The Crown Commercial Service (“CCS”) has now officially taken the reins on delivering the procurement process for the Government’s new FM Contracting Model and it seems there are to be some changes in approach. The CCS has announced that there will be significant delays in the commencement of the official OJEU procurement process, publication of which was anticipated back in January, this is cited as being due in part to the extensive nature of stakeholder engagement over the new model and also because of the strains of procuring the tw... Continue reading

Figures released last week revealed that waste crime is costing the UK economy up to £808m a year. The new report by the Environmental Services Association Education Trust (ESAET), found that the costs of illegal waste sites, tax evasion by waste operators deliberately misclassifying waste to avoid higher rates of landfill tax, and the clean-up costs of fly-tipping equate to more than half a billion pounds a year. According to the report, ‘Waste Crime: Tackling Britain’s Dirty Secret’, commissioned by the ESAET and conducted by Eunomia... Continue reading

Workplace bullying is on the increase.  Any talk about bullying usually centres on how this behaviour is prevalent in schools and its impact on students who are being bullied. While there are very few schools that do not have a stringent anti-bullying policy these days, it’s still common to come across reports of student bullying regularly. Bullying is not restricted to schools, though, and also occurs in the workplace. In fact, we are witnessing a rise in bullying in the workplace, which is why employers need to put in place a stringent an... Continue reading

  "That’s the way we've always done it." If you're trying to show employees how to take advantage of new technology, you've no doubt heard this phrase once or twice. Although it's a common human trait to get comfortable with a work routine and resist change, change is necessary to increase productivity and be able to compete in the global marketplace. New innovations in technology can also help to keep employees safe at work.   So how do you know when it's time to invest in new technology?   Knowing when to invest in new machine... Continue reading

The seventh annual National Apprenticeship Week 2014 takes place between 3 and 7 March, with the intention of highlighting the appeal of apprenticeships to both employers and workers. According to research from the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), apprentices delivered around £1.8bn of net economic benefits to UK organisations last year, suggesting a significant return on their investment, with economic output often exceeding average wage and training costs. These findings are further validated by recent research from The Departm... Continue reading