A Training and Research Centre located in the world’s tallest drainage testing installation, The National Lift Tower, in Northampton, has undergone a major refurbishment in a bid to improve and enhance the state-of-the-art facility. The Training and Research Centre serves as a hub for innovation in high-rise plumbing systems. It is run by fluid management solutions company, Aliaxis UK, which is utilising its vast experience to maximise the training potential and enhance the learning outcomes for the wider industry. The site offers a range of capabilities essential for advancing high-rise building solutions, helping to test drainage, waste, and ventilation systems, including gravity drainage and hot and cold solutions. The Aliaxis Training and Research Centre also features the world’s tallest drainage testing installation – a 75m soil stack, which can recreate 40 flushes within the system to test real-life situations. As part of the revamp, the Training and Research Centre has been upgraded to facilitate hands-on practical training, as well as CPDs on active drainage ventilation delivered by industry experts. Barry Stubbs, Technical Training Academy Manager for Aliaxis UK, said: “We pride ourselves on delivering best-in-class training and CPDs and felt the Training and Research Centre’s interior needed to reflect that. As a result, the revamped interior now has new decor, furniture, and facilities, providing a dedicated training space and modern meeting rooms.” With exceptional technical capabilities, the facilities housed within the National Lift Tower attract industry professionals from across the globe, including building regulation inspectors, consultants, designers, international developers, M&E contractors, main contractors, and public health engineers. Dave Thomas, Head of Technical Support Services for Aliaxis, said: “These experts visit our centre to conduct research, development, testing, and to receive practical training and upskill their knowledge across various industries, strengthening its role as a central hub for innovation. “We look forward to welcoming visitors who want to see it for themselves, and have the opportunity to watch high-rise drainage in action with a live demonstration or by joining a CPD session.” Built by the Express Lift Company, the structure, previously called the Express Lift Tower, was used as a lift-testing tower. It was commissioned in 1978 and officially opened in 1982, and has been a Grade II Listed Building since 1997.

A Nottingham chemical manufacturing firm has responded to increasing demand for its products by creating new office space and taking on three new members of staff. Promethean Particles has converted a mezzanine storage area at its site in Midland Way, adding 62m² of open plan office space to the building, which now contains 16 additional desks. The latest appointments – in the shape of synthetic chemist Andy Jones, process development engineer David Van Gelder Adjar and process engineer James Dales – bring the company’s headcount up to 17 – virtually double the number of staff at this time last year. The expansion brings to a close a pivotal year for Promethean Particles, which is leading the UK in increasing the production volumes of a class of advanced materials called MOFs – which stands for metal-organic frameworks – in cost-effective ways. MOFs are tiny crystal structures which have extremely large internal surface areas and can be used for a variety of purposes, including trapping carbon dioxide (CO₂) created by the burning of industrial fuels. Promethean Particles has patented a unique method for producing them cost-effectively in large quantities, while also helping to develop them for carbon capture and other industrial uses. Andy joined the company having completed his PhD in sustainable chemistry at the University of Nottingham, and previously studied at the University of York. Both universities have green chemistry centres promoting sustainable principles and joining Promethean Particles, which is pioneering technology originally developed at Nottingham, is a dream step for Andy. He said: “My PhD involved making MOFs so when I saw a role was available at Promethean Particles as a synthetic chemist with a focus on MOFs, I couldn’t quite believe it. “My role at the company is to help develop scalable and cost-effective ways of producing high-quality MOFs at lab-scale, which can then be scaled-up beyond the lab by our engineering and operations team. “MOFs have been reported academically for several decades, but they’ve only really gained traction in industry over the past 15 years or so, so this is certainly a very good time for me to be working here.” David previously worked as a technology project and process engineer in the lubricants industry before seeking a new a challenge. He said: “My work bridges the gap between our R&D and operations functions to ensure our manufacturing processes are scaled-up safely, efficiently and cost-effectively, all while maintaining high product quality. “I enjoy this type of work because it gives me the opportunity to bring new ideas into a company that is doing something different and revolutionary.” James Dale is taking a year out of his degree course at the University of Nottingham, where he is studying chemical and environmental engineering, to work as a process engineer. The company appealed to him because one of his lecturers, Ed Lester, is Promethean Particles’ founder and chief scientific officer, and James wanted to work at the firm which was putting Ed’s innovation into practice. At the company, James is working with prototype carbon capture units that contain MOFs, where he is gathering data to inform on how the technology can be used at industrial scale to achieve decarbonisation goals. He said: “MOFs are in the early stages of their commercialisation journey, but they’re very exciting materials. “While I’ve been primarily working on carbon capture, MOFs can be used for many different applications, including water harvesting, so I’m interested to see where else they can be used in the future.” James Stephenson, chief executive officer of Promethean Particles, said: “We have had an incredibly exciting year and it’s been wonderful to see our new office space taking shape while welcoming three more new starters to the team. “Our company has grown significantly during 2024. We closed a £8 million investment round and we have created an extraordinary amount of interest in MOFs and our proprietary manufacturing process this year. “In particular we have been contacted by organisations which need to limit their carbon emissions and companies which design and manufacture the equipment which would be used to house the MOFs when they are eventually put to use.”

Greg Simpson, founder of Press For Attention PR, shares his media relations ‘don’ts’. I write this with a tricorne perched jauntily upon my head. This stylish hat covers that of a PR consultant of some two decades, that of a published author on PR and that of a former business journalist. Hat collecting aside, I’ve learned a LOT over two decades in the PR trenches in terms of how to do things the right way. Especially when it comes to pitching the media. Funnily enough, that bit is not actually what PR is. Not solely anyway. That bit of PR is what we term ‘Media Relations’ and is part of the toolkit we use. You can add in events, awards, thought leadership, blogs, white papers, stunts, partnerships, CSR, the list goes on. However, for MOST of the people reading this who are not PR specialists, this is the bit you will want to master pretty pronto to begin making headway – Media Relations. Hint, that word ‘RELATIONS’ crops up a lot in PR. You need to start thinking win/win and ensuring that you are both contributing. Anyway, rather than a list of DOs, I thought, why not flag up some DON’Ts? To aid my memory (2 decades is a fair old whack you know), I have asked some reporters who I know well and who will remain anonymous, barring one, the reporter of this very parish, Tess Egginton. Let’s start with Tess then shall we? “Not providing photos with their stories” really makes life tricky for Tess. This means that she has to go off and find a pretty dull stock photo to illustrate the article. Of course, her other option is to simply move on. Tess is nice. Tess tries to help. I say, try to help Tess. If you want a reporter to cover your news, at least find the time to get a photo done. Even if it is your LinkedIn pic that’s been doing a lot of heavy lifting content wise for years. It puts a face to a name and makes it far more likely that someone will want to read the article. You have to remember that it is Tess’s job to educate, inform and entertain her audience. Make it as simple as possible for her to do that and you will reap the benefits. I actually have a story in my drafts as this is being typed where my client is helping another organisation but the other organisation will not provide a photo. They “don’t have any.” Well, get one! It’s £100, maybe £150 and the reward will be 10x over. Until the photo comes, we can’t run the story. Well, we could but guess what, it is less likely to gain coverage and if it does, it is likely that the third party will barely feature. That would be a shame but it would be down to them. There’s plenty more, in fact, this might be my second book! Try blind copying a list of reporters and see how effective that is. I mean, how to make it look like you REALLY care about that relationship! Or pitching a reporter that has never covered the angle you have. Not because there’s been an editorial oversight but because you are asking an insurance reporter to write about diet hacks. Or a lifestyle specialist to cover the latest ‘insight’ on pensions. How about calling a journalist to pitch them when their X profile specifically says not to? Do your research folks! Or keenly flagging a story about Cambridge to a reporter who covers Derby – I have seen this first hand many, many times. Not always Derby, obviously! The “did you get my email” chase is never very welcome. If it didn’t bounce back, then yes, they did. Now, they might not have seen it. So, a better chase-up would be to send a different photo or an extra quote to see if you can add value. Most annoying of all? I would say one that us PRs and journos both despair of…failing to deliver before the deadline or going AWOL. If you are working with a reporter on something, don’t ghost them. If you can’t do something, tell them. Don’t fail to show up on the first date! Media RELATIONS remember. *There are NO guarantees in PR! Some won’t care one little bit.   A former business journalist, Greg Simpson is the author of The Small Business Guide to PR and has been recognised as one of the UK’s top 5 PR consultants, having set up Press For Attention PR in 2008. He has worked for FTSE 100 firms, charities and start-ups and conducted press conferences with Sir Richard Branson and James Caan. His background ensures a deep understanding of every facet of a successful PR campaign – from a journalist’s, client’s, and consultant’s perspective.