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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.

The government has this week announced a ban on the sale of new diesel and petrol cars by 2030. This revised date has brought forward the government’s original target by 10 years, and is a key part of their wider plan to make the UK carbon neutral by 2050

The RAC have responded to this development and said that the UK’s charging network would have to grow “exponentially” to cope with the demand when sales of electric vehicles (EV) soar as the date of the restrictions near.

We’ve recently strengthened our presence in the commercial solar industry as a trusted installer of quality solar PV systems. In collaboration with our partners, we are able to provide a solution that meets the exact requirements of your property.

So, what’s this got to do with industrial and commercial roofing we hear you say. Well, the places where EV owners will be working such as offices, warehouses and factories are going to need somewhere to charge their car whilst at work. The infrastructure to cope with this extra demand will need to significantly increase and this is where we can help.

Not only does solar PV help to reduce the overall energy consumption of the workplace, it will also maximise the return on investment (ROI) and instantly increases the value of your commercial property. It really is a win-win situation for you and your staff who will need to charge their EV’s.

Furthermore, if your commercial property was built before 1999, it is more than likely to have some kind of asbestos element within your roof. Recent government rulings state that asbestos has to be removed from all buildings before 2035, and we strongly advise you to take advantage of the 150% tax benefit of the cost by removing asbestos as part of your solar PV installation.

Forward-thinking businesses are already reaping the rewards of harnessing energy from the sun and now is the perfect time to seriously consider solar power. A commercial solar PV system offers a fantastic addition to any business be it on a small or large scale, and helps your business work towards a more sustainable future.

To discover more about our commercial solar PV solutions and associated financial benefits for your business, please don’t hesitate to contact the Retain team on 0800 027 2244 or fill out our contact form below and we’ll be in touch.

Knowledge based on experience.

Retain Limited prides itself on its commitment to continuous training to ensure our staff have as much opportunity as possible to keep improving and move forward with their roofing careers

This begins at the top where our director and company founder (Jamie Gibbs) is the regional Chair for the Institute of Roofing (IoR). This role is responsible for encouraging like-minded professionals to embrace collaborative learning to ultimately improve the day-to-day aspect of the industrial and commercial roofing industry.

A key reason we also invest in training is to ensure that our professional and dedicated workforce is kept up to date with the latest regulations and practices that our industry adopts. It’s our aim to be at the forefront of our industry and the training we undertake allows us to be one of the market leaders in our field of expertise.

Other training that we regularly undertake with our staff is provided through manufacturers whose products we regularly use on our roofing projects. This could be how to fit a certain type of cladding properly or learning how to use working at heights equipment in a safe and competent manner.

We like to prove and give confidence to our clients that our roofing staff are competent, safe and formally qualified to work on construction sites. This is the least we can do to make sure they have all the necessary tools and knowledge to deliver beyond what is expected of them.

Jamie Gibbs said: “It’s our aim to recruit and train young people into the industrial and commercial roofing industry and to provide them with the foundation for an exciting, rewarding and successful career.

“We also invest heavily in our training programme to give our clients the best possible service and customer experience when we’re out on site doing what we do best.

“I believe that training and investment in staff should be the backbone of any successful business and this is something that we will continue to do for the foreseeable future.”

To learn more about our first-class roofing services, our commitment to training and why we’re starting an industrial roofing revolution, please contact the Retain team on 0800 027 2244 or drop us an email here and we’ll get in touch. Alternatively, please complete the form below and we’ll be in touch.

Knowledge based on experience (and lots of training).

The industrial revolution started in Great Britain during the 18th century and changed the world by transforming the face of business, economics and society. These shifts had a major effect across the globe and still continues to shape it even to this day.

It’s undeniable that industrial roofing, or even commercial roofing, isn’t exactly the most captivating subject or the highest searched term on Google for most people. However, choosing the right company can be a difficult choice.

Do they have the right credentials, have they done the type of work you require before and are they willing to go the extra mile to ensure your needs are fully met? You need look no further than Retain Limited to meet and exceed your expectations.

Who are Retain Limited you might ask? Well, we’re an award-winning family owned and run specialist roofing contractor based in the picturesque county of Devon (we also have offices around the country too) and we’ve been doing things the right way since we started trading back in 2008.

Our ethos is quite simple and it works – we provide sound advice and a professional service to deliver the best possible solution with regards to value and longevity. And you have our word on that.

We’re a firm believer of customer centricity and we practice what we preach when it comes to providing a first-class service for our customers, both old and new. From initial contact to signing off a project for completion, we guarantee a positive customer experience at every touch point from our dedicated team of professionals.

Furthermore, we take all matters concerning health and safety extremely seriously and our practices are second to none. This is why we’ve been a gold winner of the National Federation of Roofing Contractors ‘Health and Safety in Roofing Award’ for the last four consecutive years (2016-19).

So, when our Retain Limited branded vans turn up on site to fit your new roof you know you’ve made the right decision. Our hard-working installation teams will provide you with a high-quality service and it’ll be their objective to deliver the project both on time and budget to leave you 100% satisfied. 

We are starting our own industrial roofing revolution. If you would like to see how we do things and to discover more about our services, contact the Retain team on 0800 027 2244 or fill out our contact form below and we’ll be in touch.