24
OCTOBER 2016 PRO INSTALLER
PRO NEWS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
ISABEL TAKES THE HELM
Former naval commander Isabel Martinson is
steering forward The
Considerate Constructors Scheme after
becoming its new executive chairman.
Isabel will develop
strategies to achieve the
scheme’s vision, which is to
make registration essential
for every construction site,
company and supplier large or small - to ensure
continual improvement in
performance. The end goal
is to make a step change in
the image and attractiveness
of construction as a sector.
A member of the Chartered Management Institute,
Isabel’s career has included senior positions in the
trade association sector and
military service. In addition
to her role as chairman and
company director of Trade
Association Forum Ltd, she
was also chief executive of
The Giftware Association
until June 2015. Prior to
this, Isabel was head of
marketing, communications
and export services at The
Sports Industries Federation.
She served in the Royal
Navy and was one of the
first female naval supplier officers to serve at sea,
reaching her final naval
appointment in 1997, in the
rank of Lieutenant Commander - a key management
post in Europe’s largest naval
base, leading 177 staff with a
budget of £5m per annum.
The Considerate Constructors Scheme celebrated its
90,000th site registration earlier this year. Its Best Prac-
tice Hub - the construction
industry’s online platform for
sharing best practice - has
launched a series of free
e-learning courses designed
to help raise standards
across the industry.
The scheme’s registered
construction sites, companies
and suppliers of all sizes
can undertake the e-learning courses, designed to
improve their knowledge of
the scheme, in order to meet
and exceed the expectations
of the scheme’s Code of
Considerate Practice.
The e-learning courses, which are eligible for
continuous professional
development (CPD), were
launched to all Best Practice
Hub registered users in May,
and since then over 3,600
courses have been taken by
over 750 individuals across
the sector.
Completing e-learning improves users’ understanding
of the Scheme’s Monitors’
Checklist, as well as providing a range of ideas to help
fully prepare for Monitors’
visits. There are six courses
available, five of which relate directly to the Scheme’s
Code of Considerate Practice: Care about Appearance,
Respect the Community,
Protect the Environment, Secure everyone’s Safety, Value
their Workforce, and one
which provides an introduction to the scheme.
www.CCScheme.org.uk;
www.ccsbestpracticehub.
org.uk
WIN £5000
IN FENSA
MASTER FITTER
CHALLENGE
FENSA is inviting its registered businesses
to enter the Master Fitter Challenge 2017.
Run in association with the
FIT Show and sponsored
by FENSA and GQA Qualifications, the Master Fitter
Challenge tests installation
skills. Winners have the
opportunity to win prizes
of £5,000, £3,000 or £2,000
which will be presented live
during the FIT Show Gala
dinner in Birmingham, May
2017.
The competition is free to
enter and is open to individuals
or teams of two. Competition
entrants must have a minimum of
two years of industry experience
in the installation of domestic
windows and doors. Additionally, they must be MTC compliant
through the FENSA MTC Card
(or other industry equivalent) or
relevant qualifications at the time
of selection.
‘The competition
is free to enter’
Aside from sponsoring the Master Fitter Challenge, FENSA will be
at the FIT Show to deliver a range
of seminars such as on Building
Regulations.
To enter the Master Fitter
Challenge for free or for further
information please go to www.
fitshow.co.uk/master-fitterchallenge
Unfair contract terms costs
small firms billions
Research from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) suggests
half (52%) of small firms have been stung by unfair contract terms
with suppliers, costing nearly £4 billion in the last three years.
Suppliers are failing to make
‘auto-rollover’ clauses clear
up front (24%), tying businesses into lengthy notice
periods (22%), charging high
early termination fees (20%)
and concealing details in
small print (20%).
Two in five (40%) respondents
said they felt powerless to do
anything about unfair contract
terms because the supplier was
too important or powerful to challenge. This highlights that small
firms can be just as vulnerable as
consumers when buying goods
and services, and they need better
protections.
Mike Cherry, FSB national chairman, said: “Small firms on the bad
end of a deal are losing out to the
tune of £1.3 billion each year. We
have identified persistent problems with suppliers, across sectors,
treating small firms unfairly. This
suggests the market is failing to
deliver value for money products
and services for small business
customers.
“Small businesses don’t have
the time, expertise or purchasing
power to scour the market to find
and negotiate the best deals. Small
business owners behave in a similar ways to consumers, but they
don’t have the same guarantees
of quality or legal redress in an
unfair situation.”
The FSB research, ‘Treating
Smaller Businesses Like Consumers – Unfair Contract Terms,’ sheds
light on the scale of the problem,
suggesting 2.8 million small firms
have suffered because of unfair
contract terms. Most (75%) of
those affected had been stung
twice or more in the past three
years.