Thursday, October 02, 2008

Employee's request to work on ground floor was reasonable, says EAT

In Lyle v. Bury Metro Racial Equality Council & Others (2008), Mrs Lyle suffered from health problems which restricted her mobility and she was disabled. She commenced her employment as a diversity officer with her employer in 2006 and was based on the first floor of their premises. There was no lift or stair lift.

She also had to visit a second set of premises where there were steep stairs. She suffered a fall at her employers premises injuring her knees. She asked her employer ... (185 more words)

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Help the Aged - Stairlifts

Many people have been talking about Help the Aged Stairlifts, this is the response from the owner of Dolphin Mobility.

We are very concerned about this ourselves. The Help the Aged campaign 
is in theory managed by Keep Able, who in turn sub-contract all
stairlifts to Companion Stairlifts, the Direct Sales Division of
Minivator Stairlifts. If you phone Help the Aged Stairlifts, you will
actually speak to someone at Minivator, who tend to be very cagey when
questionned about the structure of this deal and who they are..
With their massive internet advertising spend on this campaign, and
their 'We will beat any price guarantee', Minivator are in fact directly
competing with and undermining their own dealers. Word has it that the
prices they offer start off quite high, and only fall to dealer price
levels if the customer confronts them with a competitive quotation.
Bringing into question how much Help the Aged actually care about the
people they supposedly want to help.

It would be interesting to see how the Charity Commission would view
their trading status, or if they are not trading, whether Keep
Able/Companion/Minivator are actually passing themselves off as Help the
Aged. Whatever way, the customer needs to know they are not buying form
Help the Aged, and may be advised to get second or third quotes from
local companies.

Regards

Craig Dunnage

Stairlift Manufacturers

Following on from the confusing issue of Help the Aged, KeepAble, Companion Stairlifts and Minivator; I thought it may be interesting to list some of the current stairlift manufactures in the UK and who ultimately owns these firms.

Freelift and Churchill's Stairlifts

Churchill's Stairlifts (UK) Limited, 2 Kings Court, Team Valley, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear, NE11 0SH


Freelift Ltd. 2 Kings Court, Kingsway, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear NE11 0SH

Both of these companies are ultimately owned by Handicare AS.

Bison, Brooks and Acorn Stairlifts

Bison, Brooks and Acorn Stairlifts are all ultimately owned by the same person, John Jakes.

Acorn Stairlifts, Telecom House, Millennium Business Park, Steeton, BD20 6RB

BROOKS Stairlifts LTD, Telecom House, Millennium Business Park, Steeton, BD20 6RB

Bison Bede Limited. Unit 9, No. 1 Industrial Estate, Consett, County Durham, DH8 6ST

Minivator and Companion Stairlifts (featuring Help the Aged and KeepAble)

Companion Stairlifts are a subsidiary of Minivator Ltd.

It should also be noted that if you buy a stairlift from KeepAble Stair Lifts then it will be supplied and installed by Minivator. Also if you buy a stairlift from Help the Aged then you are actually paying KeepAble who in turn get Minivator to supply and install the lift. Confused yet?

Minivator Limited, 82 First Avenue, Kingswinford, West Midlands, DY6 7FJ

Companion Stairlifts, 24b-24c Oxford Road, Guiseley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS20 9AS

Thyssen and Lift Able Stairlifts

Lift Able was acquired by ThyssenKrupp group. Thyssen are a huge global concern and their domestic stairlift concern was formely known as Access Industries.

Lift Able, 2 Easter Park, Teesside Industrial Estate, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 9NT

Stannah Stairlifts

Stannah Stairlifts Ltd & Stannah Lift Services Ltd, Watt Close, East Portway, Andover, Hampshire, SP10 3SD

Family owned private company.