Surveyor Link Limited

Are UK gardens shrinking?

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Alongside homes, which have halved in size when compared to those built in 1920, between 1983 and 2013 British gardens have shrunk from 168 metres squared to 163.2 metres squared.

Additionally, more than two million homes in the UK are without a garden at all according to figures released in 2010. The same study noted that by 2020, around 10.5% of homes would likely not have a garden. Considering research that suggests children who don’t have access to a garden are 38% more likely to struggle with obesity, this is a bleak forecast.

But gardens have seen changes beyond size and access. The entire approach to gardening in the UK has shifted as different materials have come into usage – from synthetic living spaces such as decking to actual gardening tools like fertiliser, which was originally organic. Some of the first things to change were:

  • Plant pots: Now made from plastic or biodegradable material, where they used to be made from clay.
  • Fertiliser: It used to be that fertiliser was entirely organic. However, chemicals have now been developed to serve as fertiliser – although many gardeners prefer organics.
  • Lawn mowers: Grass cutting used to be a manual endeavour. Early machinery was developed in the 1900s which saw early versions of cylinder mowers powered by pushing. Now, electric-powered motors mean gardens are far easier to maintain.
  • Materials: Gardening still uses the basics: stone, clay, timber and soil. Now, however, we use plastic, concrete and stainless steel – which was invented in 1913.

The approach to gardening has changed a lot over the years. During WW2, gardens became areas for growing food to supplement rationing, but also an area of refuge for those who’d build their own bomb shelters. In the 1950s, gardeners shrugged this sensibility off and focus shifted towards ornamentation and decoration, placing more attention on manicured lawns and neatly trimmed shrubs.

Garden Centres began cropping up in the late 50s and early 60s, with the first in the UK appearing in Ferndown, Dorset in 1955. This widespread availability of plants meant heathers, conifers and bedding plants became popular.

The 70s saw another change, going back to the concept of gardens being used for self- sufficiency. Colour TV’s invention also saw the widespread airing of gardening programmes.

80s gardening became akin to what we are used to today, with gardens for recreation. BBQs and conservatories grew in popularity. By the 90s, this movement became more about the ‘makeover’ – with many people installing timber decking as a fast, affordable way to create a living space in their gardens.

The digital revolution of the 2000s once again changed gardening. Now, information about growing and cultivating your own plants is everywhere, accessible through mobiles, desktops and tablets. A renewed focus on climate change and healthy eating has also meant more people are aiming to create sustainable gardens with minimal harm to the environment, using recycled materials in everything from plant pots to fencing.

We have more information than ever before, but less space to try it out ourselves. For some, this means studying guides online and creating their own DIY fruit and vegetable gardens. For others, it means creating as much living space as they can in their shrinking gardens.

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Custom Casting Services Market Outlook 2025: Top Companies, Trends and Future Prospects Details for Business Development

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Custom Metal Casting Services. At PERIDOT, we specialize in providing custom metal casting services for customers in a wide range of industries. We offer insert, foundry, sand, die, and investment castings, as well as lost wax, and permanent mold services for aluminum, iron, steel, bronze, and zinc Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday Continue Reading

How a roll-up banner can help maximise your ROI

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Once you have your new banners and printed products for marketing, you have to consider where best to place them. Put them up in an ineffective location and you won’t see a good return on your investment!

We’ve teamed up with Where The Trade Buys, a UK-based print company who offers a variety of banners such as roll up banners, to take a look at the best spots to display your printed adverts.

Your own location

People won’t spend forever looking for your building and may become frustrated if they cannot access the health services they need. This is highlighted by the fact employees in the UK are working more overtime than ever before with 60% of those asked stating that they don’t have a good work-life balance, according to a study published in The Independent last year.

Therefore, take a moment to consider your location. Are you easy to find? Even if you’re slightly off the high street, tucked away around a sharp corner or sandwiched between two larger buildings; you could run the risk of clients giving up on finding you. By placing your roll up banner in a location that signposts your building, you can direct your customers, as well as advertise your brand to the general public. Use bold fonts and colours to highlight your address and tell people which other shops you’re next to or opposite so they can quickly work out where you are. If you’re thinking about placing these outdoors, make sure you opt for a quality PVC or vinyl banner to make sure your ad can endure the weather for maximum return on your spend.

The entrance way

Your brand doesn’t end at the front door. The sleek dimensions of a roll up banner will allow it to stand conspicuously in the corner of your foyer or next to your reception desk, while not overpowering the room and making it look cluttered.

Studies show that many of us form an impression of something as quickly as one tenth of a second, which means you don’t have someone’s attention for long! Designing an eye-catching roll up banner that not only features complementary colours — perhaps matching your reception décor — pleasant fonts and nice imagery, but also highlights interesting information about your company might be another helpful marketing factor to convert sales from new customers and boost brand loyalty among current clients. Are you still a family-run company? Have you recently added another line of products to your range? Just reached five or ten years in business? Achievements like these matter to people who walk through your door, and the beauty of a roll up banner is that you have the space to advertise snippets of success stories — unlike with a small leaflet, for example.

According to an article by the Economist, the immediate entryway to your building is the ‘decompression zone’. This is because customers need to momentarily ‘slow down’ to assess their new surroundings and assess which products are on offer. As a result, this is a great place for promotional material. Even if you don’t have a reception area, you can simply place your roll up banner just inside the entrance for the same powerful marketing affect — another way to boost ROI.

Away at exhibitions and shows

Eventbrite put the UK events industry as worth a staggering £42.3 billion, with 1.3 million business events held every year. Corporate hospitality accounts for around £1.2 billion, while exhibitions comprise £11 billion and conferences make up the lion’s share at £19.9 billion! But, how do you maximise your exposure when you’re surrounded by so many other brands? Clearly, this industry is big business and you don’t want your company to get left behind if you aren’t active in trade shows and corporate gatherings.

Banners and printed media can help leave an imprint on people’s minds much better than digital alternatives. If you want to stand out against your competitors at a major recruitment exhibition and create that bond to entice people to come over, why not design an attractive, descriptive roll up banner and place it next to your stand? According to a study carried out in the US, participants that viewed print media showed a greater emotional response for it and were able to recall its details better than they could for digital ads. If it’s eye-catching enough, it will draw potential partners and employees to your table where you can begin discussing the key details of your business.

With a printed banner, your audience is much more likely to remember you after the show’s end than if you had no banner displayed at all.

Display in your windows

Your window (if you have one) is a great place to get information out to your clients and customers. 80% of people admit they are ‘promotion sensitive’, showing a tendency to notice promotions and notices in windows. Highlighting a special discount on your roll up banner placed in your store window will give your offer excellent visibility to help bring foot traffic in-store. Also, research shows that discounts can make it less probable that people will then compare your range with your competitors’! Remember to use contrasting colours and large text to highlight your offer on your banner.

Linda Cahan, store design and display consultant in an article published in Entrepreneur: “Each window should tell a story”. If you have floor-length windows, simply angle your roll up banner so it is clearly visible to people and cars coming from all directions. Or, use a platform to give your advert height so it can be easily seen. A strong and alluring window display can be the difference between a potential customer stepping inside your building and walking or driving by it. Are you making the most of this key piece of promotional space?

Awards and shortlists should be shown

Have you been shortlisted or won an award? There are countless ceremonies for every industry taking place across the UK throughout the year. An essential to good marketing Is spotting how you can hallmark your brand when you’re surrounded by competitors at a special event?

Stay in the focus of people’s minds with a printed advert displaying your achievement, which as previously mentioned, tends to be more effective than digital adverts. A Canadian study sound that three quarters of people could remember a brand after viewing it via a print media ad. Conversely, only two-fifths were able to recall the company after seeing it on a digital platform. To boost ROI, create a well-structured roll up banner or two that can act as backdrops to any interviews you hold or videos/photos you take when your staff are at the awards event. Colour, design, content, and imagery are important characteristics — only use complementary colours, clear layouts, insightful text, and high-quality resolutions. Hashtags, contact information and your brand logo are also essentials. Then, share your snaps or videos on social media to spread brand awareness!

Be aware that not every event is suitable for promotional material, such as red-carpet-style award ceremonies. However, some are very business-based and can last all day before the awards section takes place in the evening. In which case, use this time to promote your brand on social media and YouTube. A creative, attention-grabbing roll up banner stamped with your brand logo and key information you want customers or prospective employees to know will work wonders to promote what you do.

There are so many places a roll-up banner can be an asset to you and your ROI. Bear these key tips in mind to maximise your ROI!

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How To Manage Dangerous Substances In The Workplace

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How To Manage Dangerous Substances In The Workplace

Some industries are notorious for putting their workers at risk. In construction, for instance, news of workers falling from scaffolds, getting crushed by lorries, or cutting, burning or electrocuting themselves rarely make news headlines.

According to a study by health and safety consultant Arinite, 1.36 in every 100,000 construction workers died in the UK in 2017 due to a work accident. Cases of dangerous working conditions resulting in injuries, accidents and huge consequent penalty fines are widespread on the HSE.

Infamous incidents, like Alton Towers, bring awareness to slack health and safety precautions and their tragic consequences. However, not every danger in the workplace is as well-known and taken care of as slips, traps and plugged-in chain-saws.

Dangerous Consequences

Last year, the HSE recorded 137 fatal injuries to workers across all industries in total. The number of lung disease deaths linked to past exposure at work is estimated to be about 12,000 per year.

Long-term health issues from exposure to dangerous substances frequently include asthma, leukaemia or cancer – and workers don’t notice the threat until it is too late. Indeed, compared to a slip, the source of danger can be much more difficult to detect. Yet, the UK is facing an issue that seems to have been neglected for far too long.

In Europe, more than 38% of all enterprises reported using potentially dangerous chemicals in their workplace. To make sure that businesses prioritise their employee’s health and safety, protecting them against occupational diseases, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has created a new campaign, called Healthy Workplaces Manage Dangerous Substances 2018-19. They are asking for an improved prevention culture to decrease the number of workplace-related illnesses and health risks on both the manufacturers and the consumers’ side.

Many workers don’t realise the dangers they are facing in the workplace every day. At first sight, substances like paint, glue or detergent seem slightly unpleasant to work with at most, but don’t strike as potentially life-threatening chemicals.

However, long-term exposure can turn those seemingly harmless products potent disease triggers. Fine dust, like flour, can trigger asthma when inhaled on a regular basis. Wet cement can lead to chemical burns. Damp vegetable or fruit might cause fungus infections or dermatitis. Pesticides increase the risk of developing leukaemia. And that’s just a brief glimpse into a long list of products many workers are dealing with on a regular basis.

In order to improve working conditions of those exposed, the new campaign is addressing three topics in particular:

  • Raising Awareness

Often, low awareness is at the heart of the problem. If a worker is not aware they are working with a harmful substance, sensible handling is practically impossible. Everyone potentially exposed to chemicals or biological substances needs to be trained and informed thoroughly. Only then can risks be handled, reduced and eliminated.

But raising awareness does not just apply to workers – it needs to involve everyone in the work process, from manual labour worker to manager, to the consumer. Chemicals like asbestos can cause health problems even decades after initially used as they remain in our daily lives as part of our houses, workplaces and public spaces.

Helping companies understand that using these substances may cause severe illnesses to their staff and also outsiders further down the line, is crucial when trying to establish a healthy business approach.

  • Risk Assessment

Internally, every health and safety plan starts with a risk assessment. But unfortunately, sometimes an audit doesn’t fully uncover all safety hazards. Only an experienced, competent consultant will be able to identify those often hard-to-spot dangers – like invisible, but toxic, gases. An assessment should involve identifying and erasing risks by making sure that every employee knows how to handle potentially dangerous situations.

Also, since working environments change, new people get hired, and memories fade, regular health and safety training is necessary. Ideally, a safety officer should check for unidentified hazards and educate workers, managers, and employers every six months.

In terms of health and safety laws, a good grasp of legislation is needed to understand where employer’s legal responsibilities lie and how to ensure the business is compliant.

  • Practical Effects

Even with a comprehensive health and safety policy written down, realising those guidelines in practice is a completely different story. Safety instructions printed on the wall do not guarantee people reading and following them. Access to safety gear and protective clothing does not mean workers will use it.

Monitoring staff and establishing the benefits of sticking to the safety policy is very important. People don’t like to blindly follow rules, so educating them about dangers that could potentially affect them personally, will help with ensuring they are taking the advice to heart.

If any instructions or training sessions leave behind unanswered questions or uncertainty with the staff, management needs to follow up and make sure those questions are answered right away.

Companies need to start working towards a healthy, sustainable future right now, prioritising their workers’ well-being. It is not surprising that manual jobs are becoming less attractive to young job-seekers as other industries attract with much better working conditions.

But manual work doesn’t have to be dirty and dangerous – it can be a rewarding and fruitful environment to work in when employers are setting the right frame for it.

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