Re-flow Insights: May

Welcome to Re-flow Insights, our mid-monthly overview. This month we delve into upcoming trade shows and more Re-flow achievements.??

The Sunday Times Best Places to Work?

We're excited to announce that Re-flow has been named as one of the Best Places to Work by The Times for a second year running. This prestigious nationwide workplace survey highlights and celebrates outstanding employers in Britain – employers who foster engaged and inclusive workplace cultures where employee happiness and wellbeing are prioritised.??

Hear what our team had to say about Re-flow for the 2023 awards.?

Utility Week Live (21-22nd May, NEC)??

At the energy and water industry’s biggest annual event, we are looking forward to hearing from Greg Jackson (founder and CEO of Octopus Energy ), who will deliver the keynote address, titled Location, Location, Location – Making the Grid Work Smarter, Not Harder.??

The description makes a bold statement – ‘The UK could have some of the cheapest electricity in Europe, if not the cheapest. Instead, it spends hundreds of millions per year curtailing abundant, green wind energy in favour of dirty fossil fuel back-ups.’?

This fits with the overall theme of the event – the need to ‘accelerate [the] delivery’ of Net Zero. With just six years to go until low carbon commitments kick in in 2030, Utility Week Live 2024 will host new zones and features for a digitally enabled Net Zero future.??

Other notable talks include: Reimagining the Regulatory Regime to Drive Whole Systems Thinking, Will Intentional Allies and Advocates Change the Landscape for Women In Utilities? And a Shadow Ministerial address on the UK’s Net Zero Future from Southampton MP Dr. Alan Whitehead (Shadow Minister for Energy Security).??

Reducing carbon output is hugely important to Re-flow. Events like Utility Week Live are great opportunities to network, gain knowledge and collaborate to ensure our software is supporting companies in hitting Net Zero targets.??

We highly recommend attending Utility Week Live – register for free and drop by Stand E8 to see the Re-flow team.??

Traffex (22-23 May, CBS Arena)??

30 minutes’ drive from the NEC, along the M6, Traffex is taking place. Although there’s a little more focus on investment – discussions on Ris2 and Beyond and the ￡70-Million Plan for Drivers Funding: The Story to Date – Maria Chli’s talk Fully Autonomous, Vision-based Traffic Signal Control: from Simulation to Reality may be of particular interest to those following A.I. developments. The presentation covers the first-of-its-kind A.I. system used to control traffic lights in real time, ‘keeping traffic flowing, and reducing congestion’.??

Other talks worth a mention are Futureproofing Transport Infrastructure: The Coventry Story and Connected Vehicle Data: What Benefits Does it Offer Road Operators and Transport Planners??

The Latest Information and Initiatives on Mental Health in the Construction Industry

In September last year, Prince William visited a MACE London construction site – for an upcoming Microsoft news data centre – and spoke to workers there about mental health issues. It was an event orchestrated in collaboration with mental health charity Mates in Mind, and the issue at hand was the famously concerning statistics of male suicide in the industry.

Those stats again:

• Male construction workers in the UK are almost four times more likely to die by suicide than the national average.
• 700 people a year take their lives in construction-related suicides.

Causes and Symptoms

Work-related suicides, and poor mental health in general, are caused by a myriad of complicated reasons, but common contributors are increasing pressures on workers in relation to their workloads, and the associated time pressure. Day in day out, there are workers feeling stressed, anxious, and depressed. Incredibly, a quarter of all workers in the industry have considered taking their own lives.

These operatives work in dangerous environments, where a slip, fall, or drop of equipment could lead to serious consequences. There are struggles with fatigue, concentration, confidence, and a lack of job stability too. Long hours, lengthy commutes, and time away from family only exacerbate the issue. And there’s the obvious one, the headline statement that slightly misses the finer detail:

As Prince William said about male workers: ‘It’s a harder to reach group. We don’t talk openly enough.’

Macho culture, and messages like ‘Men don’t cry’ or ‘You have to be strong’ or that men ‘Need to be able to do everything’ contribute to this multi-faceted problem.

To read the full article, click here.

Conclusion?

Culture has always been very important to us at Re-flow, and very much a part of our business success. The Best Places to Work accolade isn’t taken lightly and we’ll endeavour to maintain this approach for the foreseeable future.??

The agenda for both of the trade shows is inspiring, and we are looking forward to immersing ourselves in the collaborative environment once again. For our clients who appreciate that personal touch and face-to-face contact, make sure to stop by at either show – UWL, Stand E8 and Traffex, Stand C24. We look forward to seeing you there!?