Member News

SSCS are to be featured in July 2014’s edition of Dockyard Magazine which is running a special focus on ‘Diving & Underater Services’, and will include information on associated products, services and projects.

The article provides some insight into our scour protection side of the business which has been operating for 30 years within the oil and energy markets, as well as on a number civil and environmental projects.

A sneak preview of our full page spread is attached to this article.

There’s still time to get your staff involved in the 2014 Best Employer survey! Closing at the end of July, the online questionnaire is free to all employers who want to develop their employee engagement strategy, and give people a great place to work.

Usually costing around £2,000, the survey responses are presented in insightful, tailored reports, which give organisations guidance as to how to improve and advance engagement. In fact, Essex firm Benefit Cosmetics is a big supporter and uses their report to keep a close eye on staff opinion.

Although Pure and eras ltd have designed the survey to be quick and easy to do, we also understand that people may feel that they’re too busy to answer the questions. Our 10 terrific tips will encourage your workforce to take a few moments to contribute to your Best Employer mission!

1. Announce the opening of the survey

When the survey is live and open for participation, announce it to everyone at an all-staff meeting. Or if this isn’t possible, ask managers to let their teams know and encourage everyone to take part. This way, the news will filter across all teams.

2. Maintain momentum through meetings

With the school summer break just around the corner, you need to keep up the motivation among people who are probably thinking about holidays, barbeques and other exciting plans. To keep them interested, ask line managers to give regular updates at weekly meetings, encouraging people to complete by the closing date.

3. Add an incentive

Although the survey is not a competitive activity for staff, offering a token incentive may help things along. How about a prize draw for participants? Why not give away a small picnic hamper or store vouchers? Not only does this add a nice touch, but it also tells everyone that you value their opinion.

4. Hold an inspiration session

Many employers already engage with staff through inspiration sessions, where they invite visitors into the office to give lunchtime talks. Ask a 2012 Best Employer award winner to tell everyone how they’ve benefited from the survey and what their employer does to make work enjoyable.

5. Message from the top

Support from senior management can make such a difference. By asking people for their honest opinion and explaining the reason for the survey, a CEO or MD can really drive along participation. Workers feel they are contributing to a bigger vision and understand why they need to take part.

6. Posters and email banners

Whether it’s in reception, on noticeboards or even in the loos, posters are a great way to maintain everyone’s focus on the Best Employer survey! Internal email banners are also fantastic reminders since the survey is just one click away. If you’d like to use the Best Employer logo or use a poster template, contact Anna Hill, Pure’s Marketing Manager: [email protected].

7. Appoint Best Employer champions

Since the survey happens every other year, you’ll probably have employees who were not around when you took part in the last one or maybe this is your first year of participating. Why not identify Best Employer champions who can encourage new staff to answer the questions. They can also give longer term workers friendly reminders too. After all, it’s for everyone’s gain.

8. Make a commitment

By pledging to your employees that you’ll address any concerns that arise from the survey responses, you encourage their trust. But you must follow up on this promise, otherwise you’ll risk losing respect in the long term, and you may find it very difficult running surveys in the future.

9. Engage staff all year-round

Although it may seem obvious that staff who are already engaged will need less prompting to get involved, it’s still worth mentioning. If you’re thinking of taking part in the 2016 Best Employer survey, take measures now to create an engagement strategy. Use our case studies of previous Best Employer award winners for some brilliant ideas!

Good luck and we hope your survey results get you a glitzy Best Employer award in the autumn! Get in touch with Pure to find out more: [email protected] or call 01223 209888.

Norwich Sunblinds are very grateful for the support of our customers over the last few years.

As everyone knows the economy has been difficult, and without our loyal customers we would have not survived during the last few challenging years.

With this in mind we have decided that we would like to give back to the local community, so over the next few months we will contribute £1.00 for every blind and pair of curtains we sell this year to local charities. each month we will be supporting a diffeent local charity.

Our staff are excited to find out each day how many blinds/curtains are sold to contribute towards the charity.

We wanted to support MS-UK for the month of May 2014 supporting people with MS.

The month of June 2014 we are supporting Norfolk & Norwich Association for the Blind.

The photo is of Fiona Garwood, Lesley Brinkley (Norwich Sunblinds) presenting the cheque for £1,012.00 to Robby Copsey on behalf of MS-UK who had made a fantastic effort in the London Marathon for their charity.

SSCS have joined EEEGR as part of our continued drive to be heavily involved with the promotion of skills and services available from within the East of England to supply to the oil and energy markets.

Our lifting division currently services multiple key local players who are involved with a number of notable oil & gas and offshore wind projects providing lifting and testing services utilising our large load testing capabilities, as well as supplying materials including webbing and wire slings.

EEEGR are a non-profit, business-led group committed to the sustained development of the energy sector in the East of England and the continued success of our members.

The group members operate throughout the energy sectors from oil, gas, wind, wave & tidal, bio-energy, and nuclear through to decommissioning, carbon capture & storage (CCS), distribution and transmission and conventional generation.

Global-leading energy technology services company, Proserv, attracted more than 80 young people to its Great Yarmouth facility after holding an ‘open doors’ day for local students.

The company is also set to add to its more than 2,200-strong global workforce through participating in events aimed at attracting new talent into the energy industry.

Proserv’s annual Great Yarmouth open day, which was held last Friday (June 6), saw the company give the group of students a tour of the company’s dedicated engineering and manufacturing facility in full operation to help give them an insight into oil and gas careers as trainee designers, engineers and workshop apprentices.

The event programme also included a tour of the facilities, technical presentations and demonstrations with opportunities to speak with key product specialists, many of whom have more than 30 years’ experience in the business.

John Willmott, VP of Proserv’s Great Yarmouth facility, said: “We are committed to helping the energy industry raise awareness and promote the diverse range of long-term career opportunities to young people. The industry offers exciting prospects on a global scale and we hope that the students who visited our facilities will consider a career in oil and gas after experiencing the different types of jobs first hand.

“Our people are our greatest assets and are at the core of our success. As Proserv’s business continues to evolve internationally, we remain focused on attracting the most highly skilled and experienced people.”

Proserv, which has seen its talent pool soar through organic growth and a succession of strategic acquisitions, is also to take on new apprentices and ex-military personnel after participating in a Mobilising the Military initiative organised by subsea industry body, Subsea UK, last week.

The event, which was established to address the energy industry’s skills shortage by encouraging former members of the armed forces to transfer into the subsea sector, brings together Subsea UK members and highly-skilled service leavers to help fast track new entrants into the industry.

As a result, Proserv anticipates taking on up to 12 ex-Forces personnel and transferring their skills into specific product lines through the company’s training school.

The company also held a selection day to recruit up to six new apprentices onto its technician and design apprentice programme. Potential candidates visited the company’s Birchmoss facility in Aberdeenshire where workshops, exercises and a Q&A session were among the activities aimed at helping both candidates and members of the Proserv team getting to know each other as part of the selection process.

Proserv, which operates worldwide through 31 operating centres based in 11 countries, has a 40-year track record in delivering bespoke technologies and services for the energy industry, particularly in the drilling, production, subsea and marine market sectors.

The company’s Great Yarmouth team works closely in synergy with its Aberdeen counterparts and across Proserv’s global integrated network of operations.

For further information, visit – www.proserv.com

A delegation of 9 engineers from China each involved in the offshore wind industry visited SSCS’s Great Yarmouth base on 7th June in conjunction with UKTI.

The visit was part of the ongoing drive to assist China with the development of their offshore wind sector. It is believed that China will overtake the UK and become the world leaders in offshore wind energy generation by 2020 due to the significant availability of resources at their disposal.

As SSCS have been involved in the offshore wind industry for the past 10+ years providing solutions to scour, it was a great opportunity to demonstrate our technology to the delegation.

SSCS have also been operating in China for many years and we have experience of the local conditions there.

Norwich based digital marketing agency, Bigfork, have launched their brand new website, following rapid growth over the past 12 months. Set up 4 years ago, Bigfork designs websites and online marketing campaigns and have seen demand for their expertise increase substantially this year.

Their 100+ client base includes Abel Homes, Oilennium, Norfolk County Council, Omar Park Homes, NGK & Cover U. Bigfork Director, Mark Ellaway states “Our new website reflects our expertise and is part of our growth strategy. We have won many more new clients and taken on new employees over the past 12 months and are very optimistic about the future.”

You can see the new website here.

Bigfork – we make websites stand out t: 01603 513080[email protected]www.bigfork.co.uk

We have a unique custom floor sign to auction and it is signed by the fantastic Brian Blessed and features ‘Gordon’s Alive!’ a popular quote from the cult classic 1980 movie ‘Flash Gordon’

Some of us here at ESE Direct are great fans of sci-fi and cult movies so when we saw we could customise a sample of one of our customisable new floor signs we jumped at the chance of creating something unique.

Once it arrived we thought it would be a great idea to take it one step further and get Brian Blessed to sign it and auction it off for charity.

Our chosen charity for the auction is Norfolk at the Pictures who are an educational charity based at Cinema City in Norwich and offer several projects both at Cinema City and the wider area including:

• Educational screenings for primary and secondary schools
• Film themed reminiscence sessions for older people and particularly those living with Dementia.
• Employability projects and internships for secondary, FE and college students
• Filmmaking workshops and activities for children
• Film theory courses for adults and young people

The charity is backed by another well-known actor, John Hurt.Place your bid today on our charity eBay auction own a unique piece of memorabilia.

SSCS appoints Geolynx Limited as their Nigerian agent for our scour solution services effective for 2 years from 20th June.

This partnership is part of SSCS’s drive to expand globally in areas with significant offshore oil and gas operations providing clients with expertise attained from operating for the last 30 years globally within the sector.

https://geolynxlimited.com/

“Why am I sharing the most valuable skill I’ve learned in Sales & Marketing?”

By Nial Adams, The PUSH Academy

Back in 1999 I started to learn something that would prove to be the most important business skill I now possess.

In fact, it’s just about the most important thing I’ve learned, ever…

Ethical Influence and the Power of Persuasion.

Why?

Because it underpins all aspects of Sales & Marketing, it’s the juice that drives the results you’re looking for.

And yet it’s a subject that so many people have never really been exposed to, or learned how to use effectively.

My own Mentor explained to me like this –

“Nial, when you get this, really get this, at a deep and emotional level there is only one question left… your integrity.”

I’ll be honest, at that time I didn’t really get it, or at least I didn’t really understand just how important this knowledge was to become to me.

Today it represents a huge part of my skill and experience, it helps my clients and I’m proud of the reputation I’ve gained as a result.

If you’ve ever attended any of my Seminars or Training Events you’ll know that I’m often referencing the work of Prof Robert Cialdini and his seminal work on Influence and Persuasion.

Learning this stuff completely changed my approach to marketing and selling. The results were instant and have been long-lasting.

Lots of people have asked me when am I going to run an event that really gets into this topic and, most of all, how it can be used; effectively and ethically.

Well, it’s here…

Next month I’ll be running the first seminar event on Influential Sales & Marketing. And honestly, I’ve not been this excited for some time!

Ashley, I want you to be there to find out what all the fuss is about and how this can change your results too.

I’m going to lift the lid on this topic and share with you exactly how this works and why.

Of course, seats are going to be strictly limited and it’s going to be a ‘sell-out’ event for sure. But then you’d expect me to say that, right? 😉

So if you’re looking for that elusive gold-dust that makes the magic happen…

I really want you to join me on the 7th July, in Norwich. And I promise you it will be worth it!

There’s an Early Bird Offer live now and by claiming your Enterprise Training Credits you can save up to 75% on the Standard Ticket price and bring a guest with you for free.

So if you’re interested, or even mildly curious, then check out the link below where you’ll get all the information you need and grab your sponsored seat(s) now.

I hope to see you there, you can book here.

Nial

PS. And like everything I do there’s a 100% Money-Back Guarantee on this event; so the only way you can lose out is by not attending!

PPS. If you can think of anyone else that would find this valuable please accept my invitation to share this message.

Interested in the history of art and thinking about returning to study, part-time or full-time? Consider applying to UEA’s introductory course in Art History.

This course is aimed at adults who are interested in the history of art, and who would like an introduction to the key skills, techniques and concepts needed to learn more about art and its historical meanings.

Beginning in late September 2014, Studying Art History will consist of 10 evening classes, taught in the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts by members of faculty from the School of Art History and World Art Studies. This course will involve the close study of artworks, and will develop students’ presentation and writing skills whilst introducing them to methods of analysis, research and interpretation used by art historians as well as archaeologists and anthropologists of art.

If you are 21 or over, have some post-16 formal qualifications (for example, BTEC, A levels or a degree in another discipline) which you gained three or more years ago, and have an interest in studying the history of artistic, visual and material cultures, this course is for you.

The deadline for applications is Friday 25 July 2014. For more information please contact: 01603 592286 or email [email protected].

Connect-Ed 2014 will be focused on business , and will create a great opportunity for teachers, career advisors and support staff to engage and connect with business leaders based in Norfolk.

We would like your help during the day to share your knowledge and experience .

Promoting Knowledge and Careers

The main theme that runs throughout the day is “Getting Connect-Ed”, a real chance for those working with young people every day to get an insight into business, careers, and how business employers recruit.

Connect-Ed is about just that, getting connected. Developing young people, and providing opportunities for them to progress into the world of work, needs a network of people working together, informed about how the other operates day-to-day. Connect-Ed is about bringing those people together and sharing that knowledge.

The day will consist of a combination of presentations and interactive sessions. We would look to group those attending into small focus groups made up of teachers, careers staff, training providers and employers. Each focus group would contain 8-12 members with at least a half of the group made up of attending employers and encourage the sharing of knowledge, ideas, and career opportunities within the sector.

For more details you can visit our page on the Chamber Members event listing here – Connect-Ed

Or Visit our website here – Inspired Youth Connect-Ed 2014where you can book your place