News

In January 2017, an update was published to BS 9999, which is the code of practice for fire security in the design, management and use of buildings. BS 9999 provides guidance on the ongoing management of fire safety throughout the lifecycle of a building, including guidance for designers to ensure that the overall design of a building assists and enhances the management of fire safety.

What's new?

BS 9999 is being fully revised to align with current practices, new technology and other parts of the fire safety standards series, namely BS 9990 and BS 9991. The new edition of BS 9999 will introduce the following changes:

• Inclusion of flowchart showing the sequential steps in the design process, to assist users in the application of the standard
• Revised clause on fire safety management with references to PAS 7
• Inclusion of watermist fire suppression systems
• Expansion of guidance on voice alarms
• Expansion of fire growth rates table to provide more information
• Removal of content now covered by BS 9991
• General update to take into account new and revised standards published since 2008

The standard also features revised recommendations for:

• Smoke and heat control
• Fire curtain barrier assemblies
• Mechanical ventilation and air-condition systems
• Shopping complexes
• Building exits
• Ducting

The updated standards can be bought here: http://shop.bsigroup.com/ProductDetail/?pid=000000000030357099

The Labour Force Survey suggests that between November 2016 to February 2017, there were more people in work, the number of unemployed people fell and the number of people aged between 16 and 64 not working and not seeking or available to work also fell.

31.84 million people were in work, which is 39,000 more than in September to November 2016 and 312,000 more than the previous year.

The employment rate was 74.6% which is the joint highest since comparable record began in 1971.

There were 1.56 million unemployed people which was 45,000 less than September to November 2016 and 141,000 less that the previous year.

The unemployment rate was down 0.4% from the previous year to 4.7%, which is the lowest it has been since June to August 1975. This unemployment rate relates to the proportion of the labour force that were unemployed.

There were 8.8million people aged from 16 to 64 who were economically inactive (not working and not seeking or available to work) 10,000 less than September to November 2016 and 36,000 less than a year earlier.

Recruitment & Employment Confederation chief executive, Kevin Green, said, "The labour market is moving in a positive direction, with employment at a record high and unemployment still falling. Our monthly jobs report shows placements via recruiters are increasing and demand for staff is at an 18 month peak, so it's likely employment numbers will continue to creep up.

"However, wage growth is slowing as inflation is rising, meaning people are feeling the pinch as their take home pay doesn't stretch as far. Our data shows employers are increasing starting salary offers to compete for the limited talent available. People will be tempted to move jobs as a way of increasing income, especially if pay in their current role remains static. As demand for staff increases yet supply of candidates deteriorates, employers need to reward their staff so they retain them.

"It's already really tough to find candidates and skills shortages have been intensifying. Sectors across the economy, from healthcare to food manufacturing, are reliant on EU workers. They're getting increasingly worried about how they'll cope if recruiting from abroad becomes even harder post-Brexit."

Energy & Utilities Alliance (EUA) chief executive Mike Foster said "the people have spoken and it is time for the Government to listen when 99 times out of 100 they buy a gas boiler and not a heat pump."

There are large subsidy's paid for the heat pumps, but figures recently released have shown that between 2009 and 2016, 12.6 million homes have had new gas boiler fitted compared to 113,299 air source heat pumps.

Mr Foster has stated, "Consumers have voted with their heat, and chosen high-efficiency condensing gas boilers rather than electric alternatives for their homes. It is high time the Government acknowledge this and accept that the all-electric heat scenario adopted by the previous administration is dead."

"People like gas central heating; it suits their needs and pockets. The Government should now concentrate all their efforts on greening the gas we use, reducing carbon emissions, rather than continue with the failed experiment of promoting heat pumps as the wholesale solution."

"There is a role for heat pumps but not as the mainstay of UK heat provision. The industry needs to see the Government accept this and then work with them, not against them, in delivering an affordable, secure and low-carbon means of heating the home."

F is for Future

It's true when people say you don't know what the future holds. We live in a world which is always changing and can be very unpredictable, one minute things can be going well, the next they might not, some people get married, some people don't, some people have children, some don't. You get the picture?

It's at these moments that people realise they want something else in life, maybe having a child means that you want to spend time more time with your family and less time working away. Maybe you need a higher income. Maybe you might suddenly realise you are ready for the next stage of your career. Maybe you are in a position that you are looking for work unexpectedly.
One thing is for sure that what you do and what you experience now can contribute to changing your future.

At SER, we are always on hand when you realise that you need a change in your career. We find out exactly what it is that you are looking for and we align you to an opportunity that matches those requirements. One of the benefits of using a specialist recruitment agency like SER is that they deal continually with companies in your industry, companies that could have that perfect opportunity for you.

One of the issues is that being headhunted can take you by surprise, you may receive an unexpected phone call about your career and opportunities. It is important to think about these chances and remember everything you do today, impacts what happens tomorrow. Always listen to the opportunities being offered, you never know when you might need them, after all, we live in an unpredictable world.

Your Career, Your Future,
Your Choice.

Recruitment is a given. It's not only people that develop, change, and progress, but businesses too. Recruitment is a time consuming exercise, but it is an inevitable part of business, so you have to find the way that works best for you.
SER Limited pride ourselves on making recruitment as easy as possible for our clients, and one of the services that is provided is the Managed Recruitment Service.
This means that we manage your recruitment needs for whole or part of your business. We manage your current preferred suppliers to ensure you get a streamlined service, that your brand is managed and that we source candidates from the best available talent pool.

We work as an extension of your current team ensuring the solution is tailored to fit your organisation, making the recruitment process more efficient, compliant, standardised, reducing costs and improving the whole process to give you a competitive advantage in industries where quality candidates are in short supply. Our solution is scalable and easily managed by hiring managers or your HR Department.

Gary Bentley, the managing director at SER said "SER's Managed Service is designed to save you time and money on your traditional recruitment methods. Our team of consultants make it their aim to really understand your business which allows us to provide top quality candidates just when you need them. "

A managed service is no longer just for large businesses.

E is for Engineering.

As a specialist technical and engineering recruitment company, we couldn't let the alphabet pass by without focusing on our specialisms.

In a report called 'Synopsis, recommendations and calls to action' released by Engineering UK in 2016, it states a rather powerful statistic:

"When it comes to boosting UK productivity, the engineering sector is in a very strong position. In 2014, engineering generated £455.6 billion GDP for the UK. It employed 5,529,000 people (two thirds of whom are practising engineers and technicians) and supported 14.5 million jobs in the UK. It is 68% more productive than the retail and wholesale sector. Every time a new job is created in engineering, two more jobs are created elsewhere in the UK. If engineering can meet the forecasted demand for new vacancies, it would generate an additional £27 billion GDP per year: the equivalent of building 1,800 new secondary schools or 110 new hospitals. In short, a rebalanced economy built on a growing engineering base will be a more productive economy."

This shows in no uncertain terms exactly how crucial the work we do is. We help to fill the vacancies that are created within this sector; however there is a skills shortage. In the same document, it states that,

"Engineering ranked within the top five in-demand sectors for permanent placements for most of 2015."

We have a duty to make sure that the right candidates are presented to the right opportunity at the time in their life that is just right. Our track record is spread over 12 years of successful Technical Recruitment. We have and are dealing with many of the leading organisations and have vacancies available to suit your needs.
Get in touch today to find out how we can help you land yourself the perfect position.

Call: 01254 781300
Web: www.serlimited.com

This is the 13th year of the RAC Cooling Industry Awards, which are the industry's biggest and most-respected awards event.

The awards champion the leading innovations and environmental successes in the refrigeration and air conditioning industry.

With 14 targeted categories as well as the RAC Gold Award, the awards cover every aspect of the refrigeration and cooling industry from Heat Pump Technology of the year to Retail Initiative of the Year of the year and National Student of the Year. We have two new categories this year which include Cold Chain Project (Logistics and Storage) and RAC Contractor of the Year.

All of the winners will be announced at another spectacular evening at the prestigious London Hilton, Park Lane on 27 September.

Enter today: https://coolingawards.racplus.com/enter

Research that has been commissioned by the Gas Industry Safety Group (GISG) and the Institute of Gas Engineers & Managers (IGEM) has shown that poor levels of training provided to some gas engineers in the UK is leading to unsafe practices.

According to the Gas Safe Register, there has been an increase from 1% to 5% in unsafe gas work being carried out from recently qualified engineers, and this is the reason the research was undertaken.

The research found that some training appears to be focussed on passing assessments rather than testing job competency. It was also found that some training establishments are willing to keep training failing students, regardless of number of failed attempts and they fail to consider the essential competency requirements.

"The GISG is shocked and disappointed by these research findings as they highlight a fundamental flaw in the gas industry, which ultimately could affect the safety of customers," said Chris Bielby, chairman of the GISG.

"We are specifically concerned about the discrepancy in course durations, the certifications of very short courses, the imbalance between theory and practical course content, and differences in pass and fail criteria between some training colleges."

"It is paramount that we as an industry work together to ensure high standards of gas engineer training and capability are upheld across the country. We call on the government and industry to undertake a review to establish minimum standards of training across all gas engineer training programmes."

Ian McCluskey, head of technical services at IGEM agreed that the findings were disappointing and was alarmed by the apparent lack of consistency in the standards of training in the industry.

"As the professional body for the gas industry we are committed to ensuring that all training meets the necessary standards and that engineers are competent to carry out their role," he said.

"This research highlights the need for the gas industry to now come together and ensure there is a robust system in place which will create a level playing field and put an end to these poor practices."

SER has always aimed to make the recruitment process as easy as possible for our clients. With this in mind, we want to provide a more managed service to our clients as opposed to typical contingency recruitment. This is where we manage the companies whole recruitment process not just the engineering side, ultimately reducing the client's administration and process, removing the need for them to deal with multi recruitment agencies, we manage the whole process from start to finish including other agencies and third parties.

SER has recently received funding from Boost to implement a system that will streamline this process. Boost is Lancashire's Business Growth Hub, and their purpose is to help Lancashire's businesses grow. Boost is a £7.8m growth hub backed by the ERDF, led by the Lancashire LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) and Lancashire County Council.

The software that this funding will contribute to, is cloud hosted and it will allow a company to add a vacancy which will signal the start of a series of events. SER get a notification, we start recruiting, after a set period of time the vacancy will filter out to other recruitment agencies, the CV's are uploaded, screened and approved by SER, the client then reviews the candidates and selects the best candidates.

'A Recruitment Service That Fits'

If you are interested in finding out more about the recruitment managed service that SER offers, call us today on 01254 781300, or submit your enquiry online http://www.serlimited.com/contact-us

BSI released the long awaited revision of the UK Version of BS EN 378 (“Refrigeration systems and heat pumps – Safety and environmental requirements”) in December 2016.

BS EN378 is a safety and environmental standard, published by CEN, the European Committee for Standards and is there to provide guidance for companies who design, construct, install, operate, maintain and use vapour compression systems for refrigeration, air-conditioning, heat pumps, chillers and other similar systems. 

It is important to know that BS EN378 is not a legal requirement in its own right. 

BS EN378 was revised to bring it into alignment with ISO5149 the international safety standard.

The safety standard appears in four separate parts:

1. Basic requirements, definitions, classification and selection criteria

2. Design, construction, testing, marking and documentation

3. Installation site and personal protection

4. Operation, maintenance, repair and recovery

The standard is available to purchase at http://shop.bsigroup.com/ProductDetail?pid=000000000030291772

For an overview of the key changes in the new standard see the free IOR Guidance note 29 available to download from www.ior.org.uk