Traditionally the Dee Richards Pride Awards programme is to recognise individuals who have excelled in their roles within our organisation; however Dee always recognised the importance of ‘Team Work’ and we are delighted to announce that the winner of the inaugural we clean Dee Richards Pride ‘Cleaning Team’ of the year Award is our Team based at the Arcadian in Birmingham!
The Arcadian is an iconic Birmingham based Leisure destination synonymous with the bustling nightlife that the city is renowned for and we were delighted to be appointed as the approved cleaning partner for the Arcadian following a successful tender exercise during 2020 with the LCP group who own and manage the estate.
Our Arcadian Cleaning Team with Director David Harker, Contract Manager Debbie Rhodes and Centre Manager, Jo Kinsella.
Our team of 6 External Cleaning Operatives are tasked with ensuring this leisure destination remains clean and tidy at all times working in challenging public facing conditions throughout the year, with the Arcadian only closing on Christmas Day, so they are thoroughly deserving of this prestigious Cleaning Team Award!
Managed by Contract Manager Debbie Rhodes, this contract is a 7 day a week operation and incorporates full 24 hour cleaning coverage during the busy Thursday, Friday and Saturday nightlife scene. Debbie commented:
“Our team on site here are more than deserving of this award and I know at first-hand how incredibly hard they work covering a variety estate cleaning disciplines from waste collection and litter picking to car park cleaning and body spill management.
The team are extremely well presented in corporate branded uniform and provided with the appropriate PPE for all weather conditions whilst operating in a very busy public facing ‘arena’ where they are polite and courteous to all visitors or patrons to the Arcadian. The feedback we regularly receive from both client and visitors alike reassures me that they are representing we clean in a positive manner and hence I am very proud to manage this ‘wonderful team’ particularly as we have been operating through the COVID-19 pandemic where they have truly pulled together as a team!”
Debbie has developed a close relationship with Centre Manager, Jo Kinsella LCP who echoed Debbie’s praise:
“I’m over the moon that our Arcadian Cleaning Team have been presented with this lovely award. They always go far more than the standard ‘above and beyond’ to keep the centre clean and safe, working under some extreme circumstances whilst consistently maintaining their professionalism. Nothing is ever too much trouble! They are an extraordinary team and I’m very grateful for all that they do here.”
As the very first winners of this new ‘Team Award’ our Arcadian Cleaning Team know they have contributed something very special to we clean and gone above and beyond in every aspect of their service delivery and this award is made all the more special knowing that Dee managed a number of cleaning teams and truly championed the ‘one team’ culture that has epitomised our organisation over the years.
The Dee Richards Pride ‘Champion’ Award is the highest accolade an individual within our organisation can receive.
This award is a lasting memorial to ‘Dee Richards’ who epitomised the we clean ethos, providing an outstanding service to our client base whilst displaying the utmost professionalism during her time as Contract Manager and loyal colleague within the business!
With this in mind, our 2021 ‘Pride Champion’ is more than deserving of this Award, having gone above and beyond in his role for over a decade…and that is our very own Darren McLean Estates Cleaning Manager for the highly prestigious Brindleyplace Contract!
Having worked closely with Dee during her time as Contract Manager looking after the Internal Cleaning Operations at Brindleyplace, Darren more than most fully appreciates that by receiving this Award he like Dee has contributed something very special to our business through his committed work ethic, inherent Integrity and genuine desire to do the job right!!
Following Darren receiving his Pride Champion Award, we sat down with the man himself to discuss his we clean journey, his Brindleyplace experience and much more…
Darren McLean, Pride Champion 2021
How long have you been working at Brindleyplace?
I have been working on the Brindleyplace Estate for over 15 years now initially as a Service Cleaning Operative – I love being outdoors and have a genuine passion for Estate Cleaning, particularly Industrial Pressure Washing.
Within 12 months of being onsite working within the in house Estate Team, I was promoted to Site Supervisor looking after the daily cleaning activities of the team and this was a great learning experience for me and it is amazing to see how Brindleyplace has evolved over this time.
You Transferred under TUPE to we cleanfrom the In-House Operation in 2013, how did you and the team feel about this at the time?
For most people change is always unsettling and we had been given prior notice that the In-House operation was going out to an External Contractor however myself and the team were relieved when we discovered that we clean had been successful in securing the Estates Cleaning Contract as they were familiar to us as having already been on site looking after the internal managed buildings within Brindleyplace since 2009 and we knew they had done a good job!
In-fact it was Dee who spoke to me and some of the team to tell us not to worry that we clean very much appreciated the work of its cleaning staff and genuinely respected and cared for their overall welfare.
Why do you enjoy working for we clean?
As they say proof is in the pudding and here I am some 8 years later having seen at firsthand how the Company looks to support and progress its people, indeed soon after we clean took over the Contract the Directors David and Paul made it clear that I was no longer Site Supervisor but Estates Cleaning Manager giving me not only the responsibility but more importantly the authority to effectively manage the service team and all aspects of the cleaning on site.
They have constantly looked to develop my skills sets and broaden my role within the business and to this end I now have additional responsibilities in supporting Sean Wright and the Estates Cleaning operation at Paradise which is a really exciting development at the heart of the City. David Holmes McClure who was an Estate Service operative at the time of the Transfer here in 2013 has gone on and developed in his own professional career path within the business and is now the Company Health & Safety Manager demonstrating what a great organisation we clean is to work for!
The support I have received not only from the Directors but also our HR Manager Gaynor Powell, Nicki and Gary in the Warehouse Team and Duncan Thomson our dedicated in house Training Manager has been fantastic and it has ensured that the Estates Team on site here at Brindleyplace feel very much part of the ethos and culture of we clean.
Tell us more about your role across the Brindleyplace Estate? What does it entail?
I am immensely proud to be the Estate Cleaning Manager of Brindleyplace such an iconic commercial and leisure district for Birmingham.
I am certainly an early bird, being on-site from 5am everyday Monday – Friday ensuring the Estate is ready for the thousands of workers and visitors we welcome each day. My role is varied and incorporates a number of different disciplines which means no two days are ever the same and certainly keeps things interesting!
We have a team of 10 ‘brilliant’ Service Operatives who help to ensure that the site is safe through all four seasons, come rain, sun or snow with leaf and snow clearance as well as gritting plus watering of planters across the Estate during the spring and summer months.
I carry out daily inspections of the estate and then a more formal weekly i-Audit which is documented with observations, recommendations and photographs and fed back to the Brindleyplace Facilities Management team. With it being such a large, mixed-use estate it is vital that every aspect of our service delivery is micro-managed and overseen closely.
Obviously in more recent times the environment and sustainability targets / objectives have become much more into focus and the management of the waste streams on site here is critical with us managing on behalf of Brindleyplace the collection of food, general, DMR, glass and card waste across the Estate. Hence our own Environmental policies and procedures driven by the we cleanGREEN management system aligns perfectly with the overall goals and aspirations of the Brindleyplace Estate!
The Brindleyplace calendar is always a busy one, it is packed full with a variety of events such as the film / food festivals, the annual Dragon boat race which we accommodate and play our part within to ensure the Estate is presented immaculately.
Tell us more about your relationship with the Brindleyplace Facilities Team?
We of course work closely with, and report back constantly to the Facilities Team here, Gary Hawkswood Brindleyplace Estates Manager, Paul Watkins his Assistant plus Jaskiren Deol and James Morson who are the Building Managers. In addition I have an excellent working relationship with Mukesh Puri Regional Workplace Manager at Avison Young who has responsibility for overseeing both Brindleyplace and Paradise. They are all immensely supportive and their drive to ensure Brindleyplace and Paradise are the best they can be at all times and remaining the flagship go to places for the people of Birmingham is very rewarding!
What does it mean to be our Pride Champion?
I was very surprised to be honest, it isn’t something that I saw coming!
It is an absolute honour, even more so that it is an award in memory of Dee Richards who I had a great relationship with. I can remember having great conversations and even banter with her and look back fondly on those years when she was such a prominent presence around Brindleyplace.
She was an exceptional manager with a wonderful personality, a real character with a tremendous work ethic, she genuinely cared for both the we clean brand but more importantly for the many Cleaning Operatives she managed on a daily basis.
To win an award in her name is something that I will always remember and is very special to me, I feel extremely privileged!
Lastly, what does the future have in store for you?
It feels like we are entering an exciting period for the City, the next 10 years are set to be transformative with the Commonwealth Games and lots of other developments. Here on the Estate things are always progressing and it is becoming busier and busier following the easing of Government restrictions and more people returning to work. I just want to say thank you again to both Paul and David this award means everything to me!
Gary Hawkswood, Estate Manager Brindleyplace was more than happy to pass on comment on Darren’s award:
“Darren is a real asset to both We Clean and Brindleyplace and is constantly on the ball right across the Estate, managing the cleaning team and processes diligently ensuring Brindleyplace remains immaculate for the many visitors we welcome throughout the year.
He really is a genuine star and my go to on a number of aspects that affect the daily running of the Estate, I only ever have to ask him once to get tasks done which provides a real peace of mind for me and the Facilities Team onsite with most cleaning issues already on his radar well before we flag them up with him.
Brindleyplace just wouldn’t be what it is without Darren and his team, I would like to applaud his total dedication to, and knowledge of, the Estate and offer my congratulations on him receiving this fantastic and well deserved Award!”
Rachael Peacock has very much been the face of we clean at our Head Office facilities in Rubery since joining the organisation initially as a trainee Reception Administrator back in 2015! Throughout this time she has continued to develop and evolve within we clean showing outstanding commitment and enthusiasm to support the impressive growth of the business, during this time and as a result of her hard work to improve her skills sets she is now progressing into a more strategic Procurement and Fleet Management role.
Rachael Peacock, We Clean Limited
As a former pupil of Windsor High School in Halesowen, Rachael is very much a local and she initially embarked upon a career in a Health setting enrolling onto an NVQ Apprenticeship in Health & Social Care at Field House Care Home where she primarily cared for the residents and supported their family members for over 2 years. The experience whilst challenging, was very rewarding for Rachael and certainly laid the foundations for her aptitude for customer service and being personally organised to meet client demands promptly.
Following this brief spell within the care sector, Rachael’s career path within customer service took her into the realm of the AA and their Headquarters in Oldbury where she operated as a call handler. Racheal’s desire for continual personal improvement was demonstrated with her commitment to complete an NVQ apprenticeship in Customer Handling that resulted in her being promoted into the patrol support unit where her organisational skills came to the fore dealing with often ‘disgruntled drivers’ stuck by the roadside!
After 3 years at the AA Rachael couldn’t see a clear career pathway moving forward and began looking for the next positive career step and that’s when she came across an advert from we clean who were recruiting for a trainee Reception Administrator that demanded the customer facing skill sets she had honed so successfully during her time with the AA!
As Rachael re-called: “I saw the advert and felt immediately that this was the job for me, we clean were based locally and I was really keen to impress during my interview which was initially with Gaynor Powell HR Manager which then resulted in a second interview with the Directors Paul and David. I did find this a little daunting at the time but it went well and I was delighted that they offered me the position there and then and the rest as they say is history…”
Initially her role was very much about answering all inbound calls to the Company Head Office and transferring them accordingly but working alongside the very experienced Senior Office Administrator Amanda Headland who manages all the we clean ISO accreditation, Rachael’s scope of work began to expand!
With the sustained period of growth enjoyed by we clean prior to the Coronavirus pandemic Rachael’s role began to evolve with her taking a more hands-on, collaborative approach with client enquiries, providing detailed reporting on vehicle spend for the company board, managing our in-house Specialist Cleaning Division works planner and developing more structured purchasing and supply policies for the business.
However, the catalyst for Rachael to embark upon a professional qualification was within the purchasing and supply sector. as Rachael notes:
“I really enjoy the strategic aspects of Procurement and how it can have a real positive impact upon the profitability and sustainability of an organisation and it was Director Paul Concannon who himself is a fully qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply Management (CIPS) who suggested that seek external studies geared towards obtaining a formal qualification”.
Rachael quickly progressed through the intermediary level 2 & 3 of the CIPS qualification with support of the Procurement Academy and her tutor Reg Dyson who commented early on that Rachael was proving to be a model student handling both the ‘off the job training’ and the ‘on the job training’ with equal competency. The course works required her to look at such matters as Whole Life Costing, Supplier Relationship Management, Tender Processing, Sustainable and Ethical Sourcing including critical regulatory and legislative controls.
Throughout the duration and completion of the CIPS professional qualification programme Rachael has been able to apply her newly developed skill sets to many aspects of her role carrying out formal negotiations with the organisation extensive supplier base, collating information and producing meaningful Tender documentation for the procurement of key services for the business and establishing formal controls for monitoring supplier performance.
Director Paul Concannon commented on Rachael’s hard earned success:
“We are all so very proud of Rachael! She joined we clean as a junior administrator and to see both her personal and professional development over this time within the business is very satisfying and by recently being awarded a Level 4 Diploma in Purchasing & Supply Management which is a massive personal achievement, Rachael is now in a position to fully support the company’s strategic ‘sustainable’ growth objectives”
Rachael reflected on her time with we clean commenting:
“As an organisation we clean genuinely cares about its people and the Directors of the business Paul Concannon and David Harker are passionate about all staff whether they be Operational Managers, Frontline Cleaning Operatives or like myself Head Office Administrators improving their skill sets and knowledge base as ultimately they see that this will only benefit the business in the long term”
“I would particularly like to thank Amanda Headland who has been a real mentor to me and certainly given me hands on experience on how effective administration can help support a business and of course everyone else within the we clean team who have always been so supportive of me as I’ve developed my career over the past 6 years.”
And how does Rachael see her future career progression moving forward?
“The Company have kindly committed to supporting me in my Level 5 CIPS Advanced Diploma which I’m really excited about and this will help me still further to apply more structured procedures, policies and methodologies to the Purchasing function within the business and I hope ultimately to be a fully professionally qualified member of the institute playing my part in the continued success of the we clean brand”!
Contract Managers Richard and Robb manage a wide portfolio of clients as well as multiple teams of Cleaning Operatives who are contracted to each of their sites. It is a fast paced, dynamic role which incorporates all facets of micro-management and requires a strong sense of leadership.
From L-R: Richard Wharton, Contract Manager, Rachael Peacock, Procurement & Fleet Administrator and Robb Paton, Contract Manager.
This course was carried out online over 12 weeks and was split into two primary modules.
Organisational Leadership Skills – This module centred on Richard’s role as a facilitator and motivator of people, it also provided him with the opportunity to assess his natural leadership style and how to garner the best from different people and situations that he may encounter. The training within this course has enabled him to understand the cultural impact he may have upon staff and how his actions motivate and drive cleaning teams.
Strategic Thinking and Decision Making – This module enabled Richard to assess and analyse the macro environment in which we clean operates by using the PESTLE analytic tool he was able to delve into the Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors that could potentially affect the day to day running of a site within his remit.
Richard commented:
“This course was very challenging and required me to carry out plenty of research into areas of we clean that I may have previously never considered with a number of the topics being geared towards senior management or business owners. In completing this qualification, I have developed many attributes that will benefit me immediately in the managing of clients, sites and of coursecleaning staff. I have developed a real understanding of where our organisation is at in terms of the wider marketplace and how to take positive action towards delivering service excellence to our client base!”
Like Richard’s, Robb’s course was also online and consisted of two primary modules, Understanding Leadership & Understanding The Communication Process.
Understanding Leadership – As the name suggests this module homed in on all things leadership including:
Directing
Mentoring
Supporting
Enabling
As well as the above, the course analysed leadership flexibility and how as a manager Robb must be versatile in his role of catering to different cleaning teams who all have different requirements and needs.
Understanding the Communication Process – This module included theory on the process of communication and how as a leader Robb can understand and use effective communication to his advantage. Utilising the DISC system (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness & Compliance) which is designed to assess personality traits, Robb also discovered communication techniques to promote positive communication between colleagues and clients. Also within this module Robb studied techniques on developing rapport with colleagues and key client contacts and how to utilise body language to deliver the right message.
Robb found the course to be demanding, but immensely rewarding:
“It was challenging and certainly pushed me however it offered me great insight and is already helping and aiding me in my day-to-day role. As a contract manager good communication is imperative, I understand that often the work our cleaning operative’s carry out is difficult and so positive communication and reinforcement is essential in managing our staff and ensuring they are motivated. I am looking forward to furthering my skillset and adding to the service offering we cleanprovides!”
Director Paul Concannon commented:
“We are delighted that both Richard and Robb completed an NVQ Level 5 and Level 3 respectively in Leadership and Management which is critical in supporting thelong term strategic aspirations of the organisation as a people business we are genuinely committed to supporting all of our staff in developing their skillsets to enhance their own careers but also the success and sustainability of our business. Congratulations to both Richard and Robb as I know their courses were challenging!”
Stay tuned for our feature on Rachael Peacock next week which will detail Rachael Peacock’s career and her progression with we clean!
