Focus Consultants gains key environmental accreditation

Focus partner Jason Redfearn

The teams at Focus Consultants have cemented their commitment to high environmental standards by achieving an internationally recognised environmental management accreditation.

The Leicester office of Focus has become the latest of the Focus offices to be awarded ISO 14001 Environmental Management System and follows the Nottingham and Boston offices, which also recently gained the standard.

The firm’s ECS Team, which provides energy and sustainability services, operates out of the Focus office in Leicester, based at Meridian Business Park.  

Focus Partner Jason Redfearn, who leads the ECS team, said: “We are pleased to add Leicester to the offices which operate ISO 14001; this continues our drive to minimise the impact of Focus’s business operation on the environment.”

ISO 14001 is an internationally recognised environmental management standard to manage the immediate and long-term environmental impacts of an organisation’s operation and services. 

The cornerstone behind the standard is the minimisation of a company’s environmental footprint.

Focus has always promoted sustainable development through its commissions, using its team of qualified professionals to provide cost-effective solutions for regulation compliance, energy reduction or to meet carbon objectives.  

The ECS team provides regulation compliance services such as SAP and SBEM, and assessor services for HQM, CODE, BREEAM. Its air testing services continue to expand.

Focus Consultants, which has its headquarters at Phoenix Business Park in Nottingham, offers a range of support on all aspects of sustainable development, as well as services in funding and economic development, project management and building surveying.

For more information visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk

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Economic funding courses staged by Focus Consultants and Nottingham Trent University

Heather Frecklington, partner at Focus Consultants

Two experts from Focus Consultants, who have helped to secure millions of pounds’ worth of grants for clients, will be sharing their advice at two one-day courses for built environment professionals. 

Focus founding partner Kevin Osbon and partner Heather Frecklington, who have both been involved in some of the UK’s most prestigious development projects, are joining forces with Nottingham Trent University to run the courses.

Aimed at those professionals who are involved in the planning and financing of projects, course one turns the spotlight on economic impact assessment and evaluation, while the second course focuses on The Green Book business case and will look at central government’s core tool for making public funding decisions.

The courses, which are being run in conjunction with the School of Architecture, Design and Built Environment at NTU, are due to be held on 3^rdand 4^th November 2016 at Nottingham Conference Centre at NTU’s City Campus.

Since 1994, Nottingham-based Focus Consultants has secured over £953 million towards £1.3 billion of projects and programmes for clients across all manner of activity including area regeneration, economic development, business support, technology, arts, sport, heritage, tourism, housing, community regeneration, ICT, training and education. Major projects include Nottingham Castle, National Space Centre in Leicester, Discovery of Richard III in Leicester, and Devonshire Park in Eastbourne.

“Increasingly, this work has involved completing economic impact assessments and evaluations to make a robust case for funding,” said Heather Frecklington, who has more than 20 years’ economic development experience in both the public and private sectors and leads Focus’ Funding, Research and Economic Development Business Unit.

“These two one-day courses at NTU will give an insight into how built environment professionals can best access the funding that is currently available to support their projects.”

Focus, which has its headquarters at Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham, and also has branches in London, Leicester, and in Boston and Aubourn in Lincolnshire, is one of the most successful businesses of its kind in the country.

For more information about the courses and to book, visit www.ntu.ac.uk/focus or contact the short course team at the School of Architecture, Design and Built Environment on 0115 848 2813.

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

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Key internal promotions at Focus Consultants

 

Focus Consultants has made two senior internal promotions as the company continues to expand.

Jason Redfearn has been appointed as a Partner of the business, while senior surveyor Craig Gould has been promoted to an Associate.

Jason, who leads the Energy Team at Focus, is based in the firm’s Leicester office in Princess Road East.
Craig Gould, who is deputy business manager for the building surveying unit, works out of the Nottingham headquarters of the company at Phoenix Business Park.

Focus Partner Karl Marriott said: “Both Jason and Craig have been with us for several years and epitomise the Focus spirit and culture. They are loyal, creative, hard working, commercially aware and enthusiastic.

“I am very pleased to announce their new positions within the company.”

Focus, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary during 2014, offers a range of services in the construction and development sector, including funding and economic development, regeneration expertise, energy consultancy and chartered surveying services.

Since its creation in 1994, Focus has helped to secure more than £925m 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.

It has worked on a range of high-profile projects in the arts, heritage and tourism sector, including some of the major museums across the UK, and important historical and ecclesiastical sites.

Focus is also a key player in the sustainability sector and, over the past ten years alone, the firm has completed more than 600 projects across the country.   

Jason joined Focus in January 2003, having graduated in Building Surveying. He gained practical experience in project delivery within the social housing sector whilst developing the Focus energy and sustainability services, originally based in Nottingham he moved to the Leicester office in 2006.

“Under his leadership, the Energy Team has grown impressively in tough market conditions to become a significant part of the business,” added Karl.

Craig began his career at Focus in 2003, while still undertaking an HNC in construction at West Nottinghamshire College in Mansfield. He was taken on full time shortly after in April 2003 by Focus as a trainee building surveyor and CAD technician, and he went on to achieve a Building Surveying degree at Sheffield Hallam University, while being sponsored by Focus.

Both Craig and Jason have benefited from the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence training delivered by Focus, and both went on to pass at the first attempt to both become Chartered Building Surveyors.

Outside of work, Craig, who grew up in Sutton-in-Ashfield and now lives in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, is a keen sportsman. He plays cricket for Mansfield Hosiery Mills Cricket Club and is a member of the Nottingham Forest FC Directors Club. As a youngster, he played football for the Nottingham Forest Academy. He has also played cricket for the Midlands and Nottinghamshire CCC at Academy level.

Focus has offices in Nottingham, Leicester, Boston, Aubourn in Lincolnshire and Holborn in London.

For more information visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk

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