BIM Stage 2 Re-Verification
BIM Stage 2 Re-Verification
At Wallace Whittle, we pride ourselves on Quality of Product and Quality of Service.
Our Building Information Modelling (BIM) verification, is just one of the many ways we re-assure our clients that we have the in-house expertise to deliver BIM Stage 2 projects, in compliance with the RIBA stages and industry standards.
We have had another successful BIM Stage 2 Verification Audit, conducted by BSI (British Standards Institution). The audit, which took place on May 15th, 2023, has reaffirmed the company’s commitment to quality assurance, standardisation and the implementation of BIM processes.
This audit is a crucial evaluation of an organisation’s ability to adhere to industry standards and deliver high-quality products and services through the virtual construction process. The audit covered multiple projects within Wallace Whittle, ensuring compliance with BIM processes and the effectiveness of our BIM Standards.
Our experienced digital engineers utilise BIM from the early concept stages of projects, to visualise design intentions and make informed decisions. We use an in-house suite of standards, in conjunction with powerful BIM authoring software, to build our design within a 3D environment which we are then able to share with our design partners to provide the process with an efficient means of communicating information.
Our ability to work in this manner allows our design to be passed on to the construction phase adding value & support to such things as offsite project management, reducing abortive time on site and avoiding re-design resulting in waste materials.
Our experience integrating data into our models at the design phase provides our clients with the option to develop progressive operational data which assists with future aspects of the project, providing a full audit trail which lays the foundations for digital building asset management.
The auditor’s attention to detail was thorough and throughout the audit evidence was reviewed to verify the implementation of BIM processes across various projects. The feedback received regarding our BIM Standards was overwhelmingly positive, reflecting the dedication and hard work put in by the team.
Paul Hargreaves, Associate Director, Paul Underhill, Associate BIM Technician and Andrew Masson, Senior BIM Technician, played crucial roles during the audit, which was overseen by our Quality and Standardisation Manager, Raymond Kelly. Their expertise in navigating through our systems and processes, and ease of guiding the auditor to the required evidence were instrumental in the successful outcome.
As a result of the audit, Wallace Whittle has achieved re-verification of its BIM Stage 2 for another year.
This achievement is a testament of everyone within the Wallace Whittle team, It demonstrates our dedication to maintaining high standards, delivering quality products and services, and a consistent approach to applying BIM processes.
Receiving this verification with no non-conformities for the 7th year running, demonstrates the maturity of our capability and expertise of our team. We are committed to ongoing excellence and will continue to push the boundaries of quality in the construction industry. The upcoming year will bring new challenges, but with the same level of dedication and adherence to standards, we are confident in our ability to excel.
If you want to chat with us further about BIM, drop us an email to [email protected]
Call Challenge – WWe Are Ready to Respond
As of 1st of July 2023, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service will no longer attend automatic fire alarm call outs to non-high-risk premises.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) have undertaken extensive research into Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals (UFAS) which has identified up to 98% of automated fire alarm calls are false alarms. Following consultation, they have taken the decision to implement a new response model which in simple terms requires a confirmed fire before they send a response.
In addition to the time wasted in sending an Appliance to false alarms, there is also the increased road safety risk when Appliances attend under blue lights. Each false alarm has been estimated to cause 27 minutes of business disruption. This would seem to be a modest estimation of the disruption and many large buildings will incur significantly higher disruption costs as well as other issues such as loss of reputation or loss of customers. SFRS are also likely to charge for calls to repeated false alarms.
This article is in relation to the SFRS requirements in Scotland, however it is likely that other Fire & Rescue services across the UK may employ a similar approach, either currently or in the future.
Our staff are being briefed on these changes, considerations on operational impact and how they will affect designs and processes.
There has been an SFRS campaign to raise awareness, but it is not clear that there has been significant penetration with building owners, building operators, duty holders, or the wider fire alarm industry. There are no “ready-made” design solutions although there are some products that are better than others in avoiding unwanted alarms. We are readying ourselves to provide solutions.
So what happens when an alarm goes off?
SFRS will “Call Challenge” any calls received from Alarm Receiving Centres (ARC) or from direct calls. This means that they will ask if it is a confirmed sign of fire, which will then determine the SFRS response.
Premises which are exempt from the Call Challenge are those considered high risk. This can be simplified as premises which include a sleeping risk, including:
- Residential / Nursing / Care homes
- Sheltered housing
- Residential (Generally)
- Hospitals (Only in sleeping areas, such as wards)
- Hotels
Therefore, if the building is not exempt it will be Call Challenged. This includes offices, retail, education, industrial etc. and at all times of the day. It also includes areas of non-sleeping risk in large sites such as hospitals or retail premises on the ground floor of residential buildings.
Although some small premises may use a conventional fire alarm system, in general most will make use of an addressable fire alarm system. This will allow identification of a particular device, its type and location. SFRS will not consider a single smoke detector going into alarm as a confirmed fire.
However, they will consider some automatic devices as sufficiently low risk of false alarm to be considered as an indication that there is a confirmed fire.
The simplest form of confirming a fire condition is by human intervention, however that could have obvious safety risks. It may also introduce a delay if the fire condition occurs when the building is not staffed. Using technology to confirm a fire condition is possible but requires careful consideration in conjunction with other aspects of the fire safety plan.
There is a balance to be had between the disruption and cost of unwanted alarms, against the delay in attending to real fires. The implications of a delayed response could be significant hence the need to define the strategy considering all aspects.
At Wallace Whittle, we ensure our Engineers are ready to tackle change. If you would like to discuss the Call Challenge further, please get in touch with our Director of Engineering, Stephen Phimister – [email protected]
Stephen Phimister, Glasgow
London Office Growth
WW London Office
Our London Office, led by Matt Graves, has seen significant growth in recent years, which has led to the overall team supporting our London projects expanding to 20 plus and the recent promotion of several key staff members.
Since its inception, the London Office has demonstrated a strong track record of success in delivering high quality projects across a range of sectors and has continually exceeded expectation when competing with larger competitors inclusive of residential / mixed use, leisure, retail, commercial office, commercial hotels and healthcare. The Residential and Mixed-Use sector has evolved recently with both modular based construction processes and standardisation established to enable best value.
Staff take a pro-active role in driving the company in a collective manner, allowing for sector diversity whilst continuing to maintain quality of service and quality of product.
Support from our internal Sustainability, CAD, BIM and Revit departments, has been key to the continued growth and given the office a wide range of experience across projects completed for Developers, Contractors and end-user alike.
One of the London’s recent notable projects is Elephant Park, with Wallace Whittle playing an integral part since inception. Having been involved for 10 years, we have seen a significant evolution of Elephant and Castle as a result of this development where it has transformed the area with fantastic residential, retail and commercial accommodation.
We are nearing the final phases of the project with several further residential towers currently either in early construction stage or due to commence with a view to full completion around 2025. This is a testament to the continued quality maintained through such an established period, cementing our reputation throughout London on sizable projects.
The success and growth have been driven in large part by the talented and dedicated staff members and our in-house development programmes through our Academy. As a result of this growth, several key staff members have recently been promoted.
Austen Beischer and Ross Beischer have recently been promoted to Principal Engineers. These promotions reflect their exceptional contributions to the office and their ability to both lead as well as deliver complex projects time and time again. These promotions highlight our commitment to recognizing and rewarding the hard work and talent of our staff members.
Austen Beischer & Ross Beischer – London
“We are like a football team and only ever as good at the eleven players on the field. We are only ever as good as our staff and given our continued growth, our high percentage of repeat work, continuing to be supplemented with new projects, speak volumes for the quality of our staff and the contribution which they continue to make. We duly recognise this with continued review, reward and promotion, all of which is well deserved.”
– Matt Graves, London Location Director
With its strong track record of success and its talented and experienced team, our London Office is well-positioned for continued growth and success in the coming years. As the demand for innovative and sustainable engineering solutions continues to rise, the office is poised to lead the way in delivering world-class engineering services to clients across London and beyond.
Get in touch with the team at [email protected]
Matt Graves
London Director
Making Beds
30,000
Providing new homes for people and families is a core sector for Wallace Whittle, and one which we are very pleased to play our part.
After all, we all need a place to sleep in safety and comfort.
Until now, we’ve never stopped to work out how many homes that would stack up to and more importantly how many people could live in them. So far, we have passed 20,000 dwellings across many projects planned, designed and built which will provide homes and places to sleep for tens of thousands of people across the UK, indeed if were counting beds it’s well over 30,000!
Wallace Whittle have a long track-record in the Residential sector.
It started in London around 25 years ago with Chelsea Bridge Wharf, where we worked on multiple phases to deliver nearly 1200 apartments and a 200 room 4 star Hotel. This award-winning development set us on our way and was followed by several other developments where we started to introduce Low Carbon Heat Networks to provide energy to these new residential led mixed-use developments across London.
Our knowledge base and shared values was a further catalyst for success and the number of units we had in design was now measuring in the thousands – we were now part of the solution to deliver new homes to meet the country’s shortage.
In this growing sector our next milestone was being selected to join the design team for the Athletes’ Village at the London 2012 Olympics located in the gigantic Olympic Park regeneration at Stratford, East London.
We were one of the first...
Wallace Whittle were one of the first Services Engineers appointed to work on some of the new sitewide infrastructure and the first two vertical build plots. Over the next four years we worked on 4 residential plots delivering nearly 1400 apartments and the new state of the art Polyclinic which would provide full medical facilities for the games, but also community healthcare to the new neighbourhood which would become the Athletes’ Village legacy as East Village.
The village was a unique project and initially designed as a huge campus to provide beds for up to 17,000 athletes. Following the games, the Village was converted to provide 2700 new homes for all tenures; Social, Affordable and Open Market, as well as what turned out to be one of the first BTR developments in the UK for the Triathlon consortium. The village remains one of the largest, single-delivery developments to meet the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 compliance.
Our recognised expertise in the Residential sector has taken us on a journey.
Over the last ten years we’ve worked for many of countries’ leading developers and organisations which provide places to live for some of the most vulnerable of our society.
We’re now working on residential schemes across the UK and we have all sorts of projects on the go, including urban regeneration of brownfield areas in our cities which have tailored resilient and flexible energy solutions to best deliver Net Zero Carbon to each one. Elephant Park in Elephant & Castle is an example of our experience working across several phases, over a period of over ten years and is a great example of our wide scope of capabilities. This experience is now being applied nationwide with Latimer by Clarion Housing Group, including in Manchester and Birmingham, as well as at their Leeds Dyecoats development, where hundreds of new homes will be built on a riverside site near the city centre with an all-electric next generation energy solution, delivered via high efficiency Heat Pumps.
New build developments form the majority of our experience.
We focus on a seamless and careful integration between the buildings’ own inherent passive performance and the performance of the dynamic MEP systems. We have a primary focus on optimising energy use and wellbeing in every home. We are also experienced in many types of schemes, including conversion of listed buildings such as the Switchhouses at Battersea Power Station and a listed ex-Manchester University Warehouse in the city centre as part of the award-winning Kampus development.
In the face of the Climate Emergency, our skill set continues to develop.
Our involvement in the master planning of developments, while producing the detailed design for the initial phases and a Hybrid Planning Submission, has also increased as the proposals for energy solutions and demonstration of their whole life carbon and operational energy are required from the outset.
In the face of the Climate Emergency our skill set continues to develop to meet the requirements of new legislation, our own and clients’ own ESG targets and aspirations. Alongside Fire Safety legislation likely to be issued later this year and already being implemented by our forward-thinking clients such as Latimer by Clarion Housing Group and Lendlease.
We cover tenures including Affordable, Market, Premium, Senior Living, Build to Rent, Purpose Built Student Accommodation and Co-Living and we have residential led projects in many of the biggest UK cities including Aberdeen, Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, as well as London and the surrounding commuter towns.
Contact Us
We’d love to talk to you about your latest project and the quality we can deliver.
Get in touch with us today at [email protected]
The WW Way
Standardisation, Quality of Product, Quality of Service and Investment in Our People.
These are our values at Wallace Whittle and are at the core of our operations every single day.
Each of these values are intrinsically linked and lived out by our staff at all levels, but we wanted to dive deeper on what they mean to us as a business and demonstrate how we use them to drive our vision forward.
Standardisation
Standardisation and consistency provide the foundation to our objective of delivering quality, but Standardisation doesn’t mean an off-the-shelf approach to what we do.
It is all about ensuring consistency across the business so that we deliver the same quality of product and quality of service no matter the size, spec, location, or type of job we’re doing.
Our behind-the-scenes processes are maintained to improve productivity time and allow us to give more attention to providing our client’s developing needs and requirements.
Quality of Product
Quality of Product means just that, we provide our clients with a quality product.
What goes into that quality is a focus on developing our people, constantly reviewing and monitoring our approaches, processes and outputs to ensure that what we’re producing is the best it can be.
Our systems never stand still, we’re never ‘done’, we continue to grow and adapt to stay ahead and be at the forefront as consultant of choice.
Quality of Service
Quality of Product can only be delivered if it’s supported by Quality of Service.
How we interact both externally with clients, designers, contractors and stakeholders in the industry, but also internally around how we work and interact as a team to deliver.
We strive to be the reliable, go-to choice for our clients and fellow design team members, and our high level of service is key to maintaining that.
Investment in Our People
We don’t provide an ‘off-the-shelf’ product, we provide our people’s knowledge, expertise, time and quality outputs.
Our investment in our staff is based in developing their skills around solid technical support, effectively and efficiently giving everyone confidence in their roles, whilst making the processes as streamlined as possible to create a better work/life balance.
Our market-leading benefits package provided to all staff, demonstrates a dedication to looking after their wellbeing, their health and their pocket!.
So, no matter which office from our 6 across the UK, no matter what team, what specialism or what level of seniority you work with - we aim to deliver the same Quality of Product and Quality of Service through our Standardised approach, providing consistency across the business.
Raymond Kelly
Quality & Standardisation Manager
We appointed Raymond Kelly as our Quality & Standardisation Manager in April 2022 and tasked him with driving consistent and exemplary quality on all our projects, across all sectors. As a respected, long-term, and highly valued member of the Wallace Whittle team, with more than 43 years of industry experience, Raymond has the backing of our Management Board and is ideally placed to continue to drive our quality to even greater levels.
"Working with our Operations Board, Technical Working Group, Marketing, BIM Team and our IMS Team, we have seen improvements made to the systems and standards already in place as part of that constant objective of continuous improvement whilst always keeping lessons learned in sight - you’re never too old to learn!
Being embedded within the WW:Academy has given a forum for discussion at various levels throughout the business from young engineers to the future leaders, on the standards and how we can improve. With the Academy Manager, we have developed a fully active program which promotes and supports on-going self-development, company standards and values of quality and standardisation.
A key focus for the business for 23/24 is work/life balance. As a company, we strongly feel if we invest heavily in training staff via the academy to support and up-skill staff as required and in turn if we drive quality of product and standardisation we will deliver a product that requires less input once on site, therefore it will save double handling and input during site works that could be better spend designing the next project.
Being part of the structure of the business and the genuine opportunity to work with fantastic, committed people, willing to pursue quality and make things even better, breeds so much enthusiasm. I truly hope by providing a focus on quality and standardisation, that not only can we reinforce the Wallace Whittle brand, but we can also benefit individually and everyone get more personal satisfaction at the end of a day’s work.”
- Raymond Kelly, Quality & Standardisation Manager.
Contact Us
If you’d like to get in touch to speak with us about the WW Way and our focus on delivering quality, you can email [email protected] or give us a call on 0330 460 5200
WW:Academy
WW:Academy
Following the launch of WW:Academy and initial sessions for all levels in 2022, we are delighted to continue this key initiative with the next sessions for all levels in January and February 2023, supported by our structured WW:Academy platform. The site, hosted on our SharePoint and accessible to all staff, provides full details of the programme at each level, along with supporting information and documentation.
Academy Manager Paul Hargreaves leads this Learning and Development programme and works closely with our Quality and Standardisation Manager, Raymond Kelly. Supported by the Management and Operations Boards, Paul and Raymond ensure that all our staff are nurtured and supported, and that the future of Wallace Whittle is in safe hands, while we deliver against our key objectives of Quality of Product, Quality of Service and Standardisation.
Our WW:Academy programme offers:
Structured Learning and Development covering all levels and all areas of our business
Degree Apprenticeships, with part time university leading to full professional qualifications
Technician Apprenticeships, with part time college, leading to technician professional qualifications and subsequent university entrance
On the job supported learning in all aspects of our business
An allocated personal mentor and regular reviews
Specialist training from our in-house experts in a broad range of aspects including:
• Mechanical, Electrical and Public Health Engineering
• Sustainability Consultancy
• CAD and BIM services
• Software and Technology
• Finance
• Business Development
• Marketing
• Communication, presentation and report writing skills
• Digital Engineering & Quality Management
• Construction and contract law
• People and team management
• Social responsibility
• Environmental responsibility
• Site based experience with our Main Contractor and MEP Contractor partners
• Complementary professional experience with Architect, C&S and QS partners
• Involvement in STEM outreach activities and supporting others
• Varied social activities at office and company level
Our WW:Academy also provides career long continued professional learning and development opportunities to support every aspect of career progression for all our staff, and comprises four levels as outlined below:
• Level 1 – All staff
• Level 2 – Junior / Graduate staff
• Level 3 – Aspiring staff
• Level 4 – Next generation staff
Levels 1 and 2 are as described, with levels 3 and 4 being focused on the mentoring and development of our current mid-level engineers and management to evolve into future management and business leaders and winners.
Scottish Building Regulations
At Wallace Whittle we understand that there are fundamental design questions that need answering at an early stage.
The upcoming changes to the Building Standards Technical Handbooks, specifically Section 6, will require improved energy performance of all new buildings with carbon emissions targets reduced by 32%.
Please contact our Sustainability team who will be happy to discuss in more detail and advise what this update means for your projects.
WWe've Moved
e've Moved!
We have hit the ground running post management buyout in April 2021. From bringing onboard many new clients to investing heavily in our staff, we’re putting our big orange stamp on the Environmental Building Services market.
And now, our Glasgow and Edinburgh offices have moved to new premises - upgrading facilities and working environments for our staff and placing us right in the heart of the cities. We have further plans to modernise all other existing offices across the business, with Aberdeen to begin an upgrade in early 2023.
Glasgow
Location Director Barry McKeane enters his 19th year with Wallace Whittle and leads a team with a wealth of experience and technical ability covering all elements of MEP and Sustainability design.
Our Glasgow head office has a new home in the historic Garment Factory building in Merchant City.
The new 3500sqft office space will allow up to 50 staff to work collaboratively across 32 fixed workstations and 18 soft collaboration seats, in an inspiring environment with everything they need to deliver quality – and of course a cracking coffee machine. Our new neighbours include Threesixty Architecture, Reid Mitchell, Shoosmith, Incremental Group, Autorek and Channel 4.
This historic, category ‘B’ listed building sits on the corner of Ingram and Montrose St and was once home to the J&W Garment Factory. The building underwent a significant and sympathetic refurbishment in 2017, maintaining many original features whilst creating modern, light, working spaces.
As the Head Office, it was important in Glasgow that we had a space that reflected our culture and vision for the business as well as providing a flexible, welcoming and collaborative environment for our staff and visiting clients.
Our focus on ‘practicing what we preach’ is visible within our services design for the space. Maximising the fabric whilst utilising low energy, highly efficient equipment, natural ventilation and air quality monitoring systems, all linked to an interactive front end which allows us to review the ongoing performance of the office in accordance with our route map to Net Zero Carbon. Active travel is also encouraged by the provision of shower, changing, bike and locker facilities.
If you would like to pop in for a visit and a coffee, get in touch with Barry McKeane.
Photos from left/top: Barry McKeane, Glasgow Office
Allan McGill, Managing Director commented:
“Quality, flexibility and modern office space was key to rebranding post MBO and was very high on my personal agenda as a key area we felt the business should invest in as soon as it could.
With existing leases running out it gave us the push we required to look at suitable space across the city and in the Garment Factory we simply found a fantastic space in an even better location.
With the company already embracing hybrid working it allowed us to downsize slightly while investing in better quality space and a much higher level of fit-out than we have in previous years, which in turn has provided us with a space that will simply be a pleasure to work out of for staff and clients alike.”
Photos: Glasgow and Edinburgh Offices
Edinburgh
Having established and grown the Edinburgh office, Location Director Stephen Osborne will continue to develop and lead the team in the new space.
Having outgrown our office at Lochrin Square, the Edinburgh team have expanded into new premises at 38 Thistle Street.
Planned in 1767 and named after the national flower of Scotland, Thistle Street runs parallel to George St in the very heart of the New Town and is packed with independent shops, bars and coffee spots.
Edinburgh has been designed in the image of our Glasgow head office. With dynamic collaborative workspaces, a relaxed meeting room, private soundproof pod and glorious natural light from the original windows – the new space will provide a new home for the Edinburgh team to grow further and work closely together. Our new neighbours include Gardiner & Theobald, Cuthbert White and Quattro Consult. There are several great restaurants on our doorstep and a fantastic pub right across the street!
Stephen and his team, including all aspects of MEP and Sustainability design, are working on a variety of projects across various sectors and warmly invite you to pop in and say hello, if you’d like to visit get in touch with Stephen here.
The flexible, agile space of 1600sqft allows up to 20 staff to occupy at any time, with 12 workstations, 6 soft collaboration seats and plenty of staff amenities. Active travel is encouraged by the provision of shower, changing and locker facilities, and we will be actively minimising energy use, monitoring air quality and reducing waste in accordance with our route map to Net Zero Carbon.
Photo from left/top: Stephen Osborne, Edinburgh Office
Allan McGill, Managing Director commented:
“Location and the type of space was key to our decision making and we lucked out again by finding this space in another fantastic building within an iconic area of Edinburgh. We have invested heavily in the fit-out and went all out to provide a mirror image of Glasgow by following a very rigid company branding criteria, that sees very similar features across both offices that in time will be rolled out across all 6 of our offices, with Aberdeen already planned for early 2023.”
It really has been all consuming since the MBO and to be able to deliver two new offices to such a high quality within the first 18 months of business is simply a fantastic achievement by the Board, who should be very proud of the progress they have made in such a short period of time.
Feedback from staff has been incredibly positive across both offices and we look forward to inviting in our clients and friends to the spaces soon.
Finally, special thanks to Form Design, our fantastic lead designer, and to FES, our ever reliable fit out contractor, who have delivered two fantastic, modern, quality offices.
If you’d like to pop in for a visit and a coffee, get in touch with Barry McKeane, Glasgow or Stephen Osborne, Edinburgh.
All photography: David Cadzow
Leading to Prevent Training Sessions
Leading to Prevent Training Sessions
We strive to build a positive culture and working environment at Wallace Whittle; through training, management, setting examples and empowerment.
Ensuring our staff are equipped to deal with behaviours, attitudes or situations that clash with our organisational or societal values is key to not only their development, but also the development and growth of our company.
Through our Academy, our Senior Management team and Level 4 Associate Directors completed an in-depth training session with external trainer, Graham Goulden of Cultivating Minds.
Photo: Graham Goulden
Graham Goulden, BA, is an experienced and committed leadership and violence prevention trainer. For thirty years he was a Scottish police officer and Chief Investigator specialising in criminal investigation, drug investigation, training and crime prevention.
Ensuring our staff are equipped to deal with behaviours, attitudes or situations that clash with our organisational or societal values is key to not only their development, but also the development and growth of our company.
Through our Academy, our Senior Management team and Level 4 Associate Directors completed an in-depth training session with external trainer, Graham Goulden of Cultivating Minds.
He was involved in developing the recent Police Scotland campaign, ‘That Guy’ which asks men to consider their attitudes towards sexual violence. You can find out more about that campaign here: That-guy.co.uk
The session encouraged discussions on a range of social situations that can have a negative impact on the culture and performance in any organisation. It also explored the concept of the ‘bystander’ and provided the tools and practical strategies needed to both challenge and support colleagues in difficult situations.
After some pre-session ‘homework’, the team got together online with Graham to discuss the roles of leadership in the prevention of workplace abuse and harassment, motivators and inhibitors to bystander intervention and how to support a productive, positive workplace culture.
Feedback from the sessions has been encouragingly positive and staff left the sessions feeling empowered to lead.
Find out more about our academy here WW:Academy or get in touch [email protected]
Company Away Day 2022
Company Away Day 2022
Our Company Away Days are a couple of days of fun, relaxation and re-connection for our staff across our eight offices. After two years of home working and being behind screens, it was an important win for us to get everyone back together safely. We asked our staff to pack away laptops and stay off their phones to take a break and feel fully involved.
Arriving at Uddingston Cricket & Sports Club on day one, we welcomed staff with a delicious lunch and set out the plans for the next two days of fun and activities before heading out to the field for Cricket 7’s. Putting together groups with mixed roles, levels and disciplines allowed more opportunities for staff to meet others from different areas and really bond together as a team. That evening we mixed everyone up again for dinner and staff enjoyed the thrills of their own casino, posing for the photo booth, as well as enjoying some live music in the evening sunshine.
The start of day two focused on staff and business development sessions where we heard from Allan McGill, our Managing Director, about the focus and direction of the business, future plans and our growth post management buy-out, as well as development workshops on Quality & Standardisation from Associate Directors, Raymond Kelly and Paul Hargreaves. We ended the day back out on the field in the sunshine for our very own Crystal Maze. Mystery, mental, physical and skill challenges tested our communication and team work skills and the competition was fierce!
Staff feedback from the day has been incredibly positive and we’ve seen the value in taking this time for our staff, both in terms of time to switch off, but also in creating strong relationships between offices and departments.
We aim to be market-leading, providing benefits and training opportunities and investing in our staff. From learning and CPD opportunities with our Academy to providing our staff with access to healthcare and wellbeing support services. We give everyone an annual allowance to spend on branded clothing and accessories, support agile working and this year we’ve provided an end of Q1 cost of living bonus. We understand that investing in our staff is key to ensuring quality of life for them, and quality of service here at Wallace Whittle.
A huge thank you to Uddingston Cricket and Sport Club for hosting us and we can’t wait to see where next year takes us.
Check out the highlight video from the brilliant No73 Media and get in touch if you’d like any more information about how we invest in our people.