Search Results for: build

Plentific announces instant booking service for home improvement jobs

book home improvement jobs

London startup Plentific.com, a growing home services marketplace, has announced a new feature that will allow customers to book home improvement jobs with just a few taps on their phone. This new service lets customers skip the process of searching for potential tradesmen, comparing quotes and haggling for a fair price just to book a minor home improvement job such …

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Baxi to open new training centres in Crawley & Cambridgeshire

Baxi training courses

Baxi is opening two new training facilities in 2017. The Crawley training centre, a partnership with Central Sussex College, opened in January and Godmanchester in Cambridgeshire, a standalone Baxi training centre, will open in March. Each will offer customers access to Baxi’s full range of comprehensive training courses. Designed using feedback from its customers, Baxi training includes hands-on sessions, insider …

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Mira Showers sponsors Heating Apprentice of the Year

Mira Showers

Mira Showers is supporting the nation’s young installer talent by sponsoring this year’s HIP UK Heating Apprentice of the Year competition. The annual event, launched in 2009, represents an opportunity to recognise the hard work, ability and dedication of the next generation of installers. The regional heats offered apprentices across the country the chance to participate in a series of …

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Day in the life: Kevin Skeith (Dickies UK worker of the year 2016)

kevin skeith

Skill Builder’s ‘Day in the life’ feature takes a look at a typical day in the life of different tradespeople. In this installment, we talk to the inspirational Kevin Skeith who, against all the odds, recovered from a serious motorcycle accident which threatened to leave him as a quadriplegic. He now runs a thriving flooring business and became Dickie’s UK …

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Are all plumbers rescuers at heart?

plumbers rescuers

Roger wrestles with his inner rescuer. I was visiting a manufacturer of safety equipment recently and went to use the gents and found the place flooded out. There was one guy with a mop trying to clear it up but he was like the Sorcerer’s apprentice, the loo just kept overflowing. As fast as he cleared it up more appeared. …

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UK construction industry could lose 8% of workforce post-Brexit

UK construction industry

New  figures from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reveal that the UK construction industry could lose almost 200,000 EU workers post-Brexit should Britain lose access to the single market, putting some of the country’s biggest infrastructure and construction projects under threat. RICS has cautioned that for Brexit to succeed, it is essential to secure continued access to the …

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Construction worker seriously injured in wall collapse

Construction boss jailed

A Manchester building contractor and a company owner have appeared in court after a worker was seriously injured on a refurbishment site. The 53-year-old father of two from Salford was employed as a labourer at the site of a refurbishment project at Manchester One, Portland Street Manchester when the incident occurred on 29 August 2014. The incident was investigated by …

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Real Deals for You: Komelon Powerblade Review

Komelon Powerblade Review

In this brand new series of videos Skill Builder is taking a look at a selection of products from Real Deals for You, the consumer campaign which provides big brand tools at competitive prices through local independent retailers. Real Deals for You is a year-round campaign run by one of Europe’s leading hand and power tool distributors, Toolbank, and created …

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Baxi extends 200 & 400 range

Baxi 200

Following the launch of its Baxi 200 and 400 Combis, boiler manufacturer Baxi has added heat only models to its super-powered range. Weighing in at just 19.5kg, the Baxi 200 and 400 Heat boilers are said to be the lightest in the UK, and include a number of time-saving features, which mean installations can be completed quickly. Available in outputs …

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Smartphone use impacting construction workers productivity, says new research

construction workers productivity

The average British worker spends as many as 120 hours per year using their smartphones in the workplace, and those working in construction are among the highest users, according to new research. Research of 2,012 UK adults carried out by gadgets and technology etailer, LaptopsDirect.co.uk, has revealed more than three quarters (78%) of construction workers admit to using their smartphones …

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Consumers More Likely to Hire Firms Employing Apprentices

ITC Concepts

Consumers prefer to hire firms that train apprentices, according to new research from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). Coinciding with National Apprenticeship Week in England, this new research, based on responses from 2,000 homeowners across the UK, reveals that: Almost two-thirds of homeowners would have a more favourable image of a building firm knowing they train apprentices Half of …

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Construction firm fined after worker left paralysed

Construction boss jailed

Construction firm, Structural Metal Decks Limited, (SMDL) has been fined after a worker was left paralysed following an accident at a building site in Kilsyth. The worker suffered injuries to his spinal cord and is now paralysed from the neck down following the incident. Airdrie Sheriff Court heard how Structural Metal Decks Ltd had been sub-contracted to lay metal deck …

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Game-changing multi-tool?

Gerber Centre-Drive

Gerber has introduced the Gerber Centre-Drive multi-tool which the company claims is a game-changing addition to its range designed for real life and heavy-duty work. The tool’s one-thumb opening design allows for quick deployment of the three full size tools that are depended on the most: pliers, blades, and screwdriver. The Centre-Drive introduces an extra-long 3.2 inch magnetic bit driver …

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Unite expresses concern over ‘dead-end’ construction courses

Workplace fatality figures

A freedom of information request by Unite, the union for construction workers, has uncovered that thousands of young people are being placed on so-called ‘dead-end’ classroom based construction courses. The figures obtained from the Government’s Skills Funding Agency, reveal the number of classroom based construction courses increased by 14 per cent last year, totally dwarfing the number of apprentices beginning …

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Contractor fined for asbestos failings

Construction boss jailed

A Bedfordshire based contractor has been fined after failing to carry out suitable assessment of asbestos removal work. Luton Magistrates Court heard how Anthony West was contracted to complete demolition work at a building in Biggleswade. West then had a pre-demolition asbestos survey carried out for the building. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) had the demolition work reported to …

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Real Deals for You: Leica laser review

Leica laser review

In this brand new series of videos Skill Builder is taking a look at a selection of new products from Real Deals for You, the consumer campaign which provides big brand tools at competitive prices through local independent retailers. Real Deals for You is a year-round campaign run by one of Europe’s leading hand and power tool distributors, Toolbank, and …

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Milwaukee Heavy Duty Fest report: Part 1

Milwaukee Dual Bevel Mitre Saw

In this video the Skill Builder team travel to Berlin for Milwaukee’s Heavy Duty Fest 2017. In this first episode from the event, Rich Powell gives us a demo of the M18 FUEL Dual Bevel Sliding Compound Mitre Saw, the M18 FUEL Drywall Screw Gun and the M18 FUEL SAWZALL Reciprocating Saw with ONE-KEY tracking and management technology. More detail …

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Checkatrade to sponsor ITV’s Lethal Weapon

checkatrade lethal weapon

Checkatrade has announced that is to become the official sponsor of ITV’s new series, Lethal Weapon. The new show which will run for 18 weeks features Damon Wayans and Clayne Crawford as the two protagonists. The original Lethal Weapon franchise comprised four feature films and were a huge hit on the silver screen movie from 1987 to 1998 with the …

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Balfour Beatty fined £230k following floor collapse

Construction boss jailed

Construction company, Balfour Beatty, has been fined after flooring at a house-building development gave way, injuring a worker. Newcastle Crown Court heard how a worker was on the first floor of a new build domestic property when the floor gave way at one side. The worker and approximately 70 building blocks slid 2.4 metres, vertically, to the ground. He suffered …

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