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A1 Engineering is working with Action Medical Research to raise awareness on 17^th November for World Prematurity Day

The aim is to meaningfully improve the care and situation of preterm babies and their families, to give preemies equal survival chances without avoidable long-term complications, on a Worldwide level.

Over 66,000 babies are born too soon and of these 1,000 babies die each year in the UK due to premature birth.

Globally, it’s the biggest killer of children under 5. A1 is dedicating the next 18 months to Actions’ Born Too Soon Campaign, in order to give optimal care to each premature infant worldwide. By observing World Prematurity Day, we can show support for families who are experiencing the anxiety of premature births; we love our babies from the moment they’re born and this reminds us of babies born too soon and the health challenges they can face as they grow up.

Please help us to raise awareness and we’ll continue our activities to raise funds for Action.

 

1000 Companies to Inspire Britain, created by the London Stock Exchange Group, is an annual celebration of some of the fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK. As well as identifying 1000 companies, the annual report examines in detail the opportunities and challenges facing SMEs and looks at the sectors and trends that will shape the future of the UK economy. 

Although we have offices around the country, our company is registered in Bristol and as such, the Business & Innovations Magazine article celebrates the success of South West businesses. With thanks to the hard work of all of our employees, we applaud the fact that we have been recognised as a business of the future, for the whole of the UK.

www.businessinnovationmag.co.uk/90-companies-from-across-the-region-in-1000-companies-to-inspire-britain-report/

A link to the full report can be found here https://www.lseg.com/resources/1000-companies-inspire/1000-companies-inspire-britain-2020

As part of A1’s Corporate and Social Responsibility drive, our business has selected a new company charity to support.

All charities have suffered from a significant reduction in fundraising with planned events being cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This has had a serious impact on the essential services charities deliver, services that change and sometimes save lives and most certainly help some of the most vulnerable people within our society.

A1 has chosen Action Medical Research as its main charity to support.

Action is a little-known charity but has made a significant impact in its 68-year history by funding medical breakthroughs which have helped saved the lives of countless children and babies, including neonatal.

Many of us will know family members, relatives and friends who have been unknowingly helped by the work funded by Action Medical Research. These breakthroughs in medical research include the importance of folic acid during pregnancy to prevent spina bifida, the development in the use of ultrasound during pregnancy, a cooling cap therapy for premature babies which reduces the chance of brain damage and cerebral palsy by 50%, the discovery & implementation of the Polio vaccine thus eradicating it from the UK and thorough testing of the Rubella vaccine.

As part of A1’s fundraising drive, the company will be arranging sponsored walks, cycling events and challenges such as the Yorkshire three peaks challenge, where all employees, family and friends will be welcome to participate.

We will be asking our team members to please support this by also proposing their own fund-raising events.

As a cornerstone of A1’s fundraising endeavours, our Managing Director, Dean Frost has committed to ‘The World’s Toughest Row’, taking part in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

In December 2021 Dean, along with three team-mates, will leave La Gomera in the Canary Islands to row 3,000 miles to Antigua under the Team name –

This is in memory of Elijah, a premature baby and much-loved son and brother, who sadly lived for only 37 days; the team are therefore aiming to row the entire distance in 37 days; this compares to the average crossing time which is in excess of 45 days so they’ve set themselves quite a challenge.

Elijah’s story can be found here

Born too soon, Elijah’s Story

Make sure you have tissues at the ready!

We are encouraging people to engage with Team Elijah’s Star on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and to follow Dean and the team’s journey to the start line, across the Atlantic and to the ultimate finish line in English Harbour, Antigua.

To learn more about the row please visit the team’s website at www.elijahsstar.com

Over the coming weeks, we will be supplying the links to our sponsorship pages, we hope you will all join with us in raising funds for Action Medical Research in order that the charity can continue to support much needed scientific research for saving children’s lives.

Kind Regards

The A1ES Management Team

Clade currently recycles its Armaflex (pipe insulation), oils, metals, cardboard and plastic waste. For the recycling of our waste wood, we got in touch with local social enterprise company – Leeds Wood Recycling (LWR).

Charlie at LWR, explains how the wood collected from our Clade manufacturing site in Leeds is repurposed:

“Leeds Wood Recycling has been working alongside Clade for the past 18 months. The wood waste we have collected has been used in a range of projects. Examples of this are the re-use of cable reels, which have gone to primary schools and early year centres for outdoor play, and copper pipe ‘coffin crates’ which have been repurposed and used as part of the LWR ‘Skill Tree’ program.

This ‘Skill Tree’ program teaches people how to make a range of products for our retail area such as stools, planters, or fruit crates. Volunteers are taught the processes required to make the product, given a couple of weeks to perfect their skills and are then supported to teach new volunteers the necessary processes to make the items independently. This promotes peer-on–peer training, whilst repurposing the Clade waste out of the waste stream!

Leeds wood Recycling is a social enterprise, working to support the long term unemployed back into employment. Some of the products created from the ‘Skill tree’ have been awarded to Clade employees in recognition of their Health and Safety excellence during 2020.”

Rob Pegg, Manufacturing Director at A1 & CLADE commented

“A1 Engineering were delighted to became an official sponsor of Leeds Wood Recycling in early 2020.  We look forward to continuing to support the work they do for the local community and are proud to be affiliated with their ongoing ‘Skill Tree’ program, which gives local people the opportunity to learn and develop new skills, supporting them on their journey to re-employment. We look forward to a long and prosperous partnership”

We are delighted and proud to announce that we have signed the Armed Forces Covenant in recognition of the value that our Armed Forces personnel, veterans and their families contribute to the country and our communities.

The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise by the nation ensuring that those who serve, or who have served in the armed forces and their families are treated fairly and with respect. By signing the pledge we confirm our position as a forces friendly employer allowing us to benefit from a wide range of unique skills and experiences that reservists and veterans can bring to our organisation.

By upholding this covenant, we join more than 3,000 businesses, local authorities and charities across the UK in recognising the contribution of those that have performed military duties. We believe they deserve our respect, support and fair treatment.

As the Coronavirus situation continues to escalate, I would like to update our Customers, Suppliers and Employees on the current situation from an A1 Engineering Solutions perspective.
We are continuing to follow the government guidance and are working with our customers to focus our efforts on essential projects to ensure that we are supporting the efforts to feed the nation. Our core business functions are operating as follows:

Service and Maintenance

• Our Contract Support staff are all working remotely, and call capacity remains unchanged.
• We have classified our Service and Maintenance Engineers as ‘Critical Workers’ and they continue to work as normal and we’re prioritising calls accordingly.
• We have a robust supply chain, which is supporting us in our efforts to maintain equipment by ensuring availability of parts.
• Our Project Commissioning team is also supporting our Service and Maintenance efforts, reducing potential downtime and troubleshooting as required.
• We have a fantastic group of sub-contractors, who continue to support us stoically.

Installation and Projects

• Our Design Engineers, Project Managers and Support staff are all working from home.
• We are working with our customers to prioritise installation projects, focussing on getting stores that are closed or ‘mid-refit’ trading again to help to support local communities in their time of need.
• We are limiting ‘on-site’ works to those which are ‘absolutely necessary’ to help our country get through this unprecedented period.

Our key priorities are to ensure the safety of all Customers, Suppliers and Employees, adhering to government guidance in the process. We are doing everything within our power to mitigate any risk to the business and are conversing with our bank, employees, landlords, suppliers and customers as we look to navigate through these unchartered waters. We are confident that we have the necessary processes and measures in place to get through this period of uncertainty.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your support to date and assure you of our commitment to get through this together. I will continue to update you as the situation evolves and government guidance changes; and welcome you to contact me directly with any concerns that you may have.

Yours sincerely,

Dean Frost
Managing Director

A1 COVID-19 Update 26th March 2020

A1 Engineering are proud to be supporting Leeds Wood Recycling.

LWR are a social enterprise offering a cost-effective and sustainable wood collection service that diverts wood from going to landfill.

Their aims are to:

• Reduce waste and save resources by collecting and reusing waste timber.
• Offer volunteering and training opportunities to marginalised people in West Yorkshire, giving people practical experience to grow their skills and gain employment, or simply expand their social network and be a part of something positive for our community.

Working in a similar way to a skip hire company, 100% of the waste wood collected is sorted, re-purposed or recycled. LWR collect waste wood from our Leeds Plant Manufacturing site, Clade, on a monthly basis. Collections consist of anything up to 12 cubic yards.

All of the wood is brought back to their warehouse, processed and re-purposed to sell to the public in their shop.

Doing this is very labour-intensive. It creates jobs, training and volunteering opportunities, providing local people with new skills and confidence to find work and improve their lives. This make a positive impact on the regeneration of the local area.

You can visit LWR’s shop, where a range of bespoke, sustainable gifts are available to buy.

Leeds Wood Recycling,
Unit 6 Croydon Street
Leeds LS11 9RT

Website: https://www.leedswoodrecycling.co.uk/

The annual National ACR Awards were held in Manchester last week and we were pleased to be awarded with Highly Commended in the category Environmental Initiative for our variable capacity heat reclaim system which has been designed, engineered, developed and constructed by our manufacturing branch, CLADE.

We are extremely proud to have been named the RAC Cooling Industry Business of the Year award for 2019. This is a prestigious award and demonstrates that we are being recognised by our industry peers for the progress that we have made over the last year. It is also a testament to the hard work of all employees within A1 Engineering Solutions and Clade Engineering Systems. The award is the perfect way to finish the year and adds to the ‘Diversity’ and ‘Environmental Initiative’ awards that we picked up at the recent RAC Cooling Awards.

A1 Engineering Solutions has won the first ever Diversity Impact Award and was praised by the judges, “We were impressed by this winner’s holistic approach to diversity and inclusion. They have gone out of their way to create an inspirational environment that they should be very proud of”

The results of the RAC Cooling Industry Awards were revealed on 25th September at the esteemed London Hilton Park Lane Hotel where almost 500 of the refrigeration and air conditioning industry elite came together for a night of recognition and celebration of the sector’s achievements. Now in its 15th year, the RAC Cooling Awards are widely considered the most authoritative awards in the refrigeration and air conditioning industry.

The category of Diversity Impact was introduced to the RAC Cooling Awards for the first time in 2019 and A1 were recognised for our inclusive, respectful and empowering approach to recruitment and indeed our current team members.  We have developed a greater cultural awareness and understanding whilst introducing new skills to our business.  We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to stand out and with help, understanding and training. We have achieved our aim to improve our companies ethnic diversity employing people from Afghanistan through to Zimbabwe, and have concentrated on the promotion of women in industry and engineering.  Our attitude towards Mental Health First Aid was much welcomed and appreciated by the judges, who commented that we should be proud of what we have achieved over the past 18 months. 

RAC Contractor of the Year

A1 Engineering Solutions also came a close second place in this category, an award which we have won previously. This is a great achievement and one which we are celebrating, however we congratulate the worthy winners.

We would like to thank the RAC for organising another fabulous evening in celebration of our industry and to congratulate all winners and finalists.