Ahlmark Shipping (UK) LTD has signed a new 10 year deal with Associated British Ports (ABP). The new 10 year deal demonstrates that the timber market remains resilient. Ahlmark Shipping has a dedicated terminal at the Port of Hull where they offer stevedoring, warehousing, ships agency and Customs Clearance services. Ahlmark Lines was one of the first shipping lines to move Swedish timber through Hull and has been regularly calling at the port for almost 40 years, helping to make Hull one of the largest UK ports for sawn timber imports. Ahlmark’s fleet sees the company ship 30% of Swedish timber to the UK. Simon Bird, Director at ABP Humber, said: “This new deal with Ahlmark highlights that ABP remains a valuable and trusted partner for timber imports and exports in the Humber. The Humber Ports afford many businesses an opportunity for growth, and ABP is committed to investing in its services and infrastructure to aid that.” Tim Hollands, Managing Director at Ahlmark Shipping (UK) Ltd, said: “This agreement highlights the continued commitment to the timber industry and to the Port of Hull by Ahlmark Lines A.-B., a long-term relationship that now includes regular liner services to the ABP East Coast Ports of Immingham, Grimsby and Kings Lynn. With the support of ABP, Ahlmark Shipping (UK) Ltd is in a strong position to develop business through the Hull terminal, directly handling volumes on weekly sailings from Kristinehamn, fortnightly sailings from East Coast ports of Skelleftehamn and Iggesund; and monthly services from Domsjo, Gruvon and Ala. Ahlmark have also taken on an additional land to support their services in Hull as the business goes from strength to strength.

Smart tech specialist Sauce has teamed up with former boxing champion Tommy Coyle to develop a unique app to improve health, wellbeing and workplace performance. Sauce was tasked by Tommy to roll out the next phase of his project with renewable energy giant Siemens Gamesa to create a healthier, happier and more productive workforce. The former Commonwealth lightweight champion is working with Siemens Gamesa to help transform the lifestyles of more than 750 staff at its wind turbine blade factory in Hull. His Coyle Health and Wellbeing programme is built on the pillars of “move well”, “eat well”, “think well” and “sleep well”. Through the programme, Tommy and his Coyle Health and Wellbeing team introduced pre-shift warm-ups to avoid injuries, regular health checks for staff, wellbeing planner boards around the site and healthier options in the canteen. However, the introduction of Covid restrictions, including on visitors to the factory, meant Tommy and his team were unable to physically attend the site. During lockdown, sessions continued to take place online, but the opportunity to provide a dedicated platform to continue and expand on the good work already carried out became clear. Even as restrictions have lifted, the uncertainty created by Covid-19 has increased demand for a digital solution. Now, award-winning Sauce has developed the Coyle Health and Wellbeing App. Unlike other health apps on the market, which focus on specific elements such as fitness, diet, or sleep patterns, the Coyle Health and Wellbeing App brings all four pillars of his programme together on one platform. Through the app, Siemens Gamesa staff can follow warm-up and workout plans, track their steps and other fitness goals, monitor their calorie intake, access positive mental health support and receive tips to improve their sleep. It includes a health assessment feature, so users can check on their overall wellbeing based on the information they’ve inputted, or pulled in from other health apps. Users then receive guidance about what they need to do to feel better and be healthier, such as improve nutrition, exercise or change sleep patterns. The app also allows the staff to set and share targets and performance data to encourage healthy competition across the factory. It is now being rolled out across the site to help improve the physical and mental health and wellbeing of staff in all departments, ultimately leading to a more efficient and effective operation. Jim Wardlaw, Chief of Product and Design at Sauce, said: “There’s no doubt the world has become more digital because of the pandemic. Companies and industries have had to adapt to new ways of working to survive and grow and, along with the challenges, there are positives that have come from this. “Through having to deliver his sessions with Siemens Gamesa remotely, Tommy realised there wasn’t an app that brought together all aspects of health and wellbeing in the same place. That’s what we’ve now created. “The Coyle Health and Wellbeing App is effectively a one stop shop for everything related to physical and mental health and wellbeing. Users can access advice and guidance, follow specific training plans, carry out their own health analysis, and interact and engage with their colleagues. “It’s designed primarily to improve the health and the wellbeing of the individual but, by using it in a corporate setting, it can help improve performance because a healthy workforce is a productive workforce.” The app has been developed specifically for Siemens Gamesa’s Hull factory, but can also be scaled up and adapted for other operations across the country, and the world, in the future. Tommy said: “The pandemic highlighted that we were unable to deliver our programme with Siemens Gamesa as effectively as we would like as we weren’t able to be on site. “We saw that as a challenge but also an opportunity, and through their technical expertise, Sauce have allowed us to adapt and innovate and now we don’t have to be in the factory every day to get the same results. “Siemens Gamesa want a winning team to make the best wind turbine blades in the safest and most efficient way possible. We’re helping them do that by improving the health, wellbeing and, ultimately, the productivity of their staff. “The app now allows us to take that support to the next level and deliver even greater results.” A spokesperson for Siemens Gamesa said: “Siemens Gamesa are proud partners of Coyle Health and Wellbeing and are excited to take part in the launch of the new app. “Our continued relationship with Tommy Coyle is a prime example of our progress to being an industry leader of health and wellbeing at work.” Sauce is based at Hull’s Centre for Digital Innovation (C4DI) tech hub and has established an outstanding reputation for enabling businesses and other organisations to achieve their objectives through technology solutions. It adopts a flexible, “agile” method of working, acting as co-collaborators with its clients, which include Nestlé, RB, Rix and Ideal Heating, among others.

Drax is planning capital investments of around £40 million at its North Yorkshire power station during 2022 on the first phase of its bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) project and ensuring it remains on track to begin delivering vital negative emissions technology in 2027. As part of this investment, Drax has selected Worley to begin the Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) work at the start of 2022 and may also work with the company on the subsequent design and build phases of the BECCS project, subject to contract. Drax will also commence site preparation works for BECCS across its North Yorkshire power station including relocation and decommissioning work to make space for the project. Worley, a global provider of professional project and asset services, delivers engineering, procurement and construction, as well as consulting services for the energy, chemicals and resources sectors around the world. BECCS is seen as an essential technology to tackle climate change with the project at Drax set to capture and permanently lock away at least eight million tonnes of CO₂ a year, exceeding the government’s ambition to deliver 5Mt of negative emissions from engineered removals each year by 2030 as outlined in the recently published Net Zero Strategy Drax is already the largest decarbonisation project in Europe, having converted its power station to use sustainable biomass instead of coal, reducing its emissions by more than 90%. By deploying BECCS technology, Drax will create and protect tens of thousands of jobs across the North, kickstart new green industries, and make the UK a global leader in negative emissions technologies. Will Gardiner, Drax Group CEO, said: “Our investment in BECCS and the signing of this contract with Worley demonstrates Drax’s commitment to deliver a vital technology which is urgently needed to address the climate crisis. It’s no longer enough to reduce emissions – the world has got to start removing carbon from the atmosphere if we are to avert this climate crisis. “The Government’s ambition for BECCS and its backing for the East Coast Cluster further demonstrates the vital role this negative emissions technology at Drax can play in helping the UK reach its net zero targets, as well as creating and protecting thousands of jobs and kickstarting a new green economy.” Chris Ashton, Worley CEO, said: “As a global professional services company headquartered in Australia, we are pleased that Drax has engaged Worley in this important carbon capture project. Our partnership with Drax is one of the ways we’re helping our customers adapt existing assets and decarbonize industrial clusters, whilst also supporting Worley’s strategic focus on sustainability and delivering a more sustainable world.” The announcement follows Drax’s decision in the Summer to partner with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group as its technology partner. As well as this the company outlined its ambition to source 80% of the construction materials and services from UK supply chain, meaning businesses could benefit from contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds, creating and protecting jobs across the North and levelling up the country. With an effective negative emissions policy and investment framework from the government, BECCS could be deployed at Drax as soon as 2027 – delivering the UK’s largest carbon capture project and permanently removing millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year. Drax has already kickstarted the planning process to deploy BECCS at its power station in North Yorkshire – if successful, work could get underway to build BECCS at Drax as soon as 2024, with the creation of thousands of jobs.