http://bethell.co.uk/ Solutions based on experience, Bethell was established in Manchester in 1865, incorporated in 1925 and is today one of the UK's most successful independent construction and utility businesses. en kellie.hadfield@bethell.co.uk Copyright 2009 2009-06-24T07:13:28+00:00 http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/aldi_and_tesco_award_bethell_major_contracts/ http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/aldi_and_tesco_award_bethell_major_contracts/ Bethell’s retail portfolio has been further enhanced this year with the award of not one but six contracts – five from Aldi and one from Tesco. Aldi has employed the company to undertake foundations, drainage and general groundworks packages on five of its stores at Shipley, Cheadle Heath, Ramsbottom, Stockton Heath, and Blackpool, while Tesco has employed Bethell to undertake section 278 general highways improvements to its proposed store development at Litherland. The six separate contracts combined amount to in excess of £2.1 million of secured work. These are the latest retail related contract gains to be announced, following on from nine others for Aldi in locations throughout the North West and North Wales, worth more than £3 million in total, the first being secured at the end of 2006. Said Gerry McCoy, Bethell Construction operations director, “We are pleased with our recent contract successes with Aldi and the opportunity it presents to further develop our good working relationship with them and successfully deliver the projects in a safe manner, within programme and budget, and to a high standard. I am particularly pleased with our more recent award from Tesco for the proposed section 278 highways works at their new store development in Litherland and look forward to demonstrating our capabilities and developing a good relationship with Tesco, hopefully leading to further opportunities in the future.” 2009-06-24T07:13:28+00:00 http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/wind_powers_new_bethell_drive/ http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/wind_powers_new_bethell_drive/ Wind energy is very much the hot energy topic of the moment with the Government driving forward its policy to ensure that 20% of our energy comes from renewable sources by 2020. Bethell has been actively engaged in harnessing air power since 2007 when it was commissioned by Scottish Power to install three and a half kilometres of 33kV underground cables to Braich Ddu wind farm near Bala in North Wales.  This three-turbine project aims to produce enough electricity to meet the needs of 1700 local homes and offset the release of approximately 7,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. Over the past year, Bethell has been brought on board to assist with the infrastructure for two more major schemes: constructing more than five kilometres of 132kV wood pole overhead lines near St Asaph (facilitating connection to a new offshore wind farm) and currently installing more than six kilometres of 33kV underground cables to North Rhins wind farm, near Stranraer. Said Phil Marsh, Bethell Power business development director:  “We are now actively seeking out opportunities to demonstrate that we have a dedicated team in place to meet any wind turbine infrastructure challenge head-on.  Since the first commercial wind farm was built in the UK back in 1991, things have moved on at quite a pace - wind turbines have become up to ten times more powerful, with the latest turbine models harnessing more wind, producing more electricity, and thereby significantly bringing down the cost of renewable energy generation.  We are proud of the role we have already played and hope to further secure high profile projects of this kind to continue to support the vision for a cleaner Britain.” 2009-05-27T15:02:21+00:00 http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/warm_reception_from_mayor_and_mayoress/ http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/warm_reception_from_mayor_and_mayoress/ In times of doom and gloom it is especially uplifting to celebrate a good news story.  The Mayor and Mayoress of Bolton joined with Bethell staff to do just that when they officially opened the Group’s new £500,000 main office and reception facility in Kearsley earlier today. (11 May) Attending the ceremony as one of their final official engagements before relinquishing their chain of office later this week, Councillor Anthony and Mrs Maureen Connell commended Bethell for its local employment record and said how pleased they were to see a local company doing so well, especially in the current economic climate. Bethell chief executive, Tim Kilroe, outlined the company’s expansion record, having grown from 40 to over 800 in two decades.  He said:  “Our national expansion programme is vital to stay competitive within the industry but I am consistently proud of the fact that we provide so much employment for people within just a 15 mile radius of our head office here in the north west.  The new open plan offices increase Bethell’s total space to more than 25,000 sq ft and were created especially for the Group’s thriving Power and Rail divisions.  These, together with training rooms and the ground floor state-of-the-art reception area, are now fully staffed and operational. 2009-05-14T09:06:28+00:00 http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/dramatic_training_a_hit/ http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/dramatic_training_a_hit/ “The best quarterly briefing yet” was how many attendees described Bethell Power’s most recent Don’t Walk By health and safety campaign held at Darlington Football Club. With a remit to provide a unique, memorable, interactive training experience, the Bethell Power team called upon the expertise of one of the UK’s most respected providers of theatre style business training – Dramanon. Professional actors delivered a bespoke performance of a variety of typical situations within the industry, including hazard and near miss reporting issues and danger from underground services.  Throughout the day, nearly 100 employees from Bethell and one of its clients company, C E Electric, were encouraged to suggest new ways of continually improving traditional work practices while identifying potentially dangerous situations. As Bethell chief executive, and fellow-attendee, Tim Kilroe, explained:  “The event was extremely well managed and while it was creative and very entertaining, it also expertly put across all of the crucial key messages we wanted to convey.  We are building a culture across the Bethell Group, where individuals hold themselves responsible for not only their own safety and well-being, but for that of everyone else too.” Andy Hood, a Bethell surveyor within the vegetation management department expressed the common view of participants at the end of the final session:  “I really enjoyed it and it makes a big difference to be involved in an interactive training session like this.  It beats Powerpoint slides any day!” 2009-05-01T07:22:45+00:00 http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/bethell_to_introduce_salary_sacrifice_pension_contributions/ http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/bethell_to_introduce_salary_sacrifice_pension_contributions/ Bethell, the independent construction, power and rail group, will introduce salary sacrifice around its group personal pension (GPP) scheme this month. The organisation decided on the move to make cost savings. Increases in national insurance (NI) from 2011, announced at the end of last year, added to its business case. Neil Hopkins-Coman, financial director, said: “In today’s economic climate, there is tremendous pressure for employers to save on costs, and this provided an opportunity to save on employer’s NI.” Bethell will retain the employer’s NI saving it will make, and the employee’s NI saving will be added to pension contributions. “It didn’t make sense for Bethell to bank the employee NI saving,” said Hopkins-Coman. “It was an opportunity to increase the benefits package and look after the interests of Bethell’s long-serving key people instead.” To help employees understand the change, Bethell has issued a briefing document, and a pensions calculator so they can see the difference a switch would make. “We started to get one or two questions back, so we also issued a question-and-answer document,” said Hopkins-Coman. “One common question was whether other benefits that are linked to salary would be affected by the move, so we said we would keep a shadow salary pre-sacrifice, which all future awards and benefits will link back to.” So far, 50% of the scheme’s members have moved over to the salary-sacrifice arrangement. Hopkins-Coman said Bethell would run a series of one-to-one education sessions with its advisers, AWD Chase De Vere, to encourage wider take-up of the scheme. 2009-04-09T06:28:51+00:00 http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/considerate_contractor_award_scheme/ http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/considerate_contractor_award_scheme/ Bethell Power Services, part of the Bethell Group, has recently signed up to the Considerate Contractor Award Scheme with West Lothian Council.  Bethell Power Services has a substantial operating base in West Lothian to service a number of projects for Scottish Power Energy. The Considerate Contractor code of practice is designed to maintain the highest standards when companies carry out any work on roads and footpaths, ensuring that West Lothian remains a “Centre of Roadworks Excellence”. Work is inspected both by Council teams and lay assessors with all results being fed into a monthly performance table.  For three consecutive months – since joining the scheme – Bethell has received an “excellent” rating. Said Dave Thompson, planning manager for the Bethell Power Services Scottish Power contract:  “We are delighted to have received such positive results but we are not in the least complacent.  We have all got to work extremely hard and particularly remain focused on health and safety, quality and demonstrating an understanding of residents’ needs when working on their doorstep.  Feedback from the public has proved to be invaluable and we are keeping our eyes firmly on the need for continuous improvement across the board.” The code of practice includes the efficiency of informing customers before work starts, the identification of work on site, safety and protection of works in progress, courtesy and consideration for the general public, protection of the environment, maintaining quality, staff training and the sequence and method of working. Jim Forbes, utilities officer for roadworks at West Lothian Council added:  “The Considerate Contractor Code of Practice is very exacting and contractors who sign up to it have to be focused and dedicated to achieve the highest standards.  Anyone who doesn’t perform adequately is liable to censure and will, if they fail to improve sufficiently, lose their place on our approved contractors list and face other consequences. Conversely, those contractors who consistently perform well will be commended and their contribution highlighted in an annual awards event.  “Assessments are carried out by West Lothian Council Roads Network staff and also Considerate Contractor Assessors who include serving councillors and members of the public.  The results provide a random snapshot of the job and, over time, build up to form a vibrant picture of the contractor and the way in which he works.” Results for 2008-2009 will be announced on 29 May.  2009-03-16T16:04:03+00:00 http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/pre_qualification_but_now_the_hard_work_begins/ http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/pre_qualification_but_now_the_hard_work_begins/ Bethell has pre-qualified for the United Utilities’ short cycle network maintenance contract for cleanwater and wastewater operations in conjunction with its joint venture partner, H2O Water Services. The contract relates to reactive and planned maintenance of United Utilities’ clean and waste water network for a minimum of 5 years. Said Operations Director, Gerry McCoy:  “This is a great opportunity for Bethell and we are working hard to ensure that we give good account of ourselves in the tender process.” “We are fortunate in that we already enjoy a good working relationship with United Utilities.  Our management and operational teams carry with them a wealth of direct experience in wastewater maintenance and the relationship with H2O is an exciting development for everyone involved - Bethell has a long-standing relationship with United Utilities for waste water services and H2O has a current term framework contract for cleanwater operations with United Utilities so the joint venture will prove a strong alliance.” Andy Connolly, H2O’s Operations Director added:  “This is a great opportunity for both companies. We bring a fresh approach to water operations blending network skills and new technology to deliver service excellence. We are looking forward to forming this alliance with Bethell.” The team is expecting tender documents to be delivered imminently, with an appointment being announced before the end of June. It is anticipated that the contract award will be in the region of £20 million per annum. 2009-03-06T08:22:13+00:00 http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/appointment_of_dedicated_full_time_hsqe_director/ http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/appointment_of_dedicated_full_time_hsqe_director/ Health & Safety, Quality and Environment have always been given high priority within the Bethell Group – but never more so than now with the appointment of a dedicated full-time HSQE director. Ian Madden (48) was appointed to the position after an extensive nationwide search earlier this year. He joined the Group in 2001 as health and safety manager and has nurtured the company’s continuous improvement in all four areas ever since.  During this time the department has grown from 4 to 17. His first task will be to identify a structure for the whole HSQE function on a group-wide basis, consolidating, streamlining and expanding the roles of the team. Said Ian: “As a Group we have always put a huge amount of effort and resource into working together to continually improve our health, safety, quality and environmental issues, making the company an even stronger, more focused, safer business.  A new phase of development is now underway and we all have our sights set upon further developing our HSQE record.” Tim Kilroe, Group Chief Executive added:  “Ian Madden has achieved great things for the Group over the past 7 years and was the most impressive candidate from the scores of people who applied for the position around the country.  He has the Group’s full support as he continues to drive forward one of our key improvement areas for 2009.” 2008-12-10T16:22:21+00:00 http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/bethell_groups_first_dedicated_full_time_training_manager/ http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/bethell_groups_first_dedicated_full_time_training_manager/ Tony Costello is the Bethell Group’s first dedicated full-time training manager. Appointed with a brief “to facilitate, manage and streamline Bethell’s statutory and development training needs”, Tony (38) will also be focusing on implementing a far-reaching succession plan for personnel within the business. Tim Kilroe, Group chairman and chief executive commented:  “When we appointed Lisa Manzano, our first human resource director, to the Group Board earlier this year, it signalled our intent to concentrate significant resources on the recruitment and ongoing development of our team. Tony’s appointment is the latest strategic step towards our aspirations for the future.  We recognise that we are nothing without high calibre, committed people – they are our business and we mean to stay at the forefront of our industry by becoming and remaining an employer of choice.” Tony’s immediate goals range from maximising external funding streams to forging strong links with local education providers, with the help of his colleagues in the newly formed training department - Linda Edouardes, Rebecca Redgrave and Elaine Heathwood. A time-served tradesman, before joining the Bethell Group, Tony was employed by White Building Services for four years firstly, training manager and then HR and training manager. Previously he spent 7 years at Construction Industry Training Board (Construction Skills) holding 4 separate roles: training officer, education advisor, OSAT co-ordinator and specialist training advisor, prior to this he has worked for several large contractors on a self-employed basis and has lectured at Bolton College. 2008-12-10T09:14:39+00:00 http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/a_little_bit_of_york_history/ http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/a_little_bit_of_york_history/ Bethell Rail Ltd is currently well ensconced in demolishing and rebuilding platform 9 at York Railway Station in 13 weeks. INTERESTING FACTS Construction As the platform is an island with no access to it other than high level walkways, some 2500 tonnes of spoil and 1200 pallets of new materials had to be ferried in and out by train. The construction of the riser wall is of traditional build and consists of a block retainer wall with a face brick front, to make it both functional and aesthetically pleasing. The project manager is Shane Townend.  The first station at York (located inside the city walls on Toft Green – land previously occupied by a hospital for poor women - opened in 1841) was designed by George Townsend Andrews (a strange coincidence) Shane’s son, Andrew, has recently commenced work as a Bethell trainee and is also working on York platform. Original Station The first station had two platforms – one for departures and one for arrivals.  Both were sheltered by a train shed with a pitched roof.  An archway was formed through the city walls to allow trains in and out.  Refreshment rooms were provided alongside the arrival platform.  Next to the departure platform were facilities on two storeys including a spacious booking hall and boardroom. This area now houses the car park area for Bethell Rail’s York regional office and sections of the arrival and departure track can be seen to this day along with the historic buildings that formed this first station. New Station The new York station saw the first train leave for Scarborough at 5.30 am on 25 June 1877.  It took 3 years to build and was the largest station in Britain at the time, confirming the city’s status at the heart of the network. It was designed by the North Eastern Railways Architect, Thomas Prosser.  The 800 ft long train shed roof, held 42 ft above the platforms by iron columns, was widely admired.  The whole station is built on a curve, making the architecture all the more impressive. By 1910 about 350 trains were running through the station. Legacy All the team hopes that someone, someday, will be researching the history of the station and stumble upon the fact that in 2008, Bethell Rail demolished and completely rebuilt Platform 9, adding to its unique place in history. 2008-11-21T11:24:02+00:00 http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/health_safety_seriously_improves_your_wealth/ http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/health_safety_seriously_improves_your_wealth/ Bethell is currently running a Near Miss Campaign to encourage all the team to be vigilant and seek out potential hazards to prevent accidents.  As an additional incentive, all Near Misses reported are entered into a monthly draw to win £100 of high street vouchers. Said Ian Madden, group health & safety director:  “Any suggestions from employees which contribute to further improve health and safety on site or in the office are always taken on board.  We are instilling a health and safety-conscious culture into all of our day-to-day activities and asking employees to remember that if we don’t know about it, we can’t do anything about it.” A NEAR MISS is any incident that does not cause harm but had the potential to A HAZARD is something with the potential to cause injury, damage or loss (eg defective equipment or flooring, inadequate or absent safety controls, deviation from safe working practice, poorly maintained plant and equipment …..) Hazards have now been added to Bethell’s reporting procedure, to ensure that this information is properly recorded and can directly contribute to preventing future accidents. All Near Miss or Hazard information submitted is investigated by the safety management team and the findings are always fed back to the employee who initially raised the issue, along, occasionally with a £100 worth of vouchers to spend in the high street of his/her choice! 2008-11-21T11:22:09+00:00 http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/health_and_safety_seriously_improves_your_wealth_1/ http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/health_and_safety_seriously_improves_your_wealth_1/ When one Bethell employee chose to make a suggestion to further improve site health and safety, not only did everyone else benefit but so did he to the tune of £25! Tommy Hulme (21), a trainee civil engineer, highlighted the need to fix temporary covers on newly constructed manholes on the B895 construction site in Bury.  Part of the main contractor’s DON’T WALK BY safety card scheme, his suggestion was chosen as the improvement of the month. Said Tommy:  “I joined Bethell’s as an apprentice kerber after having started my career in plastering.  I’ve now just finished my first year ONC in engineering and hope to start my HNC in about 12 months time.  Health and safety is such a high priority for everyone on site and it is obviously in all of our interests to make sure that we keep our eyes open and contribute in any way we can. “ Vinny O’Dowd, head of building and civil engineering added:  “Any suggestions from employees which can further improve health and safety on site are always taken on board.  We always encourage all the team to be vigilant in seeking out potential hazards to prevent accidents and Carillion’s DON’T WALK BY scheme is an excellent additional incentive.” 2008-10-01T14:49:42+00:00 http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/safety_record_recognised_by_network_rail/ http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/safety_record_recognised_by_network_rail/ Bethell was presented with an award by Network Rail for achieving 200 accident free days while working on the WCRM TV4T (Trent Valley 4 Tracking) Project in Tamworth and Lichfield. Phil Mellish, Bethell project manager commented:  We continue to put safety at the very top of our agenda and risk assess all new activities prior to any work taking place.  The rewards for this vigilance are evident by the recognition from the client that Bethell’s overall safety culture is first class and remains that way due to constant positive review.” 2008-09-30T22:49:16+00:00 http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/burys_newest_road_on_track/ http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/burys_newest_road_on_track/ Bury’s newest road is now officially open. Part of the massive £330 million Thornfields’ redevelopment of The Rock, the £10 million Derby Way links Moorgate to Rochdale Road – one of the main arterial routes into the town centre. The main contract is being managed by Bethell, delivering all works with in-house specialists involved from power, lighting and surfacing teams. Said Chris Cayton – Senior Contracts Manager:  “This contract gives Bethell the opportunity to confirm our position as a market leader with the ability to deliver large scale developments in-house.” This contract is more or less finished now....... 2008-09-30T22:48:14+00:00 http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/bethell_steams_ahead_with_western_power_distribution/ http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/bethell_steams_ahead_with_western_power_distribution/ Western Power Distribution (WPD) has awarded Bethell a five year contract to service its L28 and heavy construction overhead lines. With an option to extend the contract for a further two years, the contract gives long-term stability as well as a substantial forward order book to the Group. As Tim Kilroe - Managing Director, explained: “This contract officially replaces the former contract that Bethell had with WPD which ran for many years, having been extended several times.  We are absolutely delighted to be continuing our close working relationship with everyone at WPD.” 2008-09-29T17:03:04+00:00 http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/bethell_awarded_thin_surface_course_accreditation/ http://www.bethell.co.uk/index.php/news/bethell_awarded_thin_surface_course_accreditation/ Bethell’s road surfacing division has recently been awarded a prestigious accreditation to lay thin surface course (clause 942) by Tarmac, one of the UK’s leading supply chain partners in this area.  This accreditation is to lay Tarmac’s branded Masterphalt product. Bethell’s surfacing division manager, Dominic Kenzie, said: “We are delighted to have secured this accreditation particularly as we believe that there are only eleven other organisations nationally that have also been accredited at this level. This has increased the range of work that we can now carry our for clients and we are looking forward to delivering superb quality and value for them in this area.” Bethell Construction already have a similar accreditation from Cemex, another of the UK’s leading suppliers in this arena, to lay their clause 942 material which is called Viatex. 2008-09-23T19:03:29+00:00