Construction Industry News, Volume 22, Issue 7
Last year Westgrove celebrated its 25th anniversary and over the years the FM-specialist has accumulated an impressive collection of awards. Construction Industry News recently caught up with Glenn Wilson, Group Managing Director, to see how this consistency has been achieved.
“A significant factor behind our success since we were created in 1998 has been the cooperative approach we’ve taken, which has been very much based on building relationships with our clients and developing our people to their potential,” explains Glenn. “The founders, Steve Fives and Simon Whittle, wanted to set up a company where the staff would love working for the business, which would then be reflected in the quality of work they produced.”
Underlining this approach is the fact Westgrove refers to its employees as colleagues and places a strong emphasis on their training and development. “It’s all about ensuring our colleagues enjoy working in the business, rather than just being a number on the payroll,” adds Glenn. “We have a robust reward and recognition package that we present every quarter, with the winners being put forward for our annual awards. We’re always looking at ways to make the company a more attractive place to be and to recognise the efforts of our colleagues.”
By placing its people at the heart of its business, Westgrove has continually evolved its offer from cleaning into other associated services, as well as security, culminating in the launch of the technical services business in 2020. It can now offer a nationwide one stop shop service, helping it increase turnover to over £30m last year, as it heads towards the £35m-mark this year.
Mirroring the approach it takes to looking after its people, Westgrove works extremely hard to develop its links with its clients too. “We refer to our clients as partners, as it’s all about building long lasting relationships with them and driving repeat business. In order for this to be successful, we have to ensure our service levels remain consistently high, which is where our colleagues come in.”
With nearly 1,000 employees within the company, Westgrove’s emphasis on its people certainly makes a great deal of sense, particularly with the current shortage of labour in the marketplace. “We are very much focused on retaining our colleagues, as the impact of Brexit has seen many workers leaving the marketplace, so there’s a high volume of vacancies around at the moment,” says Glenn. “This is why training is so important, as it demonstrates our commitment to our people. We’re a relatively small organisation up against much bigger operators and more than holding our own. This is because of our people and the quality they’re able to provide.”
It’s not just a growing client base that has been a reflection of the high standards that Westgrove adheres to, as it has also built an enviable collection of accolades. It was recently in the running for a Kimberley-Clark Golden Service Award, although it ultimately narrowly missed out in the end.
“Getting shortlisted is an achievement in itself, while we’re very proud of all the awards we’ve won over the years,” says Glenn. “Typically, we’re up against much larger businesses in the marketplace, so we take great pride in every success we have. Any award is great recognition of the hard work that our people put in.”
Known as shopping centre specialists, Westgrove also has contracts in the corporate and commercial office world and the manufacturing arena. With a strong workforce behind it and an award-winning approach, the company is sure to continue on its upward trajectory thanks to its growing reputation.
Credit: Nigel Martin
