Company News

We’re proud to report that Maia McConnell, who joined the business as Operations Administrator back in March 2023, has successfully completed an SVQ Business and Administration, in just six months.

Maia, 21 from Glasgow, has been studying online with the City of Glasgow College since May, completing regular check-in calls with an assessor and uploading work for marking via an online portal.

She said: “James Ramsay is a thriving and fast-growing business, so my goal now is to grow with the company, learn more about everything we do, and eventually work my way up through the business to progress my career there.”

Ian Mathieson, Operations Director, said: “We’re on a mission to empower our people to deliver safety, quality, and value to solve our customers’ industrial and commercial heating and pipework problems – working together as one team.

“This latest success is a real testament to all of Maia’s hard work and perseverance, and we are all extremely proud of her well-deserved achievement.”

The Institution of Engineers in Scotland has elected, Gary Shepherd, managing director at James Ramsay, as an honorary fellow – the highest accolade that the Institution can present.

He said: “I’m both delighted and honoured to have received this news from the IES. I look forward to contributing to the institution as our industry moves forward in developing and implementing the exciting new technologies that will shape the future of engineering and innovation in our country.”

IES is a multi-disciplinary engineering body, founded in Scotland in 1857, that provides a forum in which individuals from all engineering and related disciplines can discuss and exchange information, generate ideas and encourage young engineers. IES works with kindred bodies to promote a wider understanding of the role of the professional engineer in society.

Find out more here.

We’re proud to announce that we’ve successfully retained the Constructionline Gold standard membership for yet another year including Acclaim accreditation for health and safety.

Constructionline collects, verifies and monitors standard company information through a process aligned with PAS 91. The gold standard membership ensures suppliers to the public and private construction sector go above and beyond by undergoing enhanced validation checks including environmental management, quality management, equal opportunities and diversity, Modern Slavery Act adherence, and anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies.

Ian Mathieson, Operations Director at James Ramsay, said: “Constructionline supports industry to build value from the beginning to end in the supply chain and procurement cycle, making it easy for customers to optimise performance, minimise risk and realise opportunities.

“Securing the gold membership for yet another year reinforces our ability to stand up to increased scrutiny around governance and risk management, and enhanced validation checks to ensure we meet and exceed supplier requirements in the construction industry supply chain, demonstrating our professionalism across a number of key areas.”

Developed in partnership with Build UK, the Common Assessment Standard goes one step further than PAS 91. A standardised set of questions crafted from existing systems as well as input from clients, suppliers and trade associations, the Common Assessment Standard helps businesses save time and money during the prequalification process – and lets buyers know, with confidence, that suppliers can satisfy all their requirements.

About Constructionline

Originally created as a government department, Constructionline has been connecting buyers and suppliers for more than 20 years. The organisation has a deep understanding of buyers’ needs and takes pride in opening up opportunities for members to access a wide range of procurement contracts and projects – and for buyers to access a validated pool of high-quality suppliers.

Compliance is at the heart of Constructionline’s purpose. Whether it’s getting to grips with new standards and requirements or updating systems to enable buyers to search on a wider range of criteria, its longstanding experts keep ahead of changing regulations.

Tens of thousands of buyers rely on the Constructionline platform to identify construction suppliers, and in using the service, buyers can expect to simplify and speed up their search, validation and purchasing decision processes considerably, improving resource and cost efficiency.

Find out more at www.constructionline.co.uk

We’ve been appointed by NHS Lanarkshire to deliver the contract for servicing and maintenance of its gas and oil boilers, associated plant and pipework.

The contract awarded to James Ramsay, through a competitive tender process, involves a range of services including pre-planned servicing, 24/7 callout cover and emergency response for boiler appliances across the estate.

Jamie Shepherd, service director at James Ramsay said: “Our portfolio of NHS clients continues to grow and that is a testament to our ability to deliver a solid, reliable service to the health sector. Our team’s in-depth knowledge and experience of technology and equipment in use across these facilities means we are in a strong position to support estates managers minimise disruption and ensure systems are maintained and performing efficiently.”

NHS Lanarkshire is the third largest health board in Scotland. It serves a population of 655,000 across rural and urban communities in Lanarkshire and employs around 12,000 staff working in communities, health centres, clinics and offices and at three district general hospitals – University Hospital Hairmyres, University Hospital Monklands and University Hospital Wishaw.

We’re joining people across the UK today and participating in Macmillan’s World’s Biggest Coffee Morning. The money raised will help the many people living with cancer to live life as fully as they can.

Just £71 could help run a Macmillan online community forum for more than three hours – giving nearly 198 people affected by cancer both emotional and practical support.

£1202 could pay for a Macmillan nurse for a week, helping people living with cancer and their families receive essential medical, practical and emotional support.

The team has been busy baking all week and our coffee morning is in full swing this morning! 

If you can, please help us smash our target and donate through our fundraising page:

https://coffeefundraising.macmillan.org.uk/fundraising/cm23040759

We’ve appointed Euan Caddell (16) from Parkhouse, Glasgow, as an apprentice while he completes an SVQ level 3 in Heating and Ventilation Installation at Kelvin College, Springburn.

The four-year apprenticeship involves two years of training to be a pipefitter and heating engineer and two years of welding. The course includes underpinning knowledge, practical skills and experience for learners, with an emphasis on progression to full-time employment.

Gary Shepherd, managing director at James Ramsay, said: “I met Euan and his family at a careers event at his school and he immediately stood out with his attitude and ambition – I knew that night I would offer him an apprenticeship and to date he has continued to impress in our workshop gaining experience despite his course not officially starting until the end of August.”

James Ramsay currently employs four apprentices and has a longstanding history of successfully training and recruiting young graduates.

Euan is reporting into Ian Mathieson, operations director at James Ramsay. He said: “Apprenticeships are an essential part of any national skills strategy and must be considered a key driver to address skills shortages, increase productivity and develop the skilled workforce of the future.

“We’re committed to helping every learner achieve their full potential here at James Ramsay and are delighted to welcome Euan to the team as this year’s new apprentice.”

Former apprentices, still with the business today include Gary Shepherd, managing director; Marc Millar, project manager; John Milligan, foreman; heating engineers Ross Mowat, Malky Aitken, Stevie McNeil, Colin Bright, Stuart McBeth; and Kyle Munro, service engineer. And right now, Ramsay also employees three progressing apprentices: Thomas Quinn, fourth-year heating and ventilation; Paul Clancy, second-year heating and ventilation; and Daniel Robertson, second-year service and maintenance.

We have a real focus on continuous, professional development, and in addition to the apprenticeships, also runs in-house development programmes to ensure all employees have a clear, progressive career path – continually improving skills and knowledge learned from other more experienced members of the team and through structured training programmes.

Combining academic study with on-the-job training, apprenticeships are a great work-based qualification route available across a wide range of industries, enabling individuals to gain industry specific skills, work experience, a nationally recognised qualification, and at the same time, a paid role.

We’re delighted to report that our colleagues Marc Millar and Chris Rocks (project managers) have successfully secured the IOSH Managing Safely qualification

Gary Shepherd, managing director, said: “At James Ramsay, safety always comes first and we will continue to invest in the training and development of our people to ensure we’re delivering to the highest standards. We believe IOSH qualifications open up a world of professional opportunities, and we’re proud to be able to support our people achieve success.”

“These qualifications help our people to develop and apply a broad range of competencies to implement and lead effective health, safety and wellbeing practices within workplaces and in workplace cultures. As well as a range of transferable skills that support career journeys.”

IOSH (The Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) is the chartered body and largest membership organisation for health and safety professionals. Its vision is simple: a safe and healthy world of work.

IOSH professional qualifications develop and recognise the excellence and expertise of occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals and aim to improve global standards in OSH. These globally-recognised professional qualifications are based on the IOSH competency framework and the IOSH Awarding Organisation (AO) is regulated by Ofqual. The qualifications are designed to enable learners to progress within their career as an OSH professional. Find out more at https://iosh.com/

We’re proud to have pledged our support to IOSH’s Activate 2028 campaign to help create better working lives. Find out more here https://iosh.com/about-iosh/strategy/ and pledge your support here https://iosh.eaction.online/activate2028

We’ve been appointed by Dumfries and Galloway Council to deliver the contract for servicing and maintenance of boilers and all associated plant.

As a Gas Safe, OFTEC registered supplier, James Ramsay is the successful tendered across all four regions of the council estate, covering Wigtownshire, Stewartry, Nithsdale and Annandale & Eskdale. Our technical expertise, scale, resources, and focus on safety, are key assets for the delivery of this service. 

Works will include the servicing and maintenance of all gas and oil boiler flues and plant, including pressurisation units, air handling units, and gas catering equipment necessary to ensure compliance, servicing of mechanical parts and asset identification. 

Jamie Shepherd, Service Director at James Ramsay, said: “We’ve worked together with Dumfries and Galloway Council for almost a decade now, and that’s a testament to our ability to support a broad geography and a wide range of equipment and technology.

“As you’d expect from a local authority, the estate facilities provide a mixed range of critical public services, and disruption must be minimised to ensure council services are uninterrupted, or back up and running as soon as possible. We’re always focused on delivering a responsive service and practical solutions to keep operations running smoothly.”  

As we continue to expand, we’ve invested in ten new vans for our fleet – ensuring our engineers are safe and well-equipped to support customers across the country.

The vehicles are Ford Transit Connect vans which combine the trademark Ford Transit toughness with state-of-the-art technology to help us work smarter.

These new vans provide up to 3.6 cubic metres of load space and can carry up to 961 kg of cargo. They also come packed with sophisticated technologies, including active park assist, traffic sign recognition, and SYNC 3. These systems work together to help drivers stay connected and in control.

They also feature alloy wheels, front and rear parking sensors, rear-view camera and heated seats.

We’ve kitted out the rear cab so they are fully lined with plywood and complete with shelving.

Ready to go!

We’re proud to have pledged our support to The Institute of Occupational Safety and Health’s (IOSH) Activate 2028 campaign to help create better working lives.

Activate 2028 is all about action – and the entire occupational safety and health (OSH) community coming together to deliver a safe and healthy world of work. It’s bold and ambitious, and it’s about building on what IOSH and the industry has achieved so far and progressing the health and safety profession as a whole.

Through the Activate 2028 campaign, IOSH aims:

• To be a leading authority in global occupational safety and health to maximise influence and impact.
• To develop and recognise the excellence and expertise of occupational safety and health professionals to improve global standards in occupational safety and health.
• To champion the role of occupational safety and health in social sustainability to drive business success.
• To connect diverse professionals to continually develop the world of safety and health.

IOSH said: “We are in this together. Our collective commitment to Activate 2028 will bring about extraordinary change and progress. We look forward to creating a proud profession that is a beacon of diversity, a healthier, safer world of work that is recognised for sustainability, championing the right of every worker to have a safe and healthy workplace.”

We can all contribute towards IOSH’s goals by committing to the statements below.

1. We will push for best practice in our organisations, share our success and celebrate the colleagues and peers who help to lead the way.

2. We will support and connect with fellow professionals to continually develop a safe and healthy world of work.

3. We will challenge ourselves to identify and address ways in which our contributions can support sustainability in the workplace and help to usher in a more sustainable future.

4. We will embrace diversity and create an environment for greater equity and inclusion in whichever industry or organisation we are working in.

We pledged our support today. Find out more here and pledge your support here.

Together, we can make a real difference.