We are delighted to announce the following achievements in the FeRFA Apprenticeship Schemes:

Our Three apprentices (in the 5th resin group on the FeRFA scheme) have completed their two-year apprenticeship and achieved their NVQ Level 2 Diploma in In Situ Resin Flooring.

Congratulations go to: JASON MCALINDEN, ALAN MCALINDEN and MARK WHITWORTH.

All the successful apprentices who complete their training this year will be invited to attend the Annual Dinner on Friday 9 November at the Belfry Hotel. At the ceremony all the graduates will be presented with a framed certificate as well as their FeRFA ID badge and certificate.

We are pleased to announce that we have secured works for 2012 for BMW at Swindon, Hams Hall and Oxford.

We are pleased to announce that IRL Group Limited were awarded the much coveted "Contractor of the Year" award. Presenting the 2010 Awards on Friday 19th November at the Forest of Arden Hotel , FeRFA CEO Helen McGachie acknowledged the expertise and professionalism of all the entrants - giving the judges a pleasant but difficult task to select the eventual winners.

The awards yet again attracted a high number of applications, showcasing a wide range of top quality resin flooring projects. The excellent submissions showed members' continuing commitment to health and safety, training and environmental responsibility as well as demonstrating the variety of uses for resin flooring, from industrial to commercial applications and the innovation, technology and expertise which has brought resins to new and expanding markets.

To win this category the judges sought all-round performance, quality and variety of work, outstanding customer service, new application techniques, promotion of resin flooring, safety awareness, and a commitment to training.

For meeting all these criteria with ease, the award was presented to IRL Group Ltd.

The company has been a member of FeRFA for 30 years and throughout that period has upheld the FeRFA standards with its totally professional approach. It offers clients solutions to their problems and works with them to ensure they deliver complete client satisfaction. IRL's impressive training commitment throughout the company, includes two groups of apprentices on the FeRFA scheme and operatives trained to NVQ level 2 and above. This was a very impressive entry to reflect the professionalism of a winning contractor.

Stewart Jones – Managing Director of IRL said:

"We were absolutely thrilled to win such a prestigious award. Our employees work hard to ensure our consistent track record on delivering excellence for our Clients, which, combined with long term commitment from the management team, provides a strong base that sets IRL apart in today's challenging market"

Following the contractor of the year award for 2010/2011 IRL Group have now been awarded small project of the year 2011/2012.

Introducing the 2011 Awards on Friday 18th November at the Belfry Hotel, FeRFA CEO Helen McGachie praised the excellent quality of the applications which demonstrated the diversity of resin flooring which was being taken into new markets such as very high end residential and still being developed to meet the changing needs of clients in more traditional environments. The number and variety of applications gave clear evidence that the market for resin flooring continued to grow.

As well as showcasing a wide range of top quality resin flooring projects, the submissions showed members' continuing commitment to health and safety, training and environmental responsibility. This year a new award has been established to acknowledge the importance of sustainability and the changes the resin flooring industry was making to meet its targets.

This award for small project focuses on projects up to 250m2. The shortlisted projects demonstrated the variety of applications with entries ranging from a photographic studio, a pharmaceutical clean room an operating theatre and luxury spa.

The winner was IRL Group and Sika for the York Hospital Operating Theatre.

The winning project is a great example of contractor and manufacturer working together to provide the client with an alternative to vinyl. The project was in a highly sensitive area , where the consequences for delays or any problems were enormous . The floor had to be seamless, hygienic and noise suppressing. Installation had to generate minimum dust, low noise and tight timescale.

IRL are proud to announce that in their latest BenchmarQ Customer Satisfaction Survey they successfully achieved the Diamond Award in Customer Satisfaction. 91% was achieved being a 4% increase since our last survey, with the aim of achieving a 100% customer satisfaction rating.

We would like to thank all of our customers who particpated in the survey for their time and honesty.

IRL are also accredited in the following:

• CHAS
• SafeContractor
• Investors in People
• ISO 9001
• ISO 14001
• ConstructionLine
• FeRFA

IRL are pleased to announce that their Investors In People recognition has again met the required standards for successful accreditation. Investors In People is a flexible and easy to use standard which helps organisations transform their business performance. Their frameworks are outcome focused, outlining what you need to achieve, but never prescribing how. This flexible approach allows thousands of different employers of every sector and size to use the same framework.

Stewart Jones - Managing Director of IRL says

"Happy staff strive for excellence and are eager to learn and develop. They are more efficient, more productive and deliver better results".

With training in mind and a most important factor IRL continue to confirm their commitment to training by enroling five apprentices to the FeRFA Apprentice Scheme. FeRFA the resin flooring association represents the leading manufacturers, contractors and associated companies involved in resin flooring.

The trainee will gain experience, through off the job training sessions of every aspect of the industry, but the scheme provides flexibility through the on the job training elements to suit the employer's core business requirements, whilst delivering the NVQ level 2 outcome after a 2 year training period. The contents of this course are designed to ensure that the operator is able to understand the hazards and the safe working practices within this specialised trade and, upon completion of training, the Apprentice will be able to operate equipment and lay resin floors to industry standards of competence.