Live on Lincoln City Radio
27th September 2019
This week we were privileged to be featured live on Lincoln City Radio. Ayrton and Joe went down to their studios and had a friendly chat with their presenter Dave, who asked questions relating to our involvement in Construction Week. We talked about the event itself, what it entails and the general purpose of it. We then moved on and talked about what we are aiming to achieve through our attendance. We want to provide an insight to young people on what we do on a daily basis – commercial landscaping. Everyday we are involved in commercial projects such as housing developments, student accommodation, new retail stores, refurbishments and so on. Construction Week provides an overall insight into the different trades of the construction industry, and as we are involved in these projects daily, it’s only relevant for us to take part of this event alongside with all the other established organisations. BBC Lincolnshire Radio may be in attendance of the event on Thursday and hopefully we will be featured on their radio too.
We have been in touch with our suppliers who are being very supportive by supplying us with some materials free of charge. This will enable us to carry out the landscaping activities and give young people a positive experience. So a big thank you to our suppliers, we hope to see you there!
The weather hasn’t been great this week but we pushed through and carried out our landscaping works as normal. Henry has enjoyed his work trial with us and we are now in the process of assessing all the candidates’ skills to make a decision on who we will be taking on before the Christmas break. Finally, we have had our HR audit today carried out by Stefan from Stallard Kane.
We hope that you all have a great weekend and try to stay dry!
Useful links:
https://www.lincolncityradio.com
https://www.bbc.co.uk/radiolincolnshire
Potential Candidates and Staff Development
20th September 2019
We have had another candidate come for an interview and work trial with us this week. Mark is an ex army soldier, who served in the forces for 6 years and lived abroad. Mark worked with us this week on different sites and experimented with topsoil preparation, turfing, mulching and grass cutting works. It was a pleasure listening to Mark’s stories about his experience in the army.
We are having another new candidate coming for a work trial next week, and upon completion of all work trials, we will assess each candidates’ key skills and make a decision based on who is the most suitable for the role.
Also, this week, we handed over our completed landscaping scheme to our client GS Kelsey in their project Barton Hub Wellbeing, Scunthorpe. The project involved some clearance works, planting and seeding. With a project handed over, we started a new one with Hobson Porter, in Alford, which involves the reinstatement to a sports field. The works include clearing out current vegetation using a flail mower, importing and spreading certificated topsoil using our articulated multi-loader (Avant 640), and seeding the whole area. Other works completed this week include turfing to swale areas and road verges at Lindum’s project in Navenby, The Paddocks.
Having now carried out appraisals to all of our staff, this week we have finally completed the first stage of our staff development cycle. We are now in the process of identifying and allocating courses to staff according to their areas for development. As part of the training, they will attend North Lindsey College for 1 day courses. We are also looking into different apprenticeships for further development.
This week we have also attended a meeting with RG Carter in the Lincoln City Hospital to discuss potential works.
September Updates
13th September 2019
This week we have attended the Planning Meeting for Construction Week 2019 at Lincolnshire Showground, along with 36 other organisations who will be attending the event. We will be providing activities to over 1000 children through a 3-day period. Our location for the event has been approved, and we are delighted to confirm that we will be providing a legacy to the Showground when the event ends. Initially, we will install a planting bed containing a few low maintenance shrubs and a tree. We are now in preparations for the event which will start on Tuesday 1st October.
We are also in liaison with local media in an attempt to feature live on the radio, where Ayrton and Rheanne will be interviewed and will answer questions regarding our first attendance to Construction Week as activity providers. They will also mention our recruitment efforts through the apprenticeship programme with Riseholme College and a brief introduction to our company.
Also this week, we have completed the landscaping scheme installation to Lindum’s student accommodation project, Valentine Court. On this project, we have installed planting beds containing various shrubs to the courtyards. The planting beds were then topped up with pine bark mulch. It has been our pleasure working with Lindum Construction and their friendly team. We have also started two new projects which are being carried over onto the next couple of weeks. Dagfa House, a student accommodation in Beeston by J Tomlinson, and Barton Wellbeing Hub, being built by GS Kelsey in North Lincolnshire.
Finally, we have had Jake on a work trial with us. Jake has thoroughly enjoyed the nature of our works and our friendly and diverse team. We have also had more applications for the Landscape Site Operative role through our Horticulture apprenticeship. We interviewed a candidate today who will be joining us on a work trial for a week. We are very busy and we like it!
Useful links:
https://lincolnshireshowground.co.uk/news-and-blog/post/construction-week
https://accommodation.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/valentine-court/
https://lindumgroup.com
Autumn is Here
6th September 2019
Summer is almost gone. The sunshine is behind the clouds, the mornings are dark and the temperature has plummeted. This doesn’t mean we are any less busy, in fact, September has historically been one of our busiest months and this year is no different. We are currently engaged with minor maintenance works with Lovell’s Greetham development. Located in the Rutland area, the village is home to St Mary the Virgin parish church and Merry’s Meadows nature reserve. It is a lovely location for a new home.
We are also engaged with our loyal clients and continuous projects, including Stirlin’s Lodge Lane, Lindum’s Valentine Court, Cyden Homes’ Pingley Vale and Lovell’s Ingleby View. Within the next two weeks we will be starting new projects with GS Kelsey at Barton Wellbeing Hub, Carmalor and their project High Oakham Park and J. Tomlinson’s Dagfa House.
We are progressing well with our recruitment and selection of candidates to join us through the Horticulture Apprenticeship delivered by Riseholme College. A promising candidate is joining our team next week to undertake a work trial, and more applications have come through for us to establish contact and assess their suitability. Dan, our valued and seasoned member of the team who’s been with us for 7 years, has recently turned into a Site Supervisor. Dan is now thinking about undertaking the Level 3 apprenticeship in Horticulture, which entails more of a supervisory/project management course content. This reflects Dan’s new role in the company, and will provide him with a great opportunity to apply his already established knowledge of plants into a supervisory role.
To further promote our recruitment programme, we are also engaging with Construction Week this October. This week Rheanne and Ayrton attended a meeting with Steve Taylor at the Lincolnshire Showground, to assess spaces available for our intended activities. We are now in liaison between the Showground to agree a suitable space.
Useful links:
https://lincolnshireshowground.co.uk/news-and-blog/post/construction-week
https://www.lovell.co.uk
https://www.riseholme.ac.uk/departments/horticulture/intermediate-and-advanced-apprenticeships-in-horticulture