by Fern Shaw | Jun 8, 2016 | 110v water coolers, construction water coolers
Construction companies are part of a specialised industry, as are their requirements, as they need to ensure that their construction sites adhere to regulations that ensure the health and safety of all on site.
One such requirement is that there is adequate hydration available to the entire workforce on site for the duration of the construction.
The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) states, in part:
Drinking water
Drinking water must be provided or made available at readily accessible and suitable places.
This is where AquAid comes in.
AquAid are the premier choice for a broad range of water cooler provisions in the UK.
We are also the preferred supplier to a number of specialised industries, one of these being to the construction industry, as we understand the specific requirements that construction companies, small or large, have.
Incorporated into our water cooler provision to construction companies we offer the following services as a standard:
- Next-day delivery and collection of water coolers.
- Guaranteed next-day delivery of water.
- Next-day call-outs for repairs.
- Educational hydration package for workers, show casing the importance of remaining hydrated at work to reduce the risk of accidents.
- Supply of both 240V and 110V water coolers.
- Dedicated account managers on both a local and national level.
We already supply numerous construction companies with water coolers throughout the UK, ranging from smaller companies with only a few sites, to some of the largest national companies with hundreds of sites at any one time. Our unique ability to offer a combination of both local and national account managers mean that the ordering process is hassle-free, both at the point of set-up and for re-ordering of supplies.
Call us today to enquire about availability and the unique service we can offer to you the construction industry.
by Fern Shaw | Apr 4, 2016 | Water Coolers
My particular love arrived when I started playing with my brother’s hand me down Lego. In this I must say, I’m a purist – the old Lego is what Lego is meant to be. I’ve never quite understood all the pink and purple brightly coloured weirdly shaped pieces Lego is available in now. The good old white bases and blue building blocks were all I needed to get cracking with spending hours and hours building designer houses. A Sunday in the breezeway on the rug was the usual location. I’d endlessly construct Bauhaus type houses and show them off gleefully to my father – who, after the 5th or 6th attempt (such attempts looking markedly similar in design), would nod and feign interest.
I still think of pursuing the field of architecture (that pesky Maths, though) but for now (and for all of my life so far), just to look architecture is like catnip to me. A few examples to muse over (and your opinion on great architecture is most welcome) are:
The Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, what I fondly call the ‘Dribble Castle’. A dribble castle for those of you that don’t know, are castles made using a particular density of wet beach sand;
The Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew Temple (also known as The Million Bottle Temple) in Thailand – now there’s recycling at its best;
The Guggenheim Building in Balboa. This amazing museum of modern and contemporary art is in Spain. It would seem that a lot of spectacular architecture originates or is built in Spain;
A particular favourite, the Flatiron Building, New York – named for its flat iron type shape – personally, I think the building looks a stretched out wedge of cheese – but each to their own – and, last, but by no means, least;
The St Pancras Station and Hotel in Camden. Of course, there’s more beautiful architecture in the UK than one can throw a stick at, but I thought I’d go for the not too obvious.
With these examples and all variations in-between, architecture can remind us (I do believe) of how to achieve greatness through buildings.
So if you’ve run out of topics to chat about with your colleagues on your water cooler runs, why not open a discussion about their favourite building and why? I guarantee you’ll have started something!
by Fern Shaw | Sep 11, 2015 | Water Coolers
I recently read a delightful article about a woman who ordered a pizza in Italy and was told that such a pizza doesn’t exist.
The gist of the *article is about how the journalist, who resides in Italy, went to her local takeaway pizzeria and ordered a marinara to which the takeaway owner and pizza maker promptly told her that such a pizza doesn’t exist.
According to the pizza maker, the customer had ordered a pizza rossa.
The differences?
Traditionally, a marinara is a tomato and garlic pizza.
A pizza rossa is a simple tomato and garlic pizza – with the addition of mozzarella.
The journalist was used to a marinara being a pizza with tomato, garlic and mozzarella. The pizza maker vehemently disagreed. She said she was perhaps thinking of a margherita and that she could perhaps make her a margherita with garlic.
A margherita is a pizza topped with tomato and mozzarella.
I found the whole incident to be very amusing as I imagined the face-off between someone who is clearly a pizza purist and someone who just enjoys good pizza.
What’s your opinion on the matter? Are you a purist or not? I’m hedging my bets because pizza has obviously evolved radically from its origins in Italy and it has been significantly changed to suit the ever changing tastes depending on which country you live in.
What I do know is that I’m a thin crust baby all the way. And if you put pineapple or seafood on my pizza, things will get ugly pretty quickly.
I’m heading up to the water cooler station to get everyone’s opinion – as with all things food, it should make for an interesting debate! Ciao bella!
*excerpts from an article at the BBC Magazine
by Fern Shaw | Jul 22, 2015 | aquaid tyne wear, Charity, Christian Aid, Water Coolers
The Swimming Scuba Diver
One of the aspects of working in the marketing and social media sphere that I really enjoy is getting to ‘know’ some of the many people that work at AquAid. To date, I’ve ‘met’ a serious traveller – Josh; a carer of animals and Tough Man competitor – Scott; a stand-up comedian – Martin; a Super Dad – Ross; and a Ninja – Dennis.
Last week, I spoke to Emir Dobson, franchisee at AquAid Middlesborough and asked her if she would be kind enough to put pen to paper and despite being rather busy, she graciously took the time out to answer my questions.
I was so tickled with her replies as I again realised that the individuals that work at AquAid really are quite a mixed bag and full of surprises – who knew that AquAid Middlesborough boast their very own scuba diver? So, without further ado, here’s what Emir had to share, pretty much verbatim:
Name: Emir Dobson
Role at AquAid: Manager – AquAid Tyne & Wear
Years at AquAid: Too long.
What do you enjoy about your job? The people we meet!
Tell us something interesting about yourself: Achievements: Working alongside my husband in all these years without a major incident!!!
How did you get involved with AquAid? I became involved in AquAid due to my connection with Christian Aid – I am passionate about the work that they do – my contribution is through donations.
Hobbies: Keeping with the water theme – I enjoy swimming and scuba diving.
What is it about swimming and scuba diving that you enjoy so much? I enjoy water… swimming and scuba diving keep you fit, they’re good for you…
When do you do the above? Enjoy diving as often as I can.
Why do you do it? It’s good fun and the people are great criag.
I enjoy diving anywhere there is water. In the North Sea, the wrecks are good and the sea fish.
In warmer climates – every dive is different; you see different fish, coral, wrecks – its good fun.
How long have you been involved with this? About 10 years.
Claim to fame – Just being alive!
What are you hoping to achieve or to do in the future? As soon as the family have moved out of the family home – my husband and I are going to travel – Thailand; Africa; USA.
Notes: No matter what happens – we are all the same – we eat, sleep, and breathe … the same. x
Thank you Emir, so interesting how water plays such a huge part in your life, from both a business and personal perspective. I wish you many good dives and lots of criag!
by Fern Shaw | Jun 8, 2015 | Water, water cooler, Water Coolers
Last week I blogged about memes (see image above); the word itself always makes me a little uncomfortable – memes … Manitou’s …mammaries – but then that’s how my brain processes word association – it may not be how yours does. (Aren’t you lucky?!)
With memes in mind, I got to thinking about what it is that makes people associate water coolers (or more correctly – areas where water coolers are) with humour?
It’s pretty simple if you think about it – when people head off to replenish their daily H20 quota (and another Blogista aside – isn’t it nice to know that nowadays you have a plethora of water cooler machines to choose from – even ones to fit on your desktop – aha – like your desktop does) – it’s usually their downtime; take a break time; time to walk off work related stress; so ostensibly when they reach the water cooler and they see a colleague (or two or five), they remember that they haven’t shot the breeze; told the latest joke; compared footie scores; swapped a bit of skinny – so they break into full splab.
Of course this sharing can often have pretty dodgy and potentially disastrous results – perhaps *Tim in HR doesn’t appreciate Maggie from Sales telling off-colour jokes and Pandora from Filing is ready to throttle Syd from Social Media because he keeps on winding her up about his team’s great results versus hers.
I think that pretty much explains the humour at the water cooler connection. If you don’t believe me, then take a stroll down to your water cooler – I guarantee you’ll see my hypothesis in action. If there’s no humorous activity, create your own. Remember though – directing the water from the water spout to squirt at colleagues probably won’t be perceived as funny.
*names and characters in this blog are all fictional.
