Author: Lucy Wood

Templars Square Shopping Centre Security Team from Cowley in Oxford are celebrating being highly commended at the prestigious SCEPTRE awards. 

The awards are in their 22^nd year and this year’s glittering event was held at the Royal Lancaster London Hotel on Tuesday 23^rd November, attended by delegates from across the shopping centre industry.

The SCEPTRE Awards recognise the best practice and the best people in the shopping centre industry and we are extremely proud that our Security Team at Templars Square who were Highly Commended in the Security Team of the Year category, recognising best practice in shopping centre security.  This is a fantastic achievement and a testament to the hard work and commitment of the team.

Mark Driscoll, Dual Service Manager at Templars Square described the Security Team as “the epitome of professionalism, they truly care about customer service, their site and their local community”.  The Security Team were nominated for their robust crime prevention, incredible customer service and a team who have helped their local community and vulnerable customers throughout the pandemic. 

Today is #PurpleTuesday, a day dedicated to raising awareness of what it’s like to live with a disability and here at The Westgrove Group, we pledge our support. 

With 1 in 5 customers living with a disability, accessibility is more important than ever.  Purple Tuesday has been created to recognise the importance and needs of disabled customers and to promote inclusive shopping and improving the customer experience for disabled people, 365 days a year.  Taking place to coincide with the run up to the peak Christmas period, the event has been created by disability organisation Purple.

The day will see retailers in stores and online introducing new measures to make shopping a more inclusive experience, sending a powerful message that they care about all their customers and that their business matters to them.

Our colleagues at Touchwood Shopping Centre are spending the day raising awareness and are making a commitment to provide colleagues with British Sign Language training so they are better equipped to support their community.  The training will provide our colleagues with some key words and phrases in British Sign Language to enable basic conversation with customers who use this as their main form of communication. 

Touchwood’s Total Facilities Manager, Sharon Hughes said: “There is a real barrier that makes it harder for disabled people to enjoy the shopping experience, which is why at Touchwood we are celebrating Purple Tuesday.  We’ve spent time providing our colleagues with relevant training including BSL, so they are able to better support everyone who visits our centre”.

Today we’re celebrating Thank You Cleaner Day! 

The role of our cleaning colleagues has never been so important, keeping their sites safe and clean and often go above and beyond in their role.  Reward and recognition is so important to us here at Westgrove as we want our colleagues to feel special and valued for their contribution, so today we’re saying a massive thank you to each and every one of our cleaning colleagues. 

This Thank You Cleaner Day, we also asked our teams to nominate a Cleaning Colleague to receive a extra special thank you gift from Westgrove and we were inundated with nominations!

The five lucky Thank You Cleaner Day winners are: 

Thank You to Shaun Laffey at Royal Priors Shopping Centre for always going above and beyond for your onsite retailers.  Shaun was nominated by Dual Service Manager, Tony Keay who commended Shaun’s actions when he helped a retailer to get their shop ready to open when it was left covered in dust and debris after new shutters were fitted over night.  Well done Shaun!    

Thank You to Debbie at Maylord Shopping Centre.  Debbie has worked at Maylords for over 30 years and was nominated by her colleague Ryan for her impeccably high standards of cleaning and her amazing work ethic.

Thank You to Anthony Liggins at Tata Technologies.  Anthony’s colleague and Facilities Manager, Waqas Maroof, said “If there was a nomination for disinfectant champion, Anthony would be it!”.  On every shift, Anthony leaves the place shining and completely disinfected.    

Thank You to Damien Bailey at Templars Square Shopping Centre for your truly outstanding work and inspirational attitude.  Damien was nominated by Customer Service Supervisor, Majid who said that “nothing is ever too much trouble for Damien, he is a true team player and takes on any job assigned to him.  He has a real zest for life and an amazing attitude”.  You’re an asset to the team, Damien!

Thank You to Darren Harris at Gloucester Quays Outlet.  Darren recently received a massive compliment for his high standards of cleaning by a member of the public.  His customer service skills were outstanding and the lady commented that Darren was helpful, friendly and a very nice person.  Brilliant effort, Darren!

Our people are what make us special. From saving lives and preventing crime to helping people in need and much more. Our Reward and Recognition scheme is our way of saying thank you to our Colleagues for the amazing work that they do each and every day, often going above and beyond in their role.

Well done to all our winners and everyone who has been nominated for an award this quarter – you are all amazing!

Our Quarter 3 winners are:

Site Manager of the Quarter

• Gillian Davidson – Marketplace
• John Creggy – QVC Knowsley
• Dave Kerslate – Marriots Walk

Team of the Quarter

• Templars Square
• The Galleries
• Touchwood

Colleague of the Quarter

• Roger Smith, Maylord Shopping Centre

Health & Safety Champion

• Jackie Bull, Telford Centre
• Ricky Law, Stamford Quarter
• Paul Nevins, Haymarket

CSR of the Quarter

• Guest Service Ambassadors and Housekeeping, Runcorn Housekeeping

Newcomer of the Quarter

• Martin Mansell, Royal Priors

Outstanding Act

• Dave Phillips, Niall Clare, Debra Taylor, Cath Delaney, Market Place
• Mo Osman, Queens Square
• Asa Abraham, Queens Square
• Richard Aplin, Kings Chase
• Richard Price, Gloucester Quays
• Damon Kosmalski-Pearson, Riverside Hemel
• Stewart Todd, Paul Clarke, Phil Mitchell, Dave Smith, Birchwood Park
• Ben Jaggers, Telford

Service Excellence

• Lisa Earl, Luke Elliot, Dave Black, St Johns
• Asa Abraham, Queens Square
• Waqas Maroof & The Tata Team
• Danielle Annal, St Johns
• Alex Burnett, The Meadows
• Alistair Currie, Jennifer Denman, DSA
• Paul Booth, Ian, Gary Feely, Peter, Technical Services
• Adele Jarvis, Spindles Town Square
• Andrew Joy & Darren Williams, Quedam Shopping Centre

Congratulations to all our Q3 winners!

The Westgrove Group are continuing to support World Mental Health Day hosted on the 10^th October each year.  This year, the theme set by the World Federation of Mental Health is Mental Health in an unequal world.

Here at The Westgrove Group, we take the Mental Health of our colleagues and those around us very seriously. We are committing to 1in10 Westgrove Colleagues having Mental Health First Aid training and all Colleagues are offered Mental Health Awareness training via our e-leaning programme.  As added support we also provide free and confidential support via our partnership with the Retail Trust.

Our Brand Ambassador Alex Staniforth and his charity Mind Over Mountains believe spending time outdoors is the most powerful intervention to build resilience and positive wellbeing which is why we have committed to providing our colleagues with the opportunity to join Alex and the Mind Over Mountains team on their events.

This World Mental Health Day we are reminding our colleagues that we’re here for them, whatever life throws their way and in partnership with Retail Trust, we have provided all our colleagues with a Wellbeing Assessment and tailored support for their own personal circumstances.   

If you are struggling with your mental health, we urge you to take the first step and reach out, whatever way you feel comfortable. 

Other sources of information:

The Retail Trust, https://www.retailtrust.org.uk/

Samaritans, https://www.samaritans.org/

Hub of Hope, https://hubofhope.co.uk/

On 20^th October, we’re celebrating Thank You Cleaner Day.  Launched in New Zealand in 2015, Thank You Cleaner Day has grown into a global initiative to celebrate the valuable contribution cleaners make to their communities.

To celebrate Thank You Cleaner Day 2021, we’ve asked our teams to nominate a cleaning colleague to receive a special thank you gift from Westgrove.  It’s important to us to recognise our colleagues for the amazing work that they do and to make sure they feel valued.

We’re looking forward to sharing the stories behind our winning cleaning colleagues and why they have been nominated for a Thank You Cleaner award. 

Watch this space!

As we emerge from what has been a very strange year, we are keen to ensure that our valued Partners stay up to date with what’s happening within our business.

We are delighted to present our first digital Newsletter.

In this edition:

• We hear from our Managing Director, Claire McKinley Smith
• Look back at an award wining start to the year
• Find out about the chemical free cleaning revolution
• See the latest innovations
• Hear all the latest news from Westgrove HQ
• And take a look at some CSR initiative

Click here to read Issue 1 of the Westgrove Digital Newsletter.

Shopping centre specialist Facilities Management company, The Westgrove Group, continues its growth in the sector with new contract wins in Kent and the West Midlands.

The company, which provides soft and hard services to centres across the UK, has been awarded new contracts at Broadway Shopping Centre in Bexleyheath and Ryemarket Shopping Centre in Stourbridge. 

Following a competitive tender process, Westgrove were awarded the cleaning and security contract at Broadway Shopping Centre, managed by property specialists Workman.  Located in the heart of Bexleyheath, Broadway spans 519,700 sq ft. and hosts 60 retail stores.

Westgrove will also provide the cleaning and security services to Ryemarket Shopping Centre, managed by Orbit Property Management Ltd.  Hosting 30 retail stores, this family friendly centre boasts a strong customer centric ethos, which aligns with Westgrove.  

These wins follow recent contract awards with The Piazza Centre in Huddersfield, The Arc in Bury St Edmonds and Novelis Recycling in Warrington as well as a contract extension with The Arcades Shopping Centre in Ashton Under Lyne, all adding over £2M of new business. 

Claire Mckinley Smith, Managing Director at Westgrove said “We are delighted to be working with the teams at Broadway and Ryemarket and it’s a pleasure to welcome new colleagues into our team.  We pride ourselves on the quality of our customer service and we’ll be supporting our new colleagues with training and development opportunities”.

Rai Holdstock, Centre Manager at Broadway Shopping Centre, said ‘We are delighted to be working with Westgrove who were chosen due to their commitment to rewarding their colleagues and demonstrable added value to the scheme at no extra cost.’

Aaron Powell, Centre Manager at Ryemarket Shopping Centre said, ‘We made the award to Westgrove due to their excellent tender which understood our priorities and objectives and showed how the contract could develop in the future’.

Westgrove provide security, cleaning, maintenance and customer service to shopping centres and mixed-use destinations, corporate offices, business parks, manufacturing and airports throughout the UK.  Following a successful 22-year history, the company expanded in 2020 to add hard services to enhance its well-established award-winning soft services provision.  The company, based in Warrington, was founded by Group Chairmen Simon Whittle and Steve Fives.

Last night, Shakespeare’s Underglobe Theatre in London played host to the Women in Security Awards 2021. These awards recognise and honour the contribution and achievements of women in the security industry.

We are pleased to announce that Denise Phillips from Market Place Shopping Centre in Bolton was the WINNER of the Frontline category.

Denise was nominated by Gillian Davidson, our Guest Services Manager for the contribution she has made to Market Place during her 23-year career. Denise is an inspirational female security officer; she shows so much loyalty to Market Place and her passion for her role shines through.

Fast growing facilities management company, The Westgrove Group, has secured a new million-pound total facilities management contract at Tata Technologies European Innovation and Development Centre, based in Warwickshire.

As part of a competitive tender process, Westgrove successfully retained their soft services provision for a further three years and also won the hard services contract (planned and reactive maintenance), to provide a new Total Facilities Management solution.

Claire McKinley Smith, Managing Director at Westgrove said, “We are delighted to continue our partnership at Tata Technologies and to have extended the cleaning and security provision to now provide the hard services as well.  This is testament to the hard work and dedication of our colleagues onsite and to our Technical Services Team”.    

Paul Booth, Technical Services Director at Westgrove commented, “This new award is fantastic news for Westgrove and I am personally very excited to be involved in this prestigious TFM contract.  Our soft service colleagues have set a very high benchmark with their excellent service standards to date at Tata and we are looking forward to following their lead and implementing engineering and service excellence from day one.”

Tim Brown, General Manager, UK Operations at Tata Technologies said, ‘Westgrove are always professional, and always provide the greatest level of care. The service that I receive is unmatched, and it is that which drove the decision to not only continue the soft services, but to include the whole FM package’.

The Westgrove Technical Services Team bring a wealth of facilities engineering experience to the company since the division launched in early 2020.  The team work across the UK covering a variety of sectors including retail, commercial and industrial.

Westgrove provide security, cleaning, maintenance and customer service to shopping centres and mixed-use destinations, corporate offices, business parks, manufacturing and airports throughout the UK.  Following a successful 22-year history, the company expanded in 2020 to add hard services to enhance its well-established award-winning soft services provision. 

The Westgrove Group has also recently secured a Total Facilities Management contract with Touchwood Shopping Centre in Solihull valued at over £10m. The company, based in Warrington, was founded by Group Chairmen Simon Whittle and Steve Fives.

Click here to find out more about Westgrove’s service offering.