What We Do
Recruitment across the Built & Natural Environment
ALLEN & YORK have a unique blend of recruitment skills and technical knowledge. Every consultant is an expert in their field and has an extensive specialist network.
We are dedicated to making a positive difference to the global sustainable economy, by continuing to deliver excellent specialist recruitment services across our markets.
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Recycling Association Name and Shame Worst Packing Offenders
Simon Ellin, Chief Executive of the Recycling Association in a recent interview with the BBC, has named and shamed companies and packaging solutions which are difficult or impossible to recycle. Pringles and Lucozade were flagged as two offenders. The metal lined cardboard tubes favoured by Pringles, has a metal base, foil and paper strip and plastic lid and is very difficult to recycle. He also criticised the Lucozade Sport bottle, which with an outer plastic film wrapping, which means that it's not only over-packaged, but also cannot be recycled. Ellin also said that black plastic meat trays can't be picked out by the infrared technology at material recycling facilities due to the pigment in them and therefore should be replaced by transparent trays which can be recycled. He reiterated that, “We have got to ensure that the whole supply chain is involved from designers, to manufacturers, to retailers, to recyclers, to local authorities and the householder so that the products we buy can be recycled. “The Quality First campaign, launched by The Recycling Association last year, wants to ensure that we provide good quality material to the market for recycling, and one of the best ways to help this is to ensure that the product is easy to recycle in the first place.” “Companies such as Coca-Cola, Marks & Spencer and Unilever are pioneers in improving the sustainability of their products and ensuring the packaging can be recycled once used. If they can do it, surely other manufacturers and retailers can.” Find out more about The Quality First Campaign Browse all waste jobs
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Welcome to My World – Green and Sexy Ethical Hedonism
Guest Blog by Alison Jane Reid Founder of Ethical Hedonist Magazine. Leading Journalist for the The Times, The Lady, You, The Mirror and Country Life, to name but a few. Human beings are perverse. There is a very vocal element of the green movement, that still thinks that saving the planet has to be a ghastly, hair shirt experience, involving endless opportunities for self deprivation, flagellation of the soul and generally going without. They should meet my consort. He thinks the only way to get rid of his tummy (and mine) is to thoroughly torture himself at the gym. Me, I would rather dance or skip my way to a pert bottom and supermodel pins! Why can’t getting what we need and want be fun? So, I have applied the same philosophy to saving the planet, minus the lecturing and guilt trip. I have come up with an alternative, and all-together more pleasing solution. It’s called Ethical Hedonism. I’ve even founded a magazine – www-ethcial-hedonist.com – the idea is gloriously simple. Let’s make sustainable ideas seriously sexy. What’s left of the counter culture hippie green movement needs a makeover for mass appeal. Let’s make green ideas groovy, and even a bit decadent, in a guilt free way. It is time to bring seeming opposites together, to make a delicious new idea. Genius right! The idea being that we can have fun, make planet friendly choices and do good at the same time. Why does environmentalism have to be so damned boring and unsexy? In their weekly tirades on social media, the greenocracy decree that we must not buy anymore clothes, that basking in the shower like a water baby for more than a minute, after a ten hour commute, is a sin, and they would like force us all to become vegans, insisting that any kind of animal husbandry is evil. This is just patently untrue. Try telling that to my friend who keeps rescued chicken and gives them all daily cuddles. Eggs from happy chickens taste extraordinary. Imagine not being able to eat a delicious, sybaritic Camembert or smother yourself in artisan, organic Greek yogurt if you really, really want to? I hate to break it to you, but it doesn’t matter what you do to vegan cream, it just doesn’t taste so damned delicious as organic double cream. Or the clotted stuff, with the golden crust, which is so good, why isn’t it illegal? And don’t get me started on non-dairy milk! They all taste and look like grey, thin water with artificially added vitamins. And what do they think would happen to all the organic and biodynamic farmers who are the custodians of what’s left our green and pleasant organic lands if we stopped buying all diary products? Please target the factory farms, and leave our organic and biodynamic farmers alone- they are doing a great job. The most exciting ideas and effective innovations for reducing our negative influence on the planet are coming from not from a culture of doing without, but rather a pragmatic, re-purposed model of luxury thrift, reinvention, philanthropy, big data and physics. How about aeroplanes powered by liquid hydrogen; sassy, look at me day dresses made from haute couture fashion waste and new roads engineered from recycled plastic bottles? Now that really has the wow factor for me. Preaching, shouting and lecturing to people who are overworked and mostly underpaid, doesn’t encourage anyone to make their recycling habits a work of art or entice us to buy Fair-trade shoes from single parent mothers in Peru. Talking about an artisan beer or wine that is utterly sublime to drink, and creates local jobs does. And ditto the fabulous, look at me jacket or shoes, with added social impact. We love to be seduced, we love to feel pampered, and we love to feel inspired. So, tell us we can buy a ravishing slow date dress that will become our best friend for life or a super food youth elixir, which just happens to be hand-harvested by a ladies co-operative in Kenya, and we will roll over like a kitten and lap it all up. Why, because we humans are fundamentally superficial. We don’t want to be told how hopeless everything is. We want to feel we can buy lovely, glamorous organic and artisan fripperies and help others through our own selfish desires for self- improvement and have fun whilst doing just that. Now do hop over to the magazine and read about the inventor who is disrupting the fishing industry, with his twinkling light system, which is set to make the fishing industry super sustainable, with a bit of help from Sir Richard Branson. Then, marvel and loose your heart to the darling, leading lady, monochrome cape made from fashion off cuts – perfect for the aspiring modern Hepburn. ALLEN & YORK are excited to be partnering with The Ethnical Hedonist and it will be our great pleasure to introduce you to more ways in which you can sparkle more brightly, in your new glamorous, emerald green, sustainable lifestyle, and encourage you to support their @crowdfunder campaign to ensure more people join the sustainable revolution! Find out more about The Ethical Hedonist Find out more about The Ethical Hedonist; Follow Alison Jane and the Ethical Hedonist on Twitter @AlisonJane
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Environmentalists Split Over Scottish Offshore Wind Project
Environmentalists have been split this month over the Scottish courts ruling in favour of the construction of offshore wind farms in the firths of Forth and Tay, which overrides an earlier decision in July 2016 ruling in favour of RSPB Scotland to block the development. Stuart Housden, Director of RSPB Scotland said the charity had spent nearly nine years consulting on the schemes in an effort to minimise the risk to globally important wildlife. “Whilst we fully support deployment of renewable energy, this must not be at any cost,” he said. RSPB Scotland had said that this could be among the “most deadly wind farms for birds anywhere in the world”, and threatens protected iconic birds such as the puffins, gannets and kittiwakes. The other side of the argument is that climate change is the single biggest threat to birds and other wildlife on our planet, and we have to look to alternative low carbon, sustainable solutions for power generation going forward. Systems are being developed to protect birds from collision with turbines. Radar units can be set up several kilometres away to detect on-coming birds and shut down the turbines within minutes. Although not fitted to all turbines, this technology could be added to those in high bird volume areas. Arguably the best way forward is to better identify the location of offshore wind farms, to reduce the environmental impact on the birdlife, siting them away from bird collonies and migratory paths. The 4 offshore wind projects (Inch Cape, Neart na Gaoithe, Seagreen Alpha and Bravo) will total 335 turbines generating 2.3GW of power and creating between 2,500 to 13,000 new jobs during construction. The first project to come into construction phase will be Neart na Gaoithe, comprising of 64 turbines and will generate enough energy to power all the homes in a city the size of Edinburgh. Visit ALLEN & YORK website for latest jobs in renewable energy and environment.
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Aligning Employee Health & Wellbeing wants with Business Needs
Guest Blog by Caroline Sidell. Corporate Health & Wellbeing Company Director at Via Vita Health Ltd Director and Owner Fit4ltd, National Wellbeing Lead for all PiXL Schools and Sunday Times PE Teacher of the Year Are you embracing employee wellbeing and happiness? Forward thinking companies are providing healthy workspaces and nurturing their employees to achieve greater retention and staff loyalty which ultimately boosts their bottom line. Do you know what your employees want? Before you make any decisions, the big question that you need to answer is what do your employees want, expect and need from a health and wellbeing programme. So before you spend any money and start heading in the wrong direction, ask yourself, do I know what our workforce want and need? You may have already consulted staff through your annual engagement survey, but it’s important to ensure that whatever means you decide to use, your employees feel included and consulted as part of this process. Here are some great ways to go about it: Specialised health & wellbeing survey Focus groups Opinion Polls Review recent engagement survey results Wellbeing Committee meetings with representatives At Via Vita Health, we use real data through our behaviour change health and wellbeing assessment tool to identify and understand the key areas your workforce want to prioritise relating to their health and wellbeing. We focus on the following key areas: Absence management Work:Life balance Energy Levels Diet & Nutrition Mental wellbeing Pressure & resilience Fitness Happiness Self-perceptions & intentions Meeting in the Middle It’s important to try and find some middle ground between the results of the employee consultation and the overarching strategic objectives of the business and the health and wellbeing programme. Usually there will be quite specific needs for individual groups of employees depending on their role, age, gender and geography, which is important to acknowledge and remedy as part of the overall plan. Make sure you find out your key drivers for improving the health and wellbeing of your staff through absence management. This will highlight what your biggest reason for absence is e.g. mental health, stress, muscle skeletal or minor illnesses. You can then tailor your programme to ensure you are improving these areas and track progress against your benchmark data. Striking the balance Striking a balance between an inclusive health and wellbeing strategy available to all, and tending to specific group requirements is always going to be a challenge. The key is to provide a variety of services such as workshops, one-to-one's, webinars, newsletters, online content and campaigns etc. Contact us at Via Vita Health for a full demo of all our services. Engagement How you communicate and explain your strategy and findings can have a huge impact on how your efforts are perceived within the workforce. Engaging in an open and transparent dialogue with employees throughout the whole process is a key ingredient to developing and delivering a successful health and wellbeing programme. Be strategic by planning your workplace wellbeing programme for at least the next 6 months to a year. Link in with national campaigns, use wellbeing champions to spread the word and create a wellbeing calendar of events to keep your employees informed about all the programmes they can access. Free workplace wellbeing consultation & programme recommendation For your free workplace wellbeing consultation contact us today. info@viaivtahealth.co.uk
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Cross party support for HS2 Welcomed by Rail Industry
The rail industry has welcomes the manifesto commitments of all parties in support of HS2. Will Roberts, the director of High-Speed Rail Industry Leaders (HSRIL), said the full support from all of the UK’s main political parties for HS2 was a good sign for high-speed rail. “This unprecedented cross-party support for HS2 is fantastic news, and a real endorsement for Britain’s biggest infrastructure project in a generation,” he stated. “The commitment from across the political spectrum, to keep HS2 on track, provides stability for UK rail and infrastructure and ensures that every part of the country will have a chance to play a part in this important new railway, whoever wins the election. “With cross-party support, it now means that HSRIL members can get on with construction, and deliver a huge economic boost to Britain, employing 27,000 people by the end of the decade, from right across the UK,” he concluded. The ALLEN & YORK Rail & Highways recruitment team are supporting many of the companies involved in the new infrastructure projects across the UK. So, if you are looking for a career move within; rail or highways construction, contact us today! Search Rail and Highways Jobs
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Ellen MacArthur Circular Fibres Initiative
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is driving forward the vision it created of a circular economy with a new initiative centred around the clothing industry and the recycling of fabric and fibres; The Circular Fibres Initiative. Global clothing production has doubled in the last 15 years with sales of footwear and apparel reaching $1.67 trillion in 2016. In a recent report published by Sainsbury, 75% of Britons say they will throw clothes straight in the bin this Spring as opposed to recycling them or taking them to charity shops, and if clothes go in the bin they end up in landfill. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation only around 15% of clothing waste is collected in the U.S. with 85% ending up in landfill. The Foundation will produce an in-depth research paper on the industry, mapping how textiles flow around the global economy. "The way we produce, use, and reprocess clothing today is inherently wasteful, and current rising demand increases the negative impacts. The Circular Fibres Initiative aims to catalyse change across the industry by creating an ambitious, fact-based vision for a new global textiles system, underpinned by circular economy principles, that has economic, environmental, and social benefits, and can operate successfully in the long term," commented Dame Ellen. The report intends to inform and advise the industry on a more sustainable way forward for the re-processing of fabrics and clothing. Are retailers able to become more responsible with recycling drop-off points to encourage more recycling and less landfill. Also, why don’t we recycling clothing at the curb-side? We do this for cardboard, plastic, glass etc. but not for clothes, could this be viable? The Initiative’s first report is due for publication in autumn 2017 and will be undertaken by knowledge partner McKinsey & Co – lets watch this space. Circular Fibres Initiative Browse all waste jobs
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Greening Up Football
As you may have heard, Forest Green Rovers, a little know village club from Gloucestershire, have been promoted to the English Football League for the first time in their club's history. What's this got to do with sustainability and the environment I hear you ask? Well, Forest Green Rovers are the first football club to have achieved the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) certification for environmental performance and are real eco-champions for sustainability! Amongst the sustainability initiatives at the Forest Green football ground are; collecting water from under the pitch and stadium roofing to enable the ground to be irrigated with off-mains water. Red meat has been taken off the menu and instead locally sourced, organic, vegetarian food is served, making FGR's the first meat-free football ground! There is solar PV on the roof which has a 45KW capacity, helping to lower both the club's carbon footprint and energy bills. They have planted a wild flower area for wildlife, are trialling electric vehicles for players, creating an organic pitch with no chemicals and are planning to open an environmental education centre for the fans! Under the leadership of Dale Vince, Forest Green’s Chairman and also owner of green energy provider Ecotricity, the club are a fantastic advertisement for progressive, community conscious, eco-football. Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have embraced Adidas eco-kits made from recycled ocean plastic, so come on Man United and Arsenal, shouldn’t you be greening up your clubs too! Forest Green Sustainability Report Browse all sustainability jobs
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RICS General Election Manifesto 2017
With the general election, just over 3 weeks away The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has published their manifesto for the built environment, which they believe should be the next government’s focus. RICS prioritise funding and freedom for local/regional authorities, urging the future government to “boost infrastructure spending and work closely with private sector partners to unleash funding.” On housing, they highlight that under-utilised delivery vehicles like Local Authorities and Housing Associations need to be given the tools and freedom they need to ramp up supply, and regarding devolution, RICS believe that regional decision-makers need to have the powers and funding required to rebalance the UK’s economic geography. Recruitment and the skills-gap are recurring themes across the infrastructure sector and within their manifesto RICS also call for the next government to develop a skills pipeline to “guarantee the skilled workforce major projects require.” As well as “an immigration system that allows the UK to access the skilled labour it needs." In order for the infrastructure industry to push forward with all the proposed developments, funding, local autonomy and skilled professionals are all vital to make these plans a reality. Read the RIC manifesto in full Browse all planning and surveying jobs
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