First Responders at North
West Ambulance Service are being kept on the road thanks to donations from
vehicle salvage and dismantling business SYNETIQ.
The First Responders team
is Gavin Palin and Max Kelly, who work on behalf of the NHS and North West
Ambulance Trust. Both are volunteers who give up their spare time to help those
in need of urgent assistance, relying on donations in order to operate.
The team are first on the
scene for a wide range of emergencies, providing swift medical attention until a
full-size ambulance arrives. The gap they fill is vital – in some cases it can
be the difference between life and death.
SYNETIQs Nantwich and Winsford
teams have had a relationship with First Responders for over 7 years. In
addition to providing two vehicles for the team, SYNETIQ keeps the First
Responders on the road by providing free fuel, servicing and maintenance.
The relationship between
SYNETIQ and North West Ambulance Service can be traced back to Car Transplants
Ltd – one of the businesses which merged to form SYNETIQ earlier this year. The
business was delighted to continue supporting the First Responders and remains on
hand to provide fuel and maintenance for their vehicles.
John Schofield, Executive
Director at SYNETIQ: “We recognise how important Gavin and Max’s roles are within
our community. We’re pleased to continue supporting them in any way we can.”
You can hear more about Gavin and Max’s work in this video:
SYNETIQ Ltd has been named as one of the most ambitious, innovative and
disruptive companies as part of ELITE’s Future Shapers Report.
The Future Shapers campaign recognises the most
consistently impressive, diverse and growing businesses. SYNETIQ is
one of just 25 UK companies recognised and is delighted to have been chosen for
its innovation and leadership within its industry.
Since SYNETIQ was born in March 2019, following the
merger of Motorhog, Car Transplants, DH Systems and FAB Recycling, the business
has been hard at work developing its offering to customers and clients. Recent
developments include a brand-new vehicle auction platform, utilised by many
other salvage agents across the UK. SYNETIQ broadened its client offering even
further in October, with the acquisition of fleet management and parts
specialist Motorman Ltd. New senior-level roles have also been created recently,
including a new Finance Director and Head of Safety, Health & Environment.
Tom Rumboll, Chairman, SYNETIQ:
“We’re honoured to be included in ELITE’s Future Shapers
Programme. Our innovation throughout 2019 is just the beginning and I’d like to
thank our colleagues for their part in making it possible.”
Luca Peyrano, CEO, ELITE:
“We are delighted to launch our ELITE Future
Shapers Report. We have featured 50 organisations from our 1,300+ ELITE global community. We
have shone a spotlight on stories of disruption, expansion and growth.
Through the success
stories that fill the pages of our report we can be inspired by ELITE
businesses and understand how best to address their challenges in building
resilient businesses for the long term.”
You can read the full article on pages 50 and 51 of The Future Shapers Report.
SYNETIQ has premiered its
new company video, filmed over a few weeks at many of SYNETIQs sites across the
UK. The opening scene features Dave Harcourt, John Schofield and Richard
Martin; key players in the 2019 merger which formed SYNETIQ.
The video showcases many
of the services offered by the company – from the salvage auction to green
parts and inhouse IT services.
Production was managed in
house, with SYNETIQ’s Content Manager Jack Constantine working closely with VR
Med Ltd from concept to completion.
Monday 18th November will see the launch
of a brand-new auction platform – built by SYNETIQ and utilised by many of the
UK’s leading salvage agents.
SYNETIQ’s new auction succeeds the current SalvageMarket version, which
has been in use for the last nine years. Although user subscription fees remain
unchanged, the look, feel and capabilities will be completely transformed.
What’s new?
Users can now see more information than ever when viewing items, thanks to the
Specification Data feature. From engine power to optional extras, this
information can be vital for users when making an informed decision while
bidding.
Proof of identification can now be uploaded via an online portal,
replacing the outdated manual process currently in place. This new process is
also more secure, helping agents to remain GDPR compliant.
Another new feature
is Bundle vehicles; these items are split into segments. Users can simply bid
on the vehicle sections they require, such as engine & gearbox or seats
& door cards.
Why change platforms?
The current site runs on older technology which is no longer
supported. SYNETIQs development team
have written a brand-new auction from the ground up using the very latest in
cloud technology. The new site is designed to scale up with demand, breaking
away from the limitations of the current site.
The auction has been
designed and built in-house by SYNETIQs sixteen-strong team of developers,
based in Edinburgh. The team will be managing the switchover, following over 12
months of development and testing. Some disruption may be noticed by users and
sellers during the switchover; this will be managed by SYNETIQ and kept to a
minimum.
SYNETIQ has worked
closely with many agents ahead of the switchover, providing extensive training
and Q&A sessions; initial feedback has been positive. The launch date is
just the beginning – developments and improvements will continue throughout
2020.
Mark has held Compliance and Health & Safety
roles in the Steel and Food Manufacturing industry for the last 15 years,
having also previously served as an Aircraft Technician in the RAF.
Mark will manage all aspects of compliance,
ensuring SYNETIQ continues to meet internal policies and procedures, while retaining
external accreditations such as ISO 9001, 14001 and 27001. Mark will lead the
S.H.E team, also supporting SYNETIQs wider workforce of 500 colleagues.
SYNETIQ is already leading vehicle recycling industry
through compliant ways of working. Processes are already in place to protect personal
data; salvage vehicles go through a GDPR process, during which sat nav data is
wiped and any personal items are collected and returned to the policy holder.
SYNETIQ the UKs largest
salvage and vehicle recycling company have acquired St Albans-based Motorman
Ltd.
Motorman
is the UKs leading independent remanufactured parts supplier and repair partner
to the fleet industry. Established over 50 years ago by Tony Zalkin, the
business has built a reputation for its expertise and service, especially with
engines, transmissions and drive train products.
Motorman is an attractive strategic fit with SYNETIQ due to its 50-year trading history, long-standing, blue chip client relationships in a key market for SYNETIQ. The timing was right as both Tony and his wife Marion were looking to take full retirement and sell the business. The acquisition helps build SYNETIQs offering to the UK’s fleet market.
All
the loyal Motorman team have been retained and will continue to be led by Brian
Cafferty, Sales Director. The business will be integrated into the SYNETIQ
business quickly, and our priorities are to ensure a smooth transition for
clients, suppliers, and colleagues.
Tony
Zalkin of Motorman said “I am proud of the business that Marion, myself and
our dedicated team have built over the years, but the timing is right to enjoy our
retirement. I know that our legacy is in good hands with both Brian and the
SYNETIQ business; I also know they will ensure that the reputation we have
built for quality and customer services will carry on after the handover. They
will also make sure our long serving; loyal team are very well looked after.”
Tom
Rumboll, Executive Chairman at SYNETIQ said SYNETIQ was created to build the
UK’s best and most innovative provider of solutions to the parts, salvage and
fleet market. The acquisition of Motorman is another step in enhancing our
market-leading proposition and will allow us to unlock real synergies for the
benefit of our clients, customers and colleagues. Once we met Tony, Marion and
the team, this was the obvious choice for the first of several strategic
acquisitions for SYNETIQ, as we focus on implementing our strategy for growth.
We wish both of them all the best in their retirement and look forward to
welcoming Brian and the team into the SYNETIQ family”.
The UK’s largest salvage
and recycling company are cementing their plans for significant growth,
recruiting Leigh Manton in a full-time Finance Director role.
Leigh joins from Finsbury
Food plc, a £300m turnover manufacturer of bread and morning goods. He brings a
wealth of experience gained at well-known organisations within the
Construction, Engineering and FMCG industries.
Since creation in March
2019, following a four-way merger, SYNETIQ have been assembling the framework
for expansion. Leigh is well-practiced in acquisitions and listed company
disciplines; a key requirement for the position.
As Finance Director, Leigh
will provide financial and strategic governance across SYNETIQ sites across the
UK. Leigh will continue to ensure all sites are well informed and aligned to
follow the same processes, improving compliance and efficiency.
SYNETIQ does not accept
cash payments – a decision lauded by UK Police Forces. Leigh will help to
ensure SYNETIQs commitment to doing the right thing is continued, developing
the client offering in the process.
For many expectant couples, welcoming a new-born into the world can be a bit of a rollercoaster… But that’s nothing compared to an arrival you aren’t expecting at all.
That rare event became a reality for a Doncaster couple this week, when David Greenall delivered his fourth child at home after his wife Helen unexpectedly went into labour.
The couple, who live in Wheatley, decided not to have any more
children seven years ago – leaving the chance of another pregnancy at less than
1%. After numerous visits with her doctor over the last few months, Helen was reporting
stomach pains and other symptoms, but both the couple and GP’s believed that
pregnancy was out of the question.
David, who works at SYNETIQ in Adwick-le-Street, was relaxing at home
after his eldest son’s 18th birthday celebrations when he heard cries
from his wife upstairs. Racing to Helen’s side, the couple were astounded when
they realised their unexpected arrival was on his way.
David’s work colleagues were just as surprised… Andrew Brister,
David’s manager, couldn’t quite believe it when he received a call from David
requesting immediate paternity leave.
Freddie was born weighing 4lbs 2oz and is doing well. SYNETIQ is delighted
for the Greenall family and currently supporting with David’s last-minute
paternity leave.
NOTES TO EDITOR
SYNETIQ Ltd was created and launched on the 1st March 2019.
As the largest UK owned salvage and vehicle recycling company SYNETIQ
create intelligent solutions for some of the countries’ leading Insurers,
company fleets and police forces.
SYNETIQ are trusted to process vehicles through auctions, green parts
sales, and recycling processes.
The company was formed following the successful merger of Car
Transplants, Motorhog, FAB Recycling and DH Systems. Headquartered in Doncaster
SYNETIQ now has 517 employees spread across sites nationwide.
When not in the office, you’ll usually find Dave competing
in all manner of arduous adventures… His most recent was the most challenging
yet.
“ITERA Adventure Racing – it’s a lot
harder than you’d imagine!
A week ago, I and three
teammates set off on our first ever ITERA Expedition Race. This happens to be
part of the World Series and hence the toughest of all the adventure races.
Such novices were
we that we didn’t even know that other adventure races came in shorter
distances… But no matter, as this year ITERA was in Scotland.
The event was a 5-day
race around Scotland – with the route and activities kept secret until the
briefing. We had made rough plans to stop for 4 hours each night and cook up a
warm meal too. How innocent we were… Nobody stops that long for such things.
At 8.30am on Monday 12th August, we set off from Dunrobin Castle – magnificent
– with a wee 5km run to separate the teams. We then kayaked 20km to Glenmorangie
distillery down the coast. Our complete lack of paddling practice showed us up –
we finished plumb last.
Now 5 hours, it was time to transition. We managed to pack away our kayaking
gear and build our bikes in around an hour so made time on the closest team.
We now had a choice:
take the full route of full-on mountain biking and aim for the 3 check points
or take the much easier shorter route and take the time penalties. We were
under no illusion of how hard this was going to be, so straight to the short
course we went.
After 75km of
fairly easy terrain, with just the odd nigh-on vertical hike-a-bike and crack
navigation by John, we arrived at the next transition at Elphin. We were about
11 hours in now and had overtaken a couple of teams!
Our next transition
was fairly slow – taking about 2 hours to complete – so it was dark when we
began our paddle down Loch Veyatie, guided by moonlight. This was spectacular,
with calm water and an unbelievable display of shooting stars.
At the end of the
loch we found some rapids as Loch Veyatie runs into Fionn Loch. The teams on
the full route had the small matter of summitting Suilven, a spectacular standalone
mountain not for the faint hearted, especially in the dark! It was amazing
watching their head torches up and down the mountain.
By now we had
sussed the kayaking and were at least going in straight lines, if not that
fast. Just as we entered Fionn Loch the fun began with the portaging. This
means transporting your kayak overland (see Megan’s photo with the red arrows
for the route we took – bear in mind this was in the small hours of the morning).
We successfully navigated our way over land and small lochans to Loch Sionacaig and then over to Loch Buine Moire before hitting the road and eventually getting to finally use our portage trolleys. Turned out we were actually quite good at this… We passed the next checkpoint in 8th place and went back into the sea at Loch An Eisg-brachaidh.
It was now 5am and
we had been going non-stop for over 20 hours. We kayaked down to Garvie Bay
where, after one long portage through the bog, we hit the road to Achiltibuie
and got to use the trolleys again. Back into the kayaks for a paddle down and
through the Summer Isles to the Scoraig peninsula.
This is where we
started to hit trouble – our kayak just wanted to list and capsize all the
time. It should be pointed out it was blowing a nice Force 5 with decent sized
waves. Eventually we worked out it was taking on serious amounts of water and
so we abandoned ship and a very nice captain from Shearwater Cruises took
myself and John to Ullapool. Helen and Megan valiantly rescued our kayak and
paddled the whole lot to Ardmair.
We had now assumed
our race was over and again showed our naiveness off here by sitting, chatting
and eating in the campsite cafe. Several other teams also beached here because
no progress could be made to windward now that the wind was really blowing, however
these teams all broke out their emergency shelter and got some much-needed
sleep!
At around 8pm the
organisers sent a big coach to pick up all the stranded teams and take us to
the next transition at Dundonnell. Those teams that had made good use of their
time went straight on with the next stage whereas, we put our tent up and
eventually got to bed at 10:45pm, some 38 hours after starting!
The next stage was
a monster, even for the short course teams – I have no idea how the full course
teams managed their stage with much more summits! We continued up An Teallach,
then around the ridge and down Sail Liath to Fisherfield. We rose at 1:45am – so
just the 3 hours kip. The plan was to be near the summit for dawn and hence
have daylight for the highly technical trek around the ridge. There is a
spectacular photo of Megan with the sun rising behind her on An Teallach.
We were slow on An
Teallach and its descent but we made good progress across Fisherfield, right up
to the point when we got complacent and missed a turn – our first navigational
error that cost us a couple of hours and few extra kilometres… In fact, this
ended up costing us dearly as there was still another 12km to go, including 6km
down the technically difficult Gleann Bianasdail. It was treacherous,
especially in our condition and after it had been pelting it down for hours!
The hallucinations
that sleep deprivation provides are simply astonishing – forget drugs people,
just stay up for a few days with no sleep. We also missed the cut-off of 10pm
at the next check point, arriving at midnight after 63 hours on the go with
just 3 hours kip.
On the plus side, the
weather was so poor that we could bed down inside the transition hall – this is
normally not allowed! We got a luxurious 4 hours kip and were packed up and out
before 6am.
Although we were
timed out, the organisers gave us the option of a bus ride to the next
transition – we wouldn’t be able to get an official time could experience the
rest of the course back across Scotland. The route was supposed to have been a
mountain bike round the Applecross peninsula including the Bealach na Bà, the
highest road in the UK and which starts at sea level! Then a trek over the Five
Sisters of Kintail, followed by a paddle down the River Garry and along Loch
Garry with a final mountain bike to Inverness. We were a broken team and we had
none of our dry clothing, so as Captain I took the decision to retire us and we
took train back to Inverness.
It was the right
call and spirits were high on the train. We got some proper kip during the day
on Thursday and went down to see the first team cross the line around 3am
Friday.
I cannot describe
to you how tough it was for us – let alone for the teams that actually finished.
They pretty much do it with just 6 hours sleep in a full 5 days of non-stop
running, trekking, cycling and kayaking… It simply beggars belief! A full
doffing of the cap to everyone involved, as the organisers and marshals also
get no sleep”.
Would he do it
again? “I can say I am bitten and will return this time hoping to just
finish the short course!A huge thanks to my wonderful teammates: Helen Farquhar, Megan
Davey and John Bennie.”
SYNETIQ have
launched a new partnership with The Sick Children’s Trust – a charity
that provides free accommodation for families with children in hospital.
Why
choose The Sick Children’s Trust?
SYNETIQ colleagues – over 500 strong and located across the country – had the opportunity to vote for SYNETIQ’s annual charity partner. A large majority selected The Sick Children’s Trust; a mark of how passionate colleagues are about the cause.
Thanks
to The Sick Children’s Trust, families with a seriously ill child in
hospital can stay together. They believe that keeping
parents close to their child’s bed during their
treatment can significantly improve their recovery. As
well as accommodation, the charity also provides emotional and
practical support.
The
partnership is already helping to build new relationships within
SYNETIQ, following the merger in March of this year. With fantastic
fundraising ideas being shared between sites across the country, colleagues can
work together while making a real difference.
Pound
for pound matching
The
announcement follows a real focus on how SYNETIQ can support the charities
and causes in the communities that their colleagues live and work
in. In July a new initiative was launched which means
SYNETIQ will match colleague fundraising pound-for-pound.
SYNETIQ’s
team have already taken advantage of the scheme; a skydive and a
midnight walk have already raised over £1500 collectively. Next
month’s head shave in aid of MacMillan means that figure looks likely to
increase significantly.
AutoRaise Real Rally
SYNETIQ
were also proud to support AutoRaise’s Real Rally event back in June – entering
three sub-£1000 vehicles into the charity challenge.
AutoRaise is attracting and
training the next generation of body technicians, helping to reduce the skills
shortage within the vehicle repair industry. They have established
their own Apprenticeship Standard, signed off by the Government in 2015, and
are now encouraging young people aged 13-24 into the
industry. SYNETIQ have shown their ongoing commitment to the charity
by signing up to be a bronze partner.
In June, SYNETIQ also established a dedicated charity and sponsorship committee. The team now meets monthly to plan charity events and discuss the causes that are important to SYNETIQ colleagues.
