Business Enquirer Issue 107 | Sustainability Leaders | September 2022

The Race for Reason

MEDIA

Jamie Waite

Partner & Creative Director jamie.waite@busenq.com

John Wilson

Partner & President john.wilson@busenq.com

Caroline Whiteley

Senior Project Director caroline.whiteley@busenq.com

Malvern Kandemwa

Senior Director malvern.kandemwa@busenq.com

Lee Phoenix

Senior Project Director lee.phoenix@busenq.com

Glen Newton

Senior Project Director glen.newton@busenq.com

Gary Smith

Senior Project Director gary.smith@busenq.com

Chiara Salter

Senior Project Director chiara.salter@busenq.com

Charlotte Billig

Project Director charlotte.billig@busenq.com

Heavenli Hewitt

Project Director heavenli.hewitt@busenq.com

David Calaz

Project Director david.calaz@busenq.com

Chrissy Jones

Project Director chrissy.jones@busenq.com

Matthew Ward

Project Director matthew.ward@busenq.com

EDITORIAL

Carol Gibson

Lead Editor

carol.gibson@busenq.com

Frew Murdoch

Senior Editor

frew.murdoch@busenq.com

Laura Watling

Senior Editor

laura.watling@busenq.com

Sophie Spence

Senior Editor sophie.spence@busenq.com

Rebecca Matthews Senior Journalist rebecca.matthews@busenq.com

PRODUCTION

Roisin Reynolds

Head of Production roisin.reynolds@busenq.com

Cheraleigh Van Zanten

Production Manager cheraleigh.vanzanten@busenq.com

DESIGN

Thomas Fyre

Lead Designer thomas.fyre@busenq.com

Hannah Watkins

Junior Designer hannah.watkins@busenq.com

Adam Fulwood

Head of Video & Content Creation adam.fulwood@busenq.com

WEBSITE

Matt Hardwick

Online Website Manager matt.hardwick@busenq.com

FINANCE

Claire Dunn

Global Credit Controller claire.dunn@busenq.com

Bethany Waite

Credit Controller bethany.waite@busenq.com

Tanya Rudd

Head of Finance

tanya.rudd@busenq.com

Kim Pearson

Global Head of Accounts kim.pearson@busenq.com

DATA ANALYSIS

Kumar Nil-Khan

Senior Data Strategy kumar.nilkhan@busenq.com

Simon Ferrening

Commercial Performance Analysis simon.ferrening@busenq.com

SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM

Anita Terrell

Social Media Manager anita.terrell@busenq.com

Lee Dixon

Social Media Manager lee.dixon@busenq.com

HR Susan Tumelty

HR Partnered Company info@hrdept.co.uk

LEGAL Chloe Bird

Birketts LLP Norwich

A word from our Editor

In my last Editor’s introduction I mentioned Boris Johnson’s fall from grace. Although somewhat pre dictable, little did we know at that time that the UK would now be in the midst of a Conservative Party leadership race.

It may seem that perhaps, in life as well as business, we simply can’t catch a break. With political uncer tainty, the continual doom and gloom reporting of rising interest rates, unprecedented heat waves fol lowed by droughts and the threat of winter energy black outs. I’m delighted then, that the team here at Business Enquirer have sought out some of the best in global business making a positive impact, on mis sions to better the world in their own way.

Headlining this edition, we speak with the Sustain ability Director at Formula E, Julia Pallé. A vehicle for positive change, Formula E actively promotes electric mobility and renewable energy solutions. Julia shares with us the Formula E’s vision for a more sustainable future.

We also speak to other inspiring, sustainable innova tors, such as the Founder and CEO of COBOD, Henrik Lund-Nielsen. Using 3D printing technology, COBOD is disrupting the construction industry to tackle the affordable housing crisis. Welcome news, after re ports from Moneyfacts that the price of new mort gages are rising faster than the UK’s interest rates.

In this edition we feature another construc tion-for-good company, CONPRO. Interviewing CEO Richard Quaynor, he discusses with us how the busi ness is helping to build a better Ghana.

Although this issue features businesses from across the world, I’m pleased that we also showcase some proudly British enterprises. From cruelty-free clean ing brand, Astonish, to one of the UK’s leading leisure home manufacturers, Atlas Leisure Homes, and fi nally, British institution Network Rail.

Our conversations this edition have been informative, illuminating and inspiring. From all of us at Business Enquirer, we hope you enjoy the read.

Laura Watling Senior Editor

WRITTEN BY Tom O'Rourke

English Football

From Nike to Adidas to Gucci, which Lioness will earn the most in sponsorship deals?

England have won their first major women’s football title in the European Championship final at Wembley Stadium in London.

Chloe

Kelly's extra-time winner gave En gland a memorable victory over Germa ny to win the tournament in front of a record-breaking crowd at Wembley.

Inspiring a new generation of women’s football fans, the Lionesses have seen their Instagram fol lowing increase in the thousands over the tourna ment and can expect to see huge sponsorship deals heading their way as a result.

However, which Lioness has gained the most fol lowers on Instagram? Well, the team at I Love Seo have collected data through Social Blade to re veal how many followers each Lioness has gained during the European Championships 2022 from 6th July until 1st August.

English Football

Leah Williamson

Alessia Russo

Beth Mead

Chloe Kelly

Ella Toone

Georgia Stanway

Lucy Bronze

Lauren Hemp

Mary Earps

Millie Bright

Fran Kirby

Keira Walsh

Alex Greenwood

Rachel Daly

Ellen White

Bethany England

Jill Scott

Nikita Parris

Demi Stokes

Lotte Wubben-Moy

Jess Carter

Elle Roebuck

25,170

20,760

19,980

19,470

18,240

English Football

Let’s take a look at the results:

Taking first place is the England captain, Leah Williamson, who has gained 65,880 followers during the tournament. Williamson already has deals with Pepsi and Nike under her belt, and re cently landed a huge deal with Gucci.

Forward Alessia Russo takes second place, with 64,050 followers gained during the tournament. Russo recently made headlines around the world for her sensational back heel goal against Swe den, helping England earn a spot in the final.

The list also includes Beth Mead, who scored an impressive six goals for England during the tournament, earning her the golden boot award given to the top scorer. Mead also won Player of the Tournament and gained 44,370 followers.

Global brands such as Nike and Adidas are likely ready to offer multi-year deals to the top Lion esses, with the size of their social media follow ings impacting who they are likely to choose.

Star players such as Williamson, Russo and Mead will have their pick of commercial deals and oth er opportunities, with food and drinks brands, car manufacturers and retailers amongst those that could be seeking to strike brand ambassa dor deals with the Lionesses.

However, the players could also find offers from e-sports and gaming companies.

A spokesperson for I Love Seo said: “The Lioness es have put the rising stars of the women’s game firmly in the spotlight. We are likely to see huge brands such as Nike and Adidas wanting to in vest in the stars, selecting specific players to front campaigns and channel marketing initiatives.

“The Lionesses now have the opportunity to make significant earnings off the back of the competition as they have captured the hearts of the nation, as well as inspire a new generation of girls to want to play football.”

The study was conducted by iloveseo, which is the home of SEO tutorials, digital marketing guides, and industry news.

WRITTEN BY Molly Jordan

Sustainability

Cost of living crisis causes a rise in searches for solar panels

Searches for ‘solar panels’, are on the rise again, as customers around the world face skyrocketing energy bills.

Analysis of Google search data reveals that searches for ‘home solar pan els’ exploded 316% above average in March 2022 - the highest level in the past five years. This interest in solar panels is on the rise again this August with the an nouncement that inflation rates are set to rise again in October.

In April, consumer price inflation was expected to hit 6%, the highest in 30 years; the current rate is over 9%.

The analysis of Google trends data, by insurance experts A-Plan Insurance, reveals that searches for ‘home solar panels’ exploded 316% above the average volume of searches in May, across the past five years, an unprecedented increase in people searching for ‘home solar panels’; and is now on the rise again. This huge spike in interest can be explained by people’s need to reduce their energy bills after the second increase has been announced, and finding any method to do so. Many people are expected to experience a “fuel poverty” – spend ing a large proportion of income on energy bills.

Sustainability

In addition, Cornwall Insight has revealed that an average household's total energy bill is fore casted to be £4,200 starting from October 2022, while the British government would need to spend over £7 billion to offset the effects of ev er-rising energy prices.

What help are people getting for this rise in inflation?

All households in England, Wales and Scotland will be giving a £400 discount on their fuel bills in October, but this is a one-off.

The government is also giving money to local authorities through the £500m Household Sup port Fund, to help support vulnerable families. Customers can also get advice from Turn2Us, Citizens Advice and the NEA for example.

James Haynes, Branch Manager at A-Plan In surance, commented on the findings:

“The UK has already dealt with skyrocketing bills over the past few months due to inflation and the soaring costs of wholesale oil. Now, we’re having to face the stark reality of the energy price hike in crease in April.

“The energy market is in crisis and the most ef ficient way to save money is to cut your usage or switch to a more renewable energy source. This analysis shows that residents of the UK are taking on this advice and seeking out solar panels as a switch for fuelling their homes.

“Many households in the UK are balancing their budgets and having to pay even a few pounds – let alone hundreds of pounds - extra could knock them into debt and poverty. According to Money Sav ing Expert, Martin Lewis, families with a 3.5 kilo watt-peak system can knock between £170/year and £440/year off of their bills through the use of solar panels. There is also a smart export guarantee scheme that allows households to get paid for any solar energy they generate but do not use.

“It is always a good idea to contact your insurer when you're making any significant changes, and that includes adding solar panels. Your building in surance should cover these systems, so long as they are installed correctly and according to manufac turer guidelines. Make sure to also check what kind of coverage is included so that there is no confusion further down the road!”

Cost of Living

Case Study

Lucy Arnold, founder of Lucy Locket Loves spoke to A-Plan Insurance on her personal experience.

You have made the decision to switch to solar panels, could you please explain a little bit about the reasons behind this?

“We have wanted to make the switch for a while but felt like we really needed to figure out exactly what we needed to do as we found there wasn't actually as much information online to make it easy to make the switch. We are having some work done to our house so therefore we decid ed now was the time. We think with increasing prices now is the best time to do it especially as we plan to move to electric cars later this year so this will help with some of the cost of that. We want to try and impact our carbon footprint if we can and make positive changes.”

Have you personally seen a dramatic increase in your energy bills?

“We have seen a significant interest and we only predict this to keep rising hence why the above decision should help this alongside.”

Are you worried about the forecasted further rise in inflation in October, and did that impact your decision to have solar panels installed?

“We definitely considered it when speaking to our builders and decided that we needed to make sure we did it sooner rather than later to really get the most of them with further rising fore casts coming.”

If there is anything else you would be happy to explain or describe about your journey to in stalling solar panels (the main deciding factors be it saving money, where you got your infor mation from, if you know others who have made the switch)

“My partner has done tonnes of research over the last couple of months, hes spoken to many people, spoken to companies and tried to get as much information as possible especially on how much money it should save us and how much energy will it translate too. He has found the company he feels will serve us best alongside our builders with the specific features we want.”

WRITTEN BY Tom O'Rourke

TESLA revealed as the most Googled stock across the EU

The global stock market is worth over $60 trillion, with the New York Stock Exchange being the largest stock exchange in the world, worth over $27 trillion alone, according to Statista.

Over 630,000 companies worldwide that have been traded on the stock exchange. A 2022 report by Statista reports that, the biggest stocks in the world by revenue are:

Apple (AAPL) revenue $378.3 billion Saudi Arabian Oil (2222.RS) revenue $346.5 billion Microsoft (MSFT) revenue $184.9 billion

However, what is the most popular stock in each country in the EU? Well, CMC Markets has revealed the most searched for stock in each EU country using Google search data, as well as how many monthly searches they receive on average.

EU Country

Most Searched Stock

Cryptocurrency

Monthly Searches

Austria Tesla 14,000

Belgium Tesla 74,000

Bulgaria Tesla 12,000

Croatia GameStop 12,000

Cyprus Tesla 6,900

Czech Republic Tesla 25,000

Denmark AMC Entertainment 119,000

Estonia Tesla 20,000

Finland Tesla 93,000

France Tesla 44,000

Germany AMC Entertainment 119,000 Greece Tesla 23,000

Hungary Tesla 29,000

Ireland Tesla 19,000

Italy Tesla 88,000

Latvia Tesla 7,600

Lithuania Tesla 11,000

Luxembourg Tesla 4,700

Malta Tesla 6,200

Netherlands Tesla 164,000

Poland Tesla 41,000

Portugal Tesla 26,000

Romania Tesla 23,000

Slovakia Tesla 3,000

Slovenia Tesla 12,000

Spain Tesla 68,000

Sweden Tesla 205,000

Cryptocurrency

Tesla is by far the most popular stock in the EU, with 24 countries searching for “Tesla stock” the most frequently. Sweden is the country search ing the most, with 205,000 searches, followed by Netherlands on 164,000 and Finland with 93,000 searches a month.

Tesla (TSLA), the world's largest automaker by market value, designs, builds, and markets fully electric vehicles (EV) and in 2021 had a revenue of over $58 billion, according to the compa ny’s end of year financial reports. The company was founded in 2003 as Tesla Motors by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, with Elon Musk investing in the company in 2004 and eventually becoming the chairman, a position he resigned from in 2018.

This year, on April 20, Tesla reported Q1 net in come of $3.3 billion, as revenue grew by 81% year-on-year to $18.8 billion. Tesla remains the most popular stock in the EU, with countries such as France, Spain, Italy and Portugal also listing it as the most popular.

AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC) is the sec ond most popular stock in the EU, with two coun tries searching for this stock the most, Denmark and Germany, both at 119,000 a month. AMC was founded in 1920 and Chinese conglomer ate Wanda Group owned a majority stake in the company up until 2018. As of 2021, According to their end of year financial report, the revenue for AMC is over $2 billion.

Finally, GameStop was the most searched stock in one country, Croatia, with 12,000 searches a month. GameStop is an American video game, consumer electronics and gaming merchandiser founded in 1894, and in 2021 had a revenue of over $6 billion, according to their financial re port.

Both AMC Entertainment Holdings and GameStop are known as meme stocks, a term used to describe a stock that has seen an increase in volume, not because of how well the company

performs, but due to social media hype or public interest. For this reason, these stocks can be come overvalued, with huge price increases in a short period of time. Other meme stocks include Blackberry and Nio.

A spokesperson for CMC Markets said: “We’re seeing Tesla dominate interest in the stock mar ket across the EU. The company is a major player in the stock exchange, and an industry leader across the electric vehicle (EV) market. Millions of people want to invest in a company with such a high rep utation.”

“There is also the environmental aspect which many people are drawn to. Tesla is a brand that positions itself as eco-friendly, and many people, particularly in the EU, want to associate themselves with brands such as these.”

“As fuel prices continue to rise all over the world, investors are looking to put their money into brands which can offer the best financial return in the fu ture. As the EV market continues to grow, Tesla can be expected to increase in revenue in the future.”

The study was conducted by CMC Markets, a leading global provider with 30 years’ experi ence enabling users to spread bet and trade CFDs on thousands of financial instruments.

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Malvern Kandemwa

BY Frew Murdoch

Jamie Reigle, CEO, Formula E

The Race for Reason

Formula E acts as a vehicle for positive change for the next generation.

Theyear 2021 may have been challeng ing for the car industry in light of the global chip shortage, however, the global electric vehicle market suggests otherwise. With world governments offering in

centives such as subsidies, toll exemptions, and grants, as well as car manufacturers constant ly developing better technologies, the appetite for electric vehicles is becoming near insatia ble. Fortunately, in a time where sustainability is a leading concern, this is an appetite that the world can afford to encourage.

The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship ac tively promotes electric mobility and renewable energy solutions to contribute to air pollution re duction and the fight against worldwide climate change. In September 2020, the championship became the first global sport to be certified with a net-zero carbon footprint from inception.

Formula E

What began as a few scribbles on a napkin be tween FIA President Jean Todt and Formula E Chairman Alejandro Agag has become a world wide entertainment brand with motorsport and sustainability at its very heart. Julia Pallé, Sus tainability Director at Formula E, elaborated on the championship’s purpose-driven mission to accelerate change towards an electric futureone race, and one city at a time.

“It’s been central to the success of Formula E to have our leadership very committed to sustainabil ity; taking it as a strategic central DNA dimension of the championship. Formula E is like the Ying and the Yang - it’s the racing and reason. You need the sport to inspire people, to touch their heart, their minds, and their souls. The sport is the vehicle to convey the sustainability message.

“It gives me personal pride to be able to wake up every day and work for a business that is trying to change the world. I need that meaningful element, that direction, that feeling that we do something for the greater good. The reality is that when I start ed my career, motorsport was not an environment that was ready for sustainability. It probably felt a little contradictory if not paradoxical in the begin ning, but I’m very proud to see where Formula E has gone,” asserted Julia.

Innovation Feature

Innovation Feature

Formula

From the track to the street

In addition to inspiring fans to lead more sus tainable lifestyles, Formula E is delivering on its mission to promote electrification on the streets through continued technological developments. What makes these innovations even more excit ing is the impact on the global electric vehicle market and what it means for the end-user.

“Over the fourth season, we managed to double the battery capacity of our cars, which had a positive ef fect on the rest of the global battery industry. These innovations are transferred straight into the battery electric vehicles that we drive globally. We have an important lineup of car manufacturers who ultimate ly develop and customize their own technologies.

“Jaguar has been with us almost since the very be ginning of the championship. In just a few seasons, they managed to develop technologies that were

transferred into their I-Pace electric SUV. That’s something that testifies that the technology trans fer is strong and active within Formula E,” ex plained Julia.

Season eight of Formula E is underway and an ticipation has been building regarding the un veiling of the championship’s third-generation electric vehicle. Gen3 is tipped to be the world’s most efficient racing car with a top speed of 200 miles per hour and maximum power of 350kw. Julia described how Gen3 would act as an inter section of the championship’s main values:

“Gen3 is going to be the pinnacle of performance, technology, and sustainability. Clear thought was given to the end of life and the impact throughout the life of the car when designing the first tire, the first battery, the first chassis, and so on. This will be a step up; one the wider motorsport industry can look at and be inspired to deliver in the future...”

Gen3 is going to be the pinnacle of performance, technology, and sustainability.

Formula

Innovation Feature

Sustainability as DNA

Formula E’s vision of advancing electrification has compounded to include more aspects of the global sustainability campaign. During the Covid-19 crisis, it became apparent that chil dren were deeply impacted by the pandemic. This inspired collaboration between Formu la E and UNICEF, one that was so successful it evolved into a long-term partnership in sup port of UNICEF’s Safe and Healthy Environment Fund, which aims to create a sustainable and clean environment for children.

The pandemic also provided a surprising oppor tunity to reassess some of the championship’s processes concerning their events. Due to Covid restrictions, buffets were no longer a viable ca tering option. Formula E took a different ap proach by serving portion-controlled meals in recyclable boxes which led to a drastic reduc tion in food waste, which is now close to zero. In terms of plastic, automotive insurer Allianz has assisted Formula E to phase out single-use plastics from events by implementing hydra tion stations and reusable vessels. In just a sea son and a half, the organization has saved the equivalent of 300 000 plastic bottles.

“When you come to our events, you get a day in the life of what a sustainable future looks like. It’s attractive and exciting with the cars and racing, but you also get to enjoy vegetarian recipes and entertainment for the children around renewable energy. There are also discussions around diver sity, equity, and inclusion, with our Girls on Track program where we invite young girls from diverse social backgrounds to join us and be inspired about a potential career in motorsport,” shared Julia.

It’s attractive and exciting with the cars and racing, but you also get to get to enjoy vegetarian recipes and entertainment for the children around renewable energy.

“ “

Innovation Feature

What is next in the race for reason?

The Formula E championship acts as a labora tory to test and solve issues around wider elec trification. Charging infrastructure has been a constraint from a consumer perspective in terms of the number of charging points avail able and charging speed. In the case of the for mer, the world is catching up and the number of stations is increasing. Concerning the latter is sue, Formula E is currently working on new ul tra-fast charging solutions that will make this a worry of the past.

Formula E’s leadership, as demonstrated by Ju lia’s passion, will continue to drive the future of the motorsport:

“We’re here to accelerate sustainable human prog ress and give concrete solutions for sustainable life styles that are not going to feel like less. They’re go ing to be perceived as the coolest thing because we know that the next generation, Gen Z, is inherently demanding purpose, especially when consuming entertainment and sport.

“I’m amazed to see how the rest of the motorsport industry has taken up the challenge of sustainabil ity and it’s at the forefront of the rest of the sports industry. It’s not a nice to have anymore, but a must-have.”

I’m amazed to see how the rest of the motorsport industry has taken up the challenge of sustainability and it’s at the forefront of the rest of the sports industry.

“ “

DIRECTED BY Gary Smith

WRITTEN BY Laura Watling

Ambatovy

Putting Madagascar on the Mining Map

Two thirds of the world’s primary nickel ore is used in stainless steel production. It’s also becoming a key component in the production of electric vehicles, due to its use in heavy duty batteries.

Investing News stated that in 2021 Russia was the third largest producer of nickel. Of course, analysts had their concerns regarding the nickel market due to the sanctions on Russia, and trading of nickel was even halted on the London Metal Exchange in March 2022.

It is imperative then, that other reserves for this metal be found.

Ambatovy team posing for a photograph

Ambatovy

Ambatovy

Ajoint

venture between Sumitomo Corpo ration and KOMIR, Ambatovy is a major industrial operation, mining and refin ing nickel and cobalt in Madagascar.

Sumitomo, headquartered in Japan, is a leading For tune 500 trading and investment business. Mean while, KOMIR (formerly known as KORES) is a fully integrated mining rehabilitation organisation.

Together, the businesses produce high-quality nickel and cobalt from the Ambatovy mine, with a focus on sustainability.

Thus far, the project has seen investment of (US) $8 billion, making it the largest-ever foreign in vestment in the country – and one of the biggest in sub-Saharan Africa.

With an early production capacity of 60,000 tons of nickel and 5,600 tons of cobalt, it ranks among the largest lateritic nickel mining com panies in the world.

Ambatovy strives to be a leader in operation al efficiency, health and safety, environmen tal management, and social engagement – all whilst contributing to the long-term prosperity of Madagascar.

Achieving Top 5 Status

The mine site of Ambatovy is located 80km east

of Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo. The ore body of the mine consists of two large, weath ered lateritic nickel deposits - the Ambatovy de posit and the Analamay depost.

Combined, the two deposits constitute one of the world’s largest lateritic nickel reserves, spanning around 1600 ha.

Despite a history dating back to the 1960’s, Am batovy started its operations in 2012, accomplish ing its first commercial production in January 2014. Operations at the mine have been designed to produce around 60,000 tonnes of refined nickel and 5,600 tonnes of refined cobalt annually.

In 2021, however, the partnership exceeded its yearly projection, making them one of the top five producers of nickel and cobalt in the industry.

“We owe our 2021 achievements to a strong and fully committed team,” said newly appointed CEO, Gus Gomes, “They succeeded in achieving a major turnaround, in very difficult and challeng ing conditions, including the Covid-19 pandem ic, which had led to stopping production between March 2020 and March 2021”.

In addition to its outputs, Ambatovy can proud ly say its briquettes contain 99.9% pure metal. On top of its nickel and cobalt supply, the proj ect also produces 120,000 tonnes of ammonium, created as a by-product of the refining process.

Vivo Energy Madagascar’s main activity is the importation, marketing and distribution of Shell fuels and lubricants both in service stations and to its commercial customers. The company is one of the main energy distributors in the country.

UNLOCKING VALUE

Lubrication can unlock significant value, particularly when you consider the costs related to lost production from equipment downtime.

We also believe that selecting the right oils and greases, and adopting effective lubrication manage ment strategies can help to reduce maintenance budgets by up to 30%², primarily through lower maintenance costs, reduced equipment downtime and productivity improvements.

Shell has one of the world’s largest lubricant expert teams (260 lubricant specialists) and a team of distributor partners, all passionate about their industry knowledge, and having strong industry relationships built on trust, who work with mining companies to achieve TCO savings and more equipment uptime.

REDUCING COSTS

Ambatovy was seeking to reduce maintenance, operating cost and downtime without decreasing generator reliability and performance.

The Vivo Energy lubricants technical team recommended using Rimula R4X 15W40 oil for all the generators to increase the oil-drain interval from 250hrs to 500hrs.

Since switching to Shell Rimula R4X, Ambatovy has extended the oil-drain interval of its generator by 100%. As a result, the company has benefited from increased equipment availability, reduced con sumption of lubricant and spare parts, and lower maintenance costs.

WORLD CLASS TECHNOLOGY WORKING FOR MINING SHELL LUBRICANTS TOGETHER ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE www.vivoenergy.com

V i s i o n M a d a g a s c a r

V i s i o n M a d a g a s c a r ( V i M a ) w a s f o u n d e d i n 2 0 0 0 b y Z o u z a r B o u k a , w i t h s o m e o f M a d a g a s c a r ’ s m o s t i c o n i c s t r u c t u r e s t o i t s c r e d i t , i n c l u d i n g t h e 2 0 0 7 S o u t h A f r i c a n E m b a s s y a n d t h e 2 0 1 0 A n t a n a n a r i v o C i t y H a l l S i n c e i t s c r e a t i o n , V i M a h a s a i m e d t o b e a m a j o r p l a y e r i n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f a " n e w M a d a g a s c a r " , n a m e l y t h e v i s i o n o f a c o u n t r y w h e r e p r i v a t e c o m p a n i e s c o n t r i b u t e t o i m p r o v i n g t h e q u a l i t y l i f e o f t h e M a l a g a s y p o p u l a t i o n T h e r e f o r e , V i M a i s r e p r e s e n t e d b y s e v e r a l s u b s i d i a r i e s w o r k i n g i n d i f f e r e n t s e c t o r s s u c h a s :

R e a l E s t a t e D i v i s i o n

R e p r e s e n t e d b y V i M a R e a l E s t a t e , M a j u n g a s a u r u s M a l l a n d A g u l h a s , V i M a i s a p i o n e e r i n t h e B u s i n e s s P a r k c o n c e p t i n M a d a g a s c a r w i t h a p r e s t i g i o u s l e s s e e p o r t f o l i o : E m b a s s i e s , I n t e r n a t i o n a l I n s t i t u t i o n s , B a n k s , “ F o r t u n e 5 0 0 ” C o m p a n i e s

P r o c u r e m e n t p i o n e e r

V i M a S e r v ’ o b s e r v e s t h r e e k e y c r i t e r i a : p e r f o r m a n c e , p r o f i t a b i l i t y a n d c u s t o m e r s a t i s f a c t i o n I t s o f f e r s c u s t o m i z e d s o l u t i o n s t o i t s c u s t o m e r s w i t h t h e m a i n a m b i t i o n t o m e e t t h e i r e x p e c t a t i o n s i n t e r m s o f q u a l i t y , c o s t , t i m e a n d s p e c i f i c t e n d e r s

N e w t e c h n o l o g i e s

N e w t e c h n o l o g i e s i n c u b a t o r f o r M a d a g a s c a r w i t h V i M a T e k .

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Ambatovy

Contributing to community, country and economy

Central to Ambatovy’s mission is supporting Madagascar’s input into the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Ambatovy sees its support for Madagascar’s achievement of the SDG’s in three pillars: Busi ness Approach; Community and Environmental Approach; And Supporting Local Growth.

By processing its raw ore in-country, Ambatovy contributes to Madagascar’s economic develop ment. By doing so, it increases Madagascar’s for eign earnings through export of nickel and cobalt.

Ambatovy has also made significant investment into local, social infrastructure. This includes creating roads and rehabilitating schools and medical centres.

Ambatovy

In addition, it has focussed on creating environ mental programmes to educate the local com munity on the importance of Madagascar’s rich biodiversity, and its role in the country’s future.

At the heart of Ambatovy’s procurement practices is its “buy locally, hire locally” policy, reflecting the organisation’s commitment to support the growth of the Malagasy industry and small business.

“We are proud of our diverse and international workforce, with over 90% Malagasy employees, and 65% of leadership roles held by Malagasy pro fessionals,” said Mr Gomes.

From providing training and capacity building, to assisting in the development of local suppli ers, Ambatovy appreciates the importance of its role in driving the local economy forward in its development.

AmbatovyAmbatovy

Ensuring a future for the next generation

Ambatovy considers its sustainability pro gramme to be second to none, worldwide

Its continual efforts include having a strong safe ty culture and demonstrating responsible envi ronmental stewardship, both elements of which Ambatovy strives to meet the highest standards.

In June 2022 the organisation celebrated Sustain ability Month. The theme it followed this year was “Ensuring a future for the next generation”, some thing Ambatovy considers part of its culture.

As part of the awareness campaign, Ambatovy gave colleagues and their families an opportu nity to learn more about the business’s environ mental activities, including its unique breeding program for the golden mantella.

An exhibition was held at the mine site and plant site, where visitors were able to learn about Am batovy’s activities in the fields of biodiversity, livelihoods, community engagement, reforesta tion and environmental monitoring.

“Our biodiversity commitment includes protecting large conservation areas,” said Mr Gomes, “We have an orchidarium and orchid parks with over 283 orchid species, including 28 new species we discovered and some that are critically endangered. The orchids are protected and transferred to our re habilitation areas. We also protect a large number of fauna, including unique Lemurs which only exist in Madagascar”.

Ambatovy continues to make specific invest ments in education and social infrastructure. Its aim is to ensure that its presence in Madagas car is providing the maximum benefit to its host communities now and for future generations.

A new era

In November 2021, Ambatovy appointed Gus Gomes to head up the business, which stands at 10,000 employees and contractors.

Mr Gomes has more than 35 years experience in the mining industry, with appointments span ning the globe.

Having completed a degree in Engineering and Geology and an MBA in Finance, Mr Gomes first embarked on his mining career for Broken Hill Proprietary. He went on to work as Director of Operations and Technical Services for the second largest metals and mining organisation Rio Tinto.

Prior to working for Ambatovy, Mr Gomes took on senior managerial roles at MPX Energia and MMG, as well as ArcelorMittal and Vale.

On his appointment, Mr Gomes said, “We are committed to continuing our activities in a sus tainable, responsible and effective manner, follow ing good governance, in order to generate tangible benefits for the country. I assure you that Ambatovy will continue to live up to its commitments”

www.ambatovy.com

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O u r p h i l o s o p h y i s t o “ s u p p l y t h e ri g h t t h i n g a t t h e r i g h t t i m e w i t h t h e b e s t s o l u t i o n . ” T h e r e f o r e , w e i n t e n s i v e l y p a y d e d i c a t e d a t t e n t i o n i n e v e r y s t e p f r o m i n i t i a l d i s c u s s i o n w i t h o u r c u s t o m e r s t h r o u g h t h e c o m p l e t i o n o f t h e p r o j e c t .

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PROJECT DIRECTED BY Malvern Kandemwa

WRITTEN BY Frew Murdoch

Ark Data Centres

The Role of the Data Centre in the Journey to Net-Zero

Ark Data Centres explains how businesses, people, and behaviour form a significant part of the answer to carbon reduction

Tosome, data centres may not be the most likely hero when tackling climate change but one glance behind the curtain at Ark Data Centres suggests that they could form an interesting part of the solution.

Huw Owen joined Ark in November 2012 as Chief Executive Officer to lead a new management team following the recapitalisation of the company. He has held key roles at a number of organisations, including BT Global Services and HP Defence & Security. Previous roles across a diverse career include Chief Executive of the Atlas Consortium, delivering the Ministry of Defence DII (Defence Information Infrastructure) programme.

“It’s the big challenges that have always fascinat ed me,” said Huw. “I was born in a country at war, schooled in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia). I’ve been a sub-unit police commander in the Royal Hong Kong Police Force where I later became a De tective Inspector. I qualified as lawyer and enjoyed a period trouble shooting globally as a litigator. Working for the Asia Foundation in Cambodia ex perienced close up the last Khmer Rouge dry season offensive, I’ve also consulted with the UN on legal reform in Tajikistan – So by the time I began (what could be considered to be) my corporate career, dif ficult conversations and big challenges (some life and death situations) really were very much my norm. I’ve always favoured running towards the flames to solve problems, it’s where all that inter ests me lives, which has led to some challenging but remarkably rewarding roles – none more so, than the one I have today.”

From rural beginnings to crown jewels

At the time Huw was appointed, from the outside world, Ark was little more than a field of dreams. Two green rural sites with immense promise, but which also required a unique vision.

Huw brought in several business associates he considered world-class, and together they be gan creating the company from the ground up. According to Huw, their starting strategy was simple:

“At our very first meeting, I said to the team, why don’t we build the type of company that we’ve always wanted to work for and to this day, our commitment to that philosophy has been unrelenting.”

Ark Data Centres

Since 2012, Ark has expanded their footprint from the original two sites to six market-lead ing facilities in highly sought-after locations across the UK, with a further site opening up in Europe before the end of the year. Since its in ception, Ark has become well-known to many for its commitment to sustainability and oper ational excellence, striving to be, as Huw puts it, “that quiet, discreet, can-do, will-do partner of choice which leads the market by example in social responsibility.”

When asked about the company’s success, how ever, Huw did not attribute it to strategy. He instead emphasised people, culture, and Ark’s leadership philosophy:

“I believe in visible model leadership. I expect my leadership team to be visible and to model the be haviors that we expect from our people. That means that if I am lazy, uncaring, and uncommitted, you have my full permission to do anything that I show. But equally, if day-in-day-out I come in with a committed mindset and the best for Ark’s employ ees in mind, then I expect you to do the same.”

Ark’s approach and philosophy has led to phe nomenal success in the UK attracting some of the all largest Hyperscalers in the world and in 2014, was awarded the Crown Hosting contract, a joint venture with the Cabinet Office which po sitions them as the data centre partner of choice for the UK Government.

“We understand the responsibility that comes with being the trusted partner of the UK Government and we’re delighted that it has also attracted some of the most innovative organisations from the pri vate sector. We know precisely the role we play in the critical running of their business, how we help achieve their sustainability objectives and we take that accountability very seriously.

“When Ark secured the Crown Hosting contract, we were asked to create savings of £105 million, and to date, we have delivered around £1.5 billion. In our first 4 years we took the equivalent of 140 000 cars

off the road in carbon saving which is incredible,” stated Huw.

For an industry that is known to be power hun gry, data centres may first appear to be unlikely candidates to form part of the answer for carbon reduction, yet there is plenty of evidence to the contrary.

“Any Public Sector Organisation can report up to 75% on electricity and a 99% carbon reduction on relocated services from the day that they move into one of our facilities,” said Huw. “For the Private sector and in particular the hyperscalers who have set remarkably ambitious green goals, there is noone better placed in the UK to help them achieve their sustainability objectives.”

“We have an exemplary culture at Ark, which is born of people having the right skills, the right experience, and the right qualifications. But, ulti mately, having the correct mindset that they bring to work every day. That is what has caused our suc cess,” assured Huw.

Sustainability: Scoping ahead

Data Centres form the very heartbeat of the dig ital world, but for every email sent, social post shared, photo taken from a phone, a carbon foot print is created, which means the very facilities created to take care of this data have the potential to form either part of the climate change chal lenge or a meaningful part of the solution.

The Sustainability conversation has undoubted ly enjoyed more deserved column inches in re cent years but for Ark, sustainability has been at the centre of its endeavours since day one.

“Back when I joined, we had the likes of Pip Squire in our team. A highly-intelligent and vastly expe rienced engineer, Pip has been at the heart of Ark since the beginning. He’s always driven electric cars, demanded electric charge points, and been a great advocate to keep all of us alive to our respon sibility towards the planet that we live on…

Tech Feature

Tech

Gratte Brothers

Gratte Brothers is a third generation family company offering trusted, fully integrated engineering services for data centres which strive to lead the market in so cial responsibility.

Spanning a range of responsibilities from design to in stallation as well as management and commissio ning, we have over 28 years’ experience delivering data centres with resilient engineering, from plant replacements to 50 MW installations. We are therefo re uniquely placed to provide end-to-end solutions for our clients though principal contractor, framework, al liance and service partner appointments and our deli very encompasses a collaborative, proactive approach to the challenges presented by a project.

The quality of our delivery is the result of our direct ly-employed installation technicians and managers and our specialist supply chain which shares our pas sion for safety and outstanding delivery.

Our ethos is simple – build long-term relationships with clients who share our values and consistently de liver the excellence required to meet individual needs and exceed expectations. We’ve been one of Ark’s Service Partners for over a decade and being an integral part of their ecosystem, which is committed to sustai nability, has been the perfect opportunity to showcase our commitment to engineering solutions with low energy consumption.

Innovation from pre-construction through to handover in terms of product and digitalisation of systems, of fers opportunities to deliver optimal value for our cli ents and our 23,000sq ft. of prefabrication facilities allows us to additionally maximise site solutions and secure critical programmes.

At Gratte Brothers, continual improvement is funda mental as we strive to enhance our processes and ul timately our delivery.

Ark Data Centres

And as a result as it stands today, we are already very advanced in contrast to many organisations in terms of social responsibility - while many are still working to understand their Scope 1 and 2 emis sions, these are questions that we answered some time ago.

“We come to work and challenge ourselves and at the most basic level, we know that by hitting our own sustainability objectives, we empower our customers to achieve their own – Everyone wins, including the planet.

“We’ve been 100% clean energy since 2015. We have a passion and commitment to encourage bio diversity, with badger runs, bat runs, beehives, and living walls. We have green offset areas for wildlife, our sites are mostly surrounded by trees and have recently transitioned to HVO fuels in the unlikely event that back-up generation is required.

“Our rainwater harvesting technology means that after the first year of collection, we can run our facilities without impeding on local supplies for potable water, which is an area that every person and business should take very seriously - We even use ecological toilets, which always gets a smirk, but that’s hundreds of thousands of litres of water saved,” explained Huw.

With many businesses focused on understand ing and reducing their Scope 1 and 2 emissions, Ark has begun to proactively address its Scope 3 challenges head-on and recently took to the stage at the Sustainability Live conference in London to discuss the importance of individ ual behaviour to address the impact of climate change.

“We have an enormous responsibility to collabo rate with our employees, partners, and customers

Delivering service excellence for over 75 years

Engineering Specialists in Mission Critical Systems

G r a t t e B r o t h e r s o f f e r s a t r u s t e d , f u l l y i n t e g r a t e d s e r v i c e f o r d a t a c e n t r e i n f r a s t r u c t u r e w i t h r e s i l i e n t e n g i n e e r i n g W i t h o v e r 2 8 y e a r s o f e x p e r i e n c e d e s i g n i n g a n d b u i l d i n g h i g h q u a l i t y , e n e r g y e f f i c i e n t d a t a c e n t r e s t h a t s t r i v e t o l e a d t h e m a r k e t i n s o c i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y , w e ' v e b e e n o n e o f A r k ' s a l l i a n c e s e r v i c e p a r t n e r s f o r o v e r 1 0 y e a r s O u r i n h o u s e d e s i g n , p r e f

Ark Data Centres

to understand what we can do on an individual lev el, if we’re really going to meaningfully tackle our Scope 3 emissions,” said Huw. “We all create data, the question is, do we need to keep all of our data for all time and what behaviours can we employ to reduce our impact on the planet?”

Ark is even taking the bold step to encourage its customers to travel less when evaluating a data centre by leveraging virtual technology to se curely tour its facilities. The team has also begun reviewing operational data collected for both the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods to make an informed assessment as to what post-pandemic behaviours may start to look like - for example how many employees will continue to commute to the office, how often, and in what form of transport.

“It’s like most things in life; it begins with you. Do your bit and when you have that locked in, then you have bought the right to tell others to do theirs. There seems to be a lot of broadcasting and green washing going on. My question to you is what are you doing? That’s the question we ask ourselves every day and we try to get better every day” ended Huw.

www.arkdatacentres.co.uk

Tech Feature

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Glen Newton

WRITTEN BY Laura Watling

Howard Moss, CEO, Astonish

An Astonishing British Brand

Born and bred in West Yorkshire, just like its CEO, Howard Moss, Astonish is the only UK manufactured cleaning brand certified by Cruelty Free International, the Vegetarian and the Vegan Society. A proud recipient of the Queen’s Enterprise for International Trade, Astonish is recognised across the globe.

Speaking to Business Enquirer, Howard details the business’ rise to success, steeped in family history, and discusses what’s next for the leading British brand.

Astonish

Astonish’s

cleaning products cover a variety of needs. From antibacteri al liquid soaps, to trigger bottle sur face cleaners. As well as its sprays, the brand’s products come in tablet form, such as dishwasher tablets and toilet fizzers, as well as cream bleaches. The business quite literally has every surface covered.

“We can’t deny that the COVID pandemic sup ported our growth, when the world was seeking high-quality, germ-killing products. However, our growth is also a testament to the power of our prod uct, our brand and our people,” shared Howard.

The business has a strong emphasis on its in gredients and its packaging, making them both as sustainable as possible, whilst also being vegan and cruelty free. Throughout its years of production, the business has never tested on animals.

The Astonish factory exterior

Astonish

Astonish has a vision to become completely zero waste, from the early stages of production through to product packaging.

“We constantly scour the market for the most sus tainable methods, and we’re researching metal and reinforced cardboard packaging,” said Howard.

The brand’s latest product is The Good One. The cleaning paste is made from 100% naturally de rived ingredients and is pet and child friendly. The high-performing product comes in an in finitely recyclable tin which can be used time and time again.

As well as the product itself, Astonish are imple menting methods to reduce personal wastage, such as recycling any unused pallets and reusing cardboard boxes.

The business keeps its carbon footprint low by manufacturing and distributing locally, near Bradford. Research and development, manufac

turing and packaging all take place under one roof in Astonish’s brand new manufacturing facility.

“As well as contributing to our environmental im pact, we also value supporting our local communi ty,” said Howard.

A world leader for innovative packaging solution

ALPLA UK are extremely proud to partner and support Howard, Mike and all at Astonish as they enter an exci ting period for the business, having been awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise and also mo ving to a new manufacturing site.

ALPLA is one of the leading companies involved in plastic packaging and recycling. Around 22,100 employees wor ldwide produce custom made packaging systems, bott les, caps and moulded parts at 177 sites across 45 coun tries. The high-quality packaging is used in a wide range of markets, including food and drinks, cosmetics, perso nal care products, household cleaning products, deter gents, cleaning agents, and pharmaceutical products.

ALPLA operates recycling plants for PET and HDPE in Austria, Germany, Poland, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Romania and Thailand. Other projects are being realised elsewhe

As recognised by the Queen’s Enterprise Award for International Trade, Astonish has a strong presence across the world.

“One third of our business is overseas, and we are the number two cleaning brand in Israel,” shared Howard.

The business also has a presence in regions of Africa such as Kenya, Ghana, South Africa and Egypt, as well as Asia and the Far East.

re around the world.

Expertise, constant research & development, state-ofthe-art production technologies and close cooperation with clients are the four decisive factors underpinning ALPLA’s success. With its products ALPLA enables a safe, affordable and sustainable living worldwide.

The long history as a family run business and the know ledge and dedication of the employees set ALPLA and its products apart. The business activities of the company are founded on sustainability and the climate-friendly use of resources. With more than 25 years of experience in recycling ALPLA plays a decisive part in ensuring that plastics remain in the materials cycle.

Today, ALPLA in Western Europe consists of 31 base plants and 19 in-house operations, which makes this re gion the biggest division in the ALPLA family.

As well as contributing to our environmental impact, we also value supporting our local community...

“ “

BE INNOVATIVE.

Progress is part of our DNA.

We have been developing innovative packaging solutions since 1955 and treading new paths along the way.

Are you ready for Building 4.0? For 3DCP and other modern construction technologies?

Expect Distribution are proud to operate as the pri mary UK delivery partner for Astonish. Our relations hip was established over 10 years ago as we became neighbouring businesses and from first contact it was clear that there was an excellent cultural fit. Both bu sinesses were fast growing market leaders in their respective sectors and both had traditional family va lues that meant we share the same ethics and same drive for quality and to be the best in our fields.

The Astonish brand goes from strength to strength and it is one that we are delighted to be associated with. The recognisable logo and livery adorn the dedi cated fleet which is contracted by Astonish and ma naged by Expect. It is a progressive partnership which ensures direct delivery to over 90% of the customer base in the UK, providing the ultimate in personal ser vice and enhanced customer experience.

It has been admirable to see Howard provide the en trepreneurial energy which sees Astonish maintain the family traditions but as an internationally recog nised brand which distributes cleaning product world wide.

The success story continues as Astonish moves to their custom built new headquarters at Thornbury which will see our partnership continue. Our own suc cess story and status as a national market leader in logistics wouldn’t have been possible without the vi sion and loyalty demonstrated to us by Astonish and other key clients

We wish Howard and the team every success and con tinued growth. We are delighted to be a small part of your amazing journey and wish you all the best in your new home.

Meeting Demand

Astonish

Since 2000, Astonish has seen considerable growth, and as such has moved three times to meet demand.

“In 2009 we had a turnover of £9 million. Within five years that had grown to £20 million. By 2020 we had doubled again to £40 million and I was aware that we needed a new facility to sustain our growth,” explained Howard.

In June 2022, Astonish moved into its first, pur pose-built manufacturing and packaging fa cility. The 128,000 square foot site will enable the business to triple its turnover in the coming years.

The £25 million investment has included the implementation of end-of-line automation to improve efficiencies.

A Family Enterprise

Astonish was established in the 1970’s by How ard’s father, Alan Moss, originally under the name KLIN. A second-generation family busi ness, the family feel is certainly reflected across the business, which, despite its output, is made up of just 90 staff.

“Astonish is a very fast-paced and agile environ ment,” shared Howard, “although this environ ment isn’t suited to everyone, we encourage peo ple to join our team, and reward them well. It’s important to have good people at the top of their game, and we invest in our people to support them in that development”

Astonish

Since its inception, Astonish hasn’t always been found on retail store shelves. Grown out of Alan Moss’ job as a product demonstrator, Astonish was originally sold at trade fairs and agricultural shows. Over time this grew to catalogues such as Betterware, Clean Easy and Lakeland, and then to TV’s QVC.

It was when Howard joined the business in 1997, when the brand started to shift its sales dynamic.

“My father was a fantastic entrepreneur, but he wasn’t a great business manager. I was able to bring my interest in retail to the business,” ex plained Howard.

On the Shelves

It wasn’t always Howard’s intention to join the family business. Having left his degree stud ies in Business and Marketing early, Howard started his career journey undertaking a trainee management position at Marks and Spencer in London.

“Ultimately I wanted to be back in Leeds and so it was a sensible transition to work for the fami ly business,” he said, “when I joined the business we were still small with only 25 staff. I immersed myself completely into the business, working across the company in warehousing and then manufac turing. I was determined to make a difference,”.

It was in the early 2000’s when Howard broad ened his scope and aimed to get an understand ing of what retailers wanted and needed.

Now, Astonish’s products can be found in the UK’s supermarkets and discount stores, as well as retailers such as Lakeland, Dunelm, B & Q and Booths.

Howard has honed his leadership skills as the business has developed, and considers his expe rience across the business as a key influence to his leadership approach. “What is fundamental is that I will never ask my colleagues to do something

I either haven’t done or wouldn’t be willing to do,” he said.

A Developing Range

As well as Astonish, the business has a luxury offering, Moss and Adams.

Moss and Adams is currently a range of six, an tibacterial handwashes, inspired by the scents of the Great British outdoors (such as Sherwood Forest and Windermere Lake). Much like Aston ish, Moss and Adam’s products are made from naturally-derived ingredients and are certified vegan.

Once the business is fully settled into its new fa cility, it’s Howard’s intention to grow the Moss and Adams personal care range, and extend the Astonish product offering too. There is also the opportunity for growth in developing markets in Eastern Europe, such as Latvia, Romania and Lithuania.

With the current climate, Howard believes the British public are starting to understand the importance of supporting British businesses. “It’s the consumer’s responsibility to be passion ate about supporting home grown products and I’m keen to encourage consumers to be more aware of what they are picking up off of the shelves”.

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Glen Newton

WRITTEN BY Laura Watling

Open-plan living space from one of Atlas’ new Oakwood Lodge homes.

Steven McGawn, MD, Atlas Leisure Homes

The Great British Staycation: Proudly Made In Yorkshire

Atlas Leisure Homes

Despite international travel opening up again for holidaymakers and business people alike, staycations are here to, well, stay. According to the Staycation Market Report delivered by Parkdean Resorts, 53% of Brits intended to holiday in the UK in 2022.

This data is reflected by the booking sheet and growth story of Atlas Leisure Homes. Proudly based in Hull, the business has been in the leisure home market for over 30 years.

Managing Director, Steven McGawn, speaks to Business Enquirer about Atlas’s plans to develop both the business and the local community.

Atlas Leisure Homes

Focussed on delivering leisure homes driven by quality design and innovation, Atlas Leisure Homes is one of the most recognised holiday home brands on the market.

The leisure homes range from the smallest 28 x 10 foot, 6 berth Festival, through to the highspec, top of-the-range 44 x 22 foot, Debonair Lodge, complete with Belfast sink and range cooker.

“At Atlas we aim to cater for all budget require ments, without sacrificing luxury,” said Steven, “all of our homes are well made and robust”

Nearly all of Atlas’ suppliers are UK based. “We’ve not been immune to the supply chain pressures, but we work closely with them to ensure they have vis ibility of our upcoming workload,” said Steven.

Market upswing

After 25-years in banking, Steven joined Atlas Leisure Homes in 2017 as Commercial Director. He was tasked with a specific remit of leading an MBO and allowing the existing shareholders to exit.

The buyout completed on 31st January 2019. This meant the new management team (with Steven now as Managing Director) had little over a year of ‘normal’ trading prior to the COVID lock downs in the UK.

“After the initial scare of lockdown, the vast ma jority of holiday park operators could foresee the potential upswing in the staycation market. A com bination of an order backlog from the mandatory COVID lockdown and increased demand meant we needed to find a solution to fulfil orders at our usual rate,” explained Steven.

Within three months of signing the new lease we had fitted a brand-new manufacturing facility and completed the first holiday home of the line. It was a team effort and a testament to our staff.

“ “

In answer to this, Atlas leased a new production site, adding two additional production lines and a brand-new machine shop, with the business investing in excess of £1 million. Now, the busi ness has four production lines, two catering for high-end twin lodges.

“Within three months of signing the new lease we had fitted a brand-new manufacturing facility and completed the first holiday home of the line. It was a team effort and a testament to our staff,” shared Steven.

As part of the production facility expansion, At las grew from 250 employees in 2020 to 465 by completion of the new site.

Lifestyle Feature

for over 15 years with all aspects of soft furnishings

A unique offering

Atlas’s longevity in the marketplace can, in part, be attributed to its unique offering, with every leisure home being built to order.

The manufacturer’s products are known for be ing robust and well made, as well as handmade. “We cut and mill the majority of our own wood, so most of our wooden furnishings are bespoke and handmade,” explained Steven, “we also have the ability to press our own doors”

Steven also highlighted that a changing demo graphic has meant the business has had to de velop its offering.

“Although our key demographic is still 50 years old and above, we are seeing younger families using

Atlas Leisure Homes

our product. They are more tech savvy and desire a higher finish,” he said, “the Oakwood Lodge is our newest twin lodge designed to meet the modern needs,”

Featuring a large, light and airy living space, along with a modern (and hidden!) ensuite, the Oakwood is inspired by loft living, and looks to rival AirBnB properties.

Although designed with the end-user in mind, Atlas’ buyers are mostly the holiday parks in which the leisure homes reside.

“We work closely with our customers to ensure they are offering their end-user the best experience on site. However, it is imperative to us that we don’t allow parks to over order - offering that guidance is key to our relationship,” said Steven.

One of the bedrooms of Atlas’ new ‘Oakwood Lodge’ line of homes

Atlas Leisure Homes

Tackling the labour shortage

Like many industries, caravan manufacturing faces a labour shortage. The issue is compound ed by a majority of caravan manufacturers being based around the Humber, making the pool of qualified staff more diluted.

In answer to this, Atlas has created its own training academy. “We take on a cohort of 10 at a time, placing them on a 13-week inhouse training programme, designed to skill them in a niche area

have a requirement for,” explained Steven.

Since starting the programme 9 months ago, Atlas have trained over 40 young people, with a retention rate of 65%. “We’re really proud of this achievement, and enabling young people in the area to start a career,” he said.

What Atlas’s scheme currently lacks is an offi cial qualification at the end of the 13 weeks. The business is working with other leisure home manufacturers in the region in partnership with local schools, colleges, and authorities to create a certified programme.

“It’s still in its infancy, but we think this step for ward will be good for the city as well as the indus try,” shared Steven.

Steven’s leadership ethos, which is now part of the business’ culture, is simple: “Treat people how you want to be treated, and allow people to make mistakes,” he said.

The Managing Director shared that Atlas’ cul ture has changed dramatically since the buyout in 2019, from a top-down approach to one which en courages collaboration throughout the business.

“We’ve reintroduced committee meetings to give staff a voice, as well as giving them the opportunity to develop through training,” he said, “we like to be able to promote within, encourage colleagues to learn from failures and ultimately want our staff to come to work and be proud of our product”.

Lifestyle Feature

park

Gateway Chassis Solutions

Solid support for the holiday home industry

Gateway Chassis Solutions has been supplying Atlas Leisure Homes conti nuously for a number of years, for all their ranges and on all types of chassis, from painted lattice through to the fully galvanised I-Beam.

JOINT SUCCESS AND GROWTH

Talking about the partnership between Gateway and Atlas, Gateway Chassis Solutions’ Managing Director Chris Ramsden said; “It’s a pleasure to work with such a progressive company as Atlas Leisure Homes, and to be wor king on holiday homes that will bring so much pleasure to holidaymakers.

“While the UK staycation market has boomed, the park and leisure home industry has seen unprecedented chal lenges in the supply chain in the past couple of years, both in the logistics of supply and the pricing. This has undoubtedly put pressure on suppliers, manufacturers and parks to work har der than ever to manage these chan ges so transparency, trust and good working relationships are paramount in terms of getting the best for the end buyer, without delays or unnecessary price loading. That makes a difference for everyone involved, and we’re happy to be established as one of Atlas’ tru sted partners.

He continued; “Market forces have me ant growth for us. With the increase in demand for holiday homes we’ve all gone through a period of growth to scale up production. For us, there were three clear priorities; consistency of supply, managing the cost of supply to our customers as carefully as possible, and managing the quality benchmarks during that growth period.”

CONTINUOUS INVESTMENT

Recent investment in new plant and machinery has added a new automa ted saw, a punching and cropping line, and another new Gateway Chassis Solutions truck in addition to the three added in 2020 – all deployed to increa se output and delivery capabilities. The firm has also ramped up its operational capability from a staffing perspective

this year with a 40% increase in the shop floor workforce, and a firm bol stering of the management team to support the new growth. Chris added;

“It was important for us that this was carefully managed. Like our products, core stability is our mantra, and we re main in a solid position to respond to fluctuations in demand going forward, while also matching our customers’ re quirements fully as they also experien ce significant growth.”

DESIGN EXCELLENCE

At Gateway Chassis Solutions, every chassis is designed to suit the home that is built on it, whether it’s a chassis in the main range or a bespoke option. Care and consideration are given to the load distribution of the building, positioning and siting of heavy components such as kitchen and bathrooms. Using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) & 3D CAD model ling the chassis are assessed against the anticipated home weight to ensure it meets the structural requirements of the building it will be supporting.

This is also where Gateway’s ‘Value Ad ded, Value Engineered’ ethos really kicks in. With global steel prices conti nuing to rise, there is an ongoing deter mination to minimise the cost impact to customers through this smarter, more efficient design and manufactu ring process, while not compromising the strength of the chassis’. Quality and safety are paramount requirements, so each individual chassis is manufac tured to the National Caravan Council Code of Practice.

ADDING VALUE AT EVERY STAGE

It’s not just at the manufacturing point that value is added. The chassis is the foundation of the completed home, although normally it is not even visible after it is sited, it goes through quite a journey before it reaches its destinati on. Gateway considers all these stages to ensure that the home gives the ow ner the safe, comfortable, secure and sustainable structural foundation they should expect and deserve, taking into account the practicalities of siting from a park and transport perspective.

Consideration is given during the de sign stage to assist all Gateway’s home manufacturing partners with the as sembly, taking into account their own

production needs. Things such as siting of utilities, ease of assembly, mano euvrability and accuracy are conside red to make things run as smoothly as possible. Care is also given to ensuring the chassis’ are safely transported and delivered in the same condition as they left the factory. To ensure the home ar rives on site in the best condition pos sible Gateway has factored in special anchor points within their designs to ensure that the chassis’ are transpor ted in a safe and secure way with mini mum movement, secured rigidly ready for transit with purpose-made frames.

TRANSPORT AND SITING

When the completed home is transpor ted from the factory to the site, this is probably the furthest the home will ever travel in its lifetime and it must survive both the elements and vibrati on caused by road surfaces. When the home arrives on site, the design also facilitates easy positioning. The de tachable jockey wheel, which can be quickly released and moved from “front to back” gives the chassis maximum manoeuvrability before it reaches its final destination.

Steven McGawn, MD at Atlas said; “Our manufacturing supply partners have to work to the same high quality and key objectives that we do, and we work clo sely together to ensure that. Solid and reliable partners like Gateway Chassis Solutions who can deliver reliably at a fair price point are paramount, and with their keen eye on introducing further cutting-edge technologies, we are con fident that they are constantly striving to give us good value for money, even with the challenges the marketplace has seen in the past couple of years.”

He continued; “Chris and the wider team at Gateway have been integral to our recent growth and are very easy to work with. Excellent communication between both Senior Teams has been fundamental in growing this relations hip and we look forward to the conti nued innovation and success of both businesses.”

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

To find out more email info@gateway-chassis.co.uk, call 01482 485170 or visit www.gateway-chassis.co.uk

Lifestyle Feature

A period of calm

In the next 12-18 months, Steven foresees a pe riod of consolidation for the business. “After the growth period we’ve seen, it’s prudent for Atlas to consolidate, review how we’re working and then look at how we can make the business more effi cient,” he said.

Next steps for the business are to assess how it can fulfil sustainability briefs. Atlas’s leisure homes are already made of many sustainable el ements - using wood and steel for the shell and interior fixtures, fitted with LED lighting, supe rior insulation and some with alternative heat ing sources.

“We need to investigate how we can make Atlas’s leisure homes better,” explained Steven, “for ex ample, could we incorporate solar panels or electric charging”.

“The challenge here,” he continued “is ensuring the parks are onboard and fit to host these im provements”.

Made in Yorkshire

With the next two years looking more than com fortable for the firm, the leadership team are looking at further ways to develop the business. This includes conversion of an area within their own 18 acres of land currently used for storage.

“With the annual trade shows being cancelled during the pandemic, we realised customers didn’t have an opportunity to physically come and see what we have to offer. We have plans to launch a showground here, on site,” explained Steven, “this would allow our Park customers to visit yearround, and not need to search out a park that has one of our models in situ”.

Atlas are keen to make the potential show ground as sustainable as possible. With the de velopment in the early stages, ways to make this happen are under research.

With a new Marketing Manager in place at Atlas Leisure Homes, Steven hopes to make commu nications stronger both internally and external ly. Part of this communication plan will be pre senting to local schools to encourage leavers to buy into the Atlas ethos, seeing the opportunity for a career, rather than “just a job”

“Atlas are proud of its product and where it’s man ufactured in Yorkshire - the industry should be rightly proud of its collective achievements too,” he closed.

To see our full range, please contact your local carpets retailers

Condor Carpets is proud to be supplier of Atlas Leisure Homes

Atlas are proud of its product and where it’s manufactured in Yorkshire - the industry should be rightly proud of its collective achievements too.

“ “

Homes

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Stephen Owen

WRITTEN BY Frew Murdoch

CAA Botswana

Guardians of Botswana’s Gateway

The Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana regulates air transport for one of Africa’s top tourist destinations, the Okavango Delta, otherwise known as the Jewel of the Kalahari

TheOkavango Delta is one of the most breathtaking places on this entire plan et. Designated as a United Nations Ed ucational, Scientific and Cultural Or ganization (UNESCO) world heritage site, the awe-inspiring Delta is a must-visit for avid

travelers, safari enthusiasts, wildlife fanatics, and adventurers due to its incredible biodiversity and exceptional lodges and camps. From exhila rating game drives to the endless natural beauty of baobabs, marshland, and palm-fringed wa terways, the Delta is a wonder to behold.

The Okavango is not the only sparkling gem in Botswana’s collection. This country also hosts marvels such as the elephant-filled Chobe Na tional Park, the dazzling white sands of the Makgadikgadi Pans, and the dramatic rocky ter rain of the Tuli Block.

Botswana reveres, respects, and protects its natural splendor through sustainable tourism efforts and air traffic regulation. As many of the wildlife areas are remote and difficult to access via land, light aircraft and licensed personnel are high in demand, which means Botswana has a thriving scheduled, charter, and scenic flight industry.

CAA Botswana

The Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB), formerly the Department of Civil Avi ation, is responsible for the development and regulation of air transport. This statutory cor poration provides air navigation services, man ages airports, and advises the government on all aspects of civil aviation. The authority’s mission is to effectively regulate and promote a secure and sustainable aviation industry following in ternational standards.

The CAAB does not stand alone in this mission. Strategic partnerships with Botswana Tour ism, the Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana, the government, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the Bank of Bo tswana create mutual benefits for tourism, in frastructure, and the economy. Together, these organizations further the sustainable develop ment of aviation operations in Botswana and minimize the negative impact of aviation on the environment.

Maun: Delta’s doorway

Maun may not be Botswana’s capital city, that ti tle belongs to Gaborone, but it does hold its own as the tourism capital. Maun is the doorway and launchpad for some of Botswana’s most cher ished attractions.

“Maun International Airport is one of the busiest air ports in the Southern African region. Most of the air traffic into and out of Maun consists of light aircraft which fly in from the Okavango Delta,” said CAAB Public Relations and Communications Manager Modipe Nkwe.

He added that Maun’s rich aviation history could be attributed to the thriving tourism industry, which accounts for the majority of air traffic at Maun International Airport.

As a result of Maun’s popularity, the CAAB em barked on a Terminal Renovation project at the town’s airport in April 2019. This was delayed by 3 months due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but

Major Blue Air

Major Blue Air is a Charter Operator in Botswana, and Australia. In Botswana, it has bases in Gaborone & Maun, and its operations is of a remarkable standards, therefore passengers are guaranteed a world class service at all times. We are known for our excellence in Aviation space, so come experience the stupendous views that can only be seen by air. Panoramic flights are offered daily, available year round, over the vast reaches of the Okavango Delta. Major Blue Air prides itself on providing safe and efficient operations and maintenance of its aircraft with a team of experien ced and highly trained professionals. Major Blue Air owns and operates its own fleet of several small to lar ge turbine prop aircraft, and a passenger jet. Some are suitable for the bush flying whilst others are best for mid-long or long-haul flights, therefore we cater for all type of flying. Major Blue Air Botswana has a fleet of 17 aircrafts.

Air Services Offered:

• Air transfers to/from Camps and lodges in the Okavango Delta, Chobe, Makgadikgadi, Central Kalahari , and Northern Tuli Game reserve.

• Scenic/Panoramic flights over the magnificent Okavango Delta, Chobe river, Vic falls and Boteti ( Zebra migration route)

• Enroute scenic flights to/from Khwai Moremi game reserve

• Aerial photography and filming

Aerial survey

• Private and corporate charter flights

Air Ambulance services

Aviation Feature

On Time - On Budget

CAA Botswana

has since made progress. These renovations in cluded the expansion of the public concourse departure hall and international and domestic baggage areas.

The CAAB also commissioned new check-in counters, flight information displays, a public address system, restroom facilities, and parking bays. Developments like these come as welcome news to the region’s air charter and scheduled flight operators, such as Air Botswana, Wilder ness Air, and Mack Air, all of which have ser vices running from the busy airport.

License to fly

Many of the flights that take off from Maun are quite different from traditional commercial flights. Many lodges and luxury camps exist in remote areas of pristine wilderness that can not be accessed over land, so these accommo dations feature exclusive airstrips for their cli entele. The transfers are known as ‘short hops’; approximately 30-minute flights where landing and take-off conditions range from dirt run ways to extremely remote strips.

As a result of the unique environmental condi tions, bush pilots have a notable reputation in Botswana. These pilots are highly trained and skilled individuals who are adept at navigating Southern Africa’s skies and runways. The large numbers of tourists moving between cities, towns, lodges, and camps within Botswana has led to a great demand for light aircraft and ex pert pilots - the regulation of which is of utmost importance to ensure the safety and continued promotion of tourism in Botswana.

All aviation training organizations and profes sionals who work within Botswana must obtain the necessary license from the CAAB to meet regulatory requirements. In addition, no air craft can fly Botswana skies unless it has an upto-date, valid certificate of airworthiness issued by the state in which the aircraft is registered. The CAAB is the authority for issuance, valida

CAA Botswana

tion, or renewal of certificates of airworthiness and special flight permits for aircraft registered in the country.

Blue skies ahead

The COVID-19 national lockdown and restric tions had a harsh impact on the CAAB, as it did on many aviation businesses. From March 2020, the organization lost three international air lines: Qatar Airways, Air Namibia, and South African Express Airways.

“The country lost tourists who directly traveled on Qatar Airways and South African Express Airways and Air Namibia,” explained Modipe.

Fortunately, the storm clouds are clearing. As the world opens up once again and travel accel erates, the CAAB continues to market potential flight routes to attract new airlines into Bo tswana. With the beauty and vibrant culture of Botswana at its back, the CAAB will no doubt be successful in its pursuit.

www.caab.co.bw

Aerial view of Botswana’s Okavango delta

Aviation Feature

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Jamie Waite

WRITTEN BY Laura Watling

Building a Greater Ghana

CONPRO Limited is one of Ghana’s leading construction consultancy firms with a drive to better society.

Established in 2004 by Richard Quaynor, the CEO aims to pass on his entrepreneurial experience to the young people of Ghana, enabling them with the tools to grow both the country and themselves.

With 73 staff based in offices in Kumasi (where the business was established) and Ghana’s capital, Accra, CONPRO Limited offers a network of construction professionals for construction and infrastructure projects.

The CEO speaks with Business Enquirer’s Laura Watling about the impact CONPRO is making to build a greater Ghana.

Richard considers his business as an op portunity to equip the youth of Ghana to build a better life.

“I have always believed in working with young peo ple. They are the biggest part of our population in Ghana so there is a pool of people we can educate with the required industry skills,” explained Richard.

In 2021, Conpro sponsored 12 of its staff in Building Services, an area in which the business needed to develop. This also enabled the local university to establish a Building Services pro gramme which can be continued.

“Not only did we upskill our own staff, this also as sisted the government to establish the university programme which will help to build the construc tion sector in Ghana,” Richard shared.

The business continues to train its staff in areas it considers to have a weakness. “I also consider it important to support young Ghanaians in develop ing entrepreneurial skills. If these employees go on to run their own businesses I never see them as com petitors. They become a network of CONPROs which can better our infrastructure and society,” he said.

Building Better Education

Conpro’s client list includes Ghana National Pe troleum Company and Ghana’s Ministry of Ed ucation.

The latter allows CONPRO to play a key role in the construction of educational institutions in Ghana.

In 2017, the Ghanaian government started the role out of a nationwide free senior school poli cy. As such, the pupil numbers increased astro nomically, calling for the demand of more infra structure in the schools.

“In partnership with the Ministry of Education we have embarked on an emergency schools proj ect to fulfil the demand,” said Richard, “we have been upgrading the master plans for the secondary schools free of charge. Not only does this bring val ue for the client, it also improves the work we do, bringing it in line with modern demands”.

It is important that these schools offer the best, to encourage the pupils to go.

“ “

In addition, the business is engaged in a govern ment-funded project to build state-of-the-art STEM schools in each district of Ghana. So far, the projects have been initiated in 11 districts.

“It is important that these schools offer the best, to encourage the pupils to go,” Richard explained.

Furthering its work in the education sector, CONPRO Limited has undertaken engineering and technical works at the former University of Education, Winneba (Kumasi campus). Current ly known as Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Develop ment, CONPRO Limited have been designing the university’s infrastructure.

Richard Quaynor, CEO, CONPRO

Construction Feature

Construction Feature

LEEDing the way

Its work for GNPC has enabled CONPRO Limited to better its experience in the sustainable sphere.

Currently it is undertaking three flagship proj ects with the petroleum company - its research and technical centre and corporate head office, both in Accra, and an operational office.

“The research and technical centre and operation al centre are both Leadership in Energy and Envi ronmental Design (LEED) projects, which is giving us the opportunity to develop our experience and knowledge in sustainable builds,” Richard said, “we can then take this experience and implement it into other projects”.

Richard highlighted that sustainable practices can be difficult to implement in Africa, as a lot of the sustainability programmes are geared to wards developed countries.

“Our challenges become our opportunities,” ex plained Richard, “we have a lot of natural re sources we can work with in Africa, for example the sun. By positioning builds in a certain direction we can benefit from solar or reduce the use of A/C by designing for cross ventilation”.

Builds can also be made more cost effective by using bricks, which don’t need to be plastered and painted.

“Again, this gives us an opportunity to upskill peo ple in Ghana, teaching artisanal constructors how to work with bricks,” Richard shared.

Seeking the Opportunities

Of course, CONPRO Limited has faced the same recent challenges as virtually any construction company the world over, namely Covid and the conflict in Ukraine. Once again, however, CONPRO has sought opportunity out of these challenges.

Like the rest of the world, Covid caused lock downs in Ghana, meaning many of CONPRO’s staff needed to adapt to working from home.

“We trained our team to work remotely, and as such our project management skills improved. We now have a hybrid working system with a successful and effective project management system,” explained Richard.

Likewise, delays in supply chains have rein forced to CONPRO the importance of countries being self-sufficient.

“For 12 years we have had a 300 ha teak planta tion, we have always believed in sustainability and self-sufficiency,” said Richard.

With the current global economy teetering on a precipice, Richard is aware that CONPRO must be galvanised to think differently.

“If the government’s budget is affected, infrastructure projects will reduce. We are positioning ourselves to be able to expand into the private sector,” he said.

CONPRO

The Next Generation of CONPRO

Looking at the next 12-18 months, Richard sees exciting but challenging times for both himself and CONPRO.

“I have always said it’s important to exit the stage when the applause is loudest,” explained Richard, “and so in January 2023 I will take a step back from the business”.

Although it’s time for Richard to enjoy some well-deserved relaxation, he still intends to keep a hand in with the business on a consul tancy basis.

“It’s time for the next generation to take the lead with CONPRO. I hope that the 12 people we spon sored last year will go on to educate another 12 people and so on. A network of “mini CONPROs” can then be developed,” he said.

Richard’s unique education has helped him to develop his leadership style and ethos on life.

Having completed his degree in Ghana, Richard went on to study his master in civil engineering in Ukraine.

“I gained my social philosophy from my time in the Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union. I be lieve in providing for society’s disadvantaged and yet also understand the importance of giving op portunities and incentives to work hard,” Richard explained.

After his time in Ukraine, Richard returned to Ghana, working as a district engineer and then as a civil engineer on EU projects.

“I worked on five simple but instrumental proj ects,” he said, “these were for schools and medical centres. They changed the lives of people in the re gion both socially and economically. This taught me to always think about the impact on the end-user”

Africa is Ready

When speaking to Business Enquirer, Richard had a very clear message: “Africa is ready”.

“Africa needs to be looked at differently. We have one of the biggest opportunities for solar energy and agriculture, but we need partnerships for these to take off,” said Richard, “investments need to come to Africa and stay in Africa, and consider how opportunities can benefit the disadvantaged. Let our people utilise the skills they are developing by working for businesses like CONPRO Limited”. www.conprolimited.com

Africa needs to be looked at differently. We have one of the biggest opportunities for solar energy and agriculture, but we need partnerships for these to take off.

“ “

Feature

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Jordan Boswell

Henrik Lund-Nielsen CEO, COBOD

WRITTEN BY Laura Watling

Disrupting Construction to Better the World

Could 3D printing be the solution to the World’s affordable construction and housing crisis? Founder and CEO Henrik Lund-Nielson and his business, COBOD, certainly think so. Business Enquirer was given the opportunity to find out more about the technology on the precipice of disrupting the construction industry.

COBOD

is the Danish-born brainchild of experienced CEO, leader and en trepreneur, Henrik Lund-Nielsen. Mr Lund-Nielsen describes his career jour ney as a story of two parts, spending half of his career as a hired CEO and the other half as a CEO of his own companies.

Mr Lund-Nielsen showed his entrepreneurial ambition as a teenager, launching his first busi ness at 18, which he sold years later to fund his MBA in San Diego.

Having forged a successful management career in large multinationals, such as Scandinavian Tobacco (British-American Tobacco) and Faber (part of the Velux Group), Mr Lund-Nielsen de cided to take his ambitions solo in 2002.

“I started with businesses in the emerging mobile internet industry and then developed an interest in green business models,” shared Mr Lund-Nielsen.

Testing of a newly constructed printer in COBOD’s Copenhagen HQ

COBOD

“I have always liked new technologies and the ap plication of it to generate new businesses. The con struction industry has been labour intensive and unproductive for decades, and after some extensive research I discovered there was the potential to de velop a smarter way of construction”.

And so, in 2017, Mr Lund-Nielsen founded CO BOD International.

BOD: Building On Demand

Built upon a gantry principle, COBOD’s printer, the BOD2, is the result of years of continuous development, upgrades, and experience. Now, the BOD2 is the world’s best-selling 3D con struction printer.

“3D construction printing enables customers to print structures faster, cheaper and with more com plex shapes and forms,” explained Mr Lund-Niel sen, “we create the technology, but it’s up to the client how they apply it”.

COBOD’s BOD2 printer constructing a house

Although the BOD2 is primarily used to print with concrete, customers can use whatever material suits their project, so long as its 3D printable.

“Customers generally use concrete as this is, so far, the perfect mouldable, cheap, and safe material, it’s printed as a liquid and then sets as a solid,” said Mr Lund-Nielsen, “the extruder can handle up to 10mm aggregates and can therefore print with real concrete, not just mortars”.

The beauty of the BOD2 is its unique advantages. The BOD2 is the fastest 3D construction printer available, with print speeds of up to 1m/s and it only needs to be manned by three operators.

“These features significantly reduce labour costs and optimises the efficiency of the construction site,” Mr Lund-Nielsen explained.

The printer, which is custom made size-wise to suit every client, is made using the highest quality components and implements the latest, state-of-the-art, software. This allows for the automatic construction of concrete structures

One of the new, taller wind turbine towers that COBOD can produce

Construction Feature

COBOD

Building global credibility

COBOD works in strategic partnership with busi nesses globally, with examples ranging from Siam Cement Group in Thailand and 14Trees (a joint venture between Holcim and CDC) in Africa to CEMEX in Europe, Mexico, and the US.

PERI, of Germany, has been a valuable strate gic partner for COBOD since 2018. Known for its formwork equipment and scaffolding sys tems, PERI saw the potential for 3D construction printing to storm the industry.

“In 2018, PERI Group acquired a minority share in COBOD,” shared Mr Lund-Nielsen, “since then, our businesses have worked closely together to push the boundaries of 3D construction printing”.

In 2020, PERI realised the first 3D printed res idential building in Germany, followed by the biggest European 3D printed building so far - a 380 m2, three-storey apartment block.

COBOD also works with American multinational conglomerate, GE, developing game-changing tower structures for wind turbines.

“Current, traditional methods of constructing wind turbine towers limits the heights, and subsequently power, of turbine towers to 80 to 100 metres,” ex plained Mr Lund-Nielsen, “working in collaboration with GE and Holcim, we have developed an application to print bases directly at site, which will allow for con struction of towers 150 to 200 metres tall”.

Wind turbines at this height can generate more than 33% extra power than at the current height.

“Working with these giant multinational organisa tions adds credibility to our offering and is fuelling our growth. We doubled our turnover in both 2019 and 2020, and then tripled it in 2021. Our strategic partnerships play a huge role in this success,” said Mr Lund-Nielsen.

COBOD now has an order sheet to the tune of €20 million.

3D printing construction project underway in Malawi, Africa

COBOD

The solution to worldwide challenges

COBOD was born from a desire by Mr Lund-Niel sen to tackle the global construction and housing crisis. The business’s research indicates that due to the rapid growth in world population, there will be a huge construction gap, including a shortage of three billion houses in the decades to come.

That, compounded with stagnating productivity due to lack of automation and therefore the cost of construction outpacing general salary in creases, means that affordable housing options are hard to come by globally.

The BOD2 printing system from COBOD already has the technology to both extrude concrete and automatically reinforce it afterwards, but Mr Lund-Nielsen sees further opportunity to ex

pand the printer’s functionality to include the ability to also insulate and paint.

Mr Lund-Nielsen also envisions that the print ers will be used for more and more applications, other than low rise housing. “We see our tech nology enabling our partners to print multi-sto rey buildings, warehouses, storage tanks and even bridges,” said Mr Lund-Nielsen.

COBOD’s 3D construction printing technology reduces the cost of building structures by re quiring less manpower, needing less time, and using less material.

Despite using less product, Mr Lund-Nielsen is not blind to the fact that the printer typically uses concrete made with cement, which is criti cised for its CO2 output.

SMP

Specially designed for use with 3D concrete printers

“Our customers want to build safe structures, and the tried and tested material for this is concrete,” said Mr Lund-Nielsen.

The CO2 emissions caused by the cement used in the concrete are two-fold - the energy used to melt the cement at 1400 degrees and the cal cination of limestone. COBOD’s partners Holcim and CEMEX are working hard to find ways of making cement more sustainable.

“One method that is being explored is the inclusion of different binders, to reduce or remove the amount of limestone used, potentially halving the level of CO2 emitted,” Mr Lund-Nielsen explained.

“Another challenge we face is changing the percep tion of 3D printing within regulation. When build ing codes were written, 3D printing wasn’t foreseen. Regulators need to understand that 3D construction printing is just a tool, and the structures built with this tool are no less safe than any other structures”.

Construction Feature

Are you ready for Building 4.0? For 3DCP and other modern construction technologies?

m-tec has developed the first silo mixing pump to bring networking to the dry mortar sector. Our m-tec SMP connect, in combination with an m-tec silo, enables automated processing of dry mortar in your automation or 3DCP applications. A connection bet ween the m-tec SMP connect, and a higher-level con trol system can be established via various interfaces.

There are many applications where this advanced silo mixing pump can be integrated into automation pro cesses. With the SMP connect, processes can be im plemented easily and securely via conventional inter faces as well as via future oriented OPC UA protocols. For example, the m-tec SMP connect can be integra ted into all-embracing safety concepts, optimized pro cess flows, or used for cooperation with robots.

With the SMP connect, you can take the next steps in digitalized communication. The silo mixing pump is specially designed for feeding with silo material. Via

Construction Feature

On the precipice of change

Mr Lund-Nielsen believes that COBOD has de veloped the first 3D construction printer suitable for the mass market and expects much more to come. “I believe we are five years into seeing con tinued and fast development of this technology and its usage,” shared Mr Lund-Nielsen. “We have just started automating construction and there is much more to be done in the next 20 years”

COBOD sees this development to be in line with three “mega-trends”: automation by robots, sustainability, and the shortage of skilled labour.

Mr Lund-Nielsen anticipates that COBOD will double in size within the next 18 months and plans to establish regional competence centres globally to make the business more accessible to partners and potential customers.

“Seeing is believing with our product, and so we need to enable customers to come and see what our technology can do, as well as speak to our experts,” said Mr Lund-Nielsen.

With this in mind, COBOD has already opened its first regional competence centre in Malaysia, to serve the Asian market. In July 2022 a regional competence centre will open in Florida to sup port North and South America. Later in the fall, a further regional competence centre will be es tablished in Dubai for the Middle East and Afri can markets.

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Malvern Kandemwa Rodi Basso, Co-Founder, E1

BY Frew Murdoch

E1 Boats

Across Coasts and Cities

The UIM E1 World Championship advances electrification at sea level

Sports

entertainment has proven to be the ideal vehicle to carry a positive message of change to the masses. Sports like Formula E and Extreme E have laid the track for the partnership between motorsports and electri fication; both exciting and inspiring fans across the globe. Following suit, but with a different

sustainability angle, comes the UIM E1 World Championship, which holds an exclusive license as the only world electric powerboat series and is sanctioned by the Union Internationale Mo tonautique to promote electric marine mobility.

E1 CEO Rodi Basso co-founded and launched the championship alongside close friend, Formula E and Extreme E pioneer Alejandro Agag in 2020. Rodi is an entrepreneurial electrical engineer with a passion for the sea and an extensive his tory in Formula One working with heavyweights Ferrari, Red Bull Racing, and McLaren. Rodi’s main aim for the series is to build an innovative spectacle that promotes water race events while contributing to sustainability and impact reduc

E1 Boats

tion. He believes the new style of vehicle design coupled with the sea environment will provide a unique sporting point for the series.

“We are building a race platform, but we know that we are much more than that. We focus our attention on building an exciting race format; a two-day event where the first one [day] is more dedicated to free practices and testing. The sec ond one is the city event where we see the exciting sporting side based on qualifying and the race. The difference will be made by the capabilities of the pilots to sail the new vessels, which are half boat and half aircraft or aerospace vehicle. It is a new driving style and technique. There will be some settings that the pilot will have to tune depending on the driving style and the water conditions. And, on top of this, the battery management is some thing completely new to the marine industry,” ex plained Rodi.

More than a race platform

E1’s unique sporting point and capacity to, as Rodi puts it, “be much more than a race plat form”, results from three primary focal points of investment. The first refers to city ambassador ship. The E1 World Championship serves as an advocate for city brands, ensuring their media products promote the cities involved in the cham pionship throughout the season. The series seeks three common characteristics when scouting for race locations. Cities should have an “iconic sta tus”, like Monaco and Venice (which are already being explored as potential race venues). They also look for locations that showcase sensitivity to sus tainability and an affinity for innovation.

“The other important pillar is technology in the form of cross-fertilization. In my proposal to

We are building a race platform, but we know that we are much more than that... It is a new driving style and technique.

“ “

ation Feature

We are incredibly focused and authentically keen on driving longerlasting, large scale projects about sustainability.

“ “

E1 Boats

Alejandro, I presented it as the meeting point of powerboating, motorsport, and high-end auto motive. This latter part is where we are taking all our lessons learned in terms of electronics, controls, and electric propulsion. Infrastructure for charging is important. One of our initial pil lars, from the very beginning, is to offer the local authorities charging infrastructure in the places where we will race, even when we leave the loca tion. Then, the people can start thinking of buy ing an electric leisure boat and we attack straight away the automotive paradigm of the lack of in frastructure.

“This last example offers me the chance to speak about the third pillar, sustainability. We are in credibly focused and authentically keen on driv ing longer-lasting, large-scale projects about sustainability. We are partnering with one of the most important marine biologists in the world who will be our chief scientist officer. We will look

for local sponsors and partners who want to help us in delivering this project with local forces and local people. They will be trained, educated, and will execute the work. It is more an ESG view of not only providing positive impact to the local communities but also delivering with action and a sustainability plan,” asserted Rodi.

E1’s RB.01 vessel performing a demonstration

E1 Boats

Technology and the future

The greatest challenge for the organizers of the E1 World Championship was delivering the electric watercraft prototype in record time. In just eight months, Rodi’s team and partners engineered and manufactured something that has never been seen before. Advanced hydrofoil technolo gy allows this watercraft, the RaceBird, to hover above the sea while minimizing drag and opti mizing energy efficiency. The vessel was co-cre ated by SeaBird Technologies founder Sophi Horne, alongside Brunello Acampora, Founder & CEO of Victory Marine, the official RaceBird en gineering and manufacturing supplier of the E1 World Championship. Inspired by the image of seabirds hovering above the waves, the RaceBird is a fusion of picture-perfect nature, sleek aes thetics, and cutting-edge technology. Having benefited from cross-fertilization between auto motive and watercraft electrification, Rodi hopes to change the lay of the land in the future:

“My vision with the next generation of the boat is that instead of learning from automotive and mo torsport and bringing it into the marine industry, I want to get the marine industry to the level that is going for automotive, air mobility, and every sort of vehicle that is using electric propulsion.

“I want to make sure to deliver a new, exciting sport. I believe that, like every organization on the planet, you cannot design a new venture without including a contribution to the world. It has to be delivered au thentically and needs to contribute to and improve the condition of human beings. If I can see thousands of people showing up on the shore in beautiful cit ies like Miami and Monaco and if we can offer these people some hours of enjoyment, I would be happy. But, if we can offer to all the rest of the citizens better conditions of their coastal area and the technology to allow their mayors and politicians to change gear and go to a different level… Well, that will be the day that we will have hit the target and I will be an even happier person and entrepreneur,” ended Rodi.

Innovation

BY Malvern Kandemwa

BY Frew Murdoch

Eldorado Gold

Türkiye’s Golden Prospects

Eldorado Gold is on the road to a shining future in Türkiye with a promising 2022 outlook for mining production and sustainability.

ounce of the precious metal. The country’s peo ple relied solely on imports to satisfy their gold requirements, which is rather an unexpected and peculiar state of affairs considering how in trinsic gold is to Turkish tradition and daily life.

Türkiye’s relationship with gold stems from a rich cultural heritage and the element’s use in societal celebrations, such as weddings and re ligious ceremonies. The mineral is also woven into Turkish societal norms. For instance, it is not uncommon among citizens to keep gold “under the mattress” as a means of hedging against inflation and currency weakness.

Türkiye,

formerly Turkey, is not a coun try with a rich history in the gold pro duction industry. Prior to the early 2000s, Türkiye had no presence in the sector at all and was unable to produce even an

Yet, only in the last twenty years has the coun try made an impression in the gold industry. Pi oneers, such as the Canadian mining company Eldorado Gold Corporation, strategically invest ed in the under-explored, highly-prospective region and made waves in previously stagnant waters.

Aerial view of Eldorado’s Kışladağ gold project

Eldorado Gold

Eldorado operates the Lamaque gold mine in Canada, two polymetallic mines in Greece, and two grassroots gold mines in western Türkiye: Kışladağ and Efemçukuru. The company also has several development projects underway in Skouries and Perma Hill in Greece, and Certej in Romania.

In 1986, Eldorado’s Türkiye subsidiary, Tüprag Metal Madencilik A.Ş. was established in order to conduct metallic mineral exploration activ ities in the country. The company obtained a multitude of mining licenses, which led to the discovery of significant gold deposits, such as Uşak-Kışladağ and İzmir-Efemçukuru. Kışladağ and Efemçukuru mines

Kışladağ Gold Mine began operations in 2006 and is currently the largest gold mine in Europe. Kışladağ is a low-grade, bulk-tonnage, openpit operation that utilizes heap leaching for gold recovery. The operation has a 1500-strong workforce and contributes over USD 650 million to the national economy.

Although the mining industry, like many sec tors, experienced a tumultuous first quarter due to the post-Covid environment and supply chain disruption, the outlook is positive for the rest of 2022. Kışladağ mine is expected to prospect ap proximately 13 million tons of gold, with a 0.65 grams per ton average grade.

In contrast to Kışladağ’s open-pit operations, Efemçukuru is a high-grade, underground op eration that utilizes a flotation circuit for gold production. In more typical times, the mining enterprise produces approximately three tons of gold per annum by processing 600 000 tons of ore each year.

By the end of 2022, Efemçukuru is anticipated to mine and process over 525 000 tons of ore at an average gold grade of 5.9 grams per ton. Cash operating costs per ounce are likely to be impacted as a result of fewer ounces being pro duced and sold. Cost inflation is expected to be

Weir Minerals.

Expertise where it counts.

Weir Minerals is a global market leader providing tru sted technology and services for mining operations in more than 60 countries around the world. We work in partnership with our customers to solve their toug hest operating challenges safely, efficiently and sus tainably, helping to provide the essential resources needed by a growing world.

We have research centres and manufacturing faciliti es around the world designing and producing a range of highly engineered solutions used in high wear ap plications. These are supported by an unrivalled glo bal service network that ensures Weir engineers can provide our customers with the solutions they need where and when they need them.

At Weir Minerals we invest heavily in our material development capability and state of the art wear re sistant materials with properties that allow longer life cycles. Backed by a global network of research and design support, our metallurgy, polymer scien ce and hydraulic experts develop and implement the wear resistant products of the future. Our so phisticated laboratories are designed to conduct advanced material analysis on all our technological developments.

Through a customer focused strategy Weir Minerals has used its unique technologies to develop an unri valled range of comminution, mine dewatering, pro cess water and specialist slurry processing equipment for some of your most critical processes. This means that today’s Weir Minerals is much more than a pump company.

We have been partnering with our customers in Turkey for more than 10 years to maximise productivity of their operations and minimise equipment total cost of ownership.

Weir Minerals Turkey

SOLVED.

Resources Feature

Eldorado Gold

partially offset by the weakening of the Turkish Lira currency.

Eldorado CEO and President George Burns said: “Our global operations were met with significant challenges in the first quarter. Severe weather in Türkiye and Greece, a government-mandated power outage in Türkiye, and Covid-related ab senteeism across all sites impacted our production.”

“Production in 2022 is expected to be heavily weighted to the second half of the year. Despite the headwinds, we have seen operations improve to wards the end of the quarter and are maintaining our consolidated full-year guidance of 460 000 to 490 000 ounces of gold.”

“Human and environment first, then mining”

Mining may be at its core, yet Tüprag also up holds strong respect and esteem for its country, people, and customs. The subsidiary has stood by its principle of “human and environment first, then mining”, since its establishment, with the motto running as deep as Tüprag’s underground operations.

In line with this maxim, the company centers its business practices and operations on four com mitments, which also form the four tenets of parent company Eldorado Gold’s sustainability framework. These pillars are safe, inclusive and innovative operations, connected and prosper ous communities, products produced with re sponsibility, and a healthy environment for now and the future.

“Eldorado’s vision is to build a safe, sustainable, high-quality business in the gold mining sector, creating value today and for future generations,” explains George.

“Our achievements in 2021 and our goals for the future affirm our commitment to incorporate sus tainability from the ground up in all aspects of our business. In 2021, we made our greatest progress on climate action yet and committed to mitigat

Eldorado Gold

ing our Greenhouse Gas emissions, which marks our biggest step so far towards building a business that is resilient to climate change and meaningfully contributes to a lower-carbon future.”

In addition to this progress with its environ mental commitment, Eldorado has also made significant headway with the other three pil lars of its sustainability framework. In May, the company released its 2021 Annual Sustainabili ty Report and recorded achievements across all four areas.

In terms of inclusivity, Eldorado has exceeded gender parity on the board, with a 56% mem bership identifying as female. The company contributed to local communities’ prosperity as locals currently constitute 81% of the work force, with 99% sourced from the countries within which it operates.

In line with their tenet of responsibly produced products, the company conducted Sustainabili ty Integrated Management System self-assess ments across their global operating mine sites and ensured assurance against the World Gold Council’s Responsible Gold Mining Principles.

Within an environmental context, Eldorado is considered an industry leader in dry-stack tail ings implementation and, as previously touched upon by George, has launched a climate change strategy to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030.

“As we look forward, we will continue to build on our solid foundation, challenge the status quo, and find better ways for sustainable mining practices,” ended George.

www.eldoradogold.com

Resources Feature

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Jamie Waite

WRITTEN BY Frew Murdoch

Andrew Davidson, Regional VP, Fastenal

At the Heart of it All

Having spent his entire working life at the business, Regional Vice President Andrew Davidson is the perfect candidate to share his experience of growth within Fastenal. Andrew joined Business Enquirer’s Laura Watling to discuss leadership, crisis management and business growth.

Fastenal

Time and experience have been well earned by An drew, who joined Fastenal at age 18. Having start ed in one of Fastenal’s manufacturing locations in California, his career has taken him to Toronto as a branch general manager, and then to the Czech Republic in 2011 to set up a regional division.

From here, Andrew helped set up regional di visions throughout Europe, until he took on his current role, leading Fastenal’s Northern Euro pean-based business, in 2013.

“

I believe leadership is a skill which can be learned and developed through time and experience,” shared Andrew, regional vice president of Fastenal.

Fastenal

“What is unique to Fastenal is that everyone starts at the ground level, with the opportunity to work their way up. It is very unusual for us to hire at management level. We always aim to grow em ployees from within,” Andrew said.

Throughout his time travelling and manag ing divisions in Europe, Andrew has learnt that leadership styles and approaches need to be adaptable.

“It is key, especially for Fastenal, that we adapt to the different cultures, and even sub-cultures, of the communities we work in,” he said. “It’s crucial that we take the business’s core values and then adapt approaches to implement them.”

In his time as a leader, Andrew has cemented his core belief in people and takes a collaborative approach to leadership.

“We employ people in particular roles because of their skill set and experience. I trust that they are better than me at their remit. As much as possible, I involve staff in all the strategy decision making,” said Andrew.

Supply Chain Feature

Fastenal

An organic growth strategy

Fastenal is a global market leader in supply chain management, primarily as a supply chain partner to industrial companies. The business employs more than 20,000 people worldwide, with an annual turnover surpassing $6 billion. To date, the business is valued at $30 billion.

“The purpose of our business is to strip away the cost and time of managing supply chains for low value parts, making it easier for our customers to focus on their high value items and their core oper ations,” explained Andrew.

In 2008, Fastenal launched a vending machine programme to streamline inventory manage ment and control the consumption of consum ables.

“We made this decision to support our customers in using less and becoming more agile, knowing that

it would realistically reduce consumption of the products we were selling by 25-30%,” explained Andrew. “It goes beyond sustainability for us. CSR governance has long been in our DNA, whilst we are also driven to be the number one industrial dis tributer in the world.”

Fastenal also offers customers beneficial digital technology, enabling them to monitor, track, trace, control and analyse consumption to have a clear view of how supplies are being used in the business.

“Maintaining a strong and purposeful digital foot print is key, and we’ll continue developing this more as a high-level strategy,” said Andrew.

Fastenal supplies products such as PPE, tools, and equipment to a wide range of industries including manufacturing, engineering, con struction, and governments. However, Andrew insists that the products are secondary to the

Supply Chain Feature

supply chain solutions they provide, which is what he describes as its core offering.

“Fastenal is one of the very few international busi nesses that have grown organically into all of its operating countries, and I truly believe this is based on our emphasis on company culture, which has been instilled since Bob Kierlin founded Fastenal in 1967,” shared Andrew.

“

“

The business’s culture is underpinned by four core values:

• Ambition – a value needed to grow future leaders from entry-level roles.

• Innovation – a culture which encourages entrepreneurial decision-making from all of its staff.

• Integrity – critical to have in all employees given the high levels of decentralised deci sion-making authority.

• Teamwork – a One Team ethos needed to bring all 20,000-plus employees together for a common goal.

“At Fastenal, although we do take skills and expe rience into account at the hiring stage, cultural val ues remain at the forefront of our recruitment de cisions. We aim to find the right personalities who will run with the opportunities presented to them. This enables the business and our people to grow organically,” Andrew said.

At Fastenal, although we do take skills and experience into account at the hiring stage, cultural values remain at the forefront of our recruitment decisions.

Fastenal

Fastenal

Supply Chain Feature

Opportunity found in challenges

Andrew highlighted that being able to take com mand and make decisions in a crisis is a skill that he has had to hone on his leadership journey. Nothing has tested that set of skills more than the COVID pandemic.

“For me, collaboration is key in leadership; but in some situations, decisions need to be made quick ly, and people in those situations are looking for a clear direction,” he said.

During the COVID pandemic Fastenal Europe had three key priorities:

• Keep their people safe

• Keep customer supply chains stable

• Prioritise supporting first responders

“It was crucial for us to take an empathetic ap proach to our staff throughout the globe, and we were lucky to be able to support the wider public at the same time,” Andrew shared.

By plugging the gap in the PPE space for govern ment bodies and the healthcare sector, Fastenal saw growth throughout 2020.

Supply chains were grossly affected by the pan demic, and the challenges continue with the disruption caused by Brexit and the conflict in Ukraine.

“The challenges we are seeing in the supply chain sector and labour market are only making our mis sion of freeing up time and costs for our customers stronger,” said Andrew.

Once again, opportunities have been found in challenges, with Fastenal growing by 19% in the second quarter of 2022.

“We’ve learnt from the COVID pandemic that agili ty is key,” said Andrew.

Supply Chain Feature

The vital organs of business

Although Fastenal is a multinational organisa tion, there is a well-defined culture throughout the business, no matter the region. Fastenal and its leadership consider business strategy sec ondary to culture.

“I think of culture as being like a human body. Exe cution is the arms and the legs, strategy is the brain and the culture is the heart. And like the human body, the heart is the first organ to develop. Every thing in business should start with the culture,” ex plained Andrew.

By developing the business’s leaders from with in, this belief is easily carried throughout the organisation.

“As a leader, I think it’s important to believe deep in yourself that your people are the best equipped to drive the business,” said Andrew. “Really care about your people and treat everyone as the indi viduals they are. Finally, keep learning – leadership is a skill set.”

www.fastenal.com

Fastenal

As a leader, I think it’s important to believe deep in yourself that your people are the best equipped to drive the business.

“ “

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Jamie Waite

Mr O A Danquah

WRITTEN BY Laura Watling

For Ghana’s Greater Good

Ghana National Petroleum Company, better known as GNPC, was born out of a mission to lead sustainable exploration, development, production and disposal of the petroleum resources in Ghana.

Established in 1983, the petroleum company employs 600 people, all with a goal to supply efficient fuel to meet Ghana’s increasing energy needs.

As well as being the country’s leading exploration, development and production company, it is also the national gas sector aggregator in Ghana.

GNPC has strategic partnerships with international oil companies (IOCs) such as Tullow, ENI and Aker Energy.

Service vessel operating nearby an offshore oil drilling platform

GNPC

Ghana

has four sedimentary basins in which GNPC and its partners current ly have three oil fields in production phase: Jubilee, TEN and Sankofa GyeNyame. Between them, the fields deliver around 180,000 barrels of oil per day, not including as sociated gas or condensates.

Further to this, GNPC has its pioneering onshore exploration project- The Voltaian Basin Project.

The Neoproterozoic basin covers a staggering 40% of Ghana’s land mass. Having acquired over 2500-line km of 2D seismic data, newly-ap pointed CEO , OA Danquah, described the find ings to Business Enquirer as “very encouraging”.

Further to the results, GNPC plans to focus its research in the North and South. After further seismic data is captured and preparatory work completed, the business plans to drill its first onshore well at the start of 2023.

Becoming a stand-alone operator

As explained by Mr Danquah, GNPC has a vision to become a “stand-alone operator, providing comprehensive end-to-end management of ex ploration to production and supply phases of an oil and gas asset”

To achieve this, the business is engaging in several strategic initiatives, as well as The Voltaian Basin.

One of such initiatives is the development of a re served offshore block - Block 1. GNPC are soon to embark on operations in this prospective shallow water block, inlucing 3D seismic acquisition. “We may seek to solicit a partner who can add both tech nical and financial value,” said Mr Danquah in his discussion with Business Enquirer.

In addition to Block-1, GNPC is currently under going work in another big offshore development - Deep Water Tano - Cape Three Points. This project, which is being operated by partner Aker Energy, is set to deliver its first oil in late 2024.

FPSO John Agyekum Kuffour

We may seek to solicit a partner who can add both technical and financial value.

“ “

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GNPC

Stepping into the future

As part of GNPC’s strategy to become a standalone operator, it is constructing its own, ul tra-modern, Research and Technology Centre in Ghana’s capital of Accra.

“Our Research and Technology Centre will integrate smart laboratories and virtual reality systems to sup port rig and reservoir simulations as well as scenar io-based safety training,” explained Mr Danquah.

It plans to also implement advanced robotics and drone systems to make inspection, detec tion, monitoring and maintenance more effi cient. In addition, GNPC plans to invest in digi tisation and automation to reduce exploitation risk and downtime, whilst improving reservoir estimates and drilling performance.

The new facility will support the development of innovative research to increase efficiency of all GNPC’s core operations as well as securing its sustainable future.

GNPC’s Research and Technology Centre will also play a role in its shift to reducing its carbon footprint.

“We are mindful of the global energy transition from Big Oil to Big Energy,” said Mr Danquah.

As such, GNPC is working with its partners on initiatives, such as reducing gas flaring, as well as taking a look at its internal procedures. By 2023 GNPC plans to be paperless, as well as im plement a tree planting campaign, both meth ods of offsetting its carbon output.

The heart of Ghana

For GNPC and CEO Mr Danquah, people are cru cial to its culture - both employees and those in the community.

“Nothing we do is more important than hiring people; and at the end of the day you bet on people, not strategies,” explained Mr Danquah, when he spoke with Business Enquirer.

Playing into GNPC’s strategy to become a standalone operator, it has developed its People Policy.

GNPC has carefully recruited 600 staff, all with the relevant skills and a passion to learn and grow.

Staff training is a priority for GNPC. Each year, staff have secondment opportunities with GN PC’s joint-venture partners. This gives employ ees the opportunity to increase their industry ex posure, develop their soft skills and gain practical experience. As well as this, skill development sponsorship is also available to employees.

Mr Danquah also considers its latest decommis sioning project as an opportunity for staff to de velop their hands-on experience.

Starting in July 2022, GNPC have embarked on the decommissioning of the Mr. Louie Platform in the Saltpond field, the first project of its kind in Ghana. Commissioned in 1970, the platform is now at the end of its operational life and is de teriorating.

As reported in OGV Energy, Mr Danquah has said that “With several oil and gas platforms expected to be decommissioned in the future, GNPC personnel will gain additional hands-on technical capabili ties by collaborating with other experienced indus try experts during this exercise”.

GNPC proudly undertakes social programmes, under the GNPC Foundation. It strives to im prove the quality of life of Ghanian citizens.

“The oil may be explored by us, but the actual oil and gas molecules belong to every citizen,” shared Mr Danquah with Business Enquirer.

GNPC has recently restructured its Corporate Social Investments programme, focussing on three key areas: Education and Training, Eco nomic Empowerment and Environment and So cial Amenities.

Some key projects carried out by the Foundation include 5000 local and 500 overseas scholar ships, construction of an ultra-modern sickle cell blood and treatment facility, and 86 san itary facilities across Ghana, 22 of which are completed.

Between 2017 and 2020, the GNPC Foundation undertook 341 infrastructure projects. In the same period, it also awarded scholarships total ling in excess of £21 million.

GNPC’s CSI division is engaged in high-impact activities which aim to create lasting socio-eco nomic effects. Working alongside government agencies to champion participation in the oil and gas sector by local companies, it aims to empower Ghananians to capitalise on opportu nities within the energy value chain.

www.gnpcghana.com

Resources Feature

The oil may be explored by us, but the actual oil and gas molecules belong to every citizen.

“

BY Chiara Salter

BY Laura Watling

Throwing a CURV

Lemay+Escobar Architecture, D.P.C. are the architectural designers behind some of the world’s most luxurious real estate. Offering a boutique style and service, this creative studio designs high-end residential and hospitality builds.

Business Enquirer speaks with Lemay+Escobar’s Partner, Design Principal, and namesake, Andres Escobar about the business’s awardwinning projects.

Lemay+Escobar

Partner

and Design Principal of Le may+Escobar, Andres Escobar, founded his own architectural design business in the early 2000’s. Renowned for his design expertise and artistic direction, Andres has recently been recognised in Marquis’ 2022 “Who’s Who” for Dedication to the Field of Ar chitectural Design.

“I have had a lot of opportunities to travel through out my career, and I think that is key to our busi ness and my leadership style,” shared Andres, “by travelling, one gets to experience different cultures, foods, and aesthetics. But at the core, everyone is seeking comfort, something to call home”.

Andres has reflected this ethos in his, curat ed, multicultural team, whom he describes as “bright and talented individuals”, more than capable to deliver Studio’s and the client’s vi sion.

Andres’ architectural design firm merged with Lemay in 2015, creating Lemay+Escobar.

“We knew that by forming this strategic partner ship, we would be able to offer more services to our clients,” he explained.

Having started in New York 22 years ago, the business primarily serves New York City, Hobo ken, New Jersey, and the boroughs of Brooklyn. However, projects have propelled the business to areas in Florida such as Coral Gables and West Palm Beach, South Beach, Miami, and further afield to the Emirates and Seychelles.

Andres highlighted that despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a re surgence of projects in the US and Canada. “New York is very resilient, and our clients are business savvy and astute,” he shared, “challenges like this tend to follow a cycle, so it’s a case of navigating the wave”.

“It’s true when they say, if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere,” said Andres.

Lemay+Escobar

Shaping a better future

Like virtually every business, across any sector, Lemay+Escobar are undertaking projects which involve a sustainability initiative.

“Before, sustainability was far more of a marketing approach in our sector. Now, it is essential. For ex ample, in New York sustainable practice forms part of the application process” explained Andres.

Lemay+Escobar are currently embarking on what Andres described as an “incredible project” in Canada - the world’s tallest, Passive House building in the world, Curv.

The design and build of Curv meets part of Van couver’s strategy to cut carbon pollution from all new buildings to nearly zero by 2025 and reduce that of existing, large office and retail buildings by 40% by 2030.

The building, which is designed in collabora tion with IBB Group and WKK Architects - Tom Wright designed the Burj Al Arab in Dubai - fea tures an insulated building envelope, high per formance windows, optimised solar orienta tions and carefully planned ventilation.

“It’s important that we acknowledge the differ ence between a green and a passive build,” ex plained Andres, “Passive House methods aim to reduce the need of additional heating or cooling. They are more cost effective, high quality and comfortable”.

Designed to harness its own energy, deliver ul tra-filtered air and reduce outside noise, CURV intends to be the most energy efficient struc ture of its type ever built. “We hope it will become a blueprint for future towers around the world as cities push for a more sustainable future,” shared Andres.

The building will take on a curved design, in spired by the shape of a new shoot, symbolising regrowth, and environmental hope.

Stunning interior design of communal space at Le Sherbrooke

CURV project in Vancouver

We hope it will become a blueprint for future towers around the world as cities push for a more sustainable future

“ “

Feature

Design Feature

Reception,

Resort,

Vallon Beach, Seychelles,

Gerry O’Leary

Lemay+Escobar

From beach to burgh

A project of Lemay+Escobar’s which has re ceived recognition in both sustainability and green awards is the H Resort Beau Vallon Beach, Seychelles (STORY Seychelles).

The hotel has been awarded the Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Label, as well as the Sey chelle’s Leading Green Resort for three consec utive years (2019-2021).

The resort is described as having an “unparal leled collection of opulently appointed rooms that showcase the true heritage of the Seychellois sur roundings. Each of the splendid Suites represents the epitome of tropical luxury”.

Andres believes that this project truly shows the range of expertise Lemay+Escobar has to offer.

From a luxury resort on the beach to the most prestigious real estate in the city, the Le may+Escobar portfolio speaks for itself.

Le Sherbrooke is the firm’s luxury residential project in Montreal, Canada. Offering 515 suites, Le Sherbrooke is inspired by the opulent man sion of the past, the glitz and glamour of New York and the unique Art de Vivre of Montreal. This project truly showcases Andres’ passion for incorporating global inspiration sensitively.

As well as a penthouses and executive suites, the building features a fitness centre and pool. “You will find pools like this in Milan or in Scandinavia. Why not offer something like this to Montrealers?”

Le Sherbrooke was designed down to the fin est detail to strike the perfect balance between comfort and prestige, whilst being built to stand the test of time.

Design Feature

Scavolini

With more than 60 years on the kitchens market be hind it, Scavolini is one of Italian industry’s most modern, important production models, and its brand strategy continues to be rewarded with impressively large figures, and growing success at the international level. The company is now a benchmark for the indu stry worldwide and is synonymous with the Made in Italy quality.

Its history - a crescendo of initiatives reflecting its abi lity to adapt innovatively to changes in taste, lifestyle and the market and the advent of each wave of new technologies - is a striking example of corporate grow th, nowadays taken as the benchmark model for the entire industry.

Since 2012, the range has also included bathroom col lections, as a result of the brand’s desire to satisfy a specific need on the market. Over the years, Scavo lini’s product range has been extended even further, from including a broad array of dedicated living room solutions - through to the walk-in wardrobe, heralding a “total-look home”. Scavolini has grown and evolved entirely in keeping with society, for people and with people, so much so that the brand has become syno nymous with home in the broadest and most personal sense. This vision has since 1961 guided the develop ment of Scavolini in its unwavering search for inno vative solutions to accommodate furnishing require ments, defining new codes for the kitchen first, and for the bathroom next, influences that have also affe cted the living room and the walk-in wardrobe.

Scavolini has always worked with prestigious desig ners on the international scene. Nendo, Ora-ïto, Diesel Creative Team, Giugiaro Design, King&Miranda Design, Karim Rashid, Michael Young, Rainlight Studio, Fabio Novembre and Luca Nichetto provide exclusive creati ons to fuel the firm’s continuous mediation between the most ground breaking, brilliant creativity and what the people of today and tomorrow really want for their lifestyles. This feature has always taken a prime posi tion in Scavolini, and comes from an ability to meet market demands quickly, linked with a desire to gua rantee customer satisfaction for a varied cross secti on of the public.

Scavolini notes the very first hints of change, and de velops on these ideas with a view to continual re search and innovation.

Scavolini exports its products worldwide, with a policy of forcefully expanding its network and constantly in creasing new openings. It currently has more than 300 foreign points of sale. A successful strategy based on constantly strengt§ening the distribution and organi sational network, but also on product development tailored to the tastes and needs of the various countri es, in addition to a communication strategy focusing on enhancing “brand recognition”.

Lemay+Escobar

One of the bedrooms at The Watermark at Brooklyn Heights, New York

The baby boomer boom

In a first of its kind for Lemay+Escobar, The Wa termark at Brooklyn Heights is an award-win ning senior living residency.

The project, which holds the Gold Key Award for Excellence in Hospitality Design, was de signed to take away the traditional stereotype of an “old people’s home”. Inspired by resorts and cruise ships, the property offers a wealth of amenities and dining options.

“The baby boomer generation are at a stage where they can look to cash-in their assets and enjoy a better way of life,” explained Andres, “but they have been exposed to better and have had the op portunity to travel, they expect a lot more - we have achieved that in The Watermark.”

First New York, then the world

The market for Lemay+Escobar is looking par ticularly buoyant, as the real estate investment business is booming.

A pleasure for Andres is being exposed to oppor tunities around the globe. “We have a fantastic foothold in New York and our clients often want to make investments in other areas of the world. Be ing successful in New York also gives us credibility to progress in other regions,” he said.

“With the current economy there is great opportu nity in Europe. We love collaborating with differ ent cultures, and want to expand our brand world wide.”

www.lemayescobar.com

Design Feature

We have a fantastic foothold in New York and our clients often want to make investments in other areas of the world. Being successful in New York also gives us credibility to progress in other regions.

“ “

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Jordan Boswell

WRITTEN BY Laura Watling

Venkat Raman, MD, Luceco

Luceco

Lighting the Way

Luceco Group are considered as market leaders in key electrical categories worldwide by bringing power to life.

Established in the UK 70 years ago, Luceco Group has established a network of independent regional hubs. The business, which has retail brands including BG Electrical, Masterplug, Ross and Sync EV, foresees significant growth opportunities in the MENA region.

Sync EV is the latest addition to the Luceco Group, tapping into the electrical vehicle charger market.

Business Enquirer discusses Luceco Middle East’s plans for the future with regional Managing Director, Venkat Raman.

Luceco

Electrical

manufacturer, Luceco Group, employs over 1600 people worldwide, across its four manufacturing facilities (three of which are in the UK and one in Asia) and eight sales centres.

Its UK facilities include a 30,000m2 manufac turing, assembly, distribution, warehousing, and sales divisions in Telford, Mansfield & Hodesson.

“Our sales centres are based strategically around the globe,” shared Mr Raman, “for example, our office in Dubai is the centre for the MENA region, whilst Mexico covers Latin America, Asia for Hong Kong, Spain for mainland Europe and Johannes burg for English speaking African countries”.

Luceco Group is known for its major brands for projects, such as Luceco lighting, DW Windsor, Kingfisher lighting and Urban Control.

The business’s brands are sold to projects, retail, and trade sectors, via distributors, DIY channels and into wholesalers. Key markets include edu cation, healthcare, hospitality, industrial, resi dential, and retail builds.

Autonomous regions

Luceco first started exporting to the Middle East and North African region in early 90’s, estab lishing its regional base in 2015.

“Each regional subsidiary has its own indepen dence,” explained Mr Raman, “the client base in each area varies, and so as a business we must be strategic. For example, in the Middle East DIY shops aren’t as popular as in the West”.

To put that into figures, Luceco in the UK sells 75-85% of its products through the DIY and trade channel. In the Middle East, however, only 30% is sold through retail and trade.

“A majority of our sales in the MENA region comes from working in partnership with electrical consul tants and end clients. Luceco Middle East are in

Electronics Feature

Electronics Feature

Polydoros Vassiliou Ltd

POLYDOROS VASSILIOU LTD was founded in November 1975, in Larnaca, by Doros Vassiliou, from Famagusta Cyprus.

The company imports and distributes in Cyprus high quality wiring accessories and lighting fittings to cover the needs of professionals and individuals.

The excellent service, professionalism and the quality of its products, in wholsale and retail trade, have esta blished POLYDOROS VASSILIOU LTD as a leader in Cyprus market for almost 50 years.

With frequent visits to international exhibitions and successful cooperation with foreign companies, ex clusively represented in Cyprus by POLYDOROS VASSILIOU LTD, the products and materials that the com pany has to offer are regularly renewed based on the current trends and developments in the field of elec trical materials.

The subsidiary company DOROS LIGHTING was foun ded in 1996.

From an early stage, the company had a positive im pact in the market due to the quality of the lighting fittings it has to offer, the competitive prices and ex cellent customer service.DOROS LIGHTING has interior and exterior lighting features, imported from Europe an countries.

POLYDOROS VASSILIOU

a lea ding role in the Cypriot market

following the devel opments and progress, renewing the range of its pro ducts in each new challenge of the market.

Luceco

volved in the design and build process from the very beginning,” shared Mr Raman.

By functioning in this way, Luceco has been able to build a stronghold in the MENA region.

“We have started to work with our customers on a consultancy basis, effectively giving them an extra arm of employees. By sharing the workload and using our product expertise, they can fulfil more work,” said Mr Raman.

Mr Raman sees the potential for sustainable, longterm growth in the region by following this strategy.

A visionary leader

It is Mr Raman’s visionary blend of leadership that secured him the role of Managing Director for MENA, he believes.

Having completed a Bachelor in Engineering,

followed by a postgraduate in Human Resource Management, Mr Raman has a unique view of creating a successful business, with both prod uct and people at the core.

“I like to set a vision for the business and then com municate this with the team. It’s very important that the team understand the goals so that we can work collaboratively to achieve them,” he shared.

With over 20 years of experience in the electrical industry, including working for Phillips, Qatar, Mr Raman and his team built the MENA regional division from scratch.

“Being persistent, bold and fast-paced has helped Luceco to achieve 70% growth in his region in the last seven years,” said Mr Raman

Mr Raman considers the key to sustainable growth is to follow a “one at a time” strategy for each business vertical.

Luceco

A double-digit growth story

The COVID pandemic helped the DIY sector to see growth, with people stuck in their homes and seeking to invest in improvements. The opposite impact was seen in the MENA region, where most of its clients with large scale proj ects were forced to close during the periods of lockdown.

“We’re seeing a shift again now, and 2022 is look ing to be a fantastic year with strong open orders and good project pipeline,” shared Mr Raman, “legacy brands in the region are struggling and so we are seeing an opportunity for growth.”

The government is a key spender in MENA re gions such as Dubai, where 50% of projects are government funded, and the other 50% private sector. Of course, this has come with its chal lenges, particularly when the government has chosen to prioritise investment into infrastruc ture over building development, for example.

Despite the challenges, Luceco is still one of the fastest growing electrical companies, with dou ble digit growth year on year in the MENA re gion.

The key focus for Luceco in the MENA region in the next 12-18 months is expanding into Paki stan and Qatar.

“With new regions, it is important that we identify the needs. Not every region will need all of Luceco’s products,” said Mr Raman, “There is a huge mar ket here for low voltage electrical products, which can support our double-digit growth in the next three to five years”.

Mr Raman foresees the potential for further ac quisitions to bolster the business growth in the region.

A step above

Of Luceco’s £230 million global sales turnover, 50-60% is down to the business’s top products, which are manufactured in house.

Not only are Luceco’s electrical products a cost-effective solution, it also offers products at different tiers of expense, making them accessi ble for all projects.

Two in ten projects in the Middle Eastern region are completed using Luceco products. Luceco Middle East has built a unique offering for the wider business, by offering a consultant-led ap proach.

“What sets us apart from competitors is that we are the perfect blend of product and cost,” explained Mr Raman, “we are one step above our competi tors technically, but one step below commercially.”

Luceco Middle East has played a role in signifi cant projects in the region, such as Dubai’s new Prosecution Building. The municipal building, which opened in October 2021, featured Luceco luminaires which offered both style and func tionality, showing exactly what the business has to offer.

“Whilst meeting energy efficiency and cost effec tiveness criteria, the luminaires are also part of the contemporary and architectural interior decor of the building. This project was an open and shut case in favour of well-engineered luminaires enhancing the lit environment of the building,” shared Mr Raman.

What sets us apart from competitors is that we are the perfecet blend of product and cost. We are one step above our competitors technically, but one step below commercially.

“ “

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Gary Smith

WRITTEN BY Laura Watling

Scott Hicks, VP Corporate Development & Communications, Luminex Resources

Lumina Group

Striking Gold in Ecuador

Part of the Lumina Group, Luminex Resources is a Canadian based precious and base metals exploration and development company. Its current focus is the Condor Au-Cu project in Ecuador. With continual development of the project, it’s an exciting time for both Luminex and its investors. Vice President Corporate Development and Communications, Scott Hicks, discusses the project with Business Enquirer.

Themain mining and exploration proj ect, Condor, managed by Luminex Re sources, spans a large swath of the Zamora-Chinchipe province in Ecua dor, South America. Luminex is exploring for additional gold and copper on the 10,000-hect are land package.

The project is drilling four priority targets this year - Los Cuyes high-grade, Shallow Camp highgrade, El Hito North and Prometedor to comple ment its existing 6.6-million-ounce gold resource.

In addition, it has two copper projects that are being earned-in on and six other concession packages around the Condor Cordillera belt.

“Luminex’s team is working with its third govern ment administration since Ecuador opened up the mining industry in 2014. The sector has continued to expand and improve over the last 9 years,” ex plained Mr Hicks, “our business model is to derisk early-stage projects such as Condor, so that larger mining companies can acquire and build them in the future”.

Across the Condor site, around 135,000 meters of drilling has been undertaken (as of Q2 2021). This has defined five deposits and has outlined various high priority target areas.

The current resource has 2.3Moz of indicated gold resource, with a further 4.2Moz of inferred resource. In addition to gold, the area has a sub stantial amount of silver and copper by-products.

“The goal of the 2022 Condor North drilling is to enhance the existing PEA area,” said Mr Hicks, “our plans are to expand the mineable resource by stepping out on the shallow Camp high-grade and Los Cuyes high-grade underground targets”.

Discoveries in the Los Cuyes area are particular ly meaningful for Luminex. High grade gold and silver mineralisation were found in a previously untested area in the middle of where the 2021 PEA was completed.

Lumina Group

“The higher-grade Camp underground deposit de pletes by year eight of the 12-year mine plan out lined in the 2021 PEA. The potential addition of a second higher grade underground deposit around Los Cuyes could maintain a higher rate of pro duction and extend the overall mine life” said Mr Hicks, referencing CEO Marshall Koval.

World-class partners

Luminex’ business model relies on having strong relationships with its key mining partners.

“We have two, world-class partners operating across our two earn-in copper projects - Pegasus and Orquideas,” shared Mr Hicks, “This partner ship strategy has seen over $35 million invested by our partners since 2018”.

Mining heavyweight Anglo American has a $50 million work agreement on Pegasus A and B, over seven years. On completion, Anglo Ameri can will own 60% of the site, with the opportu nity to increase its ownership if it invests more capital to take the project to a construction de cision. This is an expansive project, with eight copper porphyry targets already developed on only half of the land package.

JOGMEC (the Japanese Oil, Gas and Metals Na tional Corporation) is drilling five holes for 2,500m at Orquideas. Upon completion of a $7 million work commitment, JOGMEC can earn 70% ownership of the site.

Developing communities

Luminex owns 98.7% of Condor, with the re maining 1.3% owned by the pension fund for Ec uador’s armed forces personnel.

“CSR is crucial within our sector, to ensure mining is a responsible industry,” said Mr Hicks, “Luminex’ has numerous local access agreements, which pro vide benefits to the communities and provides us with the required social license to operate”.

Marshall Koval, CEO, Luminex Resources

Resources Feature

Resources Feat

Lumina Group

Luminex’ CSR is underpinned by four pil lars - Employment, Sustainable Development, Health, and Education. “In 2020-2021 we created over 130 local rotational jobs, and we have 44 per manent employees hired from local communities,” shared Mr Hicks.

In addition, Luminex keeps its supply chain local where possible. “We purchase goods and services from more than 150 local companies, including locally man ufactured PPE during the pandemic,” said Mr Hicks.

Despite the challenges of COVID-19, it offered Luminex the opportunity to provide vital sup port within its health pillar, providing COVID-19 aid. “We also worked with the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health for the roll out of COVID-19 vaccinations for our workforce,” Mr Hicks continued.

As part of its project, Luminex has made signifi cant investment into local infrastructure. “We’ve supported the local community by improving water supply and distribution systems as well as making improvements to access roads,” shared Mr Hicks.

The organisation also plays a role in education in the community, working in collaboration with Ecuador’s Ministry of Agriculture to pro vide technical training to local young people.

A dynamic team

Luminex has a lean Canadian operation, with eight employees over the three businesses of the Lumina Group: Luminex Resources, Lumina Gold and Strategic Resources.

“Within the Canadian operation, we have col leagues with a range of mostly corporate experi ence,” explained Mr Hicks, “for example, I have a banking background, so I see business from a financial analysis and capital markets perspec tive. Founder Ross Beaty brings strategic thinking and substantial financial backing, whilst Marshall Koval (CEO) and Leo Hathaway (Senior Geologist) have years of technical project de-risking experi ence and geological experience, respectively. It’s an

interesting daily dynamic”.

Operations on the ground, however, are led by President, Diego Benalcazar, whom Mr Hicks pays considerable mention to.

Mr Benalcazar has over 25 years’ experience in mineral exploration, mining property evalua tion and acquisitions throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Previously, he held the po sition of President and member of the Board of Directors of the Ecuadorian Chamber of Mines, and has actively represented the mining indus try in discussions with Government authorities.

“Not only is Diego incredibly experienced in the in dustry, as an Ecuadorian he understands the com munities in which we work - both from a cultural and environmental perspective. His knowledge is invaluable,” explained Mr Hicks.

Guaya & Jimenez

LOGISTICS GROUP

Lumina Group

Exciting opportunities on both sides

The exploration and development of Condor is an exciting time for Luminex; however, it doesn’t come without its challenges.

“Much like the rest of the world, Ecuador is facing a cost-of-living crisis. The government is working to improve the lives of all citizens by increasing in vestment in the country while supporting the most affected communities” shared Mr Hicks, “our challenge in the capital markets is to demonstrate that Ecuador is a country serious about bringing in business and investment that will support the country over the longer-term”.

Mr Hicks highlighted that the Ecuadorian gov ernment’s relationship with the mining industry has improved dramatically over the last decade.

“With responsible mining now a vital part of the economy, the government is far more supportive and keen for investment”

Luminex continues to make interesting discov eries in the region, with potential for large-scale future mining projects.

“In the next few years we will undertake addition al studies, look to de-risk key technical items and work on new discoveries. It really is an exciting time to invest,” concluded Mr Hicks.

The team at Camp Condor

Resources Feature

BY Lee Phoenix

BY Laura Watling

Keeping the Country Moving

Spanning the length and breadth of the country, the National Rail network is a British institution. Behind the scenes of that service, which is made up of many train operating companies (TOCs), is Network Rail.

Network Rail / TFL

Network

Rail is the owner and infra structure manager of a majority of the railway network in the UK, functioning as a public sector arm’s length body for the Department for Transport (DfT).

To put that into numbers, that’s 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and thousands of signals, level crossings and sta tions.

The business manages 20 of the UK’s largest stations whilst the others (around 2,500), are managed by the TOCs.

Passenger trains approaching the platform at Reading Station

Network Rail / TFL

Network Rail is changing

Network Rail is on a mission to become a com pany on the side of passengers and freight users.

As such, it is implementing changes across the business to better improve services and ensure a customer service mindset is embedded.

The organisation’s improvement strategy has three key elements:

Every Second Counts

Improving Our Stations

Value For Money

Every Second Counts

Network Rail is working to reduce delays to its services. To do so, it is improving its practices and technology so it can identify, fix and recover from them more quickly.

One way in which it has achieved this is by utilising a mobile factory. This has enabled Network Rail to replace a mile of track in a night, while keeping the neighbouring line running for service.

In addition, a cross-industry task force has been created with rail network colleagues and TCOs to roll out 11,300 services a week, until 2025. This will provide better efficiency and choice for pas sengers.

Improving Our Stations

Network Rail has 20 managed stations, includ ing 11 in London. These are typically some of the busiest stations in the country, such as Edin burgh Waverley, Birmingham New Street and Manchester Picadilly.

The organisation is working to provide more choice and comfort to passengers travelling through, or stopping at, its stations.

Not only has it removed toilet fees and added free-to-use water fountains, it is now working

with 150 brands to create facilities where users can enjoy unique retail and restaurant experi ences in exciting, contemporary surroundings.

Value for Money

Network Rail doesn’t set the fares for the TOCs it works with. It has, however, identified the role it plays in overall costs offset to passengers.

The organisation is now challenging itself to get the best value out of every pound it spends.

It is striving to become a dependable partner, which makes it simpler for businesses to in vest in railway improvements; become easier to work with for companies who have innovative railway and passenger improvement plans; and by implementing a new, streamlined structure to become more efficient.

One innovation National Rail is implementing is train-borne track inspection (or plain line pat tern recognition). By doing so, 2,000 miles of track can be surveyed in one week.

This process is 10 times more efficient, saving the business £23m between 2019 and 2024.

Transport Feature

Transport Feature

Paying it back

Post-pandemic, the UK has seen a resurgence of train use. In its review of train usage from Jan uary 2022 - March 2022, the Office of Rail and Road reported that a “total of 275 million rail passenger journeys were made in Great Britain in the latest quarter (1 January to 31 March 2022). This was more than three times the 80 million journeys made in the same quarter last year”.

The ORR does note, however, that “the 275 mil lion journeys equate to 62.1% of the 443 million journeys made between 1 January and 31 March 2019, the last equivalent quarter before the pan demic”.

Financially however, this re-uptake of train travels equates to £5.9 billion being paid into the sector from passenger revenue in the last year (1 April 2021-31st March 2022).

From Network Rail’s perspective, all profits made are paid back into improving the railway.

Putting the plan into action

Since 2014, Network Rail has been undergoing a significant, multi-billion pound Railway Up grade Plan. This is the largest investment into British railway since the Victorian times.

Ongoing and proposed projects include Cross rail (and the launch of the new Elizabeth line) Crossrail 2 and the Thameslink programme. All of these projects aim to improve travel into and through London.

Feeding into its mission to make rail travel eas ier and more efficient, Crossrail 2 is a proposed project between Network Rail and Transport for London (TfL).

According to Network Rail, London’s popula tion is due to increase by two million people by 2031. With this in mind, Network Rail is working alongside TfL to ensure appropriate infrastruc

Network Rail / TFL

ture is in place to handle the growth, and keep London moving.

As well as servicing London, the Crossrail 2 pro posal includes improvements to the network fa cilitating an interchange for over 800 destina tions around the country.

Ultimately, the aim of Crossrail 2 is to make travel quicker and easier across London and the South West. The additional capacity would al low up to 27,000 more people to travel in these regions during peak periods, whilst also signifi cantly reducing overcrowding.

Not only would the Crossrail 2 project improve travel for thousands of people, it has the poten tial to create 60,000 jobs during its construc tion, and 200,000 jobs once operational.

Transport for London

Transport for London is the integrated transport authority tasked with rolling out London’s road and public transport strategies.

This includes London’s roads, bus services, trams and trains, to mention a few. TfL works alongside Network Rail to manage the London Overground network.

A major part of TfL’s current strategy is reduc ing the use of cars, with a target that 80% of all journeys will be made on foot, by cycle or public transport by 2041. TfL are working with Lon don boroughs to “shape the character of London’s street”, aiming to make London the world’s most walkable city.

Despite TfL transport priorities, it also has as sets in commercial properties. The authority generates long-term, sustainable income from 1000 retail units and 800 railway arches. The money generated is reinvested into London’s transport sector.

Capita

In Conversation with Gavin Dunkley: Working with TfL to Keep London Moving

Together with Transport for London (TfL), Capita helps to make the Mayoral vision for London’s transport infrastructure a reality – tackling their biggest challenges and enabling 34 million people around the UK to travel safely, efficient ly and sustainably. Our work with TfL has almost helped to halve harmful nitrogen oxide emissions in London since 2019 and keeps the capital’s road network running more smoothly and safely.

Managing the pressures of increasing pollution: congestion charge and the ULEZ scheme

Air quality in the capital has been a source of health and environmental concern for decades. London’s high-profile congestion charging scheme has been instrumental in reducing traffic – and thus air pollution – as well as facilitating inner-city transport. It also enables TfL to reinvest in the transport network and keep London moving.

On behalf of TfL, Capita implemented and man ages the congestion charge and all of its associ ated operations – from upfront payments and customer services to enforcement and penalty charge notices (PCNs). Not only does this reduce the amount of traffic in the city’s centre, making journeys quicker and easier; fewer vehicles on the roads make for better air quality and a safer envi ronment for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.

The Congestion Charge scheme works hand-inhand with the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) – the former reducing traffic in general and the latter designed to keep numbers of high-emis sions vehicles on our roads to a minimum. #NO (nitrogen oxide) emissions in central London were recently reported to be 44% lower than what they would have been further protecting citizens from harmful levels of pollution.

By charging drivers a premium to discourage the use of these older, dirty vehicles, ULEZ is a vital contributor to the city’s wider clean air initiative.. From our years of providing customer-facing collection services, we’ve learnt that offering a range of different customer contact and payment

Gavin Dunkley, MD, Capita - TFL Road User Charging

Transport Feature

collection channels increases collection rates –so as part of the ULEZ go-live, we introduced a mobile pay app, allowing customers to pay when and where it suits them. In managing ULEZ, we handle 4,000 calls and over 12,000 payments a day, with over 90% of early compliance.

As well as being a technical success, the scheme demonstrates how technology can be applied to address climate change. The ULEZ has brought about a fundamental change in road-users’ be haviour: More than 90% of vehicles in the zone now meet the standard and the number of peo ple exploring sustainable travel options has ris en substantially. In October 2021, Capita and TfL expanded ULEZ up to London’s North Circular and South Circular roads.

Through these two initiatives, London has be come a healthier, greener place. Children at 400 schools now benefit from improved quality in the air that they breathe.

Improving road safety: the Direct Vision Stan dard

In March 2021, with the support of London coun cils, we helped introduce the Direct Vision Stan dard (DVS) scheme, part of the Mayor of Lon don’s Vision Zero plan to eliminate deaths and serious injuries from London’s streets by 2041.

Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) make up the most dangerous component of traffic: despite account ing for only 3% of the miles driven in London from 2018-20, these vehicles were involved in 41% of fatal collisions involving cyclists and 19% of those involving pedestrians during that period, making HGVs five times more likely than any other type of vehicle to be involved in a collision resulting in a fa tality, relative to their share of traffic.

The DVS exists to ensure that drivers of large vehicles have adequate visibility through the windows of their cabs. It measures how much a driver can see directly, and thus the level of risk their vehicle may pose to vulnerable road users – pedestrians, cyclists, etc – nearby.

Vehicles over 12 tonnes that fall below the Stan dard must be equipped with Safe System im provements to qualify for a valid permit to op erate within Greater London, and unlicensed vehicles face a PCN of up to £550. Thanks to this scheme, more than 282,000HGVs now have a safety permit.

Providing 24/7 services: the area-wide network scheme

To reduce emissions and improve the city’s air quality, it’s crucial that people are encouraged to travel sustainably – by utilising more public transport and taking fewer private car journeys. Capita’s data network infrastructure enables London Underground to continue running, from stations to back-office functions. We refreshed the network on behalf of TfL and now manage it, monitor it and provide preventative mainte nance which enables the Tube to run smoothly.

Transport Feature

Our network handles everything from payments via Oyster card to TFL’s email system, voice network, invoicing, payroll and more. Subse quently the service was enhanced to include wifi connectivity in stations and on the Jubilee Line, the first cellular and mobile network of its kind in the UK. This connectivity improves the journey experience for passengers, enabling them to travel safely, efficiently and sustainably.

Without the data network it would be impossible for the Underground to successfully operate more than 100 million passenger journeys every month.

Our data capabilities play a role in road users’ journeys, too. To enable the ULEZ to go live, we made over 1,400 changes and refinements to improve underlying systems and processes, de livered a full-scale upgrade of the IT infrastruc ture and enhanced camera capture and detec tion, billing and payments, customer contact and automated enquiry services, database and evi dence storage and PCN enforcement. We brought our digital transformation experience to bear in managing the complex levels of integration be tween our managed IT systems and those run by third-party organisations, such as the automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system.

In 2021, our contract with TfL expanded to in clude network support for the organisation’s surface transport assets, including traffic lights, CCTV and Congestion Charge cameras. Almost every set of traffic lights within London is at tached to a network that enables them to be in telligently controlled. In the event of congestion in one area of the traffic network, TfL can inter vene and change the profile of those lights to al leviate jams and help traffic to move more freely.

Our work contributes to and enables an effi cient and effective transport network to oper ate within one of the world’s largest cities. Find out more about how we keep transport networks safe, sustainable and efficient at www.capita. com/industries/transport

Capita

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Gary Smith

Laurel Sayer, CEO, Perpetua Resources

WRITTEN BY Laura Watling

As Good As Gold

Driven by the desire to restore an abandoned mine and its surrounding habitat, as well as bring supply of antimony back to the US, Perpetua Resources is built on passion. The team are in it for the long haul - the mine isn’t planned to be operational until 2027. CEO, Laurel Sayer, and CFO, Jessica Largent, explain why this project is so important to the future of America.

Mining in Idaho isn’t big news. In fact, Idaho is known as the ‘Gem State’, mining a diverse range of minerals from copper and lead to gold, silver and phosphorus. What is unique about Perpet ua Resources and its Stibnite Gold Project is its desire to work for the greater good and focus on responsible mining.

Perpetua Resources

Established in 2010 under its original name of Midas Gold, Perpetua Resources’ vision is to develop and operate one of the largest, highest grade, open pit gold mines. As part of that proj ect, it will improve water quality, regenerate fish passage and restore legacy waste sites.

In 2021 the business changed its name to better reflect its vision. “‘Esto Perpetua’ is above Idaho’s state seal,” explained CEO Ms Sayer, “It translates to ‘Let it be perpetual’, in reference to the state’s vast resources and is what we believe the Stibnite Gold Project can bring to Idaho, its people, and America. Perpetua Resources offers a more sustain able and secure future”.

The Stibnite Gold Project

The Stibnite gold mine, based in central Idaho, was first mined in 1899, during the Thunder Mountain Gold Rush. It’s played many roles in history, including its critical support to the US war effort in the 1940s and ‘50s. Over 20 years ago, however, all mining activity stopped.

“There was a limited clean up by the government,” said Ms Sayer, “but as with most governments

Projects

Clients

M3’s seven international office locations each provide a single-source for multi-discipline engineering, architectural design, and EPCM services. Among our diverse portfolio of industrial and commercial projects for private and institutional clients, M3 is a leader in the design of mineral processing plants worldwide. A collaborative partner in the design of complex engineering infrastructure projects, our experienced veteran staff brings to each endeavor a team with a wide range of knowledge and understanding for the complexities of a project, from feasibility studies through final construction and commissioning phases.

M3 Engineering & Technology Corporation

Perpetua Resources has relied on M3 Engineering & Technology Corp. for process and plant engineering services since 2013.

M3 has worked closely with Perpetua to support and reinforce its vision for responsible resource develop ment and environmental restoration. This is manife sted in the layout of both on-site and off-site facilities to preserve sensitive environments, minimize distur bance, and avoid geological and environmental ha zards. The cooperative relationship has enabled M3 to assist Perpetua and its consultants to create a com prehensive approach to resource management that minimizes impacts and facilitates reclamation and rehabilitation of the site.

M3 and its consulting partners developed a process design that was flexible enough to process and ma ximize recoveries for sulfide and oxide ores, with and without recovery of a saleable antimony concentrate. The innovative autoclave process design controls the generation of acid, reduces gold sequestration, and enables arsenic stabilization to mitigate potential environmental impacts. M3’s water management sy stem design enables maximum flexibility in water use to respond to variable storm and snow melt conditi ons while conserving groundwater and minimizing tre atment of contact water for discharge.

M3 is proud to stand with Perpetua Resources to ad vance this project to provide a U.S. source of strate gic minerals and facilitate the restoration of this en vironmentally sensitive, historically impacted mining area. M3 is eager to apply its extensive Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management expe rience to assist Perpetua Resources in making the Stibnite Gold Project an exemplary mining and resto ration operation.

Founded in 1986 in Tucson Arizona, M3 continues to grow with offices in Chandler Arizona, Charlotte North Carolina, Hermosillo Mexico, Arequipa Peru, Santiago Chile, and Buenos Aires Argentina. M3’s diverse staff of over 600 people has project experience in over 30 countries and fluent in more than 17 languages. Cen

Resources Feature

tered in a region with significant mining and astrono mical projects, we are well known both domestically and internationally for our contributions to these in dustries.

M3 has the experience and qualifications to develop innovative design solutions for a wide variety of pro ject types ranging in constructed cost from $1,000 to more than $1 billion. Our professional staff of Archite cts and Engineers provides creative designs and suc cessful projects based on a thorough understanding of the client’s needs and expectations. Our diverse staff of professionals offers a “single source” advantage to clients for projects that require both Architectural and Engineering services. M3 provides knowledgeable and experienced teams to complex projects regardless of size.

M3 has extensive experience with construction mana gement projects where we act as an agent for the owner and are responsible for construction schedule and budgets, eliminating general contractor markups to provide the lowest cost option for construction. We perform construction management through our subsidiary, M3 Engineering and Construction, Inc. (formed in 1988), becoming a licensed Contractor in several states in the USA. Our branch in Hermosillo, Sonora (M3 Mexicana) is also a licensed contractor in Mexico. We have experienced teams available for work domestically and internationally. M3 provides a single-source for multi-discipline engineering, archi tectural design and EPCM services.

Perpetua Resources

there is simply not the money to take on large scale restoration projects like this. That’s where we come in”.

The aim of the Stibnite Gold Project is not just to reclaim the land after mining, but to restore the entire area. “We are committed to creating a proj ect that will leave the environment in a better con dition than we found it,” shared CFO, Ms Largent, “Not only will we be providing a key mineral, an timony, to the US market, we will be improving the local water quality, reconnecting streams to im prove fish migration, and removing waste”.

The project has involved several environmental studies to help inform permit applications. The Company has recently published a Sustainabil ity Roadmap, outlining 13 ESG goals to further support their commitments.

Currently, 90% of the world’s antimony supply comes from China, Russia and Tajikistan. “We want to elevate responsible mining in the US. We know that the Stibnite Gold Project can provide 35% of the US demand for antimony in its first 6 years,” said Ms Sayer.

The current US Administration has highlighted the importance of ensuring a more secure sup ply chain of antimony. This has been raised not only due to supply chain restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also the current geopolitical unsteadiness.

“There’s a saying in the industry, “If you can’t grow it, you gotta mine it”, and ultimately, we can do it better, and more responsibly, here at home” said Ms Sayer.

Not only will we be providing a key mineral, antimony, to the US market, we will be improving the local water quality, reconnecting streams to improve fish migration and removing waste.

“ “

Since 2011, the Stibnite Project has planted nearly 58,000 trees, and in the last 9 years has recycled nearly 5000lb of material. It has also produced over 38,000 kWh of solar power since 2015 - all before production at the mine has even started.

“If you can’t grow it, you gotta mine it”

As much as the sustainability aspects of the proj ect are impressive, there is of course gain to be made from mining in the district. It’s here that the little known, but commonly used, chemical element of antimony is found.

“Antimony is a key component that is found in a diverse range of applications,” explained Ms Say er, “from flame retardants and alloys used in mu nitions, to low-cost energy storage batteries. It’s a very versatile mineral”.

Leading with Science® to improve people’s lives

Resources F

Jessica Largent, CFO, Perpetua Resources

Challenging Industry Norms

At the core of the Stibnite Gold Project is its peo ple. “It’s important for us to recruit people that not only have the skill set required, but those that are also passionate about our vision. At Perpetua Re sources we’re in it for the long-term benefit for all our stakeholders, so we need to build a team that’s bought-in at every level, even in administrative roles,” explained Ms Largent.

As the team is built on having a shared purpose, there’s a feeling that everyone’s opinions are re spected and a shared ‘can do’ approach. “I think the feeling is unique, it’s not something I’ve experi enced before. Even our consultants have mentioned it,” said Ms Sayer proudly.

A distinctive and attractive quality of the busi ness is that the management team is 67% fe

Perpetua Resources

male led. This is, of course, particularly unique to the mining industry.

“It’s something that attracted me to Perpetua Re sources,” shared Ms Largent, “there is a level of care and empathy to how the business is run and engages with community partners that I think has been driven by the women in leadership.”

Ms Sayer, too, feels that the high presence of women in the business is part of what makes it run so well. “I don’t like to play into gender ste reotypes, particularly as we have female engineers and machine operators on our site. However, I do believe women have a different ability to problem solve and think outside of the box”

Both the CEO and CFO want Perpetua Resourc es to help and encourage more women to move into the mining sector.

A critical pathway to permitting

Perpetua Resources

Keep the feedback flowing

Staff are passionate about the project because it is “in their backyard”, and the involvement of the local Idahoans isn’t exclusive to its staff.

“I operate an open-door policy,” said the CEO, “our plan is to be guided by a commitment to Ida ho’s resources and people. We want the feedback from the public and the industry to help us to con tinue to improve our plans.”

The project’s latest Environmental Impact Study, which was released in August 2020, saw 10,000 responses. 85% of which were positive. The feedback helped to form improved plans, including a 10% reduction of volume mined and a 70% reduction in one of the open pit’s size.

Leading the Way

Collaborating For A More Sustainable Future

Proud of the continued success of Perpetua Resources and the Stibnite Gold Project.

Over our 105-year history, Vinson & Elkins LLP (V&E) has grown to approximately 700 lawyers located in energy and natural resource development hubs, financial centers and political capitals around the world. Our lawyers provide strategic legal advice on our clients’ most challenging and complex transactional, regulatory and dispute resolution matters, including mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, project development, financings, reporting and compliance, securities offerings, arbitration, lawsuits, environmental matters, tax cases, intellectual property matters, restructurings/ reorganizations and regulatory proceedings. Our clients regularly turn to us when developing major infrastructure projects with all of the associated legal hurdles. We have been instrumental in assisting our clients in breaking new ground, developing new frontiers and leading the way in the energy transition and sustainable finance. This comes from knowing our clients’ business as only a trusted advisor would, and applying a level of energy and innovation that matches their entrepreneurial spirit. We don’t simply react — we anticipate the challenges and opportunities and provide original thinking that results in effective solutions.

Vinson & Elkins LLP Attorneys at Law Austin

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Vinson & Elkins LLP Attorneys at Law Austin

Warm Springs Consulting

Warm Springs Consulting works with high-impact industries, businesses, and governments to leverage sustainability as a strategic and profitable advantage.

the past two decades, we have worked on sustainable solutions for mining, ma nufacturing, energy, agriculture, defense, transportation, technology, and waste se ctors.

Founded in Idaho, we are straightforward, transparent and committed to ensuring a high-level quality of work. With a diverse team, we work collaboratively with a broad range of global mining clients on both te chnical and social aspects of sustainability. Hablamos español.

are thrilled with WSC’s work. The WSC team is both strategic and technically pro ficient. Through working with them, we are exploring ways to save money and do bet ter

environment.”

Stockton,

Corporate

Perpetua Resources

Strategic Supply of a Critical Resource

The biggest challenge facing the project at pres ent, is jumping through the many proverbial government permitting hoops. This is where the diversity of experience between CEO and CFO comes to the fore.

In previous roles, Ms Sayer has worked in nat ural resource policy making for congress, while Ms Largent has a mining background. “We’re learning from each other daily,” said Ms Largent.

Whilst waiting for permit authorisation, the Stibnite Gold Project is well capitalised to con tinue.

In August 2021, Perpetua Resources announced its antimony supply agreement for Ambri bat tery production. The antimony supplied will power Ambri’s low-cost battery for long-dura tion, daily cycling energy storage.

Perpetua Resources has committed to supply enough antimony to generate over 13 gigawatt hours of storage - eight times the size of the entire US energy storage market in 2020. This amount of storage is enough to power approx imately 1 million American homes with solar power for the 20+ year life span of the batteries.

“The Stibnite Gold Mine project will strategically supply a critical resource,” explained Ms Sayer, “not only is this going to be hugely advantageous to the clean energy market, it will also offer benefits for the government’s Defence Production Act.”

With final permit results due in late 2023, the site plans to be operational by 2027. “While per mitting in the US can take a long time given the strict environmental standards, once we get the permit, it’s as good as gold,” said Ms Largent

Western States Cat

Western States Cat has been serving surface and un derground mining operations in our territory for over 65 years. What began as four service branches has grown into a much larger, award-winning organizati on, covering an area over 191,000 square miles with 14 general line and truck engine branches, and 13 Cat® Rental Stores. The company has a proud history of acquisition, growth, and serving our communities. In fact, our communities are the center of our purpose: Building our Communities for a Better Tomorrow

We believe that our business helps make communities stronger, cleaner, and more productive, not just with our products and services, but through our people. We are dedicated to helping safely and sustainably build schools to educate the next generations, provide power to hospitals that keep our loved ones healthy, build and maintain roads so goods can be transported where needed, help supply water to our farmers’ crops so they can supply the world with food, and so much more. In short, we believe that protecting our environ ment and giving back to the communities in which we live and work are critical to our success.

Also critical to our success is connecting technology, data and people with our customers to build excepti onal client experiences and foster innovative thinking to improve quality and efficiency. Cat® MineStar™ so lutions for surface and underground operations can help you improve every aspect of your operation. Our technology increases drilling precision, loading and hauling productivity, and dozing and grading safety & accuracy.

We partner with you to maximize efficiency while pro tecting the health and safety of your miners and the environment. In fact, health, safety and environmen tal sustainability are built into every product we sell. Through innovation and partnership, we help mines operate as efficiently and safely as possible while re ducing impact to the place we love. Together we can produce more, consume less, and preserve quality of life for present and future generations.

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Steve Owen

Robert Inches, CEO, PFG

BY Laura Watling

Catch of the Day

It’s this Tasmanian-headquartered manufacturer and boat builder’s mission to create the toughest, most reliable, highest-quality products for safety-critical industries. From its beginnings in the aquaculture industry, to manufacturing, work boats, and now elite tactical defence vessels, PFG’s evolution has driven industries forward.

Laura Watling discovers more.

Headed

up by CEO Robert Inches, PFG is a multi-sector, technology-based partner, creating durable products for use in harsh environments.

Born out of the requirement to produce high-performing and environment-resisting fish pens for the fledgling 1980s Tasmanian salmon industry, PFG has grown to become an award- winning business, providing turn-key solutions to every continent in the world.

Its origins in Southern Ocean industries makes the company’s DNA different. From the begin ning, PFG was focussed on working closely with customers to solve gnarly problems. The com pany has always been about bespoke design, small-scale production, and uncompromising quality.

Robert Inches, with the PFG team

PFG

“In this harsh environment, you’re forced to design and build differently if you want products to with stand the elements and bring workers home safely,” said Mr Inches. “Failure is simply not an option.”

In addition to its stronghold in the aquaculture and marine industries, PFG works with business es in the agriculture, civil works, and mining sec tors. Its main business here is to replace products traditionally made from steel with custom-de signed, fit-for-purpose products made from highly durable, cost-effective, polyethylene.

The company is also the largest suppliers of plastic pallets, hoppers, bins and buckets in southern hemisphere, operating from sites in Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia.

Swimming upstream

With its first manufacturing and distribution centre established in Tasmania, an island located 240km south of Australia’s mainland, it’s no surprise that PFG is highly qualified in the aquaculture sector. During its 40-year history it has provided the in dustry with salmon pens, mooring systems and re lated on water infrastructure in Tasmania.

Today, PFG is the largest supplier of aquaculture and marine industry products in Australia. Key areas include the salmon, trout, tuna, kingfish, oyster, and lobster industries.

Products which PFG manufacture in this area include fish pens, nets, net weights and hooks, as well as rope, mooring systems and workboats. Thanks to its years of experience, it also has the ability to provide consultancy and advisory ser vices to investors, governments and agencies for aquaculture projects.

“Our dedicated, skilled and diverse team loves a challenge;” said Mr Inches, “whether it be design ing and building the only vacuum-based, in-situ, netwasher in the world, partnering with scientists and industry to build the world’s first commercial scale rock lobster hatchery, or manufacturing an other unbreakable Aquatruck service vessel”.

this harsh environment, you’re forced to design and build differently if you want products to withstand the elements and bring workers home safely. Failure is simply not an option.

“ “

Maritime Feature

Hamilton Jet

CWF Hamilton & Co Ltd, (HamiltonJet) was formed in 1939, located at the workshop of Irishman Creek Stati on. During the early years the company pursued a po licy of planned diversification, a natural progression from the effective innovation and expertise initiated by the founder Sir William Hamilton.

HamiltonJet grew out of a combination of CWF Hamil ton Engineering and CWF Hamilton Marine, the two main subsidiary companies in the Hamilton Group As the popularity of jet boats and waterjet propulsion increased rapidly throughout the 1960s and 70s, Ha milton Engineering was producing a large number of marine jet units along with its industrial equipment, cranes and hydraulics.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, New Zealand un derwent some major economic redirection and the company recognised the potential for waterjet propul sion systems. It made the decision to phase out the in dustrial side of Hamilton Engineering to concentrate on the production of waterjet units and hydraulics. For over 40 years the company has focused only on the wa terjet side of its business becoming the leading specia list waterjet and controls manufacturer in the world.

HamiltonJet company offices were opened in Ameri ca, the UK and Singapore to market and coordinate the distribution and spare parts support of waterjets in those regions.

Continued growth in demand for HamiltonJet Water jets has seen numerous factory expansions in the last decade. Manufacturing floor space has increased to 17,000 square metres on the 6.88 hectare site, with new machinery installed and staff hired to increase factory capacity by more than 50%.

HamiltonJet currently has 20 different jet models st arting from 270kW up to 5,500 kw in maximum power rating and our market experience is extensive. As a preferred supplier to boat builders, naval architects and marine operators, we’ve installed over 60,000 waterjets into vessels around the globe, including offshore, pilot, rescue, fire, military, patrol, windfarm, fast ferry, fishing, aquaculture and recreational appli cations.

We’re willing collaborators and integrators, working in the best interests of our clients to deliver everything from standard to bespoke solutions that work for them. Our products are designed and built to the standards of the world’s leading certifying authoriti es. They’re manufactured in-house at a modern plant with cutting-edge machining facilities and extensive testing and inspection procedures.

All our products are backed by class-leading after sa les support. Wherever you are in the world, you’ll find extensive parts stocking and experienced Hamilton Jet distributors supported by our own regional office staff. We also guarantee at least 20 years’ support at the end of series production.

Today, HamiltonJet is still a family owned company employing over 440 staff in all aspects of waterjet design, production, sales and service and has over 55 Distributors around the world as part of the company’s global reach program.

The company has also recently celebrated its 80th year Anniversary and is looking towards strong growth in the future.

PFG

Plain Sailing

As well as its expertise in aquaculture, PFG has capabilities in commercial marine. This includes the provision of workboats, safety gear, buoys and fenders, and anchors and shackles. Of its 40 years in business, 25 of those have been spent with a marine offering.

“Our first vessel, a work boat built 25 years ago, is still in full commercial use on a Tasmanian fish farm,” said Mr Inches, “it still has many years of life left, but the beauty is, if the customer is ever ready to decommission it, the material can be recy cled into another project”.

A major development for PFG is its evolution into fast response vessels for the emergency services and defence market.

A few years ago, PFG spotted a niche. In part nership with One2three naval architects, the company perfected the design and construction of incredibly durable, stable and safe work boats for harsh ocean environments, using high-den sity polyethylene (HDPE). At the same time, the boats were incredibly manoeuvrable and highly customisable.

This combination of safety and performance made the vessels perfect for emergency and de fence use cases.

“HDPE outperforms alternative watercraft alloy or composite material in that it’s incredibly durable and impact-resistant, it won’t corrode or perish with exposure to salt water, UV or long storage pe riods, and it can be fixed in-situ without needing any hot works,” said Mr Inches, “It can handle sustained force, submerged obstacles, air drops and hard beaching.”

In March 2022, PFG despatched three flood res cue boats for the Western Australian Depart ment of Fire and Emergency Services as part of a 10-boat contract.

The business has also recently won a contract to build three 12.5 metre speciality watercraft for the New Zealand Defence force.

“We have been on a campaign to break into this market for the last 3 years,” explained Mr Inches, “as part of this we established a defence capability advisory committee. This helped us to understand the needs of the sector”.

One of these specific needs is a more mature procurement process than other marketplaces, and an invaluable understanding of how to en gage with defence market customers.

Standing Sentinel

PFG unveiled its flagship vessel, the Sentinel 1100, at the Indo Pacific International Marine Exposition 2022.

Pitched at elite defence and security organ isations, the Sentinel 1100 is the pinnacle of PFG and One2three’s expertise in high-per formance, high-safety tactical vessels. It fea tures PFG’s Vigilant Safety System, which uses a combination of design factors and invigilation technology for monitoring, observation, and cloud-based data analysis. The Sentinel 1100 can be fully networked with command and control frameworks and can even be operated autono mously.

HDPE absorbs noise and vibration, providing obvious benefits to both passengers and crew. “We’re passionate about showing our clients the condition and care HDPE has to offer,” Mr Inches explained, “we’ve employed technology to sup port and monitor loads that are being transferred to passengers and crew. These people are being sent out into hostile environments, so it’s our responsi bility to ensure their safety from our end”.

It can handle sustained force, submerged obstacles, air drops and hard beaching

“ “

PFG

Sustainability at Sea

“Of its many benefits, HDPE also offers a lower footprint than some traditional materials,” said Mr Inches, “it’s also fully recyclable.”

In addition to PFG’s use of low carbon footprint HDPE, it also offers a rotational moulding facil ity. “This is an important offering for us, particu larly when customers request a recycled product. It means we can cater for it in house”.

Mr Inches also highlights how there is opportu nity for PFG to expand its footprint in the sus tainability sphere. “An evolving market at the moment is seaweed farming. With our experience and the expertise of our R & D team, we certain ly feel we could offer innovative solutions to this growing space,” said Mr Inches.

Seaweed has many benefits to the environment, including carbon capture and the ability to re duce cattle emissions by forming part of the an imal feed.

Credentials

It’s crucial that PFG works closely with its cli ents to produce bespoke solutions. In fact, its PFG’s mission “to drive a sustainable future by creating value for our customers through partner ships, professionalism and collaboration”

Clients of PFG include Tassal, Steer Group, New Zealand Defence Force, and Australian Maritime Safety Authority to name just a few. In addition, it has formed partnerships with the likes of, Dainichi Corporation and One2three Naval Ar chitects.

MEETING THE CHALLENGE

Maritime Feature

PFG’s new Sentinel 830 craft, in the background Mt Wellington

Maritime Feature

PFG prides itself on providing technology-led innovation - this hasn’t gone unnoticed in the industry. Over the years PFG has built quite the trophy cabinet.

Most recently, PFG was named Ausmarine Baird Maritime Work Boat World Best RIB Patrol Boat 2020 and Ausmarine Best Patrol Boat 2019. In addition, PFG’s support vessel and survey vessel has been named best in class. The business also holds the titles of Best Speciality Boat Build er (Ausmarine, 2014), Best Aquaculture Boat Builder (Ausmarine, 2013) and Best Speciality Boat Builder (Ausmarine 2012).

An intelligent step forward

As well as developing its sustainability output, the team at PFG will be investigating how to in tegrate the latest technology into its builds. This will include R & D into autonomous and artificial intelligence as well as signature management. Once again, PFG will look to utilise its existing and new partners and customers to develop this offering.

“I don’t believe you can underinvest in new tech or digital 4.0,” shared Mr Inches, “I think anyone that underestimates this will find their business disrupted or displaced”.

pfg-group.com.au

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Glen Newton

WRITTEN BY Frew Murdoch

Keeping it in The Family

A behind-the-scenes look at family business Prima Cheese’s journey of growth and innovation with Co-CEO Nagma Ebanks-Beni MBE

Prima Cheese

Netflix series such as Dynasty and Succession, where family members are portrayed as conniving, selfish, back-biting, nepotistic, and entitled in their ambitions to get to the top have discolored perceptions of family businesses. These depic tions discount the hard work and dedication it takes to build a family business from SME status into a global phenomenon. In a recent interview, Business Enquirer had the privilege of peeking behind the curtain of professional family busi ness Prima Cheese in a candid discussion with co-CEO Nagma Ebanks-Beni MBE.

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Nagma did not set out with plans of joining the family business. Her school years were shaped by dreams of being a creative and entering the fashion industry. However, after completing her studies, she realized it was not a good fit. Nagma decided on a new direction and became a London restaurant owner at the tender age of 24. Although the shift from fashion to business may appear somewhat stark, for Nagma it seemed natural as she was brought up in a business-oriented home.

“I can only describe it as learning via osmosis. I come from a business family. You don’t realize just how much business acumen you absorb over the years by being in an environment where you hear your parents discussing business at mealtimes and over weekends. It became an integral part of our life. As a result, I had ambition and determination from quite early on,” shared Nagma.

After ten years in London, she moved back to her native North East and joined her parent’s business in 2004. Nima Beni, Nagma’s brother, joined in 2007, which is when Prima officially became a professional family business. At this stage, the company was an SME processing ap proximately 40 tons of cheese a week with 15 employees, a turnover of £1 million, and a bright future ahead of it.

Nagma Ebanks-Beni, Co-CEO, Prima Cheese

I can only describe it as learning via osmosis. I come from a business family.

Prima Cheese

Becoming the big cheese

“No one is born big. Things start small and then they become big and we have certainly evolved. All of the failures and gains build up that experience. Everybody that has passed through this business, staff and service providers, have contributed to putting a brick into the structure of this company, which is now the powerhouse that we see today,” said Nagma.

Prima Cheese’s journey first began as a few food and pizza takeaways that Mr. and Mrs. Beni owned. The couple worked hard, accumulating enough money to be able to buy a failing food service company. They then bought materials in bulk for their own companies and became a sup plier for other restaurants. During the process, the Beni’s discovered several glaring gaps in the market.

Pizza cheese was one of the most expensive items in the fast food range, and the most regu lated. There were few suppliers, which resulted in a monopolized market, and as is the case with many monopolies, manufacturers became com placent with the quality of service and customer offerings.

After experiencing these frustrations them selves, the Beni’s recognized the value of enter ing into cheese processing. In 1997, they began to shred small volumes for their own food ser vices. The couple then progressed into supply ing regionally and expanded into northern areas of England. At around this point, Nagma and Nima joined the business.

Nagma elaborated further on the expansion: “By 2010/2011, we were up to a £14 million turnover. The crunch came in 2013 when we went up to £25

Part of the production line at Prima Cheese’s factory

oceansupply chain air

customs

Warrant help people focus on their food and drink business without logistics distraction. We are immensely proud of our partnership with Prima Cheese and congratulate them on their deserved success.

We genuinely love what we do, we want to make a difference and contribute to your success; you grow, we go. We listen, learn, engage and implement because we want our customer service experience to be that good.

Why Warrant?

We are an independent, privately owned forwarder with an EDI connected global network that delivers in-house, next step, multimodal import and export

To find out more

We are proud to operate differently. We control the movement from A-B, have a terrific added value ethos, offer exceptional customer service, embrace the digital age, and once tried, always impressed.

Sales

Manufacturing Feature

million, but then the following year in 2014, we rapidly increased our turnover to £37 million. We have increased annually to the present date where we now stand at £92 million.”

“When a business doubles turnover in a year, as we did from 2013 to 2014, and continues to grow ev ery year, it comes with its own pressures. The pres sure that is placed on your people is a very sensi tive matter. You have to scale company culture. I’m referring to raising the standards of our company; both of our people and our common mindset.

“It’s our people who are running the processes and machinery, ensuring these jobs are carried out cor rectly in line with company expectations. Changing company culture, installing company pride, in fluencing collaboration and learning…. that takes time, patience, and persistence, but ultimately it

pays huge dividends. You achieve harmony with in the organization, a clear vision, and unity that gives the best results to our people and our custom ers, giving us longevity and sustainability.”

Another pivotal element of Prima Cheese’s growth has been its relationships with suppliers. As a specialist in cheese shredding and blend ing, Prima Cheese processes cheese; they do not manufacture it. They rely on supplier relation ships for the raw materials and see these as key to continually improving choices for customers.

“Prima Cheese changed the pizza cheese industry in 2009 when we embraced new food technology and diversified the range of products that we of fered in the food industry. Prior to that, there were only three choices of pizza cheese you could get. By utilizing new technology and food applications,

Glanbia Cheese

Glanbia Cheese is the leading mozzarella manufactu rer in Europe. We provide custom cheese making so lutions to companies in over 30 countries around the world. We are a joint venture between Glanbia plc and Leprino Foods Company - a winning combinati on that draws on each parent’s strengths and areas of expertise.

We’ve earned a reputation for delivering innovative so lutions in mozzarella cheese manufacturing for our customers, no matter who they are, where they ope rate or what challenges they face. That’s what makes us such a successful and highly regarded mozzarella cheese producer.

Glanbia Cheese and Prima

Glanbia Cheese pride themselves on the longstan ding, close relationship we hold with Prima. As a fa mily business our dealings are always fair, mutual and equitable and we are thrilled to have been named as one of Prima’s most valued suppliers and are grateful to work with such an enthusiastic team.

We have enjoyed watching the Prima business grow and have benefited from their proactive investment in their facilities.

On behalf of everyone at Glanbia Cheese, we would like to wish Prima every success and look forward to many more years of mutual benefit from a close and rewarding partnership, we also look forward to featu ring in their edition of Business Enquirer www.glanbiacheese.co.uk

Prima Cheese products being loaded onto lorries for shipping

Prima Cheese

Prima Cheese products on a pallet ready for shipping

Prima Cheese products on a pallet ready for shipping

Prima Cheese

and working closely with our suppliers, we collabo rated to formulate a new product. We took a chance and invested heavily in the new product and that’s why I believe we’re disruptors of the market. We are innovators, we take chances, and we think out-ofthe-box.

“Our supplier relationships and the new food ca pabilities have led Prima into various markets. Be fore 2010, we had only ever sold our product to our UK domestic market. We had no experience in any international markets. From that starting point to achieving exports to over 50 countries worldwide, which contributes to 20% of our overall sales, is an incredible feat. Our partnership with suppliers and customers have been a significant catalyst in the transformation of the company,” said Nagma.

What lies ahead?

For all their success, the company, like many, is still recovering from a turbulent 24 months or, as Nagma calls it, “the double-headed serpent of COVID and Brexit”. Prima realizes the importance of retaining business and in the short term, the company seeks to improve organizational effi ciencies and minimize waste. Prima also aims to strengthen internal infrastructure as a means to prepare for its medium to long-term vision, and anything the future may bring.

“Moving into the medium term, we are focusing on brand recognition, increasing capabilities such as shelf life and automation, and working on ex ternal infrastructure relating to the supply chain, worldwide partners, and of course, establishing new markets.”

“I’ve always had this burning ambition and desire for people to know Prima Cheese as the home for pizza cheese. In the long term, we want to create a reputation throughout the market that amplifies our core values of quality, consistency, and service,” ended Nagma.

www.primacheese.com

In the longterm, we want to create a reputation throughout the market that amplifies our core values of quality, consistency, and service.

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Manufacturing Feature

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Liv Culling

BY Frew Murdoch

Co-Living vs the Cost of Living

Strategic Housing Group offers an innovative solution to housing affordability challenges for digital natives.

Thelast two years will be etched into the future’s history books courtesy of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Both events have contribut ed to widespread suffering and a fragile world economy. According to the United Nations Glob al Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy, and Finance, 60% of workers have lower incomes post-pandemic, which coupled with the cost of living crisis, is a recipe for disaster.

People are having to ‘hustle’ now more than ever and tighten their belts in unconventional ways. An example of this occurred during the pandemic when many families whose members

SHG

were living independently decided to cohabitate to assuage the financial strain and isolation at tributed to the coronavirus.

Interestingly, this idea of ‘co-living’ has become increasingly popular in the real estate world. Housing startups offering affordable accommo dation occupied by numerous roommates are on the rise. These shared spaces include every thing from freestanding houses for non-related people to commune-style high-rise apartment blocks and hotels.

Strategic Housing Group (SHG) is a real estate investment management firm that specializ es in dedicated housing properties for young professionals, trainees, executives, and higher education students. Headquartered in Dubai In ternational Financial Centre, the firm developed and currently operates, the Myriad brand, which comprises the first fully-integrated student co-living communities in the Middle East.

SHG’s mission is to provide secure, modern, and appropriately-priced co-living spaces based on a comprehensive analysis of today’s hous ing market expectations. The firm’s vision is to continue to grow globally as a market leader for hybrid hotel brands and living communities throughout Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

The main reception at The Myriad, Dubai

Lifestyle Feature

Lifestyle Feature

Power in partnerships

Together, with their global alliances and part ners, SHG creates high-quality and attainable living communities that offer social and eco nomic value for their stakeholders. SHG places a heavy emphasis on collaboration and the im portance of strategic partnerships and relation ships, such as those it shares with Asset Living, Arbah Capital, private and public investors, and relevant authorities.

SHG’s partner Asset Living is the largest student housing organization in the United States with over 160 000 student beds under management and over 40 years of experience in the indus try. Asset Living holds a growing portfolio that includes hundreds of properties globally. The company provides services in property man

agement, asset management, development, and investment services.

Another key partner, Arbah Capital, recently en tered into an ambitious joint venture with SHG to roll out Dubai’s first co-living hotel chain, Innov8. Arbah Capital provides investment solutions to a broad array of investors with the understanding that the real estate market pres ents a desirable and lucrative investment sector for their clients.

Commenting on the venture with Arbah Capital, CEO of SHG Vikram Rao said: “We are honored to start this project in today’s fast-paced market with the specialists of the region, especially when it comes to real estate development and technolo gy-driven product roll-out.”

SHG

The Gulf cities of Riyadh and Dubai are the first regions to be graced by Innov8 hotels. The brand will expand across dynamic cities, with hotels close to technology hubs, commercial centers, airports, and industrial zones. The venture en visions a half-billion-dollar portfolio.

Innov8 Living communities offer two different accommodation models. The portfolio’s hybrid hotels belong to the property collection under i8 Hotels and the co-living residences are clus tered under the umbrella of i8 Homes.

Innov8 accommodations are targeted at the dig itally-savvy Gen-Z population for whom tech nology is a huge priority in both social and work spheres. Similar in concept to the cosmopolitan co-working coffee shops that are popping up on a seemingly daily basis, these fusion homes and

hotels are designed to support technology-cen tric contemporary living. Innov8 aims to com plement the online remote work environment by offering the perfect living space for up-andcoming professionals - in a manner that suits both their career needs and their budgets.

SHG tackles the affordable housing challenge by taking an approach that focuses on providing dedicated housing with features that guarantee convenience, comfort, and ease of access to in dividuals’ places of study and work. As an exam ple, Innov8 properties offer private rooms and studios as well as communal spaces like kitchen lounges, eateries, self-service laundry facilities, co-working areas, gyms, convenience shops, and recreational spots. In so doing, these devel opments answer the call of a work-hard, playhard generation.

SHG

Co-living: here to stay

The disheartening events of the last two years may have had an impact on living situations across the globe, yet, it seems that co-living was on the rise even before 2020. According to a US Census Bureau report, in 2005 the majority of young adults (18 - 34 years) lived independent ly in their own households in the United States. This was the predominant living arrangement across 35 states. However, ten years later, only six states reported a majority of young people living independently.

The trend is not unique to this superpower. In China, multi-generational homes are the norm and in Hong Kong, one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world, many young adults live at home with their parents as a means to save money. In big cities like London and New York, the competitive real estate landscape makes living alone financially unviable. For newcomers, this paints a bleak and lonely pic ture as they cannot share a home with friends or family. All signs appear to suggest that co-living is an innovative solution to a steadily-worsen ing problem.

The Innov8 brand’s co-living approach gives flexibility to short-term visitors and lon ger-term residents due to the various lease op tions and services offered. This adaptability in combination with the development’s afford ability, convenience, security, and communi ty comes at a time when it is most needed. To gether with its key partners, SHG offers safe and fulfilling living community developments that yield success socially and economically.

Lifestyle Feature

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Glen Newton

Mark Bartlett, CEO, Strix

BY Laura Watling

On the Boil

Take a look around you. Can you see a kettle nearby? Perhaps you have an instant coffee machine, or you’re a tired parent with a bottle prepper in stumbling distance. Chances are, somewhere in your home or office you have a piece of kit with a Strix component inside.

Partnering with the likes of Siemens, Tefal and Tommee Tippee, Strix Group plc are the innovators behind leading controls and water technologies. Business Enquirer speaks to Strix CEO, Mark Bartlett, about the business’s rise to success.

Thehistory of Strix dates back to the in vention of thermostat control technol ogy by Eric Taylor. Under the name of Castletown Thermostats (a subsidiary of Otter Controls at the time), Eric Taylor first designed the thermostat technology to main tain the proper temperature of the heated flight suits worn by RAF pilots in World War II.

Now, every kettle has the technology pioneered by Mr Taylor.

The business undertook its name of Strix in 1981, under the mentorship of Dr John Taylor, son of the founder. Throughout its history, the business has proudly remained headquartered in the Isle of Man.

Having been under the management of Mark Bartlett for five years, Strix is undertaking a growth phase. Mark and his team are commit ted to doubling the business turnover through organic growth by 2025.

Strix

Found in homes the world over

With a 56% value share of the kettle controls market, you are likely to have had contact with a Strix product.

Today, around 80% of the company’s output is kettle controls, but during its 70+ years in busi ness it has also expanded into water filtration and purification innovation.

“We are the global leader in the design, manufac ture and supply of kettle safety controls and com plementary water temperature management com ponents, appliances and water filtration products,” explained Mark.

Strix works with over 200 OEMs, and as such, its products are sold through around 450 retailers worldwide.

“Products with our technology are used roughly 1.5 billion times a day,” shared Mark, “our mission is to develop innovative products that allow consumers to live a safer, more enjoyable and sustainable life.”

Strategic acquisitions for a strong future

As well as manufacturing its component technol ogy, Strix has three key consumer brands - As trea, LAICA, and Aqua Optima. Acquisition of these brands has formed part of Strix’s strategic growth.

The acquisition of Astrea was part of a wider buyout of the assets of HaloSource, which Mark explained had a three-pronged attraction.

“With the acquisition of the HaloSource assets, we ac quired two innovative products which really add to our business offering - Astrea and HaloPure,” he said.

Astrea uses pioneering technology to produce filtering bottles, which reduces lead, pharma ceuticals and more than 20 contaminants. It also lessens the need for single-use plastic, applying to Strix’s sustainability mission.

Manufacturing Feature

Our mission is to develop innovative products that allow consumers to life a safer, more enjoyable and sustainable life.

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Manufacturing Feature

Strix

Meanwhile, the HaloPure filtration technol ogy firstly eliminates any microorganisms in the water, then releases hypobromous acid to maintain ongoing microbial control. This can be used in agriculture, disinfection and healthcare.

“Above all, what we also acquired was knowledge and experience,” shared Mark, “HaloSource are the experts in research and development in this field, so we’re really pleased that they are now part of the Strix team”.

The acquisition of Italian firm, LAICA, gave Strix access to the Italian market.

LAICA, which has been an established brand for nearly 50 years, specialises in high quality small household appliances.

“LAICA’s ethos was also a great fit for us,” ex plained Mark, “its a brand committed to enhanc ing everyday life and improving family wellbeing”.

Acquisitions of HaloSource and LAICA came with additional manufacturing facilities for Strix in Shanghai and Italy, respectively.

As well as the firm’s acquisitions, it has made other developments to aid in its growth.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic we managed to consolidate our factories in China, building and launching a new facility within 14 months,” shared Mark, “It was a fantastic achievement by our team in China who executed this on time and on budget, despite the challenges.”

The Chinese manufacturing facility adds to the sites in Shanghai and Italy, as well as Strix design and manufacturing operations in the Isle of Man.

A royally good product

Research indicates that around £300 million is wasted per year in the UK by boiling water that is never used. Reported in 2019, the average kettle uses around 6% of all the electricity sup

plied to British homes.

In answer to this, Strix launched its innovative product, Aurora (under the Aqua Optima brand), in June 2021.

“Aurora is a water station able to provide true boiled, filtered and chilled water,” said Mark, “the precise volume delivery avoids wasting energy in the boiling and chilling process.”

Strix, which has been the recipient of four Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, featured in The Official Platinum Jubilee Pageant Commemora tive Album.

Robots on the Strix production line

Strix

Reaching Net Zero

As demonstrated by products such as the Auro ra, Strix is driven by sustainability.

“We have considerable sustainability goals for the business, which includes being carbon net zero by 2023,” shared Mark. Showing its focus in this area, Strix are on target to reach net zero by the end of 2022.

“We have a culture of sustainability at Strix and offset less than 5%. We’ve implemented solar pan els at our new factory in China and we recirculate the boiling water we use in our product testing pro cess in the Isle of Man,” explained Mr Bartlett.

The proof is in the pudding

Strix are four times larger than it’s competitors, and it’s factories are 73% automated, some thing which Mark believes to be unique to the industry.

“What really sets us apart though is our people. Across the globe our team is tremendous - everyone committed to our goals and knowledgeable about our products,” he said.

Since Mark’s tenure, Strix has built strong foun dations to reach its ambitious growth targets.

“We have a great opportunity here, both from a prod uct development perspective and from financial busi ness growth,” he said, “now, it’s time to execute it.” www.strix.com

What really sets us apart though is our people. Across the globe our team is tremendous - everyone committed to our goals and knowledgeable about our products.

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Feature

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Ben Youngman

WRITTEN BY Laura Watling

The Business of Growth

Swiss-Belhotel International is recognized as one of the world’s fastest-growing midsized hotel management groups.

With brands such as Swiss-Belresort, Swiss-Belboutique, Grand SwissBelhotel and Zest, the business provides professional expertise and management services for hotels, resorts and serviced residences globally.

Chairman and President, Gavin Faull, speaks with Business Enquirer about the business success and new brand development – Māua, an exciting emotional brand for special resorts.

With

35 years in the market, Swiss-Belhotel International is a privately owned hotel manage ment company, founded by the late Peter Gautschi - a Swiss national who had an illustrious career in Asia with The Peninsula Group in Hong Kong. Peter Gautschi brought the Swiss professionalism to the exciting environ ment of the Asian passion for hospitality.

Swiss-Belhotel International has a unique com bination of Swiss heritage and Asian passion.

“The business culture of Swiss-Belhotel Interna tional is built on Passion and Professionalism™,” explained Gavin Faull, the Chairman and Pres ident. Gavin also worked with The Peninsula Group to gain his international hotel experience and with his entrepreneurial flair bought over the company, with his partner from the founder.

Today, the Group has 10, strategically locat ed management hubs in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Hanoi, Bangkok, Jakarta, Bali, Baden, Sydney, Auckland, and Dubai with its headquarters in

Swiss-Belhotel

Hong Kong. With this global span, Gavin ensures that he talks and connects with each hub daily, often finishing his communications, due to time zone differences almost at 11.00p.m., no matter which part of the world he is in.

All in the feeling

Swiss-Belhotel International manages 125 ho tels, resorts and serviced residences across 19 countries. The business’s model is to manage the hotel business as the Owner’s partner work ing in close unison and communication with the Owner.

Over time, the landscape of hotel ownership has changed, explained Gavin, expanding from in stitutional ownership (such as banks) to now in dividuals investing their money into hotel assets with personal and passionate involvement.

“Many of our clients are first time hotel owners,” said Gavin, “it is our responsibility to educate own ers on the market, the fact that ROI takes time, and the need to position the product and the need to de velop a modern day hospitality experience. We have to take a very humble and respectful approach”

What makes Swiss-Belhotel International’s ap proach unique is how well connected it is to the hotel owners, ensuring they can have an open line of communication 24/7.

The business prides itself on offering quality market positioned hospitality experiences, but at the right value point. All properties are cul turally sensitive but have the same, high quality service levels.

“Our role is to manage the client’s hotel to their unique style, not enforce a blanket approach to ev ery property under the Swiss-Belhotel Internation al brand,” explained Gavin, “A hotel visitor will not necessarily know they are in a Swiss-Belhotel International product but they can feel that they are in an environment of Passion and Profession alism™”.

Feature

Our role is to manage the client’s hotel to their unique style...

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Travel Feature

Swiss-Belhotel

Inspired by heritage

“In 1999, when we bought the Group with three hotels, little did I know that we would now have 125 properties under our brands, and be considered one of the top 100 hotel brands in the world,” shared Gavin.

Gavin highlighted that his business philosophy is ultimately underpinned by people. “The hotel industry is an emotional business, which is hard to teach and must be infused. During the Covid pan demic, which was a particularly difficult period for our industry, I found my strength in our people,” he said.

“I consider the business to have a direction rather than an ultimate goal, although there may be short term goals along the way. We recruit executives who understand and believe in the direction”.

Gavin hails from Taranaki, New Zealand, where he owns his family’s fifth generation farm. The dairy farm has been recognised for its sustain able methods, attracting VIP guests such as Charles, Prince of Wales.

“The farm is a completely separate business, but it is very exciting and I take a lot of inspiration from my homeland,” said Gavin.

The togetherness of MĀUA

At Gavin’s farm is a carved sculpture - MĀUA. The sculpture represents the ideal state of to getherness and the will to strengthen commu nities. The sculpture was erected as an acknowl edgement of the Faull family’s Māori ancestry and generations of heritage.

It is this history which inspired Swiss-Belhotel International’s latest brand offering - Māua. The aim of Māua is to create a healthy, peace ful and serene environment, in which the guest can experience life and rejuvenation, at one with nature and the environment.

“Māua is a very personal, emotional brand to me, and one which we have approached with cultural sensitivity,” shared Gavin, “the feeling of togeth erness which we are creating seems very appro priate to the post-Covid environment with its en hanced need for sustainability”.

The first Māua property was opened in Bali in March 2022 – MĀUA Nusa Penida. As well as a customer-centric togetherness, the hotel is sustainably led. “We use sustainable products and practices across Māua operation, which reflects the sensitivity of the Māori culture and connects with the Balinese community and environment,” ex plained Gavin, “this is not a mass-market product, and is crucial to us delivering a unique, personalised experience to guests”.

One of the beds at Swiss-Belhotel’s MAUA properties

Travel Feature

Kiwi-bred STAAH checks into 12,000+ pro perty milestone

With 12,000+ customers across 90 countries, the transformational digital technology company, STAAH is all set to double down its growth strategy in the next three years.

How did the STAAH story begin?

STAAH was established by Kiwi entrepreneur, Gavin Jeddo, more than a decade ago to fill the gap in the hospitality industry – a need for affordable and effecti ve distribution solutions for properties, most of which were just about coming to terms with the online boom.

Starting out with a hotel channel manager, the com pany has expanded its product portfolio with innova tive technology that has become an engine of digital growth and revenue for hoteliers across the globe. The STAAH Channel Manager is now an industry-leading offering along with a Hotel Booking Engine, Website Development, Online Reviews and Gift Voucher Engine.

STAAH now: a preferred hotel technology partner STAAH’s success is cornered in its approach to product development.

All the STAAH products are designed to meet the speci fic requirements of the hospitality industry. Amongst all the hoteliers that partner with STAAH for their te chnology needs are hotel groups such as Swiss-Bel Hotel International which has a presence across 21 countries and is one of the top 100 hotel companies in the world. “We are delighted with our association with Swiss-BelHotel,” says Tarun Joukani, Commercial Di rector - STAAH Ltd

“Swiss-BelHotel International is recognised as inno vators and one of the fastest growing hotel groups. Our prolonged partnership of over the last eight years has helped us in product development and innovation producing thbe best-in-class products and services for the hospitality industry.”

STAAH’s native knowledge of the industry and appro ach to product development has also earned it a pre

ferred partner status with leading online travel agents (OTAs), including Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda & Airbnb. The resultant integration between STAAH and these OTAs is fine-tuned to optimise guest journeys and help boost hotels’ bottom line.

The company has been showing a double-digit growth before the pandemic and with business now back to normal it is forecasting the same growth for the next few years. Its multi-cultural and vibrant team has grown from 40 in 2015 to 175+ in 2022. Headquartered in Auckland, STAAH now has seven offices around the world to service its expanding clientele.

Looking into the future

From the initial concept, born out of a desire to sup port accommodation providers who otherwise had few other avenues to find success, STAAH has come a long way to becoming even partners to stalwarts of the industry.

Its product strategy is firmly entrenched in enhancing its core products in a manner that meets the holistic guest acquisition and management needs of accom modation providers.

STAAH’s greatest geographical footprint is across the Asia Pacific, Middle East and UK /Europe regions. Strengthening its position as an employer of choice to ensure STAAH has the team to deliver on its promise of continued double-digit growth.

Together, the plans are ready for the company to ce ment its leadership position and step into the next phase of growth.

Travel Feature

Tourism variety

Despite the travel and tourism industry being grossly affected by the Covid pandemic, it gave the organisation an opportunity to reflect and change.

“Although the industry is starting to see growth again, we are still picking up the pieces. The la bour market is difficult and some regions still have their borders closed,” said Gavin, “however, it has taught us to think differently. For instance, we have increased our online communication throughout the organization and relocated operational func tions across borders”.

Gavin also highlighted how people are now ea ger to travel having been under lockdown for two years. “We are seeing that people want to work less, and experience more. There is more to tourism than a holiday, there is educational tour ism, experience tourism, medical tourism, cultural tourism - we are facing a lot of exciting business opportunities,” he said.

Looking forward, Swiss-Belhotel Internation al now has their eyes on many regions in the next 12-18 months. “As an entrepreneur, as a hotel owner myself, I want to see Swiss-Belho tel International be the key to true hospitality. We want to spread our culture of Passion and Profes sionalism™. We are presently working on exciting opportunities in New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Africa”.

www.swiss-belhotel.com

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Glen Newton

WRITTEN BY Laura Watling

A Business Worth its Weight in Gold

Found in Africa’s fourth largest producer of gold, Tanzania, the Buckreef Gold Project comprises five active prospects - Buckreef, Bingwa, Tembo, Eastern Porphyry, and the recently discovered Anfield. In 2021, Tanzania accounted for 1.3% of the world’s total global gold production.

Led by TRX Gold (headquartered in Toronto, Canada) in partnership with

Tanzania’s state mining corporation (STAMICO), the project, which is fully licensed for the mining and extraction of gold, is currently undertaking considerable expansion.

CEO Stephen Mullowney, who has been at the company for 18 months, speaks to Business Enquirer about the exciting project, its discoveries, and the next steps.

TRX Gold

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Over the last 16 months, we’ve been focused on creating shareholder value by discovering, investigating and expanding the known gold zones at Buckreef Gold,” explained Stephen.

Measures that the company is undertaking to fulfil this include step-out drilling in the north east and southwest extensions of Buckreef Main, and infill drilling at Buckreef West.

TRX Gold also plans to undertake infill drilling to upgrade Mineral Resources in Buckreef Main.

Buckreef, the flagship site of the Buckreef proj ect, encompasses three main mineralised zonesBuckreef South, Buckreef Main and Buckreef North.

Additionally, TRX Gold will seek to upgrade his torical mineral resources at Eastern Porphyry, Bingwa and Tembo, as well as develop an explo ration program for the newly discovered Anfield Zone.

“The project is undergoing a very exciting period of expansion,” said Stephen, “We’re currently pro cessing 360 tonnes of ‘ore’ (economic gold bearing rock) per day, but by the end of August 2022, this will triple to 1000 tonnes per day. Put another way, ev ery month we are currently producing over 750 troy ounces of gold, but with the expended plant this will grow to approximately 2,000 troy ounces a month. With gold selling at around $1,750 per ounce, this makes for an exciting start to our business”

Oxide mining underway at Buckreef

Resources Feature

Resources Feature

FEMA Mining

FEMA Mining has earned a reputation of being a relia ble operational partner to mining organizations across the Tanzanian marketplace with a vision to be a compe titive mining contractor and we are experts in meeting the specific needs of your project.

Located strategically within the Lake Zone mining area, we can also extend our service to operations across the East Africa Region. We can optimize the best benefit world class level services to clients in mining business and to provide energy with operational excellence and reliable service to support national prosperity have comprehensive fleet of equipment for open pit mining and surface work and our team includes experienced and highly skilled workers and supervisors. Our areas of focus are open pit mining, overburden removal, equip ment hiring and drill & blast operations.

We strive to develop strong relationships with communiti es and build sustainable value in local regions by provi ding a range of support to local society.

FEMA earned the load and haul contract with TRX Gold Cor poration at Buckreef since 2019. We have assisted them with several key capital expansion project e.g., plant expansion, tailing storage facility and overburden removal as well as with their day-to-day operations for open pit mining.

We would like to congratulate Steven and his team for the leading the project into prosperous future. We would also like to thank him for his continued support, and we wish TRX Gold Team every success from the future.

Our Managing Director, Hassan Ally, is at hand to an swer your questions to how FEMA Mining can be a key partner to your operations.

TRX Gold

Reinvestment to aid growth

TRX plans to use cash-flow generated from its current production to expand its exploration programme, as well as to advance the metallur gical study of its Sulphide Development Project.

“The work we are doing within the Sulphide De velopment Project will help evaluate the possibility for a high return, large scale project,” explained Stephen, “variability metallurgical studies are currently underway, which is set to be the first 5-7 years of this much larger project”.

The discovery of the Anfield Zone offers yet more opportunity for TRX.

“Our plans for this year include drilling the Anfield Zone and extending the Eastern Porphyry Zone,” shared Stephen.

Most recently, in June 2022, TRX Gold an nounced a 250 metre northeast extension of the Buckreef Gold Main Zone, to a total strike length of 1.8 kilometres. The drill rig is now exploring the southwest area of the Main Zone.

“With the combined expansion and development, we will be able to expand the scope and scale of the Buckreef Gold project,” said Stephen.

The Most Valuable Asset

With ambitious development over the next year, TRX Gold has had to grow its human resource to match.

“We’ve added an additional 200 staff to the mine site in the last year. I’m really excited by how knowl edgeable, industry experienced and hardworking the Tanzanian people are,” shared Stephen.

The additional staff takes TRX Gold’s headcount to 300 at the mine site - 100 of TRX Gold’s own employees and a further 200 contractors.

“Finding human resources and financial capital are both a challenge at the moment. However, the economy is rebounding and both the tourism and mining industries in the country are starting to see a positive shift,” the CEO said.

As part of the business’ sustainability pro gramme, TRX Gold runs educational pro grammes and classroom building in partnership with the local community. It hopes, in turn, it will be able to hire additional staff through this initiative.

Both respect and collaboration are key...

“ “

Stephen believes company culture will play an important role in a future recruitment drive, ensuring prospective employees consider TRX Gold as an exciting and attractive place to work, on a corporate and ground level.

“Both respect and collaboration are key,” said Ste phen

Stephen, who joined the business 18 months ago, comes from a financial background, having worked at PwC for 10 years.

“My experience at PwC enabled me to be well trav eled and included work with governments, it has equipped me well to transition to TRX Gold,” he said.

Part of the Buckreef truck fleet

TRX Gold

Framed by Good ESG Practices

The development of the Buckreef Gold proj ect comes at a time when sustainable mining couldn’t be more newsworthy.

“The Buckreef Gold Project started at the same time that the UN launched the Decade of Action for Sus tainable Development Goals,” explained Stephen, “everything that we do is framed by TRX Gold’s Sustainable Development goals. ESG is central to our business”.

TRX Gold’s philosophy is that its projects should benefit the local community in which it is ex ploring. As such, almost 100% of positions at the mine site are filled by Tanzanian people, and as locally as possible.

“We keep our procurement as local as possible too, from the produce used in the kitchen through to the contractors. This has been integral to help keep our carbon footprint low, and has also benefited us in a time when supply chains have been significantly disrupted globally,” shared Stephen.

The project is connected to the local electrical grid which already has a large hydro-electric compo nent. Once the Julius Nyerere Dam is complet ed in a few years’ time it will be predominantly renewable energy. The project is also recycling 100% of its wastewater.

Time to deliver

“Thanks to the project’s rather simple metallurgy and low-cost nature, current gold production has been able to achieve a 90% gold-recovery rate and a 73% gross profit margin at the end of our Q3,” ex plained Stephen.

With its processing plant capacity increasing to 1000 tonnes per day, the project’s gold yield is set to reach 20,000 oz per year. This gives TRX Gold the required investment opportunities to deliver on its development and expansion aims, whilst also implementing its ESG programme.

Geita RC inspecting the 45th plant construction progress

Resources Feature

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Gary Smith

WRITTEN BY Laura Watling

Striking Silver... and Copper... and more

Tier One Silver is a junior mining exploration company exploring for new, large-scale precious and base metal deposits in Peru - with some already exciting and unexpected discoveries.

The company has two main exploration focuses, including their flagship project Curibaya, where Tier One has discovered record-breaking mineral grades.

President and CEO Peter Dembicki shares the exploration company’s unique story with Business Enquirer.

Tier One Silver

“Mineral

exploration in Peru is exciting but you have to approach it with care and tact,” shared Peter, “it’s quite straightforward to get the required government permits. What is integral, and more complex, is ensuring that the local communities are on board”.

To fulfill this, Tier One pays keen focus to its so cial responsibility, with appreciation that the mining sector makes up 40% of the country’s GDP.

“We employ a lot of people locally in Peru, includ ing geologists from the area. They can provide key insights about the regions, the communities, and governments. Their understanding and in-country connections have played a key role in the success of all stakeholders thus far,” explained Peter.

Tier One also employs a Community Liaison Of ficer, whose role it is to understand which com munity projects would benefit the local people. “This could be agriculture or infrastructure projects, anything that will improve the livelihood of those in the local community,” he said.

It’s clear Tier One has the support of the local community, as the company’s first drill pro gramme at its Curibaya project was blessed with a traditional Peruvian religious ceremony in the summer of 2021.

“The ceremony was an amazing, humbling experi ence, and I’m proud that we have been able to show the local people the value that this project could po tentially have for their community,” shared Peter.

A Geologist’s Dream Find

The mining exploration company’s flagship project, Curibaya, spans around 16,800 ha. The property sits within one of the world’s most pro lific copper porphyry belts, which hosts some of Peru’s largest porphyry deposits. These in clude Freeport McMoRan’s Cerro Verde deposit, Southern Copper’s Cuajone and Toquepala de posits and Anglo American’s Quellaveco deposit.

Tier One Silver

Despite its location, Curibaya had never been drilled before, and now Tier One is preparing for its second phase of drilling after a successful first phase that demonstrated that the grades found on surface do in fact extend to depth.

Rock and channel sampling has found that the silver in this particular area is extremely highgrade. “What we’ve found at Curibaya is phenome nal,” said Peter, “the samples have returned grades of up to 298,000 g/t silver and 934 g/t gold. That substantially surpasses bonanza grade”.

Another staggering find for the company is that beneath the silver system is the potential for an exponential amount of unmined copper.

Tier One has identified the age of mineralisa tion at Curibaya to be Paleocene, ranging from 55 to 61 million years. This is equivalent to several world-class deposits in the southern Peru por phyry belt, including Quellaveco (Anglo Amer ican), Toquepala (Southern Copper Corp.) and Cuajone (Southern Copper Corp.).

“This is a remarkable find, particularly for the major drilling companies that may seek to mine the prop erty,” said Peter, “It’s a geologists dream to en counter a silver system resting on or nearby a large copper porphyry, as any major mining company would factor in the ability to recover the silver whilst pursuing the copper porphyry”.

What’s more, despite a typical silver mine having a mine life of 15-20 years, copper deposits can generally be mined for up to 100 years.

“We are working with world-renowned consultants to identify where we should explore next at Curib aya. Our technical team believes there is an oppor tunity to find additional sub-horizontal bodies of mineralisation, too”.

This is a remarkable find, especially for the major drilling companies

“

OFFICE

Tier One Silver

Exciting Assets

The exciting discoveries don’t stop at Curibaya.

Tier One’s Hurricane Silver project is located in an underexplored region in southeast Peru and expands around 30,000 ha.

In June 2022, the company was granted access to explore the northern area of Hurricane Silver. Once again, not only did the team discover sig nificantly high-grade silver, but also copper, co balt and nickel at an exceptional grade.

“Metals such as nickel and cobalt are in high de mand, particularly with the growing uptake of elec tric vehicles. We have about a year of work to do before we can initiate drilling on this site, but it is already looking to be a really exciting asset,” said Peter.

Changing Perceptions

Having made such significant progress, Tier One’s team is looking forward to preparing tar gets for their second phase of drilling and explo ration.

“We aim to have 20 strong silver focused targets to drill. We are currently being very methodical about gathering high priority drill targets to minimise the exploration risks,” shared Peter, “along with this, we plan to test the potential for a copper porphyry deposit, so prior to drilling we are refining our geo physical surveys”.

The challenge for the business, Peter believes, is changing the perception of mining, at both a cor porate and social level.

“From a socio-economic perspective, it’s important that we educate on mine reclamation. With today’s high environmental standards, a producing mine can return the land to its original state and give it back to the earth once the project has been complet ed. There aren’t many industries that can actually do that,” explained Peter. “It’s also crucial that we

continue to place importance on community rela tions, which is why we have our Community Liaison Officer”.

Peter also highlighted the importance of educat ing the public’s understanding of metal require ments.

“The uptake of EVs is a fantastic step forward to re duce carbon, but the batteries and materials require a mined product. Our current and future societies are dependent on metals to function. Meanwhile, an exploration company’s carbon footprint is relatively light, needing only the basics to function”

Despite Peru’s volatile politics (its seen five pres idents in five years with a sixth on the way), Peter describes politics in the nation as a short-term game, whilst mining is long-term.

“Peru offers the perfect mix. The government and the people are on board, whilst, as a country, it also remains largely unexplored,” he said.

For investors, Tier One offers two strong explo ration swings with Curibaya and Hurricane Sil ver. “I’ve seen no other exploration company with the same potential,” shared Peter.

Tier One Silver

A Sum Of All Its Parts

An important element of Peter’s role as CEO, he believes, is to set an example - both as an indi vidual and as a business.

“The metals have been there for 50 million years,” he said, “as an exploration business we have a re sponsibility to maintain the integrity of the land and respect all involved parties while working to produce a mutually beneficial result”.

Peter notes that any future buyers of Tier One’s projects will undoubtably take into account the reputation of the business.

As such, he considers it key to ensure he has an open door and allows everyone’s voices to be heard.

“Tier One is nothing without its people,” Peter shared, “we are the sum of all our parts”.

www.tieronesilver.com

Tier One is nothing without its people... we are the sum of all our parts.

“

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Matthew Ward

WRITTEN BY Frew Murdoch

Chris and Jordan Fischer, Co-Founders, WALK-i-TASK

Walk the Talk

WALK-i-TASK helps companies and individuals to navigate the gray area between work and wellness.

Chris and Jordan Fischer are two individuals who have experienced both the positive productivity effects as well as the negative wellness impact of working from home. The Fischers are co-found ers of WALK-i-TASK, an innovative health and fitness product in the form of a height-adjustable desk that attaches to a treadmill.

Organizations

continue to feel the pres sure to introduce flexible hybrid work ing models or fully remote positions. However, with this new frontier comes new responsibility in the form of work-life bal ance and employee wellness for both the indi vidual and employer. Work-life boundaries have been blurred and individuals are increasing the time spent in front of devices. These behaviors are habit-forming and, as many people have re ported, it becomes difficult to “turn off” after a long day of work, even when in the comfort of their own home.

Launched in 2019, the product was designed to solve the classic digital age problem: how to find the balance between optimal work efficiency and being tied to a desk, which can easily lead to a ball-and-chain sedentary lifestyle. The revered ideal of 10 000 steps a day, as touted by various charged-up fitness gurus, has always seemed so unrealistic, until now.

“Jordan and I started working on WALK-i-TASK back in 2019 before the pandemic. We had just started working from home where we began to ex perience the effects of sitting all day. It wasn’t just the physical impact of gaining weight, but also the mental drain that took a toll on us. We knew that we needed to make a change in our lives and essentially, move more,” said Chris.

WALK-i-TASK

Chris and Jordan decided to take a shelf from the wall and create a makeshift desk to place on a treadmill. At first, they were thrilled as they could work and walk, however, several pain points soon emerged.

Many treadmills have low handrails, which means the user has to hunch and compromise their posture to work. DIY variations also pose a harmful risk to both the user and their work devices. In addition, traditional treadmills with built-in desks cost thousands of dollars, making them extremely inaccessible to the average Joe. The final issue is that many available treadmill desks cap out at around 4mph, preventing users from performing strenuous cardio activity. As a result of these problems, the seed of WALK-iTASK was planted.

“We realized that there were many people out there looking for products like this. We decided to design and develop a product that people would love so we created a height-adjustable desk attachment pro totype to solve these problems. We took pictures and shared these as advertisements on social media to gauge customer interest through clicks and interac tions. This gave us confidence as many people were looking for a resource just like this but hadn’t been able to find one,” shared Chris.

Walking alongside employers

Remote work looks like it is here to stay in the world’s new normal. In a recent study, wellknown job search site Indeed found that global remote work job listings tripled from 2.5 to 7.5% between January 2020 and September 2021. Ca reer search resource Ladders predicts that 25% of professional positions in North America will be remote by the end of this year. With these sta tistics in mind, how can employers assist with employee wellness in the work-from-home en vironment?

“The pandemic created this unique market where people are working from home; whether that’s full time or this new hybrid model. People are looking for a solution to move more throughout the day. On the business-to-business side, the pandemic put pressure on corporations to value the health and wellness of their employees more, which is fantas tic and should have happened sooner. We’ve been connecting with more corporations to either include our WALK-i-TASK desk in their existing wellness programs or subsidize the cost for their employees,” explained Jordan.

“Employee wellness is huge. Whether it’s physical or mental health, it should be at the forefront of every employer’s culture. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it also has the knock-on effect of healthier and happier employees, meaning higher productivi ty and lower corporate health care costs. Many of our customers are work-from-home employees looking to lead better lives; better for themselves, better for their loved ones, and better for their communities. That’s a huge part of building company cultures. It is truly a win-win; not only for the employee but also the employer,” said Chris.

The starting blocks, the sprint, and the mara thon

Chris and Jordan stick to three core values that guide them in business. Firstly, the customer is everything - there is no detail too small. They continue to exceed their target market’s expec

A woman works on a laptop whilst walking on a treadmill

Wellness Feature

Wellness Feature

WALK-i-TASK

tations by acting upon feedback from their web site’s live chat support and discovering new ways to improve the online customer journey.

Secondly, to embody passion. Jordan elaborated: “We are both very passionate about helping people sit less and move more. We know that sitting for six plus hours a day can take a toll on you, both mentally and physically. We’ve been able to provide a resource to our customers to help them live a more active lifestyle and now they get to experience the benefits of walk ing, which include an increase in energy, increase in productivity, and even weight loss.”

Lastly, to remain innovative and agile in an ev er-changing market. This manifests in several ways, such as improving the WALK-i-TASK desk attachment design to fit more treadmill brands and finding new and creative means to leverage ad spend and marketing methods. With this sol id foundation in place, WALK-i-TASK is striding towards an interesting and successful future.

In terms of what the future holds, WALK-iTASK has clearly defined goals. In the short term, they aim to continue to build excellent relation ships with companies that have existing corpo rate wellness programs. This is WALK-i-TASK’s path of least resistance as these employers have already accepted that investment in employee wellness is key to success.

“In the medium term, we look to expand into Eu rope. Currently, we are only selling our desk in North America and we are getting a lot of attention and requests from our friends there in Europe. We aim to begin a partnership over there so we can start fulfill ing orders,” said Chris.

“For our long-term goal, we want to help the lives of over 100,000 people. The treadmill is the most pop ular cardio equipment in the world so we know that our possibilities are endless with that, and let’s be honest, who wouldn’t benefit from a WALK-i-TASK desk,” finished Jordan.