PFM_19_5

Skyjack Elevates Iconic Wurlitzer 

Organ to New Heights 

News P5 Security P22 

Health & Safety 

P26

contents 

Regulars 

From the Editor 4 

News 5 

Business News 30 

Cover Story 20 

Skyjack Division is Elevating a Restored 

Wurlitzer to New Heights 

Thanks to Skyjack and rental company 

Nationwide Platforms, the iconic 1920s organ 

is now able to rise from the floor 

Features 

Security 22 

Interiors 24 

Health & Safety 26 

New Products 29 

Editor: 

Anne Donald 

anne@practicalfm.co.uk 

Production and Circulation and Website: 

Paul Fryer paul.fryer@practicalfm.co.uk 

Advertising: 

advertising@practicalfm.co.uk 

Subscriptions: subscriptions@practicalfm.co.uk 

Practical Facilities Management Ltd 

30 The Copse, St Georges 

Weston Super Mare, North Somerset BS22 7SL 

tel: 01934 521224 

fax: 01934 521224 

website: www.practicalfm.co.uk 

The information contained in this magazine has been obtained 

from sources which the Proprietors believe to have been correctly 

reproduced but they cannot accept legal liability for any error in it 

howsoever caused. Practical Facilities Management Magazine is 

distributed at the discretion of the Publishers, Practical Facilities 

Management Limited. All advertisements and editorial articles 

included within the magazine are subject to the Publishers terms 

and conditions which are available upon request. The views 

expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher. No part of 

this publication may be reproduced without the written consent 

of the Publisher 

Copyright Practical Facilities Management Limited 2017 © 

3

NEWS 

editorial 

From the 

Editor 

Hello and welcome to the latest issue of Practical FM Magazine. 

We have something a bit different for you with our cover story. A little bit of 

nostalgia, with a case study involving an iconic 1920s Wurlitzer organ. 

Skyjack with the help of its partner Nationwide Platforms modified an 

electric scissor lift which was kindly donated to the Royalty Cinema at 

Bowness-on- Windermere as part of Skyjack’s 30 for 30 partners projects. 

It is an interesting article with some super images. Take a look at page 20 

to see for yourself. 

A 53% cut in energy usage is a very impressive result and no doubt the 

financial impact was as equally impressive. This is the result of installing 

ABB drives at a Warrington hotel - for all of the details see page 17. 

Elsewhere in the issue we have news from all over the F M industry. You 

can catch up with even more news, on our website www.practicalfm.co.uk 

and also if you are a Twitter follower, we regularly tweet on there. 

You may have seen from the carrier sheet that was with your magazine that 

Practical FM is taking an exciting step forward and as from April we will be 

publishing a monthly magazine and this will be in a digital format. This will 

be emailed out to you, for you to read at your leisure. In order to ensure 

that you do not miss a copy, can you please ensure that we have a current 

email address please. 

The format of the new magazine will remain similar with lots of product 

news and case studies; I am also planning to feature some more in-depth 

articles with a particular focus on emerging trends. If there is something in 

particular that you would like to see, please let me have your suggestions. 

Thank you readers, for all of your support for the last 19 years and I hope 

that you continue to enjoy the magazine as we move forward. 

You are welcome to leave any Feedback via email to 

anne@practicalfm.co.uk 

4

NEWS news 

Pickfords Expands Business Solutions Division 

Pickfords, the UK’s largest 

removals and storage 

company, has announced the 

expansion of its Business Solutions 

division with the appointment of two 

key roles within London and the 

North of England. 

With significant industry experience 

and a remit to support greater account 

management, new projects and 

customer care, Paul Bray and Paul 

Harrison have joined Pickfords’ 

Business Solutions team. 

Returning from a short period with 

Crown Records Management, Paul 

Bray makes a welcome return to 

Pickfords as a Key Account Manager 

in the North West of England. Prior to 

Crown, Paul spent over fifteen years 

with Pickfords in the commercial 

storage and moving division. 

Paul Harrison has spent 20 years in 

the commercial removals industry, 

including time with Cadogan Tate, 

Crown and Harrow Green, winning and 

managing major accounts in key 

sectors, including local government, 

higher education and professional 

services. 

In their new roles, Paul and Paul will be 

furthering the growth of Pickfords’ 

Business Solutions division developing 

existing contracts and supporting new 

projects as part of a long-term strategy 

to expand into new markets and to 

continually improve the service 

Pickfords delivers to its clients. 

“I am delighted to welcome these two 

seasoned professionals to our team,” 

said Martin Budd, Head of Business 

Solutions at Pickfords. “I look forward 

to working with these experienced, 

especially as they help us to drive our 

differentiated proposition and develop 

our market-leading customer 

experience programme.” 

Reader Reply: 195007 

New Los Angeles Federal Courthouse Kept Safe 

with FFE’s Beam Smoke Detectors 

Four Fireray 5000 detectors installed in new state-of-the-art building 

One of the deciding factors in Fireray 

5000 detectors being specified for this 

application is the ‘low level controller’ 

feature, which means maintenance and 

testing can be carried out via the 

control room. “As the units are situated 

high up, physically accessing them 

regularly is exorbitantly expensive and 

impractical, so remote access is 

essential,” says SimplexGrinnell’s 

Construction Manager Sharon Brown. 

Another important factor in any newbuild 

project is building movement. All 

new buildings need to ‘settle’, and for 

beam detectors, which rely on 

precision laser alignment at opposite 

ends of the building, any movement 

can mean the beams become 

unaligned. The Fireray 5000 

compensates for this through its ‘autoalignment’ 

feature, ensuring beams 

remain aligned during building 

movement, without causing nuisance 

alarms or requiring a technician. 

The new 10 storey, 633,000-squarefoot 

courthouse, which is situated in 

To ensure optimum fire 

detection in its large atrium, 

the impressive new Los 

Angeles Federal Courthouse has 

installed four Fireray beam smoke 

detectors from FFE. The units were 

commissioned and installed by 

SimplexGrinnell. 

“Because the atrium is so high, 

conventional smoke detectors were not 

suitable for this installation,” 

commented Managing Director Mark 

Osborne. “Our Fireray 5000 autoaligning, 

reflective smoke detectors 

were selected instead as they are ideal 

for this kind of large interior, providing 

extensive coverage at minimal cost.” 

Fireray 5000 beam detectors work by 

transmitting a beam of invisible infrared 

light across the building space to be 

protected. A receiver detects and 

measures the light and can recognise 

smoke interference anywhere along 

the beam path, triggering the alarm 

signal when the pre-determined 

threshold is reached. 

downtown Los Angeles, contains 24 

courtrooms and 32 judges’ chambers 

and has sustainable features such as a 

serrated facade that maximizes views 

yet also reduces solar heat gain by 

nearly 50 percent. 

With over half a million optical beam 

detectors installed worldwide, Fireray is 

the first choice for installers and 

engineers looking for smoke detection 

in large open areas. With its modern 

design aesthetic and minimal footprint, 

the Fireray is popular with architects 

and facilities managers who care about 

preserving the original design of 

buildings. 


5

NEWS 

news 

Energy as well as CO2 savings 

have become increasingly 

important targets to realise 

reductions in for many universities 

and other educational 

establishments. There are some 

occasions when it is possible to 

simultaneously achieve these 

ambitions and this is true in the 

instance of pumps, as they provide 

the potential to deliver major 

savings on both fronts. 

So how can this be achieved? Well at 

Grundfos Pumps, we offer a range of 

diagnostic tools including an Energy 

Check or Pump Audit that will help to 

establish the current pump system 

performance. Take for example a 

recent Energy Check on an 11,000- 

student campus at a university in the 

North West of England. This showed 

that if a number of circulators were 

exchanged for more efficient models, a 

significant saving of 64,753 kWh per 

year was possible, with an ROI of just 3 

years. 

Following on from this success, the 

university are now looking at reviewing 

Jangro, the largest network of 

independent janitorial 

distributors in the UK and 

Ireland, will launch a catalogue 

boasting new and innovative 

products at The Cleaning Show 

2017. 

Highlights of the Cleaning and 

Hygiene Supplies 2017/18 catalogue 

include details of Jangro’s new 

Washroom Dispenser range, the new 

Workwear range, and additions to 

the Jangronaut children’s dispenser 

range. 

Also featured will be soaps 

produced by the social enterprise 

group Clarity, which employs, 

trains and supports people with 

disabilities to create high quality 

products. 

The catalogue sections cover 

products for Washroom, 

Housekeeping, Kitchen Hygiene, 

Floor Care, Waste Management, 

Industrial Cleaning & Wiping, 

Nursing & Care, Health & Safety, 

PPE and Workwear. 

6 

Campus Has Lessons to Share 

other aspects of their heating, cooling, 

water supply and water boosting pump 

requirements to ensure they are 

delivering to their maximum potential. 

So regardless of if the priority is cost 

reduction, CO2 savings, ROI, a water 

usage reduction or just simply to get 

advice on your current installations, 

Grundfos have the tools, expertise 

and integrity to help you to achieve 

your ambitions. 

Reader Reply : 195017 

New Ranges from Jangro on Show 

Independent janitorial distributor network to launch new Catalogue at The Cleaning Show, 

stand number F05 

Details and images of many other new 

and existing products are also included 

in the catalogue, and will be displayed 

on Jangro’s stand, number F05. 

Jangro will also showcase its 

environmentally friendly range of 

products, Enviro Concentrates – a 

concentrate cleaning product range 

developed with the aim to reduce users’ 

carbon footprints, from packaging and 

shipment, to use and disposal. 

Our dedicated representatives will also 

be on hand to answer any questions 

about new and existing products 

offered by the network, and about 

Jangro’s other activities. These include 

its award-winning suite of free e- 

learning training courses, Learning 

Management Solutions (LMS). 

Joanne Gilliard, Operations Director at 

Jangro, said, “We are very excited to 

be exhibiting again at The Cleaning 

Show – the sixth time at this event. 

Our new Cleaning and Hygiene 

Supplies 2017/18 Catalogue is 

available both as a hard copy and 

online, and provides a 

comprehensive guide to the best 

products on the market for this 

sector. 

“We are really looking forward to 

welcome visitors to our stand at 

the show. It is a great opportunity 

to network and share ideas on 

best practice and innovation.” 

The Cleaning Show runs from 14 

to 16 March at the London Excel 

Centre – go to 

www.cleaningshow.co.uk to 

register to attend. 

Reader Reply : 195013

NEWS news 

Martindale Electric Moves in the Right Direction 

As part of its continuous development 

and growth, Martindale 

Electric is pleased to 

announce it has relocated to new 

larger premises, which will enable 

the company to further enhance its 

service to customers. 

Bringing together sales, marketing, 

manufacturing, product development 

and training together under one roof, 

the new building also provides new calibration, 

repair and training facilities 

which will enable Martindale Electric to 

provide even higher levels of customer 

service, whilst continuing to build on its 

leading position in safe isolation and 

electrical safety. 

Located less than 100m from its current 

location, the new modern building 

occupies a prominent position at the 

head of Imperial Way, Watford and offers 

easy access to the M25 and M1. 

Fitted with the latest LED lighting and a 

heat recovery ventilation system, the 

new environmentally friendly building 

provides an ideal working environment 

and even has a 24 hour gym next door. 

Founded in 1928, Martindale Electric is 

one of the most trusted brands in electrical 

safety testing with a reputation for 

Microsoft UK Refresh Brand with Signbox 

Architectural Signage 

Thames Valley Park, Reading is 

home to some of the world's 

highest profile companies, 

including IT giant, Microsoft’s 

UK headquarters campus. 

In the summer of 2016, Signbox 

was appointed to undertake a full 

signage audit across this 200 

acre business park. Engaged 

initially by commercial property 

consultants CBRE, Signbox was 

tasked with redesigning more 

than two hundred signs with a 

brand refresh issued by 

Microsoft’s corporate 

communication team in the USA. 

The brief included external highlevel 

signage, numerous 

wayfinding totems, internal reception 

branding, and an LED illuminated 8 x 2 

metre monument sign. All had to meet 

intelligent detailing that demanded 

vibrancy with functionality, and precise 

on-brand consistency. To keep 

disruption on this busy campus to an 

providing innovative and time-saving 

electrical measurement solutions for 

electricians and service professionals. 

Offering a market leading range of voltage 

testers, proving units, socket and 

continuity testers, Martindale Electric 

products include a comprehensive range 

of 17th edition installation testers, PATs 

and electrical and environmental test 

tools. 

absolute minimum, all work was 

carried out over evenings and 

weekends over a three month period. 

“Working for a global brand as wellknown 

and widely respected as 

Microsoft, we had to ensure a high 

level of attention to detail prior to 

manufacture, accurately reflecting the 

company’s brand identity,” says 

Signbox Director Matthew Wilkins. “In 

Leading the way in safe isolation, 

Martindale Electric provides simple and 

reliable solutions to ensure that circuits 

have been de-energised and properly 

isolated prior to maintenance and 

modifications. 

For more information, please contact 

Martindale Electric on 01923 441717 

Or visit www.martindale-electric.co.uk 


order to achieve this, we worked 

closely with Microsoft’s global HQ, 

alongside business consultants CBRE. 

This was a substantial project and 

given the global prominence of the 

brand, as well the relative 

significance of this particular 

Microsoft location – it was vital that 

we got it right.” 

Says Clodagh Cashman (CBRE): 

“We have worked with Signbox 

before, and have found them to be 

an excellent and reliable partner. 

We knew we could depend on them 

to manage this whole project from 

start to finish, with no inconvenience 

to us, or to Microsoft. Their 

professionalism and their attention 

to detail gave us this confidence, and it 

proved to be well-founded as they 

ultimately delivered a finished product 

that met all of the client’s 

expectations.” 


7

NEWS 

News 

Andrews Boiler Hire gives Students an Early 

Move-in Date 

In spite of their considerable 

experience in installing temporary 

heating solutions, engineers from 

Andrews Boiler Hire often come 

across a new challenge as was the 

case when called upon to provide a 

hot water and heating solution to 

part of a Scottish University 

campus. 

A new-build construction project at a 

Kilmarnock college included additional 

student accommodation which opened 

in advance of completion of the overall 

project. Although a permanent boiler 

was on-site, an unconnected gas 

supply prevented its commissioning. 

This meant that the student 

accommodation could not be used 

unless an alternative heating source 

could be found. 

Short-term boiler hire was the answer. 

One of the country’s leading specialists 

in industrial boiler hire was contacted, 

and shortly after an engineer from 

8 

Andrews Boiler Hire was on-site to 

evaluate requirements. 

Following the site survey it was 

decided a 500kW boiler together with a 

3,000 litre fuel tank was required to 

ensure that student’s living quarters 

had an adequate supply of heating and 

hot water. 

On-going groundworks nearby 

prevented the Andrews boiler being 

installed inside the designated plant 

room, an alternative location had to be 

found. This was a short distance from 

the plant room. Unfortunately it was on 

the opposite side of a main 

construction site access road. By 

erecting scaffolding across the road, 

Andrews’ engineers were able to run 

water hoses directly into the campus 

plant room and tap into existing 

pipework. 

Although boiler hire was originally 

expected to last six weeks, the 500kW 

boiler and fuel tank hire from Andrews 

Boilers actually remained in place for 

almost three months whilst 

groundworks were completed. 

Andrews Boiler Hire, part of the 

Andrews Sykes group, is ideally suited 

to providing a fast response to 

organisations suffering heating issues. 

The solution proposed by Andrews 

Boiler Hire for the Scottish campus 

proved extremely effective, ensuring 

that students living in the large 

accommodation block enjoyed 

comfortable living standards 

throughout the three-month hire. 

Reader Reply : 195029 

Kemper System Hits the Right Note at 

Yehudi Menuhin School 

Cold-applied liquid 

waterproofing specialist, 

Kemper System, has provided 

the warm roof system for a new 

‘practice house’ at Yehudi Menuhin 

School in Surrey as part of a green 

roof build up. 

Named after the celebrated violin 

virtuoso that founded it, Yehudi 

Menuhin School is a world famous 

school for students of classical music 

based in a former mansion in 

picturesque semi-rural grounds. 

The new practice house is a 600m 2 , 

single storey development designed by 

Brighton-based architectural practice, 

Miller Bourne, providing 11 

acoustically-controlled practice studios, 

along with a teaching area, library, 

offices and a landscaped entrance for 

outdoor performances. 

The contemporary building has been 

designed to complement its natural 

surroundings with a green roof planted 

to reflect the flora and fauna of the 

local area and roof lights to maximise 

natural light. Kemper System’s Stratex 

warm roof system has been installed 

beneath the green roof medium, 

ensuring excellent thermal 

performance, waterproofing protection 

and root resistance. 

Roofing contractor, Imperial 

Contracting Limited, installed the warm 

roof on behalf of main contractor, 

Sunninghill Construction, applying a 

primer to the plywood substrate before 

laying a Kempershield cold-applied, 

self-adhesive vapour control layer 

(VCL). 

The installation team then fitted the 

standard 150mm Kempertherm 

insulation board, cutting various boards 

to size on site to fit the exact 

dimensions of the roof, including the 

apertures for the roof lights, and fixing 

it to the substrate using Kemperfix 

adhesive. 

With the insulation in place and fully 

bonded to the substrate, Imperial 

Contracting Limited used Kemper 

System’s D Primer to prepare the 

surface before applying Kemperol 

V210 cold-applied liquid membrane in 

a single wet-on-wet process comprising 

resin, 200g flexible reinforcement 

fleece and more resin. 

Imperial Contracting then installed the 

green roof elements, which had been 

agreed early in the design process. 

Comments Aleksandrs Zigalovs at 

Miller Bourne: “We had used the same 

combination of Kempertherm insulation 

and Kemperol cold-applied liquid 

membrane on other projects so we 

were confident it was the right 

approach for this scheme and 

the Kemper System team 

worked with us to develop the 

optimum technical specification 

for the roof. 

“With certified roof resistance 

and a BBA accredited 25-year 

guarantee, the warm roof build 

up will ensure the building 

remains a valuable asset to the 

school and its students for a 

generation to come.” 


NEWS news 

Broad Oak Primary School Grows with Modular 

Building from Springfield Mobile 

Springfield Mobile has just 

completed a £300 000 project 

for St Helens Council at Broad 

Oak Community Primary School. 

The new classrooms for years five and 

six were needed as the school’s intake 

has considerably increased over recent 

years and the expansion gives the 

school’s students a better environment 

to prepare for their SATS tests in year 

6. 

Alan Cartwright, service 

manager assets and 

buildings for St Helens 

Council, comments, 

“There were three main 

criteria we had for the 

tender – cost, minimising 

disruption to the school 

and a building that was 

future proofed and capable 

of being easily extended. 

Not only was Springfield 

the most competitive 

supplier who tendered, 

with the brick finish and 

Here East is Here and Now 

Every Olympics has the 

ambition to leave behind a 

strong legacy. This is 

because all host city’s want to make 

sure that they build on the 

momentum and positivity generated 

not just by the games themselves, 

but also by the venues that 

surround them. This expectation 

has fallen short in the past; London 

has however continually bucked 

this trend. 

About to join the legacy ranks is the 

former press centre that is currently 

being reconfigured into a tech and 

media hub. The original plan of the 

press and broadcast centre was 

designed in such a way that it 

included ‘green’ office 

space with four storeys 

of workspace. Grundfos 

were chosen as the 

sole pump supplier and 

the final pump solutions 

were supplied on inertia 

bases. This involved 

more than 70 NBE 

energy efficient pumps 

all of which were 

supplied pre-bolted and 

sloping roof on the new classrooms it 

blends in perfectly with the existing site 

and in the words of staff there, they’ve 

given us the best classrooms in the 

school.” 

Springfield mobile’s managing director 

Lyndsey Duggan adds, “I think now 

across the educational sector it’s very 

hard to justify dedicated building onsite 

given we completed this inside 13 

weeks from site preparation to handing 

pre-wired. 10 pressurisation sets were 

also supplied as well as 6 Hydro MPC- 

E booster sets. 

The original design has meant that 

post games the building could be 

easily adapted, something that is 

proving to be invaluable as the 

building makes its transition into a 

tech and media hub. Called Here 

East it will be fully operational during 

2017. As the largest technology 

innovation centre in Europe it will 

support 500 on-site organisations with 

state-of-the-art facilities and is 

therefore set to continue to deliver 

great results well into the future. 


over the keys. Off site modular 

construction makes much more sense 

and it is great to be involved in projects 

where we get such good feedback and 

can provide something which adds so 

much value to our local community.” 

The double classroom extension and 

toilet block has been designed to allow 

further expansion at a later date and 

kept the school safe during the build 

cycle, connecting utilities and services 

right through to 

compliance with energy 

and safety standards such 

as providing child friendly 

door hinges and windows. 

Alan Cartwright concludes, 

“We’ve nothing but good to 

say about Springfield 

Mobile, this was a major 

step up from earlier 

contracts providing 

portable offices and 

changing rooms and their 

response was terrific.” 


Visit our web site 

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full length articles 

www.practicalfm.co.uk 

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Subscribe at 

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9

NEWS 

news 

HandyLED Solutions on Show at ISE 2017 

Handy AV will be joining 

leading AV mounts 

manufacturer B-Tech to 

demonstrate their own hardware at 

ISE 2017 – showcasing 4mm pixel 

pitch HandyLED panels in a B- 

Tech pop-out mounting solution. 

Handy AV, an established AV 

integrator working across the 

commercial and retail AV sectors, have 

ventured into their own line of LED 

panels in recent years, with a portfolio 

that now includes 1.9mm, 4mm, 6mm 

and 100mm pixel displays. 

This year’s ISE will see their 4mm 

solution being utilised in a 3x4 display 

on B-Tech AV Mounts’ Hall 5 stand – 

demonstrating how LED panels can 

have the same pop-out convenience 

now enjoyed by videowall displays. 

HandyLED 4mm solutions are widely 

used in retail signage across Europe, 

with installs completed for clients 

including Primark, Dior and adidas. 

Handy managing director Aubrey 

Wright believes B-Tech’s mounting 

solution will help to further drive the 

adoption of LED displays. He explains: 

“There is no doubt that LED panels 

continue to play a big part in 

commercial digital signage. We are 

delighted to be joining B-Tech AV 

Mounts on their stand this year as we 

showcase not only how easy it is to 

mount an LED solution, but also how a 

pop-out mount makes maintenance 

and replacement of panels a simple 

process.” 

“B-Tech are known for their superb 

customer service and precision 

engineering – qualities that we share 

here at Handy AV. We look forward to 

Unger Stingray Shines All Around 

welcoming everyone to Hall 5 and 

showing what we believe to be the 

best value LED panels available in the 

UK.” 

HandyLED can be seen on B-Tech 

AV Mounts’ booth – Hall 5 Stand R-60 

www.HandyAV.com 


Unger was presented with the 

Innovation Award at the 

international cleaning trade 

fair ISSA/Interclean North America. 

The Unger Stingray indoor window 

cleaning system managed to impress 

the exclusive jury and won the coveted 

award in the Supplies and Accessories 

category. 

With a total of 50 cleaning companies 

registering their products for the 

Innovation Awards this year, the 

competition was challenging across all 

categories. A distinguished expert jury 

made up of distributors, construction 

companies and in-house service 

providers judged every product on its 

forward-thinking potential, 

giving particular 

consideration to profitability 

and safety aspects, as well 

as innovative features, 

quality and productivity. 

The jury chose Unger 

Stingray as the outstanding 

innovation in the Supplies 

and Accessories category 

based on its unique 

advantages that make 

cleaning indoor glass, mirror 

and other washable surfaces 

simpler and more efficient. 

Unger Stingray – allowing 

cleaning personnel to work 

simpler, faster, safer and 

more efficiently 

10 

Cleaning indoor glass using traditional 

sprayer and a cloth can be timeconsuming 

and labour intensive, 

especially in areas with lots of internal 

glass surfaces that have to be kept 

spotless at all times, such as offices, 

hotels, restaurants and shopping 

centres. Using ladders or climbing 

chairs to clean at height can also be 

risky and require re-arranging furniture 

and equipment for access. 

Unger Stingray easily solves these 

issues and offers a perfect solution to 

all your indoor glass cleaning needs. 

According to the “Indoor window 

cleaning time and consumption study” 

conducted by the hygiene consultant 

Hyco Mück, the Stingray allows you to 

clean 25% faster compared to 

traditional sprayer and a cloth method 

thanks to its one step “apply & clean” 

design. Its enclosed sprayer applies 

the glass cleaner directly to surface, 

eliminating overspray and drips, so 

there is no risk of airborne chemical 

inhalation and no need to spend extra 

time on covering up nearby items or 

cleaning up the mess. 

At a push of a button, the Stingray 

pump dispenses a single shot of 

professional glass cleaner with 3M 

Scotchgard protection, its precise 

application allows you to clean 

brilliantly, control costs and 

minimise waste, using 39% 

less chemicals! 

With its highly intuitive design, 

the Stingray is simple and 

easy to use, with minimal 

training required even for your 

least experienced staff. This 

means that surface cleaning 

at heights of up to 4 m (13 ft) 

can now be safely carried out 

by in-house teams on a daily 

basis, reducing risks and 

costs whilst increasing 

building cleanliness and 

customer satisfaction. 

Reader Reply: 195010

NEWS news 

The building was constructed to permanent 

standards and will be in use for 

five years, giving the Trust much greater 

flexibility as the facilities can be removed 

or adapted according to local 

needs. The structure was delivered as 

124 modules which were installed in a 

carefully planned operation complete 

with wall finishes, internal partitioning, 

mechanical and electrical services and 

flooring already in place. This approach 

further reduced work and disruption to 

patient care on this busy hospital site. 

Modular construction is a fast and flexible 

way for healthcare providers to expand 

or relocate services, particularly 

Portakabin, the UK’s leading 

supplier of modular buildings, 

has received a second award 

commendation for its delivery of a 

highly complex ward and theatre 

building at Royal Stoke University 

Hospital. The 4,200sqm facility was 

completed in less than four months 

to help meet the increasing demand 

for orthopaedic services. 

In recognition of the success of the 

project, Portakabin has now been highly 

commended at the Offsite Awards in 

the Public Sector Project of the Year 

category. More than 200 industry leaders 

gathered to celebrate off-site construction 

at the NEC in Birmingham. 

With over 160 exemplary entries, these 

annual awards recognise pioneering 

and landmark projects, and manufacturing 

excellence. 

Portakabin was also highly commended 

for the Constructing Excellence 

West Midlands Project of the Year 

Award. 

The highly serviced £13.5 million building 

at Royal Stoke accommodates 

clean air theatres for orthopaedic procedures, 

a recovery room, ward bays 

Portakabin Receives Second Award Commendation 

for one of the UK’s Most Complex Interim Healthcare 

Schemes 

and single ensuite rooms. A video of 

the building can be viewed here. 

Commenting on the latest award commendation, 

Robert Snook, Director and 

General Manager at Portakabin said, 

“This tremendous accolade is a real 

credit to our whole team and to such 

an enlightened client. It is also hugely 

significant that an interim building solution 

can achieve such prestigious, national 

recognition. We are delighted 

that the quality of the building and our 

service delivery at Royal Stoke has 

been recognised and that the project is 

helping to change perceptions of just 

what can be realised with modular construction.” 

“The success of this project allowed 

the Trust to have its new orthopaedics 

unit up and running much more quickly, 

to meet the increasing demand for 

services and to enhance patients’ experience 

with a high quality, purposedesigned 

healthcare facility. It was extremely 

challenging in terms of scale, 

logistics, access, and the very close 

proximity of existing wards which had 

to remain fully operational throughout.” 

on constrained sites. The hiring of 

buildings allows projects to be funded 

cost effectively from revenue rather 

than capital budget streams, giving 

NHS trusts the flexibility to meet 

changing local needs. 

For further information about interim 

buildings for healthcare projects, visit 

www.portakabin.co.uk, email 

information@portakabin.co.uk or call 

0845 401 0010. 


11

NEWS 

news 

Diagnostics Service Drives Down Stress Levels 

ABB’s inspection and diagnostics service protects operator investment by assessing variablespeed 

drive condition to identify future maintenance needs 

Drive lifetime is prolonged with 

a new service from ABB which 

analyses existing conditions 

to predict future maintenance needs 

and optimise operation. ABBcertified 

engineers analyse the 

performance and condition of the 

drive on-site, and use their 

expertise to provide detailed 

diagnostics and maintenance 

recommendations for the end 

user. 

Two variants of the service are 

available: 

Drive Health Check, for ABB’s 

ACS607 and ACS800-07 drives, 

offers detailed measurement and 

inspection which takes place during 

planned shutdown. The current 

condition of the drive is assessed, 

and recommendations are given for 

short-term and long-term 

maintenance. 

Drive Stress Check, for ACS800 

and ACS880 single drives and 

12 

multidrive modules, requires no 

shutdown, and can be performed during 

normal operation. The stress status of 

the drive resulting from harsh 

environments or heavy-duty applications 

is identified, and recommendations are 

provided to mitigate their effects. 

It is estimated that a variable-speed drive 

could have a mean-time between failure 

(MTBF) of over half a million hours – 

equivalent to 62 years – but this is only 

achievable if the drive is correctly and 

regularly maintained. Drives often 

perform critical duties, and so failures 

can result in substantial losses in 

production and revenue. The 

inspection and diagnostics service 

helps to inform operators of exactly 

what is going on inside their drive, and 

arm them with the knowledge to 

ensure that it continues to run at 

optimal efficiency. 

As part of the inspection and 

diagnostics service the drive will be 

registered with ABB, giving customers 

access to ABB’s worldwide service 

network, including online product 

manuals and maintenance 

recommendations, further protecting 

the condition of their drives. 


New Interactive Terminal Increases Employees’ 

Engagement in Their Own Personal Skills 

Development 

International 

workforce 

management and HR support 

specialists, Bodet Ltd, has 

developed a high specification 

employee attendance system 

incorporating interactive reporting 

which both supports Continuing 

Professional Development (CPD) and 

promotes greater employee 

engagement. 

CPD is widely recognised as 

fundamental to the improvement of 

standards and skills both for individuals 

and their industries. It enables an 

individual to address important areas of 

development and take appropriate action 

to take their skills to a higher level. While 

accepted for most of the classic 

professions, ongoing skills training for 

other key staff doesn’t always receive 

the same support from employers. CPD 

not only benefits employees, improving 

their career progression, but higher staff 

skills results in increased productivity 

and adds value to the organisation. 

Bodet’s award winning Kelio Visio X7 

smart terminal allows employees to 

identify themselves either by proximity 

card or, for greatest security, using the 

inbuilt biometric fingerprint sensor. 

When staff register, the terminal 

identifies them and time stamps the 

record which is then stored on the 

master database in real time. The seven 

inch touch screen then presents a 

contemporary style intuitive display 

panel which allows staff access to a 

customisable range of functions, 

including viewing their own attendance 

data, requesting holidays, personal 

messaging and web applications. 

Employee records can be accessed by 

HR administrators, and these can have 

training notes, CPD plans and any 

relevant training documents, such as 

certification, attached to them to give 

full visibility of the developmental status 

of each member of staff. There is also 

the facility to add automated reminders 

within this system, so that if training is 

due for renewal or it is time for a staff 

review, HR administrators receive 

notification, and can in turn advise the 

relevant employee. 

With the relevant software modules, as 

employees clock in and out, the time 

period can be attributed to an activity, 

such as training or secondment. 

Managers can also use the messaging 

capabilities of the Kelio Visio X7 to 

communicate directly with staff to advise 

them of available training opportunities, 

or display company-wide bulletins for 

larger CPD events. 


NEWS news 

Union Secure Repeat Orders from Loyal Customer 

Employee Owned company Union 

Industries, the UK market 

leading manufacturer of industrial 

rapid roll doors, has returned to 

long-standing customer, James T. 

Blakeman & Co Ltd to install a new 

Matadoor that will help maintain its 

strict hygiene standards. 

James T. Blakeman & Co Ltd, the meatbased 

product supplier, has had the 

Matadoor fitted by Union’s technicians 

between its Production and Packaging 

areas to create a divide for hygiene 

reasons during wash-down periods. 

The Matadoor has replaced an old 

problematic high speed door from another 

manufacturer which could not 

withstand the high usage and arduous 

environment within this busy production 

area. 

Used by pedestrians and operated by a 

push button, the door – the steel parts 

of which are made from Grade 304 

Stainless Steel – will also help to maintain 

a consistent temperature thanks to 

Apollo Fire Detectors has 

launched a new, enhanced 

website with state-of-the-art 

photography and design to visualise 

the latest in Apollo fire detection 

technology. The website highlights 

applications where Apollo products 

are installed and showcases new 

case studies. The main features of 

the new resource are extensive, 

including live-update product 

information and vastly improved 

search functionality. In addition, the 

new website is even more 

responsive and suited for viewing 

on mobile devices. 

The product information sections have 

been enriched to offer detailed 

information on every Apollo product 

range in one place, including technical 

specifications previously only listed 

within the product literature. A new 

its opening speed of 1.6m per second 

and auto-close operation, which helps 

to prevent the cold air escaping and 

warm air entering the area. 

The Matadoor also comes with free entry 

into Union’s Lifetime Warranty 

Scheme, which was introduced several 

years ago. This cover not only provides 

an extensive guarantee but also includes 

service visits from Union’s highly 

trained technicians as required. 

Established in 1953, James T. Blakeman 

& Co Ltd manufactures and supplies 

chilled, cooked and frozen 

quality sausage meat-based products 

supplied to the wholesale, catering 

and food services sector. 

Neil Irwin, Technical Sales Engineer 

at Union Industries, said: “James 

T.Blakeman & Co Ltd now has several 

of our doors installed at its Newcastle-under-Lyme 

site since 2014, when 

we installed an Eiger door to help 

maintain a constant temperature within 

their freezer. Following that initial 

installation we installed four partial 

Stainless Steel Matadoors for temperature 

control in the Chilled Warehouse, 

followed by a further Eiger 

Freezer Door as part of a new Tempering 

Room Project. 

“A large proportion of our sales are to 

existing clients that have seen our 

products in action and understand 

why they are regarded as the best on 

the market – it’s a great testimonial.” 

Brian Littleton, Head of Hygiene & 

Projects at James T. Blakeman & Co Ltd, 

said: “The high speed doors we utilise in 

our facility are integral to our operation, 

which means they must be durable and 

efficient. That’s why we continue to take 

advantage of Union’s first class, Britishbuilt 

products and its continued maintenance 

service.” 

Apollo Launches New Enhanced Website 

comparison tool makes it easier for 

visitors to find the best product for any 

application. 

Finding Apollo partners worldwide is 

made easier with a dedicated page 

which can be searched by region or 

country and provides links to the 

partners’ websites for further 

information on their expertise and 

partnerships with Apollo. 

‘My Apollo’ will enable Apollo Partners 

and Customers to access their own 

portal through the website where they 

will be able to create project lists and 

save lists of Apollo products for 

quoting. Users will also have access to 

digital assets, such as logos and 

unlocked literature. 

Searching the new website has 

become even easier through the 

implementation of a powerful search 

engine API. Search queries familiar to 


website users from internet searches 

will produce intelligent search results 

faster than the previous website 

offering. Another feature is the 

website’s responsiveness to the large 

number of different screen sizes on 

which it will be viewed, leading to a 

high-quality experience whatever the 

device. 

To view the new website visit 

www.apollo-fire.co.uk. 


13

NEWS 

news 

Change Toilet Provision to Increase Custom 

Venues, retail outlets could 

significantly increase the 

number of families visiting, 

and their length of stay, just by 

adapting accessible toilet facilities. 

A survey by Firefly Community- a 

group of 20,000 families with children 

who have special needs- found that: 

- 97% of families surveyed said 

changing their child whilst out 

and about was a problem. 

- 86% had to leave a venue 

early because of poor toilet 

facilities 

- 100% suffer from back pain 

(from lifting their child) 

- 95% said either a height 

adjustable or adult-sized 

changing bench would make 

their life easier on days out 

- 99% would be more likely to 

visit a venue if it improved its 

toilet changing facilities. 

“The survey speaks for itself,” 

observes Claire Smyth, who runs 

“Without these, those families either 

can’t visit, or leave early so spend less 

with you: that includes everything from 

doing the weekly shop, a trip to the 

town or shopping centre, a family meal 

out, or a tourist attraction. And we 

know that venues that have made that 

change are seeing tangible benefits- 

Cornwall Services, for example, has 

reported its facility is used daily and it 

has seen an increase in custom and 

spend as a result.” 

Adds Robin Tuffley, marketing 

manager at Clos-o-Mat, supporter of 

the Space to Change campaign, “Even 

if there is no other toilet provided, 

venues have to at least have a unisex 

wheelchair-accessible toilet. Many 

unisex wheelchair accessible toilets 

are already big enough to 

accommodate the bench and hoist: it’s 

a comparatively small capital 

equipment spend to add them. Even if 

they are not already big enough, it only 

requires an additional 1.6m x 2m of 

suitable facilities represents that 

substantial disadvantage. 

The concept of Space To Change 

toilets has been developed to ensure 

that the personal hygiene needs of 

people who need changing and lifting 

facilities for their personal care are met 

when away from home, as much as 

possible. It builds on a Regulatory 

(Document M) unisex wheelchairaccessible 

toilet, delivering a 7.5m 2 + 

(3m x 2.5m min) WC facility with an 

adult-sized changing bench and a 

hoist. 

Clos-o-Mat, Britain’s leading supplier of 

disabled toilet solutions at home and 

away, has been instrumental in 

developing the Space To Change toilet 

layout, and working with campaigners 

and Firefly Community to promote the 

concept. Firefly Community, an online 

special needs resource, is driving the 

movement, supporting campaigners 

and raising awareness of the need for 

accessible toilets that include a height 

Firefly’s Space to Change campaign, 

for wheelchair-accessible toilet 

facilities with a changing bench and 

hoist. “Provide a hoist, bench, and you 

open your doors to up to 14million 

disabled children and adults 1 in the UK, 

and their families, who need space, a 

bench, and/or hoist to toilet away from 

home. 

14 

space….” 

Under the Equality Act, venues to 

which the public have access are 

required to anticipate the need and 

make ‘reasonable adjustments’, 

including to the built environment, if a 

disabled person would otherwise be at 

a ‘substantial’ disadvantage. 

Campaigners maintain having to lie a 

child or adult on a toilet floor to be 

changed because there are not 

adjustable changing bench and hoist. 

Full details of the Space To Change 

concept, plus technical support, CAD 

blocks etc, can be found at www.closo-mat.com 

and 

http://community.fireflyfriends.com/cam 

paigns/space-to-change. 


Contract interiors specialist 

Gradus has supplied 

SureProtect Pure hygienic wall 

cladding and Specialist Bathroom 

Products to BMI The Somerfield 

Hospital, to improve cleanliness and 

accessibility. 

Based in Maidstone, Kent, BMI The 

Somerfield Hospital is part of BMI 

Healthcare, a leading provider of 

independent healthcare with a 

nationwide network of hospitals. The 

hospital is registered for 38 beds in total 

Gradus Specified for Upgrade at 

BMI Healthcare Facility 

clean and maintain, helping to reduce 

the need for frequent replacement and 

contribute towards a hygienic 

environment. The smooth surface is 

impervious to moisture and bacteria 

making it ideal for applications that must 

adhere to rigorous hygiene standards, 

such as hospital environments. 

Maxima products in Blue, including a 

Grab Rail and two Adjustable Support 

Arms, were chosen to contrast with the 

White SureProtect Pure wall cladding 

and to help ensure inclusive access to 

NEWS news 

to everyone visiting, working or staying 

in the hospital, and so Gradus provided 

us with a comprehensive range of 

Specialist Bathroom Products to meet 

our needs.” 

Anna Conrad-Smith, Marketing Product 

Manager at Gradus, commented: “In 

addition to The Maxima Range, Gradus 

SureProtect Pure wall cladding is an 

excellent choice for hospital 

environments. The smooth, easy to 

clean surface is also extremely durable 

and resistant to impact damage, which 

and features three operating theatres, 

three minor procedure rooms and a 

range of specialist clinics. 

To help improve the hygiene levels and 

ease of access for such a diverse range 

of patients, Gradus refurbished the main 

outpatient’s WC on the ground floor. 

Products specified included SureProtect 

Pure wall cladding and Maxima 

Specialist Bathroom Products, which 

were supplied and fitted by an 

experienced team from Gradus 

Contracts. 

SureProtect Pure, was specified to 

ensure the bathroom remained easy to 

the WC. The Specialist Bathroom 

Products specified have been designed 

to meet guidelines in Approved 

Document M of the Building Regulation 

2010. 

Connie Stocker, Executive Director at 

BMI The Somerfield Hospital, said: “We 

chose to specify Gradus because of its 

years of experience in the contract 

interior industry, and proven track record 

in providing safe and secure solutions to 

the healthcare sector. 

“As we have a large number of people 

using our facilities everyday, we required 

a solution that made our WC accessible 

helps to maintain hygiene standards and 

reduce ongoing repair and maintenance 

costs. 

“This project demonstrates our 

commitment to creating safe and 

accessible buildings without 

compromising on the aesthetics of the 

building.” 

For further information on the full range 

of wall protection and Specialist 

Bathroom Products available from 

Gradus, please call 01625 428922 or 

visit www.gradus.com. 


15

NEWS 

news 

Pushing the Boundaries of Office Design 

If you want to create a workspace 

that’s functional, innovative, 

boosts productivity and even 

helps to attract great staff, don’t be 

afraid to push the boundaries of 

office design. 

Whether you don’t have a clue where 

to start or you’re simply looking for a 

few new ideas, below are some great 

ways to improve the design of your 

office and make your company stand 

out. 

Modular desks 

Traditional office environments have 

changed dramatically over the last few 

decades. While it was once standard 

for staff to sit in their own cubicle, open 

offices which provide plenty of flexibility 

Housing your business in an office with 

a glass roof or walls provides a number 

of benefits including: 

• The architecture of glass 

buildings is unrivalled and is 

guaranteed to turn heads. 

• One of the most obvious 

benefits of glass is that it’s 

transparent and therefore lets 

in plenty of natural light. This is 

very important, especially in an 

office environment where 

lighting has a huge impact on 

productivity. 

• Another great benefit of glass 

buildings is that they’re very 

energy efficient. Natural 

sunlight warms the building up 

• Plants can help to reduce 

noise levels in buildings by 

absorbing sounds and 

deflecting them which is ideal 

for busy offices. 

• They can improve the 

aesthetics of a building. 

• We spend a third of our day in 

an office but good interior 

landscaping can give workers 

access to an indoor garden or 

views of vegetation. Being 

close to greenery makes us 

feel more at ease with our 

surroundings, we experience 

less stress when surrounded 

by plants and they can even 

help to improve our wellbeing. 

are now commonplace. 

In order to help companies embrace 

this trend, modular desks are gaining 

in popularity. They can be reconfigured 

depending on the space available and 

how many people you have working for 

you and another huge benefit is that 

they’re very easy to move around. 

Glass design 

While there’s nothing you can do about 

the structure of your existing office, if 

you’re thinking about relocating, 

consider a building which incorporates 

a lot of glass into its design. 

16 

just like central heating would, 

glass is an excellent material 

for thermal insulation and it’s 

also brilliant at keeping warm 

air in the building. 

Plant design 

An increasing number of businesses 

are incorporating plants into their office 

design because there are a number of 

benefits of doing so: 

• Studies have found that people 

generate 15% more ideas 

when they’re sat in an office 

with plants. 

• Indoor plants can improve air 

quality and remove up to 87% 

of air toxins in 24 hours. 

Open work areas 

One of the many reasons you don’t 

often see cubicles in office design 

anymore is because companies have 

realised the benefits of promoting 

collaboration amongst staff. A great 

way to encourage this is to have open 

work areas where teams can come 

together and brainstorm ideas. 

As well as being great places to work 

as part of a team, open work spaces 

also provide an additional place for 

individuals who need a change of 

scenery if they’re struggling to 

concentrate or stay motivated. 


NEWS news 

Variable-Speed Drives Boost Hotel Water 

Supply While Reducing Running Costs 

Daresbury Park Hotel & Spa halves energy use and improves pump system uptime 

A53 percent cut in energy use 

and a significant 

improvement in the uptime of 

a hot water pumping systems is the 

result of installing ABB drives at 

hotel in Warrington. 

When the 200-room Daresbury Park 

Hotel & Spa was acquired by the 

Britannia Hotel Group in 2015, it soon 

became apparent that the existing 

pumping arrangement was in need of 

an overhaul. The system supplies all 

the hot water used throughout the hotel 

including guest rooms, public areas 

and the spa. 

“From day one we experienced a 

number of problems, ranging from 

intermittent changes in water pressure 

to banging noises in the pipes to, on 

occasion, complete breakdown,” 

explains Lol Bennett, head of 

maintenance for Britannia Hotels. 

“What we wanted was a solution that 

would make the entire system more 

reliable, whilst reducing wear on the 

pumps and saving energy.” 

The hotel turned to PressBoost, which 

installs and maintains the pump 

systems in all Britannia Hotels 

locations, to provide that solution. 

Examination of the system revealed 

three large pumps operating in a dutystandby-standby 

configuration. 

Although the pumps were large enough 

to provide more than enough hot water 

to meet the needs of its hotel and its 

guests, the lead pump was suffering 

from excessive wear, causing it, on 

occasion, to break down entirely. 

”Duty-standby-standby is a bad 

arrangement, as it means that most of 

the time pump number one was doing 

all the work, whilst pumps two and 

three were mostly idle,” explains 

Antony Chesters, senior engineer at 

PressBoost. 

PressBoost also discovered that while 

the motor driving the lead pump had 

been fitted with a variable-speed drive 

(VSD), it was no longer working. This 

meant that the pump ran at full speed 

regardless of demand, putting further 

strain on the motor. It also meant the 

VSD was not delivering the energy 

savings it was capable of providing. 

PressBoost installed a 7.5 kW ABB 

drive on each of the three pumps. The 

drives adjust the speed of the pumps 

depending on the level of demand. 

When less hot water is required, the 

flow of energy from the motor to the 

pump is reduced. This has enabled the 

hotel to cut the 

energy it uses to 

supply hot water by 

53 percent. 

The system was 

also reconfigured to 

work on a dutyassist-standby 

arrangement to 

reduce wear on the 

lead pump. 

“Should demand 

exceed pump one’s 

capacity, the 

second pump 

switches on 

automatically to 

assist the lead 

pump. However, 

regardless of 

demand, the pumps 

switch over every 

24 hours in order to 

spread demand 

and reduce wear 

on the lead pump,” 

explains Chesters. 

The VSDs keep water pressure 

constant at 3.5 bar, which also helps 

to reduce wear on other parts of the 

hot water system. “Before the drives 

were installed, water pressure 

fluctuated between 3 and 6 bar, 

causing water to ‘hammer’ in the 

pipes. This put additional stress on 

the pipework, bearings and seals, 

which in turn contributed to the 

reliability issues the hotel was 

experiencing,” explains Chesters. 

The ABB drives were installed as part 

of a control panel and are 

programmed via a PLC. In the 

unlikely event the PLC fails, a failsafe 

programme switches the pump 

system to single pump, fixed speed 

operation until the PLC can be 

repaired, thereby ensuring no loss of 

supply. 

Since the system was installed the 

hotel and its guests have enjoyed an 

uninterrupted supply of hot water. As 

a result PressBoost has been asked 

to supply the same solution for 

Daresbury Park Hotel’s cold water 

system. 


17

NEWS 

news 

Evaporative Cooling App From Condair 

Condair, formerly JS Humidifiers, 

has developed a new app 

that accurately determines 

how much energy could be saved by 

using in-duct exhaust air evaporative 

cooling and a heat recovery 

system, rather than just traditional 

compressor driven cooling. 

Using worldwide weather data from 

Meteonorm, the myCoolblue app calculates 

how much energy is needed annually 

to cool a building. Then, taking 

into account 10 years of historic weather 

data from over 300 regions worldwide, 

the app projects how much 

cooling each month could be delivered 

using exhaust air evaporative cooling 

and how much would still need to be 

delivered using traditional mechanical 

cooling. 

Exhaust air evaporative cooling uses 

an adiabatic humidifier to cool the return 

air from a room and a heat recovery 

unit to transfer the cool thermal 

energy to the incoming fresh air 

stream. The technique can provide 

several degrees of cooling from just a 

few kilowatts of electricity, reducing a 

building’s energy bills and carbon footprint. 

By assessing how much of a building’s 

cooling can be delivered with exhaust 

air cooling, a HVAC consultant or AHU 

designer can accurately calculate the 

viability of an in-duct evaporative cooling 

system and show its return on investment 

potential. 

For instance, Condair’s myCoolblue 

app shows that for a building in London 

needing to maintain an internal condition 

of 23°C during normal office hours, 

with 2m x 2m AHU and airflow of 

2.6m³/s, the typical annual cooling load 

would be 33,532kWh. Given the 10- 

year historic weather conditions for 

London, myCoolblue app shows that, 

in an average year, an exhaust air 

evaporative cooling system could deliver 

53% of the required cooling. 

The app gives energy projections for 

hot or average summer conditions and 

takes into account a comprehensive 

set of variables to provide an accurate 

calculation for any project. These variables 

include the type and efficiency of 

the heat recovery unit being employed, 

the location of the fans and the humidifier 

configuration inside the AHU, 

alongside the actual design conditions 

and operating parameters of the AHU 

itself. 

A chart showing the monthly breakdown 

in kWh between mechanical and 

evaporative cooling is presented, along 

with a diagram of the system configuration 

and the temperature course 

supply/exhaust chart. Project details 

and calculations can be saved to the 

cloud and accessed later. An email option 

also allows reports with all the 

project parameters to be emailed in a 

pdf format for future reference. 

Condair’s myCoolblue app can be 

downloaded from the App Store for 

free and is available for iPad only. 

Condair Group is the world’s leading 

specialist in humidification and evaporative 

cooling, with energy efficient, 

hygienic and innovative technologies 

for commercial, industrial and heritage 

applications. Condair is represented in 

the UK by Condair plc, which offers 

system design, manufacture, supply, 

installation, commissioning, maintenance 

and spares. Condair plc is the 

new name for JS Humidifiers following 

the organisation’s rebranding in October 

2014. You can find out more by 

visiting the company’s website at 

www.condair.co.uk. 


18

NEWS news 

Landmark West London Office Block, Vantage 

London, Catches the Eye of Commuters with High 

Impact Exterior Signage from Signbox 

Towering above the elevated 

section of the M4 in Chiswick, 

Vantage London is a building 

seen by tens of thousands of 

motorists every day as they make 

their way between Heathrow airport 

and Central London. Offering the 

largest office space in West London, 

the building occupies a prominent 

location facing Kew Gardens and 

sits a mere five minute walk from 

Chiswick Park tube station. The 

building has undergone a major 

refurbishment over this year, and 

key to re-launching this landmark 

building was a range of exterior 

signage that would powerfully 

reflect the outstandingly modern 

and vibrant interior. 

Architectural signage 

specialist, Signbox’s 

proven ability to deliver 

quality high-elevation 

signage on this scale 

meant it was the natural 

partner for this complex 

and high profile job. The 

company was first 

approached by the 

contracted architects, 

Spratley Studios, in late 

2014 to provide initial 

technical assistance to 

resolve issues relating to 

the location of large, 

high-level signs to both 

of the existing curtainwalled 

glazing and 

cladding systems. 

Signbox was then invited 

to competitively tender 

for the works in 

November 2015 and was 

awarded the external 

signage, which was then 

delivered between 

January and May of 

2016. 

The first step in the 

project was to update the 

building’s existing gantry 

sign. All decorative 

tubular steel was 

removed and the entire 

gantry re-dressed with 

aluminium cladding over 

a new, bespoke 

structural steel framework with large 

illuminated lettering. Further external 

works required the designing of a 

specialist bracket system to attach a 

reinforced flex-faced box to a Schuco 

curtain wall at the 13 th floor level, 

directly above the elevated section of 

the M4. Bespoke large fabricated 

letters, located flush to the cladding, 

were also designed and installed to 

ensure the fixings took all of the weight 

load back to the building structure. 

A 16 x 6 metre mesh lettings banner, 

digitally printed in full colour, was 

located on engineered fixings that can 

be removed if required at a later date 

with recourse to remove the cladding 

panels. It also featured ‘bump stops’ to 

prevent the banner making contact 

with, and damaging the paint finish to 

refinished cladding. 

The complexity and very high cost of 

re-accessing elevated signage meant 

that Signbox also designed and 

installed a complete secondary LED 

circuit with all control switchgear sited 

remotely within the building, ensuring 

that most future issues can be simply 

and immediately addressed without the 

need to access the exterior signage. In 

addition to the primary exterior 

signage, Signbox has also removed 

and replaced all car park wayfinding 

with stainless steel effect dibond, with 

printed detail as part of the project. 

Workman LLP, the 

management company 

for the building are 

delighted with the quality 

of the work delivered by 

Signbox and have 

subsequently ordered 

additional internal 

signage – including 

directories, reception 

works, tenant signage 

and wall graphics – all of 

which have now been 

completed. 

Signbox Senior Project 

Manager Andrew O’Hara 

concludes: “Signbox was 

delighted to have the 

opportunity to work on 

such a high profile and 

architecturally challenging 

project – the delivery of 

high-elevation signage 

that is seen by tens of 

thousands of London 

motorists on a daily basis. 

The project required strict 

adherence to deadlines 

and close cooperation 

with multiple contractors. 

We were ultimately able 

to deliver a high-quality 

finish befitting this 

landmark building, and 

the success of the job 

immediately led to further 

project work for this 

client.” 


19

NEWS 

cover story 

Skyjack Elevates Iconic Wurlitzer Organ to New Heights 

Linamar Corporation’s (TSX- 

LNR) Skyjack division is 

elevating a restored Wurlitzer 

to new heights as the organ is 

officially launched at an Art Deco 

cinema in the U.K. Thanks to 

Skyjack and rental company 

Nationwide Platforms, the iconic 

1920s organ is now able to rise 

from the floor and entertain movielovers. 

Skyjack donated the lift 

while Nationwide Platforms 

modified it. The ‘Mighty Wurlitzer’ 

is thought to be the only 

ascending one still in operation in 

a cinema, in Europe. 

“The wonderful sight and sound of 

the Wurlitzer rising, like a phoenix, 

brought back so many happy 

memories of my childhood in the preand 

post-war period, when so many 

cinemas still had similar organs rising 

from the stage,” said Sir Chris 

Bonington, celebrated mountaineer 

and author, and patron of a charity 

which hosted the official launch event. 

In October, the Association for the 

Independence of Disabled People 

(AID) hosted a charity movie night and 

officially launched the Wurlitzer at the 

Royalty Cinema in Bowness-on- 

Windermere in Cumbria. The event 

raised £5,250 through ticket sales and 

donations, which will go towards 

funding drug trials to improve the lives 

of people with Motor Neurone Disease. 

“The evening went extremely well and 

everyone loved seeing the Wurlitzer go 

up on the scissor lift,” said Paul 

Adorian, managing director of AID. “It 

was absolutely marvelous – the whole 

thing was a tremendous amount of 

fun.” 

At the official launch event, cinemagoers 

were treated to a screening of 

Organist Mark Latimer plays the Wurlitzer as it rises on the 

Skyjack scissor, with charity patron Sir Chris Bonington 

the 1953 British comedy, The Titfield 

Thunderbolt, which is one of the first 

comedies in Britain to be shot in 

technicolor and many regard it as a 

classic from that era. 

“There are six regular organists who 

play and we’ve also had visiting 

musicians. They all love being able go 

up and down on the lift to play the 

Wurlitzer as it was originally intended,” 

Adorian said. “It adds a great 

atmosphere and we believe it’s the 

only Wurlitzer still in existence in a 

cinema in Europe to actually go up and 

down. Some of the older people 

remember these types of organs from 

their youth, so it’s great for them 

particularly to see it in action.” 

Restoring history 

Earlier this year Skyjack and 

Nationwide Platforms donated a 

modified SJIII 3215 DC electric scissor 

lift to Royalty Cinema to make their 

Wurlitzer organ ‘fly’. The instrument 

was previously stored in pieces for 

decades before a group of enthusiasts 

brought it back to life. 

Wurlitzer pipe organs were hugely 

popular in the 1920s and ‘30s as they 

provided musical accompaniment and 

sound effects such as horses’ hooves, 

whistles and bird noises, for silent 

movies. They were known as ‘Mighty 

Wurlitzers’, and often rose up from the 

pit of a cinema stage to entertain 

movie-goers during the intermission. 

When synchronized cinematic sound 

was introduced, silent movies fell out of 

fashion – many Wurlitzers were sold 

and subsequently fell into disrepair; 

some were scrapped altogether. 

The 1927 model at the Royalty Cinema 

was originally played at the Almira 

20

(From left) Andrew Briggs of Nationwide Platforms, Sir Chris 

Bonington, AID Managing Director, Paul Adorian, and Skyjack’s 

David Hall 

Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio, and later 

shipped across the Atlantic for 

installation at the Rex Cinema in 

Stratford, London. In the 1970s it was 

sold, dismantled and kept in storage. In 

2010, a group of volunteers in Cumbria 

raised money to buy the dilapidated 

organ and spent several years 

restoring it. 

In 2012, it was installed as a 

static but working organ at the 

Art Deco-era Royalty Cinema. 

Fast forward four years, the 

Wurlitzer regained its mobility 

and began to ascend and 

descend after the addition of 

the modified Skyjack scissor. 

Movie magic 

Skyjack donated a modified 

SJIII 3215 DC electric scissor, 

which consisted of the existing 

scissor stack, a new base and 

top plate weldment, to the 

cinema as part of its 30 FOR 

30 PARTNERS campaign, 

which celebrated its 30th 

anniversary. The company 

teamed up with 

Leicestershire-based 

Nationwide Platforms, whose 

engineers developed and 

installed a custom power pack 

and control system which 

enables the smoothest possible 

ascent and descent of the platform. 

The whole assembly was bolted into a 

newly created concrete base beneath 

the cinema floor and a large false 

wooden floor was attached to the top 

plate, upon which the organ now sits. 

“We have been delighted to play a part 

in the renovation of this amazing 

NEWS 

cover story 

Wurlitzer organ. The restoration has 

been an incredible achievement, a 

fascinating project and one with an 

incredible history,” said Andy 

Briggs, Nationwide Platforms’ 

regional director for the Midlands 

and North West. 

“As specialists at working at height 

we were more than happy to put our 

skills and expertise to good use on 

this slightly unusual - but equally 

exciting – task, and it was great to 

see the Wurlitzer fly once more, 

restored to former glory.” 

David Hall, product and business 

development manager at Skyjack, 

said: “It was great to see the mighty 

Wurlitzer come back to life, as it 

slowly rose into the auditorium. We 

are proud that one of our 30 For 30 

PARTNERS projects will continue to 

help raise funds for this worthwhile 

charity, for years to come.” 

The Association for the 

Independence of Disabled People 

welcomes donations; to find out 

more, visit disabledday.org 

For more information contact 

Skyjack: www.skyjack.com 

Toll Free: 1-800-265-2738 

Phone: 519-837-0888 

(All images courtesy of Tony West) 

Video caption: TV news clip of the 

Wurlitzer in action at the Royalty 

Cinema, Cumbria (courtesy of ITV) 

Organist Ian Midgley plays the Wurlitzer, which regained its 

mobility thanks to Skyjack and its partner Nationwide Platforms. 


21

NEWS 

SECURITY 

Delta Security Installs New Sliding Gates at 

East-London School 

Controlling the speed, 

convenience and security for 

visitors, pupils and staff 

accessing a secondary school in 

Hackney has been significantly 

improved with the installation of a new 

sliding gate, specified and installed by 

the local CCTV and access control 

specialist, Delta Security. 

The school, which has more than 950 

students, also attracts a large number of 

visitors from local sports clubs keen to 

use the facilities within its multi user 

games area (MUGA). At peak times, 

the number of visitors can reach more 

than 100 per hour, hence the need for 

a new, fast-acting access gate. 

Delta Security was appointed to review 

the needs of the school and propose a 

suitable gate solution, paying particular 

attention to the reliability of the motor. 

The new gates use the latest CAME 

BXV gate motor to deliver the 

performance required, while also 

offering excellent value for money. 

Simon Walden, School Business Leader 

at Haggerston School, says Delta 

Security’s advice was professional and 

extremely valuable: “The gates that were 

previously installed repeatedly failed, 

obliging school staff to open them 

manually, adding pressure to their busy 

schedules. The new gates are a night 

and day contrast – they are reliable, 

robust and easy to operate,” he says. 

“The engineers showed excellent 

attention to detail, and commitment to 

completing the installation on time and 

Selectamark Appoints Vehicle Security Expert 

to Drive Down Crime 

High level advisor to the Home Office and Thatcham joins the company 

on budget. They performed a significant 

amount of preliminary work to ensure 

we were given the right solution, and 

fully explained how to operate the 

gates.” 

Dave Mundy, Operations Director at 

Delta Security, says it is important to 

make sure engineers have sufficient 

time on a project to ensure installation 

goes smoothly. “Planning is key. We 

have extensive experience in the 

education sector, understanding the 

appropriate products, solutions and 

timescales required to ensure the 

running of the school is not 

disrupted during installation,” he 

says. 

“I’m extremely pleased to have 

added another local school to our 

portfolio, as it allows us to use our 

knowledge of the area and provide 

the most efficient maintenance 

support.” 

http://www.deltasecurity.co.uk 


Selectamark is delighted to 

announce that vehicle 

security expert Simon Ashton 

has joined the company as Vehicle 

Industry Liaison. 

Simon's new role will further 

strengthen the firm’s position in the 

vehicle security industry, drawing on 

his extensive experience in 

investigating and analysing vehicle 

crime. 

Simon will help promote the company's 

visible and covert marking solutions, 

including its forensic marking solution 

SelectaDNA (www.selectadna.co.uk), 

which has already proved highly 

successful across the UK and Europe, 

reducing theft by up to 83% in some 

areas. The range includes a Vehicle 

Marking Kit for use as a theft deterrent 

on cars, commercial vehicles, 

motorcycles, scooters, quad bikes, 

marine craft, caravans, trailers and 

agricultural and construction plant. 

As a former Metropolitan Police 

Officer, Simon was part of the 

Organised Vehicle Crime Unit at New 

Scotland Yard and had a remit to 

22 

engage with vehicle manufacturers, 

government, industry, and international 

police forces to reduce vehicle crime. He 

has investigated numerous organised 

crime syndicates and networks 

operating on an international basis. 

Among his many achievements, Simon 

engaged with the Home Office as a high 

level advisor leading to an overall 25% 

reduction of serious and organised 

crime in the vehicle sector. 

He also worked as an advisor on a 

special project with Thatcham Security 

Research exploring initiatives to combat 

electronic keyless theft affecting London 

and the UK. 

Simon is the 2nd Vice President of the 

International Association of Auto Theft 

Investigators (IAATI) and has chaired 

various groups including the National 

Police Autocrime Forum, British Vehicle 

Rental and Leasing Association and 

Europol Legislation Group; as well as 

being police advisor and committee 

member of the Society of Motor 

Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), 

Vehicle Security Steering Group, DVLA 

Liaison Group, and Motorcycle Industry 

Association 

(MCIA). 

Simon was 

instrumental in 

challenging the 

MCIA to join with 

Senior Police 

Officers in a 

London campaign 

to reduce 

motorcycle and scooter theft. He also 

persuaded the Home Office and SMMT 

to review European legislation which 

directly affected security measures 

imposed by vehicle manufacturers. 

James Brown, MD of Selectamark, said: 

“I am delighted to welcome Simon to the 

team. He brings a wealth of specialist 

expertise and knowledge with him. He 

will help us provide new and innovative 

security marking and identification 

solutions at a time when theft of all 

types of vehicles is a major problem. 

Our ultimate aim is to significantly drive 

down theft in the vehicle industry, and 

Simon’s appointment is key to us 

achieving this.” 


NEWS 

security 

Serco Team Committed to Staff Welfare with 

Soloprotect 

Serco is a service and 

outsourcing company and has 

been delivering essential 

public services for more than 50 

years. Serco makes a difference to 

the lives of millions of people around 

the world. 

In 2012 Serco Group plc (Serco), 

announced that it had signed a contract 

with the UK Border Agency (UKBA) to 

deliver the COMPASS project, providing 

accommodation, associated services 

and transport for asylum applicants in 

two regions of the UK. 

COMPASS, or 'Commercial and 

Operational Managers Procuring of 

Asylum Support Services', replaced 

more than 20 UKBA contracts for 

accommodation and transport of asylum 

applicants and their families, improving 

service standards whilst delivering 

considerable savings to the taxpayer. 

Serco is now the 

prime contractor for 

the North West and 

Scotland & Ireland. 

Responsibility 

includes initial 

short-term 

accommodation for 

asylum applicants; 

dispersed 

accommodation 

after their 

application is 

processed, 

transportation to 

and between 

accommodation, 

and the related 

process support to 

these operations. 

With over 220 lone 

workers attached to 

the COMPASS 

team, it was important Serco 

understood their duty of care to their 

employees and in Lee Horne - Business 

Support and IT Manager; and other 

management colleagues responsible for 

lone worker safety, Serco had a team 

committed to staff welfare. 

Using the SoloProtect reports, it 

became clear to Lee that Serco were 

not utilising the device to its full 

potential; staff were not engaged and 

the company were in danger of not 

getting a return on their investment. 

Therefore, with the aim of raising 

awareness and lowering the risk of 

danger to staff, a project was 

established to maximize the use of the 

device. It was important for Lee to fully 

understand the risks that faced Serco 

lone workers, a list including, but not 

limited to; working with vulnerable 

people, evening or night work and 

driver related risk. Subsequently, with a 

mix of staff training and on-going 

communication, the Serco staff began 

to engage; as a result, the intended 

device usage increased. 

Identicom is designed to look and feel 

like a standard identity card, ensuring 

it’s close to hand and discreet to use. It 

offers protection and is designed to fit a 

range of personnel and lone worker 

applications; whether primarily facing 

'People Risk' (arising from social 

interaction - potential verbal abuse and 

attack) or 'Environmental Risk' 

(potential for incapacitation, commonly 

referred to as a 'Man Down' 

(incapacitation), due to illness or a 

sudden trip or fall). 

This coupled with the BS 8484:2016 

accreditation and SoloProtect’s elite, 

EN50518 compliant, in-house Alarm 

Receiving Centre (ARC) provide Serco 

with unparalleled lone worker 

protection, a view that Lee Horne 

strongly agrees with. 

‘The safety of our staff, service users 

and the public is paramount in what we 

do. The SoloProtect device not only 

provides a visible deterrent but also 

gives staff the re-assurance that, if 

there were an incident, they would get 

the help that was needed. Our aim is 

to ensure our staff get home safe, the 

SoloProtect device helps us do that.’ 

As well as this, SoloProtect provides 

Serco’s staff with the knowledge that 

they are in safe hands when working 

alone. Serco Housing Officer Chris 

Mairs believes the device is ‘simple 

and effective’ and he feels safer 

knowing the device is close at hand. 

‘Although I am confident in working 

with my Service Users I also 

understand the need for protection 

around the unknown or hostile 

situations, so having the device gives 

me peace of mind should I ever need 

to use it.’ 

By encouraging use of the SoloProtect 

Identicom device Lee, and other 

management colleagues responsible 

for lone worker safety, have provided 

excellent evidence 

of supplying superb 

duty of care to 

Serco’s lone worker 

team. They have 

empowered and 

duly equipped the 

company’s 

employees in order 

to provide peace of 

mind and a secure 

working 

environment. 

Serco’s Identicom 

users also deserve 

a great deal of 

credit for 

embracing change 

and fully integrating 

themselves into 

new working 

practises. 

Lone working 

encompasses both social and 

environmental risk, it affects all 

industries, plus both full and part-time 

staff as well as employees at every 

level of an organisation. The 

SoloProtect lone worker solution is 

fully managed, BS8484 and EN50518 

approved, and designed to give 

employers an easy and effective way 

to protect all types of lone worker - 

over 200,000 people now use 

Identicom as their preferred lone 

worker device. 

www.SoloProtect.com 


23

24 

NEWS 

interiors 

Altro Makes its Resin Systems Even Easier 

to Choose 

Altro has made it easier to 

choose your next resin 

system, simplifying how 

products are named and described 

so you can concentrate on creating 

spaces that really work for the 

people that use them. 

The new Altro resin systems brochure 

features information about the 

restructured product ranges, the 

variants in each range and the shades 

they’re available in. It also has 

guidance on application areas and lets 

you know what each variant was 

previously known as. 

Altro resin systems are used in some 

of the most demanding built 

environments possible, where 

consistent performance is paramount 

to the success of the spaces they 

occupy. Altro works in partnership with 

its customers and these changes make 

it easier for them to find the right resin 

solutions to make their design 

possibilities a reality. 

You can also find updated technical 

documents on the Altro website such 

as technical and installation data 

sheets, NBS information and safety 

data sheets. 

The nine Altro resin system ranges 

are: 

• Altro Crete 

• Altro Grip 

• Altro Screed 

• Altro Flexiflow 

• Altro Flow 

• Altro Mosaic 

• Altro Tect 

• Altro Coat 

• Altro Seal 

For more information visit 

www.altro.co.uk/resins 


Saracen Increases its Forward Order Book by 

Almost 30 Per Cent 

Saracen Interiors has 

announced an increase of 

almost 30 per cent on its 

forward order book compared to 

this same time last year with almost 

five million pounds worth of orders 

coming in within the last few weeks 

of 2016. With a plethora of contracts 

scheduled to start in 2017, from new 

as well as established clients, the 

award winning, workplace 

consultant is on track to 

demonstrate further continued 

growth in the coming year. 

The company saw a climb in its 

turnover of 10 per cent, over the last 

12 months, despite the impact of 

Brexit, with some businesses 

exercising caution and down-scaling 

plans for larger projects. Saracen has 

benefitted from a consistently vigorous 

pipeline of activity and the broadening 

of its database, thanks to key sales 

appointments and the expansion of its 

business throughout the North and the 

North West of England during 2016. 

Joint managing director of Saracen 

Interiors, Michael Page comments: 

“We were in a very strong position at 

the start of last year and we managed 

to build on that enough to carry us 

through the impact of the uncertainty 

many companies felt in the Summer 

months, post-Brexit. Our strategy to 

expand in the North has been timely 

and has served us well and we look 

forward to some key announcements 

regarding work in Yorkshire and 

Scotland in the coming months. 

In the last 12 months, Saracen has 

been shortlisted for two more awards 

for its work for global network services 

provider, Tata Communications and for 

its outstanding facilities management 

division, Saracen Facilities which has 

increased its own turnover by 20 per 

cent during 2016. New business has 

soared for this division thanks to a 

strong market presence and a steady 

stream of recommends for its 

innovative and environmentally friendly 

solutions. 

Saracen Facilities sits alongside 

Saracen Small Works and Saracen 

Move Management to complement 

Saracen Interiors, which handles larger 

fit out projects. The company’s clients 

are able to benefit from access to all of 

the four divisions, with a set of 

seamless service options designed to 

anticipate all manner and scale of 

requirements. 

Over the past decade, Saracen’s 

status has gradually changed from a 

South East fit out concern to a national 

full service enterprise. Its number of 

staff has grown along with its turnover 

and the company continues to invest in 

local apprentices, training initiatives 

and industry-specific innovations. 

Saracen has a proven track record in 

improving workplace efficiency, and 

corporate standing, and is renowned 

for its tailor-made, cost-effective 

solutions. 


NEWS 

interiors 

Silentflor – Design Led Acoustic Flooring 

from Polyflor 

Polyflor is pleased to announce 

the launch of Silentflor PUR, a 

collection of heavy commercial 

sheet vinyl flooring with acoustic 

properties, available in a variety of 

high design wood, concrete and 

abstract effects. 

Silentflor is a robust, beautifully 

designed collection that achieves 19dB 

impact sound reduction and has been 

expertly created for a wide range of 

commercial interiors, such as 

installations in the 

healthcare, office, education, 

residential, retail and leisure 

sectors. Made in the UK, this 

flooring range includes 36 

stunning designs in a 3.7mm 

gauge and 0.65mm wear 

layer sheet format. 

Skilfully portraying the 

natural beauty of timber 

planks, the 16 Silentflor 

wood effect designs replicate 

a variety of stunning wood 

species and grains including 

oak and ash patterns, 

chevron design floors and 

limed wood effects. The 

collection’s 8 contemporary 

concrete and 12 abstract 

designs have been 

specifically developed to 

achieve a modern on-trend 

look. The variety of shades 

available include subtle 

neutral tones and stronger 

accent colours to create an 

appealing floor covering that 

is both fun and functional. 

The Silentflor range can assist 

in improving the acoustic 

properties within busy commercial 

and public locations 

where excessive noise can 

be detrimental to the people 

using the facility. The product’s 

acoustic layer provides 

warmth and cushioning underfoot as 

well as reducing the effects of impact 

sound travelling through a building, 

such as the slamming of doors and 

footsteps from upper levels. 

Tom Rollo, Polyflor’s Marketing Manager 

commented, “With Silentflor we are 

proud to be able to offer our customers 

a fresh, new acoustic flooring product 

which delivers on aesthetics, 

performance and practicality. This is an 

ideal choice for those looking to improve 

the acoustic performance of a building 

and want to make an interior design 

statement.” 

The Silentflor collection is enhanced with 

Polyflor PUR, Polyflor’s exclusive and 

robust polyurethane reinforcement 

which is cross linked and UV cured to 

provide superior cleaning benefits. This 

PUR enhancement offers a cost 

effective, low maintenance regime that 

is both environmentally friendly and 

ensures longevity as poor maintenance 

can impair performance, shorten floor 

life and create hygiene problems in 

critical areas. 

The new Silentflor collection is 

beautifully presented within a sampling 

package which includes a 40-page 

brochure, a comprehensive presenter 

and shadecard. Sampling can be 

ordered free of charge on the Polyflor 

website or by calling the Polyflor 

Samples Direct Hotline on 0161 767 

2551. 

Silentflor’s environmental credentials 

are impressive, achieving a BRE A+ 

rating in major use areas and Indoor Air 

Comfort Gold, assuring that VOC 

emissions are below any globally 

determined levels. Silentflor is 100% 

recyclable via the Recofloor recycling 

scheme and also contains recycled 

content. 

Further details of Polyflor’s extensive 

range of resilient vinyl flooring are 

available from Polyflor Ltd, Radcliffe 

New Road, Whitefield, Manchester, 

M45 7NR. Tel: 0161 767 1111. Fax: 

0161 767 1128. 

Website: www.polyflor.com Email: 

info@polyflor.com 


25

NEWS 

health & safety 

Are You Missing the Connection? 

Aico Releases New Information on Part 6 and 

Part 1 Fire Alarm System Integration 

Launched in 2014 and immensely 

popular in the social 

housing sector, the Ei414 

Fire/CO Alarm Interface from Aico 

provides a cost-effective, convenient 

means of interconnecting Aico 

Smoke and Carbon Monoxide (CO) 

Alarms to third party life safety systems 

such as Fire Panels, Telecare 

Devices and Sprinkler Systems. To 

help clarify the most popular connection 

options, Aico has introduced 

a new dedicated brochure, 

'Are you Missing the Connection?' 

Most properties now have Fire Alarms 

- and many have CO Alarms, but these 

systems mostly work in isolation. The 

ics to help demonstrate the benefits 

and the system set up. For example, 

one of the most widespread uses of 

the Ei414 is to integrate a BS5839 

Part 6 Fire Alarm System with a Part 1 

panel based system installed in communal 

areas of a property. The Ei414 

can be used to maximise safety by 

ensuring the communal alarm can be 

heard within each property, but without 

allowing individual flats' alarms to activate 

those in the communal areas or 

within other tenant's homes. This solution 

has proven popular in homes in 

multiple occupation (HMOs) and sheltered 

accommodation across the UK. 

The Ei414 Fire/CO Alarm Interface 

To obtain a free digital or postal copy 

of Aico's 'Are you Missing the Connection?' 

Ei414 brochure, please register 

at www.aico.co.uk/publications. Information 

on the Ei414 is also available 

on Aico's relaunched website, including 

a step by step guide on domestic 

alarm integration in the new Innovation 

and Technology area of the website. 

This new section has been introduced 

by Aico to provide easy to understand 

overviews of the new technologies developed 

by Aico and incorporated 

across a wide number of products. 

A wholly owned subsidiary of Ei 

Electronics, Aico is the market leader 

in residential Fire and CO protection in 

Ei414 Fire/CO Alarm Interface provides 

a dedicated connection between 

these alarms and third party life safety 

systems, enabling an emergency signal 

to be transmitted directly to that 

system if fire or CO is detected. 

The new Aico brochure explains how 

the Ei414 works and provides an installation 

overview, showing just how 

simple it is to install the Interface. It 

looks at the three most common safety 

systems to connect to - Fire Panels, 

Telecare/Warden Call Systems and 

Sprinkler Systems - using clear graph- 

26 

can be powered directly from the 

mains or from a 12-24V DC supply 

and has built-in tamper-proof rechargeable 

Lithium Cells which will 

power the device in the event of any 

mains failure. Exceptionally easy to 

use, it comes with a removable key 

with three settings - On, Off and Test 

(with the Off setting being particularly 

useful if a property becomes vacant) - 

and LED indicators for visual confirmation 

of mains power and fire or CO 

alarm activation. 

the UK. All alarms are designed and 

built in Ireland specifically to meet the 

UK standards and regulations. With 

more mains powered domestic Smoke 

Alarms installed in the UK's social 

housing than any other manufacturer, 

Aico is tried, tested and trusted. For 

more information please go to 

www.aico.co.uk or contact Aico on 

01691 664100 or 

enquiries@aico.co.uk. 


Traka Secures The Health & Safety Event 2017 

Traka is attending The Health 

& Safety Event to 

demonstrate how its 

intelligent key and asset 

management solutions can ensure 

full control and accountability for 

the successful running of a safe 

and efficient workplace. 

On stand D64, the industry leader in 

intelligent key cabinets and lockers 

systems will showcase how its state-ofthe-art 

solutions can provide full audit 

trail capability, to ensure complete 

compliance to latest health and safety 

standards. 

Visitors will be able to see live displays 

of how Traka systems can assist from 

pre-operational safety checks such as 

fault reporting and integrated alcohol 

testing; machine start controlled 

access, to fork truck and fleet 

management, using latest intelligent 

key management. 

Traka will also demonstrate how its 

systems can be tailored towards 

customer needs to secure a wide 

variety of assets including PDAs, 

chip and pin machines alongside 

radio. And in loading management, 

Advanced’s AlarmCalm false 

alarm management (FAM) 

system has been nominated 

for the Tomorrow’s FM Awards 

2017. 

“We’re delighted to be nominated for 

this award by Tomorrow’s FM,” 

commented Aston Bowles, Advanced’s 

Marketing Manager. “False alarms are 

one of the big issues currently faced by 

fire and facilities professionals. It was 

in response to this global problem that 

we developed AlarmCalm, which we 

believe is the most powerful and 

complete FAM solution available.” 

AlarmCalm is a total package and 

features enhanced firmware, 

comprehensive configuration software 

for Advanced’s fire systems and new 

intelligent alarm acknowledgement 

devices called AlarmCalm Buttons. It 

provides total, easily-managed control 

over both automatic and manual alarm 

verification periods and investigation 

delays to outputs. 

Traka will present unique anti-drive off 

prevention solutions alongside high 

security dock door control. 

Says Gemma Brennan-Smith, Marketing 

Manager at Traka UK: “The implications 

for not taking ownership of health and 

safety are becoming increasingly 

significant, with severe fines that can 

prove the downfall for any business, and 

even immediate imprisonment becoming 

a reality for those caught. 

“As one of the leading providers of key 

management solutions, we are 

attending the show to prove how 

simple measures can make a 

difference. We will show how Traka 

systems can control, manage and audit 

the use of every key, asset or device to 

ensure visibility and traceability at all 

times to offer total peace of mind.” 

Traka provides intelligent key 

management and equipment 

management access control to better 

protect important assets - resulting in 

improved efficiency, reduced 

downtime, less damage, fewer losses, 

lower operating costs and significantly 

less administration. 

To find out more, please visit Traka’s 

stand D64 at The Health & Safety 

event, taking place from 21 – 23 March 

2017 at The NEC, Birmingham or visit 

www.traka.com 


Alarmcalm False Alarm Management System 

Nominated for Tomorrow’s FM Award 

It allows a site to be divided into FAM 

zones called building areas (up to 200 

per panel or 40,000 per network). These 

are virtual areas used for FAM 

programming that by default match fire 

zones but can be set independently to 

cover multiple zones and points or 

individual points. The use of building 

areas makes even complicated causeand-effect 

easy to set up. 

There is growing awareness of the role 

that trained staff or residents can play in 

NEWS 


helping to reduce false alarms. 

Advanced’s intelligent, loop-powered 

alarm acknowledgement device, the 

AlarmCalm Button, can be used to 

manually verify if an alarm signal is false, 

for example from smoke as a result of 

cooking or vapour from a shower. It 

includes robust fail-safes and is being 

installed and specified widely. 


27

28 

NEWS 


FFE’s Talentum Flame Detectors Nominated for 

Tomorrow’s FM Award 

FFE’s Talentum UV/Dual IR flame detectors have been nominated for the Tomorrow’s FM Awards 

Talentum detectors are used in 

a huge array of sensitive or 

dangerous environments, 

including recycling facilities, textile 

plants, petrochemical plants and 

aircraft hangars. FFE has even 

adapted it to protect the 

Bloodhound supersonic car. 

Unique benefits of Talentum UV/Dual 

IR include: 

● An ability to detect fires in 

seconds, even before smoke is 

produced (or from smokeless fires) 

from sources as wide-ranging as 

paper, plastic, rubber, textiles, 

metals and foam, ensuring early 

fires are kept under control. 

● Unlike conventional flame 

detectors which concentrate on a 

single area of the spectrum, 

Talentum’s Broadspectrum ® 

technology detects from nonvisible 

ultraviolet (UV) to infrared 

(IR), identifying the characteristics 

of the flames themselves. 

● They are immune from the effects 

of sunlight, artificial light, arc 

2017 

welding, electrical sparks or UV 

lamps. 

These features combine to make the 

Talentum a flame detector with 

excellent all- round performance, 

sensitive to all fuel types, immune from 

false readings – and available at a 

lower cost per unit than standard flame 

units. 

“We’re delighted to be nominated for 

this award,” said FFE’s Managing 

Director Mark Osborne. “Talentum 

really is unique, and the Bloodhound 

project is just one example of its 

versatility. We took an industrial 

product and developed it to work in 

what is, effectively, a jet fighter/racing 

car/spaceship combined. Rolls Royce 

and Jaguar both have their engines in 

the car – and have their brand names 

printed on it – so Talentum has been 

trusted to not only protect Bloodhound, 

but the integrity of these other brands 

as well. No other flame detector exists 

that can do this.” 

About FFE 

FFE is a global design and 

manufacturing business, dedicated to 

supplying specialist detection products 

to the fire industry. Headquartered in 

the UK with offices in the USA, Dubai, 

India and China, the company’s two 

leading brands are the Fireray optical 

beam smoke detector, with over half a 

million units installed worldwide, and 

the Talentum flame detector, one of the 

world’s most respected flame detector 

brands. FFE also leads the global 

market in providing fire extinguishers 

for aviation use and produces a range 

of vibration switches for industrial 

applications. FFE is a Halma 

Company. 


Standard for Fire Safety in Commercial Buildings 

Revised 

BSI, the business standards 

company, has revised BS 

9999:2017 Fire safety in the 

design, management and use of 

buildings – Code of practice. The 

revised standard is intended to provide 

good practice to safeguard the 

lives of building occupants and firefighters. 

BS 9999 provides recommendations 

and guidance on the 

provision of measures to control or 

mitigate the effects of fire, including 

business continuity and the environment. 

The primary objective of the standard 

is to ensure that a reasonable standard 

of life safety can be achieved in the 

event of fire in the building. The revised 

standard is applicable to the design 

of new buildings, and to material 

alterations, extensions and material 

change of use of an existing building. 

BS 9999 has been revised to align the 

standard with current good practice, 

new technology, and consistency with 

other fire recently revised safety standards, 

namely BS 9990 and BS 9991. 

The main changes in BS 9999 over the 

standard it replaces are: 

● An inclusion of a flowchart showing 

the sequential steps in the design 

process, to assist users in the 

application of the standard 

● Revised clause on fire safety 

management with references to 

PAS 7 

● Inclusion of watermist fire 

suppression systems 

● Expansion of the guidance on 

voice alarms 

● Expansion of fire growth rates 

table to provide more information 

The revised standard also features updated 

recommendations for smoke and 

heat control; fire curtain barrier assemblies; 

mechanical ventilation and airconditioning 

systems; shopping complexes; 

and ducting. 

Users of this British Standard are likely 

to work within the design environment 

associated with a particular construction 

project governed by legislation, 

processes, constraints, programmes 

and deliverables that might vary dependent 

on premises type, location, 

client and regulatory requirements. 

BS 9999 will be of use to architects; 

building managers; fire safety engineers; 

fire risk assessors; building control 

personnel; fire and rescue 

personnel; installers of fire and smoke 

alarms, sprinklers and smoke and heat 

control systems; and inspectorate for 

certification and installation schemes. 

To learn more, please visit 

www.bsigroup.com 


You can spend significant amounts of time and 

money on your building and facilities, but if your 

washrooms aren’t properly equipped, the resulting 

smell could be costing you valuable custom or damaging 

your reputation. 

It’s not a lost cause though. The market-leading P-Wave 

products are designed to improve the atmosphere in toilets 

and can bring you the ‘sweet smell of success’. There is up to 

five times more fragrance in the P-Wave range and the 

amount of fragrance is patented, so no-one else can match it. 

The superior fragrance is far from the only benefit. The P- 

Wave urinal screens, for instance, last a month and have 

protrusions to stop splashback; grooves to stop debris – such 

NEWS 

New Products 

Get a Fragrant Welcome 

P-Wave, the market leading washroom range, being exhibited at the Cleaning Show 

A-Safe Announces European Availability of Real-Time Rack 

Monitor 

Revolutionary rack-damage detection system dramatically 

improves safety with innovative alerts and 24/7 

monitoring. 

International safety barrier manufacturer and inventor of 

the world’s leading polymer safety barriers, A-SAFE, has 

announced European availability of a first-of-its-kind 

system which monitors rack damage and sends real-time 

alerts to nominated employees should damage occur. 

RackEye offers real-time, 24/7 monitoring reducing the need for 

time consuming rack inspections and eliminating paper-based 

systems. The product provides warehouse managers with 

peace of mind that their racking is safe, whilst also increasing 

operational efficiency and encouraging safer driving. 

The revolutionary software constantly records all impacts, no 

matter how small, and its patented algorithm differentiates 

between everyday bumps caused by the constant loading and 

unloading of racks, and the more substantial impacts that cause 

damage. This avoids the routine false alarms that occur when 

using simple shock-detector systems. 

Martindale Simplifies Phase Rotation 

When it comes to verifying the phase sequence, or 

rotation, of three phase circuits, Martindale Electric, 

leaders in voltage detectors and safe isolation, 

offers more than one solution, with its professional 

range of testers. 

Getting the phase sequence wrong can have devastating consequences 

for plant and machinery with serious implications 

for machine safety. From motors running backwards through 

to cooling or lubricating systems underperforming, one wrong 

connection can lead to a major maintenance headache. 

Providing enhanced user safety, the unique PSI4000 and 

PSI4300 non-contact phase sequence indicators from Martindale 

Electric can quickly and accurately identify three phase 

sequences for motor installations and other systems. Designed 

for use on both insulated and non-insulated conductors, 

the PSI4000 and PSI4300 from Martindale carry out 

measurements via inductive crocodile clips, which can be simply 

clipped on to speed up testing and reduce the risk of coming 

into contact with live parts. 

LEDS provide a clear indication of phase rotation and have a 

high intensity setting for when working in strong ambient light. 

Similar in function, the only difference between the two phase 

as chewing gum and paper –blocking drains; an enzyme to 

help control bad bacteria in the drain; and a clock system to 

help remind you when to change it. 

Further information is available at: http://www.p-wave.co.uk or 

call 01444 220 999 or email info@p-wave.co.uk. 


When damage is detected, alerts are sent immediately to 

nominated personnel via app and email notification, allowing 

warehouse managers to take immediate action from any 

location. 

A-SAFE co-owner, James Smith, said: “Any shock sensor 

can monitor impacts. The intelligence is identifying and 

recognising which impacts have caused damage to racking 

legs and alerting only for these. 


sequence indicators is that the PSI4000 provides a correct 

indication for clockwise sequence, as used in the building 

facilities industry, while the PSI4300 provides a correct indication 

for anticlockwise sequence as used, for example, in 

power utilities. 

Another solution from Martindale Electric is the PC15250 

phase rotation indicator, which has been specifically designed 

to quickly and simply prove the presence of all three 

live phases (or identify which are faulty) and show the sequence 

of phase rotation when all three phases are confirmed 

as present. 


29

NEWS 

business news 

PHS Wastekit, the UK 

leader in sales, 

installation and 

maintenance of waste balers, 

compactors and shredders, 

has appointed Joe Roberts to 

head up its senior 

management team. 

Joe brings with him a wealth of 

experience gained from previous 

roles as Head of Operations at 

PHS Wastekit Appoints New MD 

Lusso Secures £3m Contract with AECOM 

Lusso, the specialist City 

caterer and part of CH&Co 

Group, has added the USbased 

multinational engineering 

firm, AECOM, to its client portfolio, 

continuing its successful period of 

growth. 

The new three-year contract, worth 

approximately £3million in turnover, will 

see Lusso provide quality catering, 

hospitality and concierge services for 

1,200 AECOM employees at its new 

London head office in Aldgate Tower. 

30 

Ikure Acquisition Opens AV Partnership 

Opportunity for Saville 

Specialist systems integrator 

Ikure has been acquired by 

Saville Audio Visual parent 

company, SEA Holdings limited. The 

move sees the company creating a 

partnership with long-established 

UK audio visual integrator Saville. 

Working closely together, both 

companies will be looking to expand 

operations in the installation and 

audio visual maintenance sectors. 

Saville sales and marketing director 

Andy Dyson explained: “Ikure has an 

excellent reputation for quality and 

service and shares similar values to 

ICI Paints, Sales & Operations 

Director at Buck & Hickman Ltd, 

and Operations Director at 

Copart UK Ltd. His focus at 

PHS Wastekit will be on growing 

the company’s market share in 

the UK and Ireland and 

continuing to develop the 

business to take a customer 

focused approach. 

Lusso will bring its expertise, Food 

Philosophy – the ethos that focuses on 

seasonality, sustainability, provenance 

and partnering with small local 

suppliers, and quality food and service 

offer to a variety of areas, including 

concierge, staff café, tea point 

consumables, and refreshments for an 

extensive hospitality and events 

service. 

Following an in-depth tender process, 

Lusso beat stiff competition to secure 

the contract. The team stood out for its 

innovative catering and service 

Saville. Combining their specialist 

sector knowledge with our experience, 

national network and global reach, we 

are looking forward to harnessing new 

opportunities for both companies to 

grow in the future.” 

Ikure, which has been operating for the 

last twelve years from offices in Bourne 

End, has now moved operations to 

premises in Hawley Lane, 

Farnborough. 


For further information 

visit:www.phs.co.uk 


proficiency and solutions, and for 

clearly demonstrating that it 

understood AECOM culturally. 

AECOM was also impressed by 

Lusso’s strength 

Reader Reply : 195019 

CH&Co Group’s Head of Food, Health, Safety and 

Environment Appointed to FSA Advisory Committee 

Emma Hill, Head of Food, 

Health, Safety and 

Environment at CH&Co 

Group, has been appointed to the 

Food Standard Agency’s (FSA) 

Advisory Committee on the 

Microbiological Safety of Food 

(ACMSF), as an expert representing 

the commercial catering sector. 

The ACMSF provides the FSA and 

Government with independent, expert 

advice on the microbiological safety of 

food, and assesses the risk to humans 

of microorganisms which are used, or 

occur, in or on food. 

Emma will bring her practical 

experience in commercial catering to 

the development of advice for the FSA 

on a range of microbiological food 

safety issues. Her appointment to the 

committee for a two-year term was 

confirmed following an intensive panel 

interview process and approval by 

the FSA and Government Ministers.

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