Whiteparish Primary School visit Brickworth Quarry in Wiltshire

Raymond Brown invited schoolchildren from local Whiteparish Primary School to visit Brickworth Quarry.

Upon arrival, the students, who are all in the Year 6 Eagles class, were provided with appropriate personal protective equipment and a worksheet to complete during their visit.  The class were then given a tour around the quarry and the chance to see how the sand is extracted and processed through a screening and wash plant and then loaded onto lorries and distributed for use in the construction industry.  The children were also given the opportunity to have an up close look at the ancient woodland soils and learn about the site’s management and conservation of them as well as identifying different animal footprints on site.

Raymond Brown staff explained why quarries are needed, the uses of sand in construction and the environmental benefits of quarrying.  Students also learned about the dangers of entering a quarry unauthorised and the importance of safety on site.

Following the site tour and a classroom lesson, activities were undertaken outside and the children took turns at sieving different sands from three of Raymond Brown’s quarries and filling up miniature sand shape bottles which they took home with them.

To emphasise how the quarry provides environmental benefits to help biodiversity flourish, in creating habitats for numerous wild animals and birds, the children also created colourful bird feeders and planted cress seeds to take with them.

Martin Wooldridge, Quarry Manager commented: “It was a pleasure hosting the Whiteparish Primary School Eagles Class, they were enthusiastic and asked lots of questions about the quarry.  It was great to give them an insight into the quarrying industry and we really enjoyed having them on site.”

Whiteparish Primary School Head Teacher, Kate Heathcote commented: “On Thursday, the Eagles visited Brickworth Quarry and had a great trip! Huge thanks to all at Brickworth for making this a memorable trip for the eagles and for providing mini-buses!”

Quotes from the Eagles Class:

“We all enjoyed the experience; the best bit for me was making the bird feeders.” – Grace

“Our experience at Brickworth Quarry was fascinating because we learnt a lot about the quarry and stones.” – Megan

“My favourite part was sieving the sand and also the tour around as I had never seen a quarry before.” – Abbie

“‘It was really interesting finding out how big quarries are and how important they are.” – Joe

Raymond Brown gain FORS Reaccreditation

Raymond Brown are delighted to have been reassessed and reaccredited with the Bronze Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS).

The FORS scheme has been set up to raise the level of quality within fleet operations across the UK and in 2017 Raymond Brown announced that the business had met the FORS bronze level requirements.

FORS reassessments take place each year and comprise of an external audit of the business processes to ensure that the company maintains the high standard of work related road risk management.

Transport Manager, Simon Webb commented: “The Raymond Brown fleet comprises of over 60 vehicles and this reaccreditation emphasises our commitment to fleet safety and environmental efficiency as well as demonstrating that we meet a recognised industry standard.”

Jason Lester is announced as a Finalist for the Safety and Health Practitioner Biggest Impact Award 2018

Jason Lester, Raymond Brown Waste Solutions HSQE Advisor has been announced as a finalist for the Safety and Health Practitioner (SHP) 2018’s Biggest Impact Award.

The awards are an annual event to celebrate individuals who have demonstrate excellence in their roles.  This category was open to anyone based in the UK and has recently (within the last 18 months) moved to the health and safety profession from another industry.  A long list of nominees were received and a panel of industry experts selected Jason as one of six finalists.

Jason moved into a health, safety and environmental Advisor’s role in September 2017, previously he managing the Chilton Recycling Facility. In this time he has re-written the Health & Safety and Environmental Manuals and management systems and passed his NEBOSH National General Certificate qualification. He has completed the ROSPA health and safety nomination and gained a 2018 gold award for the company.

For more information, please visit the SHP website: https://www.shponline.co.uk/finalists-announced-for-shp-biggest-impact-award-2018/

Raymond Brown Take New Lorry to Romsey Primary School

Raymond Brown visited Romsey Primary School with their new sign written grab lorry. The children from Romsey School took part in the latest lorry competition with Raymond Brown to design posters around recycling and the winning children were given certificates and goody bags for their efforts in taking part and were also able to sit in the lorry cab.

Sarai Bunting from Romsey school quoted: “The children at Romsey Primary School were delighted to be involved in the competition for Raymond Brown’s recycling lorries..  The successful designers were thrilled to be presented with very generous goody bags by Managing Director Adam Murnieks and even more excited to see the lorry and be photographed inside the cab! The children learnt about the importance of recycling and how Raymond Brown are addressing the issue, especially through educating children through their links with local schools.

All of the children at Romsey Primary School are eagerly looking out for the lorry on Romsey’s roads, and give a huge thumbs up for Raymond Brown’s initiative!”

Raymond Brown Waste Solutions appoint a new Commercial Manager

Raymond Brown Waste Solutions is pleased to announce the appointment of Iain McLean as Commercial Manager.

Iain has a strong market awareness and a firm understanding of the waste industry having worked for both Suez and Eco Food Recycling.

Adam Murnieks, Managing Director commented: “We are delighted to have appointed Iain who is a highly capable Sales and Business Development professional with a strong commercial awareness and people leadership skills.  He enjoys working with both existing and future customers to improve the overall customer experience and growing the business from inside out.”

Brickworth Quarry Open Afternoon on 21 June

Raymond Brown are opening the doors to Wiltshire-based Brickworth Quarry on Thursday 21 June.

The open afternoon will be from 3.30pm – 6.30pm and will provide local residents with the opportunity to have a site tour of the quarry, absorb its history and substantial restoration and learn about the work being done to increase biodiversity.

Families are welcome and there will be activities for children as well as competitions to raise funds for the Whiteparish Memorial Centre.

Freshly made wood-fired pizzas and refreshments will be available to visitors.

Please wear sensible footwear (not sandals).

The site address is: Brickworth Quarry,  Junction A36/A27, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP5 2QJ

Raymond Brown awarded RoSPA Gold Medal Award for Health and Safety Practices (Nine Consecutive Gold Awards)

We are delighted to announce that the Raymond Brown group of companies have been granted a prestigious award in recognition of our practices and achievements in safety.

Raymond Brown have achieved a Gold Medal (our nine consecutive Gold) in the internationally-renowned RoSPA Health and Safety Awards, the longest-running industry awards scheme in the UK.  We will be presented with the award during a ceremony at Hilton Birmingham Metropole hotel on Wednesday 4 July 2018.

The RoSPA Awards scheme, which receives entries from organisations around the world, recognises achievement in health and safety management systems, including practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.

Julia Small, RoSPA’s head of qualifications, awards and events, said: “The RoSPA Awards are the most highly-respected in the health and safety arena, with almost 2,000 entrants every year, and allow organisations to prove excellence in the workplace, demonstrating a commitment to the wellbeing of not only employees but all those who interact with it.”

Fortis launch Hampshire CPD Events

Fortis IBA Ltd are launching FREE Continual Professional Development (CPD) mornings in Hampshire for anyone interested in learning about the future of IBA Aggregate.

The mornings will see us learn more about the benefits of utilising secondary aggregate, focusing in particular on the increased use of IBA Aggregate across our local infrastructure projects.

Breakfast and refreshments will be provided, followed by a site tour of the facility.  Attendees should wear suitable footwear and PPE.

The dates are as follows:

8.30AM – 11AM Tuesday 24th April 2018

8.30AM – 11AM Wednesday 18th July 2018

8.30AM – 11AM Wednesday 19th September 2018

If you are interested, please book your space at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-future-of-iba-aggregate-tickets-44361578676

Raymond Brown Donate Two Tonnes of Topsoil to Sarisbury Green Junior School Allotment

Raymond Brown visited Sarisbury Green Junior School with one of our Grab lorries to donate two tonnes of BS topsoil, enabling the school to start their allotment renovation project.

The school were provided with their allotment earlier this year and have been requesting support from local businesses so that they can develop it.  They are the first school within Hampshire County to have their own allotment and a group of Year 6 students are putting together a gardening club to work on it.

The school’s new gardening club is overseen by two parent volunteers Mr Ben Kimble and Mrs Maria Kimble and the children have named themselves “SJS Ground Force”, putting together a presentation which they gave in an assembly, asking for volunteers, out of the 360 students, they now have 48 volunteers.

Mrs Kimble stated that the allotment would be renovated by both children and volunteer parents and would eventually grow fruit and vegetables and that there would also be flowers planted for the bees and wildlife.

Raymond Brown successfully pass interim Investor’s in People Review

Following the Raymond Brown Group’s Investors In People (IIP) Accreditation in February last year, Raymond Brown have successfully passed an interim review with IIP Practitioner, Dorothy Shrivell.

Dorothy visited the Raymond Brown head office to meet with Steve Clasby, Chief Operating Officer and Gemma Taylorson, HR Manager to see how the group businesses are progressing with their targets for improvement set with the initial accreditation last year, discuss key areas the businesses are focussing on and to look at developing an action plan for the next 12 months.

IIP is the mark of high performance in business and people management and as a result of this, the business has regular briefings, frequent feedback and review meetings about its performance.

Practitioner, Dorothy commented: “The team were able to confirm that a number of the recommendations highlighted within the IIP report had been implemented and it was helpful to remind themselves of these.  In particular, senior leaders have worked hard to improve communication across the whole business, created more team building opportunities to strengthen inter and intra team relationships and created better awareness of the new values.”

Gemma Taylorson, HR Manager commented said: “The recognition from IIP is very positive for us as an organisation, we have also found it invaluable working with them to ensure we are continually improving as an employer.”