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Our sustainability and management practices were assessed, and Uplands were awarded a Silver sustainability rating, putting us in the top 15% of businesses in the UK.

The process also highlighted ways for Uplands to meet our corporate sustainability goals, and drive impact at scale by guiding the sustainability performance improvement of both company and supply chain.

The overall score places us in the Top 1% of suppliers reviewed.

“We are taking on this huge challenge for a little-known charity called Action Medical Research. Action was founded in 1952 by Duncan Guthrie in his quest to find a cure for polio, and for his daughter Janet. Early research funded by the charity helped to develop the first oral polio vaccine which eradicated new cases of the disease in the UK. Later, Action helped to develop the use of ultrasound in pregnancy and the rubella vaccine – helping to save thousands of children’s lives and change many more. Action have continued to fund vital research projects and have made some remarkable discoveries which have prolonged the lives of poorly children the world over, more recently the cooling cap for new-born babies, research into childhood cancers, meningitis research for kids and the list goes on.

As a team, assisted by some key sponsors, we are supporting Action Medical Research’s “Born Too Soon” campaign, supporting research into premature birth and its ongoing effects. Every year in the UK alone, over 61,000 babies are born prematurely with many suffering illness and disabilities which can remain with them throughout their lives. Globally, premature birth is the biggest killer of children under five years old.

Our team’s name is Elijah’s Star and is named after baby Elijah who was born prematurely at 25 weeks weighing just 1lb 13oz. Elijah tragically died at just 37 days old. Before he died, his parents allowed Elijah to become part of a study (funded by Action) trying to find a way to identify conditions in premature babies before they become life-threatening. Jenny, Elijah’s mum, explained why they took part in the Action research “Elijah led a very traumatic little life so any change that could stop another child going through this would be amazing”. With permission from Elijah’s family, we are racing in his name and will aim to row across the Atlantic in just 37 days, for every day that Elijah lived. It will be quite a test for four 50 – something chaps, but we’ll put our backs into it and do the hard yards.”

Dean Frost
Clade Engineering

We would like to thank everyone involved in supporting this achievement, and continuing to maintain the high standards we set ourselves as a business.

Our annual Achilles audit (Client: National Grid) also went really well with a 100% pass rate on both our internal Documentation / Procedures and evaluation Site Visit. A superb achievement and a big thanks to everyone that has contributed in this process.

The project has been well received by the local community and opened by Michael Eavis of the Glastonbury Festival. Thanks and well done to all involved.

The EcoVadis Rating covers a broad range of management systems including Environmental, Labour & Human Rights, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement impacts.

At Uplands we are grateful to all of our colleagues, supply chain partners, and clients, for playing their vital parts in the collaborated approach to delivering great schemes safely.

The project itself was 5 weeks onsite, however, it took a whole year to develop and manage, from its conception back in March 2018 through to delivery in May 2019. Completion was a major success, not least because of the huge acceptance from and excitement of the local residents, as reported in the Bristol Post and on YouTube, showing the massive queue at its launch on 16th May.

Costa Coffee, M&S Simply Food, Ikea and Amazon are new additions to its portfolio which includes Tesco, Morrisons, Primark, Center Parcs and The National Grid.

Five new vans bring Uplands’ fleet up to 13 vehicles in total which in a variety of sizes support the company’s efficient delivery of projects and services all over the UK.

“At Uplands, our team is committed to reliability and professionalism no matter the brief,” says MD Kevin Feldman, “so it’s important to look smart and work smart and this applies to every element of the company including our transportation.”