Business
44 | DECEMBER 2023
Business
Karen Nelson honoured with prestigious Fellowship Award
Karen Nelson , business development manager at HOPPE ( UK ), has been awarded the Fellowship Award at the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers ( GAI ) Community Awards .
The Fellowship Award is given to an individual who has shown a longstanding and ongoing commitment to the Guild . Karen , who has worked at HOPPE ( UK ) for more than eight years , was recognised for her role as chair of the Midlands Community Hub and contribution to the GAI education committee .
Karen said : “ My involvement in both the Midlands Community Hub and the education committee has always been driven by my belief in the importance of the Guild ’ s education and
CPD programme . I know this is a sentiment shared by many of my industry peers . There aren ’ t many sectors like ours and I ’ m honoured to be a part of it .”
After completing her original GAI Diploma in 2008 , Karen has recently attained a second GAI Diploma in door systems . For more than 10 years , Karen has also organised a Midlands Community Hub Christmas charity quiz , raising more than £ 7,000 for various charities .
www . gai . org . uk
Read online at www . proinstaller . co . uk
PIGS FOR 2024
2024 will see a decade of dedication from PiGs organiser Sarah Ball at Balls2 Marketing . “ We have established an annual programme of UK events over the last 10 years , and there ’ s even been a few escapades to the US alongside Glassbuild America . We were happy to be the last industry event before the lockdown for COVID and the first back , and as we outgrew our early venues , we have found bigger ones to accommodate our 200-plus regulars .
“ What we have not changed is the ethos of building relationships . There are NO badges , NO speeches , NO sales pitches ,
Supply Chain Sustainability School Gold Status
Freefoam Building Products Ltd has been awarded Gold status by the Supply Chain Sustainability School ( SCSS ). SCSS Gold status recognises Freefoam ’ s commitment to building sustainability and ESG skills and knowledge . The Supply Chain Sustainability School is a free online platform that provides training and learning content aiming
and NO pop-up banners at any of the events .
“ Next year , in a 10-year celebration , we are running a rather special programme of events . Kicking off with
to ‘ inspire and enable ’ the built environment sector to implement positive change . Topics can range from Energy and Carbon reduction ,
Birmingham on Wednesday 26 March to tie in with the Triple Glazing Question being held earlier in the day , 13 June in Bristol , 22 August for a PiGs Summer
Party in Newcastle , and the final UK date is 7 November in Manchester .”
www . balls2marketing . co . uk
Waste and Resource Efficiency , Sustainable Procurement , and Social Value .
Members of the school are required to complete an initial assessment , where their knowledge is benchmarked , and areas for improvement are identified . Members then receive customised learning resources to bridge any knowledge gaps .
“ A big part of our journey to Building a Sustainable Future for our business includes training for our teams ,” comments Colin St John , Freefoam ’ s Commercial Director . “ It ’ s not just manufacturers like Freefoam who are benefiting – but also other stakeholders within the construction value chain such as builders ’ merchants and product end users .”
www . freefoam . com
ABLOY UK APPOINTS CASSIE WONG TO FURTHER STRENGTHEN TELECOMS DIVISION
Cassie previously worked for ASSA ABLOY Hong Kong , building industry knowledge about the construction sector and forging relationships with architects and specifiers .
She then went on to become a DipGAI qualified ironmonger , and gained experience around new building projects and specification , ironmongery , hardware such as electric locks , and automation .
Cassie will be using her industry knowledge to build relationships and engage with people across the communications sector , including mobile network operators , tower companies , ISP providers and datacentres , as well as postal , radio and TV media operators .
Cassie commented : “ I ’ m delighted to rejoin the ASSA ABLOY family with my role at Abloy UK as a member of the Critical Infrastructure team .
“ Asset management and controlling infrastructure is crucial in the industry , with organisations often boasting many disparate sites and assets . I want to fully understand the issues they face around security and explain how Abloy solutions can help .”
cassie . wong @ abloy . co . uk