Friday, 27 March 2015

Emergency Response


Our Emergency Response service has been further enhanced by the addition of two dedicated high profile vehicles to our fleet. 
The vans are fully equipped and provide 24 hour coverage throughout our postcode areas of East Anglia and London, responding to all incidents following fire, flooding, impact, explosion, escape of water, or boarding up following a break in.



Our teams have been called into action on many occasions to provide reassurance to policyholders and assistance to our clients and the emergency services, in shoring, propping, sheeting up and water extraction. 
Most notably, our newly established teams were called into action dealing with the widespread storm damage in late 2013, the tidal surge in December 2013 affecting Lowestoft, Snape and the North Norfolk coast, the gas explosion in Clacton, Essex, which occurred in February 2014, and the more recent flooding in Canvey and Cambridgeshire.
The team members are also trained in drying and restoration, providing dehumidifiers, heaters and fans to commence early intervention drying where required to prevent costly secondary damage.

Friday, 28 February 2014

Clacton Explosion


FTSS were called into action on the morning following the gas explosion and remained on site late into the night providing reassurance to policyholders and support to our clients. Our teams worked constantly in appalling weather conditions, battling driving rain and strong winds to secure properties and sheet over rooftops to prevent secondary damage to properties affected by the explosion. 
Pictures - BBC News

In total, FTSS carried out repairs and provided assistance to 13 homes over the course of the following weeks, ensuring that all families returned home within weeks of the incident, even in the worst affected properties. 
The zone of damage affected two roads with domestic dwellings on both sides. FTSS were responsible for properties spread throughout the entire zone and effectively carried out a triage style repair system to categorise and systematically rebuild the damaged properties based on level of damage to the structure and decorative finishes, and the requirements of both policyholders and our clients. 
To provide the required level of contact and reassurance, FTSS maintained a visible presence 7 days a week for 2 weeks following the explosion. A temporary office was supplied to the incident zone in the form of an environmentally friendly welfare unit and office facility, which provided a focal point of contact for staff, clients and concerned policyholders. 
The incident provided FTSS with the opportunity to put into practice the plans we had laid for responding to a large scale disaster with widespread damage affecting several properties. We proved to ourselves and our clients that we were able to effectively manage such an incident without the need for multiple contractors, which creates confusion and duplication of work for clients, and increased costs for insurers. 
Of the 8 known additional properties which were damaged, to which FTSS did not respond, all but 2, utilised individual contractors to undertake repairs, and only 3 had completed repairs at the time FTSS left site with all works complete.

Friday, 14 February 2014

East Coast Cinema, Lowestoft


On December 5th 2013 disaster struck the town of Lowestoft as sea walls were breached and widespread flooding ensued following the tidal surge. One such property and business struck was the East Coast Cinema. 

This was the only cinema in the town and, therefore, as a sole provider of cinematic entertainment, incredibly important to the people of Lowestoft. Additionally, there was a huge financial impact on both the owner of the independently run business, and insurers, so the pressure was on to re-open as soon as possible. 

Image from EDP News
Strip out of the wet and contaminated materials commenced immediately, with a vast array of drying equipment installed simultaneously. By the first week of January the cinema had been dried and reinstatement works commenced. The cinema had to re-open by the February half term holiday to avoid a costly loss of business charge to insurers, amidst close scrutiny from the local public and national media. 
Teams worked from 5am into the evening, 7 days a week, and on the last day, as the sweet counter was being restocked in the newly constructed lobby, FTSS left site with all required works completed. The cinema re-opened on Valentine’s night, marking the start of the half term holiday. The same night, the owner of the East Coast cinema was interviewed on Anglia News with footage of the cinema shown on TV. 

Through close working with the business owner, our client, and all our suppliers, the FTSS team turned a disaster into a good news story.

Monday, 23 December 2013

Tidal Surge - Snape


FTSS attended to several flood damaged properties in North Norfolk, Lowestoft and most notably Snape in Suffolk, following the tidal surge on 5th December 2013. 

The level of flooding varied from ankle height to chest height, but all resulted in strip out, decontamination, drying out and reinstatement works being undertaken. 

The widespread incidents gave FTSS an opportunity to demonstrate our abilities to act as a single point contractor providing solutions for all our client’s needs. The tidal surge allowed us to test our business planning model for dealing with major simultaneous incidents whilst also carrying out our normal day-to-day level of business.

Thursday, 26 July 2012

ISO 14001 Accreditation

FTSS are proud to announce that we have achieved the Environmental accreditation ISO 14001 following our successful and detailed policy review and assessment process conducted by the British Assessment Bureau.

There are many benefits to achieving ISO 14001 certification, including:

  • Better management of environmental risks, now and in the future
  • Increased access to new customers and business partners
  • Demonstration of legal and regulatory compliance
  • Potential for reduced public liability insurance costs
  • Overall cost savings: in terms of consumption, waste and recycling

But, most importantly this displays FTSS’ commitment to the environment through our continual monitoring and external assessment of all processes affecting the company and our impact on the environment.

Ducks Ahoy!

7 new additions have joined the FTSS team, however, not in the ordinary fashion. We are delighted to announce the arrival of 7 healthy ducklings who have been seen parading around the pond with their proud mother. Unfortunately three ducklings were not so lucky, but the 7 remaining appear to be fit and very lively.

FTSS purchased three ducks and brought them to the Business Park pond as part of our Environmental Policy designed to restore nature to our built environment and display commitment to our “Green” Policy. It is now our intention to install a floating duck house onto the pond to provide some shelter and protection.


Thursday, 31 May 2012

Green Key


The “Green Key” concept devised by FTSS, thought to be the first of it's type in the industry, provides ethical real time access to news, information and policies for prospective and existing clients and customers whilst displaying green credentials. 

The concept replaces print, paper and plastic binders, effectively reducing carbon emissions, and complying with our Environment Policy. Simply plug and view!

FTSS Apprentice Scheme

FTSS are proud to announce the launch of our Apprenticeship scheme. Working with Construction Skills and the CITB we have now selected the first of our apprentices following a two week work experience placement.
This is a long term strategy for the company and is not only about investing in the future of FTSS, but also about investing in the future of the individual apprentices who will learn as they earn. 
Our aspirations are that the current apprentices will be fully trained and will be responsible for their own apprentices so they can pass on what they have learnt, thus ensuring the skills of the workforce do not stagnate, in a self perpetuating cycle of motivation for all involved.
FTSS are committed to providing employment opportunities and investing in the future of the industry and company through the apprenticeship scheme.
If you are interested then please send your enquiry to enquiries@ftssuk.com

FTSS Fleet

FTSS UK Ltd are now more visible than ever following the arrival of our new vans, which compliment the existing fleet. The vehicles have been graphic wrapped with our company branding which also displays our impressive line up of accreditations currently achieved and awarded.
The vans have been carefully selected in line with our strict Environmental Policy which establishes key principles for the design of the future company fleet. (see “Our Environment” page of our website)
The new vehicles come with the ECO Badge displayed which indicates that 90% of the components can be recycled when the vehicle reaches the end of its economic life. They also comply with the latest emissions regulations and boast a very favourable mpg rate when compared to other like-sized vans.
The in-built satellite navigation systems and onboard tracking ensures not only compliance with the road traffic laws but also advises personnel of the shortest distance to destinations. (read more about tracking in our related news article).

FTSS Tracking


The FTSS fleet are now installed with a state of the art tracking system designed to ensure strict compliance with the road traffic laws whilst also meeting our “Green” commitments. It also provides us with the ability to deploy the nearest vehicle to any emergency or unscheduled incident involving a domestic, commercial or industrial premise, thus ensuring fastest possible response to meet the needs of our clients. 
The system produces reports detailing, not only the vehicle’s current location, but also where they have been, whether they have driven to their destinations utilising the quickest or shortest available routes, what time they have arrived and left their respective destinations, and how the vehicle has been driven.
One of the most important and key reasons for deciding to install the tracking devices was to ensure our strict compliance with, and show our commitment to ISO 14,001 which we have been working to achieve and maintain. Areas of reporting cover time idling, excessive braking, excessive acceleration, speeding, and routes taken to and from their destinations. This will not only help to reduce fuel and maintenance costs, but also limit the effect on the environment, and enable us to improve our operations in line with our commitments through interrogation of the reports provided.
The tracking systems will help to not only reaffirm strict company policies as existing but also shape driver and company behaviour into the future.