Vision Survey

European Safety Week - Mastermind

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 15:18:00 +0000

Vision is built around it's employee's, and from time to time they go above and beyond their normal duties. Point in fact, Matt Kirkland was gently coerced into taking part in a quiz which formed part of a Health & Safety initiative at BFK for the 'European Safety Week.' Needless to say Matthew performed admirably, which is where our Client, Steve Woodger (Utilities Agent) explains in his own words, what is without doubt an admirable achievement for one of our rising stars within Vision.

'Just wanted to inform you that Matt Kirkland deserves a big pat on the back!

Here at Farringdon and across other BFK sites the whole team is engaged in promoting Health and Safety initiative’s that we expect everyone on site including all support staff to follow and support now and going forward. At Farringdon a whole list of activities have been ongoing at different times and at all locations to engage everyone in improving the safety environment in which we work and to ensure that we all go home safely to our families each day.

One of the activities was a Mastermind Quiz organised by C435 Health and Safety team, each department at C435 including Crossrail entered a team with a cross section of staff from each discipline.

I entered Matt (well may be press ganged him into it) to join a Utilities team with Raju Section Engineer, Dary (Barhale Change Manager), Brian (Barhale ganger) for round one on Tuesday 22^nd. It was a team event with the highest score individually going through to an individual final today (28 Oct 2013), Matt came out highest score for Round 1.

Today (28 Oct 13), he was pitted against 5 other contestants from WTH, ETH, SCL and Crossrail. After the first part of the competition on Health and Safety, he was joint top with Crossrail Site Manager of ETH Site, then came the general knowledge section, Matt stormed ahead and he won the overall individual prize.

I just wanted to say a big thanks to Matt for taking part in what was a great bit of fun and enjoyment for all, I hope it was not to stressful for him, he is a great asset to your organisation John and a valued member of my team here delivering these works. I thought it was worth a few moments to share in this small but I feel important news.

Well done Matt

Regards

Steve Woodger,
Utilities Agent'

I would just like to reiterate these sentiments and congratulate Matt on behalf of the Vision, an excellent achievement.

Richie Cordier
For and on behalf of
Vision Survey

TSA Discussion group

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 11:07:00 +0000

On the 30th October Vision Survey were privileged to attend the +The Survey Association (TSA) annual discussion group held at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, Cambridgeshire. The event featured members of the association from all corners of the surveying industry and captured technologies and topics increasingly relevant to all the survey companies..

The morning aptly titled 'Up, up and away' started with an introduction into the history of the museum and its use over the past 100 years as a aircraft base and film set for the Battle of Britain, through to where it is now, as a showcase for Britain's aviation history.

+English Heritage then took us through a remarkable selection of their aerial photograph collections, which gave the audience their first insight into the beginnings of the aerial mapping world. This then lead onto a presentation from the current experts within the aerial and geo-spatial surveying sector and the use of manned and unmanned (SUA) aircraft for the capture of data from the air with the use of LiDAR technology. This represented how far the technology continues to evolve in providing limitless results and deliveries in any environment, coupled with reducing survey times and increasing data capture.

Lunch was taken and the team enjoyed a tour around the museum to include a walk through the cockpit of an original Concorde aircraft (see picture)

The afternoon session brought matters 'Down to Earth', where a presentation demonstrated that surveying through mobile mapping at ground level is still a valuable tool in an urban environment and that the technology had also made significant leaps in its automation and increased productivity.

This event was rounded off by looking working oversees and potential global expansionl, the philosophies behind running a survey company and the recovery of stolen equipment.

We would like to thank the TSA for hosting such an enjoyably and informative day.

Stephen Bakewell
Project Manager

Cadline BIM for Infrastructure Seminar

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 19:02:00 +0000

On 24 Oct 2013 +Cadline hosted their first seminar focussed on BIM for Infrastructure at the Beaumont Estate, Windsor. The seminar was attended by Operations manager +Richie Cordier and Technical Development manager +Marc Burt .

The seminar started with a brief introduction to BIM and why the time is now right to invest in BIM, highlighting some of the many benefits of switching to BIM compatible processes and deliverables.

After a brief break and a chance to network with other attendees, we were given a demonstration of MapThat software. This software provides an easy to use method of visualising data on maps, which can be accessed through the Internet. The potential uses of this software are vast and could benefit most businesses who wish to display live data internally (within the company) or externally to Clients.

Next up, Harry Parnell from +Balfour Beatty plc gave an information packed presentation showing numerous case studies of how Balfour Beatty have embraced BIM. Highlighting both the benefits and a few of the shortfalls of implementing BIM within his organisation. It was very interesting to see how well BIM works, compared to the traditional methods used by the majority of the industry currently.

After pleasant buffet lunch and the chance for some further networking, we regathered for the afternoon session.

Firstly, Cristina Savian, a Technical Specialist from Autodesk demonstrated the functionality of AutoCAD 360 products to import maps and a surprising range of free GIS data from various sources. Followed by Trevor Clayton from Cadline demonstrating concept design within Infraworks, which has the ability to import models from other Autodesk products and visualises them as if they were in the real world.
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Graham Riddleston from Cadline was next up, demonstrating various abilities and benefits from using Civil 3D both with creating and analysing surfaces and then designing a road. The ease and speed of how surfaces can be created and then analysed was of particular interest to us.

Finally, Keith Patterson - also from Cadline demonstrated some of the 4D and 5D capabilities of BIM through Navisworks and how it can interact with software such as Microsoft Project and P6 alongside drawing models.

Overall it was an informative day, demonstrating many of the benefits of moving to BIM compatible working and how Cadline can assist with their excellent knowledge of Autodesk products. We have identified many possibilities for how producing BIM models will benefit Vision and allow us to provide an improved deliverable for our Clients.

Marc Burt
Technical Development Manager

New Vision Animated Logo

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 10:18:00 +0000

As part of our re-branding process Vision have developed a new animated logo, complete with sound.

Watch it below and let us know what you think!

Leica Geosystems Football Tournament

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 15:10:00 +0000

Vision recently attended Leica Geosystem's 5 a-side football tournament, here is a diary post of the event.

Welcome to the Leica Geosystems 5 a-side tournament and the venue today is the Pride Park, Derby. The sun was out and not a cloud in the sky, perfect for the indoor tournament. Once Vision had finished their fry ups and pre-match beverages. The teams started to arrive approximately 10:00am, Vision who already had suffered a blow to the day, as it was announced Dean Martin was too tired from work to play. Still, Vision held their heads high as they completed team photos and bellowed the national anthem, God Save Our Queen! The pre-match warm up went to plan as John Bottomley's left foot met all expectations, as our 3 balls were lost within the first 5 minutes, the rest of the 25 minute pre-match warm up consisted of Dan filling up his boot bag with the complimentary confectionery provided.

Prior to kick off, Shaun Gray provided a technical and inspiring team talk, Krzysztof & Sebastian looked at each other extremely confused, but once we explained what the aim was, they were much happier.

'First up, Vision v Leica', the referee announced. After 5 minutes of encouragement to John Gray, we finally convinced the quivering figure it was fine to enter the field of play. After conceding an early goal (which destroyed the net, Dan had no chance), Vision fought back to win 2-1 with goals from Seb Granola and John 'The Bossman' Gray, or so we thought? We soon realised it wasn't a race to score 2 goals, so as we left the pitch, Leica tapped in from the restart to equalise 2-2.

The next 2 games were a hammering, as 8 goals were scored! Vision notching a big fat ZERO as we lost back to back, 3 - 0 and 5 - 0 respectively.

The final game in the group was a close affair, but we ended up us losing 2-3 after dominating for large periods of the game. Dan came out of goal and scored with his first touch and John Gray got the second. We finished bottom of the group with a point but somehow qualified for the quarter finals? In the quarters we were embarrassed again when beaten 3 -0.

The fact is, the whole team had a fantastic day, we all learnt a little more about one another, a great team building opportunity thanks to Leica Geosystems and already looking forward to next years competition.

Goal Scorers:

John Gray 2
Sebastian Spinola 1

Dan Stanton 1

In Recognition of Excellence

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 13:23:00 +0000

Vision recognises that its staff are fundamental to the success of the business, and from time to time like to show its appreciation of such efforts for the dedication, professionalism and quality of service provided by our staff.

This goes some way to explaining why recently, the Senior Management Team felt it necessary to bring to the attention of all our employees the exploits of Neil Harper, currently working on T2B Heathrow Airport, as a service locator working direct for Ferrovial Agroman.

Since 24 April 2012, Neil has been carrying out permit control/service location for Ferrovial Agroman and continues to do so. He has issued in excess of 1400 permits to date, although impressive in itself, not as impressive as the fact is has been without any incident or service strikes.

Neil (pictured left) was recently presented with a token of the company’s appreciation by Barry Rowland (pictured right), Vision’s Permit Control Manager.

It is also worth noting that Neil has been supported by three of his colleagues during this time, Marc Burt, Petru Enache and Dean Martin in reaching this achievement and I would like to thank them all for their sterling efforts and long may it continue.

Again, congratulations!

Kind regards,

Richie Cordier

Operations Manager

ICES Dinner, Brooklands

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 12:56:00 +0000

Richard Cordier and Stephen Bakewell attended the chartered Institute of Civil Engineering Surveyors 2013 annual dinner at Brooklands Museum, hosted by the president of the ICES, Alan Barrow. The event involved over 150 members and guests of the ICES from all corners of the UK and Vision were fortunate to be in the company of our supplier and event sponsor of the evening, Leica Geo-systems. After kicking the evening off with a few drinks and some introductions to the industry’s leading companies at the Oatlands hotel, we were then fortunate enough to ride in an original 1966 London Route Master. Whilst we were lucky enough to pull the nostalgic rope handle to activate the stop bell (several times), modern health and safety did not permit any moving stunts off the back of the bus!

Prior to the dinner, there was enough time for a short tour of the museum, with some fantastic exhibits to admire. The meal itself was thoroughly enjoyable washed down with a cocktail of local beers and fine (free) wines, also giving the team valuable time in getting to know key players in the industry. The dinner was concluded with a speech by Alan Barrow, who summed up the past years events and more importantly gave the guests and its members key insights into the future of the industry including, emerging technologies and BIM.

In meeting representatives from a number of companies throughout the night, it was apparent how diverse the industry is, with applications varying from riverbed surveying, through to large scale land surveys undertaken from an aircraft. BIM may have also come up from time to time! Haven't I already mentioned that!

Another short Route Master bus ride took the event back to the hotel, where heated discussions continued as to dictate each individuals standpoint on the future of the industry, the general consensus being a bright one!

Vision Survey Report on TSA AGM 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 10:02:00 +0000

TSA’s 33rd Annual General Meeting was held yesterday, in the spacious surroundings of the National Railway Museum in York.

The AGM was completed fairly quickly, under the chairmanship of Graham Mills of Technics Group. Graham continues as TSA President, with Stuart Dimond of MK Surveys as the new Vice-President. There is an open position on the Technical Council and volunteers would be appreciated.

Graham Mills then announced that the President’s Award, sponsored by Lockton insurance, for 2013 was to be given to Alison Watson, from Class of Your Own, “For encouraging and enabling young people to discover surveying, engineering, design and construction.” This was especially relevant as one of the hot topics during the discussion period was the lack of young English people coming through university and apprentice/training schemes, wanting to become surveyors.

One of the supreme and unmatched benefits of TSA Membership is the opportunity to discuss issues, concerns and new ideas openly and honestly that current survey companies are having to deal with. Members enjoyed a 75-minute session discussing topics such as:

Education - Newcastle University only had 13 survey/geography graduates complete the course this year. All have been approached by offshore oil companies who offer higher rates as well as more appealing ‘sexy’ projects. Market is to target younger A level student who might struggle to attend expensive universities.
Vision survey is already leading this with the recent employment of two assistant land surveyors on our Radlett project, Kyle Kolwe and Jai Petty.

Recruitment - All companies busy employing new staff. There seems to be only a large number of foreign applicants (Spanish, Portuguese and Polish), most companies seem reluctant and uneasy in employing foreign staff. The associate members are unsure as to the process on how to employ persons living in other countries. A few companies have indicated that the quality of work from the Polish, Portuguese and Spanish is top class. The general consensus regarding this topic is that employing foreign staff is really only a short term fix, however the expertise and knowledge they bring needs to be utilised and transferred to the youth.
Vision Survey are again leading with the employment of Hugo Ribeiro coming from Spain, we currently employ 1 Spanish 2 Portuguese, 3 Polish and surveyors.
Other sectors are attracting surveyors, engineers and geography students/professionals. The survey industry needs to make the profession more appealing and a way to hold valuable people in.

Low fees and quotations - The culture of always quoting for jobs and trying to achieve the lowest quotation possible is notably becoming an issue. Companies are struggling to keep afloat and pay their staff a value relevant to their technical expertise. Quotes are being rushed and client needs are not being fully understood prior to quoting. Quotations are sent out at low values with tight deadlines, when invariably an issue arises and clients are unhappy it is the survey company that is financially hurt and picks up the shortfall.
Licensing - There was talk of licensing surveyors as other countries do, in order to achieve a higher status in the profession and hopefully attract higher wages. This is a long-term ‘goal’ and will require government backing.

In conclusion Vision Survey does not seem to be alone in many of the problems and issues currently being experienced. The industry is going through yet another change where all indicators lead to be getting over the recession and Vision in fact seem to be leading in the with a strong growth since 2007. The general analysis by Graham Mills is that survey companies need to ‘Run a Survey business like a business that does surveys and not like a Surveyor that does Business’ This means considering people with other qualifications and experiences, such as project managers, marketing students, IT specialists etc. Vision are leading this understanding with the employment of a Operations manager who is not a surveyor, 3 IT/CAD trained personnel etc..

New Appointment - HS&E Manager

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Donelan) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 11:06:00 +0000

Angelo Soares has just completed a posting within the Olympics Park Central Ops Team and has now been appointed as HS&E Manager. He has been instrumental in delivering our unblemished record of Service Protection through our site-wide permit-to-dig system and his dilligence in the field of HS&E will now be used across all our projects.

New Recuit - Principal Land Surveyor

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Donelan) — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 17:39:00 +0000

Vision Survey has recently re-structured our Land Surveying capabilities and recruited Sebastiao Spinola to the role of Principal Land Surveyor. He is responsible for Surveyor Deployment, Project Delivery and Technical Standards in this field. His experience of 25 years in the industry, including a long term posting within the Olympics Park Central Ops Team means that he brings his varied experience and passion for excellence to our existing team. Initially he will be heavily involved in our CrossRail projects.

TeamLink Launch

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:08:00 +0000

At a recent staff briefing session held in our Heathrow office, Teamlink was launched. Teamlink is a web based Document Management Sysytem that will house all company Procedures, Policies, Templates and other documentation. This will progressively superseded the existing folder based system and will allow for greater internal efficiencies and more effective process execution.

This system has been developed by our Quality Manager, John O'Sullivan, & will be accessible via a new Intranet facility that will be gradually integrated within the company. All employees will be trained on how to navigate the new facility and how to find the information they require.

New Recruit - Land Surveyor

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 30 May 2012 17:31:00 +0000

Jaroslaw Gebarowski has recently joined the expanding team of Surveyors at Vision Survey. Jaroslaw has over 10 years experience in many fields of Surveying and is a specialist in the application of Leica instrumentation. He will be based at our the Gawick office. His first project will be the delivery of a series of Internal Measured Building Surveys to enable refurbishment design within the Aviation Sector.

New Recruit - Office Manager

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:54:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce that Donna Gray has joined Vision Survey as Office Manager, based in our Gatwick premises.

Donna's role is to support all employees in the day to day running of Vision Survey. Some of the key areas that Donna will be responsible for are Vehicle Fleet Management, Procurement & Logistics Support.

Donna will instrumental in ensuring the smooth running of day-to-day operations and an integral member of our expanding team.

New Recruit - Quality Manager

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:09:00 +0000

We are pleased to introduce our new Quality Manager - John O'Sullivan.

John has been selected for this role on the basis of his extensive experience in the Aerospace & Defence industries, making him the right person to ensure that we continue to deliver our services to the required standards. This role takes on added importance in an expanding business & John will ensure that forthcoming expansion is accompanied by a continued quality service being delivered to all our clients.

New Gatwick Office Opens

noreply@blogger.com (Vision Survey) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:04:00 +0000

Vision Survey have opened a new office near Gatwick Airport, allowing us easier access to Gatwick Airport and greater capabilities within the South East.

Olympics Park Operations Team of the Month

noreply@blogger.com (Vision Survey) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 15:03:00 +0000

Vision Survey have controlled the site wide permit to dig system on the Olympics Park for over 2 years, liaising with all contractors and ensuring that all services are identified and protected during construction works.
"The Olympics Park Permit-to-Dig Team are currently working off Permit Number 679 with no services strikes on their record - well done lads, we recognise the excellent service that you are providing and keep up the good work." John Gray - Director

Gold standard safeguards Olympics Park

noreply@blogger.com (Vision Survey) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 15:00:00 +0000

NCE (New Civil Engineer) magazine's Utility Mapping Spotlight Editors recently visited our team at the Olympics Park to see first hand how we are managing Utility Protection and Permit-to-Dig measures on the Olympics Park. This article shows how impressed they were.

"Vision Survey's team at the Olympics Park have been a cornerstone of the success of this project. Their professionalism and innovation has given contractors confidence in the permit to dig system and all utility related works."

Harry McCullagh - CLM Construction Manager.