GOLF-LOVER MARK SHEQS IN AT FINLEY ’ S !
A fully-qualified health and safety expert has already got into full swing at a Newton Aycliffe construction firm which is bucking the manufacturing trend .
Sports lover Mark Stones has been appointed Safety , Health , Environmental and Quality ( SHEQ ) Manager at family-run Finley Structures , which continues to win big contracts up and down the country .
The 43-year-old , a long-time member of Bishop Auckland Golf Club who also played Under-19s county level cricket for Durham in his pomp , has joined Finley ’ s highly-skilled workforce at its Aycliffe Business Park premises .
Mark , married to wife Melanie since 1997 , was previously SHEQ Manager with Seaham-based aluminium fabricators Fortress Facades for two years and before that he spent just over a year as Health and Safety Director for construction firm Indbuild in Richmond .
A Chartered Member of Institution of Occupational Safety and Health ( IOSH ), Mark is also a FULL Member of the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management ( IIRSM ), with association of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment ( IEMA ) in-line with the requirements of the environmental management .
He said : “ I am already enjoying my time with Finley Structures . I believe I can contribute much to the internal and external direction of the company with employees and clients alike .
ARE YOU AU FAIT WITH SOCIAL MEDIA ?
“ I have already located all relevant risk assessments to the machinery and work procedures as well as daily inspection sheets across the spectrum of activities with taskspecific RA ’ s being rolled out to all staff – from the office , to fabrication on the shop floor as well as on-site .”
Finley ’ s managing director Julie Finley added : “ We ’ re delighted to bring someone like Mark on board , he brings with him not just a raft of qualifications , but also a wealth of knowledge and invaluable health and safety experience .
“ Zero Harm is absolutely paramount in the construction industry and hopefully Mark will enable us to build on the good reputation we already have for creating a safe environment within the workplace .”
Bringing Aycliffe Business Park Together | 15
As well as his love for sport , Mark enjoys holidays walking pet dog ‘ Oliver ’, and over the years he has been involved with a number of fundraising events for charitable organisations , such as walks , fancy dress parties , sportsman evenings and golf days .
Finley Structures , which has an annual turnover of £ 15m , has recently worked on a high-profile 1,000-tonne contract for Drax Power Station near Selby in North Yorkshire and is currently working on a 500-tonne job for Shepherd Construction at Ercall Wood Technology College in Telford as well as a 70-tonne contract for Carillion Building at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire .
One of Newton Aycliffe ’ s brightest young firms hosted a well-attended seminar as part of the Aycliffe Business Park ( ABP ) series of events .
Rachel Townsend-Green , boss of Au Fait Marketing based at The HUB , gave an interesting pep-talk to attendees on the do ’ s and dont ’ s of social networking .
“ Some people are quite proficient at social networking and others are self-proclaimed luddites and won ’ t go within a mile of it !” admits Rachel .
“ So it ’ s difficult to gauge which level to pitch this kind of thing at , but we had a good day , and judging by the feedback we got I think we got it at pretty much the right level .”
Business Development Coordinator Kate Chapman , who attended the event , said : “ The main thing we ’ ve learned is about having an actual social media strategy .
“ We work hard on developing marketing strategies , but we maybe haven ’ t had a very clear policy on social media interaction , and I think one of the key messages that came across from this event was that if you are going to be active on the social media front , have a defined strategy , reasons why and how that aligns to your overall marketing strategy .”
Kate added : “ We ’ ve been to and hosted some of the ABP events and I think there ’ s a realisation that there ’ s a real community on the park that maybe we haven ’ t been involved with before .
“ We ’ ve certainly made a number of new contacts that are on our doorstep for quite a while that we ’ d previously never met .”
Further ABP events are planned for the rest of the year , and Rachel added : “ One of the things we ’ re big on is transfer of knowledge , and I ’ m personally really passionate about the business park . I grew up in Aycliffe Village , I live here , I ’ m based at The HUB and we ’ re employing local people , so I ’ m totally passionate about what the ABP group is trying to achieve .”