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Battery storage system for solar energy

Organisations can now use their generated solar energy even when the sun isn’t shining, with the launch of TRI-CELL, a highly-efficient storage system for solar power from TRITEC.

TRI-CELL makes it possible for organisations that generate their own clean energy through solar PV panels to store this energy and use it later. TRI-CELL’s combination of an intelligent energy management system, modular inverters and battery technology mean that solar PV systems can work at maximum efficiency at all times, increasing the financial savings on offer from solar power.

Advanced battery technology

The lithium iron nano-phosphate batteries used by TRI-CELL – which are well-established, safe and environmentally-friendly- have a nominal voltage of 96V. The batteries are comprised of 3.2V blocks, with a capacity of between 60 and 100 ampere hours, depending on the configuration.

Electronic monitoring of all cells prevents individual cells from overcharging and exhaustive discharge. As a result, the batteries are highly reliable. What’s more, the batteries have a lifespan of approximately 5,000 charging and discharging cycles, which means that they will last, on average, 20 years.

Independence from the public power supply

TRI-CELL’s modular inverters have grid feed-in function for on-grid and off-grid operation. This means that organisations generating their own solar power can choose whether or not to feed their excess power into the national grid, depending on their needs. TRI-CELL gives the potential for a solar PV system to be largely independent from the public power supply.

Complete safety

TRI-CELL can be used in single-phase or three-phase parallel operation, which guarantees high efficiency. The secure electric separation of module connections, battery and mains supply ensures a high degree of safety and enables the utilisation of thin-layer modules.

Steve Griffiths, Sales and Marketing Director at TRITEC UK, comments: -Day or night, regardless of the weather, it’s now possible to take advantage of solar power right around the clock, by using the TRI-CELL storage system. Maintenance free and highly reliable, TRI-CELL’s state-of-the-art technology opens up the potential for even greater financial savings from your solar PV system by maximising its efficiency.

www.tritec-energy.com/uk/

Comment on the UK economy

Azad Zangana, European Economist at Schroders comments:

-The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that the UK economy has contracted by 0.7% in the three months to June 2012. The estimate confirms that the UK is now in its third quarter of its double-dip recession, making it the longest double-dip recession since records began. Compared to a year earlier, the national income is down 0.8%, but the cumulative decline in real GDP during this recession is just shy of 1.4%.

-The results for Q2 GDP are poor to say the least. While the vast majority of economists had forecast another negative quarter, the final print was worse than even the most pessimistic forecast surveyed by Bloomberg. The ONS has explained that special factors have had a negative impact on the data.

The extra bank holiday to celebrate Queen’s Diamond Jubilee means that the economy had lost a day of production/activity. In addition, the ONS points to the wet weather during the quarter, which appears to have impacted construction activity and retail sales. In addition, it is worth bearing in mind that these are still preliminary numbers that are subject to revisions. The ONS has little hard data on activity in June, when most of these special factors would have hit.

-Looking ahead, we expect the UK economy to return to growth in the third quarter as most of the special factors that dampened activity in the Q2 reverse, but also thanks to an additional boost from London hosting the Olympic Games. The Olympics have helped lift employment through temporary jobs created for the games, but also additional working hours being made available in the retail sector thanks to the relaxation of Sunday trading laws. The extra demand from tourists visiting for the games should slightly offset the cost of the disruption to the local economy, but one of the big factors boosting GDP in Q3 will be the inclusion of money spent on tickets for the first time.

-Nevertheless, the data is clearly showing more underlying weakness than we expected, especially in the service sector of the economy. We continue to forecast the economy to return to positive growth in the second half of the year, though we also forecast a return to recession in 2013, partly caused by the Eurozone debt crisis, but also partly caused by a lack of effective policy left available to the Bank of England.

We expect the Bank of England to continue its quantitative easing programme beyond November, but we do not expect the programme to have a meaningful impact. As a result of the latest GDP figures, we have therefore cut our annual 2012 GDP forecast from -0.1%, to a very weak -0.5%. We have also cut our 2013 forecast from 0.7% to 0.5% growth, which is significantly lower than the latest consensus of 1.6%.”

Ingot Wins Top Club Contract

Kitchen cleaning experts, Ingot Services have netted a prestigious contract with Premier League giants Liverpool FC.

After seeing off some stiff competition the Suffolk-based company are all set to deliver a top cleaning service for all of the busy kitchens at the Anfield ground.

Managing Director Alan Maynard says: -“We are delighted to add such an iconic name to our client list and look forward to establishing a long term relationship with Liverpool FC.”

-The kitchens cater for hundreds of thousands of visitors every year so our service is paramount.”

Ingot Services, who celebrate their 25th Anniversary this year, have also succeeded in renewing their contract with Coventry City Council, demonstrating their commitment to winning business nationally as well as locally.

Alan continues: -By winning new business we are also creating employment opportunities and have recently been able to take on a further six operatives, meaning we now have an even greater capacity to fulfil cleaning requests anywhere in the UK.”

Ingot supply a full kitchen cleaning service, including deep cleans, and duct cleaning – an area often overlooked and a potential cause of devastating fires. They work to suit each client at times that are most convenient and issue a certificate of proof of cleaning, requested by most insurance companies, along with before and after pictures.

For more information on Ingot’s services visit www.ingotservices.co.uk or call 0800 731 7892

Fibrelite Wins Exporter Award at the Yorkshire Business Masters Awards 2012

Yorkshire based Fibrelite, the world’s leading and largest manufacturer of fibreglass access covers has won the Yorkshire Exporter Award, sponsored by Leeds Metropolitan University. The judging panel included The Bank of England.

-In on-going tough economic times it is more important than ever to highlight business success in the region, commented Ian Briggs, Editor of TheBusinessDesk.com.

Fibrelite’s strategy is based on significant growth in export sales particularly into new industry applications as an alternative to metal. Fibrelite currently supply over 70 countries around the world. -We are an international thinking business not a UK company trading abroad, says Ian Thompson, Managing Director who accepted the award.

Fibrelite developed the innovative ‘lightweight’ composite cover for petrol station forecourts and from there quickly went on to be adopted worldwide. Fibrelite is considered as the industry standard by the major international oil companies and continues to lead the way in composite innovation. Many industries including water treatment, railways, telecommunications, power stations and other utilities are already specifying composite as an alternative to metal and concrete.

The increase in metal costs has stimulated the theft of metal manhole, trench and gully covers. Metal theft is now having a serious impact on the global economy through inflated insurance premiums, high repair and replacement costs as well as causing extremely serious health and safety hazards. Fibrelite is strategically placed to utilise its quality, high volume manufacturing facilities in the UK, US and now Malaysia to offer a very cost competitive alternative to metal that can benefit all affected industries.

Fibrelite Launch NEW Eco-Friendly Product Development

Following significant investment in new tooling Fibrelite has successfully adapted the manufacturing process to utilise recycled glass fibres reducing waste and carbon emissions. This eco-friendly manufacturing process means Fibrelite is now able to produce the most cost-effective trench panel to date resulting in significant cost benefits to customers.

Fibrelite’s composite covers provide the perfect alternative to heavy, corroding metal and crumbling concrete access covers. Ideal for access to sewage systems, underground pipework, drainage networks, electrical junction boxes, water treatment plants and commercial fuel storage.

Research demonstrates the UK has a positive perception of the Tees Valley economy

The UK has a positive perception of the Tees Valley economy and the area’s business opportunities according to research undertaken at the country’s largest housing conference.

The study, which took place at the Chartered Institute of Housing conference, was spearheaded by leading local housing and regeneration companies Vela, Coast & Country, Fabrick and North Star and Tees Valley Unlimited, the Local Enterprise Partnership for Tees Valley.

The majority of those who took part in the study were aware that more jobs have been created than lost during the last 12 months and that 12 Enterprise Zones have been designated in the Tees Valley.

Visitors to the Tees Valley ‘Open for Business’ stand at the CIH conference were asked to fill in a short questionnaire.

The key findings are:

80 percent were aware that a major steel plant recently had re-opened at Redcar.
75 percent knew that £30m was being invested in housing projects by housing associations and local authorities in Tees Valley between now and 2015.
60 percent knew that there are 12 Enterprise Zone locations in the Tees Valley.
59 percent were aware that the Tees Valley is in the North East England.
59 percent knew that more job gains than losses had been announced in the Tees Valley between April 2011 – 2012.

The Tees Valley housing and regeneration companies took the opportunity to promote the area as a fantastic place to live and work, as well as promoting the development of new sectors including renewables and digital. The Tees Valley Perception Survey helped gauge delegates knowledge and of the area.

Stephen Catchpole, Tees Valley Unlimited Managing Director, said: -Our research demonstrates that key messages about emerging opportunities and investment being made in Tees Valley are starting to have an impact outside the area.

With Tees Valley LEP tasked to help stimulate economic growth and job creation, it is vital that we engage with representatives from a wide range of sectors so it was important for Tees Valley to have a strong presence at the UK’s largest housing conference.

The study and the ‘Open for Business’ initiative presented ideal platforms for us to inform a wider audience of our progress and what future opportunities will be available within the Tees Valley area.

Cath Purdy, Vela Group Chief Executive, said: -The Tees Valley Perception Study has demonstrated how awareness of the strides being made to improve the area’s economic fortunes is spreading.

The message that the Tees Valley is open for business, eager to build on existing successes and an ideal location for companies to invest in or move to is making its mark.

Housing associations, like Vela, also are making a significant contribution to boosting the local economy.

IT spending cuts of 12% per year will severely impact on patient care, say senior NHS IT professionals

London, UK, 28 June 2012: Pressure to cut costs in the NHS will have a severe impact on both patient care and the patient experience, according to an independent survey of senior NHS IT directors commissioned by IT services company 2e2. In the survey of 100 IT directors, 87% said they were under pressure to cut costs in order to achieve the Government’s aim to save £20 billion from the NHS budget by 2014-15. Despite this translating into a 4% per year saving across the NHS as a whole, IT departments are being hit harder. Each needs to make an average saving of 10% in 2012 and 12% each subsequent year to 2015.

-NHS IT departments are caught in a trap and can’t walk out”, said Adam Kamruddin, Head of Healthcare, 2e2. -Not only do they need to make large savings; they are also tasked with providing the foundations to help improve healthcare standards through supplying more patient-centric services and giving clinicians more face-time with patients. Essentially, IT can and should become a vital part of providing healthcare in the 21st century. Evidently this will require investment and 71% believe that their current IT infrastructure isn’t capable of supporting those objectives. Yet pairing this with the need to cut costs makes for a tricky balancing act. 93% are concerned that cutting IT costs will have a negative impact on both patient care and experience.”

This challenge is amplified by an underlying lack of strategy. Only 41% of respondents had a clear strategic vision and roadmap for IT, while 61% admitted needing more IT strategy and planning skills within their department. One obstacle is a disconnect between IT and senior management: 54% of respondents believe that senior management does not understand how IT can be used to transform patient care.

At the same time, the break-up of the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) means that individual NHS IT departments must take greater control over how they provision and deliver services. Despite the concerns around strategy, 53% of respondents believe that the break-up was a good decision, with 55% saying they will be able to work with service providers that better meet their needs. However, 67% of respondents also feel that they need extra resources and skills to deal with the increase and change in workload that accompanied the break-up, while 61% stated they didn’t have sufficient training programmes in place to address these skills gaps. Specific skills identified for improvement included: application management (67%), infrastructure management (59%) and project management (57%).

Lastly, respondents were still slow to new technologies that could help improve patient care. Even mobile working is relatively unexplored: only 48% of respondents have developed a mobile working strategy, while 71% don’t even have systems in place that enable phone calls to be routed to workers regardless of location. At the same time fewer than half (45%) of organisations have plans to implement telehealth services in the next two years. When asked about implementing a single patient view, where all data on a patient is held centrally and shared, the results were even worse: 79% of respondents don’t have the in-house skills and resources to enable such a view, while 56% believe that it isn’t a realistic or achievable objective. These issues continued with the exponential growth of data all organsiations have to deal with: 84% said this growth is already causing storage and management challenges, while both Local Area and Wide Area Networks are struggling to deal with increasingly large data files.

-Missing out on new technologies can actively hurt healthcare provision, and many recognise this,” continued Kamruddin. -Indeed, 75% stated that their organisation isn’t gaining as much value as it could from analysing patient data: a relatively simple way to make technology work for you. Sadly, the need to cut costs is not going to disappear and neither is the need to improve patient care. IT has huge potential to transform the way in which the NHS helps patients: IT departments must not only lead this transformation but also ensure that senior management understands exactly what IT can do. The NHS has been an example to the world for 64 years: we need to ensure it stays that way.”

Welsh Dietitians Leading the Way!

Some of the UK’s leading figures from the nutrition world will be taking part in a special information day in Wrexham on 3rd
July (Wrexham Maelor Hospital).

The British Dietetic Association’s (BDA) Welsh Board is running a ‘Practice and Innovation Showcase’ which will highlight the work of dietitians across Wales and how they are at the forefront of delivering against the Welsh Assembly Government’s health strategy and improving the lives of many in Wales.

In addition to some of the UK’s top dietitians attending, key representatives from the Welsh Assembly Government will also be in attendance.

Speaking ahead of the event, the Chairman of the BDA Welsh Board, Chris Cashin, said:

-Food and the right nutrition is an absolute necessity for every single person. If, as a nation, we get this wrong then the impact is felt right across the spectrum, from an increasingly more obese society, increased and prolonged hospital
admissions, more chronic disease management, to increased mortality figures.

-In Wales, the dietetic profession works hard to deliver against Welsh Assembly Government health priorities, which ultimately aims to improve health across the Welsh nation.

-In Wales, we are leading the way in many areas when it comes to nutrition and our Practise and Innovation Showcase day will highlight all the excellent work taking place in Wales and nutrition leaders from across the UK will be attending to see what they can learn from Wales.

Members of the media wishing to attend or require more information can contact Denise Parish at dparish@cardiffmet.ac.uk.

Copies of presentations and lectures will be made available after the event.

MYTIME ACTIVE SHOWS FUTURE FACE OF UK COMMUNITY HEALTH PROVISION

As the demise of Primary Care Trusts approaches, the future face of community health provision was demonstrated in West Midlands town Sandwell recently, when social enterprise Mytime Active showed how it can effectively deliver 23 integrated health services in the local community.

Said Annie Holden, Health Division Manager at Mytime Active, which delivers similar services across the UK: -In April 2013, responsibility for public health transfers from PCTs to local authorities and they need to have confidence in those they choose to deliver their services.

-The ground-breaking work that we have been doing in Sandwell, working with local community groups and delivering integrated healthy lifestyle services spanning the life cycle from early years to older age, is a perfect demonstration of how this work can be effectively outsourced to deliver improved impacts on the health of local communities.”

Sandwell is home to some of the worst pockets of deprivation in the UK and research by Sport England shows that local residents are amongst the least likely to do regular exercise in the country, but Mytime Active is already changing this by making it much easier for people to access a variety of healthy activity opportunities.

Since it was awarded the contract to deliver these services by the Sandwell PCT in November 2011, over 20,000 attendances have directly benefitted local people participating in their programmes.

Mytime Health’s Stop Smoking programme is achieving a 40 percent success rate, up from 28 per cent the previous year; 14,000 people participate in Sandwell Stride walks; 19 children centres are now delivering FABtots; health checks for cardio-vascular disease have been implemented in all 69 GP practices; Mytime Health’s pioneering pre-diabetes work will feature at the Heart UK Conference; and its Cookwell programme was singled out for a visit by Prime Minister David Cameron in December.

Recently local dignitaries, inspirational local celebrity and athlete known as ‘Blind Dave’ Heeley, health care professionals, patients and voluntary sector organisations all came together at The Sandwell Healthy Lifestyles Showcase at the The Public arts venue in West Bromwich.

They were able to see and sample Mytime Health projects delivered in partnership with a range of local community groups, from FabTots for early years and pregnant women to cycling, including a Watt bike exercise demo, Long-term Conditions Pilot, Slimwell (adult weight management), Extend and Active Sandwell for older people, as well as Stop Smoking Services, Walk from Home (for frailer older adults), Pulmonary Rehabilitation and the Health Trainer Service.

Said Steve Price Chief Executive of Mytime Active -You can’t force people to live healthily, but if you provide easily accessible integrated services, ensuring people know about them and provide a single point of access , so that people are empowered and motivated to improve their health, you can make a huge difference. It was inspiring to hear from participants who have had their health transformed, and we’re committed to doing all we can to extend these improvements across Sandwell.”

Said Jyoti Atri, Deputy Director of Public Health for Sandwell PCT: -It was good to see Mytime Active working collaboratively with partners to deliver a service which is fully integrated and delivered around the needs of individuals in their communities. We believe this joined up approach to tackling health inequalities is vital for the future of public health.”

MYTIME ACTIVE LEADS WAY IN CHILD WEIGHT MANAGEMENT SERVICES

Social enterprise Mytime Active has won two new community health contracts from NHS health commissioners in Wandsworth and a brand new one in Lewisham, securing its position as first choice for child weight management services.

Said Annie Holden Health Division Manager: -We have many years combined expertise in this service area, with successful long-term programmes in London including Bromley, Croydon, Hammersmith and Fulham, Wandsworth, as well as Sandwell in the Midlands.

Winning these contracts is a great opportunity for us to build on the good work we have been doing at Boost Wandsworth in our previous commission for child weight management and health services for Early Years and new mums, teenagers and adults.

We’ll also be building on our previous experience of workforce training and coordinating with frontline staff and volunteers from other agencies to ensure consistent good health messages are joined up across public services.

In Lewisham, also under the Boost label, Mytime Health will be working on more specialist targeted Tier 3 services for overweight/obese children with complex needs.

Mytime Health Dietitian Melissa Paterson, who recently appeared on BBC Breakfast, gave her opinion on working as part of the team tackling both these contracts: -This will encourage families to adopt a healthy and active lifestyle as part of our integrated approach to community health programmes. We’re really looking forward to working alongside other partners to help tackle health inequalities where it’s most needed.

As a social enterprise, Mytime Active is a non-profit distributing organisation, with all surplus reinvested, to improve the quality of services it provides. They bring their knowledge and expertise of the health sector by delivering coherent and integrated healthy lifestyle programmes to target those most at risk on behalf of the NHS and local authorities. In the current year Mytime Active’s weight management services will have reached over 7,500 children and their families.

Said Steve Price, Chief Executive of Mytime Active: -Our goal is to improve the quality of people’s lives and their well-being by delivering health services that are widely regarded to be top quality, reliable, accessible and customer focused. We are really pleased to be recognised by NHS trusts and local authorities across the UK in partnering with them and other groups in delivering community health care.

Revolution

Governments across the world can be a traditional conservative affair. Our models of teaching, nursing, policing, justice and welfare are a hundred or more years old; the structures, power centres, laws and management models to control the state have barely changed in decades; the evolution of Departments, Councils and services might be measured in geological terms. One could be forgiven for thinking the way we govern and manage today is unquestionable, a fundamental truth, fait accompli, so what is this whisper of revolution?

Throughout history revolutions have been sparked by recession – drought, poor nutrition, rising prices. For instance the 632 BC Greek constitutional crisis, 476 AD Roman Empire collapsed, 907 Tang, 1368 Yean and 1644 Ming Dynasties fell, or the 1789 French revolution. The global recession that began in 2007 is now expected to create a decade of austerity for the UK public sector, without any change in efficiency, the impact of this recession on vulnerable individuals, families and citizens is unimaginable. This is the crucible for revolution.

And there are other catalysts to change in government such as greater availability of information, data and flow of ideas, changes in technology opening up democracy and open-government, better understanding of how humans and societies work, localisation, co-production, and new ways of leading. This is the fuel for our revolution.

So what is this revolution and how will it change government? Maybe you’ve seen the signs already? Doing services to people vs with them; knowing the costs of everything vs understanding the value; command-and-control vs facilitative style leadership; risk aversion vs risk management; fewer, larger providers vs smaller, more local providers; standardisation of services vs innovation and personalisation; targets vs outcomes; centralisation vs localism. At every point in government there is a struggle between these concepts, with one incontrovertible fact: our current model for government is unaffordable and as demand grows the challenges get worse. We need this revolution.

The changes we are seeing are caught up in the move from reductionist thinking to systems thinking. From a command-and-control model of government to one that is about understanding the outcomes we want, understanding the system that achieves the outcomes, and then designing, nurturing and leading these new services. There are now many examples of 50%+ radical efficiencies because forward thinking civil servants are taking a new entrepreneurial approach to systems and services, how do we take this revolution to scale across government?

Let’s imagine we are buying paperclips for the civil service to get efficiencies: we’d rightly use reductionist methods such as competing providers in a bigger market, maybe we’d buy paperclips as part of a larger stationery category, or sign up for a cheaper 10 year paperclip deal. Translating these approaches has only limited impact of maybe 10% on complex services, such as the £350bn of health, justice, welfare and local government. For 50%+ radical efficiencies we need systems thinking, and we need to scale up this thinking across the workforce.

Efficiencies from systems thinking come in four flavours:

1. Optimise resources by getting the most from all public spend in an area, from the buildings, workforce and hidden community resource, and re-design all of these resources around specific citizen outcomes. Service leaders only control a small amount of the resource that will achieve the outcomes they want – so influence and facilitation become much more important.

2. Target those we want to support and ensure they access the resources and services. But make sure that those who don’t need a service or resource don’t use it up. Identify the right point in an individual’s pathway to target the resource, such as intervening earlier when the cost of support is much cheaper with better results.

3. Choose the right package of different mechanisms to achieve the outcome efficiently, such as new procurement techniques, payment by results, influence over partners, relationships, choice, market management, co-production, etc. There is a large choice of mechanisms to achieve the outcomes we want, but too often we use traditional service models. Interestingly, our understanding of how the human brain works is starting to open a very different choice of mechanisms such as nudge, behavioural change and socio-engineering.

4. Design for the whole system. Understand the outcome we want (surprisingly in many complex services we are not sure what outcome we want), understand the best interventions, and design the system of communities, providers, businesses and Government.

Any serious revolution needs its cavalry of soldiers; for government these soldiers with a new systems thinking perspective on services and outcomes are Commissioners. There are wonderful stories of the changes created in pockets of government, the new Academy for Commissioning announced by Cabinet Office is an excellent start, and the increase in the number of people called ‘commissioners’ has been extraordinary.

But this revolution must be more than just in name – how can we scale up, change our thinking, and deliver radical efficiencies for the most vulnerable families and communities? Whisper it: will you sign up to la Revolution?

Richard Selwyn is a Senior Consultant at Cognizant, and author of The Outcomes & Efficiency: Leadership Handbook.

Public Sector Media Relations Post Leveson

The investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World and the general culture and ethics of the British media, ‘The Leveson Inquiry’, should conclude with a report in the Autumn. Public hearings are expected to run on into the Summer with the next high profile phase focused on the relationship between the press and politicians, as we have seen with the prime minister and other senior political figures giving evidence recently.

Like the previous phase of the inquiry, which examined the relationship between the police and the press, there could be some prominent casualties. Freedom of the press is unlikely to be one of them, however. There is probably a case for tighter, independent press regulation, but it is hard to see how a liberal democracy can operate without a free press.

We criticise it for trespassing upon personal privacy, grimace at the red tops tendency to the melodramatic, but at the same laud it when it exposes the vagabonds, thieves and chancers from all walks of life. It is also the ‘Fourth Estate’; the referee between vested political interest and the common public good.

Indeed the relationship between the press and politicians in particular, and the public sector in general, has been symbiotic. They need each other, and perhaps it was ever thus. What Leveson is revealing, however, is that the closeness of the relationship has led to practices that are damaging to both parties, leaving their reputation on the wane.

Reputation is difficult to measure in the public sector, but many research initiatives have shown the relationship that exists between reputation and shareholder value in the private sector. For example, a report published in March of this year by Echo Research stated that; corporate reputation accounts for 33% of the value of the UKs top 100 companies; a 5% improvement in the strength of one of these company’s reputation would produce an average of 2% increase in market capitalisation.

We also know from our own everyday experiences that reputation matters.

We all feel more likely to buy the products of companies that we trust , work for organisations we respect, and recommend companies we admire. Trust, respect, admiration are all terms associated with a reputable organisation. They are not terms normally associated with the press.

The challenge for public sector organisations then is to build trust, to recreate a healthy symbiotic relationship with the press. To do so requires that there is transparency, consistency and accuracy in all communications.

Anne Campbell, who was Director of Communications at Suffolk and Norfolk Constabularies when giving evidence at the Leveson enquiry stated that a healthy relationship with the media was essential and acknowledged -that it is important to foster relationships with journalists and editors that are based on trust, openness and honesty… (and) to proactively use the news media to inform the public what we are dealing with, to enlist the help of the public in catching criminals and also as a means to deliver advice and guidance on a range of public safety issues.

Simon Ash, Chief Constable at Suffolk Constabulary, in his evidence to the enquiry referred to the constabulary’s use of media relations management systems that – keeps records of contacts with journalists and other individuals of note, for example local politicians and MPs, to enable the professional management of corporate communications… (and) enable us to bring more rigour to this area of our business.

Generally, the utilisation of software within the Corporate Communications function will ensure that key spokespeople have access to the appropriate lines to take and briefing statements on any issue affecting their organisation, and that they are ready to react consistently to enquiries from any stakeholder group, ensuring they remain the trusted source of information.

Careful management of stakeholder interactions will ensure that the message finds the right people, helping to leverage opportunities, mitigate risks, and protect reputational value. Recording of these interactions ensures the creation of a searchable, corporate memory of – “who met who”, “who said what to who”, and who sent what to who.

Leveson may not know it, but one consequence of the Inquiry may be that public sector organisations commit themselves to software that ensures they can demonstrate transparency, consistency and accuracy in all their stakeholder engagements.

Charlie O’Rourke

MD, AIMediaComms – provider of media relations and stakeholder engagement software.

Webasto Heats Boss Cabin's Big Space

World-leading manufacturer of automotive, CV and marine heating, cooling and ventilation systems specialist Webasto has been selected by Boss Cabins to provide diesel powered interior heating for their new -Big Space- towable welfare cabin.

Big Space maintains the company’s hybrid interior power technology by combining a special Eco Assist power pack, which silently provides power and light, with an advanced Webasto Air Top 2000 ST diesel-powered interior heating system. – Big Space - only needs occasional generator usage to top up the power pack’s integral bank of batteries.

Boss Cabins chose the Air Top blown air interior heater because of its high performance, light weight and compact dimensions, which frees up valuable storage space. Air Top also features easy installation and inexpensive maintenance & servicing, thanks to stepless control, efficient combustion and low diesel consumption, providing comfortable warmth at the touch of a button.

Big Space, got a warm reception at the recent Executive Hire Show in Coventry: The new cabin includes toilet facilities and enables up to 10 people to wash, relax and prepare meals in comfort, but importantly also includes an office for use as a site control area.

Graham Stansfield is Boss Cabin’s Managing Director and is impressed with the Webasto heater’s performance saying:
“Webasto has produced a simple to operate, well proven product which we’re confident will stand the test of time – many site personnel have little formal training, so it is important that the systems we specify are both robust and uncomplicated. Choosing to work with Webasto was a straight forward decision because my colleagues and I admired their pro-active approach, along with their keenness to work with a young business. We’ve now built a very good working relationship but are still pleasantly surprised by Webasto’s willingness to, go that extra mile, when circumstances need more input from them than usual.”

Boss Cabins has just celebrated its second year in business in May 2012. The company was formed by a small group of like, minded professionals who have already brought a high degree of experience, skills and enthusiasm to the market. Based in Grantham, Lincolnshire, the company’s main customers are councils, utility providers and rental companies throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

PASSIVENT HELPS COLLEGES BENEFIT FROM NEW RAFT OF FUNDING

Schools can cut their energy bills and improve the learning environment by utilising Passivent’s rsnge of natural solutions for building services.

Whether a new build or refurbishment project, the inclusion or improvement of building services such as ventilation, daylight and acoustics needs to be addressed in order to minimize energy consumption but maximize student and staff comfort. Passivent’s diverse range and technical expertise in the sector (the company has been a member of a Government steering committee to advise on natural ventilation) enables a holistic approach to be adopted, with the three elements addressed from one source.

The rising cost of energy means schools should take every opportunity to harness natural resources to cut their fuel bills, says Dennis Bates, Passivent Product Manager.

The latest version of Building Bulletin 90 states ‘Unless over-riding reasons for not doing so, the school designer should assume daylight will be the prime means of lighting’, yet a typical rooflight will lose almost 90% of its light transmission value in 10 years so will need replacing to avoid an increased use of electric light.

Natural ventilation is the DfE’s preferred means of airing educational establishments and noise transfer to and from classrooms is always a concern for teachers, -We are the only major company in the sector that can address ALL those issues, simplifying the specification process and further optimising funds by ensuring systems work effectively as stand-alone strategies, or integrate seamlessly and with maximum user control, and delivering compliance with BB90 (lighting in schools), BB101 (ventilation in schools) and BB93 (acoustics).

What’s more, natural solutions – ventilation and lighting – are usually not only cheaper to operate as they use little or no energy, but usually involve a lower capital cost too.

AMENITIES SECTOR TO BENEFIT FROM NATURAL AND SAFE WEEDING TECHNOLOGY

Controlling weeds is a perennial problem for council, amenity, landscape and groundcare teams that is not only costly and time-consuming but potentially harmful to people, animals and the environment due the use of chemical-based herbicides.

This situation, however, could soon change for the better as an innovative weeding technology, developed and manufactured in the UK, is now available for use in the amenities sector offering the first effective, financially viable opportunity for non-toxic, 100% natural and renewable weed control.

Weedingtech’s thermal weeding solution – Foamstream – is completely non-toxic and its use is therefore completely unrestricted. Foamstream can be used around water courses, on roads and in populated areas as it poses no danger to people, animals or the environment. It kills weeds quickly using a combination of hot water, steam and a natural foam made from 100% natural and renewable plant oils and sugars, which is applied by three hand-held lances from Weedingtech’s delivery device, ‘The AW-Series’ which is fitted to a tractor, and powered by its PTO.

The patented technology at the heart of the machine – Foamstream – employs a unique mix of boiling water, steam and foam, derived from natural plant oils and sugars to kill weeds. Simple but highly effective, the system is designed to treat all weed types. The steam ensures that the heat is efficiently transferred to the plant cells and the foam acts as a thermal blanket, preventing heat loss to the atmosphere. The cells of the weed are heated to the point where they rupture and the plant dies. The plant science behind this ground-breaking solution has been validated by Dr David Hanke of the University of Cambridge.

Karen Waters, Operations Manager of Countryman’s Contractors – one of the leading contracting companies in the UK, said: ‘Countryman’s Contractors recently invested in an AW-Series from Weedingtech; we recognised that Foamstream fills a gap in the market giving us the ability to offer our clients a wider range of services generating new opportunities for our business. Foamstream allows us to bypass complex restrictions around herbicide use and meet the clients and general public’s agenda for greener, more sustainable public services.

-Countryman’s is committed to protecting the environment and making our towns, cities and countryside greener, cleaner and safer than ever before. We’re really excited about rolling Foamstream out and would be delighted to speak with any other councils or organisations about how Foamstream can help them.”

Designed, developed and manufactured in the UK in partnership with engineering firm Cambridge Precision Limited, the Weedingtech solution was initially launched to the agricultural sector in response to ever-increasing legislation and restrictions regarding the use of chemical herbicides. Field tests undertaken by the National Institute of Agricultural Botany have revealed a 100% success rate.

Richard Pearson of Weedingtech said: -We believe Foamstream will be a highly effective tool in the amenities sector because it offers so many benefits. For starters, it’s incredibly cost efficient. For example, it isn’t weather dependent and can be used in almost any weather conditions with no risk to people, animals or the environment. This means contractors can reduce contingency time on jobs saving them money and improving their margins. Foamstream also empowers contractors to offer their clients additional services so they have a wider portfolio when they go into tender situations. What’s more, only minimal training is needed to use the AW-Series and Foamstream, as opposed to chemical-based herbicides, which often require training certification.

-Using Foamstream we can make our towns, cities and countryside greener and cleaner than ever.”

Foamstream is approved by The Soil Association, The Organic Farmers and Growers Association, and the Chemical Regulations Directorate.

For more information on Weedingtech and the AW Series, powered by Foamstream, visit www.weedingtech.com

C-mii rings the changes for smarter working

When it comes to mobile communication, the loudest topic of conversation lately has been NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. Much of that buzz has focused on the ability of NFC to facilitate the ‘mobile wallet’, whereby handsets act as virtual debit cards, making instant payments when swiped near to NFC points in shops, transport hubs and venues.

While this is undoubtedly an intriguing development, with increasing numbers of outlets expected to become NFC-friendly over the coming months to encourage faster and more convenient transactions for consumers, some of the wider applications of NFC technology have not had the same level of attention.

This is unfortunate because, within public sector organisations, NFC has the potential to transform the day-to-day running of routine operations, promoting improved efficiency, faster communication and maximising productivity.

When placed in the hands of managers and employees, NFC-enabled mobiles can be coupled with strategically positioned ‘tags’ in a variety of locations, allowing users to automatically check in and out rooms or buildings, while simultaneously exchanging data in the form of real-time messages. This data could include an updated priority list, a new schedule of work or a request to move to another location.

In this way, NFC has the potential to transform the governance of areas such as time and attendance, workforce management and job scheduling. It can be particularly powerful where staff are working remotely, between numerous locations.

At the forefront of this transformation will be PayFones, a leading mobile technology specialist that has developed a range of low-cost NFC-enabled handsets called C-mii (pronounced ‘see me’). Having teamed up with a number of software partners to create bespoke solutions for a range of applications, the brand will be rolling out its technology into the public sector this year.

PayFones founder and CEO Chris Pay explains: -Most of the conversations around NFC have focused on its potential as a mobile wallet mechanism, and that will certainly be an important area for the C-mii range. But more widely, we view C-mii as a tool to support efficiency efforts, particularly in the public sector, where real-time data exchange could have an important role in addressing organisational issues.

-It’s important to point out that this doesn’t mean equipping staff with expensive smartphones. We’ve developed and manufactured a lightweight, robust and feature-rich range of NFC-enabled handsets that, by design, are very affordable. Our objective is to make NFC capabilities accessible to the widest possible range of people and organisations, so that they can benefit from this technology with only modest investment.”

The healthcare sector is seen as a potentially significant beneficiary of this technology, particularly in terms of domiciliary care. If district nurses, for example, were equipped with C-mii handsets, they could check in and out of particular patient locations, and receive updates on the treatment required, as well as any new scheduling information for their next assignment.

This would provide managers with live details of staff activity, creating a log of where they attended and what tasks were carried out, as well as opening up the possibility of staff being redirected or redeployed away from their original schedule.

The same capabilities could just as usefully be applied to staff such as porters and cleaners, not only in healthcare but in other areas too.

Having a real-time record of the location and movements of staff also has obvious security advantages.

Taking that to its next logical step, security staff have also been identified as potential beneficiaries of C-mii. When performing routine circuits to check the safety of key locations, for example, the meeting of a C-mii handset and tag would confirm which areas were attended and at what time.

-We’re already seeing major potential in areas such as domiciliary care, cleaning, portering, facilities management and security, all of which require central teams to keep track of the activities of staff who are moving around all the time and may need their schedules to be revised in line with changing circumstances, minute by minute or hour by hour,” says Pay. -The efficiency savings that could be derived from this approach are easy to see. But this is just the beginning. Our C-mii solution can touch many more areas of public sector life and we want to work alongside civil servants to create solutions that meet their evolving needs simply and effectively.”

PayFones specialise in the distribution of mobile handsets and the creation of bespoke, fully-branded mobile devices for some of the world’s best-known corporations.

Now, its market-leading C-mii range has been created to allow organisations to take early advantage of NFC (Near Field Communication) technology at an affordable price.

Commercial applications arise from the ability of C-mii to transmit and receive live information when in close proximity to NFC tags.

For further information, visit www.c-mii.com or email enquiries@c-mii.com

Civic solar installations: embracing the long view

A year ago, large numbers of public sector organisations were taking advantage of government Feed-In Tariffs (FITs) to install solar panels on the roofs of civic buildings. Now, with FITs rates cut in half, the public mood couldn’t be more different. The court battle between the government and the solar industry over FITs rates muddied the waters. And unscrupulous ‘sharks’ in the marketplace, misrepresenting the facts about solar ROI, have made organisations understandably nervous about going forward with planned installations.

Yet the picture of solar in the UK is not as black and white as it may seem. It is not the case that solar was a good investment last year, and now it is a bad investment.

Battling short-termism

Although payback periods will be longer as a result of FITs cuts, ROI and payback are still dependent on a number of different factors and it is impossible to generalise. Lots of figures for solar payback are thrown around 5 years, 10 years, 18 years, but it all depends on values of irradiation, shading, inclination of panels and more.

However, it’s crucial to also consider on-going savings on electricity and how this will impact payback periods. We’ve seen electricity prices increase annually and this is a trend that is likely to continue. Public buildings, with their high staff numbers and extensive public footfall, can spend tens of thousands of pounds on energy every year. This means that taking advantage of free electricity generated by solar power can reduce their bottom line considerably, even without the added bonus of high subsidies.

The ‘austerity’ mood of the UK has understandably led to a degree of short-termism, where if the numbers do not stack up immediately, a project is automatically shelved. However, this short-term mind-set overlooks the bigger picture. CO2 targets and environmental legislation, such as the Carbon Reduction Commitment, mean that weighing up the benefit of projects like solar installations should involve more than simply looking at today’s balance sheet.

Lofty goals vs. cost realities

A recent poll by the Guardian found that 78% of respondents, from the public, private and third sectors, felt that the public sector should lead the way in sustainability. If the public sector is expected to be the leader in sustainability, this calls for a long-term view on green projects. Yet those in the public sector must still walk a tightrope, aiming for lofty environmental goals, while still satisfying the pressing need to keep costs to a minimum.

Astute organisations have realised that, in order to achieve a good rate of return on civic solar installations, they must watch every penny. There is no longer any margin for error. This means speeding up installation times; simplifying maintenance works; avoiding expensive roof reinforcement works; and ensuring the solar panels are always working at maximum capacity.

Whole-life analysis

Undertaking a successful solar installation can mean a delicate balancing act between initial costs and whole-life costs. Skimping on quality in the short term can produce a maintenance headache several years down the line.

Because solar panel mounting systems are exposed to extremes of weather for long periods of time, opting for mounting systems made from cheap materials will almost certainly lead to big maintenance bills in the future. It’s important to make sure all materials used in a solar installation have been properly treated to ensure resistance to corrosion. Salt-water-resistant aluminium and galvanised high-grade steel are an absolute must.

Installation hassle

However, one initial expenditure that can, and should,be kept to a minimum is installation costs. During installation of solar panels, the potential for expensive delays is high, especially if you choose a mounting system with a large number of screw fixings and complex components. This type of system means that installers have to carry a large number of tools and parts in their van and then transfer all of this equipment onto the roof itself. The end result is a needless amount of time spent on the roof, fiddling around with tricky fixtures and fittings.

Looking for a simple mounting system design, requiring a lower inventory of parts and fewer tools, is a good way to make sure your installers don’t end up mired in labour-intensive rooftop works.

Flat roof problems

Many organisations anticipate having to perform works on their civic buildings to make sure the roof is suitable for the solar installation, particularly when dealing with flat roofs, which can be notoriously difficult. Avoiding such roof-strengthening works is an obvious way to keep costs low.

State-of-the-art mounting systems have now been engineered to be low-weight-bearing by design. For flat roofs, the ballasts used can add greatly to the weight of the installation, and this is why the best modern designs keep the number of ballasts to a minimum. At TRITEC UK, the latest innovation is the TRI-STAND Aero mounting system, which ensures that solar installations require at least 50% less ballast, compared with conventional flat roof supports.

Maximising yield

It’s easy to feel that, once the solar panels are in place and you’ve ticked every box, quick installation, high-quality materials, etc.- the job is finished. However, in order to maintain your yields from solar panels and anticipate the need for any maintenance works, regular monitoring of installations is also essential. In the past, we had to make do with multi-meters and clip-on ammeters for monitoring.

However, new technology, like the hand-held TRI-KA monitoring device from TRITEC UK, establishes a wireless connection between the measuring device and the panel sensor. This speeds up the job of maintenance and removes the need for expensive wiring. Investing in the right technology right from the start can make the difference between a successful, smoothly-run solar PV system and one that is an endless headache.

Most of all, it’s important to remember that much of the pessimism that currently surrounds solar in the UK simply stems from confusion over the situation. While it’s true that Feed-In Tariff cuts mean that solar is no longer the boon it was last year, rising energy prices mean that it is still a sound investment. In fact, provided public sector organisations approach their solar installations with a careful eye on keeping installation and maintenance costs low, solar can still reap long-term benefits for the public sector, both financially and environmentally.

www.tritec-energy.com/uk/

Simplifying government forms will help public sector harness big data

New online research from YouGov and SAS, the leader in business analytics software and services, has found that more than four in five Britons (82%) have never knowingly provided false information in a government agency form, putting the public sector in prime position to collect a central repository of reliable and valuable ‘big data’.

The ‘Communicating with the Citizen’ survey of 2,160 British citizens showed that if government departments maximised response rates to official forms of communication, the public sector would obtain high quality, accurate data on its citizens, which could drive significant value through high-performance analytics (HPA).

To enable public servants to harness this untapped value, simplifying the communication process will be key, with ease of completing forms a recurring theme among those surveyed when asked what steps government agencies could take to improve communication with the general public. Respondents noted that the top four ways government could maintain or improve its communication with the general public were:

  • Making it clearer what information is actually being asked for/required (69%)
  • Use of more simplistic language in documentation (54%)
  • The ability to complete and submit forms/ payments online (50%)
  • Highlighting of key information in bold or “strong” colours in documentation (31%)
  • -We know that there are limits on the amount of information that can be processed at one time. So it comes as little surprise that Britons would like government agencies to clarify exactly what information they are seeking and use simple language to do so in official forms of communication, said Gerry Leonidas, senior lecturer in typography at the University of Reading.

    -Likewise, we actively seek meaning in the world around us, so in a document we tend to see significance in the way things are arranged and in their relative prominence. The high volume of participants who listed these as improvement areas for the public sector to focus on, is evidence that simplified government agency forms will make the process of gathering and providing information easier for everyone.

    The importance attached to being able to communicate online is also significant, and supports the Government Digital Service’s aim to deliver more online services. It also enables more efficient data capture by avoiding the need to digitalise data which originates in hard copy format.

    Bernard Baker, director, public sector at SAS UK & Ireland, said: – If the public sector adjusts its communication methods and tools in line with this feedback, not only will response rates improve, but so will the consistency and uniformity of the data being collected. By sourcing data of such a high calibre, individual agencies and central government will be better equipped to segment data, perform better profiling of citizens and improve overall citizen intelligence through high-performance analytics. Gaining the ability to identify subgroups within the community and then pinpoint the best methods to communicate with those specific demographics will put public servants in a much stronger position to provide citizens with improved services.

    A recent report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research and SAS forecasted that if central government can apply high-performance analytics to big data so as to improve its citizen intelligence, it could provide a £6.7bn economic benefit over the next five years.

    The ‘Communicating with the Citizen’ study showed that channel of communication was also highly relevant for maximising data capture, so understanding how people wish to be contacted is key. Despite the growth in online and mobile communication channels in recent years, a hard copy letter (50%) is the favoured method for receiving general government agency communications, followed by email (37%). Text messages (39%) and phone calls (23%) from a government agency were the most likely channels to be ignored.

    The research results indicate that the public sector should focus on incentivising people to pay fines/bills or complete forms on time over penalising them. When participants were asked to choose which three options would most encourage them to pay council tax on time, 70% said receiving a discount and 27% said being entered into lotteries or prize draws. Only 24% said being advised that any future failure to pay on time would be seen as an -active choice, and incurring a late payment penalty fee would encourage them to pay on time.

    Our survey has found that negative incentives, or ‘sticks’, such as naming and shaming late payers or penalty charges, have less of an impact than positive incentives, or ‘carrots’, such as discounts, prize lotteries and higher rebates. If the public sector takes these results on board to improve citizen data collection and citizen profiling, it will enhance services and significantly reduce operational costs associated with debt collection and fraud detection,concluded Baker.

    THE 4 CURRENT ENGLAND CRICKET CAPTAINS LEAD STREET COACHING SESSION TO HIGHLIGHT THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF SPORT

    All four current England Cricket Captains; Andrew Strauss, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook and Charlotte Edwards brought cricket to some of Nottingham’s inner-city youngsters today when The Lord’s Taverners staged a special coaching session ahead of the England Test with West Indies at Trent Bridge.

    As cricket’s number one charity, The Lord’s Taverners is dedicated to giving young people access to sporting and recreational opportunities. The four England captains joined together for the first time to assist the session, led by two graduates of the charity’s Street Elite programme.

    Over the past six months the Street Elite scheme, supported by the Berkeley Group, has trained a group of young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) and seen them gain coaching qualifications in cricket, rugby and futsal. The participants have since organized sessions with youngsters on local housing estates, inspiring them to get involved in sport and other positive activities which help address the kind of disillusion which led to the August 2011 riots across much of the country.

    The four captains were on hand to assist Street Elite graduates Kemar Campbell and Akiem McCarthy, both 21, deliver the session for 60 young people from Bentinck Primary School, Berridge Junior School and Catch22 at the Bridlington Street MUGA (Multi-Use Games Area) in central Nottingham.

    England One Day International Captain and Lord’s Taverners ambassador, Alastair Cook, said: -It’s great to come down and interact with the kids.

    -While Andrew, Stuart, Charlotte and I were fortunate enough to realise our sporting potential through the ECB performance pathway, these youngsters also need a framework which organisations like The Lord’s Taverners are putting in place.

    -The Lord’s Taverners is doing a great job around the country giving kids access to sport so were delighted to have the opportunity to do our part.”

    Matthew Patten, Chief Executive of The Lord’s Taverners, said: -The Lord’s Taverners is all about giving young people like Kemar and Akiem the opportunity to transform their lives through cricket and other sports.”

    ITEC demonstrates that UK Government is making cyber a priority

    Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones, the UK Government’s Special Representative to Business for Cyber Security, has commended ITEC’s first Cyber Security Training and Education Workshop for the significant attention it has drawn to combating this evolving threat.

    During her opening presentation, Baroness Neville-Jones provided an in-depth analysis of the progress being made in developing the nation’s resilience to malicious attack and the continued urgency with which the issue will be addressed.

    -Cyber is making it wonderfully clear that time is not on our side” she asserted and, reflected by the increase in deliberately directed acts, -events are pushing us [into action]”. Tackling the assumption of those who understand the threat to be little more than a nuisance, the Baroness was adamant that -our understanding of resilience has to change…at the moment the advantage lies with the attacker, we must up the defence”.

    The UK Government has allocated considerable funding to protecting the nation’s digital infrastructure which, while global defence budgets continue to be slashed, indicates the importance it is investing long-term. However, ITEC also provided a platform for the Baroness to emphasise the value of partnership between the parliamentary powers, the private and public sectors. To outwit the enemy requires initiative; the cyber battlefield must be approached from all angles. -It is really important that industry takes responsibility and works together [with the Government] in a collective sense” she stressed.

    An emerging theme during the first day of ITEC’s Cyber Security Workshop exposed the central role that cyber skills will play in the coming years. Accordingly, if we are to safeguard nations’ digital infrastructure, awareness must be given to fostering these skills within the main educational framework.

    ITEC’s debut into this critical arena confirmed that, once supported by a robust body of research, strong cross-sector partnerships and an attentive social audience, -we will have a much greater chance of success in the future”.

    The show is taking place at ExCeL, London, 22-24 May 2012.

    ITEC 2013 will be held 22-24 May in Rome.

    www.itec.co.uk

    Baldwin Boxall Protects Voyagers at the 2012 Titanic Belfast

    Sitting at the heart of Belfasts historic ship yard stands the UKs latest tourist attraction, the iconic Titanic Belfast building. This is an interactive insight into the history of the worlds most famous ship The RMS Titanic. There are nine galleries which take you through the life of the Titanic from its concept to the sinking 100 years ago and its influence up to modern times.

    Officially opened on 31st March 2012, the building was designed around many maritime themes including the ships hull. During the last Century, the Titanic has been a story of fascination for many and Titanic Belfast already welcomes thousands of visitors each week.

    With large numbers of the public expected, and their safety a priority (as well as that of the staff), it was decided that a reliable voice evacuation system must be installed. (It is proved that people react far quicker to a spoken evacuation message than a misunderstood bell or sounder.)

    In addition to the voice evacuation, a disabled refuge and toilet alarm system was also needed for the site. This type of system provides two way communication between building management and areas of refuge for those that would need assistance during an evacuation.

    DJ Kilpatrick (DJK) of Belfast was chosen by G4S Fire Security as the supplier for both types of system and they opted to use products from UK manufacturer Baldwin Boxall. The structure of the building is complex not a single right angle is in view throughout the attraction. DJK, working closely with Baldwin Boxall, designed the voice evacuation system to ensure speech intelligibility was high in all areas. Careful thought was needed regarding the placement of the Penton loudspeakers, as there had been concern about potential over flow within certain areas, especially the atrium.

    The Voice Evacuation System:

    An eight zone centralised voice evacuation system providing phased evacuation to all areas of the attraction. Inputs to the system include background music, localised paging microphones, multi-zone microphones and all call fire microphones. Sitting at the heart of the system is Baldwin Boxalls well established DSP router the BVRD2M.

    The system employs DC line monitoring technology which is one of three monitoring solutions offered by Baldwin Boxall (the BVRDADIM). The Penton loudspeakers were supplied with capacitors and by doing this the BVRDADIM allows one amplifier to drive two loudspeaker circuits. If one circuit should suffer a short circuit the BVRADIM will isolate the affected circuit and allow the other circuit to function with only a slight drop in level. The system has amplifier redundancy and is battery backed as standard.

    The Disabled Refuge and Toilet Alarm System:

    VIGIL Omnicare was the preferred disabled refuge/toilet alarm system and two separate systems were installed. The first was a six-way system for the car parks with the second being a larger, 46-way system, for the attraction. Omnicare was chosen due to the loop wiring configuration, the ideal choice for new builds as the cost of cable is dramatically reduced compared with radial systems.

    G4S Fire Security, the installation company, was extremely happy with the ease of the installation and the service given by DJK. Their project manager Gary Graham commented From the start of the project we have been delighted with the service provided by DJK. By choosing Baldwin Boxall equipment we were safe in the knowledge that we were installing quality equipment. The end result is we have a voice evacuation system that allows our client to make paging announcements/message broadcasts knowing they will be clearly heard by the general public and staff.

    Jim Hooks, Managing Director of DJ Kilpatrick said DJK has been a distributor for Baldwin Boxall for over 15 years and this is another successful project for us using their products. The team at Baldwin Boxall were effective with their design and all round assistance with this project.