Clean leader

No matter what the cleaning requirements, ServiceMaster Clean from Newbury offers a complete ‘spick and span’ service, from communal cleaning to more serious restorative and trauma work – and that includes a dedication to continually raising standards

ServiceMaster Clean from Newbury pioneered the introduction of partnering principles into the field of communal cleaning to offer social landlords a professional, transparent service dedicated to delivering quality.

The company hasn’t left things there, however, as it has striven to constantly refine the model, and deliver continuous improvements in service delivery and standards. ServiceMaster Clean has taken this a step further, recently gaining some critical accreditations that enable the business to take itself to the next level.

The model was developed by the company’s managing director Nick Dee Shapland to meet the needs of its first social housing client, Sovereign. The purpose was to provide the transparent, effective delivery of cleaning services in a professional manner, and for ServiceMaster Clean to become very much a part of Sovereign’s team. Delivering a quality service doesn’t just include the matters where
you’d expect results to be delivered – at the front-line cleaning and tidying – but throughout the service, from management of the contract, working with tenants, auditing quality and KPIs, to the actual performance of the operatives.

Indeed, the two go very much hand in hand as far as the company is concerned, to ensure that not only is a quality service provided – but that the service is also continuously improved. In effect, ServiceMaster operates according to the principles of partnering more commonly associated with – and expected of – maintenance contractors.

The relationship with Sovereign began in 2004 and since then the partners have continued to develop the model further, refining it constantly, and as the company has expanded its provision of services to further clients in the social housing world, so the model – and its practical application – has gone from strength to strength.

Service Master Clean has just been awarded ISO 9001: 2008 quality assurance accreditation, along with ISO 14001:2004 for its environmental management procedures, certifying the company’s abilities to deliver in these areas for commercial and communal cleaning. This means that the company has the full range of accreditation for its contract maintenance cleaning as well as its more specialised cleaning services.

“These accreditations came through ISO QAR an accredited certification body, regulated by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) which guarantee’s that as a company we consistently perform to a good standard and that we are externally audited to prove that we conduct our business in a proper, professional, safe and environmentally conscious way,” said Shirley Ellis, the company’s HR manager, who led the project to secure the accreditation.

The ISO auditor commented: “ServiceMaster Clean of Newbury is the first franchisee in the ServiceMaster chain to be ready for this audit process and have demonstrated a committed and effective business practice throughout the route to registration. All staff interviewed at head office or on sites have been able to answer questions and demonstrate compliance with company procedure with ease and are a testament to the competence of supervisory and managerial staff.”

What the accreditations also mean is that the Newbury business can now become an operations centre for the South East, providing contract services and management support for social housing clients and fellow ServiceMaster businesses. It will build on the work the Newbury business is doing with fellow ServiceMaster franchises in the region to fulfil its clients’ needs.

“Now that we have our ISO accreditations, it allows us to become a commercial operations centre,” said Nick Dee Shapland, managing director. “It’s still the franchise operation but because we have got the accreditation and the ServiceMaster license we have the standards that ServiceMaster is looking for, so it allows us to manage business across the network.”

At this point, it’s perhaps worth mentioning the nature of the franchise. Social landlords unfamiliar with ServiceMaster may find themselves a little unclear about what that entails. Essentially, unlike many of their contractor partners, where divisions may work locally but are part of a national corporate structure, ServiceMaster’s franchise operation means that each business is independently owned. As such, it operates and recruits locally, but the business owner buys the license to run the franchise. To fulfil that license, they must conform to certain standards set by the licensor – ServiceMaster Limited in Leicester – and apply the recognisable branding. Because each business is independently owned, but working towards the same set of values and standards – it means that each is absolutely dedicated to delivering the best service they can – it’s their owners’ livelihoods after all.

Nick Dee Shapland purchased the license for Newbury in 1991, initially for commercial contract cleaning, and several years’ later added flood and fire restoration work. Over the years, he has expanded its capabilities, continuing the maintenance cleaning aspect of its operations, but also providing specialist capabilities, such as the fire and flood work, trauma scene cleaning, graffiti removal and needle sweeps, to name but a few. Services are offered under contract and with a 24-hour call out facility.

The development of the partnering model is an innovation pioneered by Nick Dee Shapland, and which is in the process of being rolled out across the franchise network, but as with the potential the Newbury business has to become a commercial operations centre, it shows that the model is continually being developed. It also, perhaps, demonstrates the capacity for co-operative working between franchise businesses – and consistent levels of delivery.

“Sovereign is based in Newbury, but it covers the whole of the South East, so say they asked us to look after Portsmouth – which we do, incidentally – we subcontract that out to the Portsmouth Service
Master network – who have been trained by us,” Dee Shapland said. “That is a great advantage, because I know they are liveried with the ServiceMaster branding on their vans and uniforms, they use the same products that we use under COSHH, and they follow the same procedures and systems.”

Today, ServiceMaster Newbury is servicing the needs of six housing associations, including its original client Sovereign. They all have somewhat differing needs, but the essence is the framework that Dee Shapland developed, where communication, tenant involvement and a professional approach is key.

The company is a great believer in quality checks and auditing to ensure that the standards of work – and the systems – are adhered to, with a customer accounts manager conducting regular audits. The company also regularly undergoes checks by its clients, and of course it has recently undergone the ISO audits to gain external verification of its systems and procedures. The reasoning, simply, is to ensure that good service is maintained.

Tenants are also crucial, “because at the end of the day they are the customer” as Dee Shapland says. The company has made a point of being involved with TAROE to ensure it remains fully informed on tenants’ needs and expectations.

At the end of the day, it’s the tenants who are the focus of the business, looking after their needs and requirements, whether that’s the routine communal cleaning, or ServiceMaster’s specialised work, it’s not just the skills of the trade that are required but also those essential people skills that make them a part of life in the community. Some of its work, however, such as the restoration or trauma work goes further still in the calibre and capabilities of the company’s people.

“We run a business where it’s not just about cleaning – it’s about the quality of people, and communicating well. So that means the operatives have to be trained to a high standard. When we got involved in trauma work, it is no good having an operator turn up just to do the work – they have to know how to deal with somebody who is bereaved,” Dee Shapland said.

“With our fire and flood work, we now belong to the BDMA – the British Damage Management Association – so our operators are now trained to technician level. So standards are being driven higher. When we send someone out, they will know how to look after a customer who will be going through a stressful time – and deal with the problem in hand professionally.”

Professionalism, along with people and performance, are the strands that bind the company’s DNA and they ensure it can constantly evolve to meet its clients’ needs.