IETG is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a four-year Southern Water framework agreement.

Southern Water has awarded IETG with Lot 2 to deliver flow surveys throughout AMP7.

The work will involve site inspections, installation, maintenance and removal of flow monitors, raingauges and pump loggers, as well as data hosting and analysis.

Head of Operations James Teale commented:  “IETG is excited to win this framework with Southern Water. We have been working hard during AMP6 to increase our presence in the South of England and the team have been rewarded for their efforts. With our Southern office in Sevenoaks and dedicated Southern Project Manager we are ideally placed to support and help Southern deliver their AMP7 programme”.

Employees across IETG took part in a “Reverse Advent Calendar” throughout November – donating food parcel items, and money so we could buy additional items.  Today we donated the completed boxes to Leeds South and East Foodbank.  12,550 3-day emergency food parcels were given out to families in crisis last year by the foodbank – we hope that our donations will help over the Christmas period.

Huge thanks to all involved as we had quite a few boxes to deliver!  Special mention to @Claire Beckett and @Steve Boul for their help in coordinating.

IETG and 40Seven are delighted that three of our managers have recently graduated from an intense Talent Development Programme that has been running over the last 6 months.

Katie Harrison, Andy Grigg and Ed Elbrow – all Project Managers at IETG & 40Seven worked alongside IDEX employees from around the world throughout the programme, which was facilitated by external consultants Robert Reynolds and Roger Fielding.  They recently celebrated their graduation with course colleagues in Cambridge alongside their line managers.

The main aims of the programme were to

• improve the personal self-confidence of participants and encourage each participant to be truly proactive in maximising their own potential
• enhance self-awareness so that participants understand themselves and others in a variety of practical, work related situations
• Increase knowledge and understanding of the how Finance, Operations, Rapid Improvement and Sales and Marketing operate in businesses

Ian Edwards, Managing Director commented “I really look forward to the TDP every year.  Even though we are no longer part of IDEX, we still have a special bond, and I have been involved in the TDP since its inception.  Along with IDEX colleagues I’ve watched many great candidates go through the programme and it is a real pleasure to watch how they have all developed”.

Andy outlined that he found “sharing more of yourself in the workplace enables you to receive more back from the people that you work with and this course has really enabled me to understand the need to bring my authentic self to work and encourage others to do so”.

Katie’s view was that “the key areas of my learning have been enhanced self-awareness and building on my strengths as a leader, understanding MBTI Preference Types and how to get the best out of my team. The coaching on how to deliver a Rapid Improvement Event has given me some great tools which I have already putting into practise in a specific areas.”

Ed explained “on the TDP course I wanted to work on my self-confidence and presentation skills, as this was an area I knew I could improve on.  Now I feel I have the tools, knowledge and confidence to not only succeed at presenting to large groups, but also enjoy it too.  I have learnt some really valuable skills that I can put into practice in both my internal and external meetings.”

A huge congratulations to all three managers for their achievements.

The last 10 months across IETG & 40Seven has seen 17 managers work through a multi-module Insights based development programme.

Led by Suzanne Shaw of Ascent Development, we have taken two cohorts of managers through the Insights into Leadership course.  The programme was a mixture of group workshops, 1:1 sessions and self-directed learning all underpinned by personal feedback after using the Insights Discovery tool.

The initial stage of the programme was focused on Leading Yourself covering time management, assertiveness, confidence and influencing others.  The teams then moved onto Leading Others – utilising The Liberating Leadership approach (the book of the same name is by Ali Stewart and Derek Biddle) – the principles of which include having the right mindset, skills and process.

Suzanne said “It’s been an incredible journey working with some amazing people over the last 10 months.  One thing that is glaringly obvious is the passion that they have for the business and the people in it.  It was really good to hear how the programme has helped them.  The next key part is embedding the new skills and behaviours which many of them have already done around working more proactively with time management”.

One of the course participants commented “The mixed group of managers helped me personally as I found I could pick up further skills from listening and working with people who currently work at a higher level than myself.  A very enjoyable and highly rewarding course that has improved my skill set.”

Ian Edwards (Managing Director) explained “one of our values is Happy People and it is key for us as a business to look at development opportunities for managers.  This will ensure their behaviours can influence engagement levels across the business which will lead to improving performance.  The programme was to give our managers some tools and insight into who they are, who their colleagues are and to appreciate there isn’t one easy solution to be a great manager.  Suzanne has been a great facilitator throughout this process – providing high levels of support and engagement during the programme, and we are grateful for her support and insights over the last year”.

The annual Verify Audit carried out by Achilles was completed on 11th-13th June. It involved audits of our Management Systems and Site operations and is important because it helps inform potential clients of our suitability (or not!) for their tender opportunities.

On this occasion, our average score was an excellent 99%, which is a small improvement on last year’s result and testament to our people continuing to “do what it says on the can” and delivering a great service to our clients!

Well done to all, and special thanks to those that were directly involved in the audit both in the office and on-site.

We recently held a photo competition as part of hashtag#walkthismay. The judging has now taken place and we can announce that the overall winner is Orial O’Cathail – here is his winning entry! Congratulations to Orial! We also had two 2nd and two 3rd places as well – well done to Stephen Parish, James Ephgrave,  Crainic Laura and Holly Baxter.

IETG’s Framework contract with Wessex Water for Sewer Flow Surveys is to be extended to June 2021.

This is testament to the great work we’ve done on-site, in the office, and from a client management perspective, to give the client a great service.

We’re now doing more work in the wider UK than in previous AMP periods, demonstrating the results from a concerted and continued effort to be more visible in those areas.

Coffee, Chocolate Orange and Mental Health – 40SEVEN and IETG held their annual Stop for Safety day on 25 March 2019 – and this year the focus was on Mental Health Awareness.

Recognising that one in four of the attendees will suffer from a mental health issue at some point in their lives (or will know of someone in their immediate circle of family and friends who is/has suffered) has spurred the business on to recently train over 10% of its employees as Mental Health First Aiders. Introducing the new MHFAers to the rest of the business, the team set about encouraging others in the room to talk – about what they thought Mental Health was, and how they could say the right thing to someone if they thought they needed support. Each employee went away with a goodie bag – containing leaflets about looking after their mental health and a credit card sized information list: so they could keep details with them at all times of national support, as well as the company Employee Assistance Programme. A Costa coffee voucher and chocolate orange (with real oranges as well) were given out to encourage people to invite someone to talk – just to have a chat if they were experiencing any mental health challenges, or to offer support if they saw a colleague who might be.

As Ian Edwards, Managing Director wrote in a letter to each employee issued on the day “I want to remove any stigma surrounding Mental Health, so that anyone who works at IETG or 40SEVEN feels safe and happy to fulfil their potential and feels supported by their colleagues”.

Plans for the rest of 2019 include training for all managers and supervisors, as well as awareness sessions for all employees. Mental wellbeing is an issue for all in business but the training and support provided by IETG and 40SEVEN can also be of use to employees in their personal life as they may learn new skills to help their family and friends as well.

The IETG Social Fund got off to a great start with a group paintballing trip in the forests near Wakefield. The cover of trees and bushes, not to mention a cold war era Soviet rocket launcher, brought out the inner soldier in many. Lots of bruises were collected along the way back to base camp, but a fantastic day was had by all.

At the beginning of July a team from IETG and 40Seven walked the Yorkshire Three Peaks, scaling Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent in little under 12 hours. The challenge was to raise funds for St Gemma’s Hospice who provide much needed expert care and support for local people with terminal illnesses. If you’d like to donate, you still can at the team’s fund raising page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/IETG-40SEVEN