About the partnership
We began our partnership with this education institution in Wales in August 2023. Having been with the previous supplier for a long time, the client put the contract out to tender. High cleaning standards across its sites, innovation and sustainability were key ambitions.
86 Churchill colleagues deliver cleaning, janitorial, window cleaning, litter picking and key holding services to 15 remote sites across North Wales, and we also support the client with ad hoc requirements.
Welsh is predominantly used over English in parts of North West Wales, so we had to make significant adjustments to our operation and recruitment efforts to prioritise Welsh. The wide distribution and remoteness of sites presented additional recruitment challenges which we successfully overcame by adjusting the salary range and taking a creative approach to how and where we advertise our vacancies.
What we achieved so far
Having secured the contract and overcome some of the initial challenges, we quickly got to work to add value and enhance the standards across the client’s sites.
We carried out detailed time and motion studies to increase efficiency and ensure adequate cover in all areas at all times. This supported the creation of daily, weekly and monthly cleaning schedules and had a significant positive impact on the cleaning standards, giving us more control and allowing better planning of tasks to ensure smooth delivery of service.
We instigated layers of account management which include a senior account manager who works closely with the contract manager (supported by team leaders and supervisors), operations manager, regional manager and operations director to provide better support to our team. The account management team meets with the client monthly to discuss service delivery and improvements. The new structure has increased our efficiency and response times, as well as strengthened the communication and partnership with the client.
To streamline communication and job logging, we launched a system where the client can scan a QR code to log jobs, eliminating the back-and-forth of emails. Our team and the client has full visibility of the dashboard in real time, allowing us to respond to and allocate cleaning tasks in a timely manner.
We introduced new equipment such as scrubber driers and hand combi wands to replace traditional cleaning tools for larger area and labour intensive cleans, making the process more efficient. Additionally, we implemented our sustainable PVA multipurpose cleaning range to reduce the variety of chemicals used, saving 644 kg of plastic across the client’s sites.
We also focused on training and upskilling our team on cleaning processes and using the new machinery, and conducted supervisory training to enhance the skills of our management team and set them up for success. The team is more efficient due to this enhanced training, promptly handling challenges and delivering on our service promise.
Overall, these improvements have led to cleaner environments, better task management, quicker response times, and a more efficient cleaning process.
Looking ahead
As we move forward, we aim to build on our initial successes and continue maintaining the improved cleaning standards and enhancing our service delivery.
We remain committed to supporting the client’s ambitions for innovation and sustainability, ensuring that our services align with their goals and contribute to the overall success of the organisation.
Continuous training and development of our team will remain a key priority to ensure we remain a trusted partner and effectively handle the evolving client needs.
