7 minute read
Industry News
from ECN April 2021
CICV FORUM CALLS FOR A SCOTTISH MINISTER FOR CONSTRUCTION
The construction industry in Scotland, acting through the Construction Industry Coronavirus (CICV) Forum, has come together to issue its first-ever manifesto, detailing the crucial steps which need to be taken to secure a viable and sustainable future for the sector.
First among the proposals is a plea for a dedicated Government Minister for the construction industry, which would recognise its importance both to the recovery and to a net zero carbon future.
As well as a Minister for Construction, the manifesto includes proposals for: a Chief Construction Adviser who would support the Minister and focus on delivery aligned with whole asset performance; the development of an effective public sector maintenance and improvement programme; investment in affordable homes; and development of the skills arena.
Hew Edgar, Chair of the Forum’s Future Planning sub-group, says: “This manifesto is a declaration of intent, emerging from the environment of collaboration and co-operation which the CICV Forum has fostered during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the industry speaking with one voice, with an aim to benefit the future health, wealth and wellbeing of the country.” CICV Forum, cicvforum.co.uk
EDA TRAINING AWARDS GO VIRTUAL
For the first time on screen, the EDA’s Annual Learner Achievement Awards trophies were presented to 10 outstanding individuals from wholesaler and manufacturer businesses recently. Around 70 guests – family members, friends, and business colleagues – joined the virtual ceremony alongside the Association’s Board of Management, celebrating outstanding performances in the Electrical Distributors’ Association’s Product Knowledge Modules or in an apprenticeship.
Margaret Fitzsimons, EDA CEO, says, “The EDA wasn’t going to let the pandemic stop us celebrating these fantastic achievements. Now in its seventh year, this is the first time (and hopefully the last) that we’ve held it virtually. We hope that next year we’ll be back at our usual location high above the London skyline at The Shard.” EDA, eda.org.uk
NAPIT SUPPORTS SPARKS LEARNER OF THE YEAR 2021
The SPARKS Learner of the Year 2021 search has begun and NAPIT is supporting with its technical expertise. Members of NAPIT’s Technical Team will be head judges for the competition and have assisted in the creation of the assessments for the learners, as well as donating prizes to all contestants and finalists.
All participants will be given free NAPIT student membership and the finalists will receive digital copies of NAPIT’s EICR Codebreakers and On-site Solutions publications. The winner of the competition will receive all of the above, plus the very latest publication from NAPIT, the Guide to Initial Verification and Periodic Inspection and Testing of Electrical Installations.
The competition is split in to three rounds ending with the winner of each regional heat completing a live practical test in May.
NAPIT’s Chief Technical Officer, Frank Bertie says, “We are very much looking forward to this year’s competition, last year we saw a lot of potential and new talent. This year it will be good to raise the bar even further and see what students have to offer. It’s a great way for learners to test their skills and work with products they may not use on a daily basis.” NAPIT, napit.org.uk
FINGERPRINT DRUG TEST USED TO SUPPORT NOTTINGHAM CITYFIBRE PROJECT
McCann, a Nottingham-based civil and electrical engineering construction company, is starting to use innovative fingerprint drug testing as part of its broader Health and Safety activities. The company is starting to test new employees as part of the company’s induction process. Employees must pass the Intelligent Fingerprinting drug test before starting working on the major £60m Nottingham CityFibre contract, where McCann is supporting the delivery of the infrastructure to turn Nottingham into a Gigabit City with access to fibre.
The Intelligent Fingerprinting test enables the entire drug testing process to be handled in-house with results available within minutes – avoiding time away from site for testing. Candidates are simply asked to press each fingertip onto a small drug test cartridge to enable the rapid collection of a sweat sample. The cartridge is then placed in the portable DSR-Plus reader that analyses the cartridge and provides a positive or negative screening result for each drug in the test. McCann is screening for recent use of opiates, methamphetamine, cocaine or cannabis that could affect an employee and make them unfit for duty. The system is easy to use with virtual training for McCann’s team completed within an hour. McCann, mccann-ltd.co.uk
Huawei has officially launched its Huawei Women Developers (HWD) program, which aims to empower women developers to create applications and tools that can change the world. The program is intended to encourage more women to join in technological innovation by providing participants with more opportunities and platforms for career development and skill training. Any woman developer from around the world can register to join the program on the Huawei Developers official website.
Huawei Senior Vice President, Chen Lifang, says: “We believe that women will lead technological innovation. We hope that the Huawei Women Developers program will help women better leverage their talents and unique value, and give them opportunities to demonstrate their leadership abilities. This will help make our world a better place.”
The Huawei Women Developers program is the newest initiative that Huawei has taken as part of its commitment to promoting gender equality. The program will provide participants with training on technological innovation and career development paths, along with opportunities to meet with experts in cutting-edge technologies from various fields, and to participate in hands-on scenario-based experiments and drills. Huawei, huawei.com
YORK BECOMES LEW’S 14TH BRANCH
York has become the home of LEW Electrical Distributors’ 14th branch – its seventh branch in Yorkshire.
Headed up by Phill Middleton and assisted by Andy Green, LEW York has a wealth of experience and expertise in the wider York area. This new branch has already created new jobs, in the warehouse and on the sales counter, so this is a really exciting time. This new branch is “well complemented by other Yorkshire branches nearby such as Leeds, Hull and Wakefield”, according to LEW.
“The whole team is really excited by the opening of our York branch. We are looking forward to establishing and growing our award-winning service in the area. Key relationships have already been developed with suppliers and customers in the area, so we are confident, along with the LEW difference that we offer, that this new branch will become a key branch in the LEW portfolio”, says Josh Johnson, Group Manager. LEW Electrical Distributors, lewelectrical.co.uk
SELF-HEALING POWER SYSTEMS TO BOOST NETWORK RELIABILITY
Thousands of homes and businesses across the South East and East of England will have better power supplies thanks to the latest self-healing power systems. UK Power Networks is rolling out Primary Outage Restoration Tool (PORT) software, developed with GE Digital, which reconnects supplies faster via healthy alternative circuits following an Extra High Voltage (EHV) fault.
The new software builds on the success of Adaptive Power Restoration System (APRS), which has already delivered 25% faster reconnections on first-generation template automation on the high voltage 11,000 and 6,600-volt system, by extending benefits to the extra high voltage 33,000 and 132,000-volt networks. PORT is the first electricity automation scheme to use the APRS system to reroute electricity supplies via the 11,000-volt network after a fault on the EHV electricity network.
PORT has been deployed at around 210 primary substations in the South East serving two million customers and there are plans to roll it out across 460 sites across the East of England, covering another 3.63 million customers. Since it was deployed in the South East in 2020, more than 72,000 homes and businesses have benefited from quicker reconnections in under three minutes.
UK Power Networks, ukpowernetworks.co.uk
MOVERS & SHAKERS…
ESP has made two new appointments within the sales team. Carl Darnell-Green has taken up the role of business development manager covering the London Region. A well-known face in the Scolmore Group, Carl joins from his previous role with group company Unicrimp. Darren Wiggs has been appointed area sales manager for the South East region. He brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge, having spent 30 years with one of the industry’s leading electrical wholesalers.
The Building Controls Industry Association (BCIA) has announced that George Lee will be taking over the role of Executive Officer, following the retirement of Roger Borer who has been in post for the last four years. George is an experienced trade association executive having previously been CEO at the Highways Term Maintenance Association and the Road Safety Markings Association.
Interior finishing product manufacturer, BeadMaster, has strengthened its UK team with the appointment of a new Business Development Manager. With over 30 years of sales and marketing experience in the construction industry, Des Pritchard has the knowledge and passion needed to ensure the brand continues to thrive. Des’ role will see him generate new business with distributors and develop current relationships with electrical and plastering companies, main contractors, sub-contractors and housebuilders.
