Employees’ News March 2013 web version.pdf · Winners and shortlisted finalists for the 2012 Laing retirees’ photo competition Laing Offshore 14-15 A brief history of Laing’s

Rigged for successMichael Vincent on the amazing story of Laing Offshore’s oil race.

Team Spirit pastWhat was going on in the Company 25 and 50 years ago.

New website detailsGuide to improved layout and info on Laing Past & Present.

SPRING 2013

Employees’

NewsRetired

2 John Laing Retired Employees’ NEWS

Main news

CONTENTS

Main news 3-5Round up of top stories from the Company

Team Spirit Past 6-9Snippets of news from 25 and 50 years ago

Reader news 10Laingpastandpresent website upgraded; an OBE

for Mervyn and details of engineers’ reunion

Photo competition results 11-13Winners and shortlisted finalists for the 2012

Laing retirees’ photo competition

Laing Offshore 14-15A brief history of Laing’s part in paving the way

for the successful British oil industry

Festive luncheons 16-17Meet the new club members

Readers’ page 18An English Heritage event, letters and more

Club news 19Events and news from the clubs

Your anniversaries 20-21Two pages of special anniversaries

News for the Third Age 22Round up of general news for retirees

In Memoriam 23

Horses for courses with new-look magWELL it’s been an eventful year so far what with horse meat creeping into supermarket alleged beef meals and the first Papal resignation for 600 years.

More relevant to retirees are the announcements over the future of state pensions and social care. You can read more details about these in the general news section on page 22.

News stories seem to go in cycles. During 25 years as a journalist I have seen various situations reappear. There are no new headlines, just as there are no completely new jokes – as regular readers of this column will testify.

An example of recurring news themes cropped up as I was going through Team Spirit from 1963 which referred to austerity measures 50 years ago (see page 6).

When it comes to news I must apologise that we had to curtail some of the Readers’ News, to fit in items such as the festive lunch write ups and photo competition results. However, all those who have submitted items will be included in the next issue, such as pictures and details of retirement dos for Ray Hanson and W F Percy.

As you will know, this magazine is purely for John Laing retirees and we strive to make it just as you like it. During the festive outings, I made a point of asking what readers thought of the new design and was delighted to hear that people were generally very happy with it. Two people did mention that they had trouble reading the orange text on the white pages, so we have tried to address that this time round. It’s more courses for horses than the other way round.

So, to the jokes, although, as always, these are true stories! A poorly-looking horse limps into a bar with a bandage round his head. He orders a glass of champagne, a vintage brandy and two pints of Guinness.

He downs the lot and says to the barman: “I shouldn’t really be drinking this with what I’ve got?”

“Why, what have you got?” asked the barman.“About £2 and a carrot.”On a slightly deeper note, a young boy enters a barber

shop and the barber whispers to his customer: “This is the stupidest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you.”

The barber put a pound coin in one hand and 50p in the other, then called the boy over and asked, “Which do you want, son?” The boy took the 50p and left. “What did I tell you?” said the barber. “That kid never learns!”

Later, when the customer left, he saw the same young boy by an ice cream van. He called out to the boy: “Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the 50p instead of the pound coin?” The boy licked his cone and replied, “Because the day I take the pound coin, the game is over!” Alex Finkenrath

PENSIONER PuBLISHING

Please address news stories/queries to:Pensioner Publishing5 Harpenden Close, Bedford, Beds MK41 9RGTel: 01234 313055Mob: 07774 259542Email: [email protected]

Please address other correspondence to:John Laing Welfare Dept, 33 Bunns LaneLondon NW7 2DXTel: 020 8959 9683

Printed by: White Hart Press, Bedford.

COVER shot: Aerial shot of Laing Offshore’s Graythorp site, kindly loaned by Michael Vincent.

DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: APRIL 30, 2013

COnTEnTS

Main news

M&G Investments with SMBC and the European Investment Bank have been appointed as preferred funders of Alder Hey’s new hospital following an extensive funding competition by Acorn (John Laing, Laing O’Rourke and Interserve).

The Acorn consortium was announced as preferred bidder for the planned redevelopment scheme for Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust last May.

It will involve the creation of a £237m world-class hospital, built next door to the current site on Springfield Park. The new ‘Alder Hey in the Park’ will include a new hospital building, children’s park, multi-storey car park and reinstated parkland.

A proportion of the scheme will be funded by the Trust’s own financial resources alongside charitable donations. The remainder of the scheme is being funded through Private Finance Initiative (PFI).

Sue Lorimer, Alder Hey Finance Director said: “As a Foundation Trust we are able to generate a surplus each year by managing our finances effectively and growing our services. The PFI contract is similar to a mortgage so the bigger the ‘deposit’ we put down the less we have to borrow and the lower our regular payments are.”

In summer 2012, Acorn embarked on a competitive funding process where organisations were invited to submit bids to provide the external finance for the project. The process provided Acorn with the ‘best deal’ available in the market, ensuring the most affordable interest rates and terms.

The funding competition attracted strong bids from several commercial banks and other groups, all supportive of lending long-term into the Public Private Partnership (PPP) healthcare sector. The arrangement will involve M&G with SMBC and the European Investment Bank co-financing £130m of the project.

Peter Ward, Acorn sponsor said: “This has been a comprehensive funding competition and we would like to thank all those who participated. It has illustrated that there is a strong demand from institutions to invest in

well-structured, good quality and well maintained social infrastructure for the long term. We’re very proud to be sponsoring this much-needed project in partnership with Alder Hey and to be leading the first such financing in the market – which has yielded important lessons in how to give the Trust the very best value for money.”

Louise Shepherd, Chief Executive of Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust said: “Following an extensive funding competition, we are confident that M&G, SMBC and the European Investment Bank are offering the most affordable funding solution and we look forward to working with them on the project. This is another step forward and great news for Alder Hey as we look to begin building work on the new hospital early next year.”

The project is expected to achieve financial close in Spring 2013 and the official opening of the new hospital is planned for Autumn 2015.

“...we are confident that M&G, SMBC and the European Investment Bank are offering the most affordable funding solution and we look forward to working with them...

Louise Shepherd

Preferred funders chosen for hospital scheme

Artist’s impression of the new Alder Hey project, below, how it looks now

John Laing Retired Employees’ NEWS 3


COMPAnY nEWS

Four decades of John Laing infrastructure

“This is a fantastic milestone, which is testimony to the hard work, experience and skills of the John Laing workforce, both past and present.”

Adrian Ewer Chief Executive for John Laing

John Laing is celebrating the achievement of 100 infrastructure investments, following the financial close of the Intercity Express Programme (IEP) in July 2012.

Having secured its first investment just over 40 years ago, the majority of John Laing’s investments have been made within the last ten years or so.

In 2001, the Company restructured its business to focus on investment in social and economic infrastructure assets for the public sector, and has since made over 50 infrastructure investments both in the UK and overseas.

These include ground breaking schemes, such as the Greater Manchester Waste Management Private Finance Initiative (PFI), Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Scotland, Cancer Centre in Canada and, most recently, the IEP.

The IEP is one of the largest private public partnerships to be awarded in the UK (with a total value in excess of £4.5 billion) but it is also John Laing’s

100th infrastructure investment.Adrian Ewer, Chief Executive for

John Laing, said: “This is a fantastic milestone, which is testimony to the hard work, experience and skills of the John Laing workforce, both past and present.”

Among the earliest infrastructure investments highlighted in the booklet are the Europistas Toll Road in Spain and Birmingham Airport signed in 1969 and 1990 respectively.

You can download the booklet for free at the Laingpastandpresent website, or through the Company website: www.laing.com.

On 4th December 2012 at Business in the Community’s (BITC) AGM, David Micciche and Mick Hamilton of John Laing received the first ever Game Changers Award, a one-off accolade coinciding with BITC’s 30th anniversary. The award recognises inspirational individuals working behind the scenes to advance the Responsible Business movement. David Micciche was recog-nised for ‘creating a step change in both the quality and quantity of John Laing’s Corporate Responsibility activity by iden-tifying issues and programmes’. Michael Hamilton was honoured for using his knowledge of the local communities’ needs to ensure grants are put to best use.

Prince meets John Laing’s ‘game changers’

Michael Hamilton and David Micciche, left, meeting HRH Prince Charles


COMPAnY nEWS

John Laing signed contracts with an affiliate of Moser Baer Clean Energy Limited in December to develop three new solar parks situated near St Austell in Cornwall.

John Laing is 100% investor in the sites, securing the Company’s position in the solar power sector adding to the acquisition of two operational solar parks in Sussex and Hampshire in August 2012.

The parks, which are currently under construction and are expected to begin operation in Spring 2013, will have a combined peak energy capacity of 15MW, exporting to the grid the equivalent of around 4,500 homes’ annual electricity consumption.

Andy Harmer, Head of Environmental

Infrastructure for John Laing, said: “We are delighted to have secured the development of the three new solar parks so quickly after entering the renewable energy sector earlier in the summer.

“The three sites have established John Laing’s position within the solar energy market, and have helped us to further develop our skills and experience so that we may consider future opportunities in the renewable energy sector not only in the uK but also overseas.”

The Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor, and Operations and Maintenance (O&M) contractor for the parks is Daylighting Power Limited, an affiliate of Moser Baer Clean Energy Limited.

John Laing and Infinergy’s onshore

wind farm in Pembrokeshire

Wind in the sails of new energy plan

More solar parks on the way

“... to help deliver clean, renewable electricity to communities across the UK.”

Ross McArthur, Head of Renewable Energy for John Laing

Wear Point Wind Ltd, a consortium consisting of John Laing and wind developers Infinergy has achieved financial close on the 8.2MW Wear Point Wind Farm near Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire. John Laing and Infinergy own an 80% and a 20% share in the facility respectively.

The plans for the wind farm have been developed by Infinergy and planning permission was granted in May 2010 by Pembrokeshire County Council.

It is anticipated that the facility will generate enough electricity to meet the needs of approximately 4,500 homes per year - according to uK Energy.

Ross McArthur, Head of Renewable Energy for John Laing, said: “We are delighted to have achieved financial close on Wear Point Wind Farm and look forward to working with our partner, Infinergy, to help deliver clean, renewable electricity to communities across the uK”.

The wind turbine technology, hubs, blades and a full 15-year service package will be provided by REpower uK whilst the towers are anticipated to be produced by Mabey Bridge in Chepstow.

Each MM82 wind turbine will have a generating capacity of 2.05MW. The overall height of the turbines will be 99.9m. Infinergy and its parent company KDE Energy will provide the asset management services for the project.

The balance of plant contractor will be Raymond Brown Cymru from Bridgend, which tendered successfully again after having constructed Infinergy’s Castle Pill and Ferndale Wind Farms in Wales. The total net investment for Wear Point Wind Farm will be £14.3m, of which a significant amount will be flowing into the Welsh economy.

Work to install the wind turbines and supporting site infrastructure is due to start early next year and the project is scheduled to be fully operational by the end of 2013.


Main newsTEAM SPIRIT 50 YEARS AGO - 1963

A summary of Company projects in Canada included the following synopsis of the political situation “…before the election, assurances were given repeatedly that there was no financial crisis; then came the election and within hours we were in serious trouble. Austerity programmes were hastily drawn up, departmental forecasts were cut back drastically… it has already markedly reduced the amount of work on offer in our industry and the full effects have not yet been felt.”Laing however had many major projects ongoing. These included the giant Port Mann Bridge in British Columbia (see picture above). This mammoth project was nearly complete with a separate contract coming later to

construct the bridge deck.The Burnaby Freeway was a complex road project which would bypass Vancouver with four separate contracts for overpasses including a railway bridge and river bridge.There was also the Mayfair Shopping Centre in Victoria where construction of the foundation was well underway during a tight 12-month schedule.A large physics building, valued at $1.25m and an electrical engineering building were under construction at the University of British Columbia.An aircraft parking area at Victoria Airport was valued at $3m, there was also the Shaughnessy Street underpass for the city of Coquitlam an

extension to an existing dock at Elk Falls.

The Group Public Relations Department released ‘the first film to show the construction of a nuclear power station from start to finish’. It had been made for the Nuclear Power Group Company, and was highly technical. It covered the story of Berkeley Power Station from planning to turning on the reactor. Team Spirit reported that filming required a lot of expertise given the stringent ‘clean conditions’.

The Company had just won two contracts in the North east. 260 flats and 170 maisonettes in four storey blocks in Sunderland was worth £1,339,000. The other project was for a chemistry, geology and mathematics building at Durham University.

Maurice Laing was appointed a Director of the Bank of England on February 21.

John Laing Research and Development was accepted as a supporting organization for the International Council of Building Research Studies and Documentation. The primary purpose of the non-profit-making organisation was to ‘facilitate, encourage and develop international co-operation in building research internationally’. This involved technical, economic and social aspects of building.

The Paternoster Development was already changing the landscape of London. Pictured here are some of the team: from the left: G Otley, concreting ganger and J White, Foreman joiner. P Enright, walking ganger and R Coxhead, carpenter/joiner.

Main news


TEAM SPIRIT 50 YEARS AGO - 1963

Team spirit - 1963

A major leisure project for the Company was the Silver Blades Ice Rink in Streatham. It was opened with a performance attended by The Queen Mother on December 18 following a 21-week ‘transformation’ undertaken by the Company. After creating new offices for the management, a curved balcony had to be taken down to make way for restaurants, a bandstand and a tropical dance floor surrounded by palm trees. Technically they had to take up 9 miles of pipes, in pairs – each pair weighing two tonnes before laying the new rink. There was also a fountain with 500 jets and a cocktail bar with ‘the Milky Way’ created above it.

Team Spirit sought to ‘cheer ourselves up –and we hope readers as well’ by publishing a page of ‘bright smiles’ from some of the women working through the London region of the Company.

1963

At Apsley a new factory for John Dickinson and Company Limited was erected in just 59 weeks. The 12-acre site on the banks of the Grand Union Canal featured three main buildings: a steel framed production block, flat paper and reel store and a stock baling and dispatch building. The team overcame problems including much more excavation than anticipated, 50,000 cu yds of manly peat, but also a very large area of reeds. They also

Miss Betty Gibson

had to contend with a very high water table. Meanwhile a spinning Mill at Wigston in Leicester was completed in just 31 weeks, and the Edinburgh branch of Woolworths was finished six-and-a-half weeks ahead of schedule.

‘A television in every bedroom,’ ex-claimed Team Spirit as it reported the opening of the Albany Hotel in

central Birmingham. It was op-posite the Ringway Centre, com-pleted by the Company in 1960 and 200yds from the Bullring which the Company was also working on. The Albany was 14 storeys high and the first to be operated outside London by Strand Hotel Limited. It had 254 bedrooms and each room had a private bathroom and shower.

The Queen Mother and world skating champion Donald Jackson.

Miss Gladys AttwoodMiss Mary WeymouthMrs Anna Rees Miss Pauline Gibbs


Main newsTEAM SPIRIT 25 YEARS AGO - 1988

John Laing Construction signed an agreement with a German company for marketing and distribution in the UK of a new transparent roofing material called Texlon. It had been used at Sherwood Forest Center Parcs.

Civil Engineering Division had recently completed the infrastructure for Capability Green, a 900,000 sq ft business park, a private development within the 4,000-acre grounds of Luton Hoo. The contract, valued at £4.5m, included extensive landscaping and planting. The site was adjacent to Airport Way, Luton and the contract included dualing part of that road, an interchange, overbridge and slip roads.

Civil Engineering had also recently completed a six mega litre service reservoir and pumping station near Hertford Heath with a value of £693,000.

The Laing Group chose a new charitable challenge for 1988 following the vast amounts of money raised for the NSPCC the previous year. The new beneficiaries would be children’s hospitals and the Company pledged to match monies raised pound-for-pound up to £100,000.

EPL starred on Tomorrow’s World which featured a Cramer UB20 Underbridge Unit which was being used at the Greta Bridge on the A66 in Cumbria. It was the only one of its type in the UK.

The Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts were opened in Birmingham. The four-storey, 12 court building was among the largest legal complexes in Europe and was expected to deal with 3,000 criminal cases each year. The £6.3m contract was built on the site of an old car park in Newton Street.

Just after its first birthday Wessex Region celebrated it’s largest contract win so far, a £13m project for development of 167 prestigious apartments adjacent to the new Port Solent Marina. It would feature two linked seven-storey blocks.

In Turkey, 200 three-ton jacks took the strain and started the formwork for two vertical port silos which formed part of a grain storage project. The 32-metre climb would take eight days and require 100 men.

Laing Homes was sponsoring The Walford Boys Club, better known as cast members from East Enders, for a number of charity football matches. Homes donated £500 per match along with any money raised from tickets, programmes and raffles. After six games, the team had raised £17,122 in total. Pictured are Laing Homes Scotland Sales manager Jan Jeram handing a cheque to Tom Watt (Lofty). Also pictured is the full squad with Derek Jamieson.

Some of the EPL team subcontracted to install maintain and remove a 630KVA 3300V3 phase transmission for LEIC at Severn Bridge. The design was carried out at Elstree and utilised secondhand equipment from the MPA project in the Falklands. Pictured from left are: Julia Hammond, Donna North, Nicky Walker, Andy Chisman, David Boyes, Jim Johnston, Derek Hoddinott, Dick Crabtree and Martin Tiffin.

1988

Main news


TEAM SPIRIT 25 YEARS AGO - 1988

Team spirit - 1988

Above the Roman West Gateway at South Shields (Laing Northern) and left the Nisi Prius Court in Carlisle (Laing Stonemasonry), which won awards at the Design Awards for Natural Stone.

One shop contract finished in time for Christmas was the Orchard Square development at Fargate Square in Sheffield. The £17m construction was completed within a tight 21-month timescale. The project included shops, a food house and offices. Among the features were a natural stone façade to the six-storey office block, feature windows and a glass ‘wall-climber’ lift to the food

house. Pictured above are some of the team:From left: Ian Brown, Cliff Cochran, Ian Webster, Tim Goodall, Vic Robertshaw, Jonathan Cummings, Paul McLoughlin, Steve Townsley, Bill Rodham, Mick Martin, Tony Beaumont, Lisa Smedley, Mel Jacques, Trish Meakin, Stuart Franklin, Maureen Henshaw, Peter Smyth, Sheila Stevens,

Robert Hudson, Noel Dolan, Andrew Hall, John Laver and Danny Doherty.n Christmas shopping had also been busy at recently completed Eldon Square Food Court (£5.2m) in Newcastle and a four-storey shop unit over Blackett Street (£3m) to be occupied by Hennes. The 80,000 sq ft food court was built on three levels with 11 new shop units.

1988Three Laing projects were named in the 1987 Civic Trust awards:New Concordia Wharf - Southern Region.Judges praised the vision, commitment and skill in converting the Victorian warehouses into a mixed use development of offices, studios and apartments. St Oswald’s Hospice Gosforth – Northern Region. Judges called it a building of ‘architectural excellence’ and described the handling of space, light and form as ‘superb’.Aikenhead House, Glasgow – Scottish Region Judges commended the restoration of one of the last remaining examples of a country house by architect David Hamilton. They said it had been transformed from a ‘ruinous state’.

The picture right shows Bob Wetherall and Richard Branson signing a joint venture agreement to acquire and develop a number

of hotels. Branson’s Voyager Group and the Laing Group formed Woodhouse Securities Limited to create a chain of hotels around

the UK. The first property was acquired in Edinburgh, the Norton House Hotel. The breakfast signing took place in November 1987,

but was published in the January edition.


Main newsREADERS’ nEWS

Engineers’ reunion 2013This year’s annual gathering of Laing architects and engineers takes place at the Sports Club in Rowley Lane on March 21 from 12noon with a buffet lunch at 12.30pm. The cost is £12.50 payable on the door. Please advise John Clark if you wish to attend as numbers are required for catering. Email: [email protected], or tel: 01582 454984.

Get online with revamped Laing Past and Present siteThe website for John Laing retirees has been upgraded to provide an even better service and source of information for users.

Laing Past and Present (web address www.laingpastandpresent.co.uk) is a safe and secure online facility for use by former staff such as retirees and also those who are still with the Company.

It offers many useful features in-cluding ‘Where are they now?’. This allows former colleagues to get in touch whilst protecting individual’s private details. Club information, newsletters, useful links and other information is being added to the site on a daily basis. There is a gallery section which we will shortly begin to populate with images from various club events when these are received.

Teresa Pettican, based in the Wel-fare Office in Mill Hill looks after the site and said “It is a really useful tool and easy to use. Many ex staff had signed up to the original Laing Past and Present website and should find that their passwords still work.”

If you are not already registered or

have mislaid your log in details just go to www.laingpastandpresent.co.uk and click the ‘Register’ button on the front page.

This will take you to the registration page which asks for simple informa-tion such as, name, email address and password. After submitting the information requested you will re-ceive an email back to say that you have full access to the site. If you have any problems signing up please email Teresa at [email protected] and she will help you with your registration.

Former Laing man Mervyn Richards has received an OBE in the New Year Honours for his services to the construction industry, in particular Building Information Modelling (BIM) and is a member of the Government Construction Strategy BIM Task Group.

Mervyn Richards spent 32 years with Laing based mainly at Mill Hill and then at Hemel Hempstead as IS Manager. Mervyn said: “In 2007 I wrote British Standard BS1192 based on work we started at Laing. This was taken up by the Government and I became part of the task group seeking to reduce construction costs by removing the waste from the process.”

The work follows on from the Sir John Egan report of 1998 looking to reduce construction costs by 20% with the use

of spatially coordinated 3D models and associated data. Mervyn added: “Much of the waste of time, effort and materials is down to incorrect, incomplete, uncoordinated and ambiguous information. We know it is possible to undertake a construction project without waste by ensuring all parties know exactly what is to be done and how that will be achieved.” The group is chaired by another former Laing man Mark Bew MBE.

Mervyn is currently working on the Crossrail project in London. He added: “Laing was always held in high esteem throughout the industry and wherever I go I bump into former colleagues.”

Favourite projects include Severn Second Crossing, Glaxo (Stevenage) the Dome, Heathrow Express and Terminal 5.

Mervyn Richards OBE

Mervyn delighted to scoop New Year Honour

The website home page

Main news


2012 PHOTO RESuLTS

2012 Photo Competition resultsWelcome to the results of the 2012 Laing Retired Employees’ Photo Competition.

Thank you to everyone who sent in their images and well done for the continuing high standard of entries.

This year the judges have chosen two equal first prize winners. Congratulations to Mike Hooper and Trevor Manning who both cap-tured exact and exquisite moments. It is pure-ly a coincidence that they both feature wildlife, please don’t let that put you off sending in your beautiful pictures of people and scenery. Both winners will receive a book token prize.

We have included the best of the rest on the next two pages. We apologise that we only had room for the shortlisted finalists and to those of you who submitted more than one entry.

Thanks for your continued support, we are now accepting entries for the 2013 competi-tion.

Remember you don’t have to be an expert to snap a classic image. More details in the next issue due out in June.

Leopard Taken at Sabi Sands South

Africa, by Mike Hooper in December 2011.

Laing Homes For AllTaken by Trevor Manning, at Chester Zoo in July 2012.

Main news

‘‘Will no-one buy my lovely veg?’Taken by Cecil Cherns, at Trogir during cruise from Cannes to Venice in July 2012.

“High Tide” picture by Audrey Hamer.


“Red Arrows” taken by Rowland Seymour while at the Bournemouth Air Display.

“The church in Oaxaca” taken whilst on holiday in Mexico by Vic Allen.

“The Look of Love” taken by John Bourne at his niece’s wedding. It was a special day for him as he has no daughter and gave Becci away.

Main news


“The Golden Face in the Catherine PalaceSt Petersburg” taken by Peter Donaldson in September 2012.

“Garden Birds” taken by David Barnes.

“The Beauty of the Vatican” taken by Tom Carrol.

“Making Friends” taken by Phil Rendle some time ago during a trip to Australia.

“The Golden Age of Steam” taken at an East Lancashire Railway weekend by Roy Woodham.

“Manchester night out at the Shambles” by Dave Markall.

Main news

After the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, (the Six-Day War) the Suez Canal was closed by an Egyptian blockade. This eventually led to a massive affect on the cost of oil in the uK which had to be shipped right around the southern African cape.

In October 1970 BP announced that oil had been struck 110 miles east-northeast of Aberdeen in 350 feet (110 m) of water. They needed a rig which was able to bring the oil from 11,000 feet below the seabed to the surface. The culmination of these events sparked a race which would see the birth of Britain’s off-shore oil industry.

In the late 60s the Ministry of Energy sponsored a meeting for experts from around the world as the uK wondered how it could build the rigs to extract its oil from massive undersea fields off the coast. Natural gas was already being extracted from the sea, but there has been no official oil strikes by that stage.

Among those invited was Laing Pipelines Manager Jack Stein. He had no experience of rigs or drilling for oil, but Laing’s on-shore pipelining operation had been highly successful with its French partner GTM and they called in another jv partner EPTM which had built some small rigs off coast of Africa.

A young Quantity Surveyor with an excellent head for figures, a talent for negotiation and an unlimited view of what the Company could achieve suddenly found himself at the centre of one of John Laing’s most successful contracts of all time.

Michael Vincent is a problem solver. He was offered a place at Imperial College London to study maths aged just 16, but turned it down. After a spell in the army, he joined John Laing as a QS in 1951.

“Prior to the oil rig contract I had been working with Jack Stein on pipelines,” he said. “People referred to our ‘non core’ part of the business as ‘The Funnies’.

“Our French partners had built oil rigs, but nowhere near as big as what was required to extract oil from the North Sea. Not only was it far deeper, but the conditions in the North Sea were much more treacherous than virtually anywhere else in the world.”

Determined to win the contract Laing invested £4m up front to buy Graythorp former shipyard and get the necessary equipment, including two of the world’s biggest cranes at the time. They formed a joint venture company with GTM and ETPM - Laing Offshore, bid for and won the contract to build BP’s first major oil rig. Here’s some examples of how big it was:n In 1970 Laing bought the Graythorp shipbuilding site adding gates to create n 100-hectare (250-acre) dry dock, at the time the largest in the world.n The two cranes required for the work stood 350ft below the hookn Specially designed equipment included the new dock gates (which are a story in themselves, see below) and the means of enabling the two giant cranes to move – together – during the construction processn From a standing start Laing offshore had to find 1,000 employees within a month (the workforce reached a peak of 3,000 men full time)n The initial let (contract deal) for the first rig was a nominal £10m excluding materials. By the time the first rig was finished BP agreed to pay the Company £36.5m.

From the moment the contract started it

FEATuRE ARTICLE

Making oil business history

Michael Vincent

With no prior oil rig experience Laing Offshore successfully bid for a contract which arguably paved the way for Britain to start extracting its own oil from the north sea in earnest. We hear how the Company worked flat out, beat seasoned competitors and complex specifications to achieve one of the Group’s most successful projects of all time.



FEATuRE ARTICLE

was virtually running at full speed.The French partners were worth their weight in gold when it came to design, not only in putting together the ground-breaking rigs, but the equipment at the dry dock needed to build them.

Added to this was the extra pressure of a direct competitor working on a similar project for BP up at Ardersier at Moray Firth in Scotland. This involved Brown & Root in partnership with Wimpey. It was impossible for the Laing Offshore not to compare its own progress with that of its northerly competitors. The American partners had built hundreds of rigs already out in America and had been working with Wimpey during the 60s on uK off shore gas sites.

“It was a race,” said Michael. “Both competitors were working to get their rig finished first, Graythorp 1 or Highland 1. However being new to the oil rig business we came across various problems, largely in design.

“The rigs were bigger than anyone had realised, even on their side they were 300ft tall when everyone had thought we would only have to lift the parts 220ft. We managed to get giant cranes in from America and our French partners designed special tracks so the cranes could move together in tandem to reposition the giant fabricated sections. Each crane could carry 1,000 tons.

“The biggest design problem though turned out to be the giant gates we had to come up with so that we could keep the dock dry whilst we were putting the rig together - and then open when we needed to float it out into the sea.”

Each weighed 30,000-40,000 tonnes and everything from, building, hanging and opening them was a mammoth engineering feat. The competitors up in Scotland were having the same trouble, but it was one of Laing Offshore’s French designers who first to cracked the problem.

Michael said: “We got the gates done and then handed the designs over to

our competitors up north for free. BP were going to stop the other contract otherwise. It made business sense to stay in with our client (which would benefit from both its sites’ progress) but also these were untested and if we had charged for the gate designs, we would be accepting responsibility for them.”

Everything at Graythorp fell into place in terms of progress and production of the rigs and it was down to the efforts of its 3,000-strong workforce.

“It was not unusual for people to work a 60-hour week,” added Michael. “Everyone knew what they were supposed to be doing, knuckled down and got on with it.

“I was never so busy in all my working life. I remember a three-day period when the only things I ate were in a British Rail buffet car as I traveled around the country.”

The Company had however taken a major risk with labour during the taught economic times of the early 70s. Strikes were rampant and the possibility of workers downing tools might have brought the whole project to a halt.

“We did not lose a single hour on building the rigs,” said Michael. “Even when civil engineers and other construction employees around the country announced they were striking in the uK, all of our workers came in. They were bused through the picket lines and carried on as normal. Our workfoce was 100% committed, we all wanted to get the job done ahead of the Scottish team. We felt we were breaking new ground, helping a new industrial era dawn for the uK.”

This attitude, along with the excellent relations between Laing Offshore partners and their clients were instrumental in winning the race to get uK’s first proper off-shore oil rig up and running.

According to the book ‘Offshore Pioneers: Brown and Root, the History of Off-shore Oil and Gas’ ‘… after a

series of troubling delays at HiFab [the Scottish site], the Laing-ETMP jacket was the first to be installed in the summer of 1974.’

Having completed Graythorp 1, the second and third rigs were much easier. Designs, processes and equipment were all in place. Not only that but the cutting edge plant on site meant the Laing Offshore was being offered more and more other contracts.

Among the equipment was a highly specialised oven. Michael added: “For some very complex pieces of fabrication we would ‘heat-soak’ complicated pieces for a week to de-stress them. Suddenly people were sub-letting us to do that work from all over the North East. We had the best equipment available.”

Laing Offshore had built up a massive and successful industry bringing the former shipyard at Graythorp back to life. But the bright flame of achievement did not burn long. Graythorp 3 represented a great advance in the field of rig building, in just three years. Destined for Thistle this rig would go almost 100 feet deeper than any of the others and was built to cope with even rougher waters. It was the last Laing Offshore project.

Michael added: “I was heading back to the site and the driver picked me up from the station as usual. I apologized to him that we had not won the next big oil rig contract which would have kept Laing Offshore going. He said ‘there’s no need to apologise, these have been the best five years of my life.’ And it must be said, that was the general feeling from the 3,000 strong workforce. ”

Laing Civils did use the basin to build one more concrete rig, but that was the end of the Company’s association with Graythorp which is now used for dismantling ships. However, the project’s legacy lives on in the billions of barrels of oil now produced in Britain’s offshore fields.

Thanks to Ali Thompson for this shot of Laing Civils staff who took on a concrete rig contract at Graythorp in 1989


Main newsnEW CLuB MEMBERS

SOLAREColin started with HWA in 1957 as a joiner retiring as a Project Manager 37 years later in 1994. As a joiner on the Bank of

England Colin had to work on Saturday afternoons and Sundays when the bank was shut, and enjoyed the overtime and said the Company’s standard of work was second to none.During his time he spent four years upgrading Laing’s Mill Hill HQ and is proud of turning it from ordinary offices into something more akin to the Bank of England using quality materials including a lot of mahogany. He worked on many famous people’s private residences, including Elton John. “He was great to work for,” added Colin.

REALMStarting out as an apprentice engineer, Steve spent 32 years with the Company and became District Manager in

2000. He remembers sleeping in the Laing bus which picked them up for work when he started out and had no digs. His first job was working on warehouses for Boots in Nottingham. He also worked on the Cardiff Millennium Stadium and JSCSC in Watchfield. He carried on with Laing O’Rourke working on North Staffs PFI Hospital and Terminal 2A at Heathrow. He added: “My favourite times were the old Laing days in the late 80s and early 90s.”

William Meadows worked 33 years with the Company from Joiner to Site Manager. He recalled working on the Leicester

Royal Infirmary residences, and then 20 years later they were doing the refurbishment of the same place. He spent eight years with another company and ended up working for Laing O’Rourke. His favourite projects were prisons, purely from the construction point of view as they were not like normal structures.

CARLISLEJoining John Laing Design Associates in 1977, Robin worked all over the Company until 1993. He had spells at HWA, John Laing

Contracting and Southern Region. Mainly he coordinated M&E Subcontractors.He enjoyed his time with the Company and among his most interesting projects were: Mansion House, for the Lord Mayor of London and the Saudi Ambassador’s residence.

LNERBrian Applebyjoined Laing in the 70s mainly doing labouring, but a jack of all trades. He finally left the Company on his birthday in

2003 having moved around a bit in his career. It was great to be

reunited with old colleagues. One highlight was seeing the Sage at Gateshead in all its glory when he was invited to a Christmas concert on the finished project.

Jimmy Pyle started out concreting in 1973 but also turned his hand to scaffolding and driving. During many years with

the Company he worked on the Norwich Union Office block, Wansbeck Hospital, Newcastle Airport, The Royal Victoria Infirmary, the law courts and the quayside. “I very much enjoyed my time with Laing.”

John Mitchell joined the Company in September 1966 as a joiner spending a total of 45 years there, and following

in the footsteps of his late father Jack who was also a member of LNER. During his time he moved into Laing management and in 1995 looked after the giant Hyundai project in Dunfirmline. He worked all over the country and Northern Ireland.

Stuart joined the Company in 1994 as a joiner working on various projects in Newcastle including the Centre For Life, Fenwicks,

Sage and Quayside. He said: “The Sage stood out for me for the design of the building and the excellent team working on it.”

Ros & Colin King

Anne & Steve Maxey

William & Anna Meadows

Jean & Robin Goodeve

Brian Appleby

New Members

Jimmy Pyle

John Mitchell

Stuart & Celia Standring

Main newsCLuB CHRISTMAS LunCHES

The 2012/13 round of festive luncheons started with Solare at the Anntoinette Hotel in Kingston on December 5.

Among the guests was one of the rare civil engineers in this neck of the woods, Roger Stride.

He started with the Company at Kingsnorth in 1963 and finished at the Isle of Grain Power Station in 1992, where he was the last man out of the door. He had only planned to work there for two years, which ended up as 20.

Chairman Ken Jones welcomed the guests and new members and thanked Welfare, the committee, the club secretary Bill Blamire and their ‘editor in chief’ Mike LeMonnier for their efforts during the year. The raffle raised £180 and the club’s nominated charity for this year will be St Raphael’s Hospice.

Realm met up at Ansty Hall on December 10. Firstly, a mysterious extra ‘e’ crept onto the end of Ann Roberts name in the summer outings write up, and we are happy to put that right.

Phyllis Sturgeon brought a postcard with an Olympic stamp featuring her foster daughter Stephanie Benjamin - a podiatrist who worked with the UK Paralympic team.

Chairman David Barnes welcomed guests and new members and thanked the committee for their efforts.

The most popular day for Christmas Luncheons was December 12 when three club events coincided. Welfare Manager Margaret Staines joined REAL

in London and Dave Markall Manchester. I was at Carlisle where it was interesting to hear the strange circumstances which brought the newest member to the club.

Robin Goodeve bumped into fellow member Lorna Ledgerwood while they were both on the same holiday in Austria. Laing came up in conversation by chance and next thing he had joined up.

Another coincidence was that members Alf Mumberson and Alan Sim had both worked at Arkleby Farm, before Laing’s. Stranger still, it was owned by the grandfather of another member, Joyce Nanson (nee Miller).

On to Newcastle on December 13. There is no shortage of amazing stories from Laing retirees. Aiden Kelly shared his experience of being arrested by the East German police during a weekend in Berlin while he was working for Laing at Oclawek in Poland.

His ‘crime’ – holding Polish and British currency, when they were only supposed to be carrying East German marks. He and a friend were taken away, searched and then locked in separate rooms.

The main thing Aiden was worrying about was getting to work on time on the Monday. When finally released late on Sunday night, all their money was taken away. Somehow Aiden just caught

the last bus to the site, not having had time to sleep or change.

The raffle raised £175 and Chairman Bill Jackson thanked Welfare and the committee for all their efforts during the year. He also welcomed guests, which included Steve Taylor and other staff from the John Laing Newcastle office who continue to offer support to the LNER club.

The latest lunches took place in 2013, starting with Elstree at the Toby Carvery at Borehamwood.

Another successful day featuring the traditional chairman’s speech by ‘Deadpan’ Elsie Roberts. Among the guests were Malcolm and Marion Smith who had recently attended a pantomime in Brighton with another retirement group. They were having such a good time that one of the stars, Sue Pollard, joked from the stage that they were worse than the kids.

It was also a carvery for South West luncheon in Brent. Among their guests were two visitors from REALM club, Rob and Ann Warren. He had spent a lot of his Laing career in the South West.

Guest Jan Little from St Peter’s Hospice received a £700 cheque from the club.

The final luncheon was in Glasgow for Saltire Club. Another coincidence from Sam and Sue Ferguson who, returning from a trip to Harogate, stopped in the same car park as a coach full of Carlisle Club members on their own trip. Apologies to George Harris whose picture was somehow missed out of the summer write-ups, see above.

Festive luncheon round-up


Realm lunch Carlisle Lunch

George Harris from Saltire


Main newsREADERS’ nEWS

Berkeley story prompts memoriesDear Sir,I read Phil Rendle’s memories of Berkeley Power Station with interest and in one respect some envy.

He says he worked a 12-and-a-half-day fortnight. I was on secondment to John Thompson Water Tube Boilers where we worked a 19-day three-week. I was an engineer on the construction of the pressure vessels.

One of my after work activities was

a member of the Company’s team in a local skittles league. One of the attractions was that each skittles alley was located in a pub!

Our ‘home alley’ was at the Berkeley Arms. Saturday evenings were a free-for-all: I think we each paid 6d and the winner took all, then was expected to buy everyone a round! Those were the days.

Walter (Wally) Paterson

An archive thank you The John Laing photographic collection consists of over 200,000 items and visually documents John Laing Plc’s work from the 1910s to the 1990s. As a thank-you to the John Laing Charitable Trust for its support, English Heritage would like to invite retired employees to explore the collection, to share memories and to be taken on a tour of the Archive Store. There are 30 places available and lunch and refreshments will be included. The event will take place on Saturday 27 April, 11am – 2pm at English Heritage, The Engine House, Fire Fly Avenue, Swindon, Sn2 2EH.If you are interested in attending please contact Alex Finkenrath (details on inside front cover).

Last year Laing retiree Leigh Richard-son completed a quest to cycle from John O’Groats to Fuengirola.

“As far as I can recall it all started when my daughter, who lives in Madrid, said that I hadn’t been to see her for a bit,” said Leigh. “I’ll cycle there” I found myself responding. This was a bit of a surprise to us both, especially as I didn’t own a bike.”

Committed to the plan he bought a gleaming new bike and told everyone he knew what he was going to do, including ex-neighbour, David Craigen, who asked if he could tag along.

“That allowed me to cheat by starting from his house in Hampshire instead of mine in North Yorkshire,” said Leigh.

Planning and training then began in earnest, although it later became ap-parent that practising on flattish routes in fair weather was no preparation for scaling hills in all weather with two full panniers with you.

A route on minor roads was planned from just outside St. Malo in France to Madrid and, after an afternoon pedalling through leafy Hampshire and a pleas-ant ferry crossing, the serious business began, heading off along Route Barré in light rain. Just 16 days later they arrived in the centre of Madrid.

They enjoyed it so much that they went back the next year and biked from Madrid to Fuengirola by taking a wide arc through Extremadura. Then it was a quick dash from North Yorkshire to Hampshire before moving on to Inver-ness to John O’Groats and back.

Finally, last year they completed the missing link – North Yorkshire to Inver-

ness. We went during that week in early May when it never stopped raining. Fortunately, the picture in Scotland was different and we returned home lightly tanned to the envy of all around.

Leigh added: “All over now. 2608 miles. Just one puncture. Three broken spokes. One disintegrating tyre. And I fell off my bike in Falkirk Tesco car park. Never a cross word in 47 days on the road. No mean feat for an old grumps like me.”

Among the things they learned:n a showerproof jacket isn’t very; n crossing the Pyrenees in torrential rain is best described as character-forming; n cycling 60+ miles day after day is a guaranteed cure for insomnia; it also enables you to eat and drink as much as you like and lose weight; n French drivers are incredibly con-siderate to cyclists and put us all to shame; n when it comes to the crunch, water is the greatest drink of all; the far north of Scotland is absolutely spectacular.

Leigh finished: “All we need now is a new project.”

Seemed like a good idea at the time!

Leigh Richardson (right) and David Craigen.

Main news


CLuB nEWS

Contacts

CuMBRIAAlan Crowthert: 01228-528887 e: [email protected]

ELSTREEShirley Napiert: 020 8207 5110 e: [email protected]

LNER (North East)John Crosbyt: 0191 262 4978 e: [email protected]

NORTH WESTDave Markallt: 07787 744392 e: [email protected]

REAL (Nth London)Pauline Bryantt: 020 8907 2166 e: [email protected]

REALM (Midlands) Jane Barnest: 01827 61267 e: [email protected]

SALTIRE (SCOTLAND) Jim Saunderst: 01324 638896 e: [email protected]

SOLARE (SW LONDON)Bill Blamiret: 01737 553174 (Email c/o Chairman Ken Jones) e: [email protected]

SOuTH WEST Geoff Luckettt: 01934 843077 e: [email protected]

CLuB

CO

NTACTS

CUMBRIAMonthly meetings at Wigton Methodist Hall.March 6Talk ‘My Work in Prisons’ by the Rev Tricia Rogers.April 3John and Dorothy Bell present a talk about Blind Veterans charity (formerly St Dunstan’s).May 7Talk and slide show about Watchtree Nature Reserve by William Little.June 5President’s Day Summer Luncheon Leeming House Hotel, ullswater CA11 0JJ.

ELSTREEWeekly meetingsSt Michael and All Angels Church Hall, Tuesday 2.30pm.May 22 President’s Day Summer Luncheon at the Bedford Arms Hotel, Chenies, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire WD3 6EQ.

LNERMarch 6AGM at the Assembly Rooms, Newcastle.April 15 Trip to Bishop Auckland with a visit to Auckland Castle.June 3 President’s Day Summer Luncheon at the Judges Country House Hotel, Kirk Levington Hall, Yorks TS15 9LW.

NORTH WESTMarch 27AGM at Salvation Army Church Hall in Sale from 2pm.June 6 President’s Day Sumer Luncheon Nunsmere Hall Hotel, Northwich, Cheshire CW8 2ES.

REALMonthly meetings at Allum Hall, Borehamwood.March 6Fish and Chips Lunch followed

by a general knowledge quiz.April 3 Tea and Hot Cross buns.April 17 Trip to Bletchley Park.May 1Cheese and Wine.May 21President’s Day Lunch, Grovefield House Hotel, Buckinghamshire SL1 8LR.

REALMMarch 13 AGM at the Methodist Church Hall, Station Approach, Solihull, with buffet lunch available at 12.30 p.m. June 7President’s Day Summer Luncheon Alveston Manor Hotel, Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire CV37 7HP.

SALTIREMonthly meetings at St. Stephen’s Church, Glasgow.March 12 Talk by Gilbert Cox CVO MBE JP, about his experiences as former Lord Lieutenant for Lanarkshire. May 1Visit to the Kings Theatre to see High Society.June 4 President’s Day Summer Outing Murrayshall House Hotel, Scone, Perthshire, PH2 7PH.

SOLAREMay 23President’s Day Summer Outing at Ockenden Manor Cuckfield, West Sussex RH17 5LD.

SOUTH WESTMarch 21 Skittles and Lunch Woodborough Inn, Winscombe.April 18 Spring Lunch, Cameley Lodge.May 20 President’s Day Summer Luncheon – Leigh Park Hotel Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire BA15 2RA.C

lub

Even

ts

Please address general club queries to:John Laing Welfare Department33 Bunns LaneLondon NW7 2DXTel: 020 8959 9683

Club events


Main news

If you would like your anniversary pictures and details published, please send or email them to Pensioner Publishing or the Laing Welfare Department at the addresses on the inside front cover of this magazine. Ideally include info on how you met and your career with the Company.

MAJOR BIRTHDAYS AnD AnnIVERSARIES

Diamond light is still sparklingDavid and Pauline ScottDiamond WeddingJanuary 10, 2013

The couple met after returning to Norfolk following national service.

David said: “Pauline has been the light of my life and continues to be.”

David’s late brother Donald managed to introduce him to the Company as a carpenter. When the work dried up in Norfolk, but being in touch with the Company meant that David was offered a contract in Oxford in 1960.

During his 34 years’ service with Laing, David contracted a ‘life-threatening illness which changed his woodwork skills to management.

He continued working on various contracts, the highlights of which included Oxford, St Thomas’ Hospital and ending up in Plymouth.

They have five sons, nine grandchildren and six great grandchildren. The picture shown was from the couple’s Golden Wedding ten years ago.

Diamond Anniversary

GoldenAnniversary

20 December Lou & Elsie

Pamplin

17 november Hector & Rita

Eugene

15 December Ian & Maureen

Minton

5 JanuaryBill & Sylvia

Randall

The Golden boy from next doorDanny and Hannah WilkinsonGolden WeddingDecember 22, 2012The couple met after Danny moved in next door to Hannah at Newgate. The couple only live a quarter of a mile away from there to this day.

Back then Danny worked on farms cutting moss, but soon moved to Laing as a labourer where the work was less affected by the weather.

He spent 22-and-a-half years with the Company and enjoyed every minute. He said: “They were all happy memories, I would not like to pick just one out.”

He retired 19 years ago having worked mainly around

the Carlisle area, a lot of it on the many council houses the Company built there.

The couple celebrated their anniversary by taking their family to the White Heather Hotel at Kirkbride.

They have three daughters and seven grandchildren.

Main news


MAJOR BIRTHDAYS AnD AnnIVERSARIES

Many of the couples we interview regarding their Golden and Diamond anniversaries speak fondly of the married person’s tax allowance. This was back-dated and so many people married in March, ahead of the April deadline. John Laing also provided moving costs for married couples at one time.

February 22 – Jack McDowall (pictured right).

26 December – George Taylor

8 December – George Harris 14 December – Ted Mee 18 December – Leo Czerwionka 21 January – Reg Clarke

23 January – Laszlo Matusz

95th

90th

A 60-year marriage follows polytechnicJohn and Margaret BealeDiamond Wedding January 31, 2013The couple met at Regent’s Street Polytechnic where John resumed his architectural studies following national service and Margaret was doing a secretarial course.

Having worked initially for the local authority John joined the architect’s department at Laing in Mill Hill and eventually ended up working with Laing Management Contracting.

He retired in 1989 after 27 years with the Company and the couple moved to Suffolk. They have always considered it ironic that having married in St Albans on the day of the East Coast Floods in 1953, they have ended up living just a few hundreds yards away from that coast.

They have a son and a daughter, both living abroad, three grandchildren and one great grandchild.

The couple celebrated their anniversary with a surprise weekend in London organized by their family. It included a trip to the theatre to see Top Hat and lunch at The Savoy for 25 family and friends.

Birthday greetings

100th


Main news

State pensionsEXISTING pensioners will not be affected by proposed changes to the UK pension system outlined in a Government white paper in January.

The newly announced flat-rate state pension will affect those who retire after 2017. They stand to benefit as the basic payments will increase from £107.45 to £144, in today’s money. People who stay home to raise children or care for family members will have that time contributed towards their pension as well, unlike today.

However, the reforms also mean an end to both additional state pension and means-tested benefits for future pensioners.

Social careTHE Government released details of its plans to put a cap on the amount individuals should pay towards their care in old age in England.

On Monday February 11, Social Care Minister Jeremy Hunt announced that the Government will introduce a £75,000 cap on the costs of social care – excluding the costs of accommodation and food – in April 2017.

It is planned that there will also be a £12,500 cap per year, per person on the amount paid for accommodation, food and heating.

Currently only people with assets of less than £23,000 qualify for state help with their care costs. That will be raised to £123,000 under the new plans, which includes the value of their home.

The details have yet to be finalised, but nothing will start before 2017, and it is anticipated that the Government will not start paying towards care costs until 2019 as individuals will have to pay the first £75,000 towards their own care first.

According to the Laing & Buisson (healthcare company), Care of Elderly People Report 2012/13 average annual care costs per region in England varied from £24,076 to £31,096.

Inheritance TaxThe Government announced it will freeze the inheritance tax threshold at £325,000 in order to pay for the proposed social care changes.

However, a surviving spouse will inherit their partner’s £325,000, which means that they will be able to leave £650,000 without paying tax.

Housing BenefitChanges to the housing benefit system from April 2013 will not affect current pensioner claimants.

The so-called ‘bedroom tax’ will mean 660,000 people in social housing must pay an average of £14 extra per week to stay in their homes.

It involves people receiving less benefit if they have unused bedrooms in their homes, which might reasonably be assumed to affect older residents in social housing whose families have left.

Pensioner claimsResearch from Just Retirement Solutions reveals that failure to claim State benefits worth hundreds of pounds a year is continuing to squeeze the income of more than half UK pensioners.

Its 2012 survey of clients found that 23% were failing to claim any benefit they were entitled to, losing an average of £655 income each year with the highest amount unclaimed £3,631 a year. In addition, 33% who were claiming some benefit were not receiving their full entitlement, with £213 a year on average lost and the highest amount unclaimed £2,365 a year.

For help with housing, rent and council tax, contact your local authority.

The Pension Credit Application Helpline number is: 0800-991-234 or call 0845-606-0265 for inquiries.

There is loads of information online at direct.gov.uk and on the AgeuK website: www.ageuk.org.uk.

nEWS FOR THE THIRD AGE

State help deadlineAs we went to press it became clear that pensioners over the age of 80 who are in receipt of the Guarantee element of Pension Credit can get an automatic payment of up to £130.The deadline for claiming this is March 13!It is paid direct to the energy suppliers which are listed and can be used to offset the cost of electricity usage only. Visit: www.direct.gov.uk/warmhome for details, it is too late to apply by letter now, but you can telephone direct on: 0845 603 9439.

Main news


In MEMORIAM

Fred Allen, formerly a Construction Manager with L I E & C, died on Monday 21 January 2013. He was 70 and retired in 1995 after 14 years’ service.

David Browning, formerly a Design Engineer, Mill Hill, died on Wednesday 21 November 2012. He was 85 and retired in 1992 after 37 years’ service.

Ernest (Ernie) Carter, formerly a Project Manager with Laing Wessex, died on Sunday, 6 January 2013. He was 81 and retired in 1992 after 28 years’ service.

Wilf Gibbs, formerly a Purchasing Officer with Printing & Stationery, Mill Hill, died on Monday, 12 November 2012. He was 94 and retired in 1983 after 18 years’ service.

Michael Hanley, formerly a Site Manager with South East Region, JLC, died on Monday, 24 December 2012. He was 77 and retired in 1994 after 28 years’ service.

Maurice Hayes, formerly an Estimator with ETE, died on Tuesday, 18 December 2012. He was 89 and retired in 1988 after 21 years’ service. Douglas Ingelbrecht, formerly an Associate Scientist with Laing Technology Group, died on Sunday, 25 November 2012. He was 84 and he retired in 1990 after 33 years’ service.

Jim Kelly, formerly an Admin Officer with OC Summers, died on Monday 31 December 2012. He was 90 and retired in 1987 after 10 years’ service.

Tom Morris, formerly an Estimator with South West Region, John Laing Construction, died on Monday 19 November 2012. He was 82 and retired in 1991 after 13 years’ service.

Gordon Morton, formerly a Plant Advisory Engineer with EPL International, died on Saturday 8 December 2012. He was 87 and retired in 1987 after 26 years’ service.

Charles Murray, formerly an Electrical Supervisor with EPL, died on Tuesday, 13 November 2012. He was 83 and retired in 1992 after 35 years’ service. Joe Sloyan, formerly a Foreman Joiner, South East Region, John Laing Construction, died on Saturday, 8 December 2012. He was 93 and retired in 1984 after 39 years’ service.

In M

emor

iam

at the heart of thecommunity

Documents

Employees’ News March 2013 web version.pdf · Winners and shortlisted finalists for the 2012 Laing retirees’ photo competition Laing Offshore 14-15 A brief history of Laing’s