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NewsTime

March 26, 2019 News

NewsTime Once again its been a busy few weeks both in our Derby works and across our various sites in the UK. Here’s just a few things we have been doing. Health and Safety A big part of this company is our continual and insistent approach to our team wellbeing and safety. We have developed a new approach to the safe access to specific pillar clocks for example, revising our method to secure ladders and our working at height approach. We have also developed a simple system to communicate changes to Health & Safety practices, or changes to product or…

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IRATA Training

March 18, 2019 News

IRATA training is essential for our clockmakers, it allows the team to work safely at height whilst continuing to ensure a high standard of work when completing projects in situ. To be able to use the rope access equipment, the team must attend an annual IRATA training course. Clockmaker Mike Tomlinson recently completed this course with a specialist Yorkshire company. Mike attended the week-long course at a specialist facility in Sheffield, operated by Access Techniques, to renew his level one certificate. The dedicated facility has a 14m high ceiling to ensure those completing the course face realistic situations which will…

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Apprentice Clockmakers work with the Museum of Making

March 13, 2019 News

Apprentices at Smith of Derby have been busy restoring Derby’s historic Harrison clock for installation in the new Museum of Making when it re-opens to the public in 2020. First installed at Derby Guildhall in 1842, the Harrison turret clock dates back to the same period. Its movement was designed by clockmaker, James Harrison of Hull (1792-1875), the great-grandnephew of John (Longitude) Harrison (1693-1776) who famously invented the marine chronometer to calculate longitude at sea. Derby’s Harrison clock was retired from the Guildhall in 1976 and moved to the former Industrial Museum as a non-working exhibit where it later went into…

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National Apprentice Week

March 3, 2019 News

March 4th-8th is National Apprentice Week – celebrating all those involved within apprenticeships across England. Here at Smith of Derby we are extremely proud of all of our apprentices and are delighted to celebrate the success of the program which is run in partnership with Learning Unlimited. The annual celebration, which is now in its twelfth year, brings the whole apprenticeship community together to promote and explore the positive impact of apprenticeships on individuals, employers and the economy across the UK. Over the last four years we have employed six apprentices in both clock making and administration roles. Our latest…

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