A better way

Our business has always prided itself on the highest standards of safety and care for employees, residents and anyone affected by our works. We work hard to minimise disruption, inconvenience and risk and have been recognised many times over for our success in doing so.

A combination of training, expertise, teamwork, experience, respect and conscious effort means we deliver a service to prestigious clients and their residents that we believe is unparallelled  in our market.

We believe that when working on homes, we must be mindful to keep people safe and happy, and leave them with a positive impression of both our business and the construction industry.

We set down a clear code of conduct for our people, and are proud to say that we rarely receive any reports of concern or anxiety about our works, and that any we do hear are speedily resolved with care and the right information. In six years with Bastows, I can honestly count the number of issues raised with me on one hand- all resolved with prompt action, clear communication and a desire to find a better way to move things forward.

We never dismiss a resident's concerns, no matter what. We will always work with them to resolve things and go on Making London Beautiful.

Family- the evidence!

Check out a Wordle cloud based on this blog. Seems we do talk about Family a lot!

Health and safety: our duty to our past

This week saw the 150th anniversary of the London Underground and a plethora of articles about it- some informative (did you know over 500,000 mice are estimated to live in the underground system?) and others seemingly an excuse to indulge in a good old fashioned whinge.


However, we'd ike to remember the workers who created this astonishing feat of engineering for the people of London past and present, and for one sobering moment we'd like to remember the sacrifices made by too many of them. We'd ask you to read Paul Richards' excellent piece on the importance of health and safety and the impact the building of the Tube system had on the lives of workers involved. 

Bastows have always demonstrated a clear and solid commitment to health and safety of our Family and all affected by our projects, and will continue to do so. Our concern is first and foremost for the wellbeing of our employees, clients and residents, and we are saddened by the cuts to both Health and Safety resources and the initiatives that may see less conscientious practices creep in to our industry and pose a real risk to the lives and safety of construction workers and the public. We are proud to state that Bastows will never settle for less than the high standards we have attained, and will work always to improve safety and care for our employees and those we work with.

London was built by those who believed in craftsmanship, hard work and creativity. Continuing in their spirit, and adding a commitment to safety in their name is something we should be proud to do.

Christmas Spirit

On Friday we had some fun transforming our London office into a party venue for our guys to get together and celebrate the coming festive season. 

It took almost a whole day to decorate the place but the end result was worth it!

We shared a few drinks, good food, and lots of laughs.

Thank you to all our guys for their hard work this year, and for being such a huge part of the Bastows story. 

We go into 2013 with more to celebrate as we mark our 50th year of Making London Beautiful.
 
Thank you to all our Family who joined us to see Christmas in in style, and who will be  a part of a fantastic year in 2013.
              Merry Christmas!

The Spirit of Giving

Happy Christmas

The Bastows Family Gift to Crisis

 

As we approach Christmas at warp speed, we’ve been reflecting on the amazing year we’ve shared.

The main thing that stood out for all of us was of course the London Olympic and Paralympic Games and the passion, spirit and determination shown by the athletes, Gamesmakers and the millions of supporters here and around the World. This summer, we came together to celebrate the best of humanity and the spirit of sharing.

We want to keep this feeling going. After receiving overwhelming support from our clients for the idea, instead of sending Christmas cards and gifts, we’re going to give a gift to Crisis. They work tirelessly to help homeless people all over London by offering them food, warmth and safety so that they are not left alone and vulnerable at Christmas.

We will fund fifty places at Crisis centres around London. Thanks to us all, fifty people will have a brighter, safer Christmas than they'd expected. We make this donation in the name of all of our Family, and thank you for the support you have given this initiative.

We wish you and your loved ones a safe and memorable Christmas and we will see you all in 2013.

With very warmest wishes and thanks for your friendship in this incredible year,

The Bastows Family

Sharing success: the Family Business Place Red Ribbon Awards 2012

We are delighted to share the news that we picked up the Family Business Place Red Ribbon Award for Corporate Environmental Responsibility on Friday evening. 

The award was sponsored by the premier energy consultancy Inenco Direct, and was presented by their MD Karen Trepte, who has been the driving force behind their success. (She is also a shockingly good secret keeper, not giving anything away until the winner was announced!)

We saw off competition from some amazing companies such as Ecosan and Yeo Valley, showing that it's not the size of your business that counts, it's the commitment you make. We were proud to be shortlisted in the company of such prestigious businesses, and were overwhelmed to win!

In the past seven years, we have introduced a number of environmental initiatives. These have ranged from tree planting to the promotion of cycling via harvesting rainwater to care for residents' plants and mix mortar. We've been recognised by the Considerate Cnstructors' Scheme in the past for our efforts, but this latest award marks our commitment to green initiatives, our adopted charities and care for the world in which we work.

The award now sits proudly alongside our others in our meeting room here in Leatherhead, but it's been earned by every member of our Family, whether in Kensington, Belgravia, St John's Wood, Maida Vale, or any of the other projects we have proudly completed in recent years.

Here's our citation from Family Business Place for the award. These are words that make us proud to Make London Beautiful!

"For their huge commitment to working sustainably and with a living breathing sense of social responsibility. For their comprehensive environmental responsibility programme that runs throughout the business, and their enthusiastic support for local charities in which they lead by example: the 2012 Red Ribbon Award for Corporate Environmental Responsibility goes to Bastows."

Our thanks to every one of our Family who work every day with our ultimate goal in mind: Making London Beautiful.

Happy Hallloween!

A little happiness and creepy fun from our Site Managers Alen, Elvis, Chupo, Steve and Almir!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!