News – Page 5 – FX Plus

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New EV Charge points

April 25, 2022

Twelve new electric vehicle (EV) charging points are going to be installed at Penryn Campus.

The points, which will be in Car Park A, are in response to a growing demand as more people choose to buy electric vehicles meaning the two chargers currently installed don’t provide sufficient charging capacity.

They will be run by supplier Pod Point, a company which offers an app to make use and payment easier.

David Lawrence, Falmouth Exeter Plus Energy Manager, said: “This project will help to make our campuses more sustainable while also offering greater choice to users. While we try to encourage walking, cycling, or using public transport, we recognise that this is not always practical in Cornwall. These EV points will therefore support owners of more sustainable vehicles.”

The charging points will be installed in April and should be ready for use by the end of that month.

Further information on how to use the new electric vehicles charging points and location will be provided ready for use after upon completion of the installation.

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Happy IWD 2022!

March 8, 2022

Happy International Women’s Day 2022.

At Falmouth Exeter Plus our female employees go right to the top (Managing Director Paula Sanderson)!

As we celebrate this year’s #breakthebias theme, here are some profiles of the great women working for us in just one of our many teams ….

FX Plus Security Team

The women within the Security Team at FX Plus stand out as a group of employees that collaborate, communicate and cooperate. They are a powerful story of how a small but dedicated team can achieve great things.

Nat Brown – Head of Security Services.

Nat has a natural ability to extract the best from those within the team whilst providing support, exceptional advice and encouragement. Nat is leading the team through a transformative change producing tangible results, improving services whilst achieving an outstanding contribution to the organisation.

Louise Munn – Security Operations Officer.

Louise is dynamic individual who is working on the restructuring of security projects, processes and policies. Her ability to see things differently, has made a significant impact of the wellbeing of others. Louise’s efforts have made a positive impact to the working environment and culture of the business and its people.

Lois Craze – Security Team Supervisor.

Lois has a long track record of excellence within FX Plus and is particularly effective in taking control of a situation and introducing new ways of working. Lois effectively manages challenges and overcomes barriers when faced with difficulties. Lois seeks out new opportunities and demonstrates a desire to succeed matched by her ambition to turn those ideas into a success.

Misbah Abrahamjee – Security Team Supervisor.

Misbah has shown clear guidance and great strength to her colleagues during this time of crisis and transformation, she consistently shows great enthusiasm and resourcefulness whilst positively responding to the needs of the student and university communities. Misbah pulls everyone together to propel the business forward whilst embodying the essence of teamwork.

Jess Goulding – Customer Services Manager.

Jess is nominated because of her innovation and customer focus demonstrating consistent support for our students and the universities and FX Plus employees. Jess can be relied upon to provide a service that can be diversified to meet the changing needs of our community. Her leadership skills motivate a highly competent and efficient team.

Zoe Jenkins – Deputy Night Services Manager.

Zoe is making great strides towards achieving exceptional leadership. She is contributing positively and supporting others through great change and transformation.

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Self serve refill launch

February 15, 2022

The Penryn Campus Shop has launched a new Bring Your Own (BYO), self-service refill section. This will help to reduce unnecessary packaging and waste.

The new refill range includes cereals and breakfast food; pasta; rice and snacks.

Customers can bring along their own refill container, weigh it, fill it up with their desired item, reweigh and pay.

To mark this launch, the Shop team is giving away free, reusable #oureffect food containers to the first 50 customers.

The new refill range includes:

Muesli
Porridge Quaker Oats
Quinoa
Banana Chips
Chickpeas
Couscous
Pumpkin Seeds
Basmati Rice
Penne Pasta
Fusilli pasta
Popcorn Kernels
Oriental Rice Crackers

For more information about Penryn Campus Shop, including opening times, please see our website.

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Community furniture donations

February 3, 2022

Communities and organisations have been benefiting from furniture donations from our campuses as part of our commitment to sustainability.

The working styles of many people at Falmouth and Penryn campuses changed during COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Furniture was taken out of rooms to allow for more space and social distancing. As restrictions lift and people return to the campuses to work, many prefer the less cluttered office style.

Rather than throw away unwanted but good quality furniture, our Caretaking team has been busy finding new homes for it with community organisations and schools.

Lynn Storey, Falmouth Exeter Plus Facilities Operations Manager, said: “With our commitment to avoid disposal of any furniture that still has life left in it, we have been reaching out to local communities to see if we can find new homes for our furniture.

“Over the last few months the Penryn caretaking team has donated items to Cornwall Business School at their new space on Kernick Industrial Estate and the Dracaena Centre and Princess Pavilion in Falmouth. The Falmouth Caretaking team has also been busy supporting local schools and community projects, recently delivering sofas, seating and tables to Constantine Primary School and Camborne Contemporary Crafts Hub.”

Oliver Milliner, Head of Sustainability, added: “We are committed to making our campuses more sustainable via a variety of initiatives and this is a perfect example of repurposing and reusing. With thought and care, our Caretaking team has found a great way of supporting local communities while reducing waste.”

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Celebrating Silver

January 28, 2022

Penryn and Falmouth campuses have progressed from a bronze to a silver award from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) Hedgehog Friendly Campus programme.

The Hedgehog Friendly Campus project is a UK-wide initiative which aims to turn university campuses into places where hedgehogs can thrive.

Oliver Milliner is Head of Sustainability for Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus), the organisation that looks after services shared between Falmouth University and the University of Exeter at Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

He said: “We’re really pleased to have achieved this silver award and will be aiming for gold next year. Big thanks to all the teams who work together to keep our beautiful grounds full of biodiversity and, of course, hedgehog friendly. I’d also like to thank our Sustainability Intern Amber Brett who put this silver bid together.

“Staff and students have an opportunity to play an active role in what we do in the future so if any of you want to help us get to gold please contact me at sustainability@fxplus.ac.uk”

To earn the silver award, the FX Plus Sustainability and Grounds teams worked together to complete a series of tasks that help to protect and support hedgehog life on campus. These included:

Involving the Students’ Union in hedgehog friendly activities.
Start working towards pesticide free grounds management.
Organising campus litter picks.
Increasing the number of hedgehog friendly plants and trees.
Creating log piles which are a good hibernation habitat for hedgehogs.

To achieve Gold, FX Plus will need to focus on actions that leave a long-lasting legacy for hedgehogs on campus, such as:

Meeting the pesticide reduction targets set at silver.
Installation of a hedgehog crossing sign.
Setting up hedgehog feeding stations.
Establishing a hedgehog society which can run surveys and workshops.
Running hedgehog surveys in the local community.

Some facts about hedgehogs:

Since 2020, hedgehogs are listed as ‘Vulnerable to Extinction’ on Britain’s Red List.

They have declined by 50% in rural areas & 30% in urban areas since the year 2000.

Hedgehogs are lactose intolerant and shouldn’t eat bread – meaty pet food and fresh water is best if you want to feed wild hedgehogs.

Baby hedgehogs are called hoglets.

Strimmers and mowers can harm hedgehogs.

Hedgehogs hibernate in winter, from around November to March/April.

If you are worried about a hedgehog, contact the British Hedgehog Preservation Society on 01584 890801.

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Vegetarian/vegan move for cafe

January 21, 2022

As a result of student feedback, we are pleased to announce that the Sustainability Café is now 100% vegetarian/ vegan.

Newly opened in September 2021, the vibrant café, which boasts spectacular views and contemporary indoor and outdoor seating, has been built using sustainable materials including Forest Stewardship Council certified timber, and furniture fabric made from upcycled, discarded ocean plastics.

The Food and Drink team actively engages with suppliers to reduce the environmental impacts of its operations. Fairtrade and south-west suppliers are sourced for bread, milk, cakes, confectionary, fruit, and vegetables, whenever possible.

The menu has been recently updated to include more vegan and locally sourced produce. Students, staff and campus visitors can enjoy a slice of vegetarian Homity Pie, Mediterranean Pie or gently spiced Chickpea and Spinach Vegan Pie, baked by Devonshire bakers, Peck and Strong.

Organic vegan/vegetarian soup is made by Rod and Ben’s in Exeter, who only use locally sourced ingredients. Freshly prepared local Prima rolls are available with flavoursome fillings and are plated with seasonal salad and crisps.

Quench your thirst the Cornish way with Jolly’s soft drinks, or enjoy quality Cornish Coffee and Cornish Tregothnan loose leaf teas. A tempting selection of cakes is available including vegan options made by The Exploding Bakery in Devon. Confectionary includes Buttermilk vegan chocolate, made locally in Bodmin with sustainable packaging, and Fairtrade Divine chocolate, and Fairtrade Green & Blacks organic chocolate.

No single-use plastic bottles or disposable cups are available in the café and reusable cups are for sale with a hot drink included on first purchase.

To minimise plastic wastage on campus, a new sustainable milk refill initiative is open to all customers. Buy a litre of Cornish Trewithen Dairy semi-skimmed milk in our branded glass bottles for £3, then bring back your empty bottle and purchase a fresh bottle for £1.10.

To celebrate Veganuary, the Food & Drink team is also offering a small hot box value vegan curry in the Stannary exclusively in January for £2.50 for those wanting to try a vegan offer. Every day our chefs also prepare a hot vegan special in both the Stannary and Fox Café.

If you are craving pizza, Koofi provides vegetarian and vegan pizza as well as a gluten free option.

Our Penryn Campus Shop also has a dedicated vegan section and will be sharing vegan recipes throughout the month – online and in-store. Keep your eyes peeled on the food and drink social media for details and offers.

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Career Advancement at FX Plus

January 21, 2022

Falmouth Exeter Plus is supporting a change of career direction for Estates team member Charlotte Putnam.

Charlotte, who has been working for Falmouth Exeter Plus since 2018, said the whole move was inspired by working on her grandmother’s home.

She explained: “My grandmother left her property to us and it needed quite a lot of renovation so I did a weekend course in plumbing. I had always wanted to do something like this and the course made me even more keen.”

Charlotte, who had been working with the Estates Helpdesk team, knew she would need a lot more training to realise her aims. She requested and is now a Junior Engineer on the Plant team and recently started a four-year Mechatronics course studying for an Engineering Technician Diploma.

“FX Plus has provided me with the opportunity to do this,” she added. “The fact they are really keen on training their own people makes you feel valued.”

Chris Piper, Head of Estates Operations and Charlotte’s manager, said: “When Charlotte approached me this seemed to be an ideal opportunity to support her in her chosen career path and for Falmouth Exeter Plus to benefit from her skills and enthusiasm. This training package also supports the national drive by WISE.”

WISE aims to support more women to be successful in the UK’s scientific, technology and engineering (STEM) workforce.

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Sustainability highlights 21/22

November 29, 2021

Our Top Ten Sustainability Highlights for the 2020 – 2021 Academic Year

It’s been over two years since the University of Exeter and Falmouth University declared a climate and environment emergency. Even in amongst a global pandemic, both institutions have been actively transforming themselves to raise the climate agenda across the student curriculum and life on campus. At FX Plus, our operations are pivotal for this to happen, so here are our top ten sustainability highlights:

Launched the FX Plus 2030 Sustainability Strategy & Policy. These two files outline our climate and environment targets, objectives and projects. The strategy ultimately outlines how we’re going embedding sustainability across FX Plus and how this supports the universities independent sustainability strategies.

Last academic year we recorded a 47% drop in energy emissions per m2 for Penryn Campus based against our 2005 to 2006 AY baseline. This follows the integration of energy efficient infrastructure we are implementing across campus.

Sustainability Week 2021 was another great success – we hosted 35 events open to all staff, students and the local community. Recordings for these sessions can be found here.

We produced our first comprehensive carbon emission profile for the University of Exeter including Penryn Campus. The same profiling system was used in collaboration with Falmouth University, working together on shared climate reduction and sustainability targets.

Following campus lockdown, we dedicated 4.5 acres of land on Penryn Campus for wildflowers. Last year, we maintained and improved the quality of these areas through volunteering events.

As part of the grounds biodiversity agenda, we have also designed and installed four customised biodiversity signs as well as a series of signs illustrating areas for regeneration and wildflowers, which we hope to help educate our campus community about their local natural environment and inspire them to engage in conservation and sustainability.

Our procurement team partnered with Net Positive Futures to initiate data collection and climate action plans amongst our supply chain. Our aim is for 100% of our supply chain to have completed this by the end of 2022.

We launched our flagship Sustainability Café with the new building extension to the Daphne du Maurier building. The café along with its outstanding views of the ocean, offers seasonal and locally sourced produce, organic where possible and a variety of vegan and vegetarian options.

Our Penryn Campus was awarded the bronze award with the British Hedgehog Preservation Society Hedgehog Friendly Campus program. This follows a series of initiatives implemented by the grounds team to protect and raise awareness on hedgehog safety across campus.

Penryn Campus was also awarded the Green Flag zone award for the fourth year running. This continues the campuses excellent approach to the protection and regeneration of ecology.

Any questions or if you would like to learn more, please email sustainability@fxplus.ac.uk.

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Management apprenticeship award

November 26, 2021

Congratulations to Emily Stanbury, winner of the Management category in this year’s Truro and Penwith College Apprenticeship Awards.

IT Project Manager Emily, who has been working for Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) for nearly seven years, said: “I was very surprised to win as the other candidates had clearly achieved a lot on their courses and I won it in 2019 so I didn’t expect it again. It was nice to be shortlisted and be able to go to an event after so long.”

Stuart Gaslonde, FX Plus Director of IT and Digital Services, said: “This award is well deserved – Emily has worked really hard over the years and we are delighted that we have been able to support her with the appropriate training to expand her skills. At FX Plus we are very keen on supporting apprenticeships and other training opportunities.”

Emily started with FX Plus as a Service Desk Support Technician and moved on to Print Services Manager, which is when she started the apprenticeship to support that role. During the apprenticeship she got a secondment to Project Management which was recently made into a permanent position.

She said: “The course I did was a combination of a diploma and apprenticeship and was called Level 3 Team Leader Supervisor. I had to spend one day a week working on the apprenticeship as part of my role. This could be a day in college, writing assignments or taking on extra responsibilities in my role. I also had to complete work in my own time due to the amount of work there was to complete as part of the diploma.

“I did the apprenticeship to support me in the promotion to Print Services Manager. I wanted to improve my skills and confidence in my abilities but also to look into other areas of management I would be interested in. This turned out to be project management!”

Emily, who was also a highly commended runner up for Apprentice of the Year, has more plans to progress. She said: “Next, I have been selected to take part in a programme called Aurora which encourages and develops female leaders in Higher Education. It begins in January so I am looking forward to starting that.”

Truro and Penwith College Apprenticeship Awards celebrates exceptional achievements. After a break because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s gala awards dinner (on Friday 19 November) was presented by Holly Day and Neil Caddy from Pirate FM.

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Excellence Awards

November 23, 2021

Falmouth Exeter Plus has scooped five of the ten in this year’s Falmouth University Staff Excellence Awards.

Paula Sanderson, Falmouth Exeter Plus Managing Director, said: “Congratulations to all Falmouth and Falmouth Exeter Plus winners. These awards are a testament to the continued hard work everyone is putting in to ensure students and other campus users receive a top quality service even during a global pandemic. It’s great that so many individuals and teams from Falmouth Exeter Plus have been recognised for their part in this.”

The Falmouth Exeter Plus winners are:

Collaborative Working:

ATS Cleaning Team

Lauren Bowers – Casual General Assistant: Cleaning
Melissa Hall – Cleaner
Liam Jarvis – Cleaner

When the Asymptomatic Testing Site centre was established at Penryn campus, Lauren, Melissa and Liam took on the challenge of ensuring an efficient and effective cleaning operation. This meant changing shifts, undertaking additional training and putting the health and wellbeing of others before their own. For six months, the team worked hard to ensure that students and staff could be tested safely.

Raising Service Standards:

IT Services Customer Service Excellence Team

Chris Accleton-Pennell – Software Development Engineer
Natasha Davey – Service Desk Technician
Gary Egan – Operations Manager (Launchpad)
Gemma Prisk – Service Excellence Manager
Mark Rosevear – Platform Engineer
Emily Stanbury – IT Project Manager
Lewis Williams – Network Engineer
Azhlee Wonnacott – Estates Helpdesk Assets & Data Co-ordinator

The IT Services Customer Service Excellence Team was established to embed service excellence across the department, and in May 2021, it was officially accredited as meeting the Cabinet Office backed ‘Customer Service Excellence’ standard. The team has raised the bar on service standards and taken a leap forward in the way it engages customers, helping to create a culture of continual service improvement.

Business Improvement:

Cornwall Plus Team

Marc Chadburn – Events Officer
Debbie Lilly – Sales & Marketing Manager
Roschen Pharo – Halls Officer (Reception)
Lorna Sullivan – Head of Operations (Events, Conferences & Summer Accommodation)
Sam Woods – Senior Operations Manager (Maternity Cover)

Following the implementation of a revised strategy, the Cornwall Plus Team had a record-breaking year in terms of sales – smashing targets to exceed £1m in income over the summer. Improved customer management helped the team to win gold in the Cornwall Tourism Awards’ ‘International’ category, and efficiency savings across the service resulted in a significant increase in the profit margin per room.

Supporting staff and student mental health & wellbeing:

Staff Wellbeing Drop-in Sessions Team (a mix of organisations including our own Becky Nesbitt).

Tom Ingate – Senior Lecturer: BA Press & Editorial Photography
Clare Manser – Partnership Wellbeing Programme Lead
Rebecca Nesbitt – Coordinating Chaplain

A collaboration with the mental health of staff at its heart, the staff wellbeing drop-in sessions were introduced to give staff a safe and friendly place to talk and be part of a community at a time when the pandemic had taken away the possibility of meeting in person. The team organising the sessions responded flexibly to meet the needs of those joining and made attendees feel heard and connected.

Going the Extra Mile:

Security & Night Services Team

Misbah Abrahamjee – Security Team Supervisor
Cameron Brown – Night Services Officer
Nick Brown – Night Services Officer
Lois Craze – Customer Services Supervisor
Max Davidson – Night Services Officer
Richard Eddy – Post Room Officer
Liam Fairley – Casual Security Officer
Jess Goulding – Customer Services Manager
Ellie Grey – Night Services Manager
Daniel Hawkey – Security Operations Manager
Eddy Heffer – Campus Patrol Officer – Dedicated Days
Zoe Jenkins – Deputy Night Services Manager
Dean Jennison – Night Services Officer
Kyren Kennedy – Night Services Officer
Paddy Layland – Security Support Officer
Stewart Ledbury – Campus Patrol Officer
James Lowe – Deputy Night Services Manager
Lee Mitchell – Night Services Officer
Stephen Newton – Night Services Officer
Helen Olver – Night Services Officer
Tom Pascoe – Campus Patrol Officer
Claudio Pavan – Security Support Officer
Graham Phillips – Night Services Officer
Ryan Pill – Campus Patrol Officer
Nick Richards – Night Services Officer
Stephen Templeton – Campus Patrol Officer – Dedicated Days
Carl White – Night Services Officer

The Security & Night Services Teams continued to support the campus operation during the pandemic and worked together under challenging circumstances to ensure the safety and security of campus users in line with Government guidelines. The teams also took on a range of additional duties to ensure that everything ran smoothly, including assisting the Estates team and delivering post and IT equipment to staff who were working from home.

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