More 10 Year Service @ We Clean!
The Cleaning Industry is a sector that is often tarred with a reputation for high staff turnover and lack of career opportunity where Cleaning Operatives hop from one job to another due to companies offering little in the way of progression or longevity.
Here at we clean we take great pride in ‘bucking’ this trend by championing staff to form longstanding careers with our business and developing as individuals, encouraging all staff from the frontline operation through to senior management to evolve, grow and progress within our organisational structure.
With this in mind, we are always delighted to present ’10 Year Service Awards’ to our valued employees and with over 40% of our 580+ frontline cleaning staff now having been with we clean for over a decade this is something for us to really shout about!
Even more pleasing is that these recent milestone awards hail from key we clean contracts where we operate large cleaning teams and carry out a range of different cleaning disciplines:
Brindleyplace
Our relationship with Birmingham’s premier leisure and business estate, Brindleyplace, dates back to 2009 initially tendering for the Internal Common Area cleaning across all managed buildings. Following on from this positive introduction we were then awarded the External Estates Cleaning Contract in May 2013 – a significant contract win for we clean at the time.
Following an extensive TUPE process we gladly welcomed the 12 existing Estates Cleaning staff at the time into our organisation – with 6 staff still working with we clean to this day and Rob Parkes now boasting a continuous service length at Brindleyplace of over 25 years!
David Holmes-McClure, we clean Health & Safety Manager who initially transferred across as part of the TUPE process back in 2013 is immensely proud to have been part of the team and to have now been with the organisation for over a decade, forging a career at the Birmingham Hippodrome as Site Manager and now as Company H&S Manager, he commented:
“I can’t believe I have been with we clean for 10 years – I don’t know where it has gone. If I look back on that 10 years so much has changed but I look back fondly on those early years at Brindleyplace, when I was just 32. I think we all really enjoyed our time there – it was a great place to work.
For myself, Darren, Ken, Rob, Pete and Anthony to still be with the organisation is a testament to the ‘people first’ culture we have developed here and I think it speaks volumes of the ethos Paul and David as Directors have developed.
Here’s to the next 10 years!”
Solihull School
Founded in 1560, Solihull School has been part of the fabric of Solihull for over 450 years. In 1882 the school moved to its present 50-acre site on the Warwick Road where it continues to grow, and it now educates 1000 pupils with an additional 250 in the Sixth Form, aging from 7 all the way up to 18.
Within the 50-acre site their currently sits over 20 buildings, including a Junior School, High School and Sixth Form as well as facilities for science, design and technology, music and modern languages. There is also a new sports pavilion and an impressive in-house theatre which holds regular performances.
As an organisation we are proud to have formed a decade long partnership with this prestigious educational facility – where we deliver a comprehensive cleaning service and cater to the unique needs of this wide and varying site.
Our presence on-site is overseen by Robb Paton, Contract Manager and he was delighted to award the following members of staff 10 Year Service Awards, commenting:
“Joanne Cooper is Location Manager within the School for the evening cleaning regime managing both the Junior and Senior areas of the school having a tremendous work ethic. She is a great extension of the we clean management team on-site and has built a very good rapport with our client contact Chris McCall. Jo has great organisational skills and ensures that all areas are covered and ticked off.
Christian Markham is a model Operative, he is one of those that simply ‘cracks on with the job’ and is very much a no fuss member of the team. He carries out his job to a consistently high standard and is a very well-respected member of our on-site cleaning team.
Gary Cooper – full credit to Gary for his decade of commitment to Solihull School and we clean where he also works within the Junior and Senior areas. Gary is always one to step up and cover if required and is a genuine team player. His role can vary due to the nature of the school however he is always able to adapt and deliver when required.”
Jennifer Anderson – Birmingham Hippodrome / Colmore Gate / Lombard House
We are Birmingham born and bred and our continued growth has been built on forming longstanding partnerships with facilities across the city.
For example, we have now operated within the Birmingham Hippodrome for over 15 years, carrying out a vast range of disciplines, 7 days a week, ensuring we support this ever-popular theatres busy schedule.
Jennifer Anderson has worked within this high profile we clean contract now for over a decade as well as our Cushman & Wakefield managed contract, Colmore Gate and more recently Lombard House, on the Great Charles Street Queensway through managing agent Gerald Eve LLP.
Jennifer works across three different city centre contracts for we clean and reports into Contract Manager Debbie Rhodes, who oversees our Birmingham City Centre portfolio. Debbie is full of praise for Jennifer, describing her as a ‘real character’ but integral part of her team:
“She is always very approachable and friendly – she has a positive manner and is always smiling. Jennifer is certainly a real character within the different cleaning teams in which she works but our company is built on characters and she genuinely means well and will always do her utmost to ensure service levels are required.
With her positive manner she has developed good rapport with our client base and the we clean management team and she is a pleasure to work with.
Jennifer is always very presentable and her 10 Year Service award is a testament to her work ethic – well done Jennifer!”
