Raymond Brown Group Stop for Safety Event

All Raymond Brown and Fortis sites took part in a group-wide “Stop for Safety” event for two hours on Monday 4th October.

The event was an opportunity to get all our employees thinking and talking to each other about the hazards and risks we face daily, control measures we have in place and any improvements we can make.

Steven Laight, HSQE Manager commented: “Thank you to all the site teams for their participation and input and for working together to bring on the improvements suggested during the event.”

Students from University College London visit the A303 IBA Processing Facility

We were delighted to welcome two students and their professor from University College London to our Fortis A303 IBA Processing Facility a few weeks ago.

Prof Julia Stegemann is a Professor of Enironmental Engineering and her students are working on an MSc topic – Stimulating Reuse of IBA as a Concrete Aggregate and a PhD topic – Metals in aggregates and Concrete.  Tim Wilkins, Senior Hydrogeologist has been in regular contact with Julia and one of her students to provide support with her dissertation.  Tim has provided Fortis material data and processing information to help with her research, meeting with them every other week via Teams to offer guidance and advice.

The A303 IBA Processing Facility was the first IBA facility the students had ever visited and it was a pleasure to welcome them to our facility to support their research. Thank you to Wayne Read, Site Manager for providing an extensive tour.

Roke Manor Quarry Mega Cell

The site team have completed the “Roke Mega Cell” in phase 5, the largest cell construction to date at Roke Manor Quarry at approximately 200km³, creating a void capacity of around 360,000 tonnes.

Raymond Brown achieves FORS Bronze Reaccreditation

We are pleased to announce that the Raymond Brown Fleet has successfully been reaccredited with the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS) Bronze standard as a result of our continued commitment to improving the safety and efficiency of our fleet and drivers.

FORS is a voluntary nationally recognised accreditation scheme for fleet operators which aims to raise the level of quality within fleet operations, and to demonstrate which operators are achieving exemplary levels of best practice in safety, efficiency, and environmental protection.

The FORS Bronze accreditation emphasises our fleet safety, environmental impact and efficiency. Many thanks to Simon Webb, Transport Manager and Steven Laight, HSQE Manager for achieving our reaccreditation and all our drivers for their help in maintaining our high standards and their dedication safety and effective monitoring of efficiency.

Raymond Brown is awarded RoSPA Gold President’s (12 consecutive Golds) Award for health and safety achievements

Raymond Brown is celebrating after landing an internationally-recognised award for demonstrating high health and safety standards.

Raymond Brown was awarded a RoSPA Gold President’s (12 consecutive Golds) Health and Safety Award for working hard to ensure staff, customers, clients and contractors get home safely to their families at the end of every working day.

Organisations receiving a RoSPA Award are recognised as being world-leaders in health and safety practice. Every year, nearly 2,000 entrants vie to achieve the highest possible accolade in what is the UK’s longest-running H&S industry awards.

Steven Laight, HSQE Manager, said: “The RoSPA Health and Safety Awards are recognised as being both the most prestigious and yet toughest health and safety competitions in the world. To have won our twelfth consecutive award as well as a Gold President’s Award is testament to our staff and the strong health and safety culture within our organisation.  The board, management teams and all of our employees have once again demonstrated their commitment to the highest levels of safety throughout what has been a very tough year for us all.”

Julia Small, RoSPA’s achievements director, said: “The RoSPA Awards scheme is the longest-running of its kind in the UK, but it receives entries from organisations across the globe, making it one of the most sought-after achievement awards for health and safety worldwide.

“RoSPA is very proud of the achievements of its entrants, and with this award we recognise the best of the best, those organisations that have gone the extra mile, raising the bar for the delivery of safety in the workplace. Employees, wherever they may be should be able to go to work safe in the knowledge that they will return home unharmed and healthy at the end of every day. Our RoSPA Award winners are central to achieving this goal. By entering they are driving up standards and setting new safety benchmarks for organisations across the world. Currently, around 7 million people are directly impacted by the RoSPA Awards, but the scheme’s global influence is even wider – with nearly 2000 organisations from 46 countries represented this year. I would also particularly want to thank our main sponsor NEBOSH, the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health – for their continued support for the 16th consecutive year.”

Four Employees win Core Value Awards after being nominated by Colleagues

In the recent Raymond Brown Group of companies staff satisfaction surveys, we gave all employees the opportunity to nominate colleagues who they felt stood out over the past year by displaying our three Core Values.  A number of nominations were received from across the group, however, there were four individuals whose names stood out. We are pleased to announce the following winners of our Core Values Awards, together with just some of the comments made by their colleagues.  Each winner received a gift voucher as a thank you.

Congratulations to the following and thank you for all your hard work and commitment throughout what has been a very challenging year.

Overall Award for all Three Core Values – Stacey Brine (Business Support and Payroll Manager)

Stacey works within the Finance Team and is based at the Chandlers Ford Head Office.  She had the most number of nominations and was described as having an “amazing attitude to work and genuinely loves Raymond Brown (she has worked here for 20 years).”  Another comment by a colleague, also stated that she was “an asset to the business and should be recognized for her continuous hard work and commitment to the business.”

Passion – Anthony Randell (Site Operative) – Pictured

Anthony is a Site Operative at the Fortis Ardley IBA Processing Facility.  He was described by colleagues as having “the longest service at Ardley and still retains the same amount of passion and enthusiasm.”

Responsibility – Mark Renault (Environmental Permitting Manager)

Mark works within the Group Estates and Planning Department.  His colleagues said that his “attitude and dedication to the company is second to none” and “Mark continues to go above and beyond his work responsibilities on a daily basis and has done throughout the pandemic.”

Engagement – Mandy Frost (PA to Directors)

Mandy is based at the Chandlers Ford Head Office and works closely with the Directors and office staff.  She was described as being “always extremely helpful, flexible, forward thinking and nothing is too much trouble.”  Colleagues also said “Mandy continues to take the initiative, has good ideas to engage with the workforce and is constantly thinking about staff well being across the whole business.”

 

Raymond Brown goes digital with paperless ticketing

Raymond Brown have successfully rolled out a smart ticketing system as the business continues to move to more sustainable practices to reduce waste.

The new paperless process will also provide a more efficient service and improved customer service as it provides real-time tracking and live updates.  Customers will now be able to easily find all their tickets in one place at any time online and will no longer need to sign for them.  This will mean deliveries are more efficient and there will be no need for a trail of physical tickets, reducing paper consumption and wastage.

Colin Bolam, Sales Director, said: “We have implemented a smart ticketing system to make ticketing easier, safer and smarter for both our customers and staff.  By electronically generating these, we’ve also reduced administrative time spent processing them for both our ourselves and our customers and reduced the need for expensive paper trails which are damaging to the environment.  The business is also looking at other ways we can go paperless as we continuously review how we can be more sustainable and efficient in everything we do.”

Carbon Emissions Reduction Plan at Roke Manor Quarry

Raymond Brown Quarry Products recently worked with Hillside Environmental Services to provide a detailed sustainability assessment and plan to help assess the Roke Manor’s carbon emissions and the proposed quarry extension. The report formed an integral part of the recent Stanbridge Ranvilles planning application which was submitted in April and also provided a number of viable commercial opportunities to further improve the site’s environmental performance over the coming months and years. The extension proposal will also generate a range of other long-term environmental benefits such as overall biodiversity net gain, ecological enhancements and improved water management.

Hillside also identified that Raymond Brown’s Roke Manor Quarry operational carbon footprint was 27% more efficient than the industry standard. RBQP is continually seeking new operational measures and initiatives to improve the efficiency of aggregate production whilst minimising energy use and water consumption. These opportunities will be further assessed as part of the company’s Go Green committee in the future.

Demand for IBA Aggregate in Kent

Despite the challenges presented by Coronavirus, this year has seen an encouraging rise in demand for IBA Aggregate in the Kent markets. Fortis, along with its Kent partners Brett Aggregates Ltd and Ardula Ltd continue to develop and secure IBA Aggregate opportunities whilst pursuing alternative outlets such as non-structural concrete products.

The IBA produced at the Kemsley EfW is currently transported by our distribution partners to the A303 IBA Processing Facility, where it will continue to be processed until the Ridham IBA processing facility becomes operational in early 2022. Kemsley derived IBA Aggregate is back hauled back to Kent for onward sale and distribution.

The processing and subsequent use of IBA Aggregate across Kent demonstrates a clear and powerful commitment by the county to both regional and global sustainability. The provision of sustainable secondary aggregate from Kent’s own EfW reduces the requirement within the construction industry for locally sourced primary aggregate and avoids the import of aggregate from further afield.

World Earth Day 2021

Earth Day is observed on April 22 each year to raise awareness for our Earth’s environment. This year’s theme was Restore Our Earth, focusing on natural processes and emerging green technologies that can restore the world’s ecosystems. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot over the last 12 months in the way we both live and work and as we move forwards and recover from it, we are going back to a more sustainable way of life.

“Recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is a chance to set the world on a cleaner, greener, more sustainable path,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a statement. “Mother Earth is clearly urging a call to action. Let’s remind more than ever on this International Mother Earth Day that we need a shift to a more sustainable economy that works for both people and the planet”.

The future will see a greater shift to more sustainable practices and Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) is now more important than ever. As a business, we have always been proud to have our distinctive approach to sustainability at the forefront of everything we do.

As the shift towards a more sustainable way of life takes place, Raymond Brown Group and Fortis’s processes in taking a waste and transforming it into a sustainable aggregate for use in construction makes the business an integral part of the UK’s circular economy.