As staff return to work we have been interested to learn what they have all been up to during furlough, and two staff have shared their remarkable stories.

Lisa Mumby, Accounts Assistant joined a Facebook group shortly after being furloughed called ‘For the Love of Scrubs’ which was set up by a Lincolnshire nurse and quickly became national. As we all know the national shortage of PPE was in the news often and thousands of sewists across the UK got together through this group and others to sew scrubs, face masks, laundry bags etc. for the NHS workers.  Lisa was assigned to the Nottinghamshire group and made scrubs and laundry bags which ended up in GP surgeries in Nottingham. Lisa also sewed an additional 60 masks for friends and family.

Philip Newborough, Web Developer lives in the small village of Swinderby where members club together to purchase heating oil, with the idea that they purchase in bulk and receive a cheaper rate. The person who managed this system (manually) wrote an article in the local parish magazine and asked villagers if they would collectively contribute a couple of thousand pounds to have a custom system developed to aid in the administration of the scheme.

Membership to the scheme is free and it’s a non-profit, so whilst Phillip was furloughed, he offered to undertake the work and develop the system for free, saving the villagers some money.

 Philip developed a custom website with a registration system and member accounts area. All members can login to the website and request an amount of oil. The system keeps track of the total amount of oil that has been requested by members and when the amount reaches 18,000 litres, a purchase order is raised with the cheapest supplier. All members are then automatically emailed with details of the oil delivery, supplier, date and price etc. The system has been running successfully for the last few months and the villagers have already benefited from the savings.

Arran Fullwood, Finance Director who manages both Lisa and Philip commented:

I was inspired and humbled when I spoke to Lisa and Philip and discovered what they had achieved during the period they were furloughed.  I’m equally overwhelmed by the staff who kept working during the entire period doing essential work at Lincoln hospital.  We have a fantastic team at Gelder Group and I’m very proud to be a part of it.

Pictured: Home made PPE

The Swinderby CHOPS website.

Gelder Group’s Insurance Repair and Renovation department have yet again achieved FSQS certification from Hellios.

FSQS (Financial Services Qualification System) is a community of financial institutions including banks, building societies, insurance companies and investment services, collaborating to agree a single standard for collecting the increasing amount and complexity of third party information needed to demonstrate compliance to regulators, internal policies and governance controls.

Gelder Group fulfil over 2000 insurance claims per annum and have three regional offices within the East Midlands.

FSQS Certificate

Gelder Group Apprentice Surveyor Jack Bateman (18) would normally travel to a survey with a fully qualified Surveyor, however during the Covid-19 pandemic Jack must now observe social distancing guidelines and he is delighted to have received his own vehicle to ensure he is able to both, continue with his training but also remain safe at work.

Insurance Director Louisa Sharpe commented:

We are working in a new world and having to make changes to normal practice everyday to keep all our staff safe, however we must continue to train and develop all our staff so they are able to move forward with their apprenticeships. This is just one of many initiatives we have adopted towards that goal.

Apprentice Surveyor Jack Bateman with his new vehicle.

Now part of  Stallard Kane Associates, PAT Test UK are the latest company to lease a unit at Gelder Investments neighbourhood centre at Bob Rainsforth Way, Gainsborough.

PAT Test UK, who have taken a 5 year lease, provide complete electrical solutions across the UK ranging from portable compliance solutions to full re-wires.

The Centre was developed by Gelder Group’s Commercial Division  in 2012 the neighbourhood centre forms part of Gelder Group’s property portfolio, is managed internally and has remained popular and fully occupied for several years.

Great Places Housing Group has placed social value at the heart of its new £750m Innovation Chain North framework of Contractors and Consultants, as the successful organisations on the new four-year framework are announced.

Helen Spencer, Great Places’ Director of Development, said: “We are delighted to be working with Gelder Group on our new ICN framework. We are confident they will be able to work with us and the clients of ICN in delivering the sector’s extensive development ambitions in the North. We were delighted to have a huge response from the market and receive high quality proposals and substantial social value pledges for our communities”.

The framework has been designed to support delivery of new homes across the north of England, not only to support Great Places’ very ambitious development programme, but also those of other Housing Associations operating across the north of England.

The framework renewal saw a 56 per cent increase in bidders seeking to deliver works and services; 183 companies applied to supply the framework. The majority of bidders applied for multiple lots, and in total, 726 bids were evaluated across the 23 lots.

The successful organisations were selected based on their technical competence, price and their commitment to social value. The new £750m framework will run until June 2024.

Social value pledges, including apprenticeships, work experience opportunities and volunteering hours, were proposed by all suppliers and through a collaborative approach, we will be seeking these pledges to be applied on every new development.

Joanne Whitehead, Great Places’ Procurement and Performance Manager, said: “Well done to Gelder Group and all the organisations who have been awarded a place on the framework. We received a large number of high quality bids, and we now have an excellent group of contractors and consultants, covering a wide range of disciplines, to support our housing delivery ambitions. Great Places and the other housing providers who access the framework, look forward to working with them all in the future”.

Following a delayed completion caused by the UK wide Coronavirus lockdown, Dave and Lynette Shaw (Pictured) have finally completed their purchase and safely moved into their new three bedroom executive bungalow, situated at Heynings Close, Knaith Park.

‘Gelder Living’ is a subsidiary of Gelder Group and is currently completing the build of just nine, three bedroom executive bungalows to an award winning standard on this site, with only six properties still available.

For further information on Gelder Living developments; email info@gelder.co.uk

Mr & Mrs Shaw enjoying a glass of Champagne in their new home

Work is now well underway at the Sobraon Barracks in Lincoln. The £1.6m build will provide additional facilities on site, including new garages, maintenance areas and gymnasium. The build was scheduled to be a 34 week program, but due to the Corona Pandemic, the work may be slightly delayed in completion. The project will utilise our apprentice teams on brickwork, joinery and Mechanical and Engineering.

The Contracts Manager for the project commented; “We are very excited to be working with the client to construct the new training centre and workshop building, which will provide new training amenities for the East Midlands Reserve Forces and Cadets Association”.

Speaking on behalf of the Barracks, Lieutenant Colonel AP Gifford, Commanding Officer, 158 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, Sobraon Barracks, Lincoln, commented; “The construction of the new garages, maintenance areas and gymnasium at the Sobraon Barracks Army Reserve Centre in Lincoln, will greatly enhance the capability of 158 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps. It provides us with the facilities to maintain the military vehicles of 160 Transport Squadron and allows our soldiers to greatly improve their personal fitness. The new build will ensure that the Regiment has a serviceable vehicle fleet and fit soldiers, ready to deploy on operations, both in the UK and abroad.”

East Midlands Reserve Forces and Cadets Association (RFCA) plays a leading role in strengthening the environment for the Armed Forces, through building relationships with the local community and employers. East Midlands RFCA is responsible for the maintenance and support of Army Reserve Centres and Cadet Centres, engaging with Reservists’ employers, supporting Reservists and Cadets and assisting with recruitment of Army Cadet Force Adult Volunteers.

Images provided by Allan Joyce Architects, Nottingham.

In 2019, the Gelder Group merged its Facilities Maintenance and Building and Major Contracts Divisions into one ‘Commercial Division’, reporting in to Construction Director Dave Gladwin.

The newly formed division enjoyed both a strong finish to 2019, along with a very strong ‘pre-coronavirus’ start to 2020, with 18 framework wins and £10m of new orders. As the UK then headed into lockdown, the Division was chosen to deliver several emergency projects for various local authorities, supermarkets and for United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

As focus turns to exiting lockdown, new ways of working and practices, it was felt that now is the right time to put in place and announce our new team.

On the announcement, Construction Director Dave Gladwin comments “Our new Commercial Leadership Team has been selected on the basis of their market knowledge, their ability to inspire their teams and the fact they all carry out their duties with our company’s ‘Can Do’ attitude, skills that we feel will be the most important post Covid-19 leadership requirements. So, after careful consideration we are delighted to announce our new Commercial Division Leadership Team, consisting of……”

Joe Allmond – Commercial Manager

Iain Cameron – Senior Estimator

John Ellerker – Senior Quantity Surveyor

Kate Brown – Office Manager

(Left to Right) John Ellerker – Senior Quantity Surveyor, Kate Brown – Office Manager, Joe Allmond – Commercial Manager, Iain Cameron – Senior Estimator

Despite lockdown, Gelder Group’s Commercial Division has, where its safe to do so and where materials are available, kept projects running. One such project that has moved forward is the construction of a new Digital, Logistics and Academy building on Boston College’s Rochford Campus.

Steelwork is now erected and groundworks are well under way on the £1.6m project, which is being managed by site manager Matt Turner and overseen by contract manager Gavin Parker.

On Completion, the new building will welcome students, focusing on port skills such as crane operations, forklift truck driving, leadership and management, as well as improving their digital skills.

Steel Framework at Boston College

From Wednesday 13^th May the UK Government permitted angling where strict social distancing measures can be maintained. This has led to a steady flow of anglers enjoying a few hours catching fish in the Gelder Lake.

The lake is well stocked and many employees and friends of the company making use of the facility. We also have some decent sized carp that can take a bit of landing and snap an angler’s line – not every angler goes to the lengths Ben Charlwoods did to recover his float and hook though when this fella snapped his line!