Sustainability Week at Premier Galvanizing
As part of Hill & Smith PLC, the teams at Premier Galvanizing took part in Sustainability Week – a week to reflect on all things sustainability. It was a fun-filled week where colleagues were encouraged to take part in a number of activities (or come up with their own) to boost green credentials and have some fun in the process.
Best Birdbox Competition
Birdboxes are a great way of encouraging biodiversity by giving our flying friends somewhere safe to nest. As a bit of fun, the Technical Team set up a competition for the “Best Birdbox”, with a voucher up for grabs for the winner.
Team Premier Galvanizing Corby were keen to enter, and they took the grand prize, beating not just Premier Galvanizing Hull but also the other seven sites across the Joseph Ash Group! The team commented that the birdbox was “Galvanized to ISO 1461 Wood Standard”.
Energy saving treasure hunt
Colleagues were encouraged to form groups and evaluate their working environment, keeping sustainability in mind. This could include turning off lights, machines and other resources and questioning if they need to be used. The outcome of an energy saving treasure hunt is a reduced carbon footprint, saving energy from being wasted.
The original idea for the energy saving treasure hunt was developed in 1999 by Toyota, and is a great activity for all companies to conduct, regardless of industry.
Plant pots
Team also took the time to plant their own plant pots and add a bit of colour to the grey weather that was had in the week.
Extra competitions
Prizes are also due to awarded across the Group for a number of categories, including “Most Engaged Site”, “Most Improved Site”, and “Most Sustainable Site”. Winners will be calculated based on their efforts throughout the week, both in terms of effort and in outcomes achieved.
You can find out more about the full list of activities across the week here.
We’ve recently launched a new set of company values for Premier Galvanizing (as part of the wider Joseph Ash Group). They are collectively called ‘Our Chemistry’ – to reflect our excellent relationships with each other, our clients, suppliers and partners, and the chemicals we use in our galvanizing processes.
To create the values, we held several focus groups across the plants to find out what was important to our team members and what values they wanted to live by at Premier Galvanizing and Joseph Ash. We spoke to colleagues on the shop floor, administration and service teams at Head Office, and Commercial Teams at our different divisions. Everyone was offered the opportunity to share their thoughts on what our culture and behaviour look like when we’re at our best and what needs to be added to ensure the Joseph Ash Group thrives and grows.
The resulting values are:
Growth through teaching and learning (internally and externally) is the catalyst for everything we do. We lead with experience and heritage, but we’re also enthusiastic about advancing and improving our products, processes, the industry and ourselves.
We thrive on team spirit, whether we’re looking out for each other’s safety or working together to meet targets. Providing help and assistance, celebrating achievements, and laughing are the elements that bind us together. We have each other’s backs.
We respect each other and our differences and treat people as we want to be treated ourselves. We mix kindness with good manners and listening skills. We also appreciate family: not only in our home lives but also in the family we have at work.
The safety and success of our business and our future sit in our hands. We know what is expected of us as individuals and teams and demonstrate a ‘can-do’ attitude to get things done.
If you’d like to know more – or if you’d like to join our team – please get in touch!
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Patrick Fromant has joined our Corby plant as the new Commercial Manager, responsible for the commercial activity and the sales team.
No stranger to the construction industry, Patrick brings with him a wealth of experience as a Graduate Trainee Manager, a District Sales Manager and Territory Sales Manager at Hanson UK, where he was responsible for several different concrete plants.
Patrick is driven, strategic, analytical, solution-focused, and customer-centric.
When asked why he joined the Joseph Ash Group, he said “After meeting the leadership team, it felt like a fantastic opportunity to join a great business with forward-thinking management. I am keen to utilise and develop my skillset to bring commercial success to the Group.”
In his spare time, Patrick is a regular gym goer and a food fanatic.
Please join us in welcoming Patrick to Premier Galvanizing.
Great to have you with us Patrick!
You can reach Patrick on 01536 409818 or at patrickf@premiergalv.co.uk.
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We’re looking for additional hot dip galvanizing operatives for our Corby and Hull plants. Are you interested?
We’re searching for reliable, flexible, self-motivated and hardworking individuals, to be employed on a full-time basis (after successful completion of a probationary period).
The plants operate 24 hours with team members working on a rotating shift system (including some weekends) to meet customer demand.
The role ensures the safe and efficient processing of work, from receipt through to the galvanizing process to finished product ready for despatch.
We offer a structured training programme for all team members.
Applicants must be physically fit and work well in a team within a fast moving production environment, where excellent customer service and high product quality is the key to our continued success. An excellent attitude towards health and safety is a pre-requisite of this role.
Email David Prattis (Divisional Manager at Premier Galvanizing Corby) or Alex Camp (General Manager at Premier Galvanizing Hull) for further details.
Discretion assured. No agencies please.
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From left to right: Bryony Crowden, John Frankland and Theresa MacDonald.
Bryony states: “We are a fun loving team who like to get stuck in with all of your quotes and queries that come through the plant day-to-day.
“We make customer service our number one priority and are always keen to keep the Premier Galvanizing promise and be part of your team too!
If you have any questions you need to ask or would like prices or quotes we are here to help!”
Please get in touch with the Corby plant for any sales or technical enquiries.
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You know what they say… New Year, new job! Well, that’s just what Theresa MacDonald did when she joined Premier Galvanizing Corby a few weeks ago.
Theresa has joined as an Internal Sales Executive and she’ll be working alongside John Frankland (Sales Manager) and Bryony Crowden (Internal Sales Executive).
Theresa has spent the last 20 years working in sectors such as manufacturing and retail in a variety of sales positions. Her last position was with Fastrax Conveyor Rollers.
When asked why she was drawn to the position at Premier Galvanizing, Theresa said that she has a strong background in the steel industry, after joining what was once British Steel, and selling steel to end users for many years.
Theresa is super energetic – she loves running, biking, and swimming, and has completed a few marathons too.
She has enjoyed her first few weeks and we’re looking for to her future here as a member of Corby team.
Next pageOur Health and Safety Officer climbs Three Peaks
We’re pleased to share the news that our Health and Safety Officer at Premier Galvanizing Hull – Rebecca Lee – recently challenged herself to climb the Three Peaks to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Rebecca (or Bex as she’s fondly known) took part in the challenge with her sister and two friends, to raise the funds for this important charity.
The intrepid team climbed Mount Snowdon (1085m ascent), Y Lliwedd (910m ascent) and Scafell Pike (970m ascent) across a period of two weeks in September.
In total they hiked and climbed a distance of 24.1km. An amazing achievement!
Bex and her team managed to raise a huge £3000 for Macmillan Cancer Support. Which is just brilliant!
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We wish to employ additional hot dip galvanizing operatives for our Corby plant. Are you interested?
We’re looking for reliable, flexible, self-motivated and hardworking individuals, to be employed on a full-time basis (after successful completion of a probationary period) within a rotating shift pattern.
We offer a structured training programme for team members to become multi-skilled in all areas of the production process.
Applicants must be physically fit and work well in a team within a fast moving production environment, where excellent customer service and high product quality is the key to our continued success. Manual handling and fork-lift truck experience is desirable but not essential as full training will be given.
Direct message David Prattis at Corby for further details. Discretion assured. No agencies please.
Millions of people every day face the reality of living with a mental health illness – an illness that others may not see, know about or understand. Whether it’s anxiety, stress, depression or low moods, to illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar or Alzheimer’s, these conditions can have a dramatic effect on a person’s life.
At Premier Galvanizing we believe we have a duty of care and a moral obligation to our employees to help them have good mental health, especially as the workplace – regardless of industry or type – can sometimes be a place of additional stress or anxiety.
The Mental Health Foundation says: “We believe in workplaces where everyone can thrive. We also believe in the role of employers, employees and businesses in creating thriving communities.”
We believe in this too, and it’s why we have recently engaged in B.U.D.I.E.S training for good mental health.
The Mental Wellbeing B.U.D.I.E.S. virtual classroom is a one-hour programme to initiate mental health support in the workplace. The virtual classroom course is helping to give our staff the listening skills and B.U.D.I.E.S. framework to support their colleagues throughout the year.
The B.U.D.I.E.S. framework focuses on:
B – Build a helping relationship
U – Understand
D – Determine if your colleague is in crisis
I – Inform about self-help
E – Encourage professional help
S – Safety at all times
The course stresses the importance of listening skills and how to deal with a crisis. It also encourages people to have ‘Wellbeing B.U.D.I.E.S.’ at work – someone to talk to if you’re in need of a friendly ear.
Before COVID, we were due to complete some Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training courses, but as these were going to be face-to-face, we’re pleased to have found an alternative in the B.U.D.I.E.S. virtual classroom.
Two members of our team have already taken the B.U.D.I.E.S. training, and we have more sessions scheduled.
Later this year, we will complete the MHFA training and we’ll also provide colleagues with full contact details for support including:
- Their local BUDIE (telephone, email, Whatsapp)
- Contact details for our Employee Assistance Programme
- Local support networks
The Mental Health Foundation says: “Mental health is something we all have. When we enjoy good mental health, we have a sense of purpose and direction, the energy to do the things we want to do, and the ability to deal with the challenges that happen in our lives.”
At Premier Galvanizing we aim to promote good mental health, and foster purpose, direction and the ability to successfully navigate through life.
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Three of our team members at Premier Galvanizing have recently hit amazing long-time-service milestones. Please join us in celebrating their anniversaries:
Mike Whitehurst – Premier Galvanizing Hull, 20 years’ service
Mike started with us in April 2000 and is the last remaining employee from the original team at Premier Galvanizing. He has a customer facing role within the yard team and has formed strong customer relations. He continues to be a highly regarded, loyal and reliable member of the team.
John Moat – Premier Galvanizing Hull, 15 years’ service
Steve Moat – Premier Galvanizing Hull, 15 years’ service
The brothers celebrate 15 years loyal service with us and have seen the business change and evolve considerably. Both have represented hockey at international level and are now involved with coaching the next generation.