News Archive

8th August 2012 - GRM Opens Three New Regional Offices

GRM has opened Regional Offices in Manchester, Bristol and Milton Keynes to provide a more local service to existing and new clients in the North West, South West and South Midlands.

One of GRM's Directors, Chris Jerram, commented "I am really pleased that we have been able to open the Regional Offices. They will be very useful in helping GRM provide it's high quality service to a wider geographical area".

To ensure that GRM is able to provide a cost-effective, practical service, dedicated Regional Engineers with extensive local knowledge will be looking after each area. Look at the Contacts page on the web site for more details.

10th July 2012 - CHAS or SMAS? - Now GRM have both!

Recognising the need for standardisation in Health and Safety assessment GRM made the decision to get accredited as an SMAS Worksafe Consultant back in 2009. This year we decided to take the additional step of gaining CHAS approval.

So for all of the Health & Safety conscious businesses out there, you can rest assured that GRM are suitably certified. Copies of our certificates available on request.

8th June 2012 - GRM helps keep the Nation in biscuits!

GRM has recently completed investigations for a leading biscuit makers at one of their UK factories. The works were required so that new tanks could be installed to help them meet the nations demand for custard creams.

Due to this high demand, the investigation had to be completed whilst biscuits were being still made and the working area was located next to a large dough mixer. Because of these constraints GRM had to employ the highest standards of hygiene during the works and had to keep dust and fumes out of the biscuit dough! This was achieved using our specialist window sampling rig which has a completely detachable drilling mast which can be brought to the working area by hand and is connected to the power pack by long hydraulic cables, which this being a biscuit factory had to be emptied, cleaned and converted to run on vegetable oil. Dust was excluded from the rest of the factory by using flame retardant screening installed by GRM technicians, the factory were so pleased with the screening installed that they asked for it to be left in place at the end of the investigation for use in future phases of the works, the technical manager at the factory commented 'we are very pleased with the works completed by GRM they have managed to complete the investigation without impacting production in the slightest'.

22nd February 2012 - CL:AIRE – Development Industry Code of Practice

GRM director Bill Peacock and Principal Environmental Scientist Richard Sutton have recently been accredited as Qualified Persons for the above scheme, which encourages the sustainable management of construction waste and development of land. The Code of Practice enables developers and contractors to use and re-use excavated materials on site or at alternative locations without the requirement for often time consuming waste management permit or exemption applications. The Code of Practice has enabled the EA to take a back-seat role in regulating such operations, the proposals and approvals for which are reviewed and approved by a Qualified Person, who submits their declaration to the EA’s register.

GRM are already working on a number of schemes under the Code of Practice which will save their client’s 100’s of thousands of pounds by allowing them to re-use non-hazardous and hazardous waste in safe and sustainable ways with no impact upon the environment or their development programmes. The Code of Practice also enables developers and contractors to open and manage treatment sites known as ‘Hubs’, or ‘Clusters’, from which waste materials or contaminated soils can be treated away from their point of origin before being returned to site as a re-useable product.

If you would like more information on the Code of Practice or are working on projects which you think might benefit from the re-use of materials, please contact Bill Peacock or Richard Sutton at GRM.

http://www.claire.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=210&Itemid=82

19th December 2011 - GRM Embraces the use of Electronic Data.

GRM has recently taken several steps forward when it comes to the production and use of site derived data.

The purchase of a ruggedised PDA with specialised logging software installed on it (developed by Keynetix Ltd) is allowing our engineers on site to input exploratory hole logs on while site rather than using the old notebook and pen method. Using this new device has several benefits including:
 a reduction in the time spent transcribing notebooks into the computer system when they make it back into the office, and the risks of errors being introduced during this “double handling”;no more rain soaked paper covered illegible handwriting; the ability, if required, to email logs directly to the office from site, using a mobile phone link (very useful on large projects).

Use of this device will further minimise the risk of errors getting into the system, and make GRM’s engineers even more efficient.

If a client needs it, GRM can now supply exploratory hole and laboratory data in AGS format. The AGS (Association of Geotechnical and Geo-environmental Specialists) data transfer format is an internationally accepted standard for transferring geotechnical and geo-environmental data from one user to another.

As an environmentally conscious company (It’s our job!!) GRM are constantly taking steps to reduce waste and of course our carbon footprint. Therefore we are now minimising the number of reports that we produce in paper form and replacing them solely with an electronic PDF format report (unless the client requests otherwise, of course). Not only will this reduce the time it takes for a report to land on a client’s desk (we can email it and not have to rely on the postal service), but it provides them with a report that can easily and quickly be passed on to others. We already do this with most of our CAD drawings and design work. Also, of course, it saves paper and therefore The World!!

13th October 2011 - GRM, A Constructionline member (reference 59239)

GRM became a pre-qualified supplier on the Constructionline database in 2007 and we are now in our fifth consecutive year of membership.

This national online database is the UK's largest register for pre-qualified consultants and contractors. GRM is one of over 20,000 member suppliers all pre-qualified to the official Government pre-qualified standard.

Constructionline aims to improve efficiency by reducing duplication.
 
• Suppliers publish their pre-qualification details so that they no longer have to fill in standard PQQ’s for every tender.
• Buyers are provided with an up-to-date register of pre-qualified suppliers for their construction contract requirements.

It’s a commonsense approach that GRM is supportive of.

We trust that by using Constructionline you will see that GRM has a professional and honest approach business. You can view financial information, areas of expertise and policies online.

We recognise that good Health & Safety practice is increasingly important to our clients. Our H&S policy is available to view on the Constructionline database and to further demonstrate our commitment to good practice we have been externally assessed by an SSIP recognised company. Our SMAS Worksafe Consultant Certificate is also available to view on the Constructionline website.

We hope that the information available via Constructionline will save you time by minimising your own PQQ process, you can see for yourself how we operate. Up front. Before you even pick up the phone. 

1st December 2009 - The futures bright?
The last year has been a challenging time for both GRM and the wider economy. Despite large scale reductions in the size of the construction industry, including the closure of some companies, GRM has so far ridden out the turbulent waters of the recession.

Whilst continued success is by no means certain, the future is brighter. We are pleased to announce that over the last three months GRM has seen a considerable increase in the level of enquires made and projects started, nearly double the levels of a year ago.

Whilst continuing our expansion in the education, healthcare and retail sectors, the private residential market is showing signs of recovery, with more projects being looked at, and the projects themselves increasing in size and complexity.

It is to be hoped by all that the current level of development in the industry is continued into 2010.

14th October 2009 - GRM still quality
In April 2009 GRM achieved the coveted ISO 9001 accreditation. October 2009 saw our first 6 monthly audit to see if we had kept up the good work. Bill Peacock, the director responsible for quality, was very pleased to tell us that we had passed the review with flying colours. Roll on April 2010 for our first yearly audit.

30th April 2009 - GRM continues to support professional development
GRM has a proud history of supporting the professional development of its staff, with Richard Sutton, principal environmental scientist, becoming a Chartered Environmental Surveyor in October 2006, and with numerous other staff attending courses including MSc’s.
The latest result of GRM’s support for professional development is that Geoffrey Beckett has been awarded the status of Chartered Geologist by the Geological Society of London. Geoffrey has been at GRM for 11 years and is a senior engineering geologist in the geoenvironmental department.
Dr Bill Peacock and Chris Jerram, both Chartered Geologists and Directors of GRM, have supported Geoffrey throughout his career in his ambition to become chartered and provided valuable assistance in the process itself.
GRM remains committed to supporting professional development, both internally with its staff and externally such as at the University of Derby career’s day

29th April 2009 - GRM help students with career’s day talk
GRM were invited to attend an earth science careers day at the University of Derby on 29th April to give a talk to students about engineering geology. Geoffrey Beckett, one of GRM’s senior engineering geologists, went to the University and gave a presentation showing how the knowledge the students were gaining could be used in practice, how a typical working week was spent and what skills were important in becoming and prospering as an engineering geologist.
The talk was well received for its practical common sense approach, for showing the variety of work that is involved in the field and the role of the geologist in construction.
GRM have close links with the University of Derby’s Earth Sciences department, having employed a number of graduates and a former part time lecturer. This presentation follows on from a similar one given at the University of Leicester to geology students on life as an engineering geologist.

17th April 2009 - GRM recognised as a quality company
GRM have gained official recognition that their existing quality management system is ISO 9001:2008 compliant. The management systems were assessed by ACS Registrars Limited on 14th April and registered as being compliant on 17th April. The registration covers all of GRM’s services, specifically the geotechnical, environmental, civil and structural engineering, construction site inspection and management services.

8th April 2009 - GRM shows how to save money with Land Remediation Tax Relief Seminars
GRM held two land remediation tax relief seminars in March to tell our clients how they could save money when redeveloping brownfield sites. Attendance at the seminars was better than anticipated and the presentations by GRM's Principal Environmental Scientist Richard Sutton were well received.
If you would like an information pack to see if you are eligible to claim back 150% of the tax you have already paid to develop a contaminated site or would like Richard to visit you to explain the tax relief scheme in more detail, then please contact us.

8th April 2009 - Clients very happy with GRM's performance
During February 2009, GRM launched its largest customer satisfaction survey to find out what our clients think about us, and how we can improve the service we provide. Many thanks to all of our clients who returned the survey form to us.
The final few responses have now been received and the results have been analysed. Of the questions we asked, the three with highest (and nearly perfect) average scores were that our clients would recommend GRM to others, they would use GRM again, and that our technical staff were always available for consultation. In addition to the average score, 20% of the respondents gave GRM a perfect score in all categories.
We also asked for comments on GRM's performance and received the following replies:

"Your service did all it said it could"
"Keep up the good work"
"A quality consultancy company"
"Your people are easy to talk to, confidence building and a pleasure to work with"
"It is a great relief to have a friend in our corner as a developer in these hopelessly bureaucratic times"

We at GRM are very pleased with the response we received, however we are going to try and do better in the next survey.