News | Stonbury

20 September, 2018

Sustainable Water 2018

WWT’s 7th annual Sustainable Water conference was held on Tuesday 18th September at the Birmingham conference centre. Delegates from both Stonbury and Kingcombe Stonbury were pleased to attend the conference, alongside representatives from BASF, who Stonbury shared an exhibition stand with outside of the main hall for delegates to browse through during breaks and across lunchtime. The event was extremely informative and covered a wide range of topics around sustainability and how all involved in the water industry can play a part in securing the environment for future generations. A representative from Defra presented the first lecture who gave an insight into the Governments 25-year plan to improve the environment with the ultimate goal to have zero avoidable plastic waste as a nation by 2042. On the basis that is perceived that ‘a healthy environment promotes a healthy economy’ as part of the initiative, next year will see a campaign under the title ‘#iwill – 2019 year for action for the environment’ of which no doubt more visibility from the Government will become clear over the coming months. More specific topics relating to the water industry were addressed through a number of speeches covering ‘long-term sustainability through partnership working’ to ‘putting sustainability at the heart of decision making’ and ‘preparing to meet the government's expectations – a water industry perspective’ All round the whole day provided a host of information that Stonbury can analyse and use within our collaborative partners to not only ensure we safeguard the nations drinking water supply, but look at what additional benefits we can contribute to the environment and community in the course of our business.

28 September, 2018

NWG's ‘Legacy, Next Generation Thinking’

Northumbrian Water held their third supply partner event, based on the theme ‘Legacy, Next Generation Thinking’ Focused around NWG’s Five Capitals initiative, the supply partner day had a specific focus on how the community and environment can benefit in the long-term, with respects to NWG’s operating area and beyond, where enough thought, planning and execution can be given at initial stages of a project. The morning was covered by a series of talks including ‘The Environment Bank’ which aims to restore Biodiversity in the UK by the delivery of projects that have a net gain to the environment through Natural Capital Accounting. In this format credits can be obtained through the bank by ensuring if a scheme has an impact on the environment, this is counter-balanced by an initiative elsewhere that has a better effect than that was in place where the project is to be carried out. There was also a ‘Carousel of Case Studies’ where the attendees were split into four groups and circled around four different 15-minute presentations on topics such as previous legacy projects by NWG Supply Partners, to feedback on ‘Design Sprints’ held by NWG with various partners, including Durham University. Following lunch, a detailed presentation titled ‘Drink beer, Give Water’ was given by Brewgooder, who brew ‘Clear Water Lager’ with all profits supporting water initiatives in Malawi. Brewgooder’s goal is to ensure clean drinking water is made available to one million people, who previously had no option but to use contaminated water, with the associated consequences of ill-health. The final part of the day was covered by a two-and-a-half-hour mini Design Sprint where 10no teams competed against each other to challenge a live scheme within NWG’s business to see what changes could be made to incorporate elements of the Five Capitals. The day was extremely interesting and thought-provoking and has set a challenge to Stonbury as to how we can better leave a positive impact on the communities and environment that we affect during the course of our business.

30 August, 2018

WaterAid Scotland Golf Tournament

Hosted from Ladybank Golf Course in Fife, our Stonbury Scotland team were delighted to support WaterAid at the recent golf tournament. We are delighted to share an incredible £10,000 was raised through the golf day. All donations will go towards building change in Rwanda, improving health and sanitation for vulnerable communities and schools.

27 July, 2018

Working with Asbestos

As specialist contractors to the water industry, Stonbury are often contracted to complete projects with specific water asset challenges, including asbestos contamination. In a recent project for a framework client, a service reservoir was decommissioned, after an inspection at the time had uncovered asbestos fibres present at the cement mains inlet. Stonbury were challenged to get the reservoir back into service, whilst carefully managing the project due to the asbestos fibres. When asbestos is present, it is vital that strict regulations and requirements are met, as exposure can lead to a range of serious and fatal diseases if handled incorrectly. Before working on any asbestos project, a range of specialist procedures must be implemented under these circumstances, from safe and suitable access, control and disposal of PPE on site, decontamination units, up to rigorous testing to ensure the asset is once again asbestos free. Asbestos projects are carefully planned and monitored alongside expert asbestos advisors, to ensure a safe working environment and restrict any further contamination of the fibres. Full case study

26 July, 2018

Stay Hydrated! Stonbury supports Refill

As the heat continues to rise, it has never been more important to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated! As we continue to spread the message across our workforce, we want to make drinking tap water more accessible by supporting the ‘Refill’ campaign. Refill is a national tap water campaign, aimed to make refilling your reusable water bottle as easy and convenient as possible. From carrying your Stonbury water bottle, you are more likely to stay hydrated, whilst reducing the plastic pollution that is damaging the world’s oceans. Recycling is often the focus these days… but not with the Refill campaign. By refilling bottles, we are reducing the waste that would have been recycled, so if you are lucky enough to get one, please do take extra care of your refillable Stonbury bottle. There are now over 10,000 Refill Stations around the UK. Friendly cafes, shops, hotels and businesses are welcoming you in to refill your water bottle for free, it could even save you a few pennies! So fill up before you leave home or your accommodation and keep topping up whenever you can. If working on a Stonbury site without a clean tap water supply, a water dispenser will be provided, remember to always use your refillable bottle, especially in the summer months when you are more likely to become dehydrated. Download the app to find your nearest Refill station, or visit the App Store and search ‘Refill’.

23 July, 2018

Stonbury named top NWL supplier

Stonbury are extremely proud to rank second on the Northumbrian Water Supplier Performance Measure (SPM) under the Framework Contractors category. The latest SPM scores are a testament to our teams working in the North East and South, delivering projects with continuous effort and hard work to both Northumbrian Water and Essex and Suffolk Water over this last period. An improvement in the scoring matrix was achieved in all assessed categories including professionalism, quality and programme adherence. A significant improvement was also noted in the level of customer service, an area that Stonbury strives to be the best at for all our customers. Jon Featherstone, Director, comments "We have always recognised that great customer service is the foundation of any framework, and always dedicate a heavy focus to this area of delivery in all our internal team meetings. With the bar now set, our challenge is to become number one in the Framework Contractor category. We will be working extremely hard to continue high standards of service and further improvement all round!"