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management program, Boost, which won a Make UK Southern Region award for investment in people.
“ We also work with several engineering colleges, host National Manufacturing Day sessions, and offer work placements,” Andy says.“ People want to work for us because we’ re unique in that we keep the entire process in house: designing, drawing, building, controls, programming, manufacturing, and installation. This allows people to find where their skills fit rather than be pigeonholed into a specific role. Automation has changed the shop floor too by creating demand for people who understand how equipment is programmed and controlled.”
Across all operations, there is an emphasis on sustainability, with VES looking at both the energy its products can save during operation and the carbon associated with manufacturing them. The first is being addressed through increased heat recovery efficiency, intelligent controls and improvements in fan technology. The second focuses on product design, material selection and manufacturing efficiency, such as with Ecovent MIDI.
“ We’ ve had wins and commendations across a number of energy and carbon awards, and what has been particularly pleasing is that they’ ve been across three product ranges in totally different market spaces,” Andy says.
As embodied carbon climbs the agenda, combined with tightening budgets, particularly across the refurb sector, VES has a solution.
“ Replacing an entire AHU is not always the right decision,” Andy explains.“ There’ s sometimes a far more economical, less disruptive solution which can significantly lower embodied carbon on older units. Our UK-wide teams and dedicated sales staff are supporting our growth in refurb; we’ ve recently completed projects at Bluewater shopping center and Rolls-Royce.”
▼ Andy Reade, Lead Director
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