Author: Lucy Wood

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.

Suicide is a preventable death, however, in 2023 there were 6,042 registered deaths by suicide in England and Wales,and it is still the leading single cause of death among 15–29-year-olds globally.

Having previously worked in Housing and Construction, I am aware of mental health illness and suicide prevention. However, I have never actually spoken to anyone who has had to deal with someone who has attempted suicide and how they personally managed the situation until I joined The Westgrove Group.

I decided it was time to educate myself further about mental health and suicide thoughts. To start with, I recently visited the Zero Suicide Alliance website to undertake the free 20-minute Suicide Prevention training. It is a great course which I would recommend to all our colleagues.

The training covers how to recognise and deal with someone who may have suicidal thoughts, and I particularly found the three stories (one with a stranger, the other with a colleague and one with a family member) interesting and helpful. Being able to talk about suicide could save someone’s life and taking the time to recognise that someone may be feeling depressed or having suicidal thoughts will help you to ask the right questions and start a conversation. It is also important to do your research about organisations that can help someone who may be suffering, so that you are prepared if you ever need to signpost someone to seek further help and support. For example, the Orange Button Scheme who are supported by the Market Place in Bolton.

Suicidal thoughts are often the result of an untreated mental health condition. It is important to understand and identify the warning signs and risk factors of suicide so that we can play a role in supporting others in crisis.

Would you be able to ask the person if they are thinking of ending their life?

What can you do in the event of a suicide attempt?

• Establish contact with the person and talk to them.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions about suicidal thoughts and feelings, but don’t get into a debate about the rights and wrongs of suicide.
• Always take any suicidal threats seriously.
• Listen, be accepting, and don’t judge, show the person that you care by being sympathetic, patient, calm and focused.
• Do not ever try to grab them, always keep yourself safe.
• Keep them safe by removing any potentially dangerous items from around the person, if possible.
• Don’t ever leave a person you are concerned about being at imminent risk of suicide alone. Being there for someone with thoughts of suicide is lifesaving.
• Encourage the person to seek professional help.
• Access help immediately.

Witnessing serious injury or death is a traumatic experience which is why it is important to remember that colleagues dealing with either a suicide incident or someone who attempts suicide, will need to be supported by their colleagues and Line Manager during and after an incident.  Additional support is available through the Retail Trust who offer free and confidential support to our colleagues after dealing with an incident either by telephone or in person counselling.

During a recent ISO Surveillance Audit at Westgrove the auditor highlighted several best practice initiatives including our mental health program and suicide awareness training. This is great recognition of the good work being undertaken by all our colleagues.

For more information, please visit the following websites and take the time to visit the Zero Suidice Alliance website to undertake the free 20-minute Suicide Prevention training.

Other sources of information include:

https://www.retailtrust.org.uk/

https://www.samaritans.org

https://www.healthierlsc.co.uk/OrangeButtonScheme

Written by Angela Crawford, Head of Health, Safety & Compliance, The Westgrove Group

Health & Safety Champion

Ensuring the safety of all our colleagues is of utmost importance to Westgrove which is why we’re introducing a new category into our Reward and Recognition Awards; the Health & Safety Champion.

In the new H&S category we’re looking for Colleagues who are passionate about safety and lead by example and those who take pride in being safe and can influence others to feel the same. 

Our Reward and Recognition Awards are our way of recognising the teams and individuals who go above and beyond in their role.  Each quarter we announce the winners of each category and at the end of the year we welcome all our winning colleagues to a national awards ceremony to celebrate the amazing work that goes on around the Westgrove business and thank them for their contribution and commitment. 

So, what makes a Health and Safety Champion? 

• A colleague who motivates and advocates a positive approach to H&S
• Someone who contribute insightful ideas to improving safety and implements positive change
• Demonstrates through their actions and attitude that they sincerely care about the H&S of their colleagues
• Someone who understands workplace hazards and works to mitigate risks.

This category is now open for nominations and the first H&S Champion winner will be announced with the Q3 R&R winners in October.  Good luck to all our colleagues who are nominated in this category!

You can nominate one of our colleagues for an R&R award HERE.

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 2 winners are:

Site Manager of the Quarter

• Richard Pope – Riverside Hemel

Team of the Quarter

• Cleaning Team – Handforth Dean              
• The Team – Market Place

Colleague of the Quarter

• Neil Peters – Royal Priors
• Julie Deeming – Touchwood

CSR of the Quarter

• Dual Services Team- Royal Priors
• Housekeeping Team – Telford

Newcomer of the Quarter

• Thomas Battiscombe – Morgan Quarter
• James Fairns – Templars Square

Outstanding Act

• Ben Cunningham, Rafal Teleszko, Toby Nye and Joanna Prokopowicz (Customer Service Team) – High Chelmer
• Dave Phillips, Denise Phillips and Zack Baker – Market Place
• Daniel Jackson – The Galleries    
• Security Team – Telford
• Security and Cleaning Team – Arcades    
• Callum Darney – Quadrant           
• Martin Wain – Templars Square
• Gene-Rose Tiburcio – Templars Square
• Roger Selton & Jaywin Nathwani – Haymarket

Service Excellence

• Perminder Singh Dubb – Queens Square Shopping Centre             
• George Adu        Cleaner Quayside MediaCityUK 
• Lesley Younger-Cartwright & Christine Preece – Telford  
• Waste Transfer Team – Greenwich Peninsula      
• Barry Burnham – Templars Square           
• The Team – The Galleries              

It’s been a while since our Westgrove Brand Ambassador, Alex Staniforth took on his last challenge, but he’s at it once again with another crazy idea! 

This time, Alex is taking on the “Bob Graham Round” in the Lake District in early August – which involves running 66 miles, 42 peaks, 27,000ft of ascent – all within 24 hours and to make it even more challenging, he’s attempting it entirely solo without pacers or a support crew so it’s just Alex with his mind and body versus the elements.

Alex said: “I’ve never ran for 24 hours before but I’m excited to be taking on such a classic challenge and testing my limits in the mountains all day, albeit climbing almost the height of Everest!” 

Having a positive focus has been really helpful as we move out of lockdown and Alex is doing the challenge to raise money for his Mind Over Mountains charity, to support others to restore their mental health through nature. Alex counts himself lucky that he’s had access to the Lake District for the last year to keep his well-being in check but realises that not everyone has been so fortunate.

The Mind Over Mountains charity aims to bring together hill-walking and mindfulness in nature, alongside time with experienced coaches and counsellors in an unpressured, unhurried setting.    

Click here to read more about Alex’s challenge on his blog.

And visit Alex’s fundraising page, here, to support the Mind Over Mountains charity and the amazing work they do.

The Westgrove Team wish Alex the best of luck with this latest challenge, keep an eye out on our Twitter feed for further updates and a live tracker!

Fast growing facilities management company, The Westgrove Group has secured over £1M business with contract awards in Yorkshire, Cheshire, Suffolk and Greater Manchester. 

Further strengthening their position as a leading total facilities management provider, The Westgrove Group have recently been awarded contracts with The Piazza Centre in Huddersfield, The Arc in Bury St Edmunds, Novelis Recycling in Warrington plus secured a three-year contract extension with Arcades Shopping Centre in Ashton-Under-Lyne.  The contract awards follow competitive tender processes which involved a number of market leading facilities management companies.  

At The Piazza Centre, Westgrove were appointed as the chosen partner to provide total facilities management including cleaning, security and planned and reactive maintenance services.  With a mix of covered and open-air shopping, this vibrant, cosmopolitan retail destination hosts 35 retail stores. 

The Arc contract award includes security, cleaning and ground maintenance services.  This shopping destination offers a stunning shopping experience in a market town rich in heritage. 

At Novelis Recycling, the largest producer of aluminium beverage can sheet and the world’s largest recycler of used beverage cans, Westgrove have been awarded the cleaning contract.

The company also successfully retained their contract for a further three years with Arcades Shopping Centre, managed by Munroe K.  The contract covers cleaning and security services in a 2-storey shopping centre set in the heart of Ashton-Under-Lyne.

Claire Mckinley Smith, Managing Director at Westgrove said “We are delighted to welcome over 70 new colleagues into our business and we’re looking forward to working with our new Partners and developing our business relationships further”.

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.

We are proud to announce that Majid Khan from Templars Square Shopping Centre has won the prestigious ACS Pacesetters Security Officer of Distinction Award 2021, recognising and rewarding our front-line security heroes. Majid was the highest scorer of the final twelve award winners which is a massive achievement!

The awards set out to reward Security Officers who have gone above and beyond in their duties. The winners are selected by a panel of industry leaders and senior officers from all branches of the emergency services.

Majid was nominated for his outstanding observational skills and customer service excellence. Over the past year, he has prevented crimes and helped with numerous police enquiries.

Not only that, but Majid has helped and supported vulnerable customers in the centre and provided exceptional support when they needed it most. His quick thinking and empathetic nature has turned bad situations around to create positive outcomes.

We would like to thank Majid for his outstanding contribution, not only to Westgrove but to the security industry as a whole.

Pictured, Majid receiving his award

If you missed, you can watch the full ceremony, HERE.

And read more from ACS Pacesetters about the winners, HERE.

Tomorrow is World Environment Day and the theme this year is Ecosystem Restoration. This will be the first year of the United Nation’s Decade on Ecosystem Restoration; a ten-year project aimed at fixing the damage that has been done to our planet.

We wanted to share an amazing project that has taken place at Royal Priors Shopping Centre over the past couple of years, adapting and developing an unused area of their multi-story carpark into a rooftop oasis, known as Les’s Garden.   

Les Watkins, Deputy Centre Manager and the Team have spent time adapting and developing level 4 of their multi-story car park from an unused area of tarmac into an oasis of plants, small trees and small ponds to attracts birds and insects, with the most impressive visitor being a Hawk that nests in a church tower nearby. 

Using recycled materials, the team have been creative and upcycled large wheelie bins by cutting them down to size and creating planters.  The team have supported this green oasis with providing plants and watering the garden as required.

The Oasis is currently being considered for a Green Apple Award and we wish the team at Royal Priors every success with this.

The Westgrove Group are continuing to support Mental Health Awareness Week hosted by the Mental Health Foundation and this year the theme is ‘Nature’.

The last 12 months have been incredibly hard on all of us, at home and at work, and many people have found comfort in nature.

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 retailTRUST.

Our Brand Ambassador Alex Staniforth and his charity Mind Over Mountains are true advocates for nature, they believe spending time outdoors is the most powerful intervention to build resilience and positive wellbeing.

This week we will be talking about mental health with our colleagues and starting the conversation. If you are struggling with your mental health, we urge you to take the first step and reach out.

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 1 winners are:

Site Manager of the Quarter
• Adele Jarvis – Spindles Town Square
• Paul Britton – The Galleries

Colleague of the Quarter
• Daxa Chauhan – Touchwood Shopping Centre
• Paul Lavery – St Johns Shopping Centre
• Dave Phillips – Marketplace Shopping Centre
• Chris Harding – St Johns Shopping Centre
• Raymond Bent – Spindles Town Square

Newcomer of the Quarter
• Haider Hussain – Queens Square Shopping Centre
• Simone Guadagno – Lion Yard Shopping Centre

Team of the Quarter
• Telford Centre – Security Team
• Haymarket Shopping Centre

CSR of the Quarter
• Melissa Heaton – Longridge House
• Queens Square Shopping Centre Team
• Tata Technologies Team
• Lisa Bradbury – Spindles Town Square

Service Excellence

• Majid Hussain – Queens Square Shopping Centre
• Jaspreet Singh – Queens Square Shopping Centre
• Syed Shah – Queens Square Shopping Centre
• Andria Devonport – Handforth Dean
• Jon Walton – Telford Centre
• Paul Lavery, John Costello & Mark Quinn – St Johns Shopping Centre
• Harry Buckley – Gloucester Quays
• Cornbow Team
• Robert Radbone – Castle Quay Shopping Centre

Outstanding Act

• Dave Black & Paul Kenny – St Johns Shopping Centre
• Majid Khan – Templars Square Shopping Centre
• Matthew Huish & Richard Grass – Telford Centre
• Martin Wain – Templars Square Shopping Centre
• Dave Phillips & Carlos Graco – Market Place Shopping Centre
• Muhammad Ali – Templars Square Shopping Centre
• Mark Quinn – St Johns Shopping Centre
• Ralphael Lyttle – Queens Square Shopping Centre
• Jaspreet Singh – Queens Square Shopping Centre
• Jon Walton & Diane Stanfield – Telford Centre
• Helen Smith & Irfan Zafar – Cornbow Shopping Centre
• Sundeep Daudher – Tata Technologies
• Sean Helbert – Birchwood Park
• Ansaar Hussain – Spindles Town Square

Congratulations to all our 2021 Quarter 1 winners and everyone who was nominated for an award!

You are all amazing and Westgrove are extremely proud of you all.