Housebuilders offer advice about achieving work-life balance
North Yorkshire housebuilder Barratt and David Wilson Homes have compiled a series of top tips to achieve a good work-life balance.
In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Week the homebuilders stressed the importance of making sure work and home life are kept separate.
Sam Wood, Sales Director at Barratt and David Wilson Homes, said: “May’s Mental Health Awareness Week was an important reminder for everyone to make sure they’re balancing work and their home life equally. It’s also important to get moving whilst spending more time at home, and switching off when necessary.
“Finding this balance and shutting off from work is tough, especially for those working from home. Many of our properties have a dedicated study to help with this, or the potential to adapt a spare room into a working environment.
“Modern living and working from home can be easy and manageable, and we hope homeowners find our guidance beneficial for improving their work-life balance.”
Top tips
Make Use of Your Spare Room: The human brain is extremely responsive to patterns. In the same way that spending all day in a bedroom can affect sleep quality, working all day in a living room can ruin your relaxation time. Try to limit your work to one particular room, leaving other rooms for movement and leisure. Many of Barratt and David Wilson Homes’ properties have dedicated studies or work spaces.
However, if you do not have a study at home, you could convert a lesser-used room in the house such as a dining room or a spare bedroom into a makeshift office to distinguish between work and leisure. This can be an excellent way to shut off and create distance between your work and your social life.
Schedule in Your Downtime: Recognise your own productivity throughout the week and reward it. By picking some short relaxation activities and some longer ones, you can scatter them throughout your week. A short relaxation activity might include making a cup of tea and leaving your work space to drink it, while a long one might be baking some cookies, exercising or listening to a podcast. These can be scheduled into your evenings or lunch breaks, and allows you to have full control and balance in your working week.
Let People Know You’re in the Zone: Whether in an office environment or working from home, sometimes it can be hard to get into the working mode. It’s important to balance the time you spend working and the time you spend communicating with those around you. If you’re working in a room with other people, you can signal that you’re currently in the zone by placing a flag on your desk, or putting on some headphones.
If these signals are given, those around you will know that you do not want to be disturbed. Make sure you regularly leave time to leave the zone, as social interaction is excellent for mental wellbeing.
Find Your Own Balance: Every individual’s ideal work-life balance is going to be different. It’s important to remember that we are all human and balancing work, social and family life is not simple. You can help this with little changes to your day, such as placing your phone on do not disturb when you’re outside of working hours, or spending your lunch time away from your desk, ideally on a nearby walk, and with your family or colleagues.
Leeds Beckett experts leading new project to reduce carbon footprint of Leeds manufacturers
Business and computing experts at Leeds Beckett University are joining forces with Leeds-based Quality Bearings Online Ltd (QBOL) to reduce the company’s carbon footprint, by creating an innovative new business model for the net zero era.
The project is a 30-month Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), part-funded by the Government through Innovate UK. The academics and QBOL will create a unique, expert computing system which will allow the company to move away from a carbon-intensive ‘Just in Time’ delivery approach. They will build a greener supply chain and investigate opportunities for storage hubs in key geographical locations worldwide.
Dr Alfred Chinta, Supply Chain Management Course Director at Leeds Beckett University and KTP project leader, explained: “Greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector are expected to double by 2050 if they continue at the current rates – and the growing demand for faster shipping is contributing to this scenario, with transportation being one of the main contributors of greenhouse gas emissions.
“QBOL is a highly successful distributor and exporter of quality bearings products. With 90% of sales shipping overseas, it is a business with a high carbon footprint. As a market disrupter since its inception, and in-line with its highly innovative approach, the company recognises that to continue to grow in the net zero era the business must address this carbon footprint.”
The new expert system – named the Intelligent System for the Net Zero Era – will allow the company to manage their key accounts more strategically, with a more scheduled approach to fulfilling orders, steering away from the Just in Time method.
Denny Maude, Chief Executive Officer at Quality Bearings Online, said: “This exciting project will give us a point of market differentiation that addresses a key issue of the current industry model – the high carbon footprint of rapid, Just in Time delivery, that is often provided in small packages via air freight.
“It is our aim to provide greener, more environmentally sustainable services to our clients – where sustainability of the supply chain is a key decision-making factor – and to meet our environmental ambitions.”
Farmers win £150k from Defra to support health and wellbeing work
Farmers and rural communities will benefit from health and wellbeing support across the North of England over the next two years, following a successful £150,000 funding bid by a consortium of well-established agricultural organisations.
The six-figure sum, awarded by Defra is being shared between the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s Yorkshire Rural Support Network, The Farmer Network Ltd, the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland, Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services and Field Nurse, operating across Lancashire and North Yorkshire.
The funding comes at a time when farmers are working hard to meet the challenges of adapting to major changes to government farm payments, while recent months of wet weather has damaged crops and resulted in high losses over lambing.
Using the funds, the bid partners seek to enhance their collective mission to build connected and resilient farming communities, and “keep farming stronger for longer”. To do so, they will deliver 14 farming focused first aid training courses, 10 mental health awareness courses for farmers and those working with farmers, and activities to reduce isolation in rural communities such as social events, lunch clubs, farm visits and other trips.
There will be support for groups, such as women in farming, the over 50s and younger farmers over the age of 28 who are too old to attend Young Farmer Club events.
Almost 40 events will be organised by UTASS, The Farmer Network and the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
Regular outreach clinics will be set up at seven auction marts across Cumbria, Yorkshire and Durham before the end of 2024 to provide useful information about farm support schemes, to help farmers access their Rural Payments Agency account and to signpost to other support.
One-to-one advice will be provided to 22 farm businesses, and four workshops will help farming communities become more resilient by focusing on topics such as succession planning and health and safety on farms.
Field Nurse will be recruiting two more Field Nurses and an extra trailer to extend its service into two new auction marts in Cumbria and North Yorkshire, and to expand its’ ‘Farming Stronger for Longer’ campaign into Cumbria and Yorkshire.
Allister Nixon, Chief Executive of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society said: “The Yorkshire Agricultural Society is delighted to be harnessing this collaborative approach alongside key partners in the North of England to make health and wellbeing support accessible to as many people in the farming community as possible.”
Manufacturing employers urged to put outstanding youngsters up for awards
West Yorkshire’s manufacturing and engineering employers are once again being urged to nominate their outstanding younger employees for the 2024 Leeds Manufacturing Festival Awards, which return for the third year to celebrate the rising stars of the sector.
The awards are one of the highlights of the Leeds Manufacturing Festival. As well as recognising the successes and achievements of younger people within the industry, they also aim to showcase the diversity of careers available in a sector that faces a continued skills crisis and shortfall of new talent.
Nominations for the awards are now open and close Friday 31 May, with an awards ceremony taking place at the Rose Bowl, Leeds Beckett University, next month.
This year’s award categories are for Apprentice of the Year, Rising Star of the Year, Future Manufacturing Leader and Employer of the Year. This year’s event will also feature a special award for Manufacturing Ambassador, which will be presented to an individual who has done something exceptional to raise the profile of the industry.
Adam Tipper, whose Next Gen Makers organisation delivers a nationally recognised quality assurance programme for engineering apprenticeships and is sponsoring the Apprentice of the Year category, said: “Apprentices are the lifeblood of manufacturing and engineering firms and this award is a real celebration of excellence and of the industry as a fantastic career choice for ambitious young people.
“Resources such as our Engineering Apprenticeships: Excellent Employers online careers platform are helping students to identify the best firms for apprenticeships and really empowering both young people and the industry to achieve great things.”
Sponsor of the Rising Star award, Leeds City College’s head of engineering, Mitch Scott, said: “We work as a team with employers to ensure they are equipped to nurture and develop young people starting out in their careers and enable them to develop their full potential. These awards, and especially the Rising Star category, are an important recognition of the fantastic young people who bring vital energy and innovation to the sector.”
The Employer of the Year category, for a business that has excelled in attracting and supporting talented young people, is sponsored by engineering and manufacturing recruiter E3 Recruitment. Associate director Matthew Booth said: “Attracting talented young people and enabling them to thrive and contribute great things to a business is very much down to the employers and we’re really pleased to be sponsoring this category which recognises the huge effort and focus that the very best employers put into developing their young trainees and employees, offering job satisfaction and great careers.”
Entry forms for the Leeds Manufacturing Festival Awards can be found on the festival website and entries must be received by 31 May. The awards ceremony will take place on 13 June, compered by Yorkshire Post deputy business editor Greg Wright.
Leeds Manufacturing Festival is sponsored by Next Gen Makers, Leeds City College, and E3 Recruitment, as well as by Leeds City Council and manufacturing employers MPM, Leeds Welding Company, Greyhound Box and Sound Leisure, Kirkstall Precision Engineering, Saftronics and Bensons Panels, which are members of the Leeds Manufacturing Alliance.
Train operator predicts orange card tickets could soon be museum pieces
Northern Trains says the iconic, orange ‘magstripe’ train ticket could be a museum exhibit within as little as five years.
The train operator says its customers’ ever-growing preference for digital tickets and the introduction of actual ‘paper’ tickets has seen them use 2.3m fewer ‘magstripes’ in the last 12 months.
Fewer than 20% of journeys on Northern services in 2023-24 were made using a ‘magstripe’, with the number in-use falling by 12% compared to 2022-23, from 20.3m to 18m. During the same period, the number of people using digital tickets on Northern services grew by almost 19%, from 54.8m to 65.2m.
A spokesperson for Northern said: “All of our standard tickets are available in electronic format and people clearly enjoy the flexibility of buying their ticket ‘on the go’ and being able to store it on their mobile phone or tablet.
“We’re also increasingly able to offer actual ‘paper’ tickets from our ticket offices and vending machines for those who prefer a physical proof of purchase.
“Whilst ‘magstripes’ might generate a sense of nostalgia, it’s important to remember that because they’re made from more than one material, they’re less recyclable and could ultimately end up in landfill – whereas paper tickets can be easily recycled with other paper products.
“At the current rate of decline and with an ever-greater focus on digital and paper alternatives, ‘magstripes’ are definitely nearing the end of the line. They could be something of a museum exhibit within five years.”
City partners with SignLive to enhance translation service
Deaf-owned and deaf-led organisation SignLive is partnering with the Council to enhance the organisation’s translation and interpretation services.
The organisation has a pool of about 120 qualified and accredited interpreters trained in anti-fraud and safeguarding measures, which the community can access this service 24/7.
Fiona Mackay, COO of SignLive, said: “We are thrilled to partner with Sheffield City Council to enhance accessibility for the Deaf community. This collaboration signifies a major step towards inclusive communication, ensuring that Deaf individuals can easily access essential services and support. We look forward to working together to break down barriers and create a more inclusive environment for all residents.”
Users will be able to call the Council for free, following a one-time registration on the SignLive app, where they will be able to access the service.
Through this partnership, the Council is now implementing a new video relay service and a new video interpreting service, which is supported by SignLive. This new functionality improves the experience of our Deaf citizens and those with a hearing impairment- supporting them with a live, on-demand British Sign Language (BSL) qualified interpreter when contacting the Council.
Cllr Tom Hunt, Leader of Sheffield City Council, said: “The launch of SignLive is a brilliant step in making our services more accessible to everyone in our communities. We are paving the way to make sure everyone has the support they need when contacting us. Introducing this functionality will make make our services more accessible to our deaf community.”
Ramsdens strengthens Yorkshire private wealth team with partner appointment
Ramsdens Solicitors, which has 11 offices across Yorkshire, is continuing to build its private wealth team with the appointment of James Knowles as partner.
With over 20 years’ experience as a private client lawyer, Mr Knowles joins from the York office of Knights, where he was a partner in the tax and wills and estates teams. He also spent more than two years as a partner with Langleys Solicitors and over six years at Weightmans.
Mr Knowles’ areas of expertise include capital tax planning for high-net worth individuals; complex will drafting; succession planning; and managing trusts. He also specialises in long-term care planning, and estate administration.
Chris Reynolds, partner and head of Ramsdens’ private wealth services team, said: “As we continue to build the expertise of our private wealth team, James’ extensive knowledge of business succession planning will further strengthen our services to business owners, and individuals.
“James is a well known figure in the private client arena in both North and West Yorkshire, having worked for some of the large, national firms, and his strong network will be invaluable, helping us to grow our presence across the region.”
Mr Knowles said: “Joining the Ramsdens team is an exciting opportunity to help build the brand as a leading firm in Yorkshire and raise awareness of the extent of our private wealth offering. I’m looking forward to being part of a traditional law firm which focuses on people, whether by providing an outstanding service to clients or helping to develop talent within the team.”
York Handmade signs up to Net Zero initiative
York Handmade Brick Company has signed up to the Ceramics UK Net Zero initiative.
This is another major commitment towards sustainability and Net Zero by York Handmade, who are based at Alne, near Easingwold.
Managing director Guy Armitage explained: “Here at York Handmade Brick, we are very proud of our sustainability record as we strive to do our best to hit the Government’s target to reach net zero by 2050. This will require a concerted effort and I am tempted to quote John F Kennedy’s famous and apposite comment: We are doing this not because it is easy, but because it is hard.
“That is why we have just signed up to the Ceramics UK Towards Net Zero initiative. The UK manufacturing industry is making a really big effort to achieve net zero by 2050 and I believe us smaller members have a big part to play, as we have advantages over our larger peers.
“Our work into effectively recovering heat from intermittent kilns for intermittent dryers will be shared across the industry, with other research being shared via Ceramics UK.
“All of this is yet another reason for our customers to buy UK manufactured brick, leaving aside for now the appalling conditions in which brick is manufactured in South-East Asia. I really believe that we are ahead of the curve on this with our ambition in comparison to the rest of the world.”
This Ceramics UK campaign is a key support programme to help its members to work together in delivering further ceramic sector decarbonisation action in a progressive but realistic manner. In the first few months since launching the initiative, an ever-growing number of members, including many SMEs, have signed up and are willing to work together, share ideas and approaches, and show the sector’s collective commitment to the decarbonisation challenge.
The scheme is free for members, voluntary, and has a simple sign-up process where participants self-declare against a set of light-touch principles. The initial tools and activities being provided include a Business-to-Business Sector Partnering and Mentorship scheme, which involves sharing ideas and approaches in a non-competitive and collaborative manner, and an Employee Engagement and Awareness training material, which aims to raise employee awareness and engagement in energy reduction and decarbonisation.
Guy Armitage continued: “There is no doubt that the energy and emissions policy landscape, and how this is implemented, is critical to the UK ceramic sector and all member companies. This new campaign by Ceramics UK will help members understand complex issues and upcoming changes, supporting the industry’s continued collaboration and response to growing challenges driven through the UK’s net zero.
“Here at York Handmade, we are very proud to be putting these objectives into practice, having recently been awarded a grant to improve our energy efficiency and to reduce our carbon emissions.
“We successfully applied to the “game-changing” Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) for £38,800 to pursue our sustainability agenda. We are completely committed to improving the energy efficiency of our factory site at Alne and are currently undertaking a detailed techno-economic feasibility study. This extremely welcome grant minimises the cost and risks of the study and of any subsequent capital investment.”
The special project aims to improve the energy efficiency of the site by capturing the high-grade (high temperature) waste heat from the kilns and utilising it in the dryers. This will offset/replace the need for gas-firing in the dryers and lead to significant energy, carbon and cost reductions. The kilns operate at high temperatures (up to about 1100 degrees C) and the exhaust gases from the kilns carry substantial amounts of heat which is currently being wasted. The solution involves installing a heat exchanger in the exhaust stack of each kiln to capture this heat into high pressure hot water or thermal oil.
This hot water/oil will then be stored in a thermal battery. The thermal battery can then provide heat to the brick dryers using a radiator system on demand and allow the operations of the kilns and dryers independent of each other.
Guy added: “Sustainability is extremely important for energy intensive businesses like York Handmade as we are seeing an eight-fold increase in our energy costs. The government has already announced withdrawing financial support for industry with energy bills and many similar businesses are facing existential threats due to high energy costs, inflation and reduced spending power of their customers.
“The government’s commitment to net zero by 2050 will require industry emissions to reduce by nearly 90 per cent from the present value. We are both happy and proud to play our part.”
Bradford Council to consolidate estate in city centre
Bradford Council is looking to consolidate its estate in the city centre which will save £1.1million per year.
The move of Bradford’s City Library is also part of the City Centre Accommodation Programme.
The Council regularly reviews the use of its buildings to ensure that facilities operate efficiently and effectively in light of changing patterns of use.
The programme will ensure staff can be accommodated more effectively, whilst delivering significant budget savings.
The Council is a major employer in the district and employs hundreds of staff based in the city centre across a range of buildings. The Council proposes to close and eventually dispose of Margaret McMillan Tower. The building sits on the boundary of the Council’s Transforming Cities work near the former Jacob’s Well roundabout.
With new public realm and green spaces on its doorstep and sitting next to the National Science & Media Museum, which is also undergoing a significant refurbishment, Margaret McMillan Tower will represent one of the most exciting investment opportunities in the city. Staff currently working at Margaret McMillan Tower will relocate to City Hall and Britannia House.
Cllr Alex Ross-Shaw, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said: “Our staff are our greatest asset, and we want to make sure they have the right spaces and facilities to work to the best of their abilities for the residents of this district.
“We have always carefully monitored the use of our buildings to ensure they remain cost-effective. It makes sense to look at how these spaces fit our future needs and how we can best utilise our assets and save money where possible. Although there will be initial costs associated with the move it will save £1.1m year on year and make our workspaces fit for future needs.
“The disposal of Margaret McMillan Tower also represents an exciting opportunity for the next phase of our regeneration programme. It sits in a prime spot in the city centre and could potentially fulfil a number of uses in the future.
“There’s a bit of work to do yet before we take it to market but we’re looking forward to exploring opportunities for it in the future. The move of Bradford’s City Library will also represent a significant opportunity and more details will follow shortly.”
Sheffield appoints Chair for Race Equality Partnership
Experienced leadership, diversity, and inclusion professional Fatima Khan-Shah has been named Chair of REPS – the Race Equality Partnership for Sheffield, where her role of Chair will be to provide visible and collaborative leadership of REPS, working with key partners across the city.
She won the role due to her extensive experience leading on nationally recognised and multi-award-winning programmes around equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), as well as for her passion for Sheffield, the city she grew up in.
Councillor Tom Hunt, Leader of Sheffield City Council, said: “Racism has no place in Sheffield or anywhere. The Race Equality Partnership will play an important role in helping us to create an inclusive city for all, free from discrimination, where everyone can thrive.
“I’m delighted to welcome Fatima Khan-Shah as the new Chair of the Partnership. Through the Partnership, she will play an invaluable role in helping to create a more inclusive Sheffield.
“The Race Equality Partnership for Sheffield provides an opportunity to think strategically about how we bring our diverse communities together and how we share best practice on race equality, and hold each other to account, in our pursuit of long-term change.”
Fatima is currently working with leaders across the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, where she provides expert advice on inclusion and addresses factors of social, economic and health inequalities.
Fatima is West Yorkshire’s first ever Inclusivity Champion, where she advises on inequality as part of the mayor’s pledge to achieve greater equality across the region.
Fatima said: “As someone born and bred in Sheffield my roots in this incredible city have made me the person I am today.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to be of service to the people of Sheffield. The Race Equality Partnership is an important opportunity for everyone across this city to work together to deliver upon the legacy of the Race Equality Commission and I will do everything I can to further our journey towards a truly anti-racist Sheffield.”
