July 2010 Newsletter
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| Welcome to the
July 2010 issue of Xmo Strata's online newsletter.
To view a story, please click on the relevant headline below. For further information on any of the stories featured, please contact us or visit http://www.xmostrata.com/ Content
SMITH SAILS THROUGH SAFETY TRAINING SCHEME CUT THE TAX FROM YOUR CHILDCARE BILLS NEW SIGNS FOR STANNAH SHELL SAFETY DAY 2010 KEIBA 2010 SHORTLIST FOCUS ON: ENERGY USE ON FORECOURTS NEW HI-VIZ HARD HATS NEW YORK HOLIDAY OF A LIFETIME THE NEXT LEVEL OF TRAINING FOR XMO STRATA TEAMS NEW BABY FOR THE STRYDOM FAMILY XMO STRATA WINS WORLD CUP CONTRACT EXCUSE ME ... BUT POLITENESS COSTS NOTHING ... THANKYOU VERY MUCH! CHANGE AT THE TOP
The company has appointed Dave Heathorn as its new Installation and Maintenance Manager. Dave has 17 years experience managing installation teams at Hawes Signs; he has also run an electrical contracting company making him the ideal candidate to manage Xmo Strata's sign maintenance and electrical work. Kate Parmentier, who has recently returned from maternity leave, will be taking on the challenging role of Commercial Manager. She will have overall responsibility for the company's profitability, productivity, and contract negotiations. Lucy Mazzocca has been hired as the company's accountant after spending the last three years with BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd. Xmo Strata is also looking to fill the new position of Business Development Manager, who will be solely responsible for bringing in new business - a key role in the new management team. Michael Mott, the company's Quality and Systems Manager will remain in his current role. Commenting on the changes to his top team, Managing Director Steve Martin said: “These changes are about Xmo Strata investing in the future and being commercially aggressive in winning business. Getting through this recession has been the toughest challenge the company has faced, and it is now pivotal to grow out of the recession with strong business acumen that allows us to remain competitive and ensures crucial cost savings for our customers.” Back to content SMITH SAILS THROUGH SAFETY TRAINING SCHEME
“As the business has expanded, so has the range of tasks we have to perform on site,” said Terry. “Xmo Strata's continuing investment in training means I always have the skills I need to do the job well and safely.” The SMSTS scheme covers in detail:
Back to content CUT THE TAX FROM YOUR CHILDCARE BILLS Xmo Strata employees could save over £1,000 a year on their childcare thanks to a new voucher scheme introduced by the company. Parents of children up to the age of 16 using registered childcare can now sign up for new, tax free, Child Care Vouchers. Employees will pay no tax or national insurance on the vouchers. “The scheme is a fantastic bonus for working mums and dads and it's great that Xmo Strata is supporting young families in this way,” said Kate Parmentier, who recently returned to Xmo Strata after having her first child. “I'd encourage anyone who pays for childcare to sign up as it can really help to save those pennies.” Back to content NEW SIGNS FOR STANNAH  Five days, 21 sites to complete and a
Bank Holiday weekend to contend with - most companies would
shy away, but Xmo Strata got straight to work to show how it
should be done.Stannah, the world's largest supplier of stairlifts, working closely with their Design and Implementation partners, Harkess-Ord committed to a major re-brand across 21 of its UK sites from Glasgow to Christchurch - including the company's headquarters in Andover. The work involved the installation of new exterior signage on the company's UK premises.  Kate Parmentier, Commercial Manager for
Xmo Strata, said: “This was a challenging job; the teams were
often working at height on multi-storey buildings and this
calls for every safety policy to be strictly followed,
including risk assessments, wind speed checks and properly
authorised clearance certificates.”Engineers fitted some signs at heights of up to 10 metres but, despite the added height, all of the work was completed safely, on time and within budget. For more information on tailored sign installation programmes please Contact us. Back to content SHELL SAFETY DAY 2010 Xmo Strata has taken part in this year's Shell Safety Day - the biggest ever, with over 100,000 Shell employees and contractors involved simultaneously, on multiple sites, across the world. The day focused on improving the quality and consistency of near-miss reports and identifying potential incidents with the aim of hitting ‘Goal Zero’ - when no one is injured on Shell sites. Stopping potential incidents before they endanger lives is the key to hitting this target. Kevin Cully represented Xmo Strata during the day by delivering a “Talk Not Tick” session to contractors working on the energy saving site programme at the Shell Huntingdon site. Kevin ensured that on-site contractors were given the opportunity to discuss any potential risks or hazards they spotted.
A prize was given to Steve Knights at the event for the quality and calibre of his near miss reporting on Shell sites. He was presented with £25 of M&S vouchers by COTEBA HSSE Manager, Allan Manning. Many thanks to all those who were involved with making this year's Shell Safety Day an international success. Back to content  “I'm very proud of Steve Knights'
attitude to safety - he could have saved a life. It shows that
Xmo Strata employees truly believe in the health and safety
polices we advocate and are prepared to act on
them.”Steve Martin, Managing Director To see what Steve is talking about please click here to view the incident report (PDF file, 132kb) Back to content KEIBA 2010 SHORTLIST  Xmo Strata has once again been
short-listed in the Kent Excellence in Business Awards (KEiBA)
2010, this time for ‘Small Medium Enterprise (SME) Business of
the Year’. This highly competitive category includes businesses from across Kent working in industries from animal nutrition to construction. Managing Director Steve Martin said: “It's a real honour to be short-listed as one of the top four SME companies in the county. It's a testament to the professionalism of our employees that despite a national recession we have once again been recognised by KEiBA.” For further information on the finalists, please visit the KEiBA website. Back to content
Back to content NEW HI-VIZ HARD HATS  New high visibility hard hats are winging
their way to every member of Xmo Strata's team as the company
continues to embrace innovative ways to improve health and
safety. Forecourts can be one of the most dangerous working environments in the world - often seeing a mix of petrol fumes, electricity and moving vehicles. Whilst the company provides hi-viz jackets to all employees, it has gone one step further and ordered new hi-viz hard hats. The safety of on-site employees is the top concern of Managing Director Steve Martin: “Colleagues from COTEBA identified, quite rightly, that people in high-riding 4x4 and panel vans might not be able to see people in a hi-viz jacket,” said Steve. “So on their recommendation we have invested in new hi-viz hard hats which are much easier to spot in a van wing mirror than the current ones we use. It's about sharing best practice and making sure we do everything we can to avoid accidents.” Back to content NEW YORK HOLIDAY OF A LIFETIME
Q. What did you see and do while you were there? A. New York certainly lived up to our expectations and more. We crammed in all the major attractions like the Empire State building, Rockafella Centre, Ground Zero, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, and of course the famous department stores like Macey's and Bloomingdales. Q. What was the weather like? A. Lovely warm sunshine for the first couple of days then rain, although being British we didn't let a bit of rain spoil our holiday! Q. What was the best part? A. On the first day we had a horse drawn carriage ride through Central Park, the weather was lovely and the scenery was fantastic. You see that sort of thing in the movies but we never expected to have the opportunity to do it ourselves. Q. Six months on from the Hearts & Minds campaign how much do you remember / still use on site? A. It's still fresh in our minds; in fact our health and safety has continually improved. Q. Do you think it's made a difference to the safety culture of the company? A. Yes it stepped up health and safety awareness; the trip to New York was a big incentive to improve standards. Q. You took photos of contractors working on signage in New York. Were they working safely or could you have taught them a thing or two? A. The health and safety standards that I observed were very poor, no barriers, no signs, no PPE and cherry pickers working above pedestrians on the path. We'd be dismissed if we adopted similar practices. I was shocked by the lack of care.
A. We had a meal in the only skyline revolving restaurant in New York, at the top of the Marriot Hotel where we stayed. The Hotel was fantastic. Q. Did you fit in everything you wanted to do? Will you go back? A. We crammed in as much as we could, but yes we would definitely go back - though not until the bank balance has recovered from the last trip! Q. Did you run into any big Hollywood celebs? I bet there were some you would like to have met? Top three? A. We did run into Don King (Boxing Promoter) in the elevator in the Marriot Hotel, but would much rather have run into Sandra Bullock or Catherine Zeta Jones or maybe Brad Pitt - we could compare six packs! Q. Does Times Square really look as amazing in real life? A. Times Square was unbelievable, we just kept standing and staring all around us. There was so much to see everywhere you looked. We were really impressed with all the signs! Q. What other holiday destinations are on your wish list? A. We would love to go back to America one day and go South touring in a big RV camper. It would be great to visit Memphis and see Gracelands. Back to content THE NEXT LEVEL OF TRAINING FOR XMO STRATA TEAMS
Congratulations to Paul and Tom Slater, and John and Steve Mitchell, who have recently completed their NVQ Level 2 in Signmaking (illuminated and non illuminated). The Sign Engineers have been working towards their NVQs since summer 2009. An NVQ (National Vocational Qualification) is a course designed by industry, for industry, ensuring people who take the qualification learn the real-world skills needed for the workplace. There are over 1,300 NVQs in every sector imaginable - including wheel clamping and policing. The Level 2 Signmaking course helps hone a person's abilities by teaching them a wide-range of skills including:
Back to content NEW BABY FOR THE STRYDOM FAMILY
Congratulations to Natascha Strydom, Xmo Strata's accounts administrator on the birth of her baby girl Lily-Mae, who was born at 7:14 on her due date, May 16, weighing 3.24kg. Despite a 24 hour labour at Kent's Maidstone Hospital, both mother and daughter are doing well. Back to content XMO STRATA WINS WORLD CUP CONTRACT To celebrate England being in the world cup, a customer asked for new promotional banners to be placed on over 300 forecourts in under two weeks across England. In true Xmo Strata style the work was delivered on time and on budget.   Back to content EXCUSE ME ... BUT POLITENESS COSTS NOTHING ... THANKYOU VERY MUCH!  Ask anyone in the sign industry what
they think of Xmo Strata and they're likely to talk about
health and safety, training, quality and so-on.Well, now there's a new dimension - because research has shown that its customers think the company's staff are very polite! The finding comes in the first quarter customer satisfaction survey for 2010 - and the company's new Installation and Maintenance Manager Dave Heathorn said it was “excellent news”. 90% of customers rated the company's courtesy as ‘excellent’ and the remaining 10% said it was ‘good’. “Winning business is tough in this environment - and no customer wants to deal with grumpy, grouchy crews,” said Dave. “This says to me that people are doing a terrific job in ensuring that we are friendly to customers on every level, and that's so important.” Not only are Xmo Strata teams polite, but they also produce high quality work safely. In the first quarter of 2010, 85% of customers rated the company's quality as excellent and 87% of customers rated the company's safety as excellent. The first quarter customer satisfaction ratings of ‘excellent’ have jumped up by 16% compared to the last few months of 2009. Just like last year, all of Xmo Strata's work was recognised as excellent or good - none of it was considered satisfactory, poor or very poor. The final word goes to company boss Steve Martin: “Please keep up the good work, guys .... and thank you very much!” Back to content  | |||||||||||||||||||||
