All posts by : Rowan_Retain

From operating heavy duty machinery to working at dangerous heights, the construction industry face continuous high levels of risk each day. This means that commitment to excellent health and safety management and procedures is critical to ensure the well-being of workers and the community, as well as the sustainability of the organisation and its operations. Here at Retain Roofing, we pride ourselves on offering a premium service to all our clients with an elite approach to health and safety. As part of of our ongoing commitment, we are pleased to announce that we have recently added CHAS Accredited to the list of health and safety certifications and awards that we are proud to have achieved since we first established in 2008…

What does CHAS Accredited mean? 

CHAS (The Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme) is a type of accreditation that verifies a company’s excellent standard of health and safety. As co-founder of SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) and the Common Assessment Standard, CHAS is trusted by multiple industries, including the construction industry, to set comprehensive compliance benchmarks that make the world a safer place. Being CHAS accredited means Retain Roofing can demonstrate compliance and demonstrate our risk management policies to match an elite standard of assessment from industry-leading accreditation schemes. 

What other Health & Safety Accreditations do we have? 

NRFC Gold Award Winners 

We are the proud winners of the National Federation of Roofing Contractor’s (NFRC) Gold Award for Health and Safety year after year. The NRFC is the UK’s largest roofing trade association and ensures that all its members provide only the highest standards of safety  and workmanship through a strict code of practice, vetting procedures and site inspections. 

Gold Level-3 members of Constructionline

Being Gold Level-3 members of Constructionline  means we have proven to have defined health and safety measures including occupational health arrangements and procedures for staff health and well-being; measures to protect the public and restrict unauthorised access; and procedures to protect against the risk of fatigue. 

Approved members of Alcumus

Alcumus helps dedicated companies to manage and avoid risks that endanger workers, operations and the planet. Alcumus help us to anticipate and mitigate risks, achieve ethical best practices and grow sustainably with compliance and transparency. 

Members of Avetta 

Avetta is the world’s largest supply chain risk compliance network which helps us to create safe operating environments for site-workers through industry leading supplier evaluation and audits. 

Safeguarding our trusted reputation…

We have a proven track record of successfully delivering industrial and commercial roofing projects of all scales and sizes to a superior finish using only high quality materials that are supplied from the nation’s leading manufacturers. Our extensive experience, as well as our array of qualifications and awards mean we are trusted by a diversity of companies across the nation to install a range of different roofing solutions.

If you are interested in learning more about our industrial and commercial roofing services, including asbestos removal, drone surveys and maintenance services, or would like to take advantage of our no obligation free quotation, please get in touch with a professional member of our team today who will be happy to answer any questions you have: 0800 027 2244

Retain Roofing is part of the Retain Limited group of companies. As well as an industrial and commercial roofing service, Retain Limited also offer solar PV design and installation and scaffolding solutions. Please ask a member of our team if you are interested in any of our other services or submit an enquiry form on our website.

“We are committed to continuing to raise the bar for health and safety practices to protect our site-workers, clients and the wider community.” 

— Jamie Gibbs, founder and director of Retain Limited

On the 6^th April 2022 there will be a new update for PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) regulations that will affect the way you distribute PPE to people who work for you.

At Retain Limited, we go above and beyond to ensure the safety of all people who work for us and with us.

Previously, the PPE regulations only affected limb (a) workers. These are the people that are officially employed by you, an employee. They will have an employment contract with a specific number of hours to work, a regular salary or wage and will have holiday and sick leave allowance.

The new PPE regulations now affect limb (b) workers. These are people who aren’t directly employed by you and are not self-employed. They may be an agency worker, freelancer or casual worker. They won’t receive the same benefits as your regular employees.

The new PPE regulations will not affect self-employed workers. Self-employed workers usually run their own business and are responsible for it, work flexibly and provide their own equipment and tools.

Alongside PPE, it is paramount to conduct regular risk assessments to make sure that all safety risks are reduced to a minimum. PPE works alongside your other health and safety measures, supplementing the overall safety of the work environment. Head over to this Peninsula blog to find out ways to assess your PPE needs.

To learn more about our services or to enquire about anything else, please contact the Retain Limited team on 0800 027 2244 or fill in our online contact form to request a call back.

We have struck gold for the 6^th year in a row in the NFRC Health and Safety in Roofing Awards

The NFRC (National Federation of Roofing Contractors) is one of the largest, well-respected and reputable roofing trade associations in the UK. They promote quality contractors and products and ensure that its members are leading by example within the roofing industry.

As a member of the NFRC, it is our responsibility to ensure that we adhere to the high standards set out by ourselves, NFRC and the Government. This includes quality of work, materials we use, health and safety and the training of our employees. It is the backbone of our business and is part of our core principles.

There are numerous laws and legislations that are relevant to health and safety within the construction industry that we adhere closely to:

Health and Safety at Work Act (1974)

Work at Height Regulations (2005)

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (1999)

Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (2015)

Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (1998)

Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (1998)

The NFRC have said “We received a total of 116 entries, with participating companies either achieving a gold or silver award, which is a testament to the quality of the submissions. In addition to this, some members went above and beyond with a detailed explanation of not only how they manage health and safety risks, but also how they engage their workers in that process to drive culture change in the management of workplace risks. The judges felt it only right to give these companies a special mention in the Member Bulletin.”

Roofing Today were kind enough to feature us on their site, with some words from our Project Co-Ordinator and our Director. Read here!

Congratulations to the team for continuing to work hard to achieve this award and going above and beyond expectations!

To learn more about our professional and personal approach to all things health and safety or to enquire about anything else, please contact the Retain Limited team on 0800 027 2244 or fill in our online contact form to request a call back.

Knowledge based on experience.

It’s no secret that the Retain Limited Group are extremely proud to work closely with the RMA, an association that has grown professionally over the last few years but originally established via personal connections in the early days from our very own Management Team.

The RMA are a fantastic charitable organisation who aim to provide a lifetime of support to the Royal Marines Family, by whatever means required.

With many of our own employees previously serving in the Royal Marines, including Founder and Director Jamie Gibbs, we endeavour to not only provide employment opportunities to help other Royal Marines re-adjust into the lifestyle of a UK civilian, but also educate, train and create bespoke career pathways, tailored to their individual skillsets, to enable and encourage a successful and fulfilling life post-service. 

Take a look at the video in the link below to see Retain Limited and our former Royal Marines speaking about our association with the RMA, and their current career plans. 

The recent news that the construction industry is facing significant issues with supply and demand for both building materials and skilled labour comes as no surprise to Retain Limited founder and director, Jamie Gibbs.

Gibbs founded Retain back in 2008 and has experienced sustainable growth throughout this time but these well documented issues have proved to be a real challenge for the day to day running of his company.

“What we are currently witnessing across the construction industry is predominantly a knock-on effect from the problems facing the logistics industry.” Gibbs said.

“The logistics industry was already struggling to meet demands after the Brexit fall-out and the COVID-19 pandemic has added further disruption with ongoing sea and road freight issues.

“This has resulted in much higher costs for building materials across the board and this has made managing our supplies and projects even harder. I believe this is more extreme for smaller companies who rely on regular stock deliveries at builders’ merchants which simply isn’t there at the moment.

“The larger construction companies that have greater purchasing power are able to bulk buy and stockpile the materials they need which is at a detriment to everyone else who is trying to finish an existing project or even start a new one.

“It’s a classic economic example of demand exceeding supply where prices go through the roof as we’ve previously experienced in other industries such as farming and more recently housing.”

It has recently been reported by Glenigan (for the National Federation of Roofing Contractors) that the second quarter of the year continued to follow suit as the first with sustained growth in workloads and new projects given the green light by local planning authorities.

Many industrial and commercial roofing contractors, including Retain, have also reported difficulties in recruiting skilled labour to physically get on site and do the work they have on their books.

Throw in the supplies shortage and the rising cost of materials and there is growing pressure on companies operating in the construction industry to complete projects on time which will add further delay to the sectors recovery since the pandemic hit our shores some 18 months ago.

Gibbs added: “If these shortage problems aren’t addressed and resolved soon it will only result in a further squeeze on the everyday costs and margins for roofing contractors which makes it difficult to plan ahead with confidence.”

e businesses whilst others have unfortunately had to cease operations altogether.

The construction industry is one sector that has been hit hard by the pandemic, with the government’s lockdown putting a stop to construction work earlier in 2020. The majority of construction workers were able to return to sites in May, but the industry hasn’t quite recovered yet despite an increase in demand for projects and the substantial rise in building material costs.

Although the pandemic has undoubtedly been a difficult period for most construction businesses, a recent industry survey reports that it’s not all doom and gloom. The survey states that businesses are getting back on track and are confident about the future as lockdown restrictions have now been lifted largely thanks to the successful rollout of the government’s vaccination programme.

Prior to the national uptake of the vaccination programme, the Department for Education (DfE) had announced a series of free level 3 qualifications to help the country recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are aged 19 or over, and do not already have a level 3 qualification, you could be eligible to apply for a free place. A full level 3 qualification is equivalent to an advanced technical certificate or diploma, or 2 A levels.

If you are interested in taking advantage of this DfE scheme please click here to view which colleges and training providers are currently able to offer free places for one or more of the level 3 qualifications available to eligible adults. Information on how to apply including the eligibility criteria is available here.

You are required to contact the college directly to discover if they have free places for the qualification that you’re interested in, or if they are considering offering the qualification in the future. If you’re eligible, and your college or training provider can offer a free place for the qualification that you are interested in, you will not have to pay for the course.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in the construction industry and in particularly the roofing sector, you’re in luck as there is a Level 3 NVQ Diploma in Roofing Occupations (Construction) available. You would need to make contact with your local or regional college or training provider to find out if they are running the course in your area.

We are always on the look-out for industrial roofing operatives to join us as we continue to expand and grow. If you are looking for work or considering a new challenge, please send an up to date CV to info@retainlimited.com or contact us on 0800 027 2244 to register your interest.

Knowledge based on experience.

Retain Join Forces with the Royal Marines Charity

Retain Limited is both proud and delighted to announce that they have chosen to support The Royal Marines Charity (RMA) on an ongoing basis

Commencing immediately, the partnership will concentrate on the membership, and those members of the RMA who may not be able to attend events or trips due to financial constraints or other issues being able to integrate with the Corps Family once again. 

The donation provided by Retain will allow the RMA to do more for its members to further enjoy the camaraderie and esprit de corps that they take pride in.

The RMA celebrates its 75th anniversary this year and marks the foundation of one of its predecessor organisations, the Royal Marines Association in 1946. The RMA’s main purpose is to provide a better quality of life to serving and retired Royal Marines and their families – this converts into some 125,000 potential beneficiaries.

Richie Puttock, membership operations director (East), stated: “This wonderful donation from Retain Limited will offer the membership team a wide range of options when it comes to utilising the money from enhancing events for the benefit of those who attend to allowing those who may not be in a financial position to attend to do so. 

“We will report back regularly to Retain on how and where the money is being spent and we are extremely grateful to them for their generosity and kindness and we look forward to working with them over the coming months.

“We would like to thank Retain, and Jamie, for their support, it is wonderful to see our Corps family choosing to make donations to the RMA even after they have left service.”

Founder and director of Retain Limited, Jamie Gibbs, who served in The Royal Marines said: “This is a very proud day for myself and my company to support the Corp family and help raise the awareness of the fantastic work that the RMA do year in, year out.

“I know first-hand of the hard work and dedication that the RMA provide to the Royal Marines extended family and the work they perform really does make a difference to the lives of cadets, serving Corps, veterans and their families.

“There is a cohesive sense of heritage and esprit de corps which is underpinned throughout the Royal Marines community and I’m thrilled to offer my support to the RMA to help them achieve their objectives.”

We are delighted to have secured another gold award in health and safety from the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC). This is the fifth consecutive year we have struck gold and further highlights our ongoing commitment to our successful health and safety programme.

As a professional industrial and commercial roofing contractor, our most common residual safety risk is working at height on roofs. We cannot stress enough how important health and safety is to us – it is quite frankly the backbone of our business and the rock solid foundations we’ve built our business on.

We appreciate that this can come at a cost but at the same time you are getting excellent value for money for a specialised service that cuts no corners and does everything by the book. We do this to not only protect the well-being of our workforce but to maintain our first class reputation as a diligent roofing contractor that provides a high quality service both on and off a roof.

Working at height on an industrial or commercial roof comes with its obvious hazards and risks and the recent Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics show that roof work accounts for a quarter of all deaths in the construction industry.

Falls from an unprotected edge or through fragile or brittle roofing materials, such as roof lights or asbestos cement sheets, account for the majority of fatalities. There are also many serious injuries as a result of a fall and these can often result in permanent life changing injuries.

We also have to deal with the inconsistent weather that comes with working and living in the UK. We carefully manage how to deal and respond to any extremes of weather such as high winds or hot and cold temperatures to ensure our roofing operatives are not put at any additional risk.

There is a range of law that is relevant to health and safety in the constructions industry that we work closely with. The main elements of these are as follows:

Health and Safety at Work Act (1974)

Work at Height Regulations (2005)

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (1999)

Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (2015)

Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (1998)

Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (1998)

To make things even safer before we start working on an industrial or commercial roof, we have purchased a drone to undertake all roof inspections and surveys. This has totally eliminated the risk of working at height at the quoting and initial stage of a potential new project. 

Our drone operators are able to capture high resolution imagery and record footage which can then be turned into videos and/or presentations for the client to clearly view our findings and recommended solution. 

Further to this we ensure our workforce are kitted out with the most suitable PPE (personal protective equipment) and they have the right tools and machinery to work both safely and effectively. All PPE and tools are correctly maintained to ensure they’re fit for purpose and remain in good working order.

We also ensure that our workforce receive regular training and refreshers to use their PPE and equipment safely as stated by the guidelines of the respective manufacturers. The training that we participate in allows us to maintain our position as one of the market leaders in our field of expertise.

To learn more about our professional and personal approach to all things health and safety or to enquire about our drone roofing service, please contact the Retain team on 0800 027 2244 or fill in our online contact form  to request a call back.

Knowledge based on experience.

Industrial and commercial buildings come in all different shapes and sizes and some are in better condition than others. Whether you’re looking to buy a property of this nature, or you’re thinking of selling one, the current state and condition of the roof can greatly affect the market valuation of the building

If you think about it logically, would you want to buy a building that has had the roof replaced recently? Yes, of course you would. On the other hand would you want to buy a building with an aged roof that currently leaks and you can see the light of day through it? No, of course you wouldn’t.

If everything else was exactly the same between those two buildings do you think they would attract the same price on the market? Absolutely not! If you ask any commercial agent, they will tell you that a building with a new roof will command a greater rental or resale value. One property we recently re-roofed was able to double their rental income by replacing the asbestos cement sheeting for a new insulated roof system.

To offer another example of the effects of resale value, we undertook a re-roof of a Yorkshire based property that had asbestos cement sheeting that was beyond its life and was replaced with new bright composite panels which offered the site an insulated 40 year roof system. The site was valued upon completion and the new roof added 15% to the market price of the building.

This is why it’s so important to seriously think about how a new industrial or commercial roofing system you install can help you, or hurt you financially further down the line. Would you rather purchase a building with a roof that will need to be completely removed and replaced someday, or one that can be renewed over and over again at a fraction of the original installation cost? It really is as simple as that.

To learn more about our award winning industrial and commercial roofing services and how we can be of assistance in your quest for a new roof, please contact our helpful team on 0800 027 2244 or fill in our online contact form and we’ll be in touch before you know it.

Knowledge based on experience.

Have you heard the famous quote: ‘the bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten?’

As well as the above by Benjamin Franklin back in the 1700’s, there’s another well-known saying that we all hear on a regular basis which is ‘choose quality over quantity’. You can apply this to most things in life but not everyone will choose to go down the quality path depending on a number of reasons.

The main reason will more than likely be a financial one as when you hear the word quality banded about you instantly think it’s going to be expensive and more than you can afford to pay. This isn’t always the case, and another well-known saying springs to mind which is ‘buy cheap, pay twice’ and this is probably something we’ve all experienced during our lifetime.

With regards to industrial roofing and commercial roofing, we know that we’re not the cheapest roofing contractor out there. If you were to obtain three quotes for a roofing project, we probably wouldn’t be the cheapest. However, we are confident that we will do the best job for you and your property.

By adopting best practices towards our approach to health and safety and having an unwavering commitment to our ongoing training programme we are good value for money. Our teams are both highly skilled and experienced who go the extra mile to make sure your needs and expectations are fully met.

Our entire business model is based around a quality ethos in everything that we do. We set our standards to a very high level and continue to raise the bar. We’re an award-winning company (we’ve won the NFRC Gold Award for Health and Safety for the last 6 years) that does things by the book and we take no shortcuts along the way to leave a thoroughly professional job.

We bang the quality drum quite a lot but this is what we stand for and we won’t lower our standards or your expectations just to win a roofing contract. We want you to feel like you have made the right choice from the moment you make an initial enquiry all the way through to completing your project.

A price for an industrial or commercial roofing project often reflects the standard of safety, workmanship and materials. Cost shouldn’t be the determining factor if you want your new roof to be fit for purpose and long lasting, as well as being installed correctly to manufacturer’s guidelines so all guarantees are valid.

It is said far too often that the final decision will be made on cost alone, without regard to the quality of what is being offered or if it is indeed ‘apples for apples.’ It is so easy to assume that because a new roof has been requested, everything that has been priced for will include similar materials and equal levels of safety on site.

This was recently proven with a client receiving costs for a new roof covering. It was not until the offerings were investigated further that it was discovered that our proposal was far in excess of our competition. Our quotation included a longer manufacturer guarantee on materials, stainless steel fixings and higher performing insulation. Sometimes the devil is in the detail.

To discover more about our high quality industrial and commercial roofing services and why we are different from other roofing contractors, please contact the Retain team on 0800 027 2244 or fill in our online contact form below and we’ll be in touch.

Knowledge based on experience.