2019 Tour de Youth Zone: from Carlisle to Croydon

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On Saturday 21st October a team of 25 local cyclists, including our own Neil Tattersall, will set off from Carlisle Youth Zone and travel 471 miles over 5 days to reach the finish line at Croydon Youth Zone!

The Tour de Youth Zone will take in all 15 sites that Onside Youth Zones run with the aim to raise money for their ongoing work in local community’s.

Open 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, offering over 20 activities per night, OnSide Youth Zone’s support young people to lead healthier, happier, more aspirational lives by providing quality activities, new opportunities and offering a listening ear to those need it.

Neil will be flying the flag for Britplas on the Tour de Youth Zone, if you can donate please follow this link

The sun shines on another Britplas annual company day!

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Friday saw both the sun come out and our annual company day take place at a local sports club. As a result of another year of growth, it was once again our biggest ever held, with over 100 employees attending! Another chance to represent our company value of Better Together!

First up all staff were presented with a review of Britplas performance from our Directors and a progress update from our chosen charity, local children’s charity Warrington Youth Zone. The most anticipated part of the day followed, a hotly contested It’s a Knockout set of challenges with Team 4 running out as eventual winners!

A selection of either Pizza or Fish & Chips rounded off the day, with a few more adventurous colleagues heading out to bond over some light beverages.

Directors complete the Abersoch Triathlon

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Congratulations to both Britplas Group MD John and P&C Projects Director Chris who completed the Abersoch Sprint Triathlon at the weekend! John completed the three-part race in 1hr38, with Chris finishing in 2hr11.

Over £2,000 has been raised for Britplas’ charity of choice, Warrington Youth Zone, an amount which will be matched by the company bringing the total to just over £4,000 – fantastic effort guys and thanks to everyone who supported this cause!

Every penny raised will go directly towards ensuring thousands of young people from across Warrington are given the opportunities needed to live healthier, happier, more aspirational lives.

Britplas opens Yorkshire office

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Britplas has opened an office in Yorkshire in order to meet the requirements of a healthy sales pipeline into 2020 across its commercial glazing services.

The Huddersfield office will initially be home to a design team who will work closely with the existing design department based at Britplas’ head office in Warrington.

Group Managing Director John Blackwell commented “With a number of significant project wins recently secured, the new Yorkshire team brings a wealth of experience and will help us to continue to provide the best possible service to our national client base.

This is an exciting development in the continued growth of the Britplas Group and we look forward to welcoming the new team into the Britplas family.”

Britplas launch new Multask handle for mental health environments

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Britplas have launched a new operating handle for their award-winning Safevent window. The Multask was launched at Design in Mental Health 2019 and replaces three separate pieces of hardware, bringing improvements in both functionality and aesthetics.

The Safevent window is designed specifically for mental health environments, providing safety and security whilst also allowing natural light and ventilation and a high degree of patient control. Up to now, the window controls have comprised a ‘wizzy winder’, patient thumb lock and staff lock. The new patented Multask handle provides the functionality of all three components within an anti-ligature, stainless steel shell that has passed all relevant industry tests for mental health environments.

The brand-new handle can be stopped at any point of being open or closed, giving both the service user and staff increased flexibility over both ventilation and privacy. The anti-tamper design of the staff lock greatly reduces the potential for damage and associated maintenance costs.

“The Multask was very well received at the recent Design in Mental Health exhibition” commented Britplas head of sales Neil Guest.

“Innovation is an important part of our culture at Britplas and the continuous improvement of our proprietary product range will always be a priority. We have completed the first window installations using the new hardware and feedback has been very positive..”

Directors take on the Abersoch Triathlon

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On 29th June Group MD John Blackwell and P&C Projects MD Chris Fletcher will be taking on the Abersoch Triathlon Sprint to raise funds for Warrington Youth Club. The race, which has been fully subscribed for the last 4 years, consists of a 750m swim, 20km bike ride and a 5km run around the scenic Abersoch beach in North Wales. Chris is returning for the second time this year whilst the race will be John’s first foray into triathlons!

As a founder patron of OnSide Warrington Youth Club, Britplas has been supporting the charity since 2017 with various fundraising events and initiatives. The club is currently raising funds to create a new purpose-built Youth Zone at Winwick Street, Warrington which will provide them with a permanent base from which they can continue to provide excellent social and educational opportunities for children and young people from across Warrington every day of the year.

The Youth Zone will offer thousands of members access to indoor climbing, dance, music, media, sports, gym, cookery, enterprise, employability, health & wellbeing and much more – 7 days a week for only 50p per visit.

Every penny raised will go directly towards ensuring thousands of young people from across Warrington are given the opportunities needed to live healthier, happier, more aspirational lives.

For more information and to donate please visit:

httpss://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/charity-web/charity/displayCharityCampaignPage.action?charityCampaignUrl=AbersochTriathlonSprintforWYC

Jason Cross joins Britplas as operations director

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Britplas is pleased to announce the appointment of Jason Cross to the new position of operations director.

With overall responsibility for delivering operational excellence across the design, manufacture and installation of Britplas projects, Jason brings considerable operational experience and skills to the role, having worked in the commercial glazing sector for some 32 years.

“I am thrilled to be joining Britplas at such an exciting time” commented Jason. “This is a progressive business with strong values and a unique proposition in the market. Our pipeline is strong and I’m looking forward to delivering continuous operational improvement with the support of a great team.”

Britplas Group is forecasting another year of impressive turnover growth, and Jason’s is one of several recent appointments which have been made in order to support the continued expansion of the business.

We are also delighted to welcome Gill Gribbin as financial controller to lead the accounts and finance team. In the factory, Ian Mitchell has been promoted to Commercial Line Production manager.

The sales team has also recruited a new member, with Matt Gorman moving from the estimating department to take on a business development manager role.

All smiles as Fortress Fencing is installed!

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Britplas have completed the refurbishment of the courtyard fencing on Holt Ward at Newtown Hospital in Worcester – a mental health assessment ward for patients in acute crisis. The project was commissioned by Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, who needed a more secure perimeter solution than the previous installation, reducing the chance of absconsion whilst helping to create a relaxed and calming environment.

Our Fortress Fencing was installed over two phases to minimize disruption for the day-to-day operation of the ward and the lives of service users living there. The 2.4m fence, printed with a woodland scene, was designed in collaboration with the client to provide a therapeutic space which would also contain people with wide-ranging mental health issues.

People are admitted to Holt Ward for a 14-day assessment period to understand their care -requirements. As service users’ needs are wide-ranging, the facility must conform to the standards expected of high secure facilities.

Bev Hardiman, the Ward Manager commented “We wanted a fence which would meet our security requirements but would also add an ambience to the environment where it could be used as a therapeutic calming space. The Britplas team were fabulous from start to finish, they took our ideas and created something fit for purpose! The team worked for a cause and not for applause!”

Bright Thinking leads to continuous development of products

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Since its inception in 2006, Britplas’ Safevent window for mental health has evolved through 8 models whilst the sill used has remained the same until recently.

With every detail of our proprietary window products under constant review, our dedicated research and development department has recently been focusing on improvements to the sill design of the Safevent. Key to the drainage efficiency and the overall aesthetics of the window, the development process has resulted in a new, mental health specific, Safevent variant with four brand new sill profiles for both internal and external sliding Safevents following a 6-month process.

By switching from face drained to bottom drained sills, we removed the need for press-in plastic drainage caps and minimised the chances of the drainage channel being blocked, creating a more efficient system.

 

The Britplas way

Bright Thinking is one of our core values at Britplas, and the continuous improvement of our products through the R&D department is key in Britplas maintaining this principle. The Safevent window, our flagship product for the mental health sector, is always under review. The new sill is the latest adaptation using our philosophy to ensure that clients have access to the best products and service possible

Britplas’ Research and Development Manager Steve McGuire explains more about this latest development:

 

How long did the process take?

The process took around 6 months – the new sills were designed in about a month. We then had to produce die drawings and source which thermal breaks would work best with the extrusions. Accurate die drawings were then sent out to 3 extruding companies for pricing. We then produced a cost comparison spreadsheet to compare all the extrusion costs including die costs. The next task was to look at rolling and painting costs from the powder coaters. This all took around 6 weeks.

The next stage involved ordering sample extrusion lengths for testing. Drainage test results for all four sill profiles were excellent, so we knew we had cracked the design. Production was ordered including extrusion, rolling and painting, and we prepared the product for internal launch including the creation of an ECN pack, issuing of Britplas part numbers and drawings for the sills and end caps, and full briefings held with our procurement, design, production and sales teams.

 

When was the Safevent mental health sill last altered?

The Safevent sill design has not altered significantly over the past six years.

 

What extra functionality has been added and why is this important in mental health?

By switching from face drained to bottom drained sills, we have been able to remove the press-in plastic drainage caps which service users could potentially break off the windows leaving unsightly slots in the face of the Safevent. There was also the possibility of blockage due to the path of the drainage through the frames.

By switching the drainage through the bottom of the frames, no slots are visible so there is no need for plastic drain covers any longer. This has also allowed us to extend the drainage slots through the frame to allow water to drain through the system much more quickly and effectively. This prevents any water from pooling in the frame.

Maritime defence facility brings Britplas on-board

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Britplas have been appointed as the external envelope supplier for the latest development of Qinetiq’s Portsdown Technology Park (PTP). Main contractor Volker Fitzpatrick will be completing the project for client QinetiQ, who have a long-standing interest on site which had its first military facility built in 1870.

The complex project will require Britplas to design, manufacture and install a mixture of curtain walling, cladding and soffit systems as part of a facade package worth in excess of £2m, made up of 1,450m2 cladding, 1,900m2 curtain walling and 675m2 fire screens. The new facility will offer 6,320m2 office space, an auditorium and accommodation, forming the National Maritime Systems Centre.

For over 45 years PTP has integrated and tested combat and communications equipment and software for all Royal Navy warships prior to their deployment at sea. The new £23m facility will continue this by securing 100 new jobs in addition to the 300 based at the site.

Recent examples of technology that has been tested and integrated with existing equipment includes BAE Systems’ Artisan surveillance radar and MBDA’s Sea Ceptor Air Defence System.

The exact systems being used are:

  • Schueco FWS 50+ capped curtain walling system
  • Aluprof MBSR50N fire rated curtain wall
  • Aluminum cladding system

Installation of the façade is scheduled to start on site in July 2019 with Britplas due to finish in by the end of 2019.