J Tomlinson takes milestone delivery from vehicle supplier Enterprise Flex-E-Rent

Nottingham-based company J Tomlinson has taken delivery of its 150^th van from vehicle supplier Enterprise Flex-E-Rent/Burnt Tree. 

The Derby branch of the national commercial vehicle specialist recently supplied vans number 150, 151 and 152 to the integrated building solutions firm based in Beeston. 

The vans have now been distributed to three new starters at J Tomlinson, which offers services in construction, refurbishment, repairs and maintenance, mechanical and electrical engineering, energy efficiency, renewables, fit out and facilities management. 

Fleet controller at J Tomlinson, Jane Hatton, said: “There were 132 vans when I took over this role in May 2012, and the fact that we now have more than 150 vans is an indication that the company is continuing to grow. It gives me a great sense of pride to see so many J Tomlinson vans on the road, not only around Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, but much further afield across the Midlands too.” 

J Tomlinson and Burnt Tree, recently acquired by Enterprise Rent-A-Car UK Limited, have had a working relationship stretching back 12 years. J Tomlinson also uses local suppliers to add livery, fit trackers and to make any additional modifications needed to its fleet of vehicles, which include the Vauxhall Vivaro, the Renault Kangoo and the Citroën Berlingo. 

Martin Gallagher, Construction Managing Director at J Tomlinson, said: “It is important to us that the J Tomlinson team has a reliable and efficient fleet of vehicles so that we can offer the best service we can to our customers. We are very pleased that we have built up such a strong working relationship with Burnt Tree, who are literally a few miles down the road from our headquarters.” 

Paul Lyons, General Manager at Enterprise Flex-E-Rent/Burnt Tree in Derby, which is based at Ascot Drive Industrial Estate, said: “We’re delighted to share in this landmark event for J Tomlinson.  Excellent customer service is central to everything we do and occasions like this are very rewarding for our whole team.  It’s proof that the effort we go to genuinely makes a difference to our customers.”

For more information about J Tomlinson visit www.jtomlinson.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk 

World’s largest gathering of Shire horses to be held in the East Midlands

Horse lovers in the East Midlands are being urged to support one of the nation’s favourite breeds when the world’s largest gathering of Shire horses takes place on the doorstep next month (March). 

The iconic breed was in danger of dying out just a few decades ago, and even now fewer than 500 new foals are registered every year by the Shire Horse Society. 

The charity has been running a Save Our Shires campaign to raise awareness about these gentle giants and numbers have steadily increased, thanks to the dedication of a band of enthusiasts. 

On March 21^st and 22^nd the society stages its national show at Arena UK, Allington, on the Lincolnshire/Nottinghamshire border near Grantham. It’s billed as the world’s largest gathering of Shires, and is expected to attract horses from across Europe and visitors from around the globe. 

The event is believed to be one of the oldest, almost continuous, horse shows in the world, having been held for the first time at the Royal Agricultural Hall in Islington, London, in 1880, when the charity was named the English Cart Horse Society. 

Now local horse lovers are being urged to support the event, which includes a range of classes, as well as trade stands, stalls and demonstrations. 

“The Shire Horse Society’s National Show is the perfect opportunity for members of the public to see these gentle giants of the horse world in all their glory,” said Shire Horse Society secretary David Ralley-Davies. “The breed has a unique history and heritage. The pedigree Shires will be put through their paces over two days of competition and it’s the ideal place to see them shown in style - in-hand, ridden and turned out. 

“The show is quite a spectacle and we’re urging people to come along and support us in what is our annual showcase event. Their support will help us to carry on protecting and promoting a breed that was once crucial to the nation’s industrial and economic development, as well as having a vitally important role in World War One.” 

The annual show, taking place indoors at its new home at Arena UK for the second time, is the flagship event for the Shire Horse Society, which is the only charity dedicated to the protection, promotion and improvement of the Shire horse. Since 1878 the organisation has been working to protect the breed, which was then known as the Old English Breed of Cart Horse. 

The show runs from 8am until about 10pm on the Saturday to include the championship in the evening. It will be open from 8am until 4.30pm on the Sunday. Adult day tickets cost £8 in advance, with under 12s and seniors £6, and are available from http://bit.ly/1nxKWIW Day tickets will be £10 and £8 on the gate. Free admission to Shire Horse Society members on presentation of their society badge. 

Sponsors for the event include botanical brewers Fentimans, Fullers Brewery, Young's Brewery, Boldscan and Fosters Foods. 

For more information visit www.shire-horse.org.uk or follow the charity on Facebook or Twitter - https://www.facebook.com/shirehorsesociety and @saveourshires

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Croots Farm Shop’s sausages hailed as “a stunning array of sausage perfection” by the Sausage King

Sausage King Stephen Plume & Steve Croot, owner of Croots

Expert sausage taster the Sausage King has described the bangers produced at Croots Farm Shop in Derbyshire as “a stunning array of sausage perfection”. 

Stephen Plume, who runs a website dedicated to sausages, is one of the UK’s leading sausage experts and has been dubbed the Sausage King for his efforts to promote tasty British bangers. 

He visited Croots Farm Shop near Duffield in Derbyshire as part of an on-going pledge to visit some of the nation’s finest sausage producers. 

A teacher by profession, Stephen has undertaken the challenge of dropping in on as many of the high-quality butchers listed on his www.sausagefans.co.uk website as he can. 

During his visit to Croots at Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road, he had a go at making sausages, learnt more about how the butchers develop and create the range of award-winning bangers, and gave his verdict after the all-important taste test. 

“You have an eclectic mix that’s really well made and tastes great,” he told owner Steve Croot. 

During his visit he tried a number of different sausages, including the Ecclesbourne County Classic, designed by year 10 students at Ecclesbourne School as part of the food technology course, which he described as ‘really good. A lovely balance of flavours’; the wild mushroom sausage, which he hailed as ‘awesome’; the lamb and mint sausage, which he said was ‘absolutely superb’ and the chorizo sausage, which he loved. 

“It’s hard to come up with a winner,” said Stephen, who is based in East Anglia. “It’s a stunning array of sausage perfection.” 

Steve Croot, who opened the shop in 2008, said: “Stephen is a real expert on sausages, so we were delighted to host a visit from him and even more chuffed when we heard how much he rated our sausages. As a big fan of sausages myself, it was great to talk over ideas for new sausage flavours and between us we hit on one which we’ll have a look at developing and will send to the Sausage King to try.” 

Croots Farm Shop, based at Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road, has won scores of awards for its home-produced sausages, including Great Taste Awards, which are the ‘oscars’ of the fine food industry. The farm shop is renowned for creating unusual and original flavours, as well as more traditional bangers. Croots’ butchers enjoy creating new sausages to mark occasions, such as the Olympics or the World Cup, with a percentage of sales going to charity. 

The pork used in Croots sausages comes from Packington Free Range Pork, in Staffordshire, while the beef hails from R & M Heath (Richard & Margaret) at Hazelwood Hall Farm, Hazelwood, Derbyshire. 

The shop employs three full-time butchers and two assistant part-time butchers, as part of a 28-strong workforce employed in the shop and the restaurant, Shires Eatery. 

Launched in 2008, Croots Farm Shop is open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm (Shires Eatery until 4.30pm) and on Sundays from 10am to 4pm. Croots runs Fresh Fish Thursdays between 10am and 4pm on Thursdays. 

For more information visit www.croots.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

J Tomlinson joins ‘world’s fastest man’ at the new land speed record exhibition opening

Thrust SSC - photo Mark Radford/Coventry Transport Museum

A team from Nottingham-based construction company J Tomlinson joined guests at Coventry Transport Museum for the official opening of the all-new permanent World Land Speed Record Exhibition.

J Tomlinson is the contractor for part of the £8.5 million redevelopment of the museum, which got underway in April last year and is due to be completed by Summer 2015, when 12 of the museum’s 14 galleries will have been transformed. 

The Biffa Award Land Speed Record Exhibition is one of the first parts of the redevelopment project to be completed, and forms a stunning new home for the current 763mph land speed record holding car Thrust SSC, along with its predecessor Thrust 2.  Towards the end of last year, J Tomlinson was in the driving seat when the cars were delicately relocated from their previous home in the museum to the new exhibition gallery - a move that involved hoisting the supersonic cars over the rear gates of the museum.

The new exhibition was officially opened by ‘World’s Fastest Man’ Andy Green, who drove ThrustSSC to its 763mph world record in 1997 – a record that still stands today.

Martin Gallagher, Construction Managing Director at J Tomlinson, said: “It was great to be at the official opening of such a fine exhibition gallery, and J Tomlinson is delighted and proud to have been involved in this scheme at Coventry Transport Museum.” 

The company, which is based in Lilac Grove, Beeston, and operates mainly throughout the East and West Midlands, provides a range of services including construction, refurbishment, repairs and maintenance, mechanical and electrical engineering, energy efficiency, fit out and facilities management. The firm’s work at Coventry Transport Museum includes building two new extensions and structural and internal alterations, as well as external modifications.

Gary Hall, Chief Executive of Culture Coventry, the trust that runs Coventry Transport Museum said of the new exhibition: “Coventry Transport Museum has been home to the world’s two fastest cars Thrust SSC and Thrust 2 for many years now, and these seriously mind-blowing vehicles have attracted millions of visitors to Coventry throughout their time at the museum. We are now absolutely thrilled to have been able to give them a fitting new home in a dazzling exhibition – it has been specially designed and built to show off the vehicles, and to tell the amazing stories of the land speed record pioneers who dared to bring their engineering dreams to life.

“When designing the new exhibition we have also made sure that there is the perfect space for Bloodhound – when Richard Noble’s 1000mph car becomes the world’s fastest car in 2016, we would dearly love to offer it a home alongside its ancestors. For the moment though, we are delighted to have a full-scale Bloodhound model in place for the next few weeks, after which it will be replaced by an equally impressive life-sized K’NEX model of the vehicle.”

The new exhibition has been generously supported by Biffa Award, a multi-million pound fund that helps to build communities and transform lives through awarding grants to community and environmental projects across the UK.  The programme administers money donated by Biffa Group Limited, through the Landfill Communities Fund.

The Transport Museum redevelopment is also funded by the European Regional Development Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund, Garfield Weston Foundation, Arts Council England and WREN. 

For more information about J Tomlinson visit www.jtomlinson.co.uk
Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Derbyshire farm shop Croots to be visited by the Sausage King

Award-winning Croots Farm Shop is hosting a visit by the Sausage King as part of his nationwide quest to drop in on some of the UK’s finest sausage producers.

Stephen Plume, who runs a website dedicated to sausages, is one of the UK’s leading sausage experts and has been dubbed the Sausage King for his efforts to promote tasty British bangers.

Sausage King: Steve Plume

A teacher by profession, Stephen has undertaken a pledge to visit all the high-quality butchers listed on his sausagefans.co.uk website – and Croots Farm Shop near Duffield in Derbyshire is the latest that he’ll be dropping in on.

“We were chuffed when the Sausage King added Croots Farm Shop to his directory of great sausage-makers, and even more delighted when we heard he wanted to visit us,” said Croots Farm Shop owner Steve Croot. “Stephen is an absolute authority on the best British bangers, and we are looking forward to showing him our range of sausages at Croots and letting him try some of them for himself.”

Croots Farm Shop, based at Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road, has won scores of awards for its home-produced sausages, including Great Taste Awards, which are the ‘oscars’ of the fine food industry. The farm shop is renowned for creating unusual and original flavours, as well as more traditional bangers. Croots’ butchers enjoy creating new sausages to mark occasions, such as the Olympics or the World Cup, with a percentage of sales going to charity.

The pork used in Croots sausages comes from Packington Free Range Pork, in Staffordshire, while the beef hails from R & M Heath (Richard & Margaret) at Hazelwood Hall Farm, Hazelwood, Derbyshire. 

The Sausage King, who is based in East Anglia, will be visiting Croots Farm Shop from 11.15am on Thursday February 19^th. 

“The visits I’ve done so far have had a huge impact and hopefully helped to encourage people back to buying local,” said Stephen. “The sausage makers on sausagefans.co.uk are the finest from around the country as recommended for inclusion by readers of the website. 

“So far I’ve been to destinations including Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Cheshire, and I am very much looking forward to visiting Croots in Derbyshire, as I’ve heard excellent reports about the quality of the shop’s sausages.”

The shop employs three full-time butchers and two assistant part-time butchers, as part of a 28-strong workforce employed in the shop and the restaurant, Shires Eatery.

Launched in 2008, Croots Farm Shop is open daily from 9am to 5pm (Shires Eatery until 4.30pm). Croots runs Fresh Fish Thursdays between 10am and 4pm on Thursdays.

For more information visit www.croots.co.uk

Focus Consultants announces Leicester promotions

Left to right, James Garner and Chris Green

Two internal promotions have been made in the Leicester office of Focus Consultants following growth in the firm’s building surveying department. 

James Garner has been appointed as senior consultant and continues to head up the traditional building surveying commissions. Chris Green has become a consultant, two and a half years after joining the company straight from university. 

Focus experienced a 20% growth in building surveying work in its Leicester office during 2014, over the previous year. 

Both James and Chris are based at the Princess Road East office of Focus, which also has branches in Nottingham, London, Boston and Aubourn in Lincolnshire. The firm offers a range of services to the property and construction industry and is also a specialist in energy and funding. 

Partner Keith Butler said: “These promotions are a reflection of the hard work and commitment provided by both individuals which has contributed to the growth of the department. It is particularly pleasing to provide clear career paths and witness the personal development of key members of staff.” 

Focus is celebrating its 21^st anniversary during 2015. The company offers a range of building services to the property and construction industry, including building surveying, quantity surveying, project management, CDM Co-ordinator services and sustainable development support. 

Since its creation in 1994, Focus has also helped to secure more than £925 million of grant assistance for a range of projects and businesses across the UK and delivered more than £1.0 billion worth of projects and programmes – making it one of the most successful businesses of its kind in the country.

For more details about Focus Consultants visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Eurocodes policy for civil and structural engineer BSP Consulting

Paul Elphick

BSP Consulting has stepped up its use of Eurocodes for civil and structural design. 

The East Midlands-based company is now aiming to design to Eurocodes on all new projects, unless directed otherwise by clients. 

The codes represent the most wide-ranging change to codification of civil and structural design that has ever been experienced and are the most technically advanced set of civil and structural design codes in the world. 

They aim to remove potential barriers to trade that exist when countries have different design standards, although each member country has its own National Annex to the Eurocodes. Building Regulations now also refer to Eurocodes - another reason why BSP is making the switch. 

BSP’s policy has already proved beneficial on a scheme at Garsons Farm in Surrey, where the company is working alongside French steel fabricators who are designing a superstructure, while BSP engineers are designing the foundations. 

“As we are both designing to Eurocodes, it makes the job easier and more efficient,” said BSP associate director Paul Elphick. “BSP believes the policy of designing to Euorocodes aligns us with recent alterations to Building Regulations and EU directives for procurement of public sector projects which should present opportunities for company growth.” 

BSP introduced an implementation strategy and a training schedule for staff to familiarise themselves with the new codes, and the company now plans to use the Eurocodes on as many new projects as possible. The company has also invested in compliant software as part of the move. 

BSP Consulting is an award-winning company that provides civil, structural, transportation, environmental and geotechnical engineering services and is based in Oxford Street, Nottingham, with offices at Pride Park, Derby, De Montfort Street, Leicester, and in Solly Street, Sheffield.

For more information visit www.bsp-consulting.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Derbyshire farm shop Croots raises cash for charity

Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre is more than £1,000 better off thanks to customers and staff of Croots Farm Shop. 

The farm shop at Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road, near Duffield, nominated the charity as one of its charities of the year. 

Now, after a string of different fund-raising events and raffles during the past 12 months, as well as a donation from the shop, Croots Farm Shop owner Steve Croot has handed over £1,100 to the charity. 

The organisation, which provides holidays in Skegness for disadvantaged youngsters from the county, has been supported by Croots since 2012. 

“Not only is Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre a local charity, it’s also a great cause,” said Steve, who presented the cheque to the charity’s David Harris and other supporters. “I’d like to thank customers and staff for supporting our efforts, which will go towards the £150,000 that the charity needs every year to take 450 youngsters away for a well-deserved break.” 

One of the main fund-raising efforts during the past year has been through the sale of Croots Farm Shop’s world cup sausages, which were available during the tournament. The shop also donates the proceeds of carrier bag sales to charity. In addition to Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre, Croots also supports the Shire Horse Society, which protects and promotes the breed. 

Croots Farm Shop, which was launched in 2008, is open daily from 9am to 5pm (Shires Eatery until 4.30pm). Croots runs Fresh Fish Thursdays between 9am and 1pm on Thursdays.

For more information visit www.croots.co.uk 

@crootsfarm_shop

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk