Membership voice, March - April 2003
The new Bevan Braithwaite Building is now open, occupying a prime location by the lake on Granta Park, adjacent to the former TWI site at Abington Hall.
New offices and modern laboratories, in functional and pleasant surroundings, are being occupied progressively by staff in a move designed to avoid disruption to project and core services. By April 2003, the move to our new environment will be complete, and visitors to Great Abington should notice significant improvements. The new reception area is spacious and welcoming and contains many display areas aimed at informing visitors of the breadth and depth of TWI activities.
The laboratories for arc welding, thermal spraying, laser processing and fracture testing moved to the Bevan Braithwaite Building in April 2002. The other facilities which have now followed them include the metallurgy, corrosion, chemical analysis, NDT, microjoining, plastics, ceramic, adhesive laboratories and support services. The new laboratories offer increased capacity and greater flexibility in accommodating even the most unusual Member requirements.
Friction and Electron Beam remain in the Robert Jenkins Building and the Fatigue Laboratory stays in the same location. The Library and Information Services will soon be re-located to the Professional Members' Building which, until two years ago, was TWI's main reception. The former Microjoining Centre will now house a new sour testing laboratory. Members will derive many benefits from the move. TWI now has modern, clean and efficient laboratories as befits a world-class research centre for the twenty first century. The new facilities will help recruit and retain quality staff. The site is also more compact, making it easier for staff and visitors to grasp the full range of technologies developed at TWI. Closer staff interaction in an R & D environment invariably stimulates innovation.
In the offices, the open plan arrangement facilitates communication between colleagues and that is also beneficial to Members.
An open plan layout is in fact very well suited to an organisation that provides a technical enquiry service as one of its main deliverables, when a rapid response and possibly a second opinion is required. For confidential discussions, staff and visitors still have, of course, access to over 25 meeting rooms and quiet areas.
Rest assured, however, that we are not changing for the sake of it. We still believe in the traditional human touch and I can guarantee that you will not speak to a machine if you call during our working hours. Our receptionists, secretaries and everyone you contact will endeavour to provide the support that you deserve.
I am confident that the combination of new buildings with a traditional culture of customer service will enable us to maintain the high standards of services to Industrial Members that we set ourselves.
Do visit our new office and laboratory facilities here at Great Abington. We shall be proud to show you around and discuss how best you too can benefit from these developments.
Fred Delany - Head of Industrial Member Services
e-mail: fred.delany@twi.co.uk
