DOMESTIC NEWS Snippets


Tap and shower company, Bristan Group, has achieved the Carbon Trust Standard certification following work undertaken to the brand’s energy reduction program. The Carbon Trust Standard is a leading independent body for the certification of organisations’ environmental impact, recognising businesses that take a best practice approach to measuring and managing their environmental impact. www.bristan.com


THE GREAT PLUMBING CRISIS – THREE WEEKS FOR A CALL OUT


in 20 years, say heating and boiler specialists Warm.co.uk Warm.co.uk says the Government needs to act now, or the consequences for consumers and businesses in the UK could be very serious. Unless we train more plumbers, says


T


Warm.co.uk, we could face a near future where emergency call-outs could take up to three weeks in large cities, putting health and businesses in danger. Spokesperson Jonathan Ratcliffe said: “Plumbing is a profession that is being neglected when it comes to attracting and training new workers. Kids just aren’t interested in plumbing.


“Unless we urgently address this


problem, we’re looking at a crisis, with far too few plumbers to meet the demands of growing domestic and


OFTEC has appointed a new inspector for the South West region. John Whitehill (pictured) joins OFTEC following more than two decades at the helm of his own Gloucestershire-based heating and plumbing business. www.oftec.co.uk


A Valor Homeflame Super 470S dating back to the 1980s has been nominated as the ‘winner’ of the brand’s nationwide hunt for zombie gas fires – models with outdated technology that refuse to die, thus never get replaced. www.gd-hv.com


he UK is in danger of running so low on plumbers that the country faces the biggest crisis


business areas around the UK. “It’s not too late to address this, but the solution needs to be drastic, immediate, and preferably Government-led. “If we don’t do anything about this


problem, we’re going to see terrible waiting times even for emergency work, as well as inflated prices for those who have the money, leaving those who don’t in a worse situation.” Warm.co.uk has recommended a series of measures that could be taken to ensure the country has enough plumbers to avoid the problems a crisis could cause. This includes offering incentives for school-leavers to go straight into apprenticeships and training for the profession, meaning they can begin working very soon after education. Plumbing business owner Stephen,


43, welcomed the call from Warm.co.uk, saying: “I’m the only


plumbing business serving quite a large area. We do what we can but there are always more jobs to do than there are hours in the day. “You might think we’d be happy with that and annoyed if lots of other people started working as plumbers, but that’s just not true. We struggle to recruit. I hate letting people down by not being able to come out sooner, and I’d ideally like to expand my business by employing more people. There are three of us at the moment and I can’t find anyone else even though the workload is growing.” The average salary for a plumber in the UK is currently upwards of £23,000, but can rise to over £37,000 depending on experience and location. Warm.co.uk hopes that the Government can use this relatively high wage to entice young people into the profession, otherwise the cost to the UK will be far, far higher.


WORCESTER OPENS TRAINING FACILITY W


orcester Bosch has officially reopened the doors to its flagship training academy following a £3.5 million redevelopment programme. The new facility will see the manufacturer offer an even wider industry-leading training provision to a greater number of installers. Opened by Richard Harrington MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary (BEIS), and Robin Walker MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary (DExEU), the revamped academy is now four times the size of its predecessor, with over 2,000m2


of practical training areas and


classrooms – an area equivalent to 10 tennis courts. The state-of-the-art building boasts over 200 working


boilers and heating appliances across its nine practical rooms, which are expected to enable Worcester to welcome as many as 10,000 heating engineers to its headquarters each year. With facilities to cater for appliances using gas, oil, and


Recently released figures by the CO Be Alarmed campaign show that almost a third of renters in the UK do not have a potentially life-saving carbon monoxide (CO) alarm in their property. Adrian Keats from Honeywell’s Home Safety business is reminding installers of the importance of these devices, and says that advising the public on CO safety is paramount. www.homesafety.honeywell.com


42 November 2017


solid fuel, as well as renewable and commercial heating technologies, the refurbished academy will offer installers both hands-on product training and legal assessments.


Robin Walker MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary (DExEU), Richard Harrington MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary (BEIS) and Carl Arntzen, managing director at Worcester


The increased space is also expected to accommodate expansion into growing areas of interest such as smart technologies and Bosch’s connected home concept. Nick Fothergill, Worcester’s national training manager,


commented: “The unveiling of our new, flagship Training Academy is a real landmark for Worcester, having been the result of the largest single investment in training in the company’s history. As demand for professional development among installers grows, we want to ensure we continue to offer some of the industry’s best training courses, that facilities engineers really enjoy using. “The introduction of smarter, connected heating technologies is an exciting time for the industry, so it is vital that we play our part in enhancing installers’ skillsets and help them to deliver reliable, efficient heating systems to homes around the country.”


www.heatingandventilating.net


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