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Just three years after its first Queen’s Award for Enterprise presentation in 2012, Ancon Building Products officially received its second award on Thursday 15^th October at a special ceremony at its manufacturing site in Deeside, North Wales.

The 2015 Award, for International Trade, recognises Ancon’s outstanding success in growing sales across new and existing export markets. It follows the company’s previous Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation for its ground-breaking Lockable Dowel, a system that has since revolutionised post-tensioned concrete construction.

The prestigious award, the highest accolade that any UK business can achieve for export growth, was presented to Ancon by the Lord Lieutenant of Clwyd, Mr Henry George Fetherstonhaugh OBE, on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen.

The ceremony at the Deeside facility, the largest and most advanced Wall Tie manufacturing operation in the UK, was attended by 36 employees who proudly watched Ancon’s Export Team Leader, Angela Reeve, accept the ceremonial scroll from the Lord Lieutenant. Her colleague Lynn Forster, Deeside’s Purchasing Manager and longest-serving employee at the site, who has been part of the Ancon team there for the last 32 years, received the commemorative Queen’s Award crystal bowl on behalf of the company.

The Lord Lieutenant said,

“Ancon represents the very best of British innovation and technology, and this dynamic company, which has trebled its exports in the last ten years, has led the way in its field.”

“To win one award is pretty spectacular; to win two awards in three years is absolutely amazing.”

“It is very gratifying to present this award here in Deeside, where Ancon provides 92 much needed jobs and I wish the company every continued success in the future.”

In addition to its headquarters and two manufacturing sites in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, Ancon has operated production facilities in North Wales since 1983. The Lord Lieutenant met several employees as he toured the site on Deeside Industrial Park, where the company has been based since 2008 when they outgrew previous sites in Flint and Greenfield.

Speaking after the ceremony, Managing Director, Stuart Maxwell said,

“It’s another very proud day for the Ancon business. We now hold Queen’s Awards for both Innovation and International Trade, confirming that we are successfully combining the development of market-specific solutions with effective worldwide distribution strategies. Our UK-manufactured products are now exported across the globe from the USA, Russia, throughout the far east and into the Asian pacific regions.”

“Our outstanding achievements over the last few years are down to the knowledge, hard work and commitment of our employees, as well as our distributors around the world. My sincere thanks and congratulations go out to everyone.”

“With a number of major construction projects and new product launches in the pipeline, I am certain the business will continue to go from strength-to strength.”

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Timbmet, one of the UK’s largest distributors of timber and timber products, has played a major role in the restoration of the nation’s oldest rollercoaster, the Scenic Railway in Margate, Kent. The Grade II listed timber-framed ride which is now open is the focal point of the revamped Dreamland funfair.

The ride is the first ever to be listed by English Heritage and one of just eight scenic railways in the world.

The park, which originally opened in 1920, has been the subject of an £18 million refurbishment which began in September 2014 after Thanet Council bought the funfair the year before. A traditional amusement park, Dreamland had been popular with local residents and seaside day-trippers for generations. However, following its closure 10 years ago, the site fell into disrepair while campaigners fought, with eventual success, to save the land from development.

During that time, the historic Scenic Railway was also the victim of an arson attack in 2008 which has made its restoration even more challenging: about 25% of the structure, the station and storage sheds were destroyed, along with the train car bodies.

The restoration of Dreamland is an integral part of the ongoing regeneration of Margate. Grants from Thanet Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund have contributed to the work, while in 2009, the Dreamland Trust was awarded a grant from the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport to restore the Scenic Railway and to rejuvenate the Dreamland site.

Timbmet: up for the challenge

For this project, Timbmet worked closely with Doncaster-based WGH Engineering Ltd, the company contracted to rebuild the two trains of three carriages each, with each carriage accommodating up to 28 passengers.

Originally, WGH designed and built vehicles and locomotives for use on narrow gauge underground tracks for the mining industry. After the 1984 miner’s strike, the company sought a new outlet for its skills in designing equipment to run on difficult and challenging tracks. Today, WGH designs and builds various types of leisure rides, including rollercoasters and log flumes, as well as suspended and ground-mounted track rides.

The Scenic Railway project presented a unique challenge for WGH, which usually works with aluminium and steel. “As this was the first time our company had worked with timber,” explains WGH Director, Tony Brown, “we approached Timbmet for advice and assistance in sourcing the appropriate material that would not only maintain the spirit of the original 1920s design, but also meet current legislation and satisfy modern-day requirements.”

As a traditional, family-owned company with over 70 years in the timber business, Timbmet was well poised to take up such a unique challenge. Like Dreamland and WGH, Timbmet is steeped in history and heritage, and given its years of experience and teams of timber experts, is well qualified to source specialist timber for specific projects such as Dreamland.

For the Scenic Railway’s carriages, Timbmet supplied WGH with constructional grade Opepe hardwood, as John Dodman, Timbmet’s Northern Business Manager, explains: “The objective was to replace the people bogeys with material used when the rollercoaster was originally built back in 1920. Opepe African hardwood was specified as it is very durable and strong and has the load-bearing capacity necessary for this specialist restoration.

John continues. “The Timbmet team was able to supply Opepe hardwood cut to the sizes and lengths requested. This saved our customer time, made the timber easier to use, and had minimal waste.”

A dream partnership

“Opepe has proved ideal for this usage,” John Dodman concludes, “For Timbmet and WGH, the restoration of Dreamland’s Scenic Railway was a unique project to be involved with and gave us a fantastic opportunity to use our Timber expertise to support the highly significant venture for the Margate area and English Heritage.”

www.timbmet.com

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Dualchas Architects’ design of Taigh Learaige in Stanley, Perthshire shows the benefit of being able to install FAKRO roof windows at varying depths. The visual aesthetic is greatly enhanced by their low profile in a structure which takes the timber from the roof into the walls with no visible rainwater goods. Eight non-vented, triple-glazed FTV U5 centre pivot windows were used with thermal combination flashings and XDP fitted underfelt collars around each window. Architect Alasdair Stephen commented, “The Fakro windows were used because of the wide range of sizes and the scope the company offers for project-specific customisation.  They are also great value compared to other glazing systems”.

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A standing seam roof in VMZINC QUARTZ-ZINC PLUS^® has been used in Howl Associates’ design of Wyre Forest Crematorium in Kidderminster. It consists of a series of ‘floating’ roof forms separated from walls with frameless clerestory glazing. Acoustic considerations were a prime concern due to the proximity of an adjacent industrial estate, major road and rifle range. Zinc, with its Green Guide A rating and compact roof build-up, was selected to deal with the complex geometry of the main chapel and used alongside green roofs on the site maintenance building.

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Extensive conservation and remodelling of the Grade 1-listed All Saints Church in Kingston-upon-Thames saw Klober Permo® air underlay used in the choir vestry reroof. The £1.7m project, designed by Ptolemy Dean Architects, a practice specialising in conservation work has opened up two entrances on the church’s north side, transforming the church into a revitalised centre for heritage and community in the heart of the town.

Permo air has an unmatched standard of ‘breathability’ and its growing use in conservation and restoration projects is matched by a similar degree of use in new build work.

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An executive with more than two decades’ experience in the construction products market, and who believes in ‘leading from the front’ has been appointed Managing Director of Crittall Windows.

Stuart Judge has joined the Witham-based company, the world’s oldest continuous manufacturer of steel windows, from Everest, where he was commercial director.

He takes over the helm at Crittall from John Pyatt who has been MD for the past 16 years. Pyatt now becomes company chairman.

Judge has been a prominent figure within the construction and industrial products market for the past 21 years having also worked for Mumford & Wood, Blairs Ltd and Saint-Gobain Solaglass. He joined industry following five years in the Royal Navy as a marine electrical engineer.

He says: “l believe that leading from the front, by example, and passionately demonstrating vision, are some of the key facets to building and enhancing strong, team based cultures.”

Pyatt, announcing his decision to relinquish the MD’s role explained:

“Following 16 years as Managing Director I feel it is now time to hand over the reins. During my stewardship the Company has been through some difficult and challenging times and we have been able to successfully navigate our way into a much stronger and resilient business which provides the stepping stone for a further development.”

Welcoming Judge’s appointment he added: “Stuart is a senior, highly experienced sales and commercial leader with 21 years of achieving results and success in the construction market, many of them in the window industry. Crittall will go from strength to strength under his management.”

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Precision Technology Supplies are pleased to announce the publication of a new 500 page product catalogue. The catalogue covers the full range of Metric and Unified Stainless Steel Fastener we can offer. We have been working on our e-catalogue for a long time and this has been very successful, however we felt it was time to produce a hardcopy version. The catalogue will be available in English as a hardcopy and online in 5 different languages. To request a copy or to download the e-catalogue please visit our website www.pts-uk.com or email us at sales@pts-uk.com

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A new video from Mitsubishi Electric shows how the company took its head office from an ‘E’ to a ‘B’ energy rating and offers advice on how other companies can do the same.

With tough legislation focusing attention on energy use in the built environment, how we heat, cool and ventilate our buildings is coming under scrutiny as never before.

“We’ve been on an eight year journey and one of the things we are saying in this video is that any business could and should be planning to improve the performance of their building”, explains Russell Jones who hosts the video.

“Just like any other company we have had to make a strong business case for each new piece of equipment, but the fact that we have improved so much and have significantly reduced running costs shows the advantages that can be gained”.

The video can be viewed on the company’s dedicated YouTube channel: https:youtube.com/mitsubishielectric2

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Leading water softener manufacturer Tapworks says water softeners are far more common in the UK than you might think. With so many homes across the UK built in hard water areas, whilst the majority simply put up with the hard water coming through their water mains, a significant minority currently have taken the sensible step of doing something about it and improving their lifestyle situation.

Despite attempts to share the message that our American cousins have known for decades – a message that has seen literally millions and millions of softeners purchased and installed across the States – in the UK we’re really only just waking up to the news that installing a water softener will result in lower energy usage and – take a deep breath…..lower energy bills.

At a time when energy bills continue to head in an upwards direction, any investment that pays for itself in around two years and continues to save you money for as long as you use it, would seem to be an investment worth looking at closely – and worth recommending to your customers if they live in hard water areas of the UK.

A major independent research study in the USA – the Battelle Report – which began six years ago in 2009, with further updates after that date, concluded that ‘water softeners are amongst the ‘very best’ household energy savers’. As a consequence of the study, the Water Quality Association – an independent body in the USA, is now promoting water softeners in the USA as ‘the best energy saving device you can buy’.

If your customers live in a hard water area – which is around 60% of the UK, especially in London and the south east, East Anglia and the Home Counties – they will already know about hard water. Scum in the kettle. Scaling up of showerheads, limescale marks in the sink and loo.

But if that’s what can be seen easily, imagine what damage is being done where you can’t see it, in heating systems, in washing machines and dishwashers, prime targets for hard water damage. Scale will also form around the heating coil and eventually fill a hot water cylinder. It’s estimated that the annual amount of hard water used by an average family of four contains a whopping 70kg of scale. Untreated limescale simply means wasting energy, wasting money and having to replace appliances and heating systems.

Tapworks new high capacity water softener will fit comfortably in a standard kitchen cabinet. The Infinity offers all the benefits associated with the leading Tapworks range of softeners and meets the needs of families where space is at a premium in their kitchens.

Chris Eaton heads up the water softener company here in the UK: “We’ve seen excellent take up of our leading AD11 unit and the smaller Ultra 9 unit, but we’ve been asked by installers to consider bringing a new, higher capacity unit – that will still fit in a kitchen cupboard – to the market and we’re happy to respond with the new Infinity model which is available from merchants now. It’s perfectly suited to busy, growing families and with its higher capacity offers a more efficient unit too. There’s now a Tapworks unit for every sized home in the UK including a one inch valve unit for larger homes needing higher flow rates.”

Contrary to what you might think, over the last few years when the economy has been difficult, sales of water softeners in the UK have remained remarkably buoyant. People have clearly recognised the issues relating to hard water in their homes and decided that softened water improves their lifestyle, but importantly also cuts their costs – their heating bills in particular and the costs of cleaning and washing, because softened water allows soaps, shampoos and detergents to work harder, so you need so much less of them. This new model will open the door to many more people looking to replace elderly water softeners or those looking to install a new softener in their home for the first time.

Just a 1.6mm build-up of scale on the inside of heating system surfaces can cause a 12% loss in heating efficiency in pipes, in radiators and on heat exchanger surfaces in boilers. Scale will also form around the heating coil and eventually fill a hot water cylinder.. The most welcome benefit for householders in the current economic climate, is that having softened water in the home can reduce heating bills significantly – 15% reductions in energy bills are commonplace, often more – and importantly, having a water softener installed will reduce maintenance costs on those appliances.

Full details of the Tapworks range can be found on the company’s excellent website at www.tapworks.co.uk or you can call for information on 01494 480 621.

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New energy-efficient Crittall windows have been installed in a late 1960’s tower block at one of north London’s major hospitals for main contractor Kier Construction (London).

The £1.5 million contract saw more than 300 windows replaced in the eight-storey tower and two-to-four –storey podium building at North Middlesex University Hospital, and was carried out in a manner designed to reduce noise and disturbance for patients and staff in the hospital buildings.
Situated in Edmonton, the hospital has undergone a multi-million rebuild and upgrading in recent years. Crittall has been involved in the refurbishment of windows in the nearby stroke and cardiology departments.

For the eight-storey tower block, built in 1968, 322 C2000 composite windows were installed. The elevations have differing glass specifications with variations in the thickness of sound control laminators. Various windows also had Solarshield film applied where showers or toilets are being fitted internally.

Some 95% of the window replacement was undertaken using Camac Mast Climbers, seen as a far more efficient external access solution than scaffolding. New materials were loaded by Telehandler into the goods hoist through a larger side door, taken to the desired floor and pallet trucked to the work area.

The old windows, which were also Crittall units, were removed by levering out the vents, splitting the couplings, taking the frame out in sections and passing all parts to the inside of the building. They were then placed on trollies, brought down in the hoist and disposed of in skips to be recycled. No grinders are used and no glass was broken during window removals. This helped to keep noise and dust disturbance to a minimum which was particularly important as two floors were occupied by patients and staff.

www.crittall-windows.co.uk

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