News
Marketing Budgets Set For Major Increase
SPENDING on marketing by big companies in the construction sector, including flooring, is set to rise significantly in 2015. This is a conclusion in the latest ‘state of the industry’ barometer from Leading Edge Management Consultancy in association with Construction News and the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Construction Industry Group. Key findings for 2015 include: 74% of companies are planning to raise their marketing spend over the next 12 months while 48% are expecting to grow their headcount; 57% cited aggressive pricing...
read moreFamily Hopes Accident Is Lesson For Others
AN Evans family spokesperson said after the trial: ‘David, our son, our brother, was cruelly taken from us. ‘We miss his smile, his infectious laugh and his profoundly honest nature. ‘Not a single day passes without us thinking of him and wondering what his life and our lives would have been like if he were here today. ‘We hope that this trial and the conclusions that are reached serve as an example to others in the industry. ‘We hope that it is understood that health and safety legislation is there to provide a safe working...
read moreHSE Inspector Explains
Health & Safety Executive (HSE) Inspector Peter Snelgrove said, following the case: ‘David Evan’s tragic death was completely avoidable, had Cavendish Masonry properly planned and managed the installation of the heavy limestone. ‘The lift itself was relatively straightforward and there is no blame on the part of the crane operator who put the stone in place. ‘The stone toppled because its shape was such that it was potentially unstable when free standing, yet nothing was used to fix it in place. It needed to be sufficiently...
read moreStone Worker Killed
A MASONRY business has been ordered to pay £237,000, including a £150,000 fine and costs after being convicted of corporate manslaughter. The prosecution arose after a two-tonne block of limestone fell on a stonemason’s mate, 23-year-old David Evans, and killed him. Imposing the fine on November 18, 2014, Judge Patrick Eccles QC said the penalty of a £150,000 fine with £87,117.69 costs did not match the gravity of the offence, but that it would be better to impose a smaller penalty that the company had some hope of paying. The...
read moreOnly 56 Are Paid Within Agreed Term
TIER 2 sub-contractors, including those in flooring, supply more trade credit to the Tier 1 (major) contractors and clients than they receive from their own suppliers. This is a key finding of a just completed payment survey by the National Specialist Contractors’ Council (to which the Contract Flooring Association is affiliated) jointly with the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). The report titled ‘Credit where credit isn’t due’ features responses from 719 businesses with a collective turnover of £2.3bn and reveals that 92% of...
read moreMinister Silent On Fair Pay Support
BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable has reportedly not replied to a letter sent over three months ago by the National Specialist Contractors’ Council asking for his support for fair payment on public sector projects. The letter was sent to Mr Cable by the NSCC on September 1 on behalf of its 30 trade association members, including the Contract Flooring Association. Written by NSCC chief executive Suzannah Nichol, it requested from Mr Cable a public declaration that companies working on public sector projects would have to comply with...
read moreTarkett Questions
Sarah Trott Brand manager, Tarkett Did you ever get into trouble at school and, if so, why? Not really but I remember we had a lovely, very soft, geography teacher who had no choice but to let us run wild. What was your first part-time job? Waitress in my local tea rooms. Hmmm cake! What did you spend your first pay cheque on? Once I had earned enough I bought my first car. It was a used Renault 5. For six months it was amazing then the ring gear went and I couldn’t afford to replace it! What was your first full-time job?...
read moreHoliday Payments
Mark Stevens on holiday payments EMPLOYEES and workers rank their annual leave entitlement as one of the most important benefits that they receive. But there are a number of issues that employers should be aware of. Employees are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ annual leave a year which amounts to 28 days a year for those who work five days a week. A part-time worker’s allowance is pro rata. Public holidays can count towards a worker’s entitlement to annual leave. For shift workers, an employer must calculate leave based on the average...
read moreTop Tips On Recruitment
Martin Goodwill with top tips on staff recruitment RESEARCH indicates that the traditional methods of recruitment (i.e. interview and references) offer only a 26% chance of success. The problem is, that the costs of recruiting the wrong person are seldom itemised in company accounts. Nevertheless, they are very real. Current research indicates that a bad hiring costs a company at least six months of that person’s overall cost to the business. In real terms, that means that if you recruit a customer-facing member of staff whose salary...
read moreFloor Sanding
Terry Guilford with advice on floor sanding AS most people know, wood is hygroscopic. In other words, it likes water. The little wood cells sit around for months doing nothing and not getting to meet anyone outside of their own circle of friends (i.e. other wood cells). So you can imagine how excited they get when the circus makes its annual trip to town. The new kid on the block (excuse the expression) is not in this case Billy Smart, but HUMIDITY. OK, I know it’s mid-winter as you read this, but when I wrote it the weather was humid and...
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