Press Relations

Businesses; Save Your Energy.

2008-07-31T10:03:00.004+01:00

British Gas owner Centrica yesterday increased gas prices by a record 35% and electricity prices by 9% with immediate effect - creating headline news.

However, much of the media coverage has centred on how this will impact the average household, and nothing has been said of how ever increasing energy bills are affecting businesses in the UK.

There’s no denying that energy price rises can impact even the largest operators, with Tesco recently revealing that the financial gains provided by its eight year programme of green energy initiatives have been wiped out by soaring gas and electricity prices.

But what about the smaller business operator? Considering that energy and telecommunications costs can make up as much as 25 percent of an organisation's overall operating budget, it’s well worth paying close attention to utility costs. The good news is that energy remains one of the most responsive spend categories to effective sourcing.

Procurement isn't always about buying smarter, it's also about spending smarter too. And as the cost of a barrel of oil continues it’s upwards spiral, organisations that have continued to pay close attention to their purchasing should be able to ride the storm and offset some of the costs of energy.

http://www.waxdigital.com/

ROOFING: AN ENVIRONMENTAL FIRST

2008-07-10T09:09:00.001+01:00

ROOF SPACE SYSTEMS/
COPAL GROUP
ROOFING CONTRACTORS
PRESS RELEASE

May 13, 2008.

WEST MIDLANDS BUSINESSES DRIVE ENVIRONMENTAL FIRST FOR NORTHAMPTONSHIRE HOMES.

Roof Space Systems, one of the country’s leading roofing contractors, will change the way homes are built with the installation of a first-in-the-UK roofing process at a site in Crick, Northamptonshire.

A residential development under construction by Birmingham-based regional developer Heritage Grange will benefit from an environmentally advantageous roofing process commonplace across Europe, but completely new to the UK.

The process, using pre-fabricated Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs), cuts time spent on making a unit watertight by around two-thirds – but at the same cost, and with massive insulation advantages.

“In the case of this development, we will make the units in question watertight in less than a week-and-a-half, whereas established processes would take four weeks,” said Kevin Sherlock, Managing Director of Roof Space Systems, which is based in Stratford-upon-Avon.

“While it may be new to the UK, it is completely tried, tested and trusted across Europe, where it has proved massively popular for the past 20 years. However, until recent legislation it is a process that has been overlooked in the UK – and we now find ourselves in pole position to address a fast-growing demand.

“In a nutshell, we deliver SIPs panels direct to new-build home sites, pre-cut to length, all pre-determined by a take-off from drawings supplied by the builder using auto-cad. They are then installed by our own skilled labour, and also provides a faster method of making a house waterproof in adverse conditions.

“In November 2006 the UK government published its Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3) which essentially said it would encourage and drive a code for sustainable homes, promoting design initiatives aimed at building homes with a zero carbon footprint. Roof Space Systems is pivotal to this type of development.

“To address heat insulation requirements and regulations, the SIP panels incorporate thermal insulation, between two layers of OSB grade 3 boards. They offer the simplest way to comply with part L of the new building regulations, requiring a U-value of 0.25 for elemental (airtight) roofs.

“But here’s the real bonus on the space front: the average house contains 35% by volume of cold roof space, but SIPS panels allow this to be converted to warm, useable living space. Such airtight roofs save something like 600kwh per heating season per house and 100kg-plus of CO2 emissions over conventional roofs,” said Kevin.

Roof Space Systems is part of the Copal Group. Founded in Warrington, Cheshire in 1996, Copal Group is now headquartered in Leigh, Lancashire. It has since expanded beyond its North West heartland and now has operating branches covering the East & West Midlands, northern Home Counties, Yorkshire and Scotland giving a truly national coverage.

Copal’s varied services range from traditional roof coverings including natural and artificial slating, clay and concrete pantiles, clay and concrete plain tiles and all associated sheet leadwork and flashings to more modern innovative single ply systems, aluminium flashings, Mastic asphalting and high performance built-up felt systems, architectural, aluminium fall arrest solutions.As members of the National Federation of Roofing Contractors Copal’s customers can rest assured that all installations meet the highest possible standards.

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ASTRAEUS CREATES WORLD'S ONLY BOEING 757 COMBI

2008-07-10T08:56:00.004+01:00

ASTRAEUS FLYSTAR
PRESS RELEASE

January 29, 2008.

ASTRAEUS CREATES THE WORLD’S ONLY BOEING 757 COMBI FOR IRON MAIDEN TOUR.

Independent UK-based airline Astraeus has created the world’s only Boeing 757 Combi for rock supergroup Iron Maiden, whose lead singer Bruce Dickinson is a pilot for the airline.

Captain Bruce Dickinson will fly the band and support crew in the 757 on some of the tour sectors. The aircraft has been painted up in “Iron Maiden - Somewhere back in time World Tour 2008” livery, but it has also undergone a certificated interior modification, which has major significance for the worldwide logistics and events industry.

“There has always been an issue with flying passengers and cargo in the same part of an aircraft, however, we worked closely with Bruce and Iron Maiden, and we have created the world’s first and only Boeing 757 ‘Combi’,” said Shaun Monnery of Astraeus.

“On the Iron Maiden tour it will feature 20 business class seats, 54 premium economy seats – and a cargo area where the last ten rows of seats would have been in the rear compartment of the aircraft.

“This cuts days off the turnaround time between concerts on this tour, because the band, crew and essential equipment – up to 12 tons of it, can all travel together meaning a two day road or sea trip can be despatched in hours or even minutes.”

The tour visits India, the Far East, Australasia, the Americas and Europe in February and March 2008.

“But the conversion is not something that’s going to be Iron Maiden-only. It is designed such that we can convert the aircraft one way or the other from Combi to 100% passenger aircraft in three days,” said Shaun Monnery.

“That opens up a whole new area of opportunity for other touring bands, as well as orchestras, for product launches, company events and conferences – and in many cases will massively cut travelling and down-time costs.

“Hour for hour an aircraft will be more expensive, of course, but the cost pales into insignificance compared to booking regular commercial travel, and air, land or sea freight, and, of course, the associated extra nights in hotels.

“For instance, Iron Maiden will play in Mumbai on February 1, and then travel to Perth in Australia for a show on February 4. This means it’s hours between locations, not days. That means the band can rehearse, refine their show - or relax between gigs, with much of the pressures of deadlines completely eradicated.”

UK independent airline Astraeus commenced operations in 2002, employs more then 300 people and operates a fleet of Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft from a number of UK airports, flying charter and scheduled routes to destinations in Canada, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, but is moving strongly into both dry and wet lease partnerships with a number of airlines and operators worldwide.

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ASTRAEUS LEASES TO AIR ITALY-POLSKA

2008-07-10T08:56:00.001+01:00

ASTRAEUS FLYSTAR
PRESS RELEASE

ASTRAEUS DAMP LEASES BOEING 757-200 TO AIR ITALY–POLSKA.

Gatwick-based Astraeus has damp leased a Boeing 757-200 to Air Italy–Polska.

The aircraft will be based in Warsaw and operate from April through to October 2008 to help address seasonal demand.

“We have now committed to a change in business focus towards providing dry, damp and wet lease aircraft – and we are finding that the combination of our fleet, reputation, experience and expertise is driving demand apace,” said Shaun Monnery of Astraeus.

“We have placed a number of Boeing 737 and all of our Boeing 757 aircraft with major airlines, we have a number of deals for more 737s and 757s closing in on completion, but we are now in the process of reviewing sourcing of additional Boeing and Airbus equipment to bring into the company to address requests from a number of carriers.

“We are providing aircraft on dry, damp and wet lease agreements – that is without crew, with just flight crew and with full flight and cabin crew. Our resource and flexibility has suddenly made us an extremely attractive source.

“We are well established as a reliable provider of substitute and ad hoc aircraft to a number of airline and operators, but our involvement with both British Airways, bmi and a number of other operators is a clear indication of the way forward for Astraeus.

“We have been running these sorts of arrangements in parallel with our charter and scheduled services for some time, and we have developed a slick and no-nonsense product that has appealed to operators the world over.”

UK-based Astraeus commenced operations in 2002, employs more then 300 people and operates a fleet of Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft from a number of UK airports, currently flying charter and scheduled routes to destinations in Canada, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, but moving strongly into dry, damp and wet lease partnerships with a number of airlines and operators worldwide. Astraeus is part of Iceland-based Northern Travel Holdings (NTH) along with sister operators Sterling and Iceland Express.

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CHILD LABOUR CAN BE ELIMINATED

2008-07-10T08:53:00.000+01:00

SHIRLEY TECHNOLOGIES
TEXTILE TESTING
PRESS RELEASE

June 23, 2008.

CHILD LABOUR CAN BE ELIMINATED IF RETAILERS ADOPT EXISTING BUT IGNORED AUDIT PROCESS.

The abuse and exploitation of child workers highlighted in Monday evening’s Panorama programme could be virtually eliminated if a voluntary international textile testing certification process was adopted in the UK and across Europe, says one of the world’s leading textile testing laboratories.

Manchester, UK, based Shirley Technologies (STL) is a member of the ‘Made in Green’ Group which tests and audits textiles and production processes for dangerous substances, and evidence of human rights abuse in the production chain.

Those products passing the tests and audit are awarded a “Made in Green” www.madeingreen.com label which can be stitched into clothing or textiles and indicates the product has been produced in respect of social responsibility, ecological and environmental guidelines.

“The programme was interesting in that it showed up the problems in auditing and tracking supplier chains in the textile industry. The advantage of ‘Made in Green’ is that it tests the product range, audits the processing in the factory, audits the environmental impact and ensures compliance with social responsibility guidelines all at once,” said Phil Whitaker of STL.

“Obviously, we are not party to all the detail, but we would offer the cautious observations that the social responsibility audit carried out on the factory shown in Monday night’s programme appeared not to have ‘cross referenced’ to production processes and products. Obviously, hand sewn items are going to be labour intensive and time consuming and so it seems to follow that in order to hand sew sequins or any other similar accessory on hundreds of thousands of garments in a very short time it would take a small army of people to complete on schedule.”

The “Made in Green” testing and audit process involves three elements: Oeko-Tex 100 certification which guarantees products do not contain substances harmful to health, Oeko-Tex 1000 which confirms current environmental legislation compliance, and CCRS-AITEX, which ensures compliance with corporate social responsibility guidelines including child labour.

However STL recently asked 2,000 UK shoppers did they recognise Oeko-Tex labelling (which can also be a stand-alone certification), and only 6% said they knew what it was.

STL has been testing textiles for harmful substances for more than 80 years, but no more than a handful of UK manufacturers and retailers submit their products for audit of the production process which would confirm compliance or contravention of human rights of workers.

Made in Green is a mark which certifies that the product, throughout its traceability chain, has been manufactured in factories which respect the environment and the universal rights of workers.

Shirley Technologies Ltd (STL) is a UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) accredited laboratory providing competitive, independent, expert textile testing, certification, advisory and investigation services across the traditional and specialist textile industries.

STL is an independent subsidiary of BTTG Ltd, formerly the British Textile Technology Group. With more than 80 years experience, Shirley Technologies Ltd provides unrivalled and expert reassurance through its technical services to a global network of clients which include manufacturers, retailers, the legal profession, police, consumers and related interest groups including Trading Standards. Highly qualified and experienced technical staff work directly with clients to ensure that they receive the best advice and service in a wide range of technical areas.

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More more more

2008-07-10T08:50:00.002+01:00

I'm going to start adding some of our press releases until our site 'business blog' is set up.

It's not all of them, but it gives a flavour of the range of stuff we do.

Who's got the alloys?

2008-07-07T15:32:00.003+01:00

So how did we start all this then? Well, til about 20 years ago I was a journalist. Then I went into PR and bought and sold whole or part stakes in a number of public relations businesses.

Then back in February 2003 I was plastered all over a sunlounger in Florida and thought: "I don't want to go back." Nowt to do with the weather, all to do with being a manager of a business rather than a PR man, and a lot more to do with being a journalist by profession.

I wanted front line again, not meetings and spats about who had alloys on their company car and who didn't, who had what mobile phone, who was doing what to who and why....

So, I resigned, sold my stake and set up www.pressrelations.co.uk on May 1, 2003.

Bit hair-raising at first, but wasn't long before clients from past agencies started hunting me down and coming on board.

Crash courses in accountancy and IT were pretty much the cure-alls, though.

A couple of years in and I got a call from Megan, who was working in one of the agencies I'd had a stake in.

OK, Meg - tell your story.