APEM's 25th Birthday

25 Years of building Scientific Reputation through Excellence!

 Before and after: What 25 years working at APEM does to you!

The beginning of the year marks the 25^th anniversary of the founding of APEM in 1987 by Managing Director Dr Keith Hendry (pictured above). In recent times, the company has been fortunate to achieve considerable success, despite the difficult economic climate in which we find ourselves. Over the past two years growth has approached 50% per annum, and the company now employs 120 people spread across six sites in Manchester, Oxford, Dorset, Edinburgh, Chester and Cardiff. We own four aircraft and eight boats, with a fleet of 11 survey vehicles and operate several UKAS Accredited laboratories. 25 years is quite a milestone, so we’ve taken the opportunity to reflect a little on our past, where we came from and the major milestones along the road. Finally, we’ve examined the attributes that have enabled the firm to succeed and prosper.

The Most Unusual Rubbish in Manchester's Waterways

REVEALED: THE MOST UNUSUAL RUBBISH IN MANCHESTER’S WATERWAYS

APEM have compiled a top-ten list of the strangest objects found while working to clean-up the city’s rubbish-filled waterways.

We are currently working on cleaning up Manchester’s waterways and are sharing an insight into some of the more bizarre objects that have been found in the city’s rivers.

APEM's Christmas Celebrations

This Christmas APEM celebrated the end of another very successful year. 2011 was the company’s most successful year to date and January 2^nd 2012 is APEM’s 25^th birthday.

 Managing Director, Keith Hendry, motivating the team 

Staff from all six of APEM’s offices converged in Manchester for a full day of team building exercises and Christmas celebration.

Peter Dennis Celebrates 10 Years at APEM

APEM’s Field Manager, Peter Dennis, recently celebrated his 10^th year at APEM. Peter joined the company when it was still run from a single office at the Manchester Science Park. Having started as a Field Scientist, Peter was promoted to Senior Field Scientist, and subsequently APEM’s, Field Manager. As the Field Manager he is the centre pin for all things ‘field based’ leading a team of 20 professional field scientists and coordinating multiple projects across the UK.  It is fair to say that since joining APEM, Pete has seen the company grow quite considerably from around 6 scientists to the 118 that are present today.

APEM Adds Fourth Aircraft To The Fleet

Since the Chester airfield opening APEM has expanded its fleet with a fourth aircraft.

Scientists at the Chester airfield will use the aircraft to gather data for environmental surveys. These provide greater insights into the land or water below than more conventional methods could yield. 

G-GIGA, the latest Vulcanair P68C, is fitted with an RCD 30 camera, and is used to gather visual data about specific environments while in the air.

Directors & Principals Meeting

Last month APEM’s senior management team held the fourth of its 2011 quarterly strategic management meetings at the Stanneylands Hotel near Manchester Airport.  As well as discussing the year so far, the team looked forward, further developing the company’s business development strategy and long term vision.

During the last two years APEM has grown significantly. In the financial year of 2010 the company’s turnover increased by 48% and in 2011 APEM grew by 47%. As a result of this remarkable growth APEM’s turnover is forecast to reach £6.5 million for the end of 2011. All this success has come despite a background of domestic and global economic instability.

APEM Win MEN Business of the Year Award

On November 18^th 2011 APEM were announced winners of the MEN Business of the Year Award for firms with a turnover under £10M. This is a business award, of some 18 years standing overseen by the NW business community (Price Waterhouse Cooper, the Co-operative Bank, Pinsent & Mason Lawyers & Manchester Evening News). It is open to businesses of any type and size but the category APEM were entered for (under £10m turnover) is the most fiercely contested with over 25 applicants this year. APEM were shortlisted into a group of three finalists, who were subjected to quite intensive investigation and interviews.

APEM Walkover Training Day

Over the last 25 years APEM have developed a variety of walkover mapping techniques ranging from salmonid and coarse fish habitat to protected species mapping and diffuse pollution tracing. These surveys have been an integral component of APEM’s annual fieldwork and are predicted to become increasingly important over the coming years.

In order to ensure consistency throughout the 20 strong team of field workers at APEM an annual training day is undertaken by in-house experts with years of experience in the field. This not only gives the team an opportunity to learn about existing techniques but encourages discussion aimed at improving current methods and survey strategy for the future, including improvements in health and safety and safe operational procedures.

APEM Feature on BBC Countryfile

APEM featured on the BBC programme Countryfile on the increasing problem of blue green algae in the Lake District. The feature was part of John Craven’s ‘John Craven Investigates’ section and saw John look more closely into the blue green algae problem and also get acquainted with the methods used by APEM to monitor the issue.

(Above) Adrian and John talking through the prep for their interview

APEM's 100th Employee

APEM celebrated the arrival of their 100^themployee on the 10^th of October with the start of 3 new staff members in the Head office based in Stockport.  It was the luck of the draw as the 3 starters obviously all started on the same day so to make it fair it was decided that the first through the APEM doors on the day would win the prize! Through sheer luck, new starter Helen Atkin, who had arrived in Stockport for her Induction day before her start in the Edinburgh Office as an Aquatic Consultant, was first through the doors.  As her prize Helen received a lovely bottle of Champagne which was presented to her by APEM’s Managing Director, Dr Keith Hendry.

Remote Sensing Pelagic Bird Watching Cruise

In the late summer, thousands of migrating seabirds pass over the North Sea, making this the ideal time of year for a bird watching trip and a chance to see some of the more elusive species up-close. Several members of APEM’s Remote Sensing team (including our in-house bird counters and ornithologists) took advantage of this opportunity by participating in a RSPB skua and shearwater cruise.  The “Yorkshire Belle” left from Bridlington Harbour early on a September morning, heading out past Flamborough Head and Bempton Cliffs RSPB reserve, and on towards the open sea where seabird sightings were numerous.

River Restoration In India

Non-Executive Director, Dr Peter Spillett has become a Trustee of the Thames River Restoration Trust (TRRT).

The Trust, along with the Environment Agency, Thames Region and other organizations made the news last year when it was awarded the Theiss International Riverprize, the world’s largest environmental prize. The prize worth £210,000 goes to the river which is judged by an international panel to show outstanding achievement in river restoration and management. The Thames was selected out of hundreds of other applicant rivers across every continent.

APEM Finalists for Manchester Business of the Year Awards

APEM have been shortlisted as finalists for the Manchester Evening News Business of the Year awards for 2011! All finalists were named in the Manchester Evening News on the 15^thof September. The shortlisted companies are from a wide range of sectors, including online retailing and data centres.

The shortlist was made from a large number of entries and all have the chance to win the prestigious award – winners of which will be named at a gala dinner at The Point, at Lancashire County Cricket Club’s Old Trafford ground on Thursday the 17^thof November.

Chester Office Opening

On Friday 9^th September 2011 APEM celebrated the opening of the Chester office based at Hawarden Airfield. The opening event was held in the dedicated APEM hangar and office facilities on the airfield. A scrumptious breakfast of bacon & sausage butties was eaten prior to the opening presentations by Dr Keith Hendry and Dr Stuart Clough.

(Above) 2 of APEM’s aircraft in the Hangar at Chester Airfield

Dr Les Ruse Trondheim Visit

Dr Les Ruse, one of APEM’s Associate Aquatic Ecologists, attended and gave a lecture at a Symposium in Trondheim in Norway earlier this year. The Symposium was the 18^th International Symposium on Chironomidae and took place in July. The Symposium is held every 3 years with the next one planned to be held in the Czech Republic. At this year’s there were over 80 participants, with sessions on Palaeolimnology; Taxonomy and Systematics; Ecology and Biomonitoring (which Les himself chaired) and finally Toxicology, cytology and genetics. All the sessions stemmed from research of non-biting chironomid midges, the most species-rich and ubiquitous family of aquatic macroinvertebrates. Les was also one of the judges for prizes of best student presentation and poster and had the great honour of presenting the awards to the two selected students. Les will also be featured as one of the referees for the Symposium papers submitted to the journal Fauna Norvegica.

David Bradley Lecturing in Portugal

Continuing APEM’s recent international activities, Principal Aquatic Ecologist, Dr David Bradley was invited to contribute to a lecture course in river restoration at the University of Minho, Braga, Portugal. The University of Minho runs a series of post-graduate training courses in July; one of which is River Restoration: Theory and Practice. David contributed two lectures: one on the application of new walkover survey methods for river restoration; and one on remote sensing for river restoration.

Although time was tight, David did get a few hours to explore the City of Braga and enjoy some wonderful Portuguese cuisine, courtesy of hosts, Dr Cláudia Pascoal and Dr Fernanda Cássio.

New APEM Office in South Wales

APEM is proud to announce the opening of its new office in South Wales. Situated in the landscaped grounds of the Gwaun Elai Medi Science Campus, near Llantrisant, our new offices and laboratory facilities are located in a building that has been awarded an 'Excellent' rating from BREEAM for quality and sustainability. The excellent transport links from this location will let us readily service fieldwork and site visits at locations throughout Wales (and beyond) as we demonstrate our commitment to the Welsh market.

 APEM involved in ‘URSULA’ project on River Don

Recently APEM was involved in a small part of the Ecology section of a large inter-disciplinary project based in Sheffield.  Jenny Horne, who is based in Stockport laboratory, along with Dr Jim Rouquette from the University of Sheffield, took part in a field survey investigating the effect of works on the river to lessen the risk of flooding on the ecology of the river. The River Don itself was sampled and a tributary called the River Rivelin.  The samples were taken back to Stockport and analysed in the Laboratory. This was a small part of one of the main aims of the ecology part of the project which is to assess biodiversity in Sheffield.

Ecosystem Services Training with Mark Everard

Dr Mark Everard – one of the leading scientists on ecosystem services – delivered a half-day training course to APEM employees at the end of June. Mark came to the APEM Head Office in Manchester fresh from his appearance on BBC Springwatch (see  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-13597159). Mark's training course was titled 'Ecosystem services: A brief history of tomorrow’s agenda', outlining the origins and evolution of ecosystem services into the present UK and international policy environment. Publication in June 2011 of HM Government's White Paper on the natural environment 'The Natural Choice' means that, as it continues to expand, APEM will increasingly encounter projects involving the ecosystem approach. This was the basis for our invitation to Mark to give this training.

‘Irwell Pride’ Litter Boat Launch

There was a sense of excitement at Salford Quays last week as a great deal of hard work from a variety of organisations culminated in the launch of the ‘Irwell Pride’ Litter Collection Initiative. APEM are proud to be part of this new multi-agency project that aims to improve the aesthetic environment of the upper Manchester Ship Canal and River Irwell, from Old Trafford Football Stadium upstream to the heart of Manchester City Centre at Victoria Station. Litter from the water and river banks is collected from ‘Irwell Pride’, a 6m aluminium catamaran that has been specifically designed for litter collection on waterways.

Edinburgh Workshop and Opening Event

APEM recently celebrated the official opening of it's first office in Scotland with a Remote Sensing workshop and an evening dinner event.  APEM's Edinburgh office, which is located on the Edinburgh Technopole Science Park, was established to provide a base from which to service the Scottish market, and provides a 'one stop shop' for the full range of APEM's services.

The Edinburgh office consists of a biological laboratory with four marine and freshwater invertebrate taxonomists, a team of three field scientists, plus two aquatic science consultants. The office is in an exciting growth phase and is actively recruiting more graduate, consultant, senior and principal scientists to support the expansion of projects in Scotland.

APEM awarded WFD project by SNIFFER

WFD 21D: Ecological Indicators of the Effects of Abstraction and Flow Regulation; and Optimisation of Flow Releases from Water Storage Reservoirs

APEM has been awarded a project by the Scottish and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research (SNIFFER) to help develop tools and standards to assist in the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) in the UK.

Ben Gillespie - From Graduate to Senior Scientist

At APEM we are always proud of staff that come to our organisation to learn and gain new skills through our Graduate Scientist Scheme. One success story is that of our recently departed employee Ben Gillespie! Here is his story…

Ben applied for the APEM Graduate Scientist Programme back in April 2008. He had previously studied at Birmingham University and gained a BSc with Honours in Environmental Science. He showed a particular interest in Environmental Issues including Ecology, Hydrology and Conservation. In a previous role Ben was involved in working for Manchester City Council – who APEM have several ongoing projects with. He was eager to learn and seemed the perfect candidate for the Graduate Scientist position.

Caenis pusilla Found in River Test Sample

APEM staff recently undertook some macroinvertebrate sampling on the lower River Test near Testwood. The stretch of river sampled was about 1m in depth and slow flowing.  When these samples were processed back at the Dorset laboratory larvae of the mayfly Caenis pusilla were found to be present in the samples. According to the most recent edition of the FBA key to the Ephemeroptera of Britain and Ireland Caenis pusilla has only been recorded from three locations in the British Isles, these being Candover Brook (a tributary of the River Itchen in Hampshire), and in the rivers Wye (Wales) and Frome (Dorset).

Rob Fairbanks Celebrates 10 Years at APEM

APEM’s Principal Financial Controller recently celebrated his 10^th year at APEM. Rob joined the company when it was still based on the Manchester Science Park many years ago. Having started as the Practice Manager, he has seen the company grow quite considerably. Although in his early days he occasionally got his hands dirty helping out with field work!

Nowadays Rob is based at the Head office in Stockport and is the Financial Controller at Principal level running a team of 6 others within the administration team. This team provide invaluable assistance across APEM from the Dorset office in the South to the Edinburgh office in the North.

International APEM

As APEM expands we have recently been venturing out into the international market. Below are some more details on some of the most recent international visits and work oversees that APEM has been involved in. The extracts involve firstly a visit by one of the Directors and an in house Ornithologist to Copenhagen, Denmark for a meeting with clients about predicting the effect of windfarms on the Environment; the second extract is about one of our Director's visit to Geesthacht, Germany for the official opening of the biggest Fish Pass in Europe and the final extract describes APEM's baseline surveys which were carried out in the Persian Gulf. They all make for interesting reading!  

Keith Hendry Regional Finalist for Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Keith Hendry, APEM’s Managing Director, has been shortlisted as a regional finalist for the North West and Midlands for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2011. The awards are held worldwide and are considered one of the most prestigious business awards for entrepreneurs. The awards encourage entrepreneurial activity among those with potential, and recognise the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first global award of its kind, Entrepreneur of the Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognising them through regional, national and global awards programmes in various cities in 50 countries. 

Great Salford Swim at Salford Quays

For the second year in a row Salford Quays played host to the British Gas Great Salford Swim, with over 2,000 swimmers taking part in the event on Sunday 15^th May 2011. The Salford Swim is part of a series of great swims planned throughout the UK during 2011 and APEM have been working closely with event organisers Nova International for the past year developing a water quality management action plan to be used during the events. APEM were also actively involved in the intensive pre-swim water quality management and monitoring programs to support the decision-making process regarding whether both the 2010 and 2011 Salford events proceeded.

APEM Field Team Water Awareness Training

At 06:50 on the 6^th of May the APEM ‘Field Team’ set off in convoy to the Welsh national white water centre on the River Tryweryn in Gwynedd, the aim was to undergo a bespoke water awareness course provided by ‘Rescue 3’ the world leading international rescue and training institution, to hone and refresh our ability to avoid and deal with potential rescue situations.

(Above) the 'Field Team' ready for action!

APEM Resident Guinea Pig Turns One

“GP”, APEM’s resident guinea pig celebrates his first birthday this month. This is quite an extraordinary achievement for GP after he was orphaned at birth.

A tragic start to life

GP’s existence came about after a chance meeting between Sparkle and Marmite, owned by Becky (daughter of APEM Managing Director, Keith Hendry), and our Principal Aquatic Scientist, Nicola O’Keeffe respectively. Unfortunately, before he could meet his new son, Marmite, died of natural causes. To make matters worse, Sparkle died whilst giving birth- effectively orphaning the new born GP.

Local Welsh MP Visits Sediment Tracing Surveys

During last year’s Rural Sediment Tracing project for the Environment Agency, APEM’s Field Scientists covered over 3000km of England’s rivers. Due to the success of last years surveys, the Environment Agency Wales requested APEM carry out similar surveys in Wales during 2011, meaning our Field Survey teams were once again taking to the countryside to apply their standardised methodology to trace and classify the sources of fine sediment and rural pollution inputs to rivers. 

Mr Adrian Fawcett of Bwlch Bach in Wales has been raising concerns about issues with sedimentation, litter and bad land management practices with the local government for the past few years. In response to our letter with regards to accessing his land he contacted APEM Ltd to arrange a meeting. Mr Fawcett also contacted his local MP, who sent their representative Samantha Cotton, who joined us for the meeting.

Surprise for APEM Chief Pilot, John Dale 

APEM’s Chief Pilot, John Dale recently celebrated his 60^th Birthday and his amazing achievement of completion of 10,000 flying hours! To mark both these momentous achievements his colleagues decided to organise something at Hawarden Airport to celebrate. He was surprised by a gathering of his work colleagues and his family and had his favourite meal – Egg and Chips accompanied by a lovely glass of champagne. Judging by the photos below a good time was had by all and John was truly surprised!   

APEM Ltd Staff Survey

Above - APEM Ltd's Managing Director, Dr Keith Hendry 

"As MD I am keen, along with my fellow Directors, to understand what more we could be doing to make APEM an even better place to work.  Therefore we have carried out 3 staff surveys to date, with 2 in 2010.  As a result of feedback from the 1^st survey in 2010 we carried out a structural re-organisation of the company and also appointed a Human Resources Manager.

New species of Glossosomatidae Synagapetus dubitans

A European species of Glossosomatidae, Synagapetus dubitans has been found for the first time in the UK in December 2010. An adult S.dubitans was found by a small woodland stream near Masham, North Yorkshire by Stuart Crofts, see the following link for more information: http://www.buglife.org.uk/News/newsarchive/newsarchive2010/newspeciestoUKdiscovered

It is therefore important that we are able to identify the larvae. To find out more and learn how to identify the larvae of this specimen please go to below link which will direct you to the identification tips page for the Glossosomatidae family.

APEM Supports Hugh's Fish Fight

APEM has joined Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Channel 4 on the campaign to raise awareness of the sustainability of the fish we eat and to drive forward the change needed to stop the practice of discarding at sea.  APEM has encouraged its employees to sign up to the campaign and to do what they can to raise awareness at the local level.  In response to the campaign a recipe exchange – ‘fin-spiration’ has been initiated to provide a forum to share sustainable seafood recipes. 

Spot the Guinea Pig Competition

In December, we sent out APEM’s first annual newsletter which included a Spot the Guinea Pig Competition. Thank you to everyone who joined in the search for our resident guinea pig, “GP”, who made a bid for freedom and hid in the newsletter.

For those of you who couldn’t find him, GP was hiding in our new Edinburgh office.

We received many entries but there can only be one lucky winner… Congratulations to Dr. John Aldrick from the Environment Agency. An APEM goodie bag is on its way to you!

TST Blog - Volume 1

Hi I’m Shawn Beatson. I joined APEM in July 2010 as a Tomorrow’s Scientist Today (TST) field scientist. I graduated from Keele University in 2008 with dual honours in Applied Environmental Science and Geography. After which, I completed a Masters in Environmental Water Management at Cranfield University. My undergraduate studies gave me a wide basis of environmental knowledge, whilst my Masters allowed me to gain in-depth knowledge of Water Management.

I am keen to gain a wide basis of experience and skills at APEM (including field work, consultancy and laboratory analysis), particularly in freshwater and marine ecosystems.
 

Non-Executive Director, Peter Spillett sponsored for IFM Publication

(Above) from left to right - Adrian Williams, Keith Hendry and Peter Spillett

Managing Director, Keith Hendry and Director, Adrian Williams have proudly handed over a cheque for £1,000 to non-executive Director Peter Spillett to sponsor the publication of the Institute of Fisheries Management's (IFM) 40th Anniversary document. The book covers the last 20 years in particular of the Institute's history but is also a valuable reference document of the wider social, environmental and political influences on the development of fisheries management and freshwater ecology in the UK.

Dorset Laboratory Earns UKAS Accreditation

Lab No. 4441

After many months' hard work, APEM's Dorset laboratory has now been accredited by UKAS for marine invertebrate sample processing and identification and has also achieved an extension to scope for freshwater macroinvertebrates (species level analysis) and marine and freshwater diatom analysis, after APEM’s Stockport laboratory achieved UKAS accreditation for these methods in February 2010.

APEM Host Successful Remote Sensing Workshop in Oxford

On 9^th November, APEM hosted an informal workshop entitled ‘information in the image: remote sensing for scientific data collection’. The event was well attended with representatives from a range of organisations including the Environment Agency, Water Utilities companies, Universities, Local Councils and other consultancies.

The main focus of the day for APEM Scientists was to present and discuss our approach to the many applications of remote sensing to common environmental problems and monitoring requirements.

Managing Director, Keith Hendry Wins ART Award

The Association of Rivers Trust (ART) holds it's Annual Awards Dinner each year to celebrate excellence and achievement and give public recognition to some of the superb work “above and beyond the call of duty” put in by many individuals over, in some cases, decades. This year’s dinner took place on Tuesday 12th Of October. 

APEM End of Summer Party

As a token of their appreciation for the hard work and the dedication above and beyond the cause that the APEM staff have shown over the past few months, the APEM directors hosted an end of summer party at the Managing Director’s house in Manchester on the 2^nd of October. 

Over the past months APEM has taken on a large number of new staff members in all offices - particularly in the new Edinburgh office which was opened up recently which has 5 new members who started in the last few months. The party was a great opportunity for people to get to know each other and put some names to faces! 

APEM Remote Sensing Workshop to be held at Oxford Office - Open to All!

Many companies can undertake aerial photography, but APEM takes this further using its expert analysis capabilities to meet the needs of environmental and ecological practitioners in line with its “building reputation through excellence” ethos. 

You are encouraged to come along to any or all of the sessions, refreshments and lunch will be provided. 

APEM is pleased to announce the opening of it's first office in Scotland.  Located at the Edinburgh Technopole Science Park, the office offers the full suite of APEM's marine & freshwater science, laboratory and remote sensing services.  The new office will be staffed with experienced field scientists, marine and freshwater taxonomists, ecologists, consultants and scientists.

 APEM's Associate Director and Edinburgh office manager, James Ellaway (pictured below), said:

Mitten Crabs Invading UK Waterways

A Chinese mitten crab caught in a fyke net by APEM field scientists.

The Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) is an invasive non-native species first recorded in the UK in the 1930’s and is well established in several river systems throughout the UK, primarily on the east coast. As with many other non-native species, Chinese mitten crabs have the potential to impact negatively upon native plants and animals to the extent that their threat is considered severe enough to warrant their inclusion on the IUCN 100 of the world’s worst alien species list. Given its ability both to disperse extensively in coastal waters during its marine phase, and migrate large distances up river systems and travel over land, further expansion of its range in the UK is likely.

Another Success Story from the APEM Biolabs

Congratulations to Kathy Morris and Rebecca Emmett at APEM's Dorset Laboratory for passing the Natural History Museum’s prestigious Identification Qualification in Freshwater Macroinvertebrate Species (E062) with over 94%. This achievement is also a credit to Nick Kneebone, who has professionally trained and mentored Kathy and Rebecca over the past two years to reach this high standard. They join Nick along with Dr David Bradley, Susan Watson,  Lynne Speight and Richard Bassett who already have this qualification.