The Passion Project: the NFDC helping young people into work

The Passion Project, established in 2013 to help get young people into paid employment, was the springboard to getting 9 young people into the Demolition Industry courtesy of a partnership between the National Federation of Demolition Contractors, the Institute of Demolition Engineers and the Erith Group.

Of the original 18 applications, 9 young men were selected to join the programme, which entailed an intensive 2-day training course on 14th and 15th April 2016 in Demolition Awareness and Asbestos Awareness set at one of Erith’s City of London sites. With the addition of a successful Touchscreen Test all 9 candidates achieved 1st level CCDO Cards, enabling them to work safely on demolition sites.

The candidates themselves, from across inner and outer London, range from 18-24 years of age, with the majority between 19 and 21. Often from difficult backgrounds, these young people now have a real chance of getting into paid employment. Starting this week, the candidates will start work at Erith’s on a 3 month paid probation, after which those that can prove themselves will have a permanent job in the industry with a 2 year NFDC Apprenticeship.

This round of candidates, funded by the IDE and certified by the NFDC, are the first of what is hoped to be a successful stream of well needed candidates into the Demolition Industry, with the next round being sponsored directly by the NFDC.

Erith performance rewarded by Considerate Contractor Scheme

Erith Group has been awarded the Considerate Contractor Scheme Gold Award by the City of London. The reason? Three demolition jobs performed inside the city limits, and a task not achieved before by a contractor within a 12 month period.

The specific projects include:

King William Street – situated adjacent to Prudentials European office and the heavy footfall of London Bridge.

London Development Project – in the heart of Farringdon neighbouring the City Temple.

Sugar Quay – located on the north bank of the River Thames adjacent to the iconic Tower Bridge.

The award is described as follows:

"The Gold Award recognises that the requirements of the Code of Good Practice have been consistently exceeded. It reflects a spirit of pride, an awareness of the needs of the passing public and regard for the surrounding environment."

Source: NFDC and Erith

C&D support Erith Group with an advertisement

Building Design & Construction Magazine are running a feature this month on Erith Group and their development of a reliable trusted supply chain, of which C&D are a part. So we are delighted to support the Erith article with an advertisement produced for us by Mark Anthony at Demolition News which we reproduce here.

IDE South East Regional Meeting, 23rd October

The IDE South East Regional Meeting has been confirmed as taking place on Thursday, 23rd October this year.

The meeting will be hosted by IDE Council members Stuart Accelton and Howard Button. Speakers include Grant Styles of Erith Group who will be talking about an LDP Project case Study. Vanessa Quanash of Swanton Consulting will also be in attendance and talking about a Rathbone Place Project Engineer Case Study.

The venue is the Erith Project Office, Show Lane, Farrington with proceedings kicking off at 4:30pm and ending at 7pm. If you would like to attend (it counts as 2 hours CPD) then please register by contacting The National Secretary by email at info@ide.org.uk

Is demolition showing an upturn?

For some time now the demolition industry has been facing hard times with bid prices and margins screwed lower and lower, and companies being forced out of business. However, are we seeing an upturn in work and enquiries?

C&D have suddenly, over the last month, been busier than at any time in 2011 delivering demolition related training courses throughout the UK.

April and the early part of May saw C&D trainers deliver over 200 man days of training of all types from Demolition and Asbestos Awareness for J.Bryan Victoria and Erith Group to IPAF training for Hurley Demolition Limited and this upturn in business could be the start of a general upturn in the industry.

What was particularly pleasing in this period was one Demolition & Asbestos Awareness course held at A R Demolition Ltd as a joint venture with Hurley Demolition Limited where the delegates spent time after the course, without prompting by the trainer, discussing the content and how each of the respective companies dealt with demolition related issues which is a first for us!

It was nice to see collaboration and discussion in our industry rather than the normally reserved and inward stance of many demolition companies.

Let's hope that what appears to be an upturn in demolition related training becomes an upturn in the demolition industry.

Chimney demolition, Lafarge Cement Factory, Northfleet

The above chimney demolition was carried out at the Lafarge Cement Factory, Northfleet, Kent. It forms part of what is thought to be the largest demolition site in Europe covering 34 hectares and over 70 buildings.

The demolition is being carried out by Erith Group, but the chimney was demolished by PDC.

PDC will be at the Royal Armouries, Leeds IDE Seminar on March 5th giving a presentation if you want to have a chat with them. Check out the IDE Activities Diary for more details and to book your place.