News & Views
Fightback against metal theft
D
riven by the insatiable appetite for base metals in China until 2008, and then the timid resurgence of western economics in the US and Europe, the price of base metals like copper has steadily increased as global demand continues to outstrip supply. The metal recycling industry is worth roughly £5.6 bn annually and employs just under 8,600 people in the UK. However, this dramatic price rise has created an underground economy which is costing the UK up to £220 million a year in loss and damages. The Coalition government has displayed conviction when dealing with the problem of metal theft. The Scrap Metal Dealers Bill received Royal Assent in February 2013. The new laws mean that an enhanced application process for a scrap dealer's license is to come into operation. Anyone selling scrap metal to a dealer must provide identification at the point of sale which is then recorded and retained by the dealer in question. Dealing in cash could also result in heavy penalties as magistrates are allowed to impose unlimited fines on offenders. There have been a number of cases of metal theft that have captured the imagination of the public and have therefore created some headlines. Early April saw the closure of Puddlers Bridge in Merthyr Tydfil because of an attempted theft of metal worth just £20. The total cost of the clean up and repair operation was estimated to reach £12,000. This is a dramatic example of the social and financial disruptions this sort of crime can create. There has been some significant results in the efforts of the government and law enforcement agencies to tackle the problem of metal theft,
specifically on the railways. The total delays caused by metal theft fell by more than 50% in the year up to March 2013 from 6,000 hours in 2011 down to 2,700 hours.
This success has been attributed to the new legislation designed to tackle the expensive problem of metal theft. Transport minister, Norman Baker, said: “The coalition government is strongly committed to tackling metal theft and it is heartening to see that the decisive action that has been taken is now paying off with some major reductions in this kind of crime.” The Scrap Metal Dealers Bill (2013) is certainly having a positive effect. However David Myers, Regional Managing Director – South for ADT Fire and Security says businesses must still be vigilant: “The onus is still on businesses to take steps in effective and robust security measures to stop their premises becoming a potential target for metal theft.” David suggests implementing a total security strategy that combines trained security guards, biometric access control, Automatic Number Plate Recognition access technology and substantial investment in a CCTV system:
GSL Dardan Ltd Registered Office Brooke House, John Hyrne Way Longwater Business Park Norwich NR5 0AF t f
Norwich Peterborough Ipswich Cambridge Gt Yarmouth Lowestoft Aberdeen Kings Lynn Leiston e
“Metal theft can have a vast degree of repercussions for both businesses and members of the public. It is a threat that should therefore not go unnoticed, and by applying the security approaches outlined, businesses, regardless of size, can proactively reduce the chance of becoming the next victim.”
01 603 447000 01 603 447001
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enquiries@gsldardan.co.uk www.gsldardan.co.uk @gsldardan
Issue 50 - May 2013
News & Views Is this GSL Dardan’s fittest employee? GSL Dardan now employs in excess of 500 personnel, with this amount of employees it is always interesting to find out about our colleagues; hobbies, ambitions and challenges. One such employee is Ian MacFarlane who works in Norwich control. Ian has taken up a personal challenge of entering various fitness events to test his mettle. Ian will be fund raising later this year for Macmillan Cancer and will be creating a just giving page shortly. If anyone would like to support Ian with this cause the details are: www.justgiving.com/Ian-MacFarlane Is this GSL Dardan’s fittest employee? If you have any similar hobbies, ambitions and challenges you would like us to feature, please let us know. In 2012 he took part in;Tibenham 10k, Norwich Half Marathon, Lowestoft Santa fun run. Ian's events for this year are; Colchester Half Marathon, Hethersett 30/60 Cycle ride, Brighton Marathon, 2.5K Swimathon, Kings Lynn 10k, Norwich 50/100 Cycle ride, Great Yarmouth Half Marathon,Norwich Half Marathon.
This months staff profile is brought to you as a duo. Anthony Reeve and Matthew Skoyles are both recent additions to GSL Dardan team and both assigned to Searles of Hunstanton in West Norfolk.
Staff Profile
Anthony, pictured on the right is 35 years old with 3 children and is from Heacham. He is new to the security industry having worked in the past as a courier and concierge at 5 Red Star Hotels. Family is very important to Anthony having been engaged for nearly a year and enjoys socialising with friends, listening to music and golf. Matthew, pictured on the left, is 25, lives in Kings Lynn and is also relatively new to the security industry having worked in warehouses, window cleaning and steel work in the past. Outside of work, Matthew practices a martial art called Kuk Sool Won and attained his black belt in 2010, he is currently training for his second degree black belt. Matthew and his partner had the fantastic news last Christmas that they are expecting a baby boy in August.
GSL Dardan Grapevine Well Done... I would like to acknowledge an excellent find by Rita Bernote whilst carrying out x ray duties in central search. Steve Cook Regional Manager
“We had an incident today when an unauthorised member of the public was found wandering in our secure office space. Your staff member James handled the situation in a very professional and efficient manner and when the individual was asked to leave by James he was subject to some fairly heavy duty verbal abuse outside in the street once the indivudual had been ejected. I felt that you would like to know how well your employee responded to the incident and of the confid ence my staff have in his abilities” Keith Jones, Peterborough Citizens Advice Bureau Well Done from Jeremy Pye, Peterborough Regional Manager
We've developed a safety training session for team leaders. This is designed to complement our training commitment to getting all team leaders qualified to IOSH Managing Safely level; in two ways: ·For those recently joining us who've yet to start the course -preparation ·For those already qualified – a refresher
The training covers our responsibilities under the enabling Act (Health and Safety at Work Act 1974), and 1 subsequent regulations and Statutory Instruments Major (SIs). It has been surprising that no matter what Injury the level of knowledge among trainees has been, when discussing “Near Miss” reporting all have a varying level of recognition that there is a Minor Injuries “triangle” of causation: for every number of serious events, there is a greater number of minor. Here it is.
29
300
No-injury Accidents
GSL Dardan Grapevine Training Door Supervisor Upgrade
Aviation Security Level 1
K Barnes (Ipswich) T Blower (Events) A Burffery (Ipswich) B Fisher (Ipswich) M Fisher (Ipswich) Z Jarosz (Norwich) S Kirk (Norwich) M McDonough (Ipswich) J Price (Events) D Smart (Ipswich) R Starbuck (Norwich) W Stewart (Norwich) N Storey (Events) S Wright (Ipswich) J Yaxley (Norwich) R McKenny (Norwich) J Flanagan (Norwich)
B Nepal (Aberdeen) S Rajbhandari (Aberdeen)
Aviation Security Level 1 Refresher K Mead (Bond)
BJT & Conflict Management G Borrett (YLP) T Bruen (Ipswich) T Burnett (Ipswich) L Williams (Ipswich)
Aviation Security Level 2 Refresher D Meechan (Bond)
New Starts Ryan Cole (CSO Norwich) Adam Sevell (YLP) Graham Borrett (YLP) Trevor Bruen (Ipswich) Trevor Burnett (Ipswich) Louise Williams (Ipswich) David Sayer (Control Room)
First Aid K Jenkins 3 Day P Lesperance 3 Day
Systems Jobs ·Intruder alarm upgrade with a GSL Dardan response for The Compass Centre, Belton. ·Upgrade of Monitored CCTV system for Bauders, Ipswich. ·Functional PTZ camera install to cover a car park in Hunstanton for Kings Lynn Council. ·Additions to the Intruder alarm for Rogers and Norton Solicitors, Norwich. ·CCTV installation at the Beach Coach Station development in Gt Yarmouth for RG Carters. ·Repair to the Access Control System for Lingwood Primary School.
Congratulations Congratulations to Jess Lawton on the birth to 6lb 12 oz baby boy Oliver Benjamin Lawton on the 21st April. Congratulations Debbie Milward, who became Debbie Jones as she got married to Mark Jones on the 20th April at the Dragon Hall in Norwich.
Congratulations to Darron Richards who has recently returned to work following his marriage and honeymoon.
Client Profile Searles Leisure Group owns and operates a large holiday resort, a luxury country hotel, a country park with 2 golf courses and a sea tours company. Searles is one of the UK's most established and trusted privately owned companies operated by the same family for 4 generations and 84 years. A family ran resort, Searles knows the importance of creating a friendly and safe holiday environment. 24 hour security is an important core value. GSL Dardans experienced and friendly team has been providing evening and night time security at the resort for over 10 years. Searles director Andrew Searle stated: ‘We are happy to know we can depend on the efficient team at GSL Dardan to support and uphold our important safety and friendly core values within our resort, allowing guests to simply relax and enjoy their holiday knowing they are in safe hands.' 'Visit England' have awarded Searles Leisure Resort 5 stars 'Excellent' in their grading scheme and MMM magazine awarded their highest ever score to the Touring park, making Searles a Premier Park for 2013. The resort on South Beach Road in Hunstanton, offers a great variety of holiday homes to suit all budgets from the typical caravan holiday to the luxury wooden lodges with hot tubs! There are award winning Touring & Camping 'Premier' Park pitches to suit all varieties of motorhomes, caravans, folding campers and tents. With Short Breaks from only £164 per holiday home and Touring & Camping from only £11 per pitch per night, Searles offers extremely good value for money with many facilities included within the price you pay. FREE entertainment and fun activities with shows are available throughout the day and evenings. The resort has a fantastic leisure complex consisting of a heated indoor swimming pool with jacuzzi & sauna. Summertime provides a further outdoor heated swimming pool with slide, toddlers pool, fun features and a crazy splash pad area. FREE fun also includes an indoor children's activity play area. Electricity, water and heating are included FREE with all holiday homes and serviced pitches where applicable. (Newspaper promotions excluded)
Client Profile For a spot of recreational sport, Searles Country Park is open to all and offers a 9 hole golf course, driving range, golf tuition, a bowling green, tennis courts, petanque and fishing lakes. All set within an area of outstanding natural beauty you can also enjoy a relaxing meal and drink at the newly rebranded Fountain Restaurant & Bar.
One of the most well known sights to Hunstanton is the famous amphibious vessel, The Wash Monster, part of six fantastic sea trips provided by Searles Sea Tours established 84 years ago. A new vessel has joined the team this year and is being prepared for launch later in 2013, aptly named 'Wizzy' after Sea Tours director William Searle and his wife Liz. Heacham Manor, Searles charming country manor hotel with luxurious rooms, fine dining restaurant, an 18 hole golf course and self catering cottages also continues to grow since opening its doors in 2009. The Mulberry Restaurant has been given the fantastic accolade of an AA Rosette award. The long-established Rosette scheme recognises successful cooking at different levels across the UK. A new Spa & Wellness centre is being built during 2013, as Searles Leisure Group continues to lead the way in family holidays, truly creating happiness for all ages.
For more information and bookings please contact:
Searles Leisure Resort: & Searles Country Park: Tel: 01485 534211 Email: bookings@searles.co.uk Visit: www.searles.co.uk
Searles Sea Tours: Tel: 01485 534 444 Email: seatours@searles.co.uk Visit: www.seatours.co.uk
Heacham Manor Hotel: Tel: 01485 536030 Email: info@heacham-manor.co.uk Visit: www.heacham-manor.co.uk