News

Gold safety award seven years running - August 2010

For the seventh year running Wensley Roofing has won Gold in the Occupational Health & Safety Awards run by RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents).  RoSPA specifically recognises organisations that achieve the Gold Award for five consecutive years or more with an award of Gold Medal status.

Wensley Roofing has also won a Gold safety award from the National Federation of Roofing Contractors, for the sixth consecutive year.

Managing director Ian Young said: "We are delighted to receive this further public recognition of our total commitment to health and safety. Over the last seven years we have developed and rigorously implemented policies and procedures that protect the workforce, the general public and the environment."

These achievements are recognition of the very high priority that Wensley Roofing, and Northern Bear plc, place on health and safety.  Last year Northern Bear Safety Ltd was set up to provide expert health and safety training and consultancy to companies in the group and to other businesses.

 Largest ever repair contract - June 2010

Wensley Roofing has been awarded a major roofing maintenance contract by Isos Housing Group, one of the largest providers of supported housing in the North East region.

The work involves providing a day-to-day efficient response service for roofing maintenance and repair of approximately 8,200 houses in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham and Tees Valley. It is the biggest maintenance contract that Wensley Roofing has undertaken.

Isos Housing Group comprises three major housing associations (Milecastle Housing, NomadE5 and Castle Morpeth Housing) and two development companies. It owns and manages around 12,000 properties.

Wensley Roofing has previously worked for NomadE5 and Project Manager Jeremy Askew is delighted to have been awarded a contract by the larger group.  He said: "We are very excited at being awarded such a prestigious contract and look forward to establishing a close working relationship with Isos Housing Group for many years to come."

John McKernan, Head of Technical Services for Milecastle Housing, who awarded the contract on behalf of Isos Housing Group, said: "We are delighted to have Wensley Roofing on board and look forward to working with them in the future in such a way that will benefit both companies and the residents of Isos."

 Five year record of safety awards - May 2009

Wensley Roofing has added to its excellent record for health and safety with two more Gold Awards, one from the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) and one from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

Wensley Roofing has now won a Gold Awards for Safety from both organisations every year for the last five years. RoSPA specifically recognises organisations that achieve the Gold Award for five consecutive years with an award of Gold Medal status.

Managing director Ian Young said: "We are delighted to receive this further public recognition of the company's total commitment to health and safety. Over the last five years we have developed and rigourously implemented policies and procedures that protect the workforce, the general public and the environment."

www.rospa.com

www.nfrc.co.uk

 Honoured for voluntary work – October 2008

Wensley Roofing’s contracts director Bill Shearing and his wife Zenobia (known as Nobie) have been awarded a rare and prestigious honour for their voluntary work.  They are the first ‘normal’ people to be presented with the Bethlehem Passport.  Other passport holders include the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Bethlehem Passport was presented to Bill and Nobie by Leila Sansour, founder of the Open Bethlehem foundation, at a ceremony including church and civic leaders from Sunderland at St Aidan’s church in Grangetown on 25 October 2008. 

The honour is in recognition of their work supporting various projects in the troubled city.  They have visited Bethlehem 18 times over the last 12 years and have worked tirelessly to promote the city by holding talks all over the North East which have raised thousands of pounds for projects in Bethlehem.  They also take groups of people from all over the country to tour Bethlehem and the surrounding Holy Land.

The photograph shows (from left) Nobie and Bill Shearing, Leila Sansour (founder of Open Bethlehem), Anne and Dennis Richardson (deputy mayor) at the event at St Aidan’s church.

 Long serving employee joins board – April 2008

One of Wensley Roofing’s longest serving employees has worked his way up through the company to the board of directors.

Bill Shearing has been appointed Contracts Director.  He has overall responsibility for selecting on-site teams, coaching and quality control. Bill joined Wensley Roofing in 1991, was appointed Site Supervisor in 2000 and promoted to Contracts Manager in 2003. 

Bill has 40 years' experience in the roofing industry and has a Construction Site Management Safety Certificate.

Outside work, Bill and his wife Zenobia are well known for their efforts to support families in Bethlehem, and they have recently become one of the first ‘ordinary’ families to be issued with a Bethlehem passport (other holders include the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury).

 Another Safety award - May 2007

Wensley Roofing has added to its excellent record for health and safety with a Gold Award from the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC).

This is the third year running that Wensley Roofing has won an NFRC Gold Award for Safety and this year it achieved the highest score of all award winners.

Wensley Roofing has also won Gold Awards for Occupational Safety from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents for the last four years.

 Roof finished for latest 'Dragon's Den' - March 2007

Wensley Roofing has just completed the roofing of Durham's newest hotel, part of the group run by North East entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne who is one of the panel on BBC TV's Dragons' Den.

The 60-room Hotel Bannatyne Durham is the second hotel opened by the Bannatyne Group, which is well known as the UK's largest independently owned operator of health clubs. The hotel is situated next to the Bannatyne Durham health club.

Wensley Roofing was contracted by Stephen Easten Building to put the roof on this prestigious new £2.5 million hotel.

 Restoration of dome on Victorian hospital - July 2006

Wensley Roofing has been awarded the contract to renovate part of the roof of one of the most famous Victorian buildings in Newcastle upon Tyne – the Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Wensley Roofing will be working on the roof of St Luke’s Chapel which has a copper dome that for many years has been hidden under decaying felt roofing material.

“ We will be removing all of the felt roofing that has been used for short term repairs over the years and we will be restoring the Chapel roof to its Victorian glory,” said managing director Keith Soulsby.

The work will involve Green Westmorland slating, replacing all leadwork and guttering and renovating the copper dome.
The photograph shows the dome before renovation.

 3,600 new roofs for North East developer - July 2006

Wensley Roofing has been awarded three separate contracts by Bellway Homes (North East) Ltd to roof 3,600 new houses over the next five years.

The houses are being built on brownfield sites in Newcastle, South Shields and Chester-le-Street as part of regeneration programmes. The new houses are being built for Enterprise 5 Housing Association, North British Housing and Durham Aged Mineworkers Homes Association.

“ We are delighted to get this new work from Bellway Homes,” said Keith Soulsby, managing director of Wensley Roofing. “We have done a lot of work for them over the years and they are clearly happy with what we do.”

 Award for castle roof renovation - June 2006

Wensley Roofing’s comprehensive work on the roof and towers of Lumley Castle Hotel over the last five years has been recognised in the County Durham Environment Awards 2005. The Awards were presented at County Hall, Durham, on 15 June 2006.

Lumley Castle Hotel won the Craftsmanship Award for the restoration of the structure, roof finishes, clock tower and clock mechanism. Wensley Roofing was project manager for all the restoration work, and its craftsmen did most of the work themselves apart from the repair of the clock mechanism. All of the leadwork, stonework and timber in the roof and towers have been repaired or replaced.
The County Durham Environment Awards scheme is run by the County Council with the aim of encouraging good design and sustainable principles in all aspects of the built and natural environment.

The photographs show the clock tower before and after restoration

 New supplier partnership for decent homes contract - June 2006

As Wensley Roofing starts work in phase 3 of the Decent Homes scheme in Easington it has announced a new partnership with Decra, the leading manufacturer of metal roof tiles.

Wensley Roofing is reroofing another 36 houses for East Durham Homes. The work involves loft insulation, leadwork, concrete roof tiles and Decra steels tiles as part of the Government scheme to bring all council housing stock up the the 'Decent Homes' standard by 2010.

Wensley Roofing is one of only two roofing companies in North East England to be 'nominated installers' of Decra roof systems.

"We are delighted to develop this partnership with Decra," said Keith Soulsby, managing director of Wensley Roofing. "Decra tiles are light, durable and low maintenance - exactly the sort of innovative quality product that we want to be associated with."

 Never too old or too young to learn - May 2006

Bob Hovells, age 61, and Mark Ward, age 19, are two roofers at opposite ends of their careers to benefit from Wensley Roofing's commitment to staff training. They are part of the group of seven Wensley workers who have just achieved NVQ level 2 in slating and tiling.

Wensley Roofing has a dedicated workplace learning programme to ensure that all its operatives have at least an NVQ level 2 qualification (many have level 3). This gave Bob, who has been working in construction since he was 14, the chance to get a recognised qualification for the skills he had been practising for years.

"Getting qualifications is important these days," said Bob. "I might be 61 but I'm not thinking of retiring just yet. I reckon I could add a few more qualifications to the list before I quit."

Bob and Mark are pictured on the roof of Lumley Castle Hotel, which Wensley Roofing has completely renovated over the last five years repairing or replacing all the leadwork, stonework and timber in the roofs and towers. This work included arranging the renovation of the ancient clock and bell.

 Five gold awards for safety in three years - April 2006

Wensley Roofing has added to its excellent record for safety with two further gold awards. For the third year running it has won a Gold Award for Occupational Safety in the annual awards scheme run by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. And for the second year running it has won gold in the scheme for occupational safety run by the National Federation of Roofing Contractors.

These awards is are further public recognition of the company's total commitment to health and safety. In 2004 Wensley Roofing became the first dedicated slating and tiling company to appoint an internal full-time health and safety manager. Earlier this year that manager, David Neasham, became a Chartered Member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (CMIOSH), one of the most prestigious professional categories in health and safety.