Scolmore trip’s a journey of discovery for SELECT team
Our Electrotechnical Committee enjoyed a two-day visit to the HQ of Associate Member Scolmore Group in Staffordshire
It was destination Tamworth for the Electrotechnical Committee last month as we enjoyed an illuminating two-day trip to Staffordshire as special guests of the Scolmore Group.
The leading manufacturers kindly offered to host one of our regular meetings, so a party of seven delegates duly headed south to Scolmore International HQ on Tuesday 12 September.
Joining me from the SELECT team was our Training Development Adviser Stuart McKelvie, who came armed with a list of technical questions and queries.
Committee members who joined us for the trip included two former SELECT Presidents – Kevin Griffin and new Honorary Member David Smith – with Neil Smith travelling down from Lancashire to represent BEAMA.
Completing the electrotech contingent from the north were our two colleagues from the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust (SECTT), Assessment Centre Manager David Henderson and Training and Development Manager Barrie McKay.
Accompanying us were Scolmore’s Alex Seath and Shaun Harrison, who are Specification Manager and Regional Sales Manager respectively in Scotland. Both proved to be excellent hosts and provided answers to the many questions that arose on our trip.
Getting down to business
After an evening meal and networking session, the next morning saw a hybrid meeting in the impressive surroundings of the Scolmore House board room.
Joining us in person were David Powell and Richard Harvey from Electrical Safety First (ESF) and Roger Lovegrove and Curtis Jones from the ECA, with IET Senior Engineer Steven Devine providing valuable technical regulations input.
JPELB/64 Chair Tim Benstead also updated us on the current work of the JPEL/64 sub-committee, with the line-up completed by nine other committee members who joined us virtually, including SELECT President Alistair Grant.
First up on the agenda was a fire detection and alarm issue which had been raised by Hanover Housing through the Building Standards Division (BSD) in April, with a response by industry expert Colin Todd reviewed and discussed.
Protective equipotential boding in heat pump installations was next up, during which it was highlighted that a question and answer is being developed for input into the ESF Wiring Regulations Advisory Group (WRAG) web page.
The committee also considered the progress of industry information on neutral current diversion and an issue affecting solar PV installations relating to uni-directional protective devices, including a review of a BEAMA bulletin on the subject.
Other items discussed included the publication of the Technical Corrigendum to BS 7671:2018+A2:2022 in May and the progress of work being carried out by JPEL/64.
The publication of the recent amendment to ESF Best Practice Guide No2 was also noted – see page 51 for more details – as was a BEAMA summary of key technical changes to BS 1363 series standard, which coincidently tied in with technical questions raised on the load capabilities of such socket-outlets!
The meeting was followed by a guided tour of the Scolmore facility, during which we had chance to get hands-on with the full range of products, including the Click range of electrical accessories and Elucian consumer units.
Once again, this provided the opportunity for plenty of questions and discussion about innovation, development and the challenges facing a market-leader like Scolmore to ensure they continue to deliver the products our Members need.
A successful meeting of minds
On behalf of everyone who attended, I think I can safely say that we thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of our visit and it was a pleasure to catch up in person to renew old acquaintances and establish new ones. The facilities provided for the meeting were excellent and it was encouraging to receive equally excellent feedback from others who joined us.
Curtis Jones, who is the new Technical Manager at ECA, said: “The day was a fantastic experience with some great and very topical conversations.”
David Powell, who is an Electrical Installation Safety Engineer at ESF, added: “Thank you for letting me join the SELECT meeting and Scolmore tour, both of which were very insightful. It was nice to meet everyone in the flesh and not via a computer screen too.”
On behalf of the committee, I’d like to thank Scolmore Group for taking the time to organise
the venue and for hosting us so well. Hopefully, we can return the favour soon!
The Scolmore Group incorporates Click wiring accessories, OVIA lighting and lighting controls, ESP security, including Sangamo heating controls and time switches, Unicrimp cable accessories and Click Litehouse wiring accessories and lighting in Ireland. Find out more at www.scolmore.com
