A magazine for all Laidlaw employees

News

Autumn 2009 Inside... Welcome // Ask A Question // Lightbulb //

Laidlaw Quiz // GAI Results // Paul Waring // Our People // Focus On Coordination//

Driving Ambition

Laidlaw sign a sponsorship deal with Paul Waring, an ambitious young golfer

determined to succeed. Find out more about the man, his game, and what this

means for Laidlaw inside.

[See centre pages]

A Laidlaw Romance

[Turn to page 6 to find out more]

Dear Colleagues,

In this our Autumn edition of Laidlaw News we focus heavily on winners, be it some sporting hero‟s from both within and outside the company and our recent GAI exam successes. We also introduce you to our new Laidlaw sporting ambassador, Paul Waring, as we follow his progress closely over the next few years. Chris Welford provides an insight into his world and Christian and Rachel West share their special day with us – who says romance can‟t be found in the workplace! We bid a fond farewell to Neville Jackman who has recently retired from our Sheffield branch and we also celebrate 25 years service with his colleague Lindsey Billard. We have just completed another financial year end and whilst we have not yet finalised our results, suffice to say the school report reads “......a credible performance in difficult circumstances but could do better....”. I refer of course to the fact that despite the turbulent economic environment we have nonetheless performed reasonably well in some areas of our business. We have made some difficult decisions over the past year in order to protect our margin and longer term employment for our employees, but those difficult decisions will help us cope with what will no doubt be a tough trading climate over the next financial year. The company is in a stronger position than most however and I am confident that we will continue to ride out the storm and position our business for future growth and profitability in the years to come. We will succeed if we continue to focus on our core values, serve our customers better and work to support each other as One Team.

John Jefferies Managing Director

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Ask A Question

What does all your money go on? Rent, UK mortgage and food! What did you want to be when you were growing up? A tennis star (Club 2nds was as high as I got!). What is the phrase or word you use most often? „Where‟s my supper?‟ What is your favourite song and why? „Julia‟ by Chris Rea – brings back happy memories. If you were stranded on a desert island and could only take three things with you, what would they be? Wine, women and song! Where would you go on your dream holiday? Safari to the Okavango delta in Botswana Who is your greatest inspiration? Lianne, my better half. Always positive and „can do‟. What annoys you the most Dubai driving; it‟s lethal! Who would you invite to your dream dinner party? Spike Milligan and the rest of the Goons – what a riot that would be! What is your guilty pleasure? Demolishing a tube of Pringles when my wife is out!

What was the last book you read? David Starkey – Henry, Virtuous Prince. What’s your favourite gadget? A corkscrew. Describe yourself in three words. Tall, bald and good-humoured. What is the most important lesson life has taught you? Patience. What is your secret talent? Raspberry grower extraordinaire! What is your favourite meal? Roast lamb and all the trimmings. If someone offered to buy you a drink, what would you ask for? An extremely fat G&T!

With Chris Welford General Manager (Laidlaw Gulf)

“Wine, women and

song!”

August Winner Paul Robertson (Sales Coordinator- Liverpool)

Paul put forward a number of ideas to help improve the effectiveness of our weekly Winning Ways OTS meetings & reports which have ultimately helped improved our sales out of Liverpool.

The winners this quarter each win a £50 gift voucher! If you have an idea that could make our business more cost effective, then please send it to lightbulb@laidlaw.net.

July Winner Andy Moore (Scheduler - Barnstaple)

Andy recently completed an order for University Hospital Bristol. He was able to set up an account direct with the Hospital Trust for them to order any additional items from us direct. The original contractor was not keen to bother with additional items after the main order was complete so this gave us a more manageable way to deal direct with the end user to provide the correct product and service and to enjoy additional business.

September Winner Mark Taylor (Branch Manager - Bristol)

Each branch should enquire with their local alarm maintenance contractor as a potential supply and install partner for access control, thus providing national coverage.

Lightbulb Scheme

Starters

Ashlee Taylor Credit Control Willenhall Sean Baker Customer Services Willenhall Brian Thompson Warehouse Operative Willenhall

Leavers

Jane Cooper Customer Services Willenhall Jess Walton Customer Services Willenhall Simon Shury Operations Director Doorsets Lee Walker Branch Manager Salford

Retired

Neville Jackman Key Account Manager Sheffield

HR Update

GEOGRAPHY 1) In which city would you find Huntingtower Castle?

LAIDLAW KIDS 2) Which member of staff gave birth to beautiful baby girl Keira on 26th September 2008?

ASK A QUESTION 3) What annoys Lenny Christie the most?

COMPANY KNOWLEDGE 4) Where would you find Laidlaw‟s lock station?

LANGUAGE 5) Whose name is this an anagram of? Camels Invest

PICTURE ROUND 6) Can you name this member of staff?

7) What about this one?

LIGHTBULB SCHEME 8) Who was the overall winner of the Lightbulb Scheme in 2008 and what did they win? AND FINALLY... 9) Whose girlfriend sings in an all female acapella band?

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Laidlaw Quiz Want to win £25 in vouchers? Play the quiz and you could be in with a chance!

When you have the answers, e-mail sian.mills@laidlaw.net, titling the e-mail „Laidlaw Quiz‟. All the correct answers will be put into a hat and a winner will be drawn. Please get your answers in before November 13th 2009! Last issue‟s winner was Lewis Cornford in Liverpool. Well done!

Laidlaw Quiz (Summer Answers)

1) Barnstaple 2) Scratch (0) 3) ‟Not a problem.‟ 4) Sales Coordination and/or ZSSL 5) Sian Mills 6) Michelle Heathcote 7) Tony Kears 8) Mike Brittain

GAI Diploma Results 2009 As autumn rolls around again we have more successful colleagues who have passed exams this year. We‟d like to take the time to congratulate them all on their achievement and wish those still working towards their final certifications the very best of luck!

Year One Darren Eyre Sheffield Credit Amanda Stretton Sheffield Credit Daniel Kane Gateshead Pass Jeff Joyce Cardiff Distinction

Year Two

Gary Watt Glasgow Credit Blair McDonald Glasgow Distinction Paul Cowle Liverpool Pass Simon Marr Sheffield Pass Debra Yates Willenhall Pass Jon Marchent Bristol Pass

Year Three

Ellie Darley Saturn Business - Distinction Scheduling - Distinction Nick Peacock Saturn Business - Credit Scheduling - Distinction

25 Years With Us Lindsey Billard (Scheduler and Estimator - Sheffield)

Lindsey Billard recently completed 25 years service with Laidlaw. Congratulations from all his colleagues at the Sheffield branch, as well as all at Laidlaw. Lindsey is pictured above receiving his gift from Peter O‟Brien.

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Paul Waring, the 24 year old Englishman currently enjoying a rich vein of form on the European Tour, has signed a sponsorship agreement with Laidlaw. Paul shares a lot of the Core Values that we share as a business. He is also a winner, hardworking, respectful, loyal to his sponsors and family and he ultimately wants to succeed. Paul has a personal desire to team up with Laidlaw and help us grow our brand and image. Paul already has an association with Laidlaw in that his life-long friend and golf caddie, Duncan Robertson, is the son of Paul Robertson who works in our Liverpool Branch. Another association is that we both desire to grow our international presence beyond UK. Whilst Laidlaw have set an operation up in Dubai, Paul aspires to join the best European golf professionals in the annual “Race to Dubai”, where The European Golf Tour both starts and ends.

Through our association with Paul we have an opportunity to promote our brand, given our logo will be on his golf bag and shirt sleeve. On a personal level we will have an opportunity to introduce Paul to our customers via promotion at local, national and international golf events, so please spread the word about out new Laidlaw brand ambassador.

John Jefferies commented, “Paul has continued to prove his quality on the European Tour this season and we are excited to be a part of his future as he continues to improve in search of his maiden Tour victory. He is a great golfer and I am sure he will be a great ambassador for us around the world. We wish him all the best for the remainder of the season and into 2010.”

Paul has recently returned from injury after missing a number of events in the summer months. He featured in The Dunhill Links in Scotland and most recently made the cut at the Spanish Open, finishing a credible T37th out of a field of 120.

Paul commented on his tie up with Laidlaw, “I am delighted to have Laidlaw as one of my sponsors and look forward to represen ting them on tour. I have continued to improve my game throughout 2009, and feel that I am getting closer to my maiden tour win. Hopefully I will continue to put myself in position to do that, which will bring real value to Laidlaw both on and off the course.”

Paul Waring gained his European Tour card at the 2007 Q-School, and recorded top ten finishes at the Joburg Open and Madrid Masters, as well as a T19 finish at the Open Championship, on his way to 105th on the 2008 Order of Merit. Waring has continued to prove his calibre as one of European golf's hottest young prospects in 2009, having all but secured his 2010 European Tour card with almost half of the season remaining. He can now focus on climbing into the top 60 on the Race to Dubai and securing his place at the inaugural Dubai World Championships.

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A Beginners Guide To Golf by Lewis Cornford

Laidlaw News Interviews Paul Waring

Above Left: John Jefferies and Paul Waring.

Above Right: Dave Boland showing Paul the ropes on the trade counter.

Middle: Paul on the tee.

Right: (from left to right) Paul Robertson, Paul Cowle, John Jefferies, Dave Boland, Paul Waring, Lewis Cornford and Marc Doran. Photography by Adrian Smethurst

Golf is generally played over eighteen holes, normally with four par

fives, four par threes and the rest par fours: the higher the par, the

further the hole. You are only allowed a maximum of fourteen golf

clubs in your bag. Golf is one of the most well known sports in the

world and will from 2016 be part of the Olympic Games. Unlike

sports such as football or tennis, golf is unique as you can play the

same courses as the professionals do. St Andrews is one of the

oldest courses in the world and is known as the home of golf. Paul

Waring was lucky enough to play St Andrews in the last few weeks

at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championships.

What made you want to play golf? I had a general interest in golf from a very early age, maybe 5 or 6 years old, when my Granddad took me to play pitch and putt. What has been your biggest achievement in your golfing career so far? Finishing in the top 20 at the British Open at Birkdale in 2008. What do you think you would be doing now if you weren’t playing golf? Not a clue! Possibly teaching golf or involved with golf somewhere. Which course is your favourite to play on, and why? Royal Birkdale at Southport - I‟ve always loved it from playing there as a Junior and Amateur as well as returning as a Pro to play in the Open Championship. Who is your biggest inspiration? Has to be Tiger Woods. I admire his work ethic as well as his ability and talent. What was the last film you watched? „Funny People‟ starring Adam Sandler.

Describe yourself in three words. Grumpy, hairy and unromantic! Who would you invite to your dream dinner party? Tiger Woods, Chris Rock (the comedian) and Duncan Robertson, my caddy. What annoys you the most? Girls that think they are „it‟. What phrase or word do you use most often? „Erm...‟ in every interview I give, including this one!

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Ou

r Peo

ple

If you have any stories to share,

please send them to sian.mills@laidlaw.net

Laidlaw Love Story Rachel & Christian West (Customer Coordinator & Warehouse Operative - Willenhall) Love is in the air at Willenhall! Rachel Wootton and Christian West met five years ago while working on a stock take. A former Laidlaw work colleague had decided to pair them together for the task as an attempt to play Cupid. „The rest, as they say, is history!‟, Rachel says. Fast forward to the 15th August 2009 and the couple who met at a Laidlaw stock take are getting married. The ceremony and reception took place at the Ramada Park Hall Hotel in Wolverhampton. The menu consisted of fans of melon for starters, roast sirloin of beef as the main course and profiteroles for dessert, all washed down with lots of bubbly! The sun started shining as soon as the ceremony ended, and it then remained a beautiful sunny day for the couple. Rachel added, „a truly magical day was had by all‟. They spent their honeymoon in Hong Kong. I‟m sure you will join us in congratulating the happy couple, and wishing them much happiness together in the years to come.

Top, left & right: Rachel and Christian enjoy their day

Above: Rachel with colleagues Sadie Summers (Team Leader) and Debra Yates (Corporate Coordinator)

Running For Charity Lee Walker (Former Branch Manager - Salford)

This year I ran in the Great Northern Run again. The charity to run for was an easy choice for me, Cancer Research UK. This is because two people close to me are suffering at the moment with differing variations of the disease, therefore I couldn‟t run for a specific cancer charity. After setting the „Just Giving‟ website link up and a couple of begging emails, I have raised or have pledges for upwards of £450. A massive thank you to everyone who supported me by either wishing me well or sponsoring me, it was a great effort.

It was a cold, but clear morning on Sunday upon arrival in Newcastle. There were 13.1 miles between me and the finish line. Time to go! Training had gone really well as even two days before I‟d comfortably ran 7.3miles in the cool and dark on Friday morning. Unfortunately this didn‟t prepare me for the heat of the run. When we got going it was easily 10 degrees warmer than I‟d been used to in training. After nine miles my right lower leg cramped up and I had to walk for a couple of miles before I composed myself, took some liquids on, and jogged the last 1.5 miles past the gathered crowds on the coast in South Shields.

My finishing time was (disappointing to me) 2 hours 46 minutes, but I did it. I got my tee-shirt and medal, and bless her, my mum was at the finishing line with some donuts for me to get some sugar straight back into the system. In the finishing mile I passed ex-St Helens rugby league player Paul Sculthorpe, a gorilla and Scooby-Doo. Unfortunately the „Loch Ness Monster‟ beat me. Nightmare! A massive thank you to all of the North East people, who came out in the droves to support the runners. You can‟t underestimate the lift I got with people calling out my name, telling me I was doing a great job and offering me ice lollies.

I‟ll be back next year with more lessons learnt of the course. I will run 13.1 miles in one go, I will!

Debra Yates (Corporate Coordinator - Willenhall)

I recently ran in the Race For Life. Bearing in mind it was cross country, raining and very muddy (and I hadn‟t trained for this) I managed to do it in 30 minutes (only 6 minutes off the winner) and I raised £657 (I beat last years total but still nowhere near the £1,000 mark I was hoping for). I will be doing it again next year but I will be doing the 10k run instead of the 5k, and this time I really want to smash that £1,000 target, as this is a great cause and charities like these rely on us to support them and give as much as possible. Also just want to say a big THANK YOU to all the support Laidlaw staff have shown me whilst doing my runs, and I will be back again next year for yet more donations!

Andrew became an uncle for the first time on Friday 7th August 2009. His sister Claire Asher and her partner Phil Stevenson welcomed their son Joshua-Jacob Andrew Stevenson (JJ for short) into the world at 11:57pm. He weighed in at 7lbs 4oz and, as you can see, was born with a full head of hair! Both mum and baby are doing well and Andrew is now looking forward to watching his new nephew grow up.

Laidlaw Kids

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Andrew Dickinson (Central Sales Coordinator - Salford)

John Ferguson (Branch Manager - Perth)

More new additions to the lives of our colleagues this quarter. As you can see from these entries, it doesn’t just have to be your own child! If you have a new son, daughter, niece, nephew, grandson or granddaughter, send us in a picture and some details!

On Friday 4th September, John Ferguson became a proud granddad for the first time! Lewis George Taylor was born to his elder daughter Sarah and her husband Garry. Lewis weighed in at a healthy 9lbs 7oz. John‟s looking forward to taking Lewis out for walks in his pram and getting him a racing car set.

As I will have retired on the 18th September 2009 I thought I should contribute to the Laidlaw News before I drive off into the sunset. The picture to the right is my soon to be second home, which I did not claim on expenses by the way. The caravan I now have is a Sterling Eccles Opal 2009 with all the comforts of home and I am looking forward to becoming a full time gypsy and not just at weekends. So if you get a knock on your door with someone selling pegs or plastic daffodils be kind to them, as it may well be me one of these days.

On my retirement it is my intention to travel the length and breadth of the UK and also to travel to places in Europe such as Spain and Italy with other caravan club members. As I will no longer have to worry about work anymore I am sure the time I will have on my hands will be put to good use touring Europe.

It goes without saying I will miss the day to day banter with my colleagues in the Sheffield office and my friends around the group some of whom I have known for almost 30 years. May I also take this opportunity to thank you all for the help you have given me over many years and wish you all the very best in the future and I feel sure you will continue to get behind John and his team and to make Laidlaw Solutions the success we all know it to be. Simon Marr adds: ‘We all would like to thank Neville for his support and efforts over the years. He will be missed in many different ways, all good I would add. We wish him a long and happy retirement.’

Neville’s Retirement Neville Jackman (Key Account Manager - Sheffield)

Above: Neville with his dog Jack.

Far Left: Left to right - Roger Hunter (ex-Clugston), Terry Grime (ex-BAM), Andrew I'anson (BAM), Neville Jackman and Danny Schofield (Farracrest).

Left: Neville receiving his gift from John Jefferies, watched by (from left to right) Gary Pearce (GB Locking), Jonathan Sykes (Freman & Pardo) and Clint Robertson (Laidlaw Business Development Manager).

Simon Marr‟s new addition is pictured above with his older brother Harrison. Joseph Marr was born on Sunday 21st June 2009 and weighed in at 8lbs 10oz. Mother and baby are doing well, and Simon is a very proud dad indeed!

Simon Marr (Branch Manager - Sheffield)

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EMS 531228 RS 10508

Some Things You Might Not Know About Central Sales Coordination

The team is responsible for the coordination of nine branches and their duties include chasing up tendering contractors, updating Plato with new information, creating reports for various people throughout the business and various ad-hoc and marketing related tasks.

Andrew is engaged to his partner of five years and hopes to hold a civil partnership ceremony soon. He also designs and edits the Laidlaw News.

Lauren is the enthusiastic, lively „baby‟ of the team. She is full of life, and keeps everybody else up to date with her current affairs!

Lewis recently graduated from John Moore's University with a degree in Business Management & Information. He is also Laidlaw‟s star golfer.

Michelle attends a local pub quiz night every Thursday, but unfortunately her team has yet to win. She has been with Laidlaw for over 26 years.

Coordination have made Sian Mills an honorary member of their team. Sian is a vegetarian and an animal lover. She has two dogs, three cats, four hens and an adopted donkey. She is also the resident agony aunt.

Anne-Marie (Central Coordination Manager) is a huge fan of The Whip, and has been to most of their gigs. All her team are currently missing her while she is away, and can‟t wait for her return!

The team

gather for a

group photo...

and Lauren

strikes a pose!

Michelle on the phone to a customer.

Lauren

mento

ring

Lewis in th

e

ways o

f

coord

ination

F cus On Central Sales Coordination

Andrew and

Michelle look

over some

project

details.

Lewis and Lauren put aside regional differences to work together as One Laidlaw Team.

Lauren finds

yet another

awarded

contractor!

Andrew putting

together this

very issue of

Laidlaw News!

Central Sales Coordination was set up over three years ago to cater for the needs of several branches from one location. Originally the team consisted of Anne-Marie McSherry and Michelle Heathcote, but with the expansion of the department‟s responsibilities new people have been added. Andrew Dickinson started two years ago, followed by Lauren Costello who joined at the beginning of this year. Lewis Cornford has recently joined the fold to provide vital support to coordination.

Top to bottom, left to right: Lewis Cornford, Andrew Dickinson, Lauren Costello and Michelle Heathcote