We have successfully tendered twice with the Birmingham Hippodrome where we provide an array of different cleaning industry disciplines under one umbrella to provide a dovetailed service and support one of Birmingham’s premier entertainment destinations.
The Birmingham Hippodrome is recognised as the most popular mainstream Theatre in the UK and as such brings a real commercial and social dynamic to the city of Birmingham. Originally founded in 1899 the Theatre attracts over 600,000 patrons per year, in-fact during 2018/2019 the Hippodrome had its most robust financial year and welcomed 720,000 patrons into its iconic and listed auditorium.
The venue has a capacity of 1850 seats and has in more recent times established itself as a first-class conferencing and business centre located in the heart of the country and is supported by such leading organisations as:
- Lloyds Banking Group
- PWC
- Gowling WLG
- Pinsent Masons
During the last 12 months the Birmingham Hippodrome has presented 404 performances grouped into the following categories:
- Musicals (48%)
- Pantomime (19%)
- Ballet (16%)
- Opera ( 3%)
- Other (14%)
Adjoined to the Birmingham Hippodrome is their long-standing tenant the Birmingham Royal Ballet with its own unique features including Dance Studios, Fitness Centre and Office Suite.
We are immensely proud to have built a long-term relationship with the Birmingham Hippodrome where we have been providing cleaning services for over 16 years.
Contract Start & TUPE
Prior to the contract initiation, detailed surveys of the facility were carried out to fully understand the demanding requirements that would be placed upon ourselves throughout the contract.
The range of services include:
- Daily cleaning to the Auditorium
- Back of house dressing rooms
- Gym facilities
- Dance studios
- Corporate hospitality areas
- Administration offices
During the contract leading process, we clean and its HR team invested considerable time fully understanding the TUPE obligations of the contract, because as well as the daily services, the requirements would fluctuate due to the Hippodromes varying schedule. The transferring staff totalled 31, with a mixture of full and part-time employees.
As part of our regular contract commencements, all staff were issued with brand new corporate workwear which we dual-branded to reflect our partnership arrangement between our two organisations and to reflect the professionalism, and the value we placed upon the contract. Also, as a public facing venue, we understood the need for well-presented staff, who could merge with the Hippodrome’s own staff.
Services Provided
As an organisation we clean provide a range of services to the Birmingham Hippodrome/Royal Ballet which includes:
- Daily cleaning
- Janitorial attendance
- Performance attendance
- Window cleaning
- Washroom hygiene
- Consumables
- Carpet cleaning
- Hard floor restoration and maintenance
- Specific high level cleaning
- Ad hoc emergency call outs
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic we supported the Hippodrome by providing flexibility in terms of cleaning hours as they saw a decrease in footfall due to being temporarily closed and we have also provided reactive cleans and periodic works to support building works taking place in readiness for their reopening.
During our long tenure, this prestigious contract has been re-tendered twice, the last re tender being in December 2014 where we clean were successful in retaining the contract with an 8 year award.
The Birmingham Hippodrome has enjoyed being a reference point for ourselves, highlighting the positive relationship we have built with the Theatre. They have recommended us to other leading arts venues within the Midlands such as Town Hall Symphony Hall, Midlands Art Centre and most recently the charity Sense.
We would welcome the opportunity to showcase our operation at the Birmingham Hippodrome within a site visit.