This year, we have joined forces with Wyvern Radio to launch the ‘Walk of Worcestershire’ event taking place on Sunday 1^st July 2012. We’re encouraging people from across the county to join in and help us raise money for local charity Acorns Children’s Hospice.

The event is a ten mile charity walk that will start at Three Counties Showground, Malvern and finish at Worcester Racecourse.  The route of the walk will take you on some of Worcestershire’s most picturesque routes and all of the money that you raise whilst doing it will benefit Acorns Children’s Hospice in Worcester.

If you’re a willing walker and think you’d like to get involved in the event, you can ‘enter to walk’ at www.wyvernfm.co.uk plus you’ll also find further information about the route you will take and how the money that you will raise will be used within the charity.

We are delighted to be sponsors of Wyvern Walk of Worcestershire and are going to work hard to rally up support in the county. We’re going to encourage as many people as possible to join in and have already started urging our employees and their families to get involved – it’s an easy and fun way to raise money for a very worthy cause.

We’re really looking forward to the event and also raising as much money as possible for Acorns.

Victoria Billings, marketing projects manager

It is a busy year for us this year as we prepare to celebrate our golden anniversary in 2012. We have kicked off the start of our activities this week with a national golden ticket competition, with the help of Bobby the Boiler of course!

Five Worcester boilers, which were selected at random on 1^st February 2012, have had a special golden ticket popped inside the casing. They have then been distributed to any one of our stockists across the UK – so you could very well be the lucky one!

The five prizes will be claimed when an installer comes to fit the new boiler and discovers the golden ticket that’s been hidden inside and of course spots the specially created gold casing. The lucky five customers can claim £1,000 towards the cost of their boiler installation plus a five year manufacturer’s guarantee and free servicing for the lifetime of the boiler (which can either be carried out by the installation engineer or by us at Worcester.)

The 50^th Anniversary is such an important milestone for Worcester and we want to involve everyone in the celebrations this year. The golden ticket competition is sure to be eventful as we really have no idea where the five special boilers will be delivered to or how long it will be until we have each winner identified. Anyone who is looking to replace their current boiler this year is in with a chance of winning this fantastic prize.

This is the start of an exciting year of activity here at Worcester HQ, we have various employee, trade and consumer celebrations planned to highlight the company’s 50 year heritage, so watch this space for further information or visit our commemorative microsite – www.50yearsofwarmth.co.uk  

Carl Arntzen, managing director

With events such as raffles, a tombola, cake sales, golf putting games, guess the baby competition and a much awaited sponsored leg wax, we hoped to raise the total even more. Children in Need is a cause close to so many people’s hearts atWorcesterand all of our activities showed our commitment to supporting charities.

All of our staff lent a helping hand to Pudsey, but it was Alex Clayton – our online intern in marketing – who underwent the gruelling activity of having his legs waxed in front of all of his fellow colleagues!  

We are always delighted to be able to support such a worthwhile cause and all of our fundraisers this year have been really successful. Children in Need really is a brilliant charity and we are over the moon that we have raised nearly £30,000 for them.  All our employees have been involved at every level from brainstorming the events to running them and even simply joining in with activities and popping money into collection boxes.

Our national sales team have also run events all over the country to help to swell the total.   A team fromWorcesteralso carried a boiler to the top ofBen Nevisand raised over £1000 in the process and we had a large team complete the 3 Peaks Challenge earlier in the year.  We didn’t want to miss any opportunity to get involved in the fundraising and I think we all looked forward to Alex getting his legs waxed– although no-one else has offered to join in with his activity!

Sue Pennington, consumer brand manager

To show just how they see the future of the environment and our homes Worcester is inviting children from across the country to put paint, pencil, crayon or even photography and collage to paper, in its nationwide Environment E2020 art competition.  

Completely free of charge and simple to enter – all children up to the age of 16  need to do is use their imagination to create a piece of art that reflects the theme, ‘Environment and the Home’. So a chimney with a bad cough or a home that uses natural sources around us such as sunlight, wind or water power, could be great starting points, but the more creative the better!

The competition runs throughout the year with one winner selected from each of the age groups (0-6, 7 – 11 and 12 – 16 year olds) in spring, summer, autumn and winter, and with the lucky entrants each receiving £100 worth of Love2Shop vouchers.

Once a year an overall winner is then picked from each of the three age groups to scoop £500 of Love2Shop vouchers, which will be redeemable on a holiday or activity of their choice. They will also be invited to a Gala Awards Event to be presented with their Environmental Image of the Year Award by the guest of honour.

Entry forms can be downloaded from Worcester’s website at this link or can be requested by calling 01905 752709.

Households and schools can enter as many times as they like but each entry needs to be accompanied by a separate form so it can be judged easily.

For further information visit www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/environment

The lead in and lead out clips shows seven Worcester installers offering their essential hints and tips on saving energy in the home and how to keep your heating system as efficient, effective and hassle free as possible the cold winter weather sets in.  

Heating is often something we don’t think about until we really need it – we just expect it to work. As winter approaches, no one wants to arrive home to a cold house or to find their water has not heated up so we wanted to remind people how important it is to have an efficient home heating system that can be relied on to keep us warm and comfortable. 

Indeed, for the millions of homes with boilers that are over 15 years old this is the time the faults show. Many older boilers are less than 70% efficient and so could be wasting more than 30 pence in every pound. A cost that soon adds up in terms of wasted money and energy.”

To find out more tune into Ray Mears’ ‘Wild Britain’ at 8pm on ITV1 or visit www.worcester-bosch.co.uk

Sue Pennington is consumer brand manager at Worcester, Bosch Group.

This is the second year that the leading boiler and renewables manufacturer has entered the awards and the team, based at the company’s headquarters in Worcester, pride themselves in delivering first class service and advice to all of its customers. 

Taking the 9^th spot now sees Worcester sitting alongside world renowned brands such as Guinness Northern Counties, Britvic and Coca-Cola Enterprises, who also feature in the top 10.  

Ian Cockett, Director of Service Operations, from Worcester, Bosch Group said: “Excellent customer service goes such a long way in shaping a company and its reputation. At Worcester we set ourselves the goal of not only benchmarking ourselves against the heating industry but also against recognised brands across the world by offering the best advice and assistance to all of our valued customers when they need it.

“It was a great achievement to gain an award with our first entry last year but to climb 12 places to 9th this year was a fantastic boost for the team.  Attaining a top ten spot is testament to the hard work and effort that has been shown by everyone within the contact centre team. Here’s to moving even higher next year.”

The Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service Awards benchmarked companies across theUKover a period of four months. This is split between mystery shopper calls and emails with varying scenarios, and these enquiries are made by both existing and non-existing Worcester customers. 

All benchmarking is then collated and compared across the entire customer service industry ranging from banking, retail, finance, insurance and service providers. 

For further information on Worcesterand its energy-efficient boilers and renewable products visit www.worcester-bosch.co.uk .

Neil Schofield, head of external and governmental affairs at Worcester, Bosch Group

We were delighted that the Leader of the Opposition, the Rt Hon Ed Miliband’s was able to officially open the new £1.5 million training facility we have here at our headquarters in Worcester. With the new training centre now up and running we expect to see up to 20,000 installers attending courses in 2012, which is our 50^th anniversary year in business, all at various stages of their career.

It was also great to hear his thoughts on supporting new routes into work for the country’s younger generation where he praised the four-year apprenticeship scheme we have at Worcester, calling on more companies to do the same and pledging that any future Labour Government will incentivise companies to go down this route.

For those who don’t want to go to University, there needs to be alternative options opened to them and it is up to manufacturers to help with this.  Like many industrial sectors, the heating industry is undergoing a skills crisis which can only be solved by taking steps to encourage young people to get the necessary training and qualifications.

Mr Miliband meets the apprentices on Worcester's four year scheme

A Q&A session attended by installers, apprentices and Worcester employees also gave the chance to hear Mr Miliband’s thoughts on the Renewable Heat Incentive as well as wider environmental issues. He was disappointed about the Government’s timetable for the implementation of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), feeling they were dragging their feet over a regulation that will help rather than hinder the heating industry.

Neil Schofield is head of external and governmental affairs at Worcester, Bosch Group. 

Martyn Bridges, director of marketing and technical support at Worcester, Bosch Group

When making the decision to replace your boiler, reliability and service are key when it comes knowing which brand to choose – and Worcester, Bosch Group has received top accolades for both in the latest survey of Which? panel members.   Not only that, but every single boiler inWorcester, Bosch Group’s Greenstar gas fired condensing range has been awarded a Which? Best Buy accreditation.

Worcester’s award-winning Greenstar gas-fired boilers claimed the top spot for brand customer satisfaction whilst no other manufacturer featured higher than Worcester in the brand reliability category.  In addition a third of the people surveyed had opted for a Worcester boiler which made it the most popular brand among its members.

The report also showed that Worcester’s service contract was number one with customers. Members were asked to score price, customer service, response repair time and value for money to create an overall satisfaction result.

In fact this service section of the survey highlighted: “When we surveyed customers to find out which companies please their customers most, Worcester came top for the fourth straight year.”

It is fantastic to receive this response from customers with such valuable feedback. We are heading into the colder months now and people will rely on their boilers and heating system more and more so need to know they are choosing a product that will deliver.

The reliability and efficiency of our products, and servicing and customer satisfaction is something we are extremely proud of and have invested heavily in. To reinforce our confidence in our product range we have now extended our guarantee to five years for parts and service on selected Greenstar models installed before the end of December, which is ideal for those who find they need to replace their existing model with a newer version over the coming months.

All of Worcester's Greenstar boilers now enjoy the Best Buy Accolade from Which?

To take a look at the full report from Which? visit www.which.co.uk or see September’s issue of the magazine.

For further information on Worcester’s Greenstar boiler range, find an installer in your area or see more details about the 5 year guarantee visit www.worcester-bosch.co.uk or call 0844 892 3366.

Martyn Bridges is director of marketing and technical support at Worcester, Bosch Group.

After scooping a coveted ‘Gold’ at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, Worcester’s renewable themed garden has now been planted in its permanent home – welcoming visitors to the company’s headquarters in Worcester.

The ‘Power of Nature’ Urban Garden was designed by Olivia Kirk, of KKE Architects, to demonstrate how the forces of nature can be harnessed to provide efficient heat and hot water for our homes. The garden was specifically created to draw people in and make the thousands of people who visited take note of renewable technology and think how it could work for them - and it certainly impressed the judges at the show.

Replanting the garden continues the strong renewable theme and all aspects, including the slate seat which was graced by celebrities from Alan Titchmarsh to Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen during the show, have now been recreated outside the newly opened reception area.

Olivia Kirk of KKE Architects and Richard Soper, managing director at Worcester, Bosch Group officially open the garden outside Worcester's headquarters

It was always our intention that no aspect of the garden was wasted after the show was over and saw it as the perfect way to start the celebrations for the 50^th anniversary of the business, which will take place in 2012. Now it forms a striking feature to welcome people to the factory but also makes people stop and think about the technology we produce in a very different way. We see thousands of people pass through the doors at Worcester each year and we feel certain that the garden will provide a lasting impression and continue to inspire visitors to our manufacturing facility for many years to come.

The garden incorporates Worcester’s energy-efficient renewable technology, including solar thermal flat plate panels set into the walls, solar thermal evacuated tubes used as ornamental features and ground source heat pumps collectors set under water.

All of these technologies cleverly sit against a planting scheme that depicts the strong elements of earth, fire, air and water.  ‘Air’ is represented through a ‘frothy’ scheme of white, cream and green planting chosen to gently blow in the breeze. A streak of purple salvias add a flow of energy through the garden and a large bowl richly planted with a shock of orange and yellow flowers characterise ‘Fire’. An eye-catching water feature and calming pool with a riven-slate circle completes the overall scheme and was designed to show the ‘Earth’.

For more information on energy-efficient and renewable technology from Worcester, Bosch Group visit www.worcester-bosch.co.uk

Sue Pennington, consumer brand manager at Worcester, Bosch Group.

Neil Schofield, head of external and governmental affairs at Worcester, Bosch Group

Details of the RHI Premium Payment (RHPP) released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, have been warmly welcomed by Worcester, Bosch Group.

Crucially with this the RHPP will be an easy-to-administer scheme run by the Energy Savings Trust.

Lessons have certainly been learnt.  The success of boiler scrappage, based upon an easy-to-administer scheme which gave consumers a voucher, is essentially being rolled out again.  For RHPP consumers will get their voucher from the Energy Savings Trust and will have a set period of time to cash it in depending on which technology they choose, which is excellent news.

The details of the new scheme are that consumers off mains gas will get £1250 towards a ground source heat pump, £950 towards a biomass boiler and £850 towards an air source heat pump.   Those on or off the mains gas grid can receive £300 towards a solar thermal installation.  However, details of the tariff levels have not been revealed.

In effect, we have a one-off grant scheme with an annual payment from the RHI. My only concern is that the tariff levels, which are a vital part of the promotion of renewable technologies and are central to their ability to quote for a job, remain very opaque.

Under the plans announced RHPP will be cut off in March 2012 which means that between March and October, when the RHI tariff payments start, there will be no incentive for consumers to install renewable technologies.  The concern is that this will lead to a significant dip in demand for six months while consumers wait for the incentive to return.

Neil Schofield, head of external and governmental affairs at Worcester, Bosch Group.