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Never one to stand still, Giant Peach New Media is introducing another brand new addition to its portfolio of communications media, this time targeted at exhibition and events organisers and their myriad of customers, that currently sell and buy stand space and utilise the events to spread their messages amongst visitors and attendees. The new addition is also relevant to companies wanting to video their CPD presentations for sharing on digital platforms.

This new offering will allow these customers to spread their messages far wider, to individuals and businesses that have not attended the shows or events themselves but who are keen to find out more about what was on offer – and perhaps what they missed by not being a part of the event. It’s a service that event managers will warm to as a value added service, offering exhibitors who want to take advantage of the resident film crew at an exhibition or event the chance to video their stand and key messages to pump out across the digital networks to ensure the highest possible coverage for their investment at the show through every possible media.

It’s an extension of the recently launched podcast option that has seen companies providing information to Giant Peach to translate into podcast broadcasts, utilising the words and images that customers can provide to be seen through the BusinessNet Explorer portal or through the BNE YouTube channel. This exciting new offer involves Giant Peach providing a live recording of the company’s offering at an exhibition or at an event or CPD presentation with the benefits of seeing and meeting that company’s senior people with a relevant platform in the form of the exhibition stand or backdrop and even possibly the opportunity to see the products or services being made available, there in front of the camera – and even seen operating or in action if that is feasible. Giant Peach offers the full package including a high quality video team to record the message and provide post-production services to enhance the quality of the delivery of the message, to maximise its impact. In the case of a CPD presentation, the opportunity exists to stay on afterwards and record an interview with a senior member of a company’s team to give them a second bite at the cherry for added value digital activity.

One of the first users of the recently launched podcast service said that in five minutes of audio visual, he could get across messages that would take several well-crafted media releases, read multiple times, over a number of hours to understand: “You only need to show someone an idea once on camera whereas you may need to explain it over the phone or in writing several times before the target audience gets to grips with the message you’re trying to share,” he said. The same sentiments are relevant for the new service on offer from Giant Peach.

Giant Peach CEO Mick de Leiburne says: “People are always looking for new ways to share news and messages with their target audiences and this new offer is a logical and natural progression of what we have been offering for years using the BNE portal and more recently extending that to a podcasted format.

“This is a value added service offering marketing communications collaborative opportunities. In this case, each podcast will have its own URL making it linkable and shareable through a customer’s own social media and email updates – expanding the scope of the message sharing exponentially. It’s a simple and relatively inexpensive way of increasing exposure for news stories and product information through the modern use of audio visual activity, shared through the digital networks that exist. It’s a simple but effective way of sharing key messages with your prime audiences.”

Giant Peach New Media offers the whole package from planning the shoot to providing the film crew at the event and producing the finished item to share on You Tube and through the many additional media available in this day and age.

“For brand and event managers looking for exciting new content opportunities and with the increasing importance of video in web sites and in social media, it’s a natural progression for companies looking to widen their sphere of influence,” says Mick de Leiburne. “Not only is it an effective new medium – properly planned, it’s an enjoyable one to be a part of and a very personal one that allows you to be right there, in the offices and workplaces of your target audience and as they travel around during their working day, right across the UK and further afield, simply by making a few clicks on their laptop or mobile devices. It’s a simple concept that enables a complex communications opportunity to come to life quickly and effectively. If you’re ready to embrace the new communication opportunities that the new digital technologies allow, Giant Peach can help you join the podcast revolution!”

For more information on how you can spread the word through this exciting new medium, contact Mick de Leiburne via newmedia@BusinessNetExplorer.com or mobile 07971 081 620. Or you can head for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-LLRE7HG_U to hear from Mick direct.

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Taking cues from British countryside heritage, Norfolk-based manufacturer of rustic shepherd huts, the English Shepherd Hut Co, prides itself on its range of traditional huts; designed with modern convenience in mind.
Shepherd huts were traditionally used for shepherds to shelter in remote areas whilst tending to their flocks. The portable units were built from wood or corrugated iron and featured a stove for warmth and a window for keeping an eye on the sheep. Modern agricultural machinery has all but eliminated the needs for such huts, but nostalgia for tradition and heritage has led to a new demand for portable accommodation for weddings, festivals, campsites – and even as offices, garden rooms and playrooms.
Huts, such as the company’s Poachers Hut, feature all mod cons including bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchens and seating space thanks to ingenious interior design that maximises every inch of available space.
Unlike a lot of portable accommodation the flushing toilet is not a chemical loo. The company specified the Sanicompact with integrated macerator from Saniflo. The ideal WC for compact spaces where mains drainage is unavailable, it was recommended by local plumbing contractor, R Weston Plumbing from Langham, Norfolk, who now install the units as standard in a number of the company’s huts.
The Sanicompact has an automatic push-button flush connected directly to a water supply and needs no cistern. It also features a wash basin inlet so grey waste water can also be processed through the macerator if required. Waste is discharged via 32mm pipework either to a storage tank or to the nearest mains.
Product innovation is the cornerstone of the English Shepherd Hut’s ethos and new products are launched regularly to meet the dynamic needs of the leisure sector. Recently the Aquarius – a posh, portable toilet block for weddings and events – was launched as part of the Shepherds Rest range. It provides upmarket showering and WC facilities and is available for hire or sale. Wanting the latest in contemporary fittings, the company used Saniflo’s Saniwall so that modern, wall hung sanitaryware could be specified. The Saniwall is a built-in frame system with an integrated dual flush cistern and macerator pump. With two extra side inlets it can take waste from wash basin and a shower as well as the WC.
Craig Nield owns and operates the business from his manufacturing plant in Norfolk;
“Saniflo products have enabled us to develop huts that do away with the need for chemical loos. Customers are happy to pay a bit extra for nice, clean-smelling bathroom facilities whether it is one of our accommodation huts or our bathroom blocks. They not only look nice, but are easy to use and offer home from home comfort. Our next range, The Neptune, will be launched in the very near future and is an upmarket loo block for events featuring Saniflo macerators. We’ve worked out the optimum size waste storage tank to ensure our products overcome the ever-present problem of over-flowing toilet facilities at festivals and events. We’re grateful to our plumber, Sam Weston, for his expertise which has enabled us to develop a great range of Shepherds Huts.”

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WAGO has invested over £200,000 in building an engineering centre located at its UK headquarters in Rugby that is dedicated to designing, pre-assembling, testing and distributing bespoke modular trunking systems for commercial and industrial new builds and upgrades. The centre is a world first for WAGO.

Modular trunking
“While modular wiring is not new, what is different is the concept of modular trunking,” explains WAGO’s Steve Emberton. “Today WAGO is offering a one-stop shop, with modular trunking bringing together all control, power and lighting into one integrated system. Our ability to combine a modular trunking system with I/O is a first within the UK market, allowing many building services to be monitored and controlled using a single platform.” The same trunking can also carry other piped services.
The modular trunking is assembled at WAGO’s facility in incremental lengths and can be installed by non-qualified personnel. Electricians are only required on-site, and in far fewer numbers, for final wiring and testing, thereby significantly reducing labour costs.
Contained within the modular trunking is WAGO’s WINSTA® pluggable connection and cabling system which, via a system of harmonised plugs and sockets, connects all electrical installations and components with each other, from large fan coil units to individual dado sockets. The connectors simply plug together and are keyed to avoid mis-mating, significantly reducing installation errors. The trunking distributes power and data to and from I/O modules to monitor and control various automated systems throughout a building.
Initial investment on modular trunking is rapidly returned with significantly faster installation times leading to considerably lower overall project costs. WAGO’s ability to deliver a fully integrated “plug and play” system assembled off-site at its production unit, allows customers to benefit from shorter lead times and more effective distribution of labour. With less cabling and testing required, fewer staff are required for installation. This reduces the numbers of people required to work at height, while improving overall site health and safety.

WAGO-I/O-System
The WAGO-I/O-System supports all major protocols such as BACnet, KNX, DALI and EnOcean, Modbus/TCP/IP. The I/O system can be used to control and monitor almost any building automation task, from heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) to lighting or window blinds. “The compatibility of the I/O system, with all commonly used programming protocols, permits streamlined integration and communication with almost any existing systems installed prior or alongside WAGO’s.
“The concept was created following a demand from the hospital sector, where there was a need to ensure separate power supplies for critical areas like theatres, and for more general areas” says Emberton.
The engineering centre in Rugby comprises a design team, pre-assembly, testing facility and despatch, manned by some 20 personnel.

Design team
The modular trunking is assembled at WAGO’s facility based on specifications supplied by the customer, or designed by WAGO’s engineers. The company offers consulting and project planning services to help customers devise the best possible solution for their project. An experienced in-house engineering department offers access to highly skilled building services project consultants, who offer advice or undertake site visits to assist the design and planning process of projects, and ensure that the right systems, solutions and components are selected.
Where previously customers would have to design, commission and install trunking, HVAC, lighting and blind control systems often from separate companies, WAGO is able to provide a fully integrated solution delivering comprehensive building automation capabilities underpinned by secure, reliable connections.

Pre-assembly and testing facility
All modular trunking is tested electrically and for material defects using three rigs from MK Test Systems. This ensures that every trunking system leaves the facility having been fully tested to specification ready for quick on site installation.
All trunking is fitted with WINSTA connectors that have a high current rating, and wiring that performs to specification, with minimal leakage or field effects between adjacent running cables.

Despatch
While time is saved during installation, WAGO is keen to avoid delays in delivery or confusion as to what has been dispatched and where it is to be used. WAGO packages the modular trunking safely and securely to ensure it arrives at site ready to use. For schools, hotels or offices, where several types of room are repeated in a building, the trunking is packed “per floor” or “per room”, ensuring that the installer has the right trunking per room type delivered in one clearly labelled container.

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Saint Gobain PAM is supplying a complete above ground sanitary soil and internal rainwater drainage system for the new £429 million Royal Liverpool University hospital in Liverpool.

The new purpose built hospital will have 23 wards with 646 single bedrooms and 18 operating theatres. Each patient will have a single bedroom with ensuite facilities making it the largest all single room hospital in England and Wales when it is completed.

Says Malcolm Atherton, Public Health Design Engineer at Hoare Lea, Manchester: “We prefer using Saint Gobain PAM’s cast iron Ensign Soil system because of its superior acoustic performance and fire safety when compared to other pipe materials, especially in a hospital environment. Patient comfort and safety are both top priorities for hospitals.

“It is also durable and designed to last the lifetime of the hospital with minimal maintenance and is resistant to any possible damage whether accidental or deliberate.”

In addition to the Ensign Soil drainage system, the company is also supplying products from its new Vortx range including plant gullies, shower drains and roof outlets, ductile iron pipe-fittings for the pump drainage systems and grip collars which are fitted to ductile iron couplings to provide higher-pressure drainage applications for sensitive drainage areas.

Says Richard Smith, sales engineer for Saint Gobain PAM: “We have a wider range of products and fittings than other suppliers which for an application as diverse as this is vital. As a UK manufacturer we can also meet the project’s supply needs and deal with any unusual specifications promptly.

“An example of this is with the shower drains for level 4 of the building, which had to be supplied with various different spigot lengths already fitted to them, in order to speed up installation time. These spigots could be up to 2.8 metres in length as they had to pass through a concrete beams of different depths and then simply push straight into the connection below.”

The new hospital is due to be completed in 2017 and the main contractor for the build is Carillion.

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Saint-Gobain PAM’s cast iron Ensign and EEZI-FIT drainage systems have been awarded the top rating for their Classification of Reaction to Fire of A1.

Both ranges of products were tested at the Warrington Fire Research Centre to EN 13501-1:2007+A1:2006.

Says Marketing Manager for Saint-Gobain PAM UK, Mike Rawlings:  “Many buildings are not protected enough against fire hazards.  It means that fire can spread rapidly, destroy the building in a short time and, more importantly, jeopardise the lives of occupants.

“If a fire breaks out, the first objective is to slow down its horizontal and vertical spreading.  Drainage systems should be selected so that they resist the passage of fire and do not feed it.

“This is important because above ground drainage systems will pass through a separating wall and floor.  They need to withstand fire and not provide open breaches and, for a given time not allow the passage of fire, smoke, heat or combustion from one area to another.

“Both Ensign and EEZI-FIT do not burn or melt producing molten droplets like DDPE and unlike plastic based systems only produce minimal smoke and fumes, which is often the biggest killer if there is a fire.  It is the safest material available for fire safety and, depending on the severity and duration of the fire will likely remain standing and operational.”

For further information about Ensign and EEZI-FIT cast iron drainage systems contact:  Saint-Gobain PAM UK, Sinclair Works, Station Road, Ketley, Telford, Shropshire, TF1 5AD.   Tel:  01952 262500.  Email:  sales.uk.pam@saint-gobain.com.   www.saint-gobain-pam.co.uk.

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The benefits of Timbmet Engineered Components (TEC®) compared to Timber are explained in a new brochure that underlines why the company is at the forefront of innovation in the largely traditional timber industry.

Manufacturers and installers will find that Timbmet’s multi layered construction of TEC® offers stability and stress performance far in excess of Timber. These highly engineered wood products – available in four key species – are made by joining/gluing multiple pieces of material together.

TEC® is designed to provide uniform performance; a flawless appearance free from nots, splits and staining; reduced levels of waste; and savings on material yield costs and labour costs.

“We hope that we can help our customers to see the benefits of using Engineered Timber” says Justin Hayward from Timbmet. “Timbmet is so confident that you’ll see improved results using TEC® that we can provide working samples for you to trial.”

Compared to solid wood, TEC® could save approximately 25% on material yield costs; made to measure components could also result in 30% less waste and lower associated costs. Waste is also produced at the source of manufacture which means it is recycled back into other wood products.

Labour costs are also reduced because of ease of storage and assembly of the quality controlled product.

Mike Thompson of Biker Group says: “We now use engineered Red Grandis for all our doors and windows because of its quality, performance, stainability and sustainability, and because it is economical and 100% FSC® certified.”
TEC® is available in European Oak, Sapele, Redwood FSC® or PEFC certified, and FSC® certified Red Grandis, exclusive to Timbmet in the UK.

Julian Connelly of Patchett Joinery says: “Red Grandis being a hardwood, the consistency of the grain means no imperfections appear after painting. The result is a high performance, low maintenance material that ensures higher value for our customers.”
Timbmet can offer a comprehensive off-the-shelf range and the capacity to manufacture bespoke components, plus the fact that all TEC products are FD30 fire certified. The range includes Window, Door and Stair parts, in addition to Sandwich Panels, Insulated Sandwich Scantlings and Glulam Curtain Walling.
If you would like to learn more about how engineered timber can benefit you in the manufacture and installation of windows, doors and stairways contact marketing@timbmet.com .

Further details on Timbmet’s full range of TEC products and the new brochure can be found at www.timbmet.com . Hard copies are also available by contacting marketing@timbmet.com

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