”There is not much more that we cansay apart from – well done and keepup the excellent work!!Freecycle’s aim is very simple – to stop usable items from being thrown into landfill. Set up inthe USA several years ago, the organisation now has more than 6 million members worldwide.In Wiltshire there are groups in Bradford on Avon, Melksham, Trowbridge, Warminster andBath. Members advertise their reusable items online, offering these for free to other memberswho may have a use for them. No money changes hands at any time, and all sorts of itemschange hands – washing machines, lawnmowers, children’s toys, bikes books, CDs, babythings, pretty much anything! Further details can be found at www.freecycle.org.Representatives from Woodford Valley CESchool celebrate their success.Dennis first confirmed they had called the fire brigade then ran to the property where he found thecooker, tea towels and the kitchen floor on fire. He wasted no time in clearly the area of any otheritems which could potentially catch fire and then used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames. Justas he had made sure everything was safe two fire crews from Trowbridge arrived. The father of fivedidn’t hang around though as he had to catch up with his workmates who were continuing on theirrounds.“I didn’t really think about what I was doing,” said Dennis. “I have got fire training from my previousjob. I just had this instant reaction when I saw the lady and her baby both in tears.“The air was thick with acrid, black smoke so I had to come out into the fresh air several times tocatch my breath before going back in and damping down the flames."My biggest regret was that in all the excitement I forgot to give out my recycling leaflet."Mrs Browne said she didn’t even have time to thank Mr Jasper but is grateful for his swift actionswhich prevented a serious incident. The fire brigade later discovered that the fire extinguisher whichMr Jasper used dated from the 1950s – but it did the job.Dennis’ five children have started calling him Fireman Sam – as for us at Hills, we call him a hero!STOP PRESS...STOP PRESS...STOP PRESSHills Waste Solutions has been awarded Preferred Bidder status with Aspire Defence fora new waste management contract. Further details will be announced once the contracthas been agreed and signed.Pleased to be of help at Devizes HRC -Stephen York, Recycling Operative andMelanie Beswick, Site Supervisor.Missing from the picture are Phil Rhymerand Eric Evans, Recycling Operatives whoalso work at the site.New Shredderfor CompostThe composting operation at Lower Compton put four shredding machines ontrial during the spring when looking to replace existing equipment. Mostimpressive was the Doppstadt AK-430 supplied by Blue Machinery.The new shredder, which is able to process 30,000 tonnes of green waste ayear, was delivered during November and is operated by Site Foreman, DaveMinett. The bulk of the green waste material is collected from our HRC sitesand kerbside collections and can be turned into PAS 100 accredited compostwithin 14 weeks. Further material for the shredder is sourced from HRCs inthe Bristol City Council area, local landscapers and ground maintenancecontractors.Dave Minett, Site Foreman, who operates the new shredder6 intouch intouch 7

QUARRY PRODUCTSEnd of anERAAfter twelve years of quarrying, the CotswoldAggregates operation at Latton Quarry came toan end in November 2008.Cotswold Aggregates Limited is a joint venturecompany which was formed in 1996 betweenAggregate Industries and Hills to extract andproduce sand and gravel from over 158 acres ofland owned by the Cotswold Waterpark Society.The land is divided into four areas by the A419dual carriageway and the Cerney Wick Lane.Whilst some of the earlier sand and gravel wasused to help construct the new A419 Latton, mostof the 4 million tonnes processed at the site hasbeen used to construct local schools, housing, theGreat Western Hospital, the A419 Blunsdon andCommon Head bypasses and many other projects.Along with the sand and gravel at Latton therehave been a number of interesting findsthroughout the life of the site. The soil strippingoperations have uncovered artefacts from theearly history of the Cirencester area, with BronzeAge settlements, Roman farms and a rare glimpseof Saxon occupation near Cerney Wick.In 1998 there was a rare find of bones and teethfrom a number of mammoths along with a clusterof flint hand axes dating back to around 40,000years, which early hunter gatherers probably usedto butcher the mammoths. In January 2002 theskull of a fresh water crocodile from the Jurassicperiod was found and more recently there hasbeen the discovery of vertebrae from a woollyrhinoceros, found during one of many organisedfossil hunts which have been held at the quarry.A lucky find – the Atlas vertebra of an Ice Age woolly rhinoRestoration of the site to form four lakes is nownear to completion. Islands have been created inthe lakes and planted to provide additionalbiodiversity for wildlife. The four lakes alsoprovide a great entrance to the Cotswold WaterPark from the A419 to around a further 150lakes.Alan Mackenzie, Divisional Managing Director,who commissioned the plant in November 1996,extends his thanks to all the operatives whohave worked at Latton and contributed to thesuccess of the business over the years - AndrewLiddle, John Wheeler, John Day, Rod Smart, KeithBroadhurst, David Wills and Mark Padfield.Pictured on site (left to right):Mark Padfield, Plant Operative, John Day, Foreman, Andrew Liddle, Production Manager, Alan Mackenzie,DMD Quarry Products, Rod Smart, Foreman, David Wills, Plant Operative and Keith Broadhurst, Plant Operative.Quarry Productsearns a top award for safety recordHills received the honour at the QuarryProducts Association’s Health and SafetyBest Practice Awards 2008, for itsoverall improvement in health and safetyperfor-mance over a number of years.“The award comes as recognition for thehard work that all of our staff have put into health and safety,” said GroupChairman, Alan Pardoe. “Quarries arerugged environments with lots ofmachinery and it is all too easy for safetyto be compromised. We have made realground because we have managed toachieve a major shift in attitude suchthat our teams take pride in spottingpotential accidents long before they canoccur. The target is to for zero accidentsand everyone at Hills Quarry Products isdetermined to achieve it.”Martin Isles, Health and Safety Directorat QPA, said: “In making this award toHills, QPA has looked at safety statisticsover a number of years. It is recognitionof continuous improvement and it’s goodto see it going to one of QPA’s smallermembers.”NVQ SuccessAlan Pardoe, Chairman, receives the award from Chairman ofthe QPA Lynda Chase-Gardener (left) and Jane Willis, Directorfor Strategic Projects at the HSEAlan Mackenzie, DMD Quarry Products, presents Rod Smart, Foreman (right) and MickChivers, Assistant Quarry Manager (middle) with their NVQ Level 3 certificates forHealth & Safety and Environmental Management in the Extractive and MineralsProcessing Industry.Alan said that, “These certificates recognise the hard work and commitment amongstthe Quarry Products team to improve health and safety on our sites.”Go-KartingQuarry Products recentlyteamed up with BridgesElectrical to entertain guestsfrom both companies for themorning at Thruxton Raceway,near Andover. Fortunately theevent was blessed with goodweather, and was anundoubted success, with anumber of Hills customerstaking control of the 60mphThunder Karts in the two hourlong team endurance race.Podium finishes were achievedby teams submitted from TonicConstruction (2nd place) andFrost Construction, who teamedup with Andrew Liddle (3rdplace).The eventual team winners“Dean's Bandits” were madeup of Dean Roberts from D RCommunications, Mike Jacksonfrom Bridges and a certain MrAlan Mackenzie of Hills. Afterthe race sources claimed thatno one dared to overtake forfear of losing their jobs. Thisalso added to speculation thatDean Roberts was enlisted tothe team amongst reportsthat he may actually be “TheStig”. Certainly, no hint ofsour grapes!On the winner’s podium – Dene Roberts (left),Alan Mackenzie (middle) and Mike Jackson8 intouchintouch 9

HILLS HOMESOn top of the worldin HighworthProfile on…Jan Pearce,Site ManagerThe attractions of livingin a small market townsurrounded by superbopen countryside arenot lost on the peopleof Highworth. The townsits on the top of a hilland looks down on theupper reaches of theThames to theCotswolds and backtowards the BerkshireDowns and the Vale ofthe White Horse.Stylish bedrooms in the show homeThe showhome isopen daily from:11.00amto 3.00pmHills’ latest development, Garden Court, is just a stone’s throw away from the town’s picturesqueHigh Street and brings this idyllic form of living within reach of buyers. Prices start at £140,000 forone bedroom apartments and rise to £295,000 for three/four bedroom homes.“As might be expected, this mix of one bedroom apartments and three or three/four bedroom homesfrom Hills brings a good quality and specification right across the range of sizes on offer,” saidRosemary Seward, new homes specialist at Dreweatt Neate. “Garden Court could hardly be betterplaced for convenient living and each home will provide flexible and well planned accommodation.”Sensible use of space means these homes are great to live in – even the one bedroom apartmentshave well proportioned rooms. The three bedroom house have an L-shape living/dining room withFrench doors into the garden and stylish turning staircases that make minimum intrusion. Naturally,the master bedrooms in these houses have an en-suite to complement the main family bathroom.The three/four bedroom homes have rooms arranged across three levels, with the top floor occupiedby a bedroom with en-suite adjacent to a study/fourth bedroom that would make an ideal space fora nursery or younger child. The first floor has two bedrooms which, like the master, have wardrobesand there’s also a family bathroom. The ground floor has separate living and kitchen/dining rooms.All the properties have integrated single or double ovens with a gas hob as well as integratedfridge/freezer, dishwasher, and washer/dryer – all of them from Bosch and A rated, which is typicalof Hills’ quality approach.Similarly, the bathrooms have sanitary ware from Villeroy and Boch while someplots also have natural stone external detailing to windows. There isallocated parking for all the properties,plus visitor spaces, mains poweredsmoke detectors, high efficiencygas boilers, and, a 10 yearNHBC guarantee.Part of thecompleteddevelopmentat GardenCourtJan is our longest serving site manager, joining Olivemead Developments in June 1996 whichwent on to become part of Hills Property Limited in January 1998.Since joining the company Jan has completed many training courses, the latest being theNational Certificate in Construction Health and Safety awarded by the National ExaminationBoard in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) for which he received a credit pass. Thecourse is designed to train high level managers to proactively ensure steps are taken toinitiate good practices in health and safety and to protect employees and the public. Hebelieves it’s important to keep his skills base up to date, and in the future hopes to widenthis with more IT and project management training.Jan lives in Devizes with his ‘long-suffering’ wife, Deborah and two sons, Ben and Peterwho are now 17 and 15. Their last holiday was in Newquay where the family went surfing,this summer holiday was not quite so much fun – a busman’s holiday building an extensionon his house!Keeping upwith Louise“I can be fairly determined once I set my mind on something,” says Louise and shecertainly proved this to be the case in the last couple of months.Louise, who works as an account assistant in the Homes division, recently completedher Institute of Certified Bookkeepers Level II (intermediate) Certificate in ManualBookkeeping and achieved a pass mark of 99%. “I was very pleased as I am doing it tohelp me with my job and am now attempting Level III.”Her achievements extend past the workplace and Louise applies the samedetermination to her road running ‘hobby’. “I prepared for the Cricklade halfmarathon in October by following a training schedule I pulled out of the Runners’World magazine. The weather conditions on the day were good for running anddespite having to drag my tired legs round the last 3 miles, I did a personal best of1hr51min.”However, Louise’s next race, the Avebury8 off road trail, proved to be an even biggerchallenge with treacherous conditions underfoot. “It was very slippery and wet and Icould not get a firm footing anywhere,” she said. Louise laughed as she recalled theevent, “Two miles into the race Ifell off a ridge and landed headfirst,face down and completelysubmerged in a mud pool.Fortunately I believe that mud isgood for the skin!” Drenched andlooking very bedraggled, shecame home in 1hr21min andfinished 77 out of 104.We are sure you will join us inwishing Louise everything of thebest with her future studies andbetter weather for her next race!WelcomeLynda Duggan, PA to the DMD forProperty, joins Hills from localestate agent Humberts where, forthe past 6 years, she worked as anegotiator and it is this first handexperience in selling property thatshe brings to the department.Her previous experience includesmarketing and PR and Lynda alsostill runs her own business licensinga well-known toy brand. Lynda haslived in Wiltshire for the past 7years, moving here from Buckinghamshireand settled in the PewseyVale in search of a quiet life – shehasn’t found it yet!10 intouch intouch 11

HILLS & THECOMMUNITYSupport for newCorporateGreen AwardsHills was proud to be one of the main sponsors of the inaugural Corporate Green Awardshosted by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust in recognition of environmental best practice andsustainable development in Wiltshire and Swindon business.At the awards ceremony hosted by Judith Hann, former Tomorrow’s World presenter, bothRingway Infrastructure Services (overall winner) and Project Allenby / Connaught* (HighlyCommended) received recognition in the Environmental Impact Award which wassponsored by Hills. This award recognises companies who make the greatest positiveimpact on the environment in Wiltshire and Swindon by either sustainable design orconstruction of the built environment; management or conservation of the land orenvironment; or corporate environmental behaviours.*Project Allenby/Connaught, delivered on behalf of the MoD by Aspire Defence, is a joint venturebetween Carillion and KBRMike Webster, DMD Waste Solutions (right) and Cliff Carter,Recycling Promotions Manager (left) attended the long-awaitedopening of the Highworth Swimming Pool in November last year.Hills provided funding for the project via the Landfill CommunitiesFund which is administered by Grants Manager, Gillian Barber,from Community First (middle).Marlborough RFC get shirty!Team photo of the Marlborough Rugby Club sporting their new kit which wassponsored by Hills and Azuza. Mike Hill standing 5th from right.Cricklade excels withHills compostGreen-fingered residents inCricklade triumphed in the ‘Britainin Bloom Awards’ by winning theoverall gold award in the SmallTown category. Hills havesupported their efforts in thecompetition over the past 3 yearsby providing compost for thegardens and green skips to recyclegarden waste. The town alsoreceived the RHS Britain in BloomCommunity Award and the RHSBritain in Bloom Conservation andEnvironment Award in the samecompetition.Mike Hill, CEO of Hills (right) presents the overall winneraward to Ian Allen, Divisional Manager of RingwayInfrastructure Services (top picture), and the HighlyCommended award to Nick Kirwan, EnvironmentalManager, Aspire Defence Services Limited (above) .New roof for Dilton MarshMemorial HallThe users of Dilton Marsh Memorial Hall will be warm and cosythis winter thanks to donations from Hills and other organisationsvia the Landfill Communities Fund. The Trustees for the hall hadbeen fund raising and applying forgrants over the last twoyears and finallysucceededin securingsufficient fundingto have a newroof installed.Green littlefingersThe St Dunstan School Gardening Clubwere very excited to receive adonation of compost from Hills whichthey used on the vegetable beds intheir school allotment project. Most ofthe pupils have recently completedLevel 1 of the RHS Gardening forSchools Benchmarking scheme andare becoming keen gardeners.Flying highHills were proud to sponsor RosemaryHill (known as Wo to friends andfamily) for her parachute jump in aidof Jubilee Action – a human rightscharity dedicated to changing lives ofchildren and communities who sufferas a result of poverty, prostitution,slavery and injustice world-wideAbba-mania!The current mania for ‘all things Abba’ was felt inMarlborough recently when the Riverbank Theatrewas able to stage the ‘Bjorn Again’ show as aresult of funding from Hills.The Abba tribute-band played to a capacity crowdat Marlborough College with tickets becoming rarerthan hen’s teeth. There was a reported sighting oforiginal band member Agnetha, who bared anuncanny likeness to Mike Hill, CEO of Hills!!Wearit PinkWe had great support forthe annual Wear It Pinkday – with County Parkclearly the mostinnovative in raising over£100 towards the£179.63 collected on theday. The Company agreedto match the figurebringing the final amountraised for the BreastAwareness Campaign to£360.00.Delicious cakes were used toencourage donationsCounty Park get into ‘character’Head office joinedin the fun12 intouch intouch 13

GROUP NEWS PEOPLE NEWSWhat’s new atHead Office?If you have visited head office over the past couple ofmonths you may have noticed some significant changes.These have been in planning since early 2007 when itwas identified that structural changes needed to bemade to accommodate the organisationalrestructuring within Head Office and in some areas to easeovercrowded office space. The work went out to tender andEd Pollard, Facilities Manager, set about co-ordinatingsuppliers, electricians, builders and plumbers.The work was planned in 3 stages, the first of which dealtwith restructuring and refurbishing both the first andsecond floors. On the first floor partitions were installed tocreate two separate areas allowing Credit Control and theManagement Accounts team to have more control over theirrespective working environments. Ed even managed toinstall a small meeting room which is shared between thetwo sections.The second floor underwent the biggest renovation andresulted in both the Human Resources and IT divisionsbeing placed in separate and secure areas. The new “staffbreak room” is also located on this floor and has beencreated to provide an area where staff can have lunch awayfrom their desks in a relaxing and comfortable environment.KarenPithouse,Accounts OfficeSupervisor,gets to gripswith the newaccess controlsystemTop right and right:First floor before and afterBelow and below right:Second floor before and afterThe second stage of the improvements was the installation of an Access ControlSystem on the main front door to provide an improved level of security for staff andproperty in the building.The final stage of renovation was to replace the old boilers located on each floor. Notonly were they very old and operating at only 45% efficiency, they had also beendeclared a Health & Safety risk during a routine assessment. The boilers have nowbeen replaced with cost-effective, energy efficient combi boilers which operate ataround 90% efficiency – crucial at this time of year!Works are now complete, with a few finishing touchesstill to be made, but we must say – it is looking good!!Health & Safety NoteExcellent result inWAMITAB qualificationSeated (left to right) Stephen York, Recycling Operative, Jodine Pask, Weighbridge Operative, Mike Webster, DMD WasteSolutions, Sharon Curtis, Kerbside Loader and Liana Shadwell, Recycling OperativeStanding (left to right) Andrew Amer, LGV Driver, Paul Dark, Recycling Operative, Steve Smith, Foreman, Robin Pearse, RecyclingOperative, Martin Wigg, LGV Driver, Mark Dumelow, Plant Operative, Andrew Paterson, LGV Driver, Antony Johnson, KerbsideLoader and Gerrard Fawcitt of TrackssRecognising employee achievements isalways a pleasure and in this issue weacknowledge 12 employees from theWaste Solutions division who haveachieved the national WasteManagement Industry TrainingAdvisory Board qualification (WAMITAB)in the last couple of months.They all had to go through a number ofpractical and theory based tasks andwere mentored by Gerrard Fawcitt ofTrackss, providers of wastemanagement training and assessment.NOTE: WAMITAB is the awarding body forthe waste management industry inEngland, Wales and Northern Ireland andjoint awarding body, with SQA, forqualifications in Scotland. WAMITAB wasestablished in 1989 with a remit todetermine and advise on policy andstandards of education, qualifications andtraining for all employees in the WasteManagement Industry.Training and DevelopmentHills is committed to continuous learning anddevelopment for all employees and over thelast 12 months employees across the Group havebenefited from a range of training programmesrelevant to their role in the Company.Whilst training can often be perceived as anexternal training event, significant time andeffort is invested by managers and supervisorswho work on a daily basis to ensure our frontline staff are equipped with the skills andknowledge relevant to perform their role safelyand effectively. Any requests for training anddevelopment relating to your role should bedirected to your line manager in the firstinstance.“Good Morning Hills...”Is a familiar greeting that welcomes you when you call reception, either at Head Office or County Park, but do you know the facebehind the voice?Clare Brewer is the new face of reception at County Park and has been with Hills for just over a few months. Liz Linney and JackieRobertson are our front line ladies at Head Office and share the responsibility of manning the reception desk. Liz covers reception inthe morning with Jackie taking over for the afternoon shift. I am sure you will join us in a big thank you for all the support and helpthat they provide to staff and customers alike.• Wear the correct PPE at all times – it is there to protect you!• Wear your seatbelt – on or off site and no matter what vehicleyou are in, if there is a seatbelt provided, wear it!The wearing of PPE and seat belts whilst carrying out Company business isimportant - it helps minimise the possibility of injury to all those involved.When an accident does occur and non compliance of PPE Regulations and seat beltwearing are the primary cause, disciplinary proceedings may be brought against you.The Hills Group Limited is proud that the company has a good Health & Safety recordthanks to the support and diligence of all its employees.Liz Linney Jackie Robertson Clare Brewer14 intouch intouch 15