Compass Pumpkin Champion Crowned! 🎃

Earlier this year, we gave each of the team a packet of pumpkin seeds with the objective of growing the biggest pumpkin by Halloween!

Each participant approached this task with their own unique strategy - with the first challenge being deciding when exactly to plant their seeds!

The winner (Matthew Thomas) & runner-up (Harry Ower)

Matt Thomas was first in the ground, wanting his pumpkin to weather the harsh Telford conditions early on so that it could withstand anything thrown at it.

The mind games began as the rest of the team tried to convince Matt he had gone to ground too early. Weeks went by without anyone else planting their seeds, until Ryan Oak succumbed to the pressure shortly followed by Harry, Stewart and Helen.

Tom, convinced that a late Winter frost was just around the corner waited until July before throwing his seeds into the ground and hoping for the best. A call that would ultimately lead to his downfall in the competition.

Shortly after, Ryan announced himself out of the running with the death of his only sprout. Some of the team became concerned after seeing photos emerge of Matt’s progress and decided to club together in an attempt to stop him from running away with this year’s competition. Harry, Stewart and Helen united to get behind one pumpkin that could topple Matt off the top spot. Tom, whose leaves had emerged stuck to his guns and continued on solo - another call that would ultimately lead to his downfall in the competition.

Coming into the home stretch and with just 3 pumpkins left the team started to put in extra hours to ensure the upkeep of their yield, ahead of the final weigh in on 31st October.

Figuring out how to weigh the champions pumpkin!

The day has finally come and we have crowned our winner! Pipping Harry, Stewart and Helen to the post was Matthew Thomas! His pumpkin weighed an astonishing 42kg! Speaking shortly after being crowned, Matt said:

“Winning the Compass Pumpkin Competition has been an ambition of mine ever since Stewart gave me a packet of seeds back in April. Many hours of research and nurture have been dedicated to achieving maximum pumpkin growth, and I think all would agree that the rewards are obvious. This will go down as one of my greatest achievements. ”
— Matthew Thomas, Compass Pumpkin Champion 2022

The final results are as follows:

1) Matthew Thomas - 42kg

2) Harry - 2kg

3) Tom - his pumpkin turned out to be a weed

4) Ryan Oak - failed to germinate

5) Stewart & Helen - failed to pollinate

Compass Driver CPC Approved!

We are delighted to announce that Compass Environmental Consultancy is now a Driver CPC approved centre!

In the very near future, Compass will be able to deliver driver training courses to our Oilshield clients that will contribute to drivers requirement of 35 hours minimum of CPC over a 5 year period.

“This is a significant step when it comes to adding value to our Oilshield product. Our safe delivery and spill response training delivered to date has been extremely well received by our clients who will now benefit further from this exciting development and broadening of our offering. ”
— Stewart Ower, Managing Director

We will ensure to keep you updated on our progress in the coming weeks!

Matthew Thomas - Health & Safety Extraordinaire!

We want to congratulate our very own Matthew Thomas for recently being rewarded his Level 6 NVQ Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety Practice!

Matt has been working through a number of modules that will help him to promote a positive health and safety culture within our company and to our customers. Thank you for helping us keep safe Matt!

“A fantastic achievement - health & safety is at the heart of every business operation and we welcome the improvement and changes Matt has implemented here at Compass as his studies have progressed.”
— Stewart Ower

Out and About!

No two weeks are ever the same at Compass!

Last week, the team were out in full force working on different projects & initiatives. Highlights include:

  • Presenting the UKIFDA Green Award to Oil 4 Wales

  • Delivering our Advanced Spill Responder course to spill response professionals at The Fire Service College

  • Managing a 1,000 litre oil spill in Leicestershire

  • Delivering driver training to our Oilshield clients in Yorkshire

  • Overnight spill remediation at an air crash site

  • Attended the Road Transport Exhibition in Warwickshire to look at Tankershield opportunities

Great to see the team working right across our disciplines and sites right across the UK!

Who knows what this week will bring! That’s what makes it exciting!

UKIFDA EXPO 2022 Round Up!

The team at Compass recently exhibited at the annual UKIFDA EXPO in Liverpool! We joined together with members from Evergreen Insurance Services and Aviva to present our Oilshield Insurance & Risk Management solution for liquid fuel distributors.

Argent Energy’s Jordan Roberts receiving his prize for winning this year’s Run the Gauntlet Competition.

We had a great time meeting familiar and new faces over the two-day event after a 3-year hiatus from having a physical exhibition. Our Run the Gauntlet competition made a bold return for this year’s show, with the Oilshield driver room poster (pictured below) coming to life in the form of an arcade game. Players were challenged to safely navigate the delivery driver through various hazards to reach the oil tank at the end without causing a spillage – after holding off fierce competition, Jordan Roberts from Argent Energy was crowned the winner with a staggering score of 301 metres. For his efforts, Jordan won an Alexa-powered coffee machine!

Caroline Donati (Aviva/Oilshield) presenting Colin Owens from Oil 4 Wales with this year’s UKIFDA Green Award - sponsored by Oilshield.

 Jordan was not the only winner this year – Oilshield once again sponsored the UKIFDA Green Award which was presented at the UKIFDA Awards dinner. Oil 4 Wales, soon to be Green 4 Wales, came away as this year’s green champions with their impressive clean growth strategy.

 Of course, the EXPO wouldn’t have been complete without some sort of team-building activity in the form of… axe throwing?!? After plenty of practice, the team took part in a shoot-out competition to decide a victor. Having not hit a single target throughout the entire practice session, our very own Matt Thomas came into his own, achieving a nearly perfect score in the competition to come out on top.

 After a successful show, we paid a visit to the Cavern Club to enjoy some much-needed Beatles nostalgia!

 We look forward to exhibiting again at the next UKIFDA EXPO!

 

Tankershield Launched!

Building upon the success of our Oilshield product for Liquid Fuel Distributors, we are pleased to announce the launch of our new insurance and risk management scheme - Tankershield.

Tankershield is a specialist insurance scheme for companies involved in the transportation of Bulk Liquid products operating in the following sectors:

  • Food & Drink

  • Industrial Services

  • Low-Hazard Chemicals

Once again, we have teamed up with Evergreen Insurance Services and Aviva to provide Tankershield to the market on a wholesale* and direct basis. Tankershield is primarily a commercial fleet insurance offering and only requires 1 tanker within an entire fleet to obtain a quote.

Compass will deliver the risk management element of Tankershield and manage any spillage incidents arising from the scheme.

Our Managing Director, Stewart Ower said:

“The tripartite partnership between Compass Environmental, Evergreen Insurance Services and Aviva combines expertise, service and policy cover to create a hugely credible offering to the Bulk Liquid Tanker market.””

To find out more, you can visit the Tankershield website or view the brochure by clicking the button below.

*Offered to select brokers

Compass Partner with TSG Solutions

We are proud to announce that Compass have formed a strategic partnership with TSG Solutions.

Our services are complementary, with TSG providing a comprehensive range of services targeted at the retail petrol station sector. Many of their infrastructure projects including new build, refurbishment or decommissioning require environmental input to satisfy planning conditions, investigate potential contamination of land and to carry out any remediation in advance of development.

“With both Compass and TSG providing specialist services to this sector, this partnership is a natural fit. We are very much looking forward to supporting TSG with their projects going forward and introducing them to our retail forecourt clients.”
— Stewart Ower, Managing Director, Compass Environmental Consultancy

For TSG’s full capabilities, click on the button below to view their services brochure!

You can get in touch with TSG Solutions on 0333 015 3001 or via email at enquiries.uk@tsg-solutions.com

Compass welcomes Ryan Oak!

Compass Environmental Consultancy are pleased to announce the appointment of Ryan Oak as Project Delivery Manager.

Ryan takes up his role at an exciting time as the business continues to develop and sets out a number of new initiatives.

Matthew Thomas, Operations Director at Compass, said “We are excited to welcome Ryan to the business and look forward to introducing him to our customers. Ryan will play a pivotal role in the management of claims and delivery of risk management initiatives as well as strengthening our commercial offering, bringing to the business a wealth of environmental consultancy experience as well as geotechnical expertise.’’

Ryan added, “I am thrilled to join the business and become a part of the fantastic team here at Compass. It is an extremely exciting time to join the business and I am eager to play a part in the ongoing success.’’

Ryan can be contacted on ryan.oak@compassenviro.co.uk

Compass get their Wings!

Compass Environmental are pleased to announce our new capability, Commercial Drone Operations.

Our small light weight drones enable us to fly in spaces that are off limits to larger, heavier drones. We are able to fly within areas used for residential, commercial, industrial and recreational purposes. There are many applications for our drones from inspecting roof water drainage to providing context to large oil spillage incidents.

Compass operators have obtained qualifications beyond the requirements of our operating category to ensure all our flights are conducted in a safe and professional manner with each operator holding a Civil Aviation Authority Flyer ID and the A2 Certificate of Competency supported by EC 785/2004 compliant insurance.

Harry Ower, our commercial drone pilot, says “The advantages of using drones are obvious, no working at height, no hire of platforms, reduced cost and speed of deployment. The ultra-HD 4K quality of the camera and the ability to zoom into areas of interest allows us to provide detailed footage and interpretation to our clients”.

If you believe you have projects or initiatives that could benefit from our drone services, please do get in touch.

 

Compass Awarded ISAS Accreditation

Spill Consultancy/Management Services

Compass Environmental Consultancy has been awarded accreditation by the International Spill Accreditation Scheme (ISAS) for Spill Consultancy & Management Services.

This new Accreditation Category has been developed by ISAS for those individuals and consultancies who are involved in providing environmental consultancy input and solutions into spillage incidents where human health, property or the environment may be at risk. 

Compass has been recognised as having the capability to facilitate the most appropriate emergency response to a spillage incident and manage the emergency phase to direct actions, manage cost and liaise with stakeholders including environmental regulators. Our nationwide network of ISAS accredited spill responder partners support us through the delivery of on-site mitigation measures.

Where a spill has wider impacts requiring works beyond the emergency spillage response phase Compass has been recognised for having the following capabilities:

 

Operates on a 24/7 basis

Capability to determine and design the most appropriate spill response and remediation solution for soils, property or groundwater contaminated by a spill

 

Capability to design and execute investigation of groundwater contamination resulting from a spill

Capability to design and execute investigation of soils and property contamination resulting from a spill

 

Capability to validate remedial action (soils, property and groundwater).

“Operating from our locations at Wokingham, Telford and Cheltenham we are proud of this independent assessment and validation of our capabilities by ISAS, based on our extensive experience working in the field of spill response and management.

We are one of the first companies in the UK to receive this accreditation and we believe it is worthy recognition of the high standards and quality of service we strive to provide to our clients when they need us most.”
— Matt Thomas, Operations Director at Compass