HIGHLIGHTS   

Suffolk Business Network

Alan Jordan, Technical Director of Jordan Environmental Ltd was interviewed by Suffolk Business Network and the following article was in the Directory.

THE MAINTENANCE of healthy water and ventilation systms is a crucial element of the job function of anybody working in a building services maintenance capacity, both for health and legal reasons.

The costs of ignoring such issues can be high, Legionnaire's disease and Sick Building Syndrome being two of the more notorious outcomes of failing to observe proper maintenance procedures.

Yet many building maintennce professionals face a dilemma. They recognise the dangers posed by poorly maintained water and ventilation systems but are unsure who to turn to for honest and realistic advice in this specialist area.

Alan Jordan, Managing Director of Jordan Environmental Ltd understands this scenario only too well and his business has been established as a direct response.

He says: "Increases in Health and Safety related legilsation relating to building maintenance mean this is an issue that building services professionals can no longer simply consider 'out of sight, out of mind'.

At Jordan Environmental Ltd, we pride ourselves on our integrity and a thoroughly professional approach in this much-misunderstood area, providing guidance to clients that ensures their buildings remain 'heatlhy' and at the same time they remain on the "right side of the law".

"Unlike many of the industry, we avoid the temptation to oversell our services by making unnecessary recommendations to clients about their water or ventilation systems. What we do offer is honest, open advice, as we believe this is the most realistic way of securing their business both now and in the long term".

Jordan Environmental Ltd, which was founded nearly eight years ago, is based in Bury St Edmunds from where is serves a broad client base in North London, the Eastern Counties and the Midlands.

"One of our clients once described us as the biggest small company he knew. It was said in a flattering way and endorsed our belief in being customer led as we grow. All of our range of sevices tend to be inter-linked. This is no coincidence and has often been enabled to provide customer service by request. "Alan expalins by example: "Where we used to complete chemical cleaning of water systmes to improve water hygiene this has led to this services on closed heating and chilled systems for pre-commissioning purposes or to restore them to an efficient operational condition. Another example is where inspection and cleaning of ventilation systems has led to us providing COSHH required testing of Local Exhaust Ventilation systems and fume cupboards.

He goes on to say: "We try to maintain a health and environmental theme that inevatibly makes commercial as well as moral sense to our clients. 'Helathy building' occupants are comfortable and therefore will work more effectively and take fewer days off through illness. Additionally 'Healthy building services work more efficiently too, therefore requiring less energy and maintenance that is both good for environmental sustainability and at reducing the running costs".

The company take a modern, progressive approach to its work, the aim being to provide bespoke solutions that meet the individual requirements of clients.

Adds Alan: "We are embracing new technology that can offer improved efficiency, environmental sustainability and reduced hazard in use and, by doing so, we can help keep costs down for clients.

"We are also turning to newly developed biocides when disinfecting water systems that are safe to be consumed during their use. This allows us to purify water services of many buildings that are continously occupied, such as call centres, rest homes and hotels, without major disruption. It also means we can undertake more prorgammes during normal working hours and therefore save elvated costs of weekend or overnight completion".

The innovative approach of Jordan Environmetnal Ltd is further evidence by the fact that it is one of the few providers of a range of continuous disinfection products that use 'Ionimix'. "This is based on ancient technology and used in an innovative way, combining active ceramics and noble metals to deliver effective disinfection properties on a continuous basis," says Alan.

"Used in hot and cold water storage vessels and systems, shower heads, condensate trays, humidifiers, water features and many more applications, they not only provide ongoing sanitation but also inhabit scale and bio-films, therefore keeping their environment clean too.

"Hugh potential cost savings can be gained by the fact that this is non-chemical, required no electricity and removes the need for much of the manpower required for traditional control regimes.

"Crucially these products provide 24/7 protection and negate the need for many less effective manual regimes - for example regular cleaning and de-scaling of showerheads. If you are completing this action or annually cleaning and chlorinating water tanks it is certainly an option worthy of serious consideration".

Jordan Environmental Ltd currently directly employs 17 people and have managed to acheive continued growth on the back of its strong protfolio of services. Alan says: "We have always aimed at providing in house technical adivsers and engineers, that we can control and maintain high levels of qualification and quality of service. This has, however, restricted growth as we have resisted excessive use of sub-contractors to cope with demand but we feel that it's been the right way for us to progress".

He adds: "We also focus on niche services, for example we have invested in training with regard to Water Regulations 1999 so that we can offer our clients advice on this subject and are also one of the few companies in the area that offier RPZ valve commissioning".

Alan seeks further growth in the future although there remain no plans to overreach within the business. He concludes: "Much of our growth has come on the back of personal recommendation as opposed to extensive advertising. We continue to grow, however we require it to be sustainable and without impacting negatively on service levels, as we believe close attention to the customer is cruicial in this industry".