At Franks Portlock we take great pride in our local communities and support a range of local charities and their efforts towards enhancing and improving the lives of others.

Most recently, our Sellafield and Sunderland teams supported Cash 4 Kids in the lead up to Christmas by delivering donated items to Trustee and Founder of Hope (NE), Jo Nicholl.

Based across 22 areas in the UK, Cash 4 Kids responds to the needs of children in its local communities, so they can live life to the full and realise their individual potential.

A fantastic effort from everyone involved towards a great cause.

At Franks Portlock, we are committed to ensuring that our clients are fully supported throughout the entire asbestos management process. As part of this commitment, our team works alongside organisations to ensure their asbestos records are accurate and comply with the Control of Asbestos Regulations.

We’re currently working on major two projects, including the entire portfolio for Belfast Health and Social Care Trust to oversee and reconcile existing asbestos management information and update it to a live system – Micad in both cases.

The importance of this work can greatly improve the quality of data for clients, where it has been acknowledged in previous similar projects, just how easy it is for once-relevant and valid information to become outdated where management staff move on and premises are progressively refurbished.

However, by reviewing the information available, we can target only those areas where either data is missing or needs verifying, greatly reducing the survey expenditure.

Franks Portlock has recently won a multidisciplinary framework agreement with authorised public sector buyer, Mi Concepts Ltd.

Mi Concepts Ltd helps government agencies, local authorities, and Local Enterprise Partnerships link up effectively with one another and the commercial sector, in order to achieve their goals. It also conducts market research such as feasibility studies, KPI monitoring and procurement methods, then develops bespoke projects such as software, management tools or frameworks to support each stage of the procurement.

Franks Portlock is working closely with Mi Concepts Ltd as part of a 4-year framework to provide asbestos investigations for demolition works across the public portfolio. The framework includes environmental appraisals and reports; asbestos reporting and asbestos strip; and all demolition activities including waste removal and recycling.

Lawrence Clack, commercial manager at Franks Portlock, said: “Mi Concepts Ltd has an excellent reputation for delivering bespoke projects to its clients and we are delighted to be entering into this partnership with the company.

“We have extensive experience and capabilities in asbestos management, and working throughout the public portfolio, and I am confident that our expertise will be demonstrated throughout this project.”

We were delighted to sponsor Little Lifers First Aid in helping to coordinate a first aid training programme for students at Orgill Primary School.

Little Lifers First Aid, founded by Natalie Groggins, an adult and paediatric first aid instructor, provides children aged between four and 11 with a basic introduction to first aid through practical learning.

Natalie uses The Flat Stan First Aid – an essential training programme that teaches children basic first aid using an interactive approach. Our team sponsored the interactive session that took place at Orgill Primary School, Cumbria on Thursday 28 November 2017.

Speaking of the programme, Natalie said: “I am delighted that I could deliver Flat Stan First Aid to the students at Orgill Primary School. First aid is a vital qualification no matter what age and as such it is so important to teach children, even as young as three, these valuable skills early.

“The children at Orgill Primary were a joy to work with. They were engaged and really took on board the interactive nature of the session.”

James New, Sellafield site contract manager and North West regional manager at Franks Portlock added: “We are thrilled to sponsor Natalie and her efforts towards providing schoolchildren with valuable and vital first aid skills. Little Lifers First Aid is an inspiring business that can bring so much benefit to those who complete Natalie’s training programmes. I look forward to collaborating with Natalie in the future and seeing how the business grows.”

Congratulations to Franks Portlock team members, Hazel Robinson and Susan Parkinson who have become authorised laboratory analysts.

Both Hazel and Susan completed an internal training programme which included studying HSG248 Asbestos: the analysts’ guide for sampling, analysis and clearance procedures and practicing on both existing and quality control samples. External training included attending the BHOS P401 – Identification of Asbestos in Bulk Samples (PLM) course and successfully completing the exam.

Following the P401 certification, the assessment continued in the workplace, with an exercise to show compliance with internal quality control and following procedures to ensure that their analyses were correct.

Nicola Warburton, quality and environmental manager at Franks Portlock, said: “I’m delighted with the achievements of Hazel and Susan.

“In addition to the standard service, we offer a premium four hours and 24-hour turnaround time and having the skilled staff in place is key to helping us deliver results in that timescale.

“They’ve both worked hard and have become authorised analysts in a relatively short space of time, which is testament to both their abilities and the in-house training provided.”

For more information on our lab testing services, click here.

We attended the 7th NDA Estate Supply Chain Event held in Manchester on 2 November, where we had the opportunity to showcase our expertise in providing asbestos management services to the nuclear sector.

Hosted by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the event is the biggest networking event for nuclear decommissioning in Europe. As well as providing an excellent opportunity to meet with potential new clients, the Franks Portlock team attended a number of presentations to find out more about nuclear industry procurement opportunities and the challenges and innovations happening across the sector.

Lawrence Clack, commercial manager at Franks Portlock said: “Attending the exhibition was great for our business development activity – we were able to network with potential new clients and find out more about the procurement opportunities that are available.

“As well as providing a platform to showcase our expertise in delivering asbestos management services to the nuclear sector, it was interesting to hear about current industry developments.”

In August 2014, Franks Portlock was awarded the contract to provide asbestos analytical services to Sellafield Ltd in a four- year contract worth £2 million. The contract means we provide site-wide support to Sellafield, its partners and suppliers for maintenance, site remediation and decommissioning.

For more information about our work with Sellafield and the nuclear sector click here 

We’re proud to have achieved UKATA certification for our Asbestos Awareness Training course.

Asbestos awareness training is a mandatory requirement (as outlined by the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012) for anyone who may disturb the fabric of buildings, people who work on contaminated land or anyone maintaining a building that may be affected by asbestos use.

Our training courses are comprehensive and fully compliant with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

Our flexible approach means we can add supplementary elements to the training if required, making it relevant to individual circumstances – that can mean supporting in working with different types of asbestos or honing training to the particular maintenance work being carried out.

For more information on our asbestos awareness training or to book a course, please contact Lawrence Clack on 0191 419 3116 or via email.

We’re proud to sponsor the South Tyneside Yamaguchi Goju Kai Karate team who brought home gold, silver and bronze medals from the IKGA World Championships in Canada.

The 7th Karate-do Goju-kai Global Championships took place from September 28 – October 1 at the Richmond Olympic Oval in British Columbia, Canada.

Over the four-day competition, the team’s impressive performance resulted in Emma Stephenson winning Gold in Kata, Aiden McTavy winning a Silver in Kumite and Tracy Suggit winning a Bronze in Kumite.

Sensei, Mark Purcell, runs the South Tyneside Yamaguchi GoJu Kai Karate Academy and has coached the winning team to success. He commented: “I’m immensely proud of the team’s achievements. They all performed to the highest of standards and I’m delighted that their hard work and training has paid off.

“A huge thanks to Franks Portlock for their sponsorship; it’s the support of North East businesses like these who make it possible for us to compete in global competitions and showcase the talent of our academy members.”

We’re delighted to welcome two new members to the Franks Portlock team. Lawrence Clack has been appointed as commercial manager and Alex Edminson has taken up the newly created role of HR administrator.

Lawrence has over 13 years’ experience in the asbestos industry and will be responsible for developing strategies and plans to drive the firm’s growth. He will also work with colleagues from across the business to identify and target new business leads, manage the company’s tendering process and enhance service delivery.

Alex, from Sunderland, is experienced in a wide range of HR disciplines such as recruitment, performance management, employee relations and HR administration processes. She also holds a first-class BA (Hons) in Business Management. As HR administrator, Alex will oversee everything from introducing new policies and managing new starter inductions to handling fleet, appraisal, and personal record administration processes.

Phil Franks, director at Franks Portlock, said: “Both Lawrence and Alex are great additions to our team.

“Lawrence will play an influential role in shaping the company’s growth plan, and liaising with both current and prospective clients to ensure we continue to deliver a trusted and high-quality service. Alex will play a key role in ensuring our internal process and HR systems run efficiently as well as supporting our recruitment and workforce development initiatives.

“I’m looking forward to working with them both as we continue with our ambitions plans for growth.”

In a first for us here at Franks Portlock, we were delighted to receive an original Norman Cornish painting in our Sunderland lab for testing. Carefully delivered by staff from Auckland Castle, the painting has a vinyl/hessian backing that was found to be asbestos free.

The painting will be showcased at a Mining Art Gallery which is being opened by Auckland Castle. Created in partnership with Dr Robert McManners OBE and Gillian Wales, the new Mining Art Gallery will provide a permanent home for the renowned Gemini Collection of Mining Art, which includes more than 420 works by prominent local artists such as Tom McGuinness and Norman Cornish.