The National Portrait Gallery ensures 'Power within the hour' with Powercall UK
"Our UPS systems are our first line of defence, but we felt that we needed to increase the resilience of our contingency plan in order to protect ourselves against prolonged powercuts”, said Alan Tyrrell. “Powercall UK meets all our requirements as it guarantees we have a generator in situ and connected up within a target time of 1 hour and guaranteed maximum of 3 hours"
The National Portrait Gallery has contracted with Powercall UK for 24/7 ‘power within the hour’ emergency generator cover.
Overcoming the challenges associated with a permanently installed standby generator such as insufficient space, capital expenditure, ongoing maintenance, and inner-city environmental issues the National Portrait Gallery now has a cost effective guaranteed solution to prolonged mains power failures.
Although the Gallery has several UPS systems installed, Chief Engineer, Alan Tyrrell was aware that these would only support essential equipment for up to four hours during a power failure.
Located in St. Martin’s Place, close to Trafalgar Square, the National Portrait Gallery received 1.8 million visitors in 2008 and is one of the country’s most important and popular galleries.
Founded in 1856, the Gallery contains 120,000 portraits from the 16th Century to the present day in the Primary and Reference Collection. It aims to promote, through the medium of portraits, an appreciation and understanding of famous British men and women.
Powercall UK provides unique power support solution for Stortext
"We were extremely impressed with Powercall UK’s 24/7 rapid response service when used for support during scheduled maintenance work and decided to take out 12 month contracts with them for both our Andover and Bedfordshire sites."
Helen Donato, Stortext’s Head of IT
National emergency callout Generator company Powercall UK has secured a contractual deal to provide leading specialist document processing company, Stortext, with power support to its sites in Andover and Bedfordshire.
Saving Stortext both substantial capital outlay and ongoing maintenance costs, Powercall UK’s 24/7 service will ensure that the company has a standby Generator in situ and connected up within a 1 hour target time, and guaranteed maximum of 3 hours.
Stortext is one of Europe’s most successful specialist document processors boasting a client base that includes bluechip companies, government institutions and SMEs.
They were conscious that should a prolonged powercut occur, critical IT equipment would be unable to function and business continuity would be affected including interruption of the online customer interface.
Evaluating the power support options available, Stortext’s Head of IT, Helen Donato, decided that the most cost effective solution was to utilise Powercall UKs guaranteed service alongside an upgraded UPS.
"We were extremely impressed with Powercall UK’s 24/7 rapid response service when used for support during scheduled maintenance work and decided to take out 12 month contracts with them for both our Andover and Bedfordshire sites." - Helen Donato, Stortext’s Head of IT
Since it was launched in January 2005, Powercall has received a large number of responses and orders from companies across a wide range of market sectors including comms networks, FM companies, healthcare organisations, SME’s, local authorities and nationwide multi-site applications.
With the demand for emergency power set to grow at 7% per annum over the next five years due to increasingly extreme weather and a less secure mains power supply, Powercall UK is finding a high demand for its service.
Ian Williams contracts with Powercall UK for cost effective & risk free standby power
"We considered purchasing a standby Generator but felt that with space at a premium and considering the capital outlay that was required, Powercall UK’s service represented a cost effective solution. An additional consideration was the health and safety aspect of having a Generator on site and the consequences of a fuel spillage or vandalism. Using Powercall UK’s service removes any such potential problems"
Stephen Harvey, IT Manager at Ian Williams Ltd
Property service expert, Ian Williams Ltd, has found a cost effective and undisruptive way of ensuring it can continue to operate during extended power outages – it has contracted with emergency Generator support company, Powercall UK. Saving Ian Williams capital expenditure and the problems on siting, maintaining and refuelling a standby Generator, Powercall UK’s unique service will ensure that the company has a standby Generator in situ and connected up within a one hour target time.
One of the leading UK property services companies, Ian Williams Ltd, is at the forefront of providing services to the built environment with particular expertise in the social housing, education and commercial sectors. With annual sales of around £100m and a workforce of over 1300, it was important that the company could continue to maintain its operations to customers and staff in the event of a prolonged powercut.
Conscious that the company was located in an area where powercuts occur from time to time and aware that its Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) would only provide electrical support for a short period, IT Manager Stephen Harvey looked at the options available.
“We considered purchasing a standby Generator but felt that with space at a premium and considering the capital outlay that was required, Powercall UK’s service represented a cost effective solution”, said Stephen Harvey. “An additional consideration was the health and safety aspect of having a Generator on site and the consequences of a fuel spillage or vandalism. Using Powercall UK’s service removes any such potential problems”.
Powercall’s nationwide Generator network is serviced by a 24/7-control room, which despatches a Generator from a local depot with a target of 1-hour delivery time, and a guaranteed maximum of 3 hours. Upon arrival, the delivery engineer connects the Generator to the pre-fitted connection point and advises the customer to switch over to the Generator. An indicator lamp is fitted to the changeover switch to advise the customer when the mains power is restored.
Since it was launched in January 2005, Powercall has received a large number of responses and orders from a wide range of companies including healthcare organisations, businesses, local authorities and multi-site applications. With the demand for emergency power set to grow at 7% per annum over the next five years, and with predictions of more extreme weather and a less secure mains power supply Powercall UK is finding a high demand for its service.
Barchester Healthcare extends Powercall cover to 16 more care homes
"Powercall UK's nationwide network of on-call Generators is a cost effective solution to providing standby power for our Care Homes. It means we can ensure our homes continue to provide our residents with essential services such as heating, lighting, security systems, safety equipment and electrically operated beds when powercuts occur."
Bill Wilson, Property Services Director of Barchester Healthcare
Barchester Healthcare, a major provider of care and nursing homes in the UK, has extended its contract with Powercall UK following a successful 12-month pilot scheme. A further 16 Care Homes are now covered by Powercall UK’s unique service which ensures that a care home has a standby Generator on request and connected up within four hours.
“We have expanded the contract from 30 to 46 homes because the pilot scheme was a success”, said Bill Wilson, Property Services Director of Barchester Healthcare. “During that time, powercuts necessitated our homes calling out Powercall UK on 15 separate occasions. It has proved fast, reliable and very cost effective”.
The 16 extra homes have been registered with Powercall UK because they have either been classified as priority, due to their rural location, or have requested to be included in the scheme. Located throughout the UK, all 46-care homes are now able to provide a high level of care to their residents when the electricity supply is cut, regardless of the length of the power outage.
“Powercall UK’s nationwide network of on-call Generators is a cost effective solution to providing standby power for our Care Homes”, said Bill Wilson. “It means we can ensure our homes continue to provide our residents with essential services such as heating, lighting, security systems, safety equipment and electrically operated beds when powercuts occur.”
About Powercall
Powercall’s nationwide Generator network is serviced by a 24/7-control room, which despatches a Generator from a local depot with a target of 1-hour delivery time, and a guaranteed maximum of 3 hours. Upon arrival, the delivery engineer connects the Generator to the pre-fitted connection point and advises the customer to switch over to the Generator. An indicator lamp is fitted to the changeover switch to advise the customer when the mains power is restored.
About Barchester Healthcare
Barchester Healthcare provides award winning care and services to ten thousand residents at over 170 different locations throughout the UK. The company offers a wide range of care services including nursing care for older people and care for adults of all ages with specialist healthcare needs.
Powercall UK’s network of standby Generators is available throughout the UK on 24-7 call out. Since it was launched in January 2005, Powercall has received a large number of responses and orders from a wide range of companies including healthcare organisations, universities, local authorities, care homes and other multi-site applications. With the demand for emergency power set to grow at 7% per annum over the next five years, and with predictions of more extreme weather and a less secure mains power supply Powercall UK is finding a high demand for its service.
Powercall provides East Cambridgeshire District Council with fast response to powercut
"Powercall UK was the only company I could find able to provide such a service. We are now confident that the Council is able to fulfil its requirements under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 with its effective power security plan to protect critical functions and ensure continuity of service"
Robin Dunn, Asset Management & Emergency Planning at East Cambridgeshire District Council
Having signed a contract with Powercall UK to provide standby power within the hour, East Cambridgeshire District Council was able to continue functioning when it experienced two powercuts in January - one lasting over 18 hours.
Powercall UK not only ensured that the standby Generator was connected up and power supplied within the hour but also provided a dedicated refuelling service to top up the Generator’s fuel, thereby ensuring that the Council’s servers could continue to function during the prolonged power outages.
The Council had installed new UPS and server equipment as part of its business continuity programme required under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. It signed up with Powercall UK to provide backup to its UPS system should a powercut last longer than four hours.
When there was a power cable failure outside the Council offices, its emergency power contingency plan came into force. The UPS immediately took over the load, which gave the Council sufficient time for Powercall UK to deliver and connect up the Generator to support the UPS.
“Under the Civil Contingency Act 2004, Councils need to ensure that volatile data is not lost in the event of a powercut”, said Robin Dunn, Asset Management & Emergency Planning at East Cambridgeshire District Council. “The contingency planning we had put in place to ensure power to essential services in the event of a long powercut exceeded all our expectations enabling the public interface to remain up and running”.
Business continuity management is a key factor of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. The legislation requires front-line responders, such as Councils and emergency services to identify and protect critical functions in the event of an emergency. These include public information services such as websites and telephones as well as internal structures and processes.
Powercall’s nationwide Generator network is serviced by a 24/7-control room, which despatches a Generator from a local depot with a target time of less than one hour and a guaranteed commitment to a maximum of three hours. Upon arrival the delivery engineer connects the Generator to the pre-fitted connection point and advises the customer to switch over to the Generator. An indicator lamp is fitted to the changeover switch to advise the customer when the mains power is restored. Should there be a prolonged powercut, Powercall UK will provide a refuelling service to keep the standby Generator running for the duration of the powercut.
“Powercall UK was the only company I could find able to provide such a service”, concluded Robin Dunn. “We are now confident that the Council is able to fulfil its requirements under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 with its effective power security plan to protect critical functions and ensure continuity of service”.
Powercall UK’s network of standby Generators is available throughout the UK on 24-7 call out. Since it was launched in January 2005, Powercall has received a large number of responses and orders from a wide range of companies including healthcare organisations, universities, local authorities, care homes and other multi-site applications. With the demand for emergency power set to grow at 7% per annum over the next five years, and with predictions of more extreme weather and a less secure mains power supply Powercall UK is finding a high demand for its service.