Category: Blog

National Technology Day celebrates the power of technology to transform all areas of the global economy. And mobile Welfare Units are the perfect encapsulation of this. 

While there are legal requirements all construction sites must meet – such as providing access to toilets, washing facilities and drinking water – it is only through innovative design and  technology that mobile welfare units have become what they are today.

Bringing together a variety of innovative technologies, modern mobile welfare units like ours are able to both improve employee experience and reduce the environmental impact of the vehicles. In this article, we explore three key ways technology has helped make this transformation of mobile welfare units possible:

1. More efficient energy

Traditionally, most welfare units were powered entirely by diesel generators and produced extremely high carbon emissions. This was bad in a number ways: fuel was expensive, the energy usage was inefficient and the high emissions were environmentally harmful.

As the technology has evolved, however, innovative mobile welfare units have become increasingly fuel efficient. Market leading models, such as the EcoXLi, now run on a sophisticated hybrid power system, which can eliminate emissions and is far more energy efficient.

It utilises a combination of renewable solar energy and a next generation lithium batteries that is capable of powering the entire system. This minimises the need for generator power, and the EcoXLi only features a small 3.5VA Backup HVO generator.

The result? A zero carbon mobile welfare unit that runs on 100% silent and clean green energy, without compromising on quality – and is extremely reliable.

2. Better water usage

Water is essential for any welfare unit, as they must legally provide wash facilities, toilets and drinking water. However, most units operate highly inefficient water systems, based on outdated technology, and chemical WC facilities.

In contrast, Welfare Hire’s mobile welfare units, which have embraced smart water technology, are able to provide more reliable, cleaner and more cost efficient wash and WC facilities. The ECOXLi, once again, is the perfect example: its Smart Water system uses 100% recycled rainwater, alongside an XXL water tank that is capable of servicing the entire system, including non-chemical, water-flush toilets.

This ensures that the unit provides the absolute best hygiene, with XL hot water sinks and ECO Water Flush toilets in two full-size separate WCs. But it also unlocks efficiency savings against other, less advanced units.

Because the average welfare unit operates smaller chemical WC waste tanks, they must be serviced and emptied more frequently – which involves added transportation costs and increased carbon emissions. But the ECOXLi’s much larger water system ensures that servicing is less frequent – thereby reducing these costs whilst improving hygiene and wash facilities onsite.

3. Usability

A lot of technological progress is focused on functionality. But there is also huge scope for technology to make products easier and more pleasant for the end-user.

This is another key factor in the evolution of modern mobile welfare units: technology has made them far easier to optimise utilisation for the average user.

Take the ECOXLi’s Smart Telemetry system. Featuring a live dashboard, the digital technology makes it extremely simple for users to manage and optimise their welfare unit’s power usage. With real-time monitoring, as well as reporting on volumetric data for your sites and projects, you can ensure that no more power is used than necessary.

And in combination with the ECOXLi’s Smart auto system, this means you produce the optimal value from your water and power system.

Welfare Hire is driven by technology

As a business whose growth has been powered by innovation, we at Welfare Hire understand how transformative technology can be. That is why we continue to reinvest our revenue into new products and asset upgrades – so that ours remains the biggest and most technologically advanced fleet in the UK.

If you’d like to discover more about the technology behind our innovative vehicles, click here to get in touch today.

Service Driven & Quality Guaranteed

Having the largest, greenest and most technologically advanced fleet in the market is only one part of our unique offering. Delivering superb customer service, developing lasting client relationships and ‘going the extra mile’ is what really sets us apart. We see our clients as partners and always strive to exceed expectations, delivering value with dedicated specialist product and services to achieve their sustainability and wellbeing goals on every hire.

We take immense pride in everything we supply, providing premium levels of nationwide customer service and support to match the quality of our market-leading mobile welfare units.

How Do We Achieve This?

DEDICATED EXPERT SERVICE TEAMS
With nationwide cover and regular, rigorous maintenance, our customer relationships rely on specialist support and advice from our team of experts.
 

62-POINT QUALITY ASSURANCE CHECK
Our dedicated in-house facilities enable us to keep all our mobile ECO welfare units to a consistently high level of specification and standard. Our 62-point pre-hire inspection includes a specialist spray booth and mechanical service & operational testing to ensure consistent quality across our entire fleet.
 

RELIABLE, GREENER, FLEXIBLE FLEET
Welfare Hire’s dedicated drivers & low emissions vehicles deliver almost anywhere in the UK within 24 hours providing a reliable, greener solution. Without the need for expensive HGVs or site access planning, we provide a smart, flexible and cost-effective transport.

SPECIALIST ADVICE ON WELFARE UNITS
Our highly trained Customer Service Engineers offer technical and specialist advice, with expertise to resolve all repairs and queries on our ECO units.

We add significant value as standard by reliably delivering equipment to site when required, ensuring sites can operate efficiently and meet key deadlines. As the UK’s leading welfare hire specialist, we have designed our unique support offering to meet our client needs, exceed expectations and optimise project efficiencies.

1. Specialist service & support
2. Dedicated account management
3. 99.1% perfect hire days
4. Personal touch
5. Market-leading quality assurance
6. Green, reliable & 100% customer focussed

Check out our service department and dedicated maintenance hub HERE.

Make yourself comfortable, grab a cuppa and meet one of the friendliest faces at
Kelling Group, our newly promoted Internal Sales Manager Faye…

Tell us a little bit about your role Faye

My new role is Internal Sales Manager for the Welfare Hire division of the group. This involves supplying new prospects and accounts with quotes and information on our full range of Welfare Hire products and services. I then follow up to ensure that the client has all the information required and help set them up with their first hire. As part of this, we also prospect for new clients and develop lasting hire relationships for the future. I find this both rewarding and exciting, no two days are the same. I enjoy the challenges that come along with this and find liaising with new clients a pleasure and natural progression from my previous role, running the busy reception at our HQ.

When you first joined the team, what where your goals & aspirations?

When I joined the company four years ago, I aspired to be a welcoming, helpful member of the team. I wanted to make visitors and staff feel totally at ease and ensure that visits went smoothly and professionally, whilst still being warm and personable. Being the ‘first face’ guests met, I wanted to ensure I set the tone and left visitors with a great first impression.

So what did you do before you joined us?

Before joining Kelling Group, I was an office manager for a GP practice.  With a team of receptionists, secretaries, and prescription clerks to juggle along with the GP’s, it could be challenging. I also have a few other strings to my bow including,  Barclays Deeds/Redemptions and mortgage arrears departments, flooring sales and GP’s receptionist. All very client-facing, people focussed roles.

Tell us a bit about your professional development here at Kelling..

I have the very trusted support of my fellow Internal Sales Manager, Daniel. He has been instrumental in my development within sales and continues to support my growth. We work as a team so he is always available to guide me through anything I am unsure of. Having already been with the company for almost four years, I already had a strong knowledge of our great products and services, but this is still growing; every day’s a school day.

So what is it like being part of ‘Team Kelling’?!

Working at Kelling Group is like having a very large extended family. We have great internal working relationships along with a great sense of trust in each other and our proposition. During my time in reception, I was very much the mother of the company. Looking after people has always been and will always be a priority for me though, so I thrive on it.

What do you like about what we do? What particularly resonates with you?

I love that as a responsible supplier, we are exploring every avenue to make our products as kind to the environment as possible. Using solar power, rainwater harvesting and smart telemetry systems, we can meet client needs whilst looking after the planet and keeping running costs low.

And what is your favourite thing about working here?

The best part of working here is the people, without a shadow of a doubt. From the board of directors to the cleaning staff, we are all in it together. We are all a very approachable bunch, sure we have quirks, but I think it’s great that we are all allowed to have personalities. The way that I have seen people grow within the company gave me the push to grow my own career path too. If there is potential to progress within the company, then it is picked up on and encouraged 100%. 

What do you get up to outside of work?

I like to relax as much as possible, travel and socialise with my family and friends. I can’t wait to start travelling more now that Covid restrictions are dissipating.

Go on – tell us something we don’t know about you!

My grandma starred in Kes, I am a qualified riding instructor and I once had champagne with Take That. I also had afternoon tea with Paul Young! 

DON’T MISS – Raconteur’s Future of Infrastructure 2022…

As featured in The Times on 23 March, the report examines the vital role and changing face of the UK’s infrastructure sector.

If you operate within the infrastructure space, we would highly recommend catching up on thought provoking publication – a must for anyone in the industry.

As a leading provider of specialist long-term hire and lease equipment to the UK infrastructure sector, we are proud to be playing our part by supporting the sector with our range of sustainable, market-leading solutions.

Our Access and Welfare Hire divisions are the UK’s leading providers of modern vehicle access and mobile ECO welfare and lighting units for the sector.

Supporting Tomorrow’s Infrastructure

Our exclusive ‘Kelling Guarantee’, which is driven by our five strategic pillars of Quality, Service, Environment, Wellbeing and Value, sets us apart in terms of client care and product excellence. This means our clients can depend on market-leading, modern, reliable vehicles and equipment at competitive rates, as well as exceptional service and nationwide customer support.

With regular annual investment of £25m-30m in our market-leading fleet, our aim is to set the standard within the industry for modern, innovative, eco-friendly specialist equipment hire. Quality-driven and with an ongoing emphasis on innovation and client care, we have grown to become one of the most respected long-term hire and lease providers in our sector.

Download The Full Report HERE.

If you haven’t been taking the upcoming changes to fuel costs seriously, you’re going to have to start soon. 

As of 1 April 2022, red diesel will no longer be available at a rebated rate for many commercial applications – including a majority of users in the construction industry. This will cause prices to nearly double overnight, forcing businesses to dramatically rethink their fuel consumption.

Why are fuel costs going up?

Put simply, the fuel changes are a direct consequence of efforts to mitigate climate change. The UK government has set itself ambitious targets to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality. And by taxing the use of red diesel, they hope to force businesses to switch to more environmentally friendly alternatives. 

But there has been significant resistance to these changes. As energy prices continue to rise, many industry leaders have lobbied for the government to delay the removal of rebates for red diesel. Without these rebates, they say, many contractors will be unable to stay afloat.

However, these contractors overlook the possibility of not just reducing their reliance on red diesel – but actually reducing their overall fuel usage.

Getting to the heart of the problem

Sourcing alternatives to red diesel is important, but it is ultimately a band aid solution. Fuel prices are currently very unpredictable, and show little sign of becoming more stable. So the problem many construction contractors face is not just the cost of fuel – it is the amount of it their equipment requires. 

The only viable long-term solution is therefore to upgrade to greener equipment, which uses fuel far more efficiently. How can this be done? Our range of ECO welfare units are a perfect example.

The ECO10 runs on hybrid power, enabling it to use 90% less fuel each day than a standard static unit. But that’s not all: it also features an XL Smart Water system, which reduces the frequency with which it needs to be refilled and serviced – and therefore helps reduce transport and the use of fuel further.

Overall, this will significantly reduce business’s reliance on fuel of any kind – as well as offering a range of other benefits, such as reduced noise and better onsite welfare.

Change the approach, not the source

As a business, we want to help our partners change how they think about problems. By simply replacing their existing welfare units with more technologically advanced ones, they can get to the heart of the problem. 

So as competitors scramble to find more eco-friendly fuel sources, our partners are able to see a more direct and sustainable route to change – one that is both more eco-friendly and more financially viable.

As construction sites seek to embrace sustainability, the majority focus heavily on CO₂ emissions from their welfare units and other key machinery. But what is frequently overlooked is the often highly unsustainable use of water throughout projects.

Water waste goes unnoticed

Of course, water is essential to construction. We use it for everything from grouting and dust suppression to drinking and WC facilities. The problem is we are not sufficiently aware of how wasteful this usage can be. 

The UK does not currently experience severe water shortages. But with more than 785 million people across the globe struggling to access clean water¹, we still have a responsibility to be mindful about our use of this vital resource. 

The sustainable management of water is one of the UN’s key Sustainable Develop Goals (SDGs) for a reason. And for construction leaders looking to improve their site’s ESG credentials, making better use of water is key.

Understanding onsite water waste

The average construction vehicle has four basic problems when it comes to water usage:

1. The water is generally sourced from water supplies rather than more sustainable alternatives
2. The water is not recycled after usage
3. Water tanks for facilities are often too small, leading to regular refills that produce high carbon emissions and enviable waste
4. The usage is difficult to manage and therefore non-optimal

The result is that most sites’ water system is not environmentally sound. It wastes water, produces unnecessary carbon emissions and is often highly unreliable.

Our Smart Water solves this problem

At Welfare Hire, all of our mobile welfare units come fitted with a Smart Water system which solves these problems and immediately improves the overall sustainability of your construction site. 

The ECOXLi, for example, offers a complete system. 

It harvests 100% recyclable rainwater to refill the unit’s water tanks and WCs. This is then stored in an XL water tank with 340L capacity, which reduces the need for maintenance and servicing. And it comes fitted with a Smart Telemetry system which monitors the usage of water in order to minimise the need for transport and ensure there is always clean water available.  

With this system, the welfare unit is able to provide water whenever it is needed, as well as two ECO water flush toilets – all while reducing the amount of water your site needs to operate on and lowering carbon emissions.

The benefits are clear for your business, your workers and the planet.

Get in touch to try it yourself

If you’d like to future proof your business with a Smart Water System, reach out to our sales team today.