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PRO NEWS
Social media backs ‘ fluffy ’ Cairo charity
Stevenswood , the UK national network of local trade centres for windows , doors and more , has donated £ 1,000 to charity after asking Facebook followers to vote for their favourite .
Stevenswood asks its Facebook followers to vote for their favourite charity and the money is donated to the organisation that gets the most votes . “ In previous years , it ’ s worked really well ,” says Ron Hepburn , chief executive officer of Stevenswood . “ This year , it went ballistic . I watched the numbers grow over the holidays . Imagine my surprise when in the first 48 hours we ’ d reached more than half a million people ! We had reached more than 1.2 million when we closed the competition , and we had nearly 18,000 comments with people ’ s favourite charities .” The winning charity with 1,462 votes was Prince Fluffy Kareem . The UK based charity supports the work of Marte and Sherif helping the working animals and their owners in the pyramid area in Cairo , Egypt .
See the results on Facebook @ stevenswooduk
www . stevenswood . co . uk
FEBRUARY 2017 PRO INSTALLER
www . proinstaller . co . uk
CONSTRUCTION A BEACON FOR SOCIAL MOBILITY
A new report published by the Chartered Institute of Building ( CIOB ) highlights the critical role that construction plays in reversing declining levels of economic and social mobility in the UK . The report , Social Mobility and Construction : Building Routes to Opportunity contains a specially commissioned survey of 1,094 working adults . Results show how among the UK industries , construction ranks near the top for social and economic mobility . And while other industries , such as manufacturing , have shed skilled workers , the construction industry maintains a third of all employment in this occupation group . These skilled trades not only provide social status and solid earnings in themselves , but provide many with an opportunity and a platform for progression within their career , from the trades through to management and professional roles . Commenting on the report , Paul Nash , president of the CIOB said : “ Social mobility is fast becoming one of the defining issues of our time . This report highlights the importance of increasing social mobility and how the construction industry can work to promote greater equality of opportunity for all , particularly in a challenging social and economic environment .” Reflecting on his own career , Paul continued : “ I joined the construction industry at 18 as a management trainee with a construction company ; I went on to gain a post-graduate qualification through advice from my professional body . I now sit here as president of the CIOB . I never thought I ’ d be in the position I am today but stories such as mine show the quality of opportunity that exists in construction .” The findings also demonstrate the links between the actual built environment and social mobility : a better built environment , including schools , hospitals , homes and infrastructure , provides greater opportunity for economic and social progression . Essentially the shaping of the built environment plays a big part in how these opportunities are distributed and how they impact on our well-being and life chances .
The report was formally launched at an event in the House of Commons . A full copy of the report is available at : https :// policy . ciob . org / research
Business makes it into 25 club
Gloucester-based aluminium specialist CDW Systems is celebrating 25 years in business this month – a real milestone , especially when many UK businesses do not last more than five years . The achievement of reaching a quarter century of trading follows a record end to 2016 which saw group turnover increase by 19 % and hit £ 10m for the first time in its history . Planning is underway to expand CDW ’ s factory to accommodate increasing demand for its fabricated products .
www . cdwsystems . co . uk