News

On behalf of everyone at Craftwork I would like to wish all of our customers a very Happy New Year and best wishes for 2008.  

Here at Craftwork it looks like 2008 will be our busiest year to date following the securing of a number of key specifications during 2007 with some of the UK's largest organisations.

These include,
1) Column Casing specification secured for the refurbishment of a major UK International
    Airport.
2) Column Casing specification secured for one of  the  UK's  leading  retail  organisations 
    throughout the whole UK.
3) Column Casing package for a major office refurbishment in London's  financial  district.
4) Column  Casing  and  Perimeter Casing  package  at  a  leading  holiday  centre resort.
5) A bespoke curved  wall  system  in a  new  university building in the North  of  England.
6) Column Casing specification on approximately 10 - 15 No Health  Club  developments   
    across the UK during 2008.
7) Column Casing package on a new university building in the south of England.
8) Column Casing package at a midlands grammer school.
9) Column Casing package at a UK race track.
10) Pipe Boxing specification on a midlands hospital refurbishment.
11) Column Casing, Bulkhead, & Shop Front specification on a major town redevelopment
      scheme in the south of England for on of the UK's leading retail organisations.

Plus many more….. 

Our dramatic rise within the market has been achieved by ensuring that as a business we offer 'the complete encasement package' to both specifiers and contractors alike within the UK construction industry. Our standard service includes complete design assistance, competitive prices, tried and trusted materials, site surveying, value engineering and a range of packages including supply only, supply with technical assistance and complete in house supply and fit undertaken by Craftwork time served and skilled installation teams. (see services for more information). This level of service is unrivalled within the industry!!

Our range of pre-formed plywood encasement systems are manufactured using tried and trusted processes on machinery that has been producing and providing curved profiles to the UK market for over 25 years. This is in stark contrast to competitors who manufacture within the UK with manufacturing procedures which are in their infancy, therefore product longevity, life cycle and 'fit for purpose' issues cannot be guaranteed with any credible information to match that of Craftworks. 

It is our intention to increase office, factory and on-site staffing levels during 2008 as well as continuing with our apprentice development program which is proving to be a great success. This is all as a result of our continued success which is down to both the team we have built at Craftwork and you, our customers. So many thanks for your custom to date and we look forward to offering you our unrivalled level of service during the forthcoming year to ensure a prosperous and successful 2008 together.

David Pactor
(Managing Director)

Please take time to browse the website for further information on our systems especially the project gallery section which is updated monthly with all of the latest project specific information and photographs.

Craftworks range of Encasement Systems set to expand in 2008 !!!

2007 was a fantastic year for Craftwork with sales of architectural products increasing by 30% over the previous year. David Pactor, company Managing Director, believes that this upward trend will continue based on the current strong order book for the time of year and future sales projections based on tenders priced & pending.

Please visit our project gallery to get an overview of some our most recent accomplishments. 

We will continue to improve our existing product range and level of service in 2008 whilst at the same time investing and developing new products.  

Craftworks Airport Specification 'Takes Off'

Craftwork are delighted to announce that they have secured British Airports Authority (BAA) specification for several new forthcoming projects in the new year. A significant proportion of the work will be carried, out air-side under strict security conditions.

Former Apprentice to train as Quantity Surveyor

William  Lewis  has  successfully  completed  his  apprentice  training  with Craftwork in 2006. William showed great  initiative and aptitude as a joinery apprentice and on completion of his training course, expressed a keen interest in taking his education and studies further.

After a short trial period at the Head Office in Marchington, William was appointed as a Student Quantity Surveyor and is furthering his studies on a day release basis at Burton College.

Commercial Director, Andrew Marler stated, "William has fitted into the Craftwork Surveying Team very well and is proving himself to be a real asset to the team. We all have high hopes that he will eventually go on to get a degree".

Apprentice Scheme going from strength to strength

Craftwork provides quality construction training placements under the Construction Apprentice Training Scheme which is overseen by Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and the Learning & Skills Council.

We believe at Craftwork that we are only as good as the people we employ and to this end we are investing in training young people to gain the necessary skills and qualities to allow our company to flourish in the future.

The Apprentices;

1). Nicholas Warren 
      Burslem College - Stoke on Trent
      Training Stage NVQ Level 3 - Carpentry and Joinery

2). Mathew Warren
      Burslem College - Stoke on Trent
      Training Stage NVQ Level 2 - Carpentry and Joinery

3). Adam Clarke
     Burton College
     Training Stage NVQ Level 2 - Carpentry and Joinery

4). Arron Brunt
     Burslem College - Stoke on Trent
     Training Stage NVQ Level 2 - Carpentry and Joinery

5). Jamie Allen
      Baseford Hall College - Nottingham
      Training Stage NVQ Level 2 - Carpentry and Joinery

6). Ryan Frost
      Newark College
      Training Stage NVQ Level 2 - Carpentry and Joinery

7). Mark Harper
      Burton College
      Training Stage - National Certificate in Construction Year 1

Health & Safety

Construction Industry Training Board (CITB)
Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS)

Craftwork Services is committed to the CSCS training scheme with 95% of all directly employed site operatives obtaining the grade in 2007. David Pactor, Managing Director of Craftwork, confirmed that 2008 will be no exception with all employees being given the opportunity to obtain a CSCS Card.

CSCS has been in existence for over 10 years. It was started to help the construction industry get quality up, accidents down and cowboy builders out. These are still the scheme's main objectives.

A CSCS card is the easy way to prove that you are competent in your occupation and have health and safety awareness. As it is the size of a credit card with your photo and unique reference number on it, you can easily slip it into your wallet to use as instant identification when you arrive on site

CSCS is fast becoming the industry standard. It is supported by organisations such as the Major Contractors Group (MCG), National Contractors Federation (NCF), Major Home Builders Group (MHBC) and Civil Engineer Contractors Association (CECA) all of whom are committed to a fully qualified workforce by the end of 2010. Now major clients are also requesting that their contractors have a CSCS carded workforce. These include government, housing associations, NHS projects and private clients such as BAA.

Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme (CHAS)

Craftwork Services Ltd has become an Accredited Contractor within the Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme (CHAS).

What is CHAS?

Over the year's local authority health & safety and procurement professionals, with the support of the Health and Safety Executive, have developed the Contractors Health and Safety assessment scheme (CHAS). The scheme is available for use by any public and private sector organizations to use when short listing contractors, suppliers and consultants (companies) who apply to work with them. It provides information about the health and safety part of their application.

Companies apply to join the scheme so everyone knows they meet acceptable standards of health and safety compliance. Clients from both the public and private sectors are users of the scheme and the CHAS database.

Key Benefits of the Scheme

Participating in the CHAS scheme helps both companies and employers;

- Ensures a company is compliant with important parts of health and safety
  law.

-It means members do not have to repeat  the  effort  of  assessing  health 
  and safety compliance of applications for companies  who  have  already
  been assessed to the required standard.

- Companies do not have to undergo health and safety assessments every
   time they apply to a participating client for work, because the  clients  will 
   know they have been successfully assessed before.

- It will get rid of  inconsistency  where  some  contractors  may  be  judged  
  compliant by one employer but not others.