NEWS & APPOINTMENTS
Annual review highlights success stories of 2022
The JIB, which upholds standards in the electrotechnical contracting industry, has released its Annual Review, which highlights some of the biggest success stories from 2022, a year which saw the Building Safety Act come into force, engaging discussions at two regional forums and the relaunch of the Apprentice Exchange Programme. Although it was a year free of the Covid-induced lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 it was not without its challenges, with the war in Ukraine, government turmoil and the sad passing of Queen Elizabeth II all affecting our lives in some way. However, the JIB has continued to strive to build stronger relationships with its members and the Regional Forums held in Birmingham and London allowed members and non-members alike to share market insights and learn more about the value JIB membership delivers. The Building Safety Act 2022 came into force in June 2022 as one of the main regulatory steps introduced to improve safety in the construction industry after the Grenfell disaster. The Act will give more protection to leaseholders who were potentially seeing bills for covering costs of removing unsafe cladding from their building sent their way. The JIB was also delighted to relaunch its Apprentice Exchange Programme, which offers one lucky apprentice the chance to spend six weeks living and working as an electrician in Brisbane, Australia. There was more good news with the JIB Skills Development Fund, which distributed over £22,000 in course grants in the last funding year, helping more than 30 employees on their skills journey.
Some commendable milestones were celebrated as well, as ECS Check passed the 2,000
registrations mark and ECS Registered Electrician status reached 40,000 gold card holders. Jay Parmar, chief executive of the JIB, said: “During the last year the range and breadth of issues the JIB has tackled would not have been possible without the excellent support of our partner organisations and our members – and something we don’t take for granted. The JIB team and I very much look forward to working with our members next year and doing all we can to ensure the electrotechnical sector continues to prosper.”
Polypipe Building Services sees a doubling in demand for offsite manufacturing services
Appointments
Alpha’s renewable sales team grows with new appointment
Alpha continues to grow its renewables team with new appointment Neil Jarman. Neil will be stepping into a newly created role as renewable sales manager. The role was created to help lead the company’s expansion into the renewable heat pump market and reinforces its commitment to a more sustainable future.
Neil will bring to Alpha a wealth of experience, that spans 40 years, and a proven track record of success within the industry. His expertise covers the sector widely, having previously worked as sales director with DeLonghi Group for DL Radiators and as new build director with Plumbase. He brings to the business an in-depth knowledge and proficiency in renewables and is also BPEC qualified in air and ground source heat pumps.
Neil said of his new appointment: “I’m thrilled to be joining Alpha at such an exciting time. Not only is Alpha a well-respected and forward-thinking company, it has a vast and innovative product portfolio which is soon set to be enhanced with the launch of its hybrid and heat pump range. My vision for the role is to apply the knowledge and insights I’ve acquired during my time within the sector and make a real impact on the UK renewables market through education, training and first-class customer relations.” Alpha’s national sales director, Brendan Fenerty, commented: “I am delighted that Alpha is further investing in specialist sales roles within the team. Alpha’s new renewable offering goes live this month and is set to help homeowners embrace greener home heating solutions alongside their gas boiler, at a time when the cost of living and climate crises emphasises the urgency for all of us to live more sustainably.” “We are already receiving lots of enquiries from customers and specifiers. The addition of Neil Jarman will allow us to develop partnerships with clients wishing to embrace future technology. His experience and knowledge of the heating sector will be a huge asset for us.”
Alpha has also appointed Stephen Millar as its new Eastern Scotland sales manager, demonstrating an additional move to bolster its team.
International Network for Women in Cooling (INWIC) appoints first president
Formed this year, the International Network for Women in Cooling (INWIC) has appointed its first president and president-elect. Colleen Keyworth was voted in by the board as president to serve as of 1 January 2023 with Dr Ina Colombo-Youla as president-elect to succeed her in 2024.
Following calls from the government for the greater use of offsite manufacture within public sector projects, drainage specialists Polypipe Building Services has seen a doubling in demand for its fabricated Advantage service in both new commercial buildings and within local authority residential tower blocks. From 2020 to October this year the Kent- based has more than doubled production of its fabricated soil vent drainage pipes, and this increased demand has generated a growth within their fabrication team by 62% since 2016 as developers look to offsite construction to deliver more efficient, sustainable projects. Adam Cafer, Advantage technical manager at Polypipe Building Services, said: “It’s well publicised that the construction sector is under pressure to deliver more sustainable solutions despite a backdrop of Brexit and a shortage of people and skills. “As a result we are seeing changes coming through from architects and designers and onto the subcontractors we work with in how they deliver projects in order to meet the government targets for Net Zero.
“Now customers are looking at avoiding any unnecessary project waste which ends up in landfill, and offsite construction and fabrication meets this need because it offers greater precision. “It also delivers greater cost predictability
on projects, as our Advantage team provide bespoke design, cutting, assembling and pressure testing within our state-of-the- art facility.
“This allows contractors to make progress with a made to measure drainage system and also removes the need for specialist teams to be on site to install them.” The Terrain brand of offsite fabricated drainage stacks at Polypipe Building Services have been used in more than 300 local authority high-rises, and are fast becoming the material of choice because of their speed and ease of installation as plastic is light to handle and easy to adapt to accommodate additional drainage connections and is also less likely to clog with waste product.
Adam added: “Judging on our growth
so far, we anticipate offsite fabrication will become one of the fastest growing areas for us in the next couple of years.”
4 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER JANUARY 2023
The official appointments were made after a unanimous vote during the recent quarterly INWIC board meeting. Representatives from 12 of the 13 founding partners attended the virtual meeting, despite the vast time zone differences, and voted on the nominations that had been previously submitted. “We want to formally congratulate our newly appointed leaders and wish them all the best in their mission to create a path where none has been before,” said the INWIC Secretariat. “We are confident that INWIC can make a great difference with such strong leaders at the helm.” The president is elected for a one-year term after which the president-elect will step in to serve as the next president in the following year. The remainder of the board comprises representatives from each founding partner – a delegate plus an alternate with WRD and UNEP OzonAction jointly managing the Secretariat. Colleen Keyworth is currently the 2022 President of Women in HVACR and has served on the Board of Women in HVACR group for the last nine years. She is also the director of sales and marketing for online-access for an HVACR web marketing company located in Michigan in the United States. “INWIC is such an important organization because for the first time ever we are being intentional about uniting women’s industry groups from all over the world,” Keyworth added. I can’t wait to tackle the challenge of bringing everyone together to open up the industry to all people.” Dr Ina Colombo-Youla is the Deputy Director General of the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) where she oversees the promotion of the refrigeration industry worldwide. “Congratulations to Colleen who will be my role model and mentor before taking over my role as the INWIC president in 2025,” said Dr. Colombo-Youla. “In the meantime, I will promote the INWIC memberships into the women IIR members for instance by organizing an INWIC workshop/meeting during the ICR2023 that will take place in Paris in August 2023.”
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