Prima Uno is to leave our Head Office at Cleator Moor. We are sad to move out from our office at Phoenix Court, Cleator Moor where we have been residents for six happy years. Due to the lockdowns and Working From Home we have given our notice to Phoenix Enterprise Group.
The spring of 2020 is one we will not forget for many reasons, the main reason being the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020 we were celebrating three major framework wins at Prima Uno then we were immediately into a global pandemic of the COVID-19 virus. I decided to close the office on Friday 20th March, prior to the official government lockdown and it is an experience I will not forget. Another resident of our building was also closing his office, it was surreal and we both were overwhelmed by the developing situation. I do not think any of us had an idea of what was in store for us in the future. Fast forward six months and we have all experienced and adapted to a new way of life. These last two weeks a lot of us have children going back to school for the first time since lockdown and some of us are back working in our offices.
In March Prima Uno celebrated securing the following contracts:
- Low Level Waste Repository (LLWR) Project Controls Framework spanning four and a half years.
- International Nuclear Services (INS) Project Delivery Framework (project controls, project management, programme management and risk management) spanning two years plus two years.
- Sellafield Limited Calder Landscape Clearance Framework with IDS. Prima Uno are part of the IDS Joint Venture which is on the DDP Framework at Sellafield.
Prima Uno during Covid-19 – continuity of business as usual, working remotely. We have been successful working during the pandemic and employed two new people in April. 2020 is proving to be our most successful year to date. We are looking at employing some more staff in the autumn 2020 to work on long term contracts.
We have had a busy summertime successfully recertifying for ISO 9001:2015 and Cyber Essentials Plus. ISO:9001:2015 recertification involved a lot of extra work as our policies needed amendements due to COVID-19 but Bogusia Gruszka, Lydia Drummond and Angie Dean did a sterling job in producing all the new documents for the certification.
We have forged new business relationships this year such as the GHD relationship where we have been undertaking Assurance work on Transport for London projects. Working with GHD has been seamless. They have the same strong values as Prima Uno and we are excited to see how that relationship grows.
Lydia Drummond successfully completed her Business Admin apprenticeship and has been promoted to Payroll Assistant. She has also embarked on a new Data Analysis course which will complement her role in Finance, but all complement any schedule, cost and risk analysis we undertake in our Forensic Laboratory.
We are waiting to hear if we have been successful on other long-term frameworks we have tendered for and are forging new partnerships with many new companies. Collaboration is key to business relationships.
I wish you a safe autumn.
Sarah Purdham
Managing Director
Picture: One of the views from Prima Uno’s new Head Office which will be based at Gosforth, Cumbria