Celebrating Christmas Sock Day!

In years past, the Compass team would don their festive knitwear on 7th December to celebrate Christmas Jumper day…

This year, the team decided to shift our focus to feet on 4th December to take part in Christmas Sock day - in doing so, we made a donation of £210 for Crisis Christmas Appeal which will help provide 7 homeless people with:

🛌 Help with a safe place to stay
🍽️ Hot meals and a Christmas dinner
🗣️ Access to health and wellbeing programmes
💪 Support to leave homelessness behind for good

Of course, the socks had to be festive so:

  • Matt was inspired by his favourite Christmas character ‘the Grinch’ and took a photo out on site whilst standing in a pit - look how happy he is!

  • Helen was sitting comfortably in the office with her mistletoe socks on top of a pile of paperwork!

  • Stewart was practicing his daily yoga routine whilst sporting some snazzy robin socks!

  • James had never owned a pair of Christmas socks before participating, we went out and bought him the fluffiest pair we could find that happened to be 4 sizes too small - woops!

  • Harry let everyone know what his favourite Christmas Dessert is with his green Christmas Pudding socks!

  • Johnny let everyone know what his favourite Christmas Vegetable is with his loud brussel sprout socks!

  • And Tom… well, Tom struggles to find a matching pair of socks most days, but he decided that Matt Thomas’s aren’t just for Christmas!

We hope that our donation can help make a difference this Christmas. You too can donate by clicking on the button below!

Compass Raise £315 in aid of Movember!

The team at Compass have successfully raised £315 in aid of Movember!

Movember is a leading charity, looking to change the face of mens health - both physical and mental health.

3 of the Compass team decided to grow their mo’s to spread awareness and raise funds in support! 30 days of continuous growth has produced some interesting results which you can see below…

Many thanks to those who donated and shared our campaign - we look forward to doing it all over again next year!

The Results: Compass Pumpkin Competition 2023 🎃

In 2022, an annual tradition was born at Compass Environmental Consultancy.

The official Compass Pumpkin Trophy - hand painted by Matthew Thomas

A packet of seeds landed on every staff members desks with instructions to go away and grow the biggest pumpkin by Halloween. The winner would not only receive the official Compass Pumpkin Trophy (painted by our Operations Director), but 365 days of glory and bragging rights until the next champion was crowned.

Last year, that honour was bestowed on Matthew Thomas. A lot of blood, sweat and soil helped him to grow a behemoth pumpkin that weighed in at 42kg - which is approximately the weight of 210 vinyl records of ‘Thriller’ or 1 freshly born calf.

Leaving all other competitors in the dust, you would be forgiven to think that 2023 would yield a similar result. You’d be wrong. This year’s competition has been the closest yet, with a photo finish on the final weigh-in day to declare the winner.

It all started in early Spring, with Matt arriving at the office with a handful of seeds that had been harvested from last year’s winner. He attempted to distribute these to staff jokingly promising that their crop would perhaps reach double digits on the scales this year. This was Matt’s first mistake - the rest of the team point blank refused to accept his sympathy seeds and were now more determined than ever to ensure he wasn’t crowned champion for a second year running.

The first piece of advice that any former champion of the Compass Pumpkin Growing Competition will tell you when planting your seeds is ‘Location, Location, Location.’

The first location - The Geographic Area of the Country you live in (this affects everything from soil type to weather conditions)

The second location - Where on your property you choose to plant (plant in a sun-trap and your crop will shrivel, plant in the shade and your crop will be more vulnerable to frost)

The third location - the vessel in which you plant your seeds. Too protected and you will stunt your pumpkins growth, too open and you are prone to pests!

To that end, competitors chose the following conditions:

Managing Director, Stewart Ower, trusted with the responsibility of weighing each pumpkin

Stewart & Helen - Wokingham (warm-mild average temperature), side of house, whiskey barrel

Matt - Telford (cold, harsh conditions), garden, designated pumpkin patch

Tom - Outsourced to his in-laws in Reading (warm-mild average temperatures), garden, general vegetable patch

Harry - Newbury (warm-mid average temperatures), garden, old koi carp pond

As the months went on, contestants were sending regular updates on their progress, with each picture coming through on the work WhatsApp group trying to one-up the last. With Tom’s front-runner being ravished by rabbits and Helen & Stewart’s pumpkin failing to germinate for a second year running, it was clear by the end of Summer that this would come down to a two horse race between former Champion Matthew Thomas and Harry Ower.

For perspective, contestants always place household objects next to their pumpkin as an easy size comparison - as Harry’s objects in these photos got bigger, the quieter Matthew Thomas became. Eventually, two weeks before the final weigh-in, Matthew Thomas called Harry to concede the race.

Matthew Thomas begrudgingly handing over the official Compass Pumpkin Trophy to this year’s deserved winner - Harry Ower.

When the day of the weigh-in came, Harry received a standing ovation in the office. The sun had finally set on Matt’s 365 days of glory as a new champion emerged.

Managing Director, Stewart Ower, announced the official results:

  1. Harry Ower - 27.65kg

  2. Matthew Thomas - 9.1kg

  3. Tom Ower - 1.05kg (originally this didn’t register on the scale)

Commenting on his win, Harry said:

“Beating Matt was extremely satisfying. It takes tremendous sacrifice to compete at this level and I’m glad that my efforts have paid off.

Now I know what it takes to win, I am already looking forward to next year’s challenge.””
— Harry Ower, Compass Pumpkin Champion 2023

Harry Ower with his prize pumpkin weighing 27.65kg

There was no hiding the disappointment on Matt’s face who made the following statement:

“Listen. Harry can celebrate as much as he likes, but his ‘prize pumpkin’ was nowhere near the all-time Compass record that I set last year. He can have 24 hours to celebrate but if he wants to go down in history as the GOAT (greatest of all time), he needs to be in the garden preparing to smash my record next year.””
— Matthew Thomas, Former Compass Pumpkin Champion

And so ends this year’s competition! We’d like to wish everyone a happy Halloween and hope you tune in again next year!

Compass Welcomes James Harrington To The Team!

As part of our plans for expansion, we are happy to announce that James Harrington has joined the Compass team.

James joins us as an Environmental Technician after completing his Geography degree from the University of Exeter. He has already got stuck into working across a number of our ongoing projects with a busy first couple of weeks!

He has been monitoring groundwater wells at a spill site; obtaining soil samples in advance of a river restoration project and this week he is attending our Advanced Spill Responder training course at the Fire Service College and window sampling in Dorset!

Our Operations Director, Matthew Thomas said “We are pleased to have James come on board with us here at Compass. He has hit the ground running with a great eagerness to learn, I have no doubt that he will quickly become a valued member of the team.“

Outside of work, James is a keen sportsman supporting Leeds United through all their ups and downs.

Speaking on his appointment, James said “The first few weeks here have flown by - it’s been great to get stuck in and gain an insight into a number of different projects.”

First Driver CPC Course Delivered!

Last week, Compass Environmental Consultancy delivered our first Driver CPC Course for Oilshield client, JPS Fuels.

As drivers of Heavy Goods Vehicles, drivers by law must complete 35 hours of training over a 5 year period. Compass have developed a brand new course titled ‘Managing Liquid Fuel Delivery Related Risks’ - a 7 hour training course covering the following areas:

“The team have been looking forward to delivering our first official Driver CPC training course. Each section of the course has been specifically designed with fuel distributors in mind.

We look forward to delivering many more of these to Oilshield clients in the near future!”
— Stewart Ower, Managing Director

If you’d be interested in your team receiving Driver CPC training then please get in touch leaving your details below:

Compass Training Courses Achieve ISAS Accreditation!

We are delighted to receive the news that our suite of spill training courses has been awarded accreditation by the International Spill Accreditation Scheme (ISAS).

The following spill responder training courses have now been accredited or reaccredited by ISAS for a further 3 years:

  • Spill First Responder

  • Advanced Spill Responder

  • Tactical Spill Responder

“Receiving this accreditation is testament to the hard work we put into the training arm of our business. Delegates coming on our spill training courses can be assured that all of our training has met the rigorous criteria set by ISAS.”
— Stewart Ower, Managing Director
“Achieving reaccreditation by ISAS further strengthens our offering under our Responder Spill Training joint venture with Darcy Spillcare. As one of the only accredited providers of spill training in the UK, this is an important milestone for us going forward.”
— Johnny Catchpole, Head of Training Division

Compass Appoints Head of Training Division

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Johnny Catchpole as the Head of Training Division at Compass Environmental Consultancy.

An experienced trainer, Johnny has over 10 years experience working in the environmental sector with particular emphasis around spillage response and management.

Johnny Catchpole - our newly appointed Head of Training!

As Head of our Training Division, Johnny will deliver our existing range of spill training courses to our customers. He will work with the business and our training partner, Darcy Spillcare, to further develop our training offering.

“We are all excited to have Johnny on board with us here at Compass at an exciting time in our growth to help deliver and further expand our spill responder training and Driver CPC courses.”
— Stewart Ower, Managing Director
“It’s fantastic to be starting with the Compass team and I relish the challenge ahead. I look forward to meeting as many of our training customers as possible over the next few months.”
— Johnny Catchpole, Head of Training Division

Compass and Darcy Spillcare Launch New Spill Training Venture!

Stewart Ower - Compass & Richard Proctor - Darcy

Together with Darcy Spillcare, Compass are proud to announce the launch of a new spill training venture - Responder.

Responder is a collaboration between two of the UK’s leading spill experts:

Compass Environmental Consultancy are involved in the management of spillages on a daily basis and provide spill training to professional response companies.

As the UK’s leading manufacturer of spill kit and equipment, Darcy Spillcare’s products have been trusted by responders to effectively deal with spillage incidents for over 50 years.

Together under the Responder brand, Compass and Darcy have partnered to deliver a compelling training initiative that is designed for all levels of spill responder.

Spill First Responder and the subsequent Train the Trainer course are an ideal solution for companies who wish to develop their in-house spill response capabilities. These half-day courses, which can be delivered at the customers premises, investigate spillages on hardstandings, within bunds and drainage systems.

 For companies offering a professional spill response service, the Advanced Spill Responder course provides a great balance in theory and practical based learning. After a morning classroom session investigating real-life and recent spillage scenarios, delegates put their learning into practice with two hands-on exercises – a spillage on hardstanding and a spillage in freshwater. This course is run on select dates throughout the year at the Fire Service College, Moreton-in-Marsh.

 Tactical Spill Responder sits as the most technical course in the Responder spill training programme. Aimed at team leaders and those dealing with spills on a daily basis, this course pits delegates against four practical scenarios of differing nature and material spilt. Each scenario is played out in its entirety, from initial instruction all the way through to the incident debrief – testing and challenging delegates on their actions every step of the way! By the end of this course, delegates will have more of an understanding of their own spill capabilities and developed the mindset of a Tactical Spill Responder. This course is run at a specialist facility in Cheltenham and is delivered on select dates throughout the year.

To find out more about the courses on offer, click on one of the images below:

“We are delighted to be working with Richard and the team at Darcy. This joint venture is a unique collaboration between experts in spill kit manufacturing and practical deployment which makes for a compelling commercial spill responder training offering.

Course delegates get the full experience of examining recent spillage incidents where we can pass on our knowledge and practical experience.

The Responder brand extends the range of spill responder training courses on offer to match all levels of requirement. We are looking forward to promoting a delivering the Responder suite of spill training courses.”
— Stewart Ower, Managing Director, Compass
“The bringing together of expertise in product and spill clean up through the experience of Darcy Spillcare and Compass Environmental is very exciting and will bring real benefit to our customers ensuring safe and efficient spill clean up and pollution prevention.

I am delighted to be able to expand the course offerings with 2 new courses through this partnership, enabling individuals and companies to expand on there capabilities and reduce risks associated with handling all liquids.”
— Richard Proctor, Managing Director, Darcy Group

All of our Responder courses on offer are available to book now - to find out more information or to book your space get in touch with the team using the details below to discuss your training requirements!

Compass Achieve Constructionline Gold & Acclaim SSIP Accreditation!

We are pleased to announce that Compass has achieved the highest level of accreditation under Constructionline and Acclaim. Our team have been working hard to build a robust health and safety management system that can match the demands of these accreditations.

 Gaining Constructionline Gold and Acclaim SSIP Accreditation opens up more opportunities for Compass to work alongside local authorities and other public sector organisations to deliver works.

“Compass takes health and safety compliance very seriously, and the health and safety of our team, clients and everyone we interact with is always of paramount importance to us.  That’s why we decided to develop and implement a formal health and safety management system which has led to further improvement in the health and safety culture within our business.

  Accreditation of our management system was the next natural step, and by achieving Constructionline Gold and Acclaim SSIP accreditations our clients can be assured that our management system meets a recognised and highly respected standard within the industry.””
— Matthew Thomas, Operations Director

Having recently been through the accreditation process, we’d be happy to help guide others through the journey - if you’re interested please contact Matt Thomas using the button below.

Compass - A Word from Stewart Ower, Managing Director

At the end of a year and the beginning of a new one it is timely to reflect on our business, its successes, challenges and opportunities. 

Project Delivery Manager, Ryan Oak, out in the field!

Compass Environmental Consultancy has now been trading for 5 ½ years and has been selective in our approach to business, providing services only where we have deep expertise and experience. Early 2022 saw the company grow as we welcomed Ryan Oak to the newly created position of Project Delivery Manager in anticipation of growth within the commercial projects area of our business.

Watch this space!

 Our Oilshield insurance and risk management scheme is rapidly approaching our 100th client! The real proof of the pudding is the 98% client retention rate, our clients like what we are offering and our friendly family approach to business. Working with our insurance partners Evergreen and Aviva, we have built on the foundations laid by Oilshield to develop “Tankershield”, a brand-new insurance scheme for businesses operating bulk liquid tankers, watch this space...

 In 2022 the Compass team have challenged themselves and further developed their technical skills and capabilities with Matt Thomas achieving GradIOSH status and Harry Ower obtaining his commercial drone pilot licence and Associate membership of IEMA.

 Tom Ower has promoted our capabilities and services through the production of high quality marketing materials and social media content.  Having this in-house capability has been enabled us to be nimble and responsive, the dynamic nature of our business keeps him very busy indeed. We are approaching 1500 followers on LinkedIn.

 Helen has prudently and cheerfully steered our financial course to yet another record year for profitable growth, thank you.

 As Chairman of the International Spill Accreditation Scheme, working with the Board, we have successfully overhauled, merged, expanded and relaunched the ISAS accreditation scheme and associated website.  The membership is growing, regulators have re-engaged, endorsed the scheme and commercial opportunities are presenting themselves to ISAS accredited operations. We have ourselves become ISAS accredited Spill Managers and Consultants.

 Our commercial spill responder training programme has been rebranded as part of a joint venture with Darcy Spillcare.  The success has been tremendous, we trained well over 1000 delegates last year at their own premises or at one of our specialist training facilities and have bookings well into 2023.

 We have very recently launched our HSE Solutions package, providing commercial and technical support to HSE professionals in industry.

 We have become an approved Driver CPC training centre and will be offering training to our Oilshield clients in 2023.

 Just before Christmas we obtained Constructionline (Gold) accreditation, a fantastic achievement and recognition of the high standards of operation within the business.  The accreditation will help unlock some more of the commercial project opportunities we have been exploring.

 It has been hard work, lots of early mornings and travelling around to all corners of the UK, but we have met some lovely people who have been very pleased with our services. Each day I have the privilege of working with family and close colleagues. So, when I take a moment to reflect on what we have achieved, in these difficult economic times, I am delighted, impressed and very proud.  When I look forward from this point, I am energised and excited by the tremendous opportunities which lie ahead.

 Thank you to my family, colleagues, customers, strategic partners and friends of the business, here’s to a fantastic 2023 for all of us!