Page 267 — British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF)

BIDFOOD TEAMS UP WITH HOSPITALITY ACTION TO DELIVER #CHECKPLEASE

Posted on December 7, 2022 by Billy Moone

It’s officially the most wonderful time of the year, but have you ever stopped to think if that’s the case for everyone? It can be an incredibly busy time for those working over Christmas and although many enjoy working the festive period it’s not always plain sailing. Despite having fun, there can often be stressful times and nearly half (46%) say the hardest thing about working over the Christmas period is being away from their families[1].

This Christmas season, Bidfood, one of the UK’s leading foodservice providers, is proud to be partnering with Hospitality Action to bring #CheckPlease – a campaign designed to act as a health barometer for the hospitality industry. Their goal is to encourage both employers and consumers to spot early signs of stress, be kinder and check that those working in hospitality are okay.

From today, Bidfood will be funding Hospitality Action’s free 24/7 helpline for the festive period. Hospitality Action’s team are on hand to provide help and advice to any hospitality workers who are struggling with the mental health stress and financial pressure the festive season can bring. In addition, toolkits have been assembled, tailored with the hospitality industry in mind, to help employers to not only reach out, but invigorate their teams through recognition and reward.

But with 30% of hospitality staff saying they have had to deal with difficult or rude customers daily,[2] during what is meant to be the happiest season of all, Bidfood has also explored ways to help the general public be more aware of the positive and negative impact they can have on staff. Posters, table-talkers and ‘specials’ menus, will also be available through the toolkits, sign-posting consumers on how they can interact with staff in a kind, appreciative and respectful way, alleviating their stress.

Commenting on the campaign, Tim Adams, Sales and Marketing Director at Bidfood said: “We’re thrilled to be working with Hospitality Action to raise awareness and offer support to the industry during the incredibly busy Christmas months.

“It’s been a tough couple of years for the industry and as we approach our first completely normal Christmas since 2019, there is bound to be some nervousness and anxiety amongst workers, so we wanted to launch a campaign to help support those who need it.

“We really hope the public get behind this campaign when they’re out this Christmas and think about the stress those serving them may be under, making sure they don’t forget to ask for the #CheckPlease!”

Hospitality Action’s Chief Executive, Mark Lewis said: “I’m delighted for us to be partnering with Bidfood once again on another meaningful campaign.

“Not only does this campaign reflect the hard work, dedication and importance of our industry over the festive period, but also reminds us of the difficulties and stresses that it brings to those in the sector.

“Staff sacrifice a lot so that others can enjoy themselves and it’s fantastic that we’re offering support to help them navigate what can be a challenging period.”

To find out more about #CheckPlease including a campaign video, advice and support pages and to download your very own digital toolkit, please visit: www.bidfood.co.uk/checkplease.

[1] Christmas hospitality, 3Gem Research & Insights, October, 2022

[2] Christmas hospitality, 3Gem Research & Insights, October, 2022

IMPORTANT: ISSUES IMPACTING COMPLETION OF CHED-P (GB-EU AND GB-NI EXPORTS)

Posted on December 7, 2022December 7, 2022 by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) have been notified of issues being experienced at the EU and NI border due to changes made on the European Union system TRACES NT, which affected the completion of CHED-P pre-notification for some goods.

On 1 December the EU made changes to the categories of approved establishments that could be declared as the Establishment of Origin field (I.31) on a CHED-P. The EU removed the ability to declare establishments listed in the following generic activity categories on TRACES NT: Food – Other (FOOD-OTH); or Veterinary, Exporter (EXP), and any establishment not possessing a ‘valid’ tag on TRACES NT.

Defra and APHA are aware that this is impacting some GB exporters and traders who are not required to possess an establishment approval for their particular business, for example composite products, honey, hay and straw.

The EU Commission have notified Defra at 14:00 GMT on 2 December that this restriction has been removed for commodity codes that do not require an establishment approval. If you have been advised to use an alternative approach in order to generate a CHED-P for the goods identified, this is no longer required.

As of 16:30 GMT on 2 December, TRACES NT has been updated with the following message:

CHED-P – COMPOSITE PRODUCTS: sections FOOD-OTH and EXP allowed in Box I.31 “Establishment of Origin” selection

Kindly note that the selection of establishments under the generic sections “FOOD-OTH” and “EXP” are allowed for COMPOSITE PRODUCTS consignments. CN codes under chapters 16,17,18,19,20,21 and 22. And also for products under codes 28, 29, 35,39 and 9602.

Please do a complete log off/log on and proceed to a “Copy as new” of the faulty CHEDPs.

If issues persist after following the above instructions, contact NCP@apha.gov.uk

TOPICS CONFIRMED FOR THE 2023 HEALTH AND SAFETY CONFERENCE AT THE BRITISH MOTOR MUSEUM

Posted on December 7, 2022January 9, 2026 by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

The 2023 Health and Safety will be hosted at the British Motor Museum on the 8th of March. Attendees will have access to refreshments, an exhibition hall and an auditorium along with an agenda full of insightful industry speakers throughout the day. The full agenda has now been confirmed and includes:

Introduction and BFFF Update – Rupert Ashby, BFFF
Motivational Speaker – Working the Room- Heather White
Managing Contractors Case Study – Craig Foyle
New Sentencing Guidelines – NFU Mutual
Artificial Intelligence/Robotics – HSL
Grey Fleet – David Rigby, NFUM
Mental Health – Collins McHugh/Partners&
Manual Handling – Taking a Practical View – Davey Snowdon MBE

You can view the full conference day agenda here. The BFFF Health and Safety team pulled together the conference day agenda from the queries, discussions and specialist forums they hold throughout the year to ensure attendees get the most relevant information for the modern day.

You can book your tickets for the 2023 Health and Safety Conference here.

A PERFECT STORAGE AND HANDLING SOLUTION FOR FURNITUREBOX

Posted on December 7, 2022 by

Furniturebox, established by Monty and Dan in 2015 at the age of 17, operated from their old warehouse at Mere in Wiltshire, until Saturday, the 17^th of September, when they officially opened a new facility in Chippenham. In recent years, Furniturebox has seen a rise in ecommerce, indirect sales, and 3PL opportunities, resulting in the need to expand into their new warehouse.

Furniturebox is a growing online furniture store dedicated to selling beautiful, quality, and affordable products, and providing exceptional customer service. Furniturebox pride themselves on forming outstanding customer experience, a factor they believe is responsible for the company’s fast growth. This has already been a life-changing year for the company as the founders made the Forbes “30 Under 30 2022” list for the retail and ecommerce entrepreneurs in Europe.

SSI Schaefer, one of the world’s leading providers of storage systems with multiple manufacturing sites across the World, was able to offer the perfect solution for Furniturebox. The new logistics centre’s layout hosts a 5-level pallet pick tower and a combination of VNA (very narrow aisles) and wide aisles Racking systems to ensure maximum efficiency and immediate selectivity. Furniturebox had a clear vision of the solution they wanted for their new 7,700 square metres facility from the start. The new system provides the retailer with 5,700 pallet locations meeting their current needs and space for future growth.

To add up to their warehouse’s efficiency and to complement the thought-trough racking layout, Furniturebox were seeking a new forklift trucks provider. SSI Schaefer introduced UniCarriers as their possible partner for this type of equipment. UniCarriers, a growing industry specialist, use customer-centric & a consultative approach when selecting the best solutions for each request.

They offered Furniturebox a range of high-quality, innovative warehouse equipment and IC/electric counterbalance forklifts, that in conjunction with the racking solutions will ensure improved safety, minimize the unnecessary costs, provide transparency, and optimise their warehouse operations.

UniCarriers’ professional and individual approach supported Furniturebox’s strategy and vision, providing them with equipment and solutions to support their everyday needs. Pete Butcher, Regional Sales Manager at UniCarriers UK, describes the procedure: “Following on from several customer visits, demonstrating how UniCarriers VNA equipment performed in limited space, we provided Furniturebox with several solutions to retain their capacity but to give them back immediate selectivity”.

As a result, the customer selected a range of equipment to be delivered to their new location, together with a supportive full-service preventative maintenance contract, providing the highest level of tailored after-sales service.

Furniturebox ordered two EK Man-up Very Narrow Aisle Trucks to serve their full pallet storage units and order picking in VNA applications. Thanks to a smart design concept and modular construction, the EK Series is suitable for all kinds of VNA applications. Two TERGO® UHX Reach Trucks, with a high lifting capacity, will support the employees with full rack heights of 14-metres during storage and retrieval operations, bringing Furniturebox’s operational efficiency to the highest level. Furniturebox also needed equipment for heavy lifting handling. For this purpose, UniCarriers offered 4 PLF Powered Pallet Trucks – equipped with dampened folding platforms, and traction, damping and stability (TDS) concept, ensuring excellent truck performance and comfort in all conditions for operators, even when the driving surfaces are wet or uneven. For Furniturebox, the only way is up, as they continue to grow, having recently expanded to supplying the US market. UniCarriers and SSI Schaefer will be there to share their journey, a partnership delivering solutions that offer the best integrated value for their ongoing demands.

For more information visit:

https://www.furniturebox.co.uk/
https://www.unicarrierseurope.com/uk
https://www.ssi-schaefer.com/

MARSHALL FLEET SOLUTIONS SUPPLIES OPX LOGISTICS WITH 10 REFRIGERATION UNITS IN GREEN COLLABORATION WITH GRAY & ADAMS

Posted on December 7, 2022 by

Leading commercial vehicle company Marshall Fleet Solutions has supplied Swindon-based logistics business OPX Logistics with 10 Thermo King SLXi refrigeration unit systems that will help reduce carbon emissions and build towards a net zero future.

The refrigeration units have been fitted to newly purchased solar-powered refrigerated trailers supplied by Gray & Adams, the UK’s market leader in the manufacture of specialist temperature controlled and bespoke vehicles.

Developed by Thermo King, the SLXi refrigeration units are designed to deliver ultra-fresh cargo to tight schedules while downsizing operational costs and upsizing reductions in CO2 impact by drastically lowering emissions, waste, and noise pollution.

OPX Logistics currently has a fleet of 70 vehicles that range from Scania trucks to Euro 6 trucks, but are now rapidly expanding its operations with environmentally-friendly vehicles that will ensure an emission-free future.

Ryan Gower, Senior Operations Director for OPX Logistics, said: “When we started to expand our business, one of our main priorities was to work with companies who share our environmental values and ethics while maintaining operational excellence. That is exactly why we chose Marshall Fleet Solutions.”

Maria D’Andrea, National Sales Manager for Marshall Fleet Solutions, said: “We continuously strive to develop innovative solutions that meet our customers’ requirements while ensuring high environmental benefits. We are thrilled to be collaborating with OPX Logistics by providing a product that offers unbeatable quality and significant cost savings.”

Ryan Gower added: “We are very excited to have these brand-new trailers and refrigeration units joining our fleet, as we know the quality of products from Gray & Adams and Marshall Fleet Solutions is second to none.

CORONER CALLS FOR UK ANAPHYLAXIS REPORTING SYSTEM IN HOSPITALS

Posted on December 6, 2022November 7, 2025 by Sarah Collison

The families of two Pret a Manger customers who died after experiencing severe allergic reaction have welcomed a report from a senior coroner suggesting hospitals should be obliged to report fatal and near-fatal anaphylaxis.

Maria Voisin, the senior coroner for Avon, has written a report suggesting that hospitals should be obliged to report fatal and near-fatal anaphylaxis, following the death of two Pret a Manger customers who experienced severe allergic reaction. The families of Celia Marsh, who died in 2017 and Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died in 2016, have welcomed the call.

The proposed system could involve mandatory reporting by hospitals to local health protection officials of anaphylaxis similar to the current system for notifiable diseases.

The prevention of future deaths report was sent to bodies including the UK health department and the FSA, after the death of Celia Marsh. Voisin also called for more “robust” labelling and testing systems, warning: “The wording used on food products, and the public’s understanding of these phrases in terms of implying the absence of a particular allergen, can be potentially misleading. Examples include ‘free-from’ and ‘vegan’. Foods labelled in this way must be free from that allergen, and there should be a robust system to confirm the absence of the relevant allergen in all ingredients and during production when making such a claim.”

Marsh’s family said: “We welcome the prevention of future deaths report as the next step in our fight to make the world a safe place for allergy sufferers like our beloved mum and wife. Above all, we hope that the FSA, UK Health Security Agency and the Department of Health and Social Care will now start working together to put in place a system for mandatory reporting of fatal and near-fatal anaphylactic reactions to allow the public to be alerted of unsafe allergen products and provide an accurate record of such incidents. This will ensure important lessons can be learned with the appropriate enforcement action being taken.”

Tanya Ednan-Laperouse said: “The coroner’s clear and concise recommendations should herald a transformation of the way anaphylaxis cases are dealt with in this country and mean that Celia’s death was not in vain. We are particularly pleased to see that the coroner has called for anaphylaxis to be considered a notifiable disease with a national register of fatal and near-fatal cases of severe food allergic reactions. She has also called for a thorough overhaul of potentially misleading and dangerous precautionary allergen labelling and the implementation of robust allergen testing by food producers. These well-overdue measures will save lives.”

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