Change text size: 
| Change colours: 
© United Kingdom Council for
Access and Equality 2006
Testimonials
Testimonial from three of the organisations who have chosen to join UKCAE as Founder or General Members.
Andrew Poole, Partner of Martineau Johnson
www.martineau-johnson.co.uk (external link)
“We recognise that inclusion, disability access and DDA compliance is an area where organisations need to do more. We believe UKCAE will make a difference in this regard. We also believe that we as lawyers can make a contribution: for example drafting policies and providing training on DDA compliance. Specifically, we have done a lot of work in this area over the last few years and Clive Read, one of our partners, has contributed a chapter on Landlord and Tenant issues to the Work Place Law publication: "Disability : Making Buildings Accessible - Special Report". We believe that our involvement in UKCAE is a logical next step and a good use of these skills and experience; and is of particular interest to our large public sector client base, which includes a number of local authorities and more than sixty Further Education and Higher Education institutions.
As a commercial organisation our interest in UKCAE is not, of course, wholly philanthropic. We hope that being a founder member in UKCAE will in due course lead to: more DDA advisory work; an enhanced corporate social responsibility branding and profile, leading to happier staff (we already have a very low attrition rate) and stronger client loyalties.
As a firm we are committed to corporate social responsibility: we have a corporate social responsibility committee which is led by Andrew Whitehead, the partner in charge of our Energy, Projects and Commerce team. On this he is joined by our HR and Marketing and Business Development Directors.
Martineau Johnson is one of the Sunday Times Top 100 companies to work for and also an Investor in People, both indicators of our commitment to looking beyond our own business horizons to the welfare of our people and the broader community. To us, corporate social responsibility means being environmentally and socially aware. It means putting something back into the community, which we deliver principally by charitable donations, direct community support and pro bono legal work, as well as trying to live up to these principles in the way we carry on our own business.”
The Forum of Private Business (FPB)
"The Forum of Private Business (FPB), which represents 25,000 UK-based private businesses, is proud to be a Founding Member of UKCAE.
The owners of smaller businesses pride themselves on being reasonable employers, but many struggle to understand this country's increasingly-complex employment regulations.
Although business owners will always try to identify the best person for the job regardless of status, there is always the danger that they may inadvertently fall foul of regulation. UKCAE will provide a valuable resource for employers to assist them in complying with the Disability Discrimination Act."
UKCAE and Key Facilities Management Ltd
Key Facilities Management is one of the longest established facilities management businesses in the UK having been providing 'value add' consultancy advice and management services for over 15 years. As one of the pioneers in this sector we have always believed that facilities management as a professional discipline is not just about 'contracting out' and cutting costs, although these may indeed be a product.
It is about creating real Value for money; the informed deployment of Assets; and the effective harnessing of People that will deliver stakeholder value through improved and sustainable organisational performance.
In this context, many years ago we recognised not only the value of people to our own organisation (we were the first facilities management business in the UK to achieve Investor in People) but that true facilities management was about how we enable people to function efficiently and effectively within the workplace where ever it may be.
This awareness has very much influenced our focus as a business where we fully recognise that it is the people within the organisation who are its lifeblood and enabling them within their environment to function to their optimum should indeed be a key goal of every organisation. It is in this context that we invested in developing our awareness of Universal Design where in our capacity as facilities management designers within new build, refurbishment projects and the routine management of buildings we could influence the access to, and use of, the workplace from every perspective.
The work that UKCAE are doing in developing and promoting standards in Universal Design and Accessibility is a positive and welcome initiative. It will enable greater awareness of the issues and opportunities that face those of us charged with the responsibility of designing and maintaining premises to provide the optimum and accessible working environments.
Recent disability discrimination legislation introduces a mandatory obligation for almost every organisation to comply with rigorous and sensible guidelines. As a founding member of UKCAE we support the development and promotion of these standards throughout industry and commerce in both the private and public sectors.
There are those within commerce and industry who lead and there are those who follow; UKCAE are demonstrating leadership and we are pleased to be a part of it.
Stan Mitchell FBIFM (Hons), FRSA
CEO, Key Facilities Management Ltd.
