12 minute read
Careers & Qualifications in Fenestration
SPONSORED BY GQA AND BUILDING OUR SKILLS
GQA Qualifications is the only issuer of CSCS cards for the Glass and Fenestration industries. Building Our Skills is a strategic campaign designed to help bridge the growing skills gap in the Fenestration Industry
CAREERS NEW APPOINTMENTS
LEADERSHIP SUCCESS SETS HURST UP FOR FUTURE
Hurst Doors commitment to investing in its workforce and providing the highest levels of products and service has been demonstrated with five of its factory and office team achieving Highfield Level 2 certificates in Team Leadership.
Sarah West, Steve Pullen, Bob Halls, Aide Page and Lee Gray have been equipped with the skills they need to lead a team successfully. This included learning motivation techniques to get the best from people and methods for resolving disputes, giving them the confidence to tackle difficult issues and the tools to develop as a leader. Training for the qualification was carried out by Sarah Van Der Eykyn, Managing Director at Ideal Training Solutions & Leadership based in Hull. Mark Atkinson, Hurst’s Sales Director, said: “The team put in a great effort and several of them are now progressing onto the diploma level. All are being encouraged to implement what they’ve learnt into practice in the work-place. “Sarah was extremely supportive and adapted the training for those that didn’t work on PCs, using workbooks and running question and answer sessions where needed instead. We’d like to thank her for all her help.” The company’s investment in upskilling its employees is not stopping there, with several members of its Customer Services team working towards their Highfield’s Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service. Kevin Wheatman, Hurst’s Director/General Manager said: “Our people are central to our business, and we have invested in the training and development of our team to help them reach their full potential and support further growth of the business. It is important staff feel valued and training supports them to become more efficient and effective in their roles, which in turn helps to increase customer satisfaction.
“In our commitment to our customers, our strategy for continuously improving our business has always been to invest, to ensure we deliver quality products and exceptional customer support.” For more information, please call 01482 790790 or visit: www.hurstdoors.co.uk.
TEAM SUCCESS – (L-R) Kevin Wheatman, Sarah Van Der Eykyn, Sarah West, Bob Halls, Lee Gray, Aide Page, Steve Pullen and Mark Atkinson
NEW APPOINTMENTS NEW APPOINTMENT AT EPWIN WINDOW SYSTEMS
Epwin Window Systems has further strengthened its technical sales team with the appointment of Neville Gleed as Technical Development Manager for Stellar, the multi award-winning retail aluminium system.
Commenting on Neville’s appointment, Paul Booth, Design Director (aluminium) at Epwin Window Systems, said: “We are delighted to welcome Neville to the team. He’s highly experienced in the industry and his expertise will be invaluable as we continue to grow Stellar’s customer base.” Neville commented: “Epwin Window Systems is a well-established name in the industry and is supported by a great team of people. It’s an exciting time to be joining Epwin Window Systems with its continued investment across the business to support its customers. I am delighted to have joined the company.” He added: “I have been impressed with Stellar since its launch. It’s one of the few purposely designed aluminium systems for the domestic market without any workarounds. The unique patented reverse butt joint and pre-gaskets make it the go-to system for installers as it’s so easy to fit and delivers the best in streamlined aesthetics. Plus the system was ready in advance for Part L thanks to its future-proofed design, and will be ready for future legislation too.” Neville will be a familiar face to many because he is no stranger to the window industry. He has worked for several highprofile businesses in the sector since the 1980s and brings a great deal of insight and experience with him. Neville’s role will be to support Stellar’s growing customer base. He will be involved with new business development and customer set-ups, helping to ensure new fabricators can hit the ground running. He will also work closely with the management teams on ongoing R&D and new product development projects. He reports directly to Paul Booth. Tel: 0845 340 3968 www.epwinwindowsystems.co.uk
NEW HR DIRECTOR JOINS ALUK UK BOARD
Six months after joining AluK in the newly created role of HR Business Partner, Kirsty Parker has been appointed to the UK board as HR Director.
This high-profile promotion reflects AluK’s ongoing commitment to attracting, developing, and retaining more of the talented people that are critical to its success and future growth. Kirsty’s immediate priority is to design and implement new frameworks and employeefocused practices which will make it even easier for everyone at AluK to do their best work. She will also be developing a new leadership programme which will give leaders at every level within the business the knowledge they need to coach their own teams.
An experienced HR professional, Kirsty has worked extensively on wellbeing, employee engagement and digital transformation projects with other global businesses. She stressed the benefits that an employee focused culture can bring to a business: “Employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction are inextricably linked, so creating the kind of experience for our people which meets their changing expectations of the workplace and helps deliver a high-performance work culture will ultimately benefit our fabrication partners, as well as AluK.” Kirsty Parker joins newly appointed Sales Director Wayne Heath on the expanded AluK UK board.
GQA Qualifications, the awarding and qualifications-writing organisation is lending its support to a progressive and life-changing initiative for young people called ‘Nobody Left Behind’. The scheme combines community sports programmes with construction-related training and qualifications to improve young people’s employment prospects for entry-level construction industry roles.
Nobody Left Behind works with groups of young people who have predominantly been social care service users, and gives support to try and steer them away from dropping into gang culture. Following a 4-week programme of community sports training with household name sports stars, students move on to work towards gaining GQA’s Level 1 Award in Construction Health and Safety and the GQA green general construction site Labourer’s CSCS card, as well as H&Srelated training such as manual handling and traffic marshalling, all accredited through GQA. Civil Engineering Careers, the agency championing the work-related training then facilitates interviews with construction employers who look to offer employment opportunities to programme participants. Commenting on its work with Nobody Left Behind and Civil Engineering Careers, GQA’s Technical Officer, Phil Douglas, says: “I noticed posts in my local area in Liverpool for community boxing camps, and having been involved in amateur boxing myself at schoolboy level, and also being a boxing fan, I started to find out more about this project. I reached out to and met with the initiative’s team, and it was clear that GQA would be a good fit for the learning element of the programme. We have rapidly built a good working relationship, and have supported the scheme in its development. “I’m pleased to be working with the programme and its participants, helping them to benefit from GQA-accredited qualifications, CSCS cards and certificates. In addition, I’m happy to report that GQA and Building Our Skills - Making Fenestration, Glass and Glazing a Career of Choice have provided sponsorship support to help the programme get off the ground. We’ve donated towards a minibus that the initiative needs to help transport young people from further across the area, and we have been very pleased to be able to help in this small way. We have also been asked about development into other sectors in which we work. young people into employment in the next four years, and that’s a goal we’re honoured to get fully behind. It’s a pleasure to see the sense of achievement on the faces of the young people when they are told they have passed their CSCS card test, and the joy in their voices when they tell their friends “I’m starting work on Monday.” The initiative is a perfect fit with GQA’s philosophy of people development.” Barbara Travis, MD of CE Careers who heads up the initiative says: “I am so pleased to have established a relationship with GQA, who support the community initiatives and the education side through a range of accredited courses that help skill young people and give them the best chance of gaining employment. “As we progress, we will be offering multi-sports including boxing, football, rugby, cycling and hiking. We are offering female-only sessions in boxing with the hope of encouraging more girls to look at construction as a potential career choice, and football camps for both boys and girls with ex Liverpool and England footballers. GQA are a key part of our growth, and a partner that we are immensely happy with as our awarding body.” Nobody Left Behind is attracting the backing of senior politicians across the Merseyside region, and its aims are a perfect fit with the Liverpool City Region Growth Plan 2021-24. In addition, well-known sports people are using their platforms to raise awareness of how sport can play a key role in the motivation, training and support of young people trying to find their way to employment. Detective Superintendent Siobhan Gainer, Head of the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership said: “The progression and employment rate through this initiative is way above the national average for courses such as this. I think its success is down to the fact that it has found such a popular way of engaging young people through sport, and that this has worked hand-in-glove with the opportunity to gain training and qualifications that demonstrably lead to work. Having an employer and a specialist in training has been crucial, and it has both raised the bar for other courses and profoundly changed the course of young peoples’ lives.” More information on GQA is available at www.gqaqualifications.com.
CAREERS
DOORCO ACCREDITED WE INVEST IN APPRENTICES SILVER
Leading composite door supplier, DoorCo has achieved the We invest in apprentices Silver accreditation, providing an apprenticeship framework for the business to attract and train new talent to the business.
Jayne Sullivan, Co-owner at DoorCo comments: “As an industry, we need to do more to attract talent. The fenestration industry is fantastic to be part of and one that offers opportunity for varied and fulfilling careers for young people. Promoting this at grassroots, through schools and universities is key and by offering apprenticeships, we are able to invite young people into our thriving industry. This is something DoorCo is passionate about, so we are delighted to have achieved the We invest in apprentices Silver accreditation for the next three years, based on the apprenticeships and training we have delivered so far.”
Matthew Elliot, DoorCo’s Systems Lead, has been instrumental in obtaining the accreditation and comments: ““Investors in People is widely recognised as the benchmark for good practice in training and development. To achieve the accreditation, we underwent a vigorous assessment which explored the business, our people and the existing apprenticeship programmes. The resulting accreditation not only marks DoorCo as a good employer but it provides a practical framework for the next three years to help us enhance our apprentice experience and monitor how well we’re supporting them at work, including development, communication and support. “Apprenticeships give DoorCo an opportunity to develop skills relevant to our organisation. They are available at multiple levels and ages – not just for young people leaving education - and therefore provide an opportunity for people upskilling in their careers or looking for a complete career change. DoorCo is passionate about being a top employer and is always keen to shine the spotlight on the team’s achievements. We as a team feel we are understood, respected and that our opinions and ideas are heard. We understand where we can develop, that we have clear career paths, and we are supported along the way. This is why people are able to grow within the company, and there is a clear committed to opening this up further with more training and development opportunities and a rapidly growing apprenticeship programme. “To be awarded Silver on our first assessment is an incredible achievement and a credit to the hard work to all the managers, mentors, and apprentices at DoorCo. We are very much committed to delivering our action plan that is focused on providing our current and future apprentices - a new generation of talent - a structure to help them develop their skillsets and knowledge at the very start of their lifelong careers with us, and we are already working towards obtaining the Gold accreditation to improve the experience even further.”
Jayne concludes: “The We invest in apprentices recognises DoorCo as a good employer, raising our profile to help us stand out from other apprentice employers and ultimately, attract better talent. Afterall, good apprentices want to work for good employers, and this is key to the future of our business and the industry at large.” For more information on DoorCo call: 01625 428955 or visit: www.door-co.com.
REGIONAL INSTALLER, NATIONWIDE BRANDING OR LEAD GENERATION?
SOCIAL MEDIA & HOMEOWNER MARKETING PACKAGE - only with Improve!
Improve Magazine targets homeowners across the UK. We promote companies who sell windows, doors, conservatories, garden rooms and interior renovations to homeowners and we do this via our lifestyle magazine through email and social media.
With a Facebook reach of over 500,000 homeowners, and a subscription list of 16,500 consumers, with interests in homes, DIY and gardening, Improve is the perfect platform to advertise your products and services. Our targeted email database contain subscribers who are ABC 1 homeowners, to get your products in front of potential customers.
What’s more, we do all of the work for you, from ad concept to design, Facebook ads and social media posts.
Take a look at the package we are offering:
• Improve Magazine - full page ad with editorial feature
• Editorial feature converted to a Facebook ad and advertised within your postal region • Facebook ads link back to your article on our landing page, where customers can enquire • Web address and your contact details also included on the landing page for direct web traffic • Weekly posts on social media platforms: Twitter, Instagram and
• Promotion lasts for a three month period • All this for just £495 +VAT (one invoice to cover a three month period)
