Archived News...
"In the RAW" for Water Aid 2008
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Just to let you all know that both teams entered for this years Wateraid Walk completed the 30 mile course in just about one piece. This years medal for heroic effort in the face of severe pain goes to…..Chris Davis whose knees will probably ache until next year when, I have no doubt, he'll do it all again!
A great all round team effort though and we smashed last years time of over 13 hours to complete the course (and an extra mile due to a navigational crisis) to finish in around about 12.25 hrs….
"As Andy noted…."RAW…always going the extra mile"
We've managed to raise about £1500 so far so a big thank you to everyone who has sponsored us to date and for those that haven't managed to get round to it yet...the sponsorship page stays open for a month or so and we still have to reach that £2000 total!
Well done teams…and same time next year then?!!!
http://www.justgiving.com/intheraw
RAW Group are again participating in the annual Severn Trent Mountain Challenge to raise money for Water Aid http://www.wateraid.org/uk/get_involved/events/walking_climbing_trekking/mountain_events/3597.asp. This year two teams from RAW will be taking part and the challenge is a 30 mile walk up hill and down dale in Derbyshire and takes place on Saturday 12 July. We have a self imposed target of £2000 so please don't hesitate to give generously to the cause!
Neil Stothert joins RAW
Neil joins us as Director responsible for the RAW Consulting division and is based in the Malvern office. Neil's 
primary area of expertise lies in the geo-environmental sector with particular expertise in land reclamation strategies, risk / liability assessments and due diligence assessments on site acquisitions & divestments. Neil also has experience in the wider field of consultancy and has a strong commercial track record having been one of the primary work winners for his previous employer for the last 4 to 5 years.
Neil's principal objective will be to develop RAW's Consultancy business by enhancing our skill base, diversifying our services and raising our profile in existing and new market areas.
RAW Remediation has won a project to undertake groundwater clean-up of a former filling station near Leicester using pump and treat combined with in-situ chemical oxidation. The site is proposed for residential housing redevelopment and is believed to have at least seven underground tanks remaining. Pump and treat will be used to remove free product and grossly contaminated groundwater. A plume of groundwater contamination of around 50m long requires clean up for the protection of Controlled Waters and it is proposed to use chemical oxidation to achieve this. Time is critical for the project and the scheme needs to be completed in around 4 months. Site works are expected to start in the new year.
RAW Remediation has successfully completed remediation of a former dry cleaners in Chelmsford on behalf of a 
developer. A hotspot of floating oil contamination and chlorinated solvents required treatment by dual phase extraction. RAW Remediation used their in-house, small footprint, modular remediation units and installed extraction boreholes between the foundations of the development during its construction. Building works and remediation were undertaken hand in hand and no delays were incurred due to the remediation works. The remediation successfully removed significant quantities of hydrocarbons including chlorinated solvents.
Incidents in Northern Ireland
RAW responds to its first two incidents in Northern Ireland as part of RAW’s 24 hr Spillage Response service. RAW were on-site within 4 hours of being contacted and moved quickly to carry out necessary mitigation works, investigate the extent of damage and to begin planning for the cleanup works required to restore the affected properties.
RAW Maidstone Continues to Grow
The RAW Maidstone office has recently employed James Carruthers and Ed Canney to work in the spill and geo-environmental teams. Both join as Junior Consultants and are taking part in the RAW training programme in-line with our commitment to 'Investors in People'.
RAW carries out forensic investigations
RAW carried out forensic investigations for the Major Loss Division of one of Ireland’s leading Liability loss adjusters following a major and complex loss at a site in Dublin. The site has a chequered history, with several spill incidents occurring during periods in which the site was owned and insured by different parties. Contamination was identified during a preliminary geotechnical survey at the adjoining property for a multi-million euro development. Using forensic analytical techniques, RAW is helping our client to ascertain the extent of their insured’s liability for remediation costs.
Geo-Environmental Supervision in Malvern
The Malvern office continues to expand with the recent employment of two key staff members to the Geo-Environmental Division. Mark Rawlings has 18 years experience as a Geo-Environmental Consultant, most recently with Hyder where he was Principal Consultant for 8 years. Mark joins RAW as a Principal Consultant. Orlando Blackwell has 11 years experience as Geo-Environmental Consultant (speciality in geotechnical aspects), most recently as a Project Manager for Corsair for the past 3 years. Orlando joins RAW as a Senior Geotechnical Consultant.
July 2007: RAW Consulting has been instructed by an investor to provide environmental due diligence and environmental management support on a proposed multi-site investment in Mongolia.
June 2007: RAW Remediation wins two remediation contracts worth over £200K, using chemical oxidation to remediate organic contamination on brownfield sites in Staffordshire and Hampshire, further establishing RAW as a specialist and preferred Contractor using this technology. < strong>April 2007: RAW maintains extraordinary growth of 25% during financial year 2006/2007, achieving a turnover of over £4.8m.
March 2007: RAW hosted Breakfast Briefing meetings in Maidstone and Birmingham to provide technical and legislative updates on various 'hot' environmental issues and addressing any liability concerns, mainly targeting local businesses, property developers and property managers. Further meetings are to be held in Reading and Bristol in September.
January 2007: RAW Group has been re-structured into 4 divisions to represent and support recent growth and new business ventures. The four groups are RAW Response, RAW Consulting, RAW Remediation and RAW R&D.
December 2006: RAW Audit was instructed to provide environmental due diligence support on the transaction of major Fuel Depot.
December 2006: On 4 December 2006, RAW was awarded ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management Certification. This sits alongside the ISO 9001:2000 Certification, which was achieved within one year of setting up the company. This latest certification reflects and demonstrates RAW's commitment to achieving environmental improvements in-house as well as for our Clients.
November 2006: RAW has opened a new office in Norwich. This office will host a spill response team, equipped to service clients from South Lincolnshire and throughout the East Anglian region.
October 2006: A major remediation scheme to convert the docklands area of Worcester in the banks of the River Severn into a mixed residential/retail development is nearing completion. RAW were the Remediation Design Consultant in a D & B Contract, headed by Principal Contractor, Laser Civil Engineering. The RAW Remediation Strategy involved the treatment of hydrocarbon contaminants in both soil and groundwater using ex-situ bioremediation and the treatment of groundwater utilising on site treatment systems.
September 2006: RAW has been commissioned by HazChem Insurance brokers to service an emergency response service for their clients.
August 2006: RAW has launched an emergency response service for clients suffering a spill incident or other environmental disaster. With RAW's network of offices across the UK and Ireland, RAW is able to respond to any incident and manage appropriate investigation and clean up. In the event of an emergency, please call our 24 emergency response number - 0845 166 8491.
July 2006: RAW has opened a new Belfast, Northern Ireland. The office has been opened to meet continued demand from RAW's fast growing base of Spill and Geo-Environmental clients in Northern Ireland. The new office and staff bring together an array of in-situ remediation experience and equipment to provide high quality remediation, technical, and emergency spill response expertise to local, national and international clients.
June 2006: RAW designed and validated the remediation scheme for a major superstore development in Devon. The scheme was designed to prevent further contaminants entering the site from an off site source (former gasworks site) and ensure groundwater leaving the site meets the necessary environmental quality standards. The scheme involved the installation of a piled permeable reactive barrier (PRB) with passive 'impermeable' sections. Further long term groundwater monitoring will be undertaken to confirm the performance of the PRB. The scheme successfully allowed the superstore to open in the required timescale.
May 2006: An oil spill adjacent to the River Test in Southampton was detected by local residents and resulted in the death of local birdlife including several swans. A RAW Rapid Response Team was mobilised to site within a few hours and deployed emergency mitigation measures, which were being overseen by the Environment Agency. RAW assisted in impact mitigation and identifying the source of the spill.
April 2006: The RAW Group has announced a 35% increase in turnover for the last financial year. The group, consisting of RAW Geo-Environmental and RAW Remediation, achieved a turnover of just under £4 million and maintained a period of sustained growth over the last few years.
RAW's Chairman, Jeremy Randall , comments: “This is an incredible achievement to which all the RAW team have contributed to in some shape or form – it was only three years ago when the turnover reached £1 million”. Jeremy concludes: “RAW will continue to invest ensuring that we do not compromise our standards whilst at the same time maintaining our commitment to innovation.”
February 2006: RAW has been commissioned to conduct an intrusive site investigation on the former gasworks site in Sligo. The investigation will incorporate deep borehole drilling to provide the necessary geotechnical and environmental information to identify any necessary remedial requirements and support the proposed commercial redevelopment of the site.