12 March 2018
Crowdfunding helped Joe into work with VGC
Joe is working in his first job since 2003, for VGC Group on the Northern Line extension. For over a decade, Joe was homeless. He slept in hostels and on friends’ sofas – and sometimes on the streets. Until last year when he underwent treatment, Joe also struggled with addictions. In August 2017 he joined Beam,
8 March 2018
Women in VGC network launch
Our Women in VGC network launched on International Women’s Day. The meeting, at Cardinal House, saw an excellent turnout of VGC women, with a number of male supporters. Everyone has a voice In his welcome, MD Laurence Mckidd stated that diversity and ethical behaviour are part of being a fair and reasonable business. Everyone has
5 March 2018
Excellent Inspire Me workshop
Zena writes: Last Thursday I attended the first Inspire Me workshop. VGC is proud to be an official supporter of the campaign. Most of the workshop attendees were women: a refreshing reverse of the normal gender balance at construction events. Everyone had made a tremendous effort to overcome the weather to attend, and there were very few
14 February 2018
Why VGC is supporting the ‘Inspire Me’ campaign
Why has VGC become a supporter of ‘Inspire Me’? We know our industry is facing a skills shortage, exacerbated by Brexit and an ageing workforce. Arcadis research suggests that British construction must recruit over 400,000 people every year between now and 2021 to meet its needs. Women make up more than half the UK population. But
7 February 2018
VGC achieves Ethical Labour Standard
VGC is the first labour supply company in the UK to achieve the new Ethical Labour Sourcing Standard (BES 6002:2017). VGC is also the first company in the rail sector, and one of just three companies to date, to attain the Ethical Labour Standard (ELS). The audit report said: “As one of the largest labour and
7 February 2018
Women in Construction group - our first meeting
Ciara writes: Our initial Women in Construction group meeting yesterday morning went extremely well. We were delighted that our chairman, Sean Fitzpatrick, joined us for the start of the meeting. He reaffirmed that we have senior level board support for the group and looks forward to seeing the improvements that we expect as a result
6 February 2018
Women in construction champion - a busy winter
Kim writes: It’s been a busy winter so far, and it’s going to get even busier. Since my last blog, I have met more people about taking my Women in construction programme into schools, as well as working with BuildForce UK and Fairness, Inclusion and Respect in Construction. Diversity training I’ve been fortunate to go
5 February 2018
Toolbox talks on fairness, inclusion and respect
Richard writes about delivering toolbox talks on language to workers on the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme.
29 January 2018
A14 supply chain award
VGC is part of the team which was recognised at the A14 Supply Chain awards on 12 January. The integrated labour team was presented with the Innovation award. Supply chain partners VGC Group, Reliable Contractors, Danny Sullivan Group and Hercules Site Services operate as an integrated labour team (ILT), which supplies appropriate labour resources to
22 January 2018
A14 stand-down day
Ben writes: I attended an excellent stand-down day on the A14 in December. The event was held at the IWM Duxford RAF War Museum. There were two briefings of around four hours each, with the day split into two halves to reduce the numbers inside the museum. The start of the briefing was a message from
8 January 2018
Energy-saving result
Richard writes: Recent energy usage initiatives have resulted in savings to VGC. These savings represent money, and also a smaller carbon footprint. And they support our ISO50001 Energy Management accreditation. Electricity Our total electricity usage for 2017 was slightly up over 2016 – however, we have had an increase in staff numbers in the offices.
3 January 2018
Finance blog
Sam writes: I’ve just been on a very interesting course on the future of finance leadership run by CIMA (the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants). The traditional view of a finance department is that they are gatekeepers and “just exist to make spreadsheets”. People assume we’re inward-looking, with a set of rules that we impose
