In-tune with our clients

Capita Symonds’ Health and Safety team, led by Director Nigel Daly, has launched a new service aimed at the classical music industry.

Although they are better known for their construction health and safety services for clients such as Grosvenor Estates, Morley, Aviva Investors, and Westfield, Director Nigel Daly recently recognised the need to broaden the team’s offering.

New recruit Jayne Sutton, herself a professional musician and classically trained trumpet player, hit upon the idea of offering occupational health and safety services to the classical music industry.

As a result, the team has now launched a tailored service that guides orchestra and theatre managers through complex health and safety legislation, enabling them to successfully implement a comprehensive strategy which protects both employees and employers.

Jayne says: “Since The Association of British Orchestras set out its code of best practice – the Healthy Orchestra Charter – it has become vital for orchestras to take a more proactive approach in tackling the wide variety of ailments that can afflict modern musicians. What’s more, with the Control of Noise at Work Regulations also applying to the music and entertainment industries for the first time, there are more regulations governing health and safety in the music industry than ever before.”

Also the ABO has also asked Capita Symonds to attend its annual conference which will be held in the Capita Architecture-designed Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. The exclusive event is one of the highlights in the classical music calendar and will be attended by approximately 450 senior executives and board members from the various UK orchestras.

We wish them all the best of luck for their new venture.

Best foot forward

Blackburn’s Casualty Reduction Team once again supported the recent national ‘Walk to School’ campaign.

The campaign began with School Travel Officer Cheryl Sandford (pictured left) delivering presentations about the benefits of walking to school to pupils at four local Blackburn schools.

The children were then provided with their very own ‘travel passports’ which are stamped every time they walk to school. To ensure that the campaign was accessible to all pupils a ’park and stride’ element was also introduced for those who need to travel by car, enabling them to walk the final part of the route to school.

The Walk to School Campaign is run by the charity Living Streets with funding from Department for Transport and the BIG Lottery fund. It asks parents, pupils and teachers to think about their journey to and from school and the many benefits of making it on foot.

Find out more about Capita Symonds' Road Safety Team

Blooming Marvellous

Capita Lovejoy’s Aviva Garden project has won the prestigious James Miller Trophy at the 'Flowers In The City' awards.


The Lord Mayor of London, Mr Alderman David Lewis, presented David Blackwood-Murray of Capita Lovejoy with the award at a reception at The Mansion House in London.

The Flowers in the City Campaign, which aims to “beautify” the City, was launched over forty years ago by the Worshipful Company of Gardeners in conjunction with the Corporation of London.

Whilst the Corporation maintains a considerable number of gardens and floral displays throughout the City via it's Parks and Gardens department, the Flowers in the City Campaign targets the private sector, rewarding a variety of individuals and companies.

A team from Capita Lovejoy designed the private garden at Aviva’s headquarters in St Helen's Square, London. Installed by Willerby Landscapes, the garden was conceived as an ‘oasis to celebrate life and vitality’ and provides a stunning visual amenity for visitors and staff at the adjacent Aviva Tower.

The garden is a clear, calm space structured by the use of trees, hedges and stepped terraces. Sculptural walls provide enclosure to the garden whilst permitting views into the space from an undershaft along its north boundary. A wall of slatted timber then provides a contrasting, textured finish along the southern edge of the garden while ‘Art Walls’ create a dynamic feature amongst the planting and beneath the canopy of the trees throughout the day and night.

Capita Symonds acquired land planning consultancy Lovejoy in March 2008, to form Capita Lovejoy.

Find out more about our land planning service from Capita Lovejoy

Merchants' Academy opens in Bristol

Merchants' Academy, a state of the art new school in Bristol, is now open for business.



A team from Capita Symonds’ Bristol office - led by Regional Director John Wormald – provided project management services on the Academy which will cater for 1500 students aged between 11 and 18.

Find out more about Capita Symonds involvement in Merchants' Academy

Go to the Marchants' Academy Website

Ken Dodd opens Southport's Lord Street

The £4m refurbishment to Southport's famous Lord Street shopping boulevard is now complete.

To celebrate the occasion local legend Ken Dodd was present to unveil a commemorative plaque.

A Team from Capita Symonds designed, supervised and project managed the redevelopment on behalf of Sefton Council’s Planning Department.

Find out More about the Lord Street redevelopment project




The video below is from the Liverpool Daily Post (courtesy of Sefton Borough Council):

A shining example

Ritchie Clapson, Managing Director of Capita Bobrowski, and Malcolm Richards – Director in Capita Bobrowski's Southampton office - are taking part the annual Lighthouse Run from John O’Groats to London this Sunday and Monday.

Now in its fourth year, the Lighthouse Run is a motoring race that sees teams driving over 1,500 miles while undertaking a variety of fiendish tasks and changes of route.

The event - a firm fixture in the Construction Industry calendar – raises funds for the Lighthouse Club Benevolent Fund which provides direct, practical, and financial assistance to construction workers and their families in time of need.

Over the past three years the race has raised well over £100,000 for the Benevolent Fund and is aiming to raise a further £50,000 at this year's event.

Good luck!

Find out more about the Lighthouse Run (and maybe even join in!)

Capita Symonds aquired Structural and Civil Engineering firm NRM Bobrowski in April 2008 to form Capita Bobrowski. Find out more about the acquisition or find out more about Capita Bobrowski

Jumping for joy

Three members of Capita Symonds’ Blackburn office have raised more than £1,400 for Macmillan Cancer Support with a sponsored skydive.

Andy Archer, Dave Richardson and Martin Haydock completed the 14,000 ft dive near Lancaster.

Well done boys!

See how they got on:

Fish out of troubled water

Capita Symonds Aquatic Resource Management (ARM) team have finished work on a project to repair one of Mid Wales’ most important tourist attractions.

The team, led by Project Manager Will Kennedy, provided preliminary design, project specification, and contractual services as part of the programme to restore the ecological balance of the water at Llandrindod Lake in Powys.

The high profile project, carried out on behalf of Powys County Council (PCC), was a result of a major ecological incident in 2006 which resulted in the death of thousands of fish.

As part of the work Capita Symonds undertook the preliminary design of major embankment enhancements utilising materials dredged from the lake, as well as planting a variety of native marginal plant species (not to mention liaising with multiple stakeholders to ensure that the work met the requirements of all parties). The team also assisted with the procurement of a specialist contractor in line with the constrained budget of the council.

Find out more about our Aquatic Resource Management Team

See what we did in the video:

Charity drive

Another story from Capita's 'Charity Week' activities.......

Capita Symonds and Capita Bobrowski managed to raise a total of £6,300 for Macmillan Cancer Support by holding a client drinks reception, including scalextric competition.

Thanks go to Cordek, Philips Lighting, Flaktwoods and Condek for sponsoring the F1 scalextric cars (this alone raised £1,000 for the charity) and to everyone for their kind support and donations.

Capita Symonds & ICE Safety Lecture 08

The 17th annual Capita Symonds & ICE Safety Lecture lecture took place yesterday (22nd October) in London

This year's guest speaker was Chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, John Armitt. John presented his paper entitled "Combining Safety, Health and Environment - have we succeeded?"

Find out more about the lecture and view the transcript

NB: Further write-ups to follow.