North West business briefs: Merseyrail; Network Rail; iSH; University of Manchester; National Care Group; Everton FC
Planned engineering works at Liverpool Central station from Sunday, November 6, to Wednesday, November 9, have been cancelled due to the three 24-hour national strikes recently announced by the RMT union.
This means services on the Hunts Cross, Kirkby, Southport and Ormskirk lines will no longer be affected by the planned temporary closure of the Northern line at Liverpool Central, as previously announced.
Network Rail maintenance staff, who are RMT members, will be taking industrial action from 02:00 on Saturday, November 5, to 01:59 on Sunday, November 6, from 02:00 on Monday, November 7, to 01:59 on Tuesday, November 8, and from 02:00 on Wednesday, November 9, to 01:59 on Thursday, November 10.
While Merseyrail employees are not involved in the industrial action, the planned engineering works were to be carried out by Network Rail staff. This is now no longer possible. A future date of when the work will be carried out is yet to be determined but will be publicly announced as soon as it is available.
The cancellation of the works means that services will remain as normal throughout Sunday, November 6. However, services will be affected on Saturday, November 5, on Monday, November 7, and on Wednesday, November 9, due to the planned RMT strikes.
The planned works were aimed at making adjustments to tracks and line-side equipment to ensure Merseyrail’s new train fleet, in an eight-car formation, will be able to serve Central Station.
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Space-age technology using lasers and plasma jets are being trialled as a more sustainable way to vaporise autumn leaves from railway lines and minimise passenger delays in the future.
Throughout October, Network Rail has been carrying out comprehensive testing using its multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) on heritage lines at the East Lancashire Railway. Engineers have been testing if autumn treatment trains fitted with the laser beams and superheated plasma jets are as effective at cleaning rails as the current method using high pressure water systems.
During autumn train wheels compress leaves onto rails and form a black Teflon-like residue which makes it harder for trains to brake or accelerate.
The two different companies involved in the testing are Laser Precision Solutions, and Plasma Track. The ‘LaserTrain’ uses three high-powered beams per railhead to treat the rails. When the intensity of the lasers hits the railhead the contamination instantly vaporises, without heating up the rail. PlasmaTrack uses direct current plasma technology which uses heat and active electrons to split things apart. The high energy electrical plasma beam tears apart the leaf layer as well as heating and burning it off.
Currently a fleet of leaf-blasting trains with high-pressure water jets clear Britain’s 20,000-mile railway network in the autumn, but this new technology could potentially reduce the need for that water, and the fuel needed to transport it around the country, benefiting both the environment and costing the taxpayer less.
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John Maddison
An event will take place in Cumbria in November to help businesses access opportunities in Defence and other industries.
The iSH (Industrial Solutions Hub) has joined forces with FIS360 and the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) to share how businesses can work with them. Attendees will also be able to find out what funding opportunities are available to work across different industry sectors.
The ‘Innovation for the future – right here, right now’ event takes place at Rosehill Theatre, Whitehaven on Tuesday, November 8, 10am start. Delegates will hear from a range of speakers, including Jonathan Jones, DASA innovation partner, for a discussion on what opportunities in Defence mean for Cumbrian businesses. There will be a Q&A session featuring all the speakers and a chance to book 1-1 sessions after a networking lunch.
John Maddison, managing director of iSH, said: “Collaboration and innovation are key to the Cumbrian business community maximising opportunities to grow and diversify in a range of sectors and across different regions. By working alongside DASA and FIS360 we are delighted to bring these opportunities to Cumbria and provide opportunities for businesses to learn about how they can work with different industries.
“We know there are amazing businesses in Cumbria achieving brilliant results and we want to give as many organisations as possible opportunities to grow and build an even more sustainable business ecosystem across the county.”
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The University of Manchester and Tutor Trust have joined forces to launch a new research-based social justice project which seeks to combat inequalities in education.
Over the next year, Tutor Trust – the tutoring organisation which provides academic support to disadvantaged young people – will carry out a series of seminars, surveys, training and research activities supported by the university. Staff and volunteers will critically explore what is known about poverty locally and nationally, providing a better understanding of communities across the country, and will apply this knowledge to make changes to their organisational practice and policy.
The project is being led by Dr Carl Emery and Louisa Dawes from The University of Manchester, who have both previously been teachers in the city and have vast experience of working with a range of regional and national policymakers and practitioners. Their specialist areas are poverty, power and place with an emphasis on mental health and the power of language in positioning inequalities.
Together, they run the Local Matters programme which advocates a different response from schools and community organisations to addressing the needs of children and families living in poverty. Local Matters operates across the North West of England working with local authorities and governing bodies as well as with the National Education Union.
Dr Emery and Louisa Dawes believe the research will support the Trust in supporting the least advantaged young people. They said: “Too often, policymakers and practitioners see poverty as having a simple beginning, middle and end – it is viewed as something that can be fixed if we all just ‘do better’. We are delighted to be launching this programme with Tutor Trust to use research to really explore what poverty looks like, and how we can respond to it.”
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Support work
An Accrington-based adult social care provider has presented its annual quality account, highlighting a successful year of growth and improvement in the sector. The report revealed that in just one year National Care Group welcomed more than 1,015 new colleagues, improved and maintained its quality rating with the external regulators and invested more than £1m in service improvements.
The results are published as the adult social care sector continues to emerge from the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, along with a Government push to drive more people into the sector, after official figures revealed a projected shortfall of 105,000 vacancies needing to be filled by 2035.
Mike Cleasby, quality director at National Care Group, said: “This year’s Quality Account again highlights the tremendous achievements of National Care Group. Together, we have invested in our services, our people and built upon a culture of strong continuous improvement that unlocks the potential of the people we support.
“The adult social care sector is continually evolving in its requirements, however, core to its ongoing aim is ensuring the people we support feel engaged and involved in their communities. We pay tribute to our fantastic colleagues that have helped enable this and uphold our consistently high standards in the industry.”
Further improvements highlighted in the report include the appointment of four new regional operations director roles and three additional heads of referrals roles, as National Care Group continues to scale its growth across England and Wales. Overall, the organisation now supports more than 1,245 people, with 92% of respondents to its Quality Account survey rating the support they receive as ‘good’, coupled with relatives of the people it supports logging a 93% approval score.
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Everton FC has announced that gaming brand Football Manager will continue to be an official partner for the club’s women’s team, following the launch of the collaboration in 2021.
Sports Interactive first launched its famous online management simulator in 1992 and has gone on to sell 40 million copies globally. Football Manager includes a database of more than 800,000 players and staff, and has begun work on including women’s football in a future edition of the game.
The continuation of this partnership with Everton Women, one of Sports Interactive’s first with an FA WSL side, will provide the brand with access to matchday experiences, player appearances and official merchandise for giveaways.
Richard Trafford, head of partnerships and business development at Sports Interactive, said “The founders of our studio are lifelong Everton fans, so we know very well just how passionate and loyal the supporters are. Everton was the studio’s first top-flight partner a decade ago and to continue this relationship with the club, who not only do great work in the community, but also have an ever-increasing global reach, will hopefully help us reach new heights with all our Football Manager titles. Introducing women’s football to Football Manager is a long-standing commitment of the studio and this partnership with Everton is a key part of reinforcing our support of the women’s game.”
Alan McTavish, chief executive for Everton Women, said: “Having worked extensively with Football Manager in the past, it’s great to be able to continue our relationship with the Collyer brothers, Miles Jacobson and his fantastic team as they work towards incorporating women’s football into their globally successful game. Women’s football is a rapidly evolving commercial landscape and top brands from diverse industry sectors across the globe are identifying it as a phenomenal opportunity to deliver both return on investment and return on objectives.”
