FeRFA will be starting a new Apprenticeship in Resin Flooring on 23rd October 2018 at the Ibis Hotel in Rugby.

The 18 month scheme will lead to an NVQ Level 2 Diploma and is grant funded for CITB registered employers. The current CITB funding for specialist apprenticeship schemes is very advantageous to employers, so this may be a good opportunity to put a candidate forward and enable you to recoup CITB levy payments for training. More details on the scheme are available here.

To pre-register for this scheme please download this candidate enrolment form and send back to FeRFA.

If you wish to enrol an apprentice or have any other queries about the schemes on offer and their benefits, please call FeRFA on 07484 075254 or email secretariat@ferfa.org.uk.

The Drilling and Sawing Association were the hosts for Resin 21 this month. The group covered first aid, manual handling, asbestos awareness, abrasive wheels, and forming saw cuts.

Apprentices in Resin 21 are James Tyres (Reprotec), Daniel Morgan (Central Flooring Services), Jamie Carter (TPS360), Scott Ross, Carl Byrne (IRL Group)

The Resin 19 apprentices spent three days as Sika’s training facility in Welwyn Garden City this month being taught how to lay screeds and create covings. The apprentices had plenty of practical hands-on experience and the group thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to apply materials and gain practice on their trowel work to take those skills into the workplace.

Apprentices in this group are Liam Griffin (Britannia Industrial Flooring), Neil Garnon (MJF Specialist Flooring), Mitchell Cross (Orchid Flooring), Ben Tanner, Stefan Mordecai (TPS360), Gregor Eckert (Veitchi Industrial).

The Preparation Group were the hosts for Prep 9 this month. The group covered the specification of tools and accessories, general maintenance and the application process for multi-stripping equipment. The sessions combined classroom theory and practical learning.

This group now progress to complete their final assessment.

Apprentices in this group are Thomas Mallett (MJF Specialist Flooring), Sean Vickery, Richard Hughes (TPS360), Brian George, David Logan (Veitchi Industrial)

Cobra Insurance Brokers have partnered with FeRFA for over 10 years, gaining specialist knowledge and an understanding of the protection needed for the resin flooring industry. The new website, designed specifically to support FeRFA members and their business activity is now available at www.ferfainsurance.co.uk. The website covers all aspects of insurance, risk management and guarantees, as well as a client login portal where you can view your policy documents. FeRFA Members can also request free access to a vast library of resource material.

Cobra offer a free insurance health check plus no obligation quotes. Howard Collins can be reached on 07775 888933 or emailed at howard.collins@cobrainsurance.co.uk or visit the website.

H&S UPDATE PLUS BUSINESS SHIELD FROM STALLARD KANE ASSOCIATES

Stallard Kane Associates Ltd provide a support service to SMEs for both Health & Safety and Employment Law. FeRFA members can access its services for free via the Business Shield – detailed below.

In September’s update, the SKA HR Advisor talks about the legality and types of restrictive covenants that an employer may wish to use.

Read Stallard Kane’s in-depth guidance here.

BUSINESS SHIELD – free to FeRFA members and ensures you are always up to date! 

SKA understands that busy management teams don’t always have the time to keep up-to-date with changes in workplace legislation and health and safety policies, which is why FeRFA has supplied FeRFA Business Shield as a key member benefit

All FeRFA members have FREE access to the Business Shield service giving you:

• FREE access to the FeRFA Business Shield online portal
• FREE and unlimited use of the 24hr hotline
• FREE one hour review of your daily activity and associated risks
• FREE one hour review of your existing employment contracts

Further details on the service are available in the brochure here.

All FeRFA members are supplied with a unique username and password for the FeRFA Business Shield and can speak to an advisor to answer any queries that you may have regarding the service.

In the meantime, members can access the advice line on 0345 076 6485.

The dedicated FeRFA Business Shield Account Manager is Barry Nicol, please call him on 07854 938693 for more details.

This month we are saying a fond farewell to our longstanding Chief Executive Officer Helen McGachie, who is retiring after 13 years at the helm.

During Helen’s time at the top the Association has developed massively, growing its membership, increasing and diversifying member services, launching a highly successful recycling scheme and pushing forward innovative training initiatives. Thanks to Helen, FeRFA is now the ‘go to’ resource for training in the resin flooring industry, reflecting Helen’s passion for this subject.

Everyone at FeRFA wishes Helen a very enjoyable retirement – we suspect that she will find plenty to keep herself busy!

We therefore now welcome our new chief executive Mark Spowage. Mark says his hope is to be able to to build on the work carried out by Helen.

“FeRFA members want to do things right,” he says. “In my view, our role as an Association is to help them do that, by providing the information and support that they need. This is a superb quality-driven industry and FeRFA sits at the head of it, promoting resin flooring and the many excellent practices of our members. That is something which Helen was superb at and which is not going to change.”

Mark has been the chairman of the FeRFA Technical Committee since 2012. He has also driven forward work on both British and European Standards through his membership of BSI Committee CB/300 on screeds and in-situ floorings and of three European CEN Committees.

“Helen set the bar very high in everything that she did during her time at the Association,” he says, “so I am aware that I have a big act to follow and I look forward to meeting all our members at the FeRFA Awards in November.”

FeRFA is sad to announce the death of former Council member Shaun Speers.

Shaun was appointed Technical Chairman and a member of the FeRFA Council in 2005 and he remained in this post until December 2011.

Shaun made a significant contribution to the furtherance of technical excellence in our industry. During his time as Technical Chairman, Shaun steered the development of a range of Technical Guidance Notes, which now provide industry best practice for the resin flooring sector.

Shaun had concluded his studies at St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical School, where he was a student between 1965 and 1968. He started his working career at Bison Concrete. He moved to Pioneer Concrete in 1978, where he worked in operations. He then moved into sales with Master Builders, initially selling admixtures before becoming Head of Technical. He joined Armorex in 1997, again as Technical Manager, to become the country’s leading expert in the use of Dry Shake materials.

Shaun’s involvement with Sika UK commenced following acquisition, at which point he took on the technical aspects of resins as well. He then worked for Sika for a number of years, retiring in February 2012. As a result of his work, Sika became one of the first manufacturers to offer their training facilities for use by FeRFA apprenticeship schemes.

“Shaun was a great supporter of FeRFA and in particular the Association’s development of apprenticeship training schemes,” says former CEO Helen McGachie. “He was also very knowledgeable and a true gentleman – he will be very much missed.”

The 2018 FeRFA Golf Day took place on Friday 21st September at Erewash Valley Golf Club, organised by FeRFA Chairman Tom Dossett.  The event was well attended with the weather predominantly dry, but very windy!

Resdev emerged as winners this year.  In second place was Boud Minerals, Resin Coating Specialists in third and Altro in fourth place.

Alan Milner of Altro was awarded Longest Drive, Nearest the Pin was Richard Coley of Resdev.

FeRFA Would like to thank the sponsors Remmers UK, IRL Group, Sika, Mapei, Zircon Flooring, Uzin Arturo and PPC.

We will provide details on the 2019 event in due course.

Most people are familiar with the contribution made by the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) towards improving standards and safety on UK construction sites. For several years now the strategic direction of the scheme has focused on ensuring that all applicants achieve a nationally recognised construction related qualification.

The next step towards ensuring that all CSCS cardholders achieve a qualification is the withdrawal of the Construction Site Visitor card. The card was originally introduced for workers who often did not perform a construction related role but visited site on a regular basis.

All Construction Site Visitor cards issued from 3^rd September 2018 will expire on 31^st August 2020 and CSCS will stop issuing the card from 28^thFebruary 2020.

For the avoidance of doubt, all Construction Site Visitor cards issued before 3^rd September 2018 will remain valid until their expiry date.

Read the full article here

Following discussions with key industry representatives, including CITB and employer representatives, it has been agreed that a number of occupations are non-construction related and should not be covered by the scheme.

A full list of the occupations not covered by the scheme is available here.

CSCS will not be issuing cards for non-construction related occupations, this means some workers will be arriving on site without a card. It is the responsibility of the site managers to induct non-construction related workers and escort them where appropriate in order that they can carry out their work safely on site.

Read the full article here

FeRFA Contractor members can access the Construction Industry Joint Taxation Committee’s (JTC) monthly tax guidance newsletter as a key benefit of Build UK membership.

The September issue includes:

• Reverse Charge VAT – how to begin preparations
• Advisory fuel rates for company car drivers which came into force from 1 September 2018
• Check your P800: Errors reported in HMRC’s annual PAYE reconciliations.

Read the newsletter here

FeRFA Council Meeting: 13th March 2019
FeRFA AGM & Awards Dinner: 23rd November 2018
FeRFA Resin Bound/Bonded Technical Sub Committee: 22nd January 2019
FeRFA Technical Committee: 5th December 2018

INDUSTRY EXHIBITION DATES 2018

Hospitality Technology Innovation – ExCeL, London: 25-26 Sep

Trimaco E-Z up dust containment poles and Peel + Stick Zippers used to protect surfaces and enclose work areas when used in conjunction with temporary protective sheeting whether it be medium duty clear polythene sheeting or heavy duty visqueen sheeting enabling quick, easy and convenient dust control.

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VI Industrial Supplies

TPS 360 were successful in the competitive process to be selected by main contractor, Kier to play a key role in redeveloping Wales’ most popular heritage attraction within tight timescales and budgetary restrictions.

Utilising funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Welsh Government, St Fagan’s National History Museum in Cardiff underwent a massive £30m makeover that included both new build and refurbishment works, both of which TPS 360 were an integral part of.

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TPS360

IFT was appointed to install flooring for BrewDog as part of works to the state of the art eco-brewery in Ellon, north of Aberdeen.

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Integrated Flooring Technologies