Smoking ban encourages Eaga employees to stub out
Monday, March 20, 2006
Scotland’s smoking ban is proving the perfect tonic for Edinburgh-based Eaga Partnership, which is encouraging its employees to stub out.
Eaga, based in Leith, is giving employees incentives to give up smoking in the lead up to the ban on Sunday, March 26.
Up to nine members of staff at the company, which manages the Scottish Executive’s fuel poverty schemes, are quitting the habit.
Eaga’s health and safety adviser, Jeanette Reid, has devised a programme to help staff to stop, including providing in-house support, small incentives and a savings scheme.
Anne Sanders, 48, a network liaison assistant at Eaga, currently smokes 20-a-day and wants to give up for good following the birth of her grandson, Connor.
Anne has tried to quit before but only lasted for seven weeks. This time she is sure the support from her colleagues and the incentive of being there to see Connor grow up will make sure that she stops smoking up for good.
She said: “I have smoked since I was 16 and I did manage to give up once for seven weeks.
“There are nine of us in Eaga who are giving up and the added support will help as you don’t want to be the one that lets everyone down.
“I decided to give up when I heard about this scheme as I thought it was the perfect opportunity with the smoking ban coming in. I have a grandson who is seven months old and I would like to be able to see him grow up and get married. If I continue to smoke I won’t be able to do that.”
Daren Francis, 42, a team leader at Eaga’s call centre, Atec, is also giving up. He said he spends about £264 a month on cigarettes and is looking forward to saving money.
He said smoking is going to become harder when the ban comes into place.
He said: “The money is a big motivator. I am spending £44 every five days on cigarettes and I am aware of what it is doing to my health. I have started getting circulation problems and that is because of the smoking.
“I think this is a good idea. It will be good to get the support from colleagues at work. It means we have someone to talk to about it when we get a craving.
“The smoking ban is going to change things on a night out. A lot of my friends do not smoke and if I visit them I have to smoke in the garden. If it is cold and it is wet it is the last place you want to be.
“Now, if you go for a meal or for a drink it is going to be a real pain and I would rather not smoke.”
Director of Eaga Partnership in Scotland, Devin Scobie said: “Eaga believes in supporting its staff. With the smoking ban in public places taking effect on March 26, we felt this was the perfect opportunity to help staff give up.”
Notes to Editor
- Eaga Partnership is the anchor company of the Eaga Group and has offices in Leith, Dungannon in Northern Ireland, Cardiff in Wales and Newcastle in England.
- Eaga Partnership manages government contracts designed to improve the living conditions of vulnerable people living in cold, damp and energy inefficient homes across the UK.
- Eaga Group is a family of companies that provide services, products and solutions that address the social, environmental and energy efficiency objectives of Government and the private sector.
- Since it's inception, Eaga has made a positive difference to over 5 million disadvantaged households by installing energy efficiency measures and central heating in homes across the UK.
- Eaga Group now operates across the UK and in the Republic of Ireland, India and Canada employing over 2,000 people.
- As a co-owned business, Eaga Group is one of only a handful of UK organisations where every employee with over a year’s service is entitled to a share in the success of the business. Eaga’s commitment to co-ownership is an integral part of the values that define the ethos of the business and what it means to be an Eaga Group employee.
Media Contact
James Grugeon
Director of Corporate Affairs
Eaga Group
07730 424410
0191 350 6531