March 2017 newsletter
Read the March edition of the Joseph Ash Galvanizing newsletter. It’s hot off the press today!
To read a copy click here.
Read about the Birmingham Velo race that some of our Joseph Ash team members are taking part in, the winners of the RIDBA Building Awards, the launch of ‘Our Promises’, and 35 year’s service for Paul Marriott in our Chesterfield plant.
If you would like to receive a copy of the newsletter in your inbox each month, please subscribe by scrolling to the bottom of the page and looking for the ‘Newsletter Sign-Up’ button.
We’re always looking for interesting articles in the steel industry too, so feel free to get in touch with your news, and we’ll try to feature it.
35 years’ service for Paul Marriott at Joseph Ash Galvanizing.
Congratulations Paul!
Think about the year 1982… What happened? The Mary Rose was raised, the Falklands War ended, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum was launched, The Jam split up and Kate Middleton and Prince William were born. It was a tumultuous, but interesting year.
1982 is also the year that Paul Marriott joined Joseph Ash Galvanizing and began working in the Chesterfield plant!
Three and a half decades later and Paul is still with our company, after 35 years’ unbroken service.
Paul has played a vital role since the Chesterfield plant opened. He was involved in the first trials of dipping steel into the baths, and he has contributed immensely to the growth and success of the plant, and the company as a whole.
It would be fair to say that Paul has seen more than a million tonnes of steel go through the plant.
Thank you for your service at the company so far Paul. And congratulations on reaching 35 years.
The winners of the coveted RIDBA Building Awards have been announced.
On Friday 17 March, the RIDBA Building Awards 2017 took place at the Radisson Blu hotel in Cardiff. As sponsors, Joseph Ash Galvanizing attended the awards to congratulate the winners. TV presenter Kate Humble was also there to pass out the awards.
RIDBA is the Rural and Industrial Design and Building Association – the recognised trade association for the modern agriculture and industrial buildings industry representing contractors, fabricators, designers, surveyors, planners, manufacturers and colleges.
The RIDBA Building Awards celebrate the best in rural and industrial buildings delivered by members over the past two years.
The Awards night was the culmination of a three-month-long process whereby esteemed industry professionals – Martin Heywood, Andrew Brown, David Collier, Niresh Somlie and Sarah Garry – judged a record number of entries from building schemes across the UK, all competing to win an award.
RIDBA divided the entries across seven categories: Cattle, Commercial, Education and Research, Equestrian, Production and Process, Recreation and Leisure, and Storage.
The winners of the awards were:
| Category | Building | Winner |
| Cattle | Middleton of Rora, Aberdeenshire | Shand Building Design |
| Education and Research | Cubric Building, Cardiff | Shufflebottom Ltd |
| Recreation and Leisure | Pensthorpe Play Barn, Norfolk | A.C. Bacon Engineering |
| Commercial | Wales Air Ambulance, Carmathenshire | Shufflebottom Ltd |
| Storage | Stancil Farm, Doncaster | Timmins Engineering & Construction |
| Production and Process | Ancre Hill Winery, Monmouth | A.J. Lowther & Son |
| Equestrian | Rathmoy Stables, Newmarket | M.D. Anthony |
| Training | A.C. Bacon Engineering |
The Education and Research category, presented by Joseph Ash Galvanizing, also recognised the Isle of Ely Primary School submitted by A.C. Bacon Engineering as Highly Commended.
The Houghall College Equestrian Centre in Durham, by S & A Fabrications, was also highly commended in the Equestrian category.
The overall winner for the evening was – Cubric Building, Cardiff, by Shufflebottom Limited.
Congratulations to all the winners and shortlisted entrants!
Joseph Ash Galvanizing to take part in Velo Birmingham charity bike ride.
In late September this year, the Velo Birmingham event is taking place. Velo Birmingham is a 100-mile bike ride, with 15,000 bikers, all helping to raise money for charity.
The charities include the NSPCC, Cure Leukaemia, the Alzheimer’s Society, and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.
The cyclists’ route will start in Birmingham, head out through picturesque Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and finish back in Birmingham.
Three people from Joseph Ash Galvanizing will be taking part, Richard Hall (from Joseph Ash Galvanizing’s Head Office), Stuart Cobourne (from Joseph Ash Telford), and Justin Deegan from Joseph Ash’s Premier Galvanizing division. They will also be joined by Steven Harvey, who is a client of Premier Galvanizing and who works for steel fabricators Lee Warren.
Joseph Ash Galvanizing’s parent company, Hill & Smith, has also entered a team so there will be some healthy inter-rivalry and competition to spur our cyclists on.
Joseph Ash Galvanizing and Hill & Smith are also sponsoring part of the event as part of the Business 100 club. The aim of the Business 100 club is to sign-up 100 corporate teams, cycling 100 miles and collectively raising £100,000.
Justin Deegan, Stuart Cobourne and Steven Harvey are experienced cyclists, whereas Richard Hall has only recently found a love for biking. We wish them all well!
The event is on 24 September. We’ll keep you updated on their training progress and how they do on the actual day.
Read the February edition of the Joseph Ash Galvanizing newsletter. It’s hot off the press today!
To read a copy click here.
Read about the unique horse monorail in Berkshire, the RIDBA Building Awards shortlist, the Hill & Smith photo contest, an Open Day at LM Bateman that we’ll be attending, and Syntha Pulvin paints.
If you would like to receive a copy of the newsletter in your inbox each month, please subscribe by scrolling to the bottom of the page and looking for the ‘Newsletter Sign-Up’ button.
We’re always looking for interesting articles in the steel industry too, so feel free to get in touch with your news, and we’ll try to feature it.
Revolutionising UK racehorse pre-training.
In a picturesque and quiet village of Lambourn, West Berkshire, a revolutionary development has been taking place at the Kingwood Stud, a premier horse training facility owned by racehorse owner and breeder Mehmet Kurt.
Kingwood Stud is set to open the new Kurtsystems – a £20m pre-training system designed to provide controlled and synchronised exercise for young racehorses, to develop stronger bones, cartilages, muscles and tendons before they enter a traditional training regime.
SCWS – a Joseph Ash Galvanizing client – has been one of the contractors on the project, and Joseph Ash Chesterfield hot dip galvanized their steel.
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Kurtsystems is tipped to revolutionise racehorse training and is the first of its kind in the UK. The idea was developed by Mehmet Kurt after 20 plus years of researching horses, and testing a protoype near Istanbul in Turkey.
How it works
Horses are trained on an artificial surface training circuit, without jockeys, by being harnessed into specially designed ‘cabins’ which travel along an overhead rail track at set speeds. The speeds are managed by a computer controlled unit at the back of the cabins. The horses carry specialist saddles to replicate the weight of a jockey.
It is a mile-long circuit which can train up to 12 horses at a time. It can also be used to rehabilitate injured horses.
SCWS and Joseph Ash Galvanizing’s involvement
The architect for Kurtsystems is Sutton Griffin (based in Newbury), and the main contractor is Raymond Brown Construction Limited (based in Hamsphire). The monorail cars were designed by automotive engineers, Revolve Technologies (based in Essex). And SCWS (based in Norfolk) fabricated 411 tonnes of structural steel. SCWS then contracted Joseph Ash Chesterfield to treat the steel to promote its longevity.
The steel
The structural steel consisted of:
- 400 circular columns, all 5 meters long and collectively weighing 281 tonnes.
- 200 rectangular rafters, all 8.5 metres in length and collectively weighing 164 tonnes. This included large welded channel details to form the base of the curved roof, which meant the height of the rafters was over 2.4m.
- 400 x steel rail, 114mm in diameter and 6.8 metres long and collectively weighing 29 tonnes.
The 400 circular columns, the rectangular rafters and steel rail were all galvanized by Joseph Ash Chesterfield.
It was a big project for SCWS and Joseph Ash Chesterfield, and one that was completed successfully and on-time.
The future of Kurtsystems
The technology will start operating in 2017.
We send Kingwood Stud best wishes for the new project.
We’re pleased to announce that Joseph Ash Medway has just been granted approved applicator status for Syntha Pulvin architectural coating solutions and the plant is now an approved applicator of the following:
- Syntha Pulvin Gloss System
- Syntha Pulvin Satin System
- Syntha Pulvin Matt System
- Syntha Pulvin Fine Texture System
- Syntha Pulvin Premium System.
This is exciting news for the hard-working team at Joseph Ash Medway!
Syntha Pulvin is the premier architectural powder coatings brand in Europe, offering a wide range of Architectural Powder Coatings formulated to decorate and protect architectural aluminium and galvanized steel exposed to ultraviolet conditions and extreme weather. Available in a multitude of texture and colour options, as well as performance specifications, Syntha Pulvin has the optimal powder coating for almost any building project.
Applicator approval has followed certification to BS EN ISO 9001, plant audits at Medway conducted by Valspar, and successful completion of 12 weeks worth of chemical, mechanical, and accelerated weathering tests designed to ensure that quality of pretreatment, surface appearance, colour, gloss, curing, corrosion resistance and adhesion to substrate all meet Syntha Pulvin’s BSEN13438 and their own criteria.
From this point forwards, Joseph Ash Medway will also be audited at regular intervals by Valspar inspectors to ensure continued compliance with the requirements supplied in the Syntha Pulvin Technical Manual.
Syntha Pulvin coatings are only available via approved applicators, therefore if you have a need for this paint, please contact us at Medway and we’ll be able to help.
Read the January edition of the Joseph Ash Galvanizing newsletter. It’s hot off the press today!
To read a copy click here.
Read our ‘New Year’ message from Steven Hopkins (MD), find out about Gary Lineker’s underpants, Leicester City Football Club, Hull as the UK City of Culture 2017, the RIDBA Building Awards, and the GAGA awards 2017.
If you would like to receive a copy of the newsletter in your inbox each month, please subscribe by scrolling to the bottom of the page and looking for the ‘Newsletter Sign-Up’ button.
We’re always looking for interesting articles in the steel industry too, so feel free to get in touch with your news, and we’ll try to feature it.
Every four years in the UK, a city is chosen to hold the title ‘UK City of Culture’. The first winner of this title was Derry/Londonderry in 2013, and the second winner is Hull.
Hull won the competition and will hold the title throughout 2017. This is great news for the people of Hull, as well as all the local companies and organisations that form part of the City. Premier Galvanizing (a division of Joseph Ash Galvanizing) is one such company and we are proud supporters of this great place!
The UK City of Culture award is given to a City that demonstrates “the belief in the transformational power of culture”. To act upon this achievement the people of Hull will spend the next 12 months hosting a variety of events and occasions such as concerts, art exhibitions, plays, dance shows and film screenings. Thousands of people are going to take part, from school children, to volunteers, to local businesses and organisations. (Find out what’s on by visiting the Hull 2017 website.)
Premier Galvanizing Hull has also played a part by becoming a member of the Hull 2017 Business Club, formed in order to help raise the £18million needed for an entire year’s worth of cultural events.
Alex Camp, general manager at Premier Galvanizing, said: “Premier Galvanizing is proud to be located in Hull and has always had a strong commitment to the area, employing local people and using local suppliers.
“The city is changing and we want to be part of its legacy for our employees, their families and the next generation, to feel as proud of Hull as we do.” (Hull Daily Mail)
As the year progresses we’ll report on all the great activities that will happen across this brilliant City, as well as our involvement in it.
Welcome to 2017! And welcome to Hull!
It’s always good to put a face to a name… With this in mind we thought we’d introduce the Sales Team at our Joseph Ash Medway plant.
First up is April Challis, our Sales Administrator, and Gavin Van De Peer, our Sales Executive. April and Gavin are both office based, so if you have any questions at all with regards to booking-in galvanizing, shot blasting or powder coating jobs in the South East, you can reach them on 01795 419813.
Next up is Alan Mitchell and Troy Clark, two of our Medway Sales Executives. Both Alan and Troy are on the road Mondays-Thursdays visiting customers (and office based on Fridays). You can reach Alan on 0772 1219703, and Troy on 0773 4230286 if you’d like to meet with them, or ask any questions about the shot blasting, hot dip galvanizing and powder coating services.
Finally we have Matthew Hodges – the Sales Team Manager. In his 20 years at Joseph Ash Medway, Matthew has held various positions including Galvanizing Manager and Powder Coating Manager, so you can be sure that everything there is to know about steel finishing services, he will know it. Matthew can be reached on 0782 550 6976.
Alan covers areas south of the Thames, and Troy covers areas north of the Thames, apart from Kent and East Sussex which is managed by Matt.
Get in touch with Medway today to discuss any jobs you’d like to book in the Kent/South East region.