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Welcome to InTheNews – covering all the FM news you may have missed over the week:
NEBOSH has joined eight of the UK’s most prominent safety and health organisations to form the Occupational Safety and Health Stakeholder Alliance. It will create a platform to offer a unified 360-degree perspective on critical safety and health issues for the first time.
Collectively the Alliance members’ competencies span the full spectrum of OSH considerations, from education and regulation to policy creation, professional standards and thought leadership. It will provide a unified voice for the OSH industry, drawing on members’ collective expertise to inform and support OSH decision-making across government policy-maker, corporate and professional levels.
Compass Group UK and Ireland, has reported on its nutrition and wellbeing progress, as it works to support the lives, health and productivity of its customers and employees.
The food business which produces over 180.9m meals a year, has carried out an initial reformulation programme of 36,000 recipes, across the business, with its team of Registered Nutritionists and Culinary Directors. The focus was on reducing the levels of fat, sugar, and salt using the traffic light labelling criteria. This programme has been hugely successful resulting in >90% of its recipes now containing low to medium amounts of sugar and salt.
Nicky Martin, Director of Nutrition and Wellbeing, Compass Group UK & Ireland said: “As the UK’s largest food and support services provider, serving over 180.9m meals a year, it is our responsibility to ensure that all our customers – from children through to the elderly, as well as our own people, have access to healthy and nutritious meals. I am delighted by our progress to date. We have achieved a huge amount through menu reformulation, but it’s also important to continue providing our customers, clients, and employees with information on the food that they eat and provide access to nutritional information and wellness.”
SBFM has launched Evolve – an industry-leading initiative that provides sustainable employment opportunities for people from disadvantaged groups.
It’s designed to increase the earning potential of low-income workers, including cleaners, while at the same time widening the talent pool for UK businesses by diversifying the workforce.
The initiative draws inspiration from our very own Operations Director, Nana Osei, who has worked in the industry for 15 years. Despite holding a degree, he spent many years as a cleaner where it cost him half of his salary to travel to and from work each day, before finally reaching the position of area manager. Evolve is dedicated to supporting individuals facing similar barriers to employment and career development.
SBFM CEO, Matt Chapman, says: “Evolve is about breaking down barriers. We need to drop the stereotypical approach that ex-offenders, care leavers and other disadvantaged groups don’t deserve a chance. Many are highly skilled and come with qualities that can plug labour shortages across a range of industries. We are already bearing witness to success stories from the programme. The initiative is for the industry, not just SBFM and we would love to speak more with our allies.”
And finally, FM Business Daily (FMBD) has staged another successful roundtable event, this time sponsored by Premier Technical Services Group Ltd (PTSG).
Hosted at Sodexo’s fantastic London headquarters at 1 Southampton Row, the theme for the event was Fire Safety In UK Facilities and Estates. Working closely with PTSG, FMBD brought together a range of industry professionals to discuss what is arguably the most urgent issue in FM at the present time.
What set the event apart from anything else in the FM calendar in 2023 was the ‘audience with’ Dame Judith Hackitt DBE, FREng, FIChemE, FCG, the industry’s leading fire safety advisor.
Dame Judith spoke for 45 minutes on the Building Safety Act, which introduced new duties for the management of fire and building safety in high-rise residential buildings.
Cheryl Ellerington, Managing Director of FM Business Daily, said: “This was the first of a series of roundtable events we are delivering this year, sponsored by a range of different service providers in the FM industry. We couldn’t have asked for a better result on 27 July. I am extremely grateful to everyone who attended and especially to Dame Judith Hackitt, who was kind enough to share her experience and in-depth knowledge of fire safety in UK facilities and estates.
“I would also like to thank Sodexo, the host of the event, who provided a first-class facility which, in London, is easily accessible and perfect for staging different kinds of events and functions. The food was exceptional and the hospitality from the Sodexo team was perfect in every way. Thank you!”
You can find out more on news.fmbusinessdaily.com
