Spec Finish

aask us expands sales team with new appointment Finishing designer and manufacturer, aask us, is bolstering its sales operations to meet the increasing demand for its bespoke trims and glazed partition systems. Tanya Chulova has joined the company’s team as office sales support and will help handle client enquiries and process orders. Anthony Chadley, Managing Director at aask us, said: “The past two years have been extremely challenging both in terms of Covid and Brexit, but the successful launch of our glazed partition division and our company re-brand, has enabled aask us to continue to expand and evolve”. www.aask.us Community News Knauf announces new factory plans Knauf has reached an agreement with Gypfor for the purchase of a new plasterboard manufacturing plant in Newport, South Wales. This multi-million-pound investment will increase the UK production volume of Knauf’s range of gypsum-based building materials by 20%when fully onstream in Q1 2023. It is an emphatic demonstration of the Group’s commitment to dry construction in the UK and Ireland markets. The factory, developed by Gypfor, is located at the port of Newport, allowing gypsum to be offloaded directly, avoiding road haulage. The state-of-the-art facility, will benefit fromgreen power generated by renewable sources, includingwind and solar technologies, reflecting Knauf’s determination to reduce the carbon emissions associatedwith large-scalemanufacturing. The plant will also have on-site recycling as part of its commitment to the circular economy. www.knauf.co.uk Debbie Plavinskas of Overbury wins Inspiring Change Award Debbie Plavinskas of Overbury was the winner of the Fairness, Inclusion and Respect (FIR) award at this years Inspiring Change Awards. Overbury’s period poverty initiative at 5 Bank Street was nominated for the Workplace Project award, and the initiative’s creator and leader, Debbie Plavinskas, was nominated for the Fairness, Inclusion and Respect award. The period poverty initiative, pitched by Debbie, Design Manager at Overbury, aimed to significantly increase inclusivity for women on site and raise awareness for period poverty amongst all on-site staff, 90% of whom are male. The initiative resulted in the collection of over 60,000 sanitary products which were donated to a local food bank, a women’s homeless shelter and to the people of Ukraine. It also led to big changes within Overbury - sanitary bins are now standard at sites and offices, and free sanitary products are provided where possible. The Fairness, Inclusion and Respect Award recognises individuals who have ‘made a significant, innovative and outstanding contribution to promoting a culture of Fairness, Inclusion and Respect within their scope of work either in their workplace or beyond’. www.overbury.com Optima Systems receives eighth consecutive RoSPA GOLD award Glass partitioning systems and solutions, Optima Systems, had a great time at The Royal Society for the Prevention aback. HSQE Director, RichardWoolard was in attendance to receive Optima’s eighth consecutive GOLD award. “We are all very proud of this excellent achievement by our HSQE and Installation teams.” www.optimasystems.com Debbie Plavinskas winner of the 2022 FIR Inspiration Stuart Deas, Managing Director, HP Contracts Ltd Tanya Chulova, aask us office sales support HP Contracts doubles down on fire safety HPContracts (HPC) has gainedBMTradaQMark Certification to cover fire door installation, fire doormaintenance andfire stopping.The scheme is designed to ensure that robust processes are in place tomaintain thefire integrity of buildings through the correct installation andmaintenance of products critical to life safety.Third party certification is onerous and involves additional and ongoing training for theHPC team, regular audits and accurate record keeping to ensure that the requirements of the scheme are constantlymet. MD, Stuart Deas, said: “It is concerning when you look at the number of problems that we see in relation to fire safety in our daily work. It is clear that much work has been done in the past without the necessary knowledge, skill, or care – corners have been cut and, as a consequence, lives have been put at risk. That is why we took the view that we needed third party certification. It has not been a cheap or easy process, but I believe we have emerged as a stronger business with a clear culture of safety first.” www.hpcontracts.co.uk HSQE Director, RichardWoolard (Right of picture) receives Optima’s eighth consecutive GOLD award! 28 www.thefis.org