Beating the January Blues

 

Today is ‘Blue Monday’. The name given to typically the third Monday in January each year which is supposedly the most depressing day of the year. The date takes into account weather as well as other factors but has been snubbed by scientists as pseudoscience.

Either way, there is only one way to tackle the January blues and that is spending some time looking back on the year we have just left behind and all the great projects we worked on and completed. See the video below for a little snapshot of what we got up to.

 

 

On that note and starting 2023, we would like to wish you all a Happy New Year. We will be posting regularly throughout the year, keeping you updated with company news, project completions, etc. Stay tuned.

Our talented team are ready and raring to go. For a quotation or to discuss your next soft landscaping project, please contact us.

 

Merry Christmas

 

 

Phillip Hilbeck, the management & staff at Panoramic Landscapes wish all our customers, suppliers and sub contractors a very Merry Christmas.

We thank you all for your continued support and for making 2022 a successful year for us!

We wish everyone all the very best for the New Year and look forward to working with you in 2023.

 

Festive Fun for Christmas Jumper Day

Today is Christmas Jumper Day. A yearly fundraising event that is in aid of ‘Save the Children’. Every year, millions of people up and down the country ditch the suit and uniform for a fashionable festive jumper to raise funds for the charity.

This year, the UK Government has promised to double donations by sending £2 to Save the Children for every £2 raised.

Our team in Hastings have all taken part and have been rocking the knitwear since this morning. In addition, to help bolster the money raised by Panoramic Landscapes, we have celebrated with food and drink with all donations going to the charity.

 

 

We have raised a great amount of money already whilst having a fun time too. The pictures speak for themselves.

If you would like to help top up our fundraising pot, please do so on our JustGiving page. Thank you.

 

Lee Valley Ice Centre Regeneration

Panoramic Undertake the Soft Landscaping for Significant Centre Upgrade

The new £30 million Lee Valley Ice Centre, which is now nearly double the size of the previous facility, is the first of its kind in southeast England. The new centre is equipped with two Olympic-sized ice rinks as well a gym, dance studio and community spaces.

This newer, larger centre is designed to become a community hub for the people of Walthamstow and has a programme in place to support local schools, under-represented groups, and a range of community organisations.

 

 

The soft landscaping of the external areas surrounding the centre and community buildings have been tasked to us. We have set out a plan to blend the existing diverse landscape with the new.

The work includes helping to create a community space that offers an array of landscaping and ecology improvements to enhance the area, with over one hundred and fifty trees, thousands of shrubs, marginal, grass, and native hedging.

Trees for the development have just been delivered on-site and were provided by Greenwoods, who are pioneers in sustainability with plans to be 100% peat-free growing by the end of 2023.

Our talented team are on-site and already making significant progress with the planting and installation. For a quotation on your next soft landscaping project, please contact us.

 

Safety in Numbers

Panoramic staff pass their ROLO health and safety training

Over the past month, ten members of Panoramic staff have undertaken thorough health and safety training at our offices in Hastings. The training forms part of the ROLO (Registry of Land-based Operatives) Health, Safety & Environmental Awareness course that is administered by BALI. There was no doubt, but we are happy to announce that all ten passed with flying colours.

 

 

We strongly believe that investing in our staff is one of the top priorities as a company. The running and future of the business relies heavily on our staff and for that reason, we want to ensure that they feel safe and happy in the workplace. Providing them with the skills, knowledge, and support to grow and flourish in a progressive environment. Training plays a tremendous part in this by developing their skills and learning new ones.

The ROLO Health, Safety & Environmental Awareness course is the only accredited route to the LISS/CSCS (Land-based Industry Skills Scheme & Construction Skills Certification Scheme). ROLO was introduced to raise the standards of health and safety and reduce the risks and accidents throughout the industry for anyone who works in the land-based sector. It also encourages employers to keep a record of workers in the land-based industry who have achieved a recognised level of competence.

 

Confirming Continued Compliance with ISO 9001:2015 and 14001:2015

Panoramic confirm compliance with both ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 following an annual audit.

On Monday the 10th of October we had our annual surveillance audit with NQA to assess our continuing compliance to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015. The audit covered the main activities within the Management System, our company processes, and procedures plus to check any areas of non-conformance against the standards. The audit was very successful with no non-conformances raised!

 

 

Our IMS (Integrated Management System) has been developed and expanded upon to lead the business toward continual performance improvement. This also ensures we remain compliant with current and future regulations, which is particularly the case with ISO 14001:2015 surrounding environmental aspects.

Our objective over the next eight months is to continue to improve and maintain our accreditations ready for our renewal with NQA in June 2023.

For a quotation on your next soft landscaping project, from a compliant company, please contact us.

 

World Mental Health Day

Supporting our team’s mental wellbeing both in and out of the workplace

Today, October 10th is ‘World Mental Health’ day. A day for education, awareness, and advocacy against the social stigma towards the invisible condition that so many struggle with.

 

The success of Panoramic Landscapes is dependent on the efforts of our talented team. Therefore, we like to ensure we support our staff year-round and in every way we can.

We provide an ‘Employee Assistance Programme’ to all our team members, which provides them with free telephone advice 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for a wide range of personal and professional problems that cover more than just those relating to mental health.

Other services include dealing with bereavement, financial wellbeing, relationship and martial advice, legal information, counselling, and even medical information. There is also an app that provides additional support.

We are focused on supporting the wellbeing of all our employees. To learn more about us as a company, please browse the rest of our website.

 

Congratulations to Greenwood

Our Sustainable Provider of Plants & Trees

Our supplier of many of the shrubs, trees, hedging etc, which we use on many of our projects have won the ‘Sustainable Business of the year’ award at the 2022 Central South Business Awards.  This is thanks to their G-Cycle scheme, recycling the packing crates, pallets, and pots after delivery.

 

 

Whilst we pay an upfront cost for the packaging this is reimbursed at 100% of the value when they are returned or collected. The G-Cycle scheme ensures that there is zero waste and no cost impact for their customers.

The durable, wooden crates and pallets used are suitable for multiple re-use after being collected. In addition, any pots and unwanted plants can be returned also, in the case of the pots, these are reused so reducing plastic waste. Meanwhile, any healthy plants are donated to the Greenwood Community Scheme for use on appropriate projects.

The CSBA (Central South Business Awards) Awards was held at the Hilton Ageas Bowl in Southampton on 28th September. It is organised by Business South, which aims to make the Southern Region a great place to work, invest, study, live and enjoy.

Congratulations to Greenwood Plants on a well-deserved award and we are very pleased to play our part in supporting their G-Cycle scheme.

To discuss your next soft landscaping project and how we can utilise Greenwood plants for a sustainable solution, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

Wild Turfing!

 

Trained and Accredited Partners with Wildflower Turf

We have recently become an accredited partner with Wildflower Turf, a specialist supplier of wildflower products in the UK. Becoming partners has unlocked a range of benefits for us including:

  • Access to extensive training to deliver successful wildflower landscapes.
  • Extensive online and offline support to promote our expertise and status.

 

We sent one of our landscaping teams to Wildflower Turf base in Yorkshire. They all had a great and insightful day that covered a range of topics from details about how they create the environmentally friendly products they provide through to advice and techniques on installing and caring for turfing, etc.

 

 

Our team thoroughly enjoyed their training session, and we are delighted to be accredited Wildflower partners. We look forward to delivering wildflower meadows and turfs to our clients over the coming months.

To discuss how we can use Wildflower products on your next project please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

Another Big Lidl Project

We have recently completed soft landscaping works on a new £8.4 million Lidl superstore. This continues our work on Lidl outlets for Adston Construction.

Works around the new Lidl store and car park has included planting seven trees, over 2,500 shrubs and grasses and over 900 hedging plants. Stakes, irrigation, shelter guards and mulch were also installed as part of the project.

Situated south west of Horsham, Billingshurst is a small market town in West Sussex. As part of their continuing £1.3 billion investment in new stores, Lidl has developed a new outlet there.

 

 

The supermarket is part of the second phase of development at the Billingshurst Business Park that will provide 250,000 sq ft of industrial and business accommodation. The new Lidl is sited alongside a recently completed petrol filling station and two drive-throughs.

Once the project is complete, we will commence our usual twelve-month maintenance schedule, to ensure the trees, plants and hedges on the site survive and thrive. For a quotation on your next soft landscaping project, please do not hesitate to contact us.