SGNmail Issue 7

Issue 7 • May 2015

Have your say!

Complete our 2015 engagement survey and make sure your voice is heard

P11

Our new look!

We’re transforming our streetworks Also inside...

win!

ce Unique experien up for grabs!

P8

t Pick your perfec Red Letter Day prize!

See page 20

Oil discovered near our head office • Health MOT • Plain English training + more!

Welcome

Oban

Welcome to issue 7

THE BIG UPDATE

Saving with innovation

...of your SGNmail

W

hat do you think of when you come across the word ‘value’? Do you think about what something is worth or what it stands for? ins Our company values help to Janice Co ll drive our business forward and just like our own personal values, they define who we are and how others see us.

This month we take a look at each of our values in different ways.

The Big Update on this page shows how innovation is helping to drive performance and our employee engagement survey update, on pages 11 and 12, shows how we put our people at the heart of what we do.

Our ‘Spotlight on’ (page 5) is about how we look after customers, and our community updates highlight how we’re sustaining our world.

As for safety first, well, arguably that’s part of everything we do, every single day. But this month, we can see it in action in the shape of our golden safety rules launch (on page 7) and our shiny new streetworks (on page 8).

Finally, we really do value your thoughts on SGNmail, so please get in touch with any comments or ideas. See below for contact details.

Happy reading!

Janice Collins Senior Internal Communications Manager

Get in touch!

We’d love to hear from you – here’s how you can contact us: By phone

0141 418 4053

We’re almost halfway through our three-year ‘Opening up the Gas Market’ innovation project in Oban to prove we can safely and efficiently use a different composition of gas, which could save more than £325 million every year.

W

e’re currently testing the gas in homes in Oban, the biggest appliance survey ever completed in Europe.

We’ve been to more than 550 homes already and we’re on track to complete testing in June, before injecting the new gas into Oban’s discrete network in July and testing it for a year.

The project has already gained international recognition, having reached the final six of the International Gas Union awards from 500 entries.

The awards take place at the World Gas Conference in Paris next month and we’ll update you on how we do on SGNnet.

Project Manager Jamie McAinsh acknowledged the engineers who have been involved so far: “We really appreciate the efforts of everyone who has helped Check out us over the last sgn.co.uk/oban few months. for more information They’re putting on what we’re Oban at the up to in the forefront of global region energy innovation.”

sgnmail@sgn.co.uk Post internally to

Internal Communications, SGN, 95 Kilbirnie Street, Glasgow G5 8JD

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SGNmail May 2015

Congratulations and well done to the following engineers, who have contributed to the project’s success so far: l Oban: Alan Hamilton, Chris Eccleston and Frank Stefek l Campbeltown: Ronnie McKerral, Kenny Matheson l Thurso: Mark Cannop l Wick: Tony Palmer and Perry MacKenzie l Stornoway: Donald Macauley l Glasgow: Archie MacDonald, Thomas McGladrigan and Martin Beer l Aberdeen: Donald MacDonald l Hillington: John Braids l Dumfries: Craig Wilson and Ian Murray l Dundee: Paul MacDonald l Edinburgh: Liam Glaister, Justin Brake, Scott MacGregor and Wayne Crowe l Training: Sam Foster

In your mag this month...

Industry insider

Email your stories and pictures to

ROLL OF HONOUR

Developing our people

P12

Be well

P15

P6

Getting personal

P16

P9

Community corner

P18

P4

Spotlight on… Customer Service P5 The business A postcard from… London

FEATURE: Employee engagement P10

SGN social network + Competition P20

Performance

A message from John

Our Evolve project is progressing well and there's been plenty of good feedback since distributing and training more than 3,000 colleagues on our new smartphones and mobile apps.

We're already halfway through the updates for our office-based colleagues across 21 sites.

Despite the potential for disruption by changing computers, monitors and operating systems, it's encouraging to hear that feedback was extremely positive (see below).

The next challenge is the roll-out of our new tablet devices across all operations – another milestone in the deployment of our new technology.

We're into a new financial year (2015/16) and our Finance team has been working hard preparing our 2014/15 year end accounts.

The auditors have been in to check all is in order, which of course is all part of the financial governance of our business.

My initial view of our 2014/15 accounts is they show a solid set of results, roughly in line with where we want to be on replacement and capital expenditure, with operational expenditure slightly over budget.

I'm pleased to say that operationally during the year we met all our standards and replacement targets, so a massive well done to teams in both southern and Scotland.

It's been an excellent team effort all round.

The focus this year has again got to be safety, along with customer service and effective use of time, equipment and money, all wrapped up with a good dose of innovation.

On customer service we aspire to be number one and number two in the GDN league table of eight. Although there's a way to go for that, there is a lot of good work going on right across our company to get us back to the top.

John Morea, CEO

To get an insider view of our Customer Service team, see page 5

Let’s take a look at our Evolve customer satisfaction survey results so far.

Communications leading up to upgrade

Support from the Evolve IT team during the upgrade

71.4%

61.1%

20.6%

19.8%

Very good Good

Very good Good

Friendliness of the Evolve IT team

Support from the Evolve training support team during the upgrade

73.8%

56.3%

19.8%

26.2%

Very good Good

Very good Good

Performance of post-upgrade PC or laptop

Desktop Login:

Desktop speed:

Loading of applications:

54.8% 42.9% 34.8%

of those upgraded say much faster Upgrades until April 2015

2,300+ smartphones deployed 1,500+ email accounts now on Microsoft Outlook and Lync

1,000 new desktops or laptops with Windows 7

Tablet pilot underway May 2015 SGNmail

3

Industry news

Industry insider

Fighting fuel poverty

Longannet power station to close

New electricity pylon launched

A ROUND-UP OF WHAT’S GOING ON IN OUR INDUSTRY THIS MONTH

Ofgem wants action to get fuel-poor customers on the grid.

Ofgem has called on SGN and other gas distribution networks to do more in the fight against fuel poverty by connecting more fuel-poor customers to the gas grid. The industry regulator believes we can connect more than our original target of 20,000 households between now and 2021, and they’ve asked us to resubmit our extended plans.

Look out for more details in future issues of SGNmail and on SGNnet

Scotland’s largest power plant to shut in 2016.

The new T-Pylon is designed to have less visual impact.

cotland’s coal-fired power station at Longannet is set to close next year, after the firm failed to win a crucial contract from National Grid to keep the lights on in Scotland. Longannet’s owners, ScottishPower, said they were disappointed the contract was handed to SSE’s gas-powered Peterhead plant. They also explained hefty transmission charges north of the border were to blame for the plant's closure.

National Grid has revealed the first new electricity pylon for nearly 90 years. The new T-Pylon is 14m shorter than the old lattice pylons but is able to carry just as much power – 400,000 volts. It is designed to be less obtrusive and will be used to connect new sources of electricity to the grid.

S

ower Longannet p station

Government plans £3m for CO alarms 40,000 carbon monoxide (CO) alarms to be distributed across England.

The Department for Communities and Local Government has confirmed a £3 million fund to support the roll-out of CO alarms across England. Forty thousand alarms will be distributed among England’s 46 fire and rescue authorities.

The announcement follows the introduction of regulations that require all landlords to install CO alarms in their rented properties from October 2015.

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SGNmail May 2015

Spotlight on...

This month, we’re shining the spotlight on Customer Service

Service with a smile

O

Our Customer Service team works tirelessly every day helping us to live our value of Looking After Customers.

ur customer service centres based in Perth and Walton Park, deal with up to 1,000 customer enquiries every day. From new connections to mains replacement enquiries, our advisors deal with it all and are always on hand to support, advise and help our customers.

Our Customer Service team also supports our business aims: l to have both our networks in the top two positions for satisfaction and complaint handling l to exceed maximum reward and avoid penalties for complaints Linda Spence, Customer Service Manager says: “We provide a seamless service for our customers from the first point of contact and always aim to deliver a 10/10 service. Our teams have gone through specialist customer service training, which has taught us to use new, positive language on every call, even the challenging ones. We encourage ‘time speak’ – telling customers we'll be there by a specific time – and ask depots to help with this by committing to the timescales we provide in line with our guaranteed standards.”

The Customer Ser vice team hard at wo rk

Read John Morea's thoughts on our customer service on page 3

Inside out Their remit covers even more as Deborah Fulton-Mellor, Customer Service Manager explains: “We visit depots to talk about reducing complaints, their performance and the help we can provide. From reports and advice to practical support, we have a dedicated team of Quality and Performance Advisors who can help with almost any query.”

All change Our Customer Change team is responsible for all customer service training. Based on research, they design and deliver workshops that encourage everyone to achieve the best possible scores in customer satisfaction.

They also keep operations managers updated on how their depot is performing and analyse customer feedback so that we can understand how to increase our scores and make sure our colleagues provide a 10/10 service every time.

Proud to serve Delivering outstanding customer service is integral to our Customer Service team, as it should be for everyone, says Head of Customer Service Maureen McIntosh: “I’m delighted that our customers often contact Maureen us with heart-warming stories of how our McIntosh colleagues have gone out of their way to help them. Sometimes we don’t even realise that the smallest act of kindness means a lot to our customers.

“We all have an input into how we affect people's lives when they come into contact with us and by looking after our customers that little bit more, and being proud to know we do this naturally will take us to, and keep us at, number one.”

Customer service freephone: 0800 912 1700 May 2015 SGNmail

5

! n i w business The

Fancy winning £200?

Suggest a name for our latest innovation and if you’re the lucky winner you could be quids in!

See our innovation pages on SGNnet for details

Making a move

This month we welcome on board David Manning, our new Director of Stakeholder Relations.

D

avid’s newly created role will bring corporate communications, internal communications and engagement, stakeholder engagement and customer service into one directorate.

As a result of this new appointment Gary Barnes, Director of Corporate Services, will spend more time on assignments for the CEO. David joins us on an 18-month secondment from SSE Ireland, where he was Director of Corporate Affairs.

…and team moves mean business In other team move news, we’re making more changes to our structure, as part of our commitment to continuous improvement. This means: Connections moves from Corporate Services to Operations (southern).

This aligns our connections operations under the leadership of Peter Webster, Director of Operations (South), with the aim of simplifying our processes and making efficiency improvements.

Gas holder demolition moves from Operations (Scotland) to Corporate Services. Gary Barnes will be responsible for both the demolition and land remediation processes and will allow our network major construction projects team to focus on delivery of key projects over the remainder of this price control period.

Metering moves from Corporate Services to Finance.

With the introduction of SMART metering, we want to integrate SGN Metering with our Commercial team so that we can develop this area of our business further.

John Heyburn, Head of Metering and Connection, has joined our Business Transformation programme. As a result, Steve Mills now oversees Connections and Rob Instrall is responsible for metering.

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SGNmail May 2015

Commenting on the restructure of the Executive team’s responsibilities, Chief Executive Officer John Morea said: “We operate in a dynamic environment.

“Innovation and business practices change regularly, so it’s important that we not only keep pace with that change but adapt so that we can be in the strongest position possible for the future.

“These changes make good business sense and will bring fresh thinking to our leadership team.

Most importantly, it will help us to provide even better value and service to our customers.”

The business

Staying

safe

Our new safety rules revealed!

Safety first is a core value here at SGN. So, we’ve launched our new and improved golden safety rules. The rules are easy to remember as we aim to ‘RAISE’ the standard.

Martin Manzi, Group Head of Safety commented: “In an industry that has many risks, it’s our aim to create a safe working environment for every one of our employees and contractors. The key to this is making sure everyone accepts responsibility for their own and others’ safety.

“By following our five golden safety rules we can take a huge step forward in our aim to raise safety standards in everything we do, making sure everyone goes home safely at the end of the day.”

Major oil find in Surrey Up to 100 million barrels of oil discovered near our Horley head office.

An exploration firm has announced the discovery of up to 100 billion barrels of oil at a site near Gatwick. UK Oil and Gas Investments (UKOG) said the discovery could be the UK’s most significant in the last 30 years. Even though only around 5–15% may actually be recoverable, the firm says the area could produce 10–30% of the UK’s oil demand by 2030.

golden safety rules Raising the standard

R A

I

isk assess

think before you act and plan for safety

ct on procedures

they protect you, the public and our assets

dentify hazards

look out for hazards and alert others, don’t walk by

S E

afe driving

take care and keep your distance

quip yourself correctly

always use the right PPE and tools for the job

Shell to buy gas group BG for £47 billion The second biggest oil and gas deal on record creates a £180 billion energy giant.

Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to buy BG, the former exploration arm of British Gas, in a deal that will create a £180 billion energy giant. The £47 billion takeover is the second biggest oil and gas deal on record and comes at a time when BG’s share price has dropped 30%, due to the collapse of the global oil price.

May 2015 SGNmail

7

The business

Our streetworks sites will soon be transformed, as thousands of our barriers, road signs and site information boards are updated with our new look.

O

ur streetworks are among the most visible parts of how we’re seen in the outside world.

Our customers have already seen our vans and PPE change and now the barriers and signs we use around our work, from emergency jobs to mains replacement projects, will reflect this too.

Following trials in the south and Scotland last month, we’re just about ready to roll out to every depot, which will include briefings We’re talking to explain how to make the Plain English. most of our new-look items.

It’s not just about putting a new logo on existing signs.

We’ve updated the colours, the font and the messages to better explain to our customers who we are and what we’re doing in their street.

We’ve also made it easier for our customers to contact us by replacing the old 0845 telephone numbers on our barriers and signs with our freephone Customer Service number: 0800 912 1700.

For more information on streetworks, contact Dave Mossom on 01202 784 959

Are you?

Read more on page 12

The n ew

signag

e in ac

t ion

See our Customer Service teams in action on page 5

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SGNmail May 2015

A postcard from…

A postcard from…

London TON OF FACTS

Hello from Kennington, home of our London depot.

Kennington appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Chenintune

G reet ings from Kennington!

Passion and dedication in Kennington

WORKING IN LONDON takes passion and

dedication, as it can be a tough environment at times and demands a lot from everyone who works in the depot. ers to ENGAGEMENT WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS, from our custom

local

What we’ve been up to!

KLOAD, WE HAVE THE HIGHEST EMERGENCY AND METERING WOR

We carry out a lot of work every year across London:

g on the Deptford Creek. A third possible sale of an old abandoned 48" main that runs under under the river. party is interested in purchasing it to use as a duct to run cables

147

sector bodies, is vital, authorities, emergency services, and government and public every day. rks roadwo our by as around six million people can be impacted r of customers. as you might expect from the depot with the largest numbe

LIFE’S NEVER DULL HERE. On top of the day-to-day stuff, we’re workin If you’re ever down this way, drop in – the banter ’s great and so’s the tea!

r's The bante

great !

London depot

employees*

2,773

outside escapes attended last year

TON OF FACTS

Kennington is home to the world famous Beefeater Gin distillery

22%

of all above 18" mains are within London TON OF FACTS

TON OF FACTS

Vincent Van Gogh, Charlie Chaplin, Bob Marley and Kevin Spacey have all lived in Kennington

TON OF FACTS

Scenes from Passport to Pimlico, The Krays, The Iron Lady and Kingsman: The Secret Service were filmed in Kennington

The Oval cricket ground was leased to Surrey County Cricket Club from the Duchy of Cornwall in 1845

£7m

= Opex budget in 2014/15

5%

expected year-onyear Opex savings * including our MUS contractors

Do you have a suggestion for our next postcard from…? Get in touch by emailing us at sgnmail@sgn.co.uk May 2015 SGNmail

9

Employee engagement

Have your say

10

SGNmail May 2015

Make your voice heard through our engagement survey.

W

e want to make sure you’re happy at work and have everything you need to do your job effectively.

So, we’ve launched 2015’s engagement survey to discover what you like about your role and also any improvements or changes that you’d like to see. Your feedback helps us to improve the way we work together in our teams and across the business. We care about getting it right for you.

And you can speak honestly as the survey’s confidential.

Tell us your opinions and we can make changes. You say, we listen – and then we act.

Your opinions really do make a difference. Since last year’s survey, we’ve acted on your comments. We’ve built on previous improvements and introduced new ones.

Employee engagement

You said, we acted

Here’s some of the changes we’ve made since the last survey:

Training and development

Communication

We: l Introduced the First Line Manager coaching and development programme l Rolled out presentation skills training to improve the delivery of teamtalk l Piloted the SGN core behaviours development programme l Started Outward Bound courses for new apprentices and trainees l Organised Plain English training l Arranged specialist training for Customer Service teams.

Turn to page 12 for more on our Plain English courses

Pay and benefits We: l Introduced personal use for our company smartphones l Started a review of our more4me and Ambassador Awards benefit provider to offer at least 50% more choice and a slicker service l Launched Wembley arena concert ticket giveaways.

For this month’s giveaways go to page 14

Working for SGN

We: l Partnered with Royal Voluntary Service to support their Winter Wellness campaign l Supported disadvantaged young people through the Outward Bound Trust, and built ambassador links with local schools, engaging SGN employees in mentoring and volunteering activities l Worked with London Road Safety Council to donate 1,000 reflective safety shiners to school children in each of the 33 London boroughs l Started a review of our corporate induction programme.

We: l Simplified the SGN Way l Introduced new golden safety rules l Provided brand workshops for colleagues. l Launched our new SGN brand with new look vehicles, PPE, street signage, intranet, social media and stationery l Launched our new SGNmail – which you’re holding in your hands right now!

Read our new golden safety rules on page 7

My manager

l We plan to roll out a development programme on SGN core behaviours to all people managers.

My job We: l Developed Core and Vac technology to repair gas leaks more efficiently with less disruption for our customers l Refreshed Serviflex at the Edinburgh depot.

This is an effective ‘no digging technique’ tool and the cheapest way of replacing services that avoids expensive copper outlet pipe, lifting carpets and inconvenience to customers l Introduced CISBOT, our robotics project, which remotely seals gas mains from inside pipes l Launched the Evolve roll-out distributing smartphones, software upgrades, introduction of Lync, and replaced computers.

Find out more information about all of these improvements on SGNnet

More of our community work on page 18

Go behind the scenes in customer service on page 5 May 2015 SGNmail

11

Our people

DEVELOPING OUR PEOPLE

Straight talking If we understand each other, we can work better together. So, colleagues have been learning how to keep communication simple and straightforward with Plain English training.

W

e want to make it easy for colleagues and customers to communicate and understand us at SGN. Part of our SGN brand, which we launched last September, helps everyone do this. It outlines the way we write and speak at SGN: simple, genuine and bright, so we are all aware of the most effective way to communicate in our business.

To help colleagues communicate in a simple and genuine way, our Training and Internal Communications teams organised Plain English courses. Delivered by experts from the Plain English Campaign, the course proved to be a huge success with everyone who attended. It was packed with hints and tips on how to write more clearly.

If you’re interested in finding out more about how to make your communications simple, check out the style guide on SGNnet

Engineering Policy Manager Ross Armstrong attended the course. He explains:

SHE Manager Phil Durrant shares a top tip from the course:

“We learned how to write shorter, jargon-free sentences and how to check readability using Word.”

“Writing concisely isn’t easy, but it helps to revisit your first draft after a short break and then cut it down. You’d be surprised how much clearer you can be by making your draft shorter.”

Turn to page 8 to see our SGN branding in action at our depots and on the street.

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SGNmail May 2015

Hidden talents

When Communications Manager Lorna Wharton isn’t busy communicating our Evolve programme, she competes in British showjumping events across the UK.

Hot to trot L

orna Wharton has been horse mad since she was a youngster. She got her first pony when she was just four years old. And her competitive spirit kicked in early too, as she competed in crosscountry competitions until seven years ago when she discovered her true passion of showjumping.

Lorna explains: “Last year I jumped at the Blair Castle International Horse Trials competing with people from all over the world. Next year we’ll be

competing in Spain and Portugal.

“I live on a farm with my partner André who’s a professional showjumper. As part of his job we look after 35 horses, ranging from foals to full-time competition horses.”

She’s got a hectic schedule, balancing her role with us at SGN and her horsy home life, but Lorna wouldn’t change a thing. “Showjumping and looking after the horses in between is hard work, but I love every minute of it!”

d her Lo r na anDarcy ho rs e

Lor na and Darcy training hard

What’s your hidden talent?

Remember, if you or someone you work with has a hidden talent, tell us about it by emailing sgnmail@sgn.co.uk

May 2015 SGNmail

13

Going the

Going the extra mile

Giving you a range of benefits in return for your hard work From April 2014 – March 20 15 there were a wh opping 686 Amba ssador Awards pre sented, worth £21, 3 40

Jon Jenner From L- R: m y Ward and Jim

Here’s your chance to win tickets for two brilliant events!

ELTON JOHN

An Ambassador of hard work We love to showcase the brilliant work of our colleagues through Ambassador Awards. This month’s star Ambassador is Jimmy Ward, Stores Delivery Driver, who always puts safety first.

J

immy was nominated by manager Jon Jenner for his commitment to our ‘safety first’ value.

He’s on the ball with safety issues, as Jon explains: “He thinks his actions through before carrying them out to make sure safety comes first. He’s really proactive at finding solutions, so I felt he really deserved the award.”

Jimmy showed his safety conscious approach when he thought of an idea to rearrange a section of the car park

and waste stream area. Forklifts were going into the same car park as members of the public to deal with waste.

Jimmy rearranged the area and now, as a result, forklifts are kept safely away from members of the public – well done Jimmy!

Do you know someone who deserves an Ambassador Award?

Nominate them now by logging on to ambassadorawards.co.uk

HOLIDAYPLUS Fancy some extra time off this summer?

Whether you’re going to Brighton, Benidorm or the Bahamas, don’t cut your holidays short.

HolidayPlus lets you buy extra days off to add to your existing holiday allowance – and the cost is deducted from your gross salary, meaning you pay less tax and National Insurance too. You can buy a single day or anything up to ten extra days. For more information, visit our benefits pages on SGNnet

SPRINGTIME DIY save up to 10% 14

save up to 10%

SGNmail May 2015

save 5%

Q

What’s Elton John’s real first name?

A

Reginald

B

Ronald

C

Rupert

Enter via text

text HYDRO A, B or C + YOUR NAME to 07800 002464

SMS

Competition is for tickets only and is open between 11–26 May.

STREET DANCE XXL

Perking up Your hard work is what our success is built upon – so it’s only right that there are perks of the job to be enjoyed. We offer a broad range of employee benefits that can help you enjoy the best entertainment, stay healthy and save money.

See the living legend Elton John at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, 19 June 2015

More4me’s full of great deals. You can get your garden barbeque ready and save money this summer.

See the UK’s top street dancers bust some moves at The SSE Arena in Wembley, 5 July 2015

Q

What is not a type of street dancing?

A

Break dancing

B

Body-popping

C

Ballet

Enter via text SMS

text WEMBLEY A, B or C + YOUR NAME to 07800 002464

Competition is for tickets only and is open between 11–26 May.

Be well

Your health MOT

Your health and wellbeing is important to us. That’s why occupational health providers Duradiamond Healthcare have been running on-site mini health checks to see what positive changes we could make as individuals and as a company.

T

he occupational health consultancy checked colleagues for some of the biggest health risks in the UK – including obesity and high cholesterol. As a result of the reviews, some colleagues were referred to their GP, while others used the results to make healthier lifestyle choices.

BMI and you

Having a BMI (Body Mass Index) that’s too high puts us at a greater risk of developing high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer. Another condition linked to obesity is coronary heart disease, the biggest cause of death in the UK.

Occupational health in numbers:

13

sites visited

Cardiac risk factors identified:

72

427

colleagues seen

562

GP referrals

Take action We can all make small changes to make a big difference to managing our weight and our health.

Lifestyle choices like diet, exercise and lowering alcohol consumption can all have a huge impact on our wellbeing. Try these tips to keep your weight in check: l Get out for a short walk each day, or take up a new active hobby, like walking, tennis or jogging l Forget second helpings, choose lower-fat options and swap unhealthy snacks for fruit and vegetables l Cut the booze – perhaps drink bottles instead of pints or alcohol-free beer.

National average (men/women):

SGN

Overweight (BMI 25–30):

41% / 33%

43%

Obese (BMI over 30):

26% / 24%

26%

High blood pressure and high cholesterol are also risk factors for developing heart disease and they’re both linked to obesity.

The symptoms can be caused by lifestyle factors like lack of exercise and eating too much saturated fat from products such as cake and processed foods. The health checks also looked at colleagues’ blood sugar levels, because poorly controlled blood sugar can be an early indication of diabetes, so it’s good to identify this.

National average (men/women):

SGN

Elevated blood pressure

32% / 29%

18%

Elevated cholesterol

60%

43%

Low blood sugar

–

34%

High blood sugar

–

4%

Download the full report from our SGNnet Health and Wellbeing pages

For more information on leading a healthy lifestyle, visit nhs.co.uk/livewell May 2015 SGNmail

15

Getting Hidden personal Talents

PENNER ROAD Life begins at 40… so it’s no wonder Charlie Lord is all smiles!

Many happy returns to the Business Analyst who celebrated his 40th birthday in March.

Bir thday boy Charlie Lo rd HORLEY Congratulations to Service Delivery Manager David Munro and his wife Lobna on the birth of their baby girl Eilidh, who was born on 12 January.

Baby and mum are both doing well.

Getting personal From north to south – a round-up of the latest colleague happenings around SGN POOLE Well done to Depot Clerk Lisa Chesworth who’s been praised by customers for her 5-star service.

Lisa Cheswort h and General Manager Gavin Brown

Eilidh Munro with parents David and Lobna PERTH Congratulations to Rachel Stewart from our customer service centre in Perth who recently got engaged to long-term partner Ryan Lyall.

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SGNmail May 2015

Want to share your stories or celebrations?

Get in touch at sgnmail@sgn.co.uk

Getting personal

EAST KENT

EDINBURGH After 35 years of service we are sad to say goodbye to our popular colleague and keen fundraiser Rab Brown, who retired in March. Despite retiring, the Team Manager will help organise this year's walk – testament to what a great guy he is. All the best, Rab!

Well done to Construction Admin who held a tea and cake morning on 13 March in aid of Dementia UK. The team, including Danny Illsley (pictured here in a fetching wig and hat combo), raised £232.18. Well done to all involved.

Danny and the team

Rab Brown

Congratulations to Network Strategy Assistant Ian Alexander who picked up his long service award after 40 years! Thank you for all your hard work Ian!

George Watson

LONDON

SUSSEX

Congratulations to General Manager Richard Buckley on the birth of his baby girl, Ruby. She was born on 14 March and weighed 8lb 7oz.

We’re happy to report that mum and baby are doing very well.

Congratulations to Team Leader Danny Wray and his colleague Adi Adebisi who both received 10/10 cards for their exceptional customer service while working on Danny Wray, a gas escape. The customer was Adi Adebisi and so impressed with their work she (centre) their even asked for a photo! delighted customer

Ruby B uckley WALTON PARK

We waved goodbye to Technical Auditor George Watson who retired recently. George had many roles since starting as a graduate trainee over 35 years ago.

George is already enjoying his retirement playing golf and doing a spot of gardening.

For more colleague fundraising successes, turn to page 18

A huge congratulations to Gary McSteen and Andy Gray on receiving their long service awards, clocking up 25 and 40 years respectively.

We hope you celebrated in style!

Gary McSteen

Congratulations to Deborah Fulton-Mellor, Customer Service Manager in Walton Park, whose partner Kevin finally got down on one knee during the Easter break.

Andy G ray

General Manager Simon Russell

May 2015 SGNmail

17

Community corner

From L-R: Mark Booker, Howells Ben Croxford and Cheryl

A lesson well learnt

Colleagues go back to school in Greenwich after a gas leak incident.

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hree hundred pupils were evacuated from Halstow Primary School after a suspected gas escape and the building was transformed into our temporary incident headquarters. A week later, colleagues from our London depot went back to meet some of the children and explain what happened.

They spoke about the gas we look after in our pipes, before showing the pupils a short film and some of the equipment we use. They also took along some scratch and sniff cards to explain why we add a chemical to give our gas a smell.

Cheryl Howells, Team Manager at SGN’s London depot in Kennington, said: “Although the children were pleased to get an afternoon off school, the head teacher told us they didn’t really understand why they had been evacuated. This, coupled with the fact that the school kindly allowed us to use their hall as our 18

SGNmail May 2015

temporary incident headquarters, prompted us to ask if we could go back and talk to the children.

“They asked lots of very intelligent questions about our work and about natural gas, and they particularly loved the scratch and sniff cards. We were also able to talk about the dangers of playing near construction sites.

They were so interested I think we could have some potential new recruits in the making!

“The head teacher told us that he had been impressed at the way in which we had handled the evacuation procedure, and that he was more than happy to welcome us back to the school to talk to the children.”

Pamela Goee, Head of Community, commented: “This really helps to show our commitment to supporting our local communities. We’re now planning to donate some funds to the school to help them buy equipment for their playground.”

Going, going, gone!

Thank you to everyone who generously bid in our Barnardo’s silent auction in March which raised just under £400 for the charity.

A huge thanks to everyone who took part!

Community corner

SUSTAINING OUR WORLD COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAMME

ICE, ICE baby Our Internal Comms and Engagement team (ICE) spent the day sprucing up the car park at Barnardo’s Nurture Services in Greenock for their CAP event.

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he team tackled an unsightly moss-covered wall with wire brushes, before giving it a lick of paint. They also got handy with the secateurs to clip away overgrown brambles and bushes.

Graduate Trainee Lewis Gravenor said: “We all work in different

locations, so this was a great opportunity for me to meet up with the entire team for the first time in one place.”

Norma Hanley from Barnardo’s was delighted. She said: “All the jobs were done to perfection and you never really stopped working.

In fact, you were the best team the service has ever hosted.”

CAP month in June June is CAP month, and you have the chance to win £500 towards a charity of your choice and, of course, the coveted CAP trophy!

To enter, simply organise a CAP event in June. It could be something that tugs at the heartstrings of your colleagues, involves multiple teams, takes place over a few days or maybe just a couple of hours – it’s up to you.

Last year’s winners and current CAP month reigning champions, the South Downs depot

Back row L to R: Claire Bucha nan, Scott McNeill, Emma-Jane Stewart, Janice Collins, Lo rna Wharton, Janet Lessells, Lewis Gravenor .

Front row L to R: Jess Dunlo p, Sophie O’Halloran, Waseem Ha nif Behind the camera: Kirsty Ric hardson, Team Leader

Visit the Community pages on SGNnet for inspiration on how to find the perfect project and how to apply. Remember you need to complete an application form well in advance of the day. If you have any questions, contact Pamela Goee on 01233 652 842

Remember...

All employees are entitled to take part in a CAP day each year – so what are you waiting for?! Go to SGNnet today or contact CAP Coordinator Julie Lowrey on 01689 881 481 or email julie.lowrey@sgn.co.uk May 2015 SGNmail

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SGNSOCIALNETWORK

Thanks to social media, we can share our news and photos with our customers and stakeholders, and also see what they have to say about us.

Next time you’re online, why not take a look at what we’ve been up to on Facebook and Twitter?

#Social Campaigns

#Embarrassing Photos

Twitter and Facebook can be very powerful tools. Road safety crusader Mr Pothole uses them to campaign for better quality road repairs and maintenance.

He contacted us on Twitter to make sure we dealt with a broken gas valve cover.

Social media is a great way to communicate, but it also leaves us open to ridicule that can be shared at the click of a button if our work isn’t up to scratch, as both these posts show:

@mrpotholeuk: @SGNgas Do you cover Brackley Northamptonshire? If so pls see link defective valve cover in the footway streetrepairs.co.uk/ problems/parvenu… @NNHighways Reply

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This customer assumed his poor gas pressure was related to roadworks in his street. His gas supplier directed him to National Grid. Thankfully, he received the correct advice to call the National Gas Emergency Service and our engineers visited straight away to fix the pressure problem. @8violas: @SGNgas FABULOUS service from your folks. Here yesterday (Sunday) and today, fixed the pressure problem with our supply.

Now we have heat!

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@damianjjk: Great #custserv from @SGNgas – no waiting, responsive to every question and only a few options on the IVR

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ay D r e t t e L d e R A experience!

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Keep emailing sgnmail@sgn.co.uk about your achievements so we can include them on Facebook and Twitter.

How to enter Simply answer the following question and post to: Waseem Hanif, SGN, 95 Kilbirnie Street, Glasgow G5 8DG Alternatively, you can email your answer to sgnmail@sgn.co.uk The deadline for entries is 29 May. Good luck!

This month’s prize gives you the chance to enjoy a fabulous experience courtesy of Red Letter Days.

You can choose from hundreds of experiences up to the value of £100, so you could drive your favourite supercar, pamper yourself and your partner at a day spa or even get up, up and away in a hot air balloon.

SGNmail May 2015

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GET EMAILING!

win!

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We aim to answer 90% of calls to our customer service centre in 30 seconds and keep menu options to a minimum. Damien really appreciated reaching an advisor quickly and getting answers to his questions.

@vicky_barnett: I think @SGNgas are confused...

@mrpotholeuk: @SGNgas @NNHighways Hi Rachel, Thanks for lettting me know.

Mark Retweet

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#GoodFirstImpression

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Like us facebook.com/SGNgas

#PressureProblemSolving

Chris Nutton: Nice paint job lads #AusterityBritain #HalfAJob

@SGNgas: @mrpotholeuk @NNHighways Thanks for making us aware of this. I've arranged for one of our engineers to check this today. Rachel Reply

Follow us @SGNgas

Q

Who is the lead singer of Simply Red?

A Mick Jagger

B Mick Hucknall

C Mick McCarthy

D Mickey Mouse

Congratulations!

...to Darta Valtere from our Metering department in Horley, who won a seventh generation iPod nano. Well done Darta!