Theresa May

9.01.18

Happy New Year!

We hope you all had a lovely Christmas and 2018 has got off to a great start!

A cabinet shuffle is often the chance to reassert a prime minister’s authority and refresh a party’s image. But Theresa May’s reshuffle didn’t go exactly to plan when several cabinet ministers refused to move, according to sources. Education Secretary Justine Greening refused to be transferred and handed in her resignation and Jeremy Hunt is said to have kept his role after “persuading” Mrs May not to move him. To further complicate things, the Conservative party tweeted out Chris Grayling as the new chairman, when the role actually went to the immigration minister Brandon Lewis.

Brighton left it late to beat rivals Crystal palace 2-1 in the third round of the FA Cup, after striker Glenn Murray scored the winning goal in the dying minutes. The FA Cup game marked the debut for the new Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology, which is a new system designed to keep referee mistakes to a minimum. The VAR will only intervene when the referee makes a clear and obvious error. But in last night’s cup tie, the new system remained unused despite Murray’s controversial winning goal which looked like he handballed into the net.

Nearly 200,00 Salvadorans face deportation from the United States by September 2019 after the Trump administration ended special protection status for people from the Central American country. The decision made by the Homeland Security will have a heavy impact on parts of New York, Los Angeles and New York with a large Salvadoran community.

In construction news this week…

Health fears raised over construction nanotechnologies. Tiny particles in building materials could pose asbestos-style dangers.

Jailed payroll cheats ordered to pay back £3.5m within 3 months or serve longer prison terms and still owe the money. Accountant Aquil Ahmed, 61, and construction services company director Victor Shearer, 44 were jailed in October 2016 after they cheated HM Revenue and Customs of £6.9m in VAT, income tax, National Insurance Contributions and Construction Industry Scheme deductions.

Huge blaze hits Balfour Bristol university site. Balfour Beatty started on site early last year on a £19m contract to renovate and extend the Grade II listed building.

In MECsafe news this week…

We still have plenty of availability on the following courses:

PASMA (Mobile Towers) – 15th Jan 2018

SSSTS (Supervisors) – 18th & 19th Jan 2018

UKATA Asbestos Awareness – 22nd Jan 2018

If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

14.08.17

She’s back!

After her three week holiday, Theresa May makes her return to Downing Street this week as ministers prepare to amplify their negotiating position on Brexit.

In the final evening of the World Championships, Great Britain picked up a silver and bronze medal in the women and men’s 4x400m relays. Their medals take team GB’s total medal tally to six.

Four time Olympic champion Mo Farah has accused the media of trying to “destroy” his legacy over allegations his coach breached anti-doping regulations. On Sunday, the 34-year-old insisted his achievements throughout his career has come from hard work.

In construction news this week…

Big Ben to fall silent for building works. On Monday 21st August at noon, the bongs of Big Ben will sound for the last time for a four-year conservation programme.

First ACM cladding passes fire tests. The first aluminium composite panel cladding system has passed the Government’s fresh round of stringent fire tests in the in the wake of London’s Grenfell disaster.

Google gets green light for £1bn King’s Cross HQ. Internet giant Google has been given the green light by planners to build its new £1bn headquarters at King’s Cross in London.

In MECsafe news this week…

We still have plenty of availability on the following courses:

SMSTS Refresher – 17th & 18th August

UKATA Asbestos Awareness – 21st August (AM)

Manual Handling / Working at Height / Abrasive Wheel – 25th August

If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

20.09.16

See you in four years!

There was joy and sadness on Sunday evening as the closing cermony of the Paralympics ended.

If you have been under a rock for the last couple of weeks, you may not be aware team GB won 12% of the total number of gold medals available – the best since way back in 1968! Finishing second in the medal table behind China, GB set 49 Paralympic and 27 world records. Both the oldest (Anne Dunham) and youngest (Abby Kane) competitors on the team claimed medals, and 11 sports won gold medals with a record-equalling 15 securing at least one medal.

You can view the full medal table here.

So Well Done team GB! Now the challenge will be to maintain momentum and rise to the occasion once again in 2020!

A two-day celebration of the UK’s achievements at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio is to start with a homecoming parade for the athletes in Manchester on 17 October, with more festivities in London the following day.

Construction news this week…

Moda Living and Apache Capital Partners have been given the green light for an £80m PRS development in Liverpool.
The government’s buying arm, the Crown Commercial Service, has finally invited bids for its long-awaited £2.9bn consultancy framework, please click here for further info.
Theresa May’s green light for Hinkley has raised hopes of a slew of infrastructure deals, despite Brexit, click here for full article.

MECsafe news this week…

There are still plenty of places available on our courses scheduled at Doncaster over the next couple of weeks:

SMSTS – 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 Sept (block week)
SMSTS – 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 Oct (day release)
CCNSG Refresher – 30 Sept (book refresher training asap, to avoid having to attend the initial course again)!
Fire Warden / Awareness – 26 Sept

If you would like to book or require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.