Friday, July 31, 2009

Lawson Group supports call to combat youth unemployment in Swindon

With towns and cities all over the country feeling the effects of the recession, Swindon has featured in a recent series on Recession Britain in The Daily Telegraph’s Saturday magazine. The article, which appeared on Saturday 25th July focused on youth unemployment, a big local issue which Lawson Group is committed to supporting.


According to figures from the Office of National Statistics in March, the number of people on Job Seekers Allowance in Swindon had risen from 2,000 (1.7%) to 6,300 (5.3%) over the space of a year. This was the highest overall increase in the country, and the first time Swindon, which in 2007 boasted the biggest growth in new businesses in the UK, has passed the national average of 5.2%.


Part of the investigation featured students from Swindon College, who were voicing their own concerns about finding employment after studying vocational courses. Paddy Bradley, Director of Education for Swindon, noted “In an earlier age, apprenticeships would have provided both employment opportunities and skills training for non-academic school leavers”. But as one of the vocational teachers at Swindon College quizzed for the article explained "Very few companies now take on apprentices, because they don’t want the responsibility. Everybody wants trained and qualified people, but they don’t want to pay for their training”.


Claire Wilson, HR Manager at Lawson Group believes that in order to tackle the problem of youth unemployment in Swindon, companies have to look further than the short term. As she explains “At Lawson Group, we believe that by taking on apprentices and encouraging staff to train as part of their jobs we are not only helping local young people further their careers; we are also adding to the value of the business by having staff that are working for us at the same time as expanding their own knowledge and learning for the future”.


As well as developing an apprentice program to help local youngsters, Lawson Group are also keen supporters of the regeneration project featured in the article which, it is hoped in turn will help to bring more opportunities to the local area. As Peter James, the Chief Executive of the New Swindon Company explains “Regeneration is vital to Swindon, to keep existing companies in town and encourage new ones to come in. Because they are the companies that will be employing Swindon’s young”.


Director of Lawson Group Martin Wilson strongly agrees. As a local resident as well as businessman, he commented “As a company, we are committed not just to growing our own business, but helping to grow our local community. We are pleased to be able to offer apprenticeships, as well as many other employment and training opportunities and we hope that other business will consider doing the same. Swindon has a lot to offer and by encouraging and helping young people to get on their feet, and by bringing new opportunities into the town through regeneration we are ensuring it continues to be a great place to live in the future”.


To read the full article featured in Saturday 25th July’s Telegraph magazine, please click here.


For more information on opportunities at Lawson Group, please click here.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Lawson Group apprentice nominated for top award from Construction Skills

Lawson Group is delighted to announce that employee Andrew Hinton has been nominated for a top award at this year’s Construction Skills awards. Andrew, who has been with Lawson Demolition for 7 months, has received the nomination for the work he has done as part of his apprenticeship at the National Construction College.

The National Construction College, who are the training division of Construction Skills, are holding their Presentation Awards Ceremony on Thursday 23rd July, which Andrew will be attending along with Company Director Martin Wilson, and HR Manager Claire Wilson.

Claire Wilson commented: “We would like to say well done to Andrew for his hard work throughout his apprenticeship, and wish him the best of luck with winning his award”.
To find out more about the Construction Skills Awards, click here.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Lawson Group comes top of the class to win Cambridge college demolition contract

Following a competitive tender process, Lawson Demolition Ltd is delighted to have been awarded the contract for demolition works at the
Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.

The project, which is being coordinated by leading construction firm Volker Fitzpatrick will see a soft strip and mechanical deconstruction of the University’s Rackham Building, situated on Broad Street in central Cambridge. The Rackham Building, which was constructed in 1972, is one of the many that make up the campus, including the Bryant Building, which is attached to it. Due to the nature of the site the project requires a high degree of precision and accuracy, including hand separation works to form a demolition cut line between the two buildings.

Martin Wilson, Director of Lawson Group commented: “Lawson Demolition is delighted to be working for the first time with Volker Fitzpatrick on this project. Thanks to the considerable amount of time and effort invested by our Contracts Management Team, we were able to provide the Client with a comprehensive and detailed plan of works, which we are confident we will see through to a high standard”.

For more information on this project, or any of our previous projects please click
here.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Demolition works at the Maple Building in Swindon completed

Following an extensive and complex programme, demolition works have now been completed by Lawson Demolition at the Maple Building in Kembrey Park, Swindon. The site consisted of a large open plan office building, on two levels.

The project, which was undertaken by Lawson Group on behalf of Crown Interiors, saw the entire building undergoing a major soft strip. This included removal of partition walls, toilets, offices, kitchens, floor coverings including computer flooring and fixings, as well as false ceilings and fixings, warehouse inner doors and partition walls, blinds, lifts and stairs inside the building. On the outside, work was also carried out to remove air conditioning units, railings and hand rails.

The Maple Building, located at the exit of the Great Western Way dual carriageway in Swindon is based at the entrance to Kembrey Park along with the Travelodge, Brewers Fayre restaurant and New Generation Health and Fitness Club. The refurbished building is due to be let as business premises following completion of the refit by Crown Interiors, bringing more new business to the already popular Swindon area.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Lawson Demolition attend JCB’s Demolition Day for NFDC Members

Lawson Demolition were delighted to be invited to an exclusive Demolition Day, hosted by one of the world’s top manufacturers of construction equipment, JCB. The event, which took place on the 4th June at JCB’s World Head Quarters in Staffordshire, provided members of the NFDC with a unique opportunity to discover more about JCB, its plant and its plans for the future.

The all-day event gave members the chance to meet and to hear from some of the most interesting and influential names from within the industry; such as Keith Berryman, Director of Land and Property from Cross Rail, who was able to talk about their current projects, through to Anthony Bamford, Chairman of JCB. Members were then treated to an exceptionally enjoyable evening at Uttoxeter Races, including excellent hospitality all courtesty of JCB.

Martin Wilson, Director of Lawson Group and Chairman of the NFDC London and Southern Counties Region attended the event on behalf of Lawson Demolition. He commented: “This really was an outstanding event by JCB. We were delighted to be able to visit JCB World Head Quarters, and equally delighted to meet Sir Anthony Bamford and Rob Holden. We would also like to thank JCB for what was an outstanding evening at Uttoxeter Races, which was enjoyed by all”.

For more information on JCB, click here.