Staffordshire-based Legionella and Fire Safe Services has launched its Energy Saving/Net Zero Division and, through an aligned partnership with Water Tank manufacturers, Mixergy, is now working with Birmingham City Council installing energy-saving water tanks.

Local authorities across the UK are facing the critical challenge of tackling the fuel poverty crisis while reducing their carbon emissions. Funded retrofit programmes are offering a unique opportunity for councils to upgrade their housing stock to help their tenants to live better now while getting ready for the energy transition ahead.

Following their declaration of a climate emergency in 2019, Birmingham City Council set an ambitious target to reach net zero by 2030, 20 years ahead of the UK government’s 2050 target. To support this programme, they recently announced plans to retrofit a large number of properties in the Birmingham region to test thermal efficiency approaches, reduce carbon emissions, and provide energy savings for their tenants.

Legionella and Fire Safe Services are currently working in conjunction with Equans UK & Ireland and Fortem Solutions. Providing a minimal disruption installation, including all carpentry and essential fire-stopping works and also knowing installing these tanks reduces the risk of Legionella with monitored correct temperatures and built-in bacteria cleansing cycles.

Legionella and Fire Safe Services delivers service excellence to all clients from the experienced engineers and field-based supervisors. This ensures all aspects of the installations are to the highest standard.

Employment numbers for the already 60 strong team is likely to increase by another 35, from specialist trades through to administrating team members, for this division alone in 2023.

Steve Morris, Managing Director of Legionella and Fire Safe Services, said: “We are very proud to have recently launched the Legionella & Fire Safe Energy Saving / Net Zero Division. A major part of this division is our MIXERGY cylinder range. Since coming to market, MIXERGY are rapidly making huge inroads into the hot water cylinder market with technology on the forefront. We have installed these to over 260 council properties in 2022 with a further 600 planned for 2023. Birmingham City Council, the largest local authority within the UK have committed to strategic vision of the future to install these at appropriate properties over the coming years. Legionella & Fire Safe are proud to be an integral part of this journey.

From our early installations the energy saving numbers are simply quite incredible. On average each small flat is saving around £550 per year through smart technology.

We are in an aligned partnership with Mixergy & Birmingham City Council, where Legionella & Fire Safe are known as the social housing experts. Our turnkey solution for retrofit installs including all fire stopping compliance work and legionella compliance.”

Legionella and Fire Safe Services has come a long way since it was set up in 2017 .It has secured major contracts in several industries since then, including local authority, retail, education, manufacturing and hospitality, and is leading the way in innovative new products and processes.

The Company which has a Legionella Compliance Division, a Fire Division and a Construction Division, has also  been recognised for its employees wellbeing, “We are nothing without our People”  taking exceptional care of their employees and also offer some great perks and benefits, has a Legionella Compliance Division, a Fire Division and a Construction Division.

The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) labour market figures are showing no easing up of the number of vacancies, creating a headache for employers and a real barrier to economic growth.

Businesses are crying out for people to fill job vacancies at all skill levels, and this must be the number one focus for government if it’s serious about economic growth.

There are still a huge number of vacancies, currently sitting at 1.134 million, and this is stopping firms in their tracks.

And it was announced by Staffordshire County Council this week that the number of job vacancies in the county has increased to more than 30,000 – up nearly a third in just a month.

Latest figures show that in Stoke-on-Trent the number of unfilled positions had leapt by 34 per cent to 8,700. This is just above the number of work-related benefit claimants (8,510).

In the rest of Staffordshire, the number of vacancies jumped up 26 per cent to 21,900 between December and January compared to the previous month. This is far higher than the number of work-related benefit claimants (14,700).

It means firms are struggling to meet the orders on their books, and it puts any plans for growth far out of reach.

I have heard this message from many businesses in our area who are also seeing the effect this pressure is having on wages, currently at the highest rates seen in the private sector outside of the pandemic. However, a sharp rise in rates of pay is still being outstripped by inflation. This has been identified by the Bank of England as a factor in its decisions to raise interest rates to tame inflation.

Government plans to get the UK’s untapped labour force into employment are a step in the right direction, but we need to see more action to address the barriers that are holding people back.

The Spring Budget represents a golden opportunity for the Chancellor to ease the pressure on family members who have been squeezed out of the labour market by punishing childcare costs.

Older workers need carefully tailored careers advice, job seeker support and rapid re-training opportunities to help bring their skills and experience back to the workforce.

Businesses can help by adopting flexible working policies wherever possible and supporting staff training needs.

And crucially, something I mentioned only last week, Government should reform the Shortage Occupation List to help firms fill urgent job vacancies from outside the UK when they cannot recruit locally. The List should include jobs at all skill levels where there is clear evidence of a national shortage.

The full ONS labour market statistics can be viewed here: Labour market overview, UK – Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

If you would like to raise any issues around employment difficulties contact our policy advisor Declan Riddell: declan.ridell@staffordshirechambers.co.uk

Better news now – Severn Trent are offering free water-efficiency audits for businesses to help make sure their water facilities are up to date and not leaking.

The initiative is part of Severn Trent’s Green Recovery Programme , offering businesses the chance to check their facilities are working efficiently and, where any upgrades or repairs are needed, the company will fix internal leaks free of charge.

Severn Trent, which serves thousands of firms and homes across Staffordshire and beyond, says a typical leaky toilet or dripping tap could cost a business up to £300 a year.

They understand many businesses are facing uncertainty and upgrading their water facilities may not be on the top of a business’s list of priorities. It is pleasing therefore that they are offering to do all of this at no charge.

Severn Trent will undertake a full ‘health’ check of the water facilities, and make sure money is not being wasted, and that your business is running as efficiently and watertight as possible.

Businesses often lose money through urinals, which often flush regardless of use. By installing sensors, savings of up to £3,000 could be made depending on business size. Also fixing something like a leaky toilet could save up to 400 litres of water a year, which would be money businesses would pay for, but not be using.

For more information, and to sign up click here: Supporting Local Businesses | Green recovery | Wonderful on Tap | Severn Trent Water (stwater.co.uk)

If you want to talk to us about any business issues, including funding, you can call our switchboard on 01782 202222 or call the Stoke and Staffs Growth Hub Helpline on 0300 111 8002 or email: info@staffordshirechambers.co.uk

Recent growth and expansions has led to the opening of a new Innovation Centre for additive masterbatch manufacturer, Wells Plastics.

The Stone-based business, regarded as the country’s largest independent manufacturer of specialist additive masterbatch, welcomed local dignitaries and innovation partners to the official opening of the new ‘Wells Plastics Innovation Centre’, with a ribbon cutting by the Mayor of Stone, Councillor Jonathan Powell.

Dr Gary Ogden, Technical Manager, said: “We believe that this Innovation Centre over the next few years will provide further development and innovation within the field of additive masterbatches helping processers and users of plastics improve the performance and functionality of these important materials.

“This includes laboratory twin screw extrusion, film blowing and injection moulding, as well as a significant range of analytical instruments and techniques for measuring and characterising polymers and additive systems.”

Carl Birch, Sales and Marketing Director, provided a history of Wells Plastics to the guests, including the recent growth and expansions, encompassing the new Raw Material Warehouse, Innovation Centre, recent MBO and attaining Gold EcoVadis certification.

Carl said: “The issue with polymers remains a human behavioural one, not a material one, how we use, reuse, collect, recycle and finally dispose of these essential materials is ultimately down to us.”

Philip Law, Director General of the British Plastics Federation, commented: “The BPF’s congratulations go to Wells Plastics on the opening of its very well-equipped Innovation Centre.

“This is a great statement of the technical support provided by Wells Plastics to both the UK plastics industry and in export markets. Wells have nominated circularity as a key innovation theme and this can only help customers meet the challenging targets which are emerging globally”.

It’s great news for businesses in our area that road improvements to the A50 and A500 are being discussed at the highest level.

A roundtable meeting with senior officials from the Department for Transport and National Highways (DTNH) took place last week in Parliament to discuss proposed improvements along the A50 and A500, which connects Staffordshire with the East Midlands, potentially creating up to 12,000 jobs across the region.

The plans discussed include nine individual improvement schemes which aim to reduce congestion, boost the economy and save motorists time and money.

Areas highlighted for improvement include where Junction 15 of the M6 meets the A500, Sideway roundabout in Stoke-on-Trent, roundabouts at Blythe Bridge and Sudbury and junctions and slip roads at Uttoxeter.

Midlands Connect, the region’s sub-national transport body which put the masterplan together, believes the route is of “national significance” and the benefits upgrades could bring to the area could be £12 billion.

Staffordshire Chamber, Local MPs, council leaders and businesses are asking for the project to be included in the upcoming Road Investment Strategies and other schemes along the route to be included in future rounds, covering the period 2025 to 2040.

These proposed improvements tie in nicely with the new £43 million Etruria Valley Link Road (EVLR) which I spoke about in my blog two weeks ago.

The 1km road connects the Wolstanton junction on the A500 with Festival Park and St Modwen Park Stoke Central and opens up huge development opportunities on former steelworks land to the north of Festival Park including the Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone.

It was also encouraging to hear that green transport and decarbonisation were a part of the discussions. This transport corridor is set to become a national hub for the manufacture of hydrogen engines for vehicles from cars to aeroplanes, in addition to plant and machinery. And streamlining the route will support our collective ambition to ensure we can become a global centre of excellence in this sector in the future.

The Chambers’ Transport Forum will play an active role in the development of these new roads, keeping up the pressure on the Government and DTNH to ensure proposals are implemented and not watered down.

The forum’s priorities are issues such as: ensuring businesses have access to transport infrastructure and services to facilitate trade and employment; ensuring transport policy supports businesses and employment needs in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire and formulating the Chambers responses to local and national planning consultations.

Staffordshire Chambers has a well-documented history of lobbying for improvements to all our roads, especially the A500.

The Chamber was instrumental in the campaign to replace the old junctions north and south of Stoke with grade separated junctions.  The new junctions were completed in 2006, 29 years after the A500 or D Road, as it is known locally, opened.

In the 1990s the Chambers published two reports entitled ‘Bottle kilns to bottlenecks’ and ‘A500 – finishing the job’, which put forward the argument for these much-needed improvements.

Prior to 2006 traffic had to navigate two roundabouts causing tailbacks at peak times, adding to the time and cost of journeys for business.

It is also difficult to imagine the heavy traffic, pollution and long journeys prior to 1997 when the improved A50 dual carriageway opened. Until then the A50 was a single carriageway road running from Uttoxeter via many villages to Meir through Longton and Fenton to join the A500.

Improved and efficient transport infrastructure is key to the evolution and growth of Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, and we don’t intend to let up on the pressure to ensure plans are implemented to fulfil our ambitions to be at the forefront of the green economic revolution.

If you would like to get involved with or know more about the Transport Forum contact Declan Riddell: declan.ridell@staffordshirechambers.co.ukIf you want to talk to us about any business issues, including funding, you can call our switchboard on 01782 202222 or call the Stoke and Staffs Growth Hub Helpline on 0300 111 8002 or email: info@staffordshirechambers.co.uk

It was sad news to hear last weekend that Wade Ceramics has gone into administration.

In existence since 1867, Wade moved to its state-of-the-art factory on Festival Park in 2011.

As a Chamber we have incredibly strong ties with Wade as their MD, Paul Farmer OBE was our President from 2016 to 2019 followed by a three-year stint as Honorary Treasurer.

Not only have we lost another iconic local pottery company, but the decision will sadly result in the loss of around 140 jobs just three weeks before Christmas.

The decision is due to the challenges facing customers and the current economic challenges, including rising energy and supply costs.

Ceramics firms have been up against internationally uncompetitive energy and compliance costs for some time and the terrible and protracted war in Ukraine has led to unsustainably high gas prices. This puts even more pressure on firms unable to easily move away from reliance on gas to fuel the kilns.

Our ceramics businesses sit at the very heart of UK manufacturing. Without the brick, tile, and clay pipe manufacturers there would be no housebuilding. There is no glass or steel industry without the refractories and there is no heat from waste without advanced ceramics.

Energy costs are the number one business concern and must be a top priority for the Government.

A British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) survey in October found almost half of SMEs say they will find it difficult to pay their energy bills once the Government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme ends on 31^st March 2023 and some saying that they will not be able to pay their bills at all after 31^st March.

While current Government support is welcome, there is a cliff-edge looming, and firms will struggle to see beyond it. They need certainty on what will happen in April so they can plan with increased confidence in a market where energy prices are certain to remain volatile.

There are other levers that Government can pull to relieve cost pressures, such as a reform of business rates to compensate firms that see energy support reduced or phased out.

With a lack of competitiveness in the business energy market firms are struggling to get quotes from different providers, and they are not guaranteed access to fixed-rate contracts.

Ofgem should be given more power to strengthen regulation of the energy market for businesses, ensuring suppliers offer fixed-rate contracts to business customers, and that competitiveness is increased.

One thing for certain is that the Chambers will remain dogged in the fight to protect all Staffordshire businesses and we will not let up on the pressure we exert on those in power from our own MPs to the Prime Minister. And we will continue to fight for renewable sources of power to be available  – from district heat networks, heat to power plants, solar arrays and wind power. We know that businesses want to invest in these too and need help from planning and the National Grid upgrade to make it happen.

Staffordshire businesses have proved a spirit of togetherness through the pandemic and the current financial turbulence. There are so many people out there who offer their time and expertise for the good of us all and the Chambers is the place where they all come together, be that through our sector forums, area boards, events, seminars or through direct contact with our team.

As always, I would urge anyone with a question or a concern to get in touch via the channels below. Your voice is important to our continued representations to those in government who have the power to act for the good of business.

If you want to talk to us about any business issues, including funding, you can call our switchboard on 01782 202222 or call the Stoke and Staffs Growth Hub Helpline on 0300 111 8002 or email: info@staffordshirechambers.co.uk