Author: Lucy Wood

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.

We are delighted to have FIVE regional winners in the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) British Security Awards, 2021. We have some outstanding security colleagues and teams across our business and we are thrilled that their hard work and dedication throughout the last year is being recognised.

The Westgrove Group’s regional winners are:

BEST NEWCOMER – Sering Sallah, Market Place Shopping Centre, Bolton

BEST TEAM – St Johns Shopping Centre, Liverpool

OUTSTANDING ACT – Ahmed Karim & Alan McCabe, St Johns Shopping Centre

OUTSTANDING ACT – Martin Wain & Majid Khan, Templars Square Shopping Centre

SERVICE TO THE CUSTOMER – Paul Nevins, Haymarket Shopping Centre

We’re told that the standard of nominations was exceptional and the judging panel had a very difficult job shortlisting the winners. Well done to all the nominees and regional winners and good luck in the Nationals in June!

https://www.britishsecurityawards.co.uk/finalists-2021

Welcome to your April edition of The Westgrove Group Newsletter.

Ramadan Mubarak to all our Colleagues who are taking part in fasting for the month of Ramadan. The Westgrove Team would like to wish you and your families a blessed and peaceful time.

After weeks of waiting, it was exciting to see shopping centres and retailers all over the country reopen their doors and welcome back their customers.

We were delighted to see our Westgrove teams back in action and we welcome back those colleagues who were furloughed. Good luck to you all over the coming weeks. We are proud to support you all.

Shortly we are restarting the Westgrove Mystery Shop Programme giving you the opportunity to showcase your work. Your Manager and Business Manager will be able to provide further detail on this over the coming weeks.

Do You Want to Volunteer in Your Local Community?

Westgrove is committed to making a meaningful contribution to the communities where we work and live. Volunteering allows you to connect with your community and make a real difference. It can benefit you as much as it can benefit your chosen cause.

Your HR Contacts

We’re changing the way in which our HR team operate to make it easier for you to contact them and for them to know you better.

If you are based in the South, your main HR contact is Timea Kubikova.

Email: timea.kubikova@westgrove.co.uk or call 07395 285 517.

If you are based in the North, your main HR contact is Kathy Paton.

Email: kathy.paton@westgrove.co.uk or call 07720 955 144.

The HR team are always on hand and can be contacted by calling 01925 414190 or emailing HR@westgrove.co.uk but in the first instance please direct your calls and emails to Timea and Kathy.

Westgrove Annual Reward & Recognition Awards

During 2020, we received a record number of Reward and Recognition nominations from colleagues and partners and we would like to congratulate all our nominees and winners.

In case you missed it, you can see the full list of winner and watch the virtual ceremony by clicking HERE.

Westgrove have just completed part of our annual audit process and we are delighted to have achieved a record score yet again from the SIA Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS).

This makes us members of a select group of security service suppliers, namely The ACS Pacesetters.  ACS Pacesetters membership is made up of Contract Security Guarding Companies who are in the top 15% benchmarking and achievement levels set by the Security Industry Authority Approved Contractor Scheme.  To be in the top 15% we had to prove that we provide excellent standards of service and a high degree of care to our colleagues.  

Claire Mckinley-Smith said: “We are delighted to have achieved a higher level than ever before.  Throughout the last year, our officers have played a pivotal role in keeping communities safe.  We continue to ensure the welfare of our security colleagues and to recognise their achievements through the Westgrove Reward & Recognition Awards.”

Tony Page, Head of Health Safety and Compliance added, “I would like to thank all those who have contributed in helping us to achieve another great score, particularly during these difficult times”.

Being recognised as an ACS Pacesetter is a fantastic endorsement, not only for Westgrove but for all our security colleagues and all those involved behind the scenes.  We will continue to provide excellent levels of service and standards to our Partners.

This unprecedented year has thrown up many obstacles for our teams but in true Westgrove style, our colleagues have stuck together, dug deep and brought some true Covid Spirit to their work. 

They have shown resolve, compassion and kindness and the pandemic has brought out a true team spirit. 

To recognise our amazing colleagues who have gone above and beyond during the pandemic, we have added a new category to our Reward and Recognition awards; the Covid Spirit award.   

Here’s just a handful of examples of how our teams have shown their true Covid Spirt:

Today we were delighted to welcome colleagues from across the UK to the ‘virtual’ Westgrove Annual Reward and Recognition Awards 2021.

Due to Covid restrictions we weren’t able to host the awards in person this year but we still wanted to celebrate the many successes of our fabulous colleagues with a virtual ceremony. We heard from Westgrove Managing Director Claire Mckinley-Smith, Westgrove Brand Ambassador and Adventurer Alex Staniforth and British Security Industry Association (BSIA)’s Andrew Cooper.

Each year we receive hundreds of nominations from across the UK showcasing some of the great work that our teams carry out on a daily basis and 2020 was no different. Our colleagues have played a crucial role in keeping shopping centres and critical sites open over the past year amidst all the uncertainty of the pandemic.

There have been some outstanding achievements from our colleagues and as a business we are extremely proud of all our award winners, finalists and nominees. From saving lives, to acts of kindness, and going above and beyond with their customer service, our colleagues are the backbone of our business.

You can watch the full ‘virtual’ ceremony HERE.

And the winners are:

Site Manager of the Year – Mo Osman, Queens Square Shopping Centre

Team of the Year– Templars Square Shopping Centre

Site of the Year – Castle Quay Shopping Centre

Colleague of Year – Paul Nevins, Haymarket Shopping Centre

Colleague of Year (Runner Up) – Yordanka Kazakova, Quayside MediaCityUK

Newcomer of the Year – Kianya Lightbourne, Touchwood Shopping Centre

Covid Spirit – Paul Lavery – St Johns Shopping Centre

Covid Spirit – Linda Edgar, Haymarket Shopping Centre

Covid Spirit – Marcus Hann & Tanya Hann, The Galleries Shopping Centre

Community Champion – Lianne McArdle, Runcorn Shopping City

CSR of the Year – Wayne Morgan, Quedam Shopping Centre

Outstanding Act – Sean Stanton, Cornbow Shopping Centre

Outstanding Act – The Team, Grosvenor Shopping Centre

Outstanding Act – The Team, Gloucester Quays Outlet

Outstanding Act – Ahmed Karim & Alan McCabe, St Johns Shopping Centre

Service Excellence – Paul Clarke & Ian Plumbley, Birchwood Park

Service Excellence – The Team, Castle Quay Shopping Centre

Service Excellence – Daniel Jackson, The Galleries Shopping Centre

Service Excellence – The Team, Doncaster Sheffield Airport

Service Excellence – Simon Kilkenny & Tony Warburton, Runcorn Shopping City

Service Excellence – Simon Phillips, Cornbow Shopping Centre

Congratulations to all our 2021 award winners!

Thank you to our award sponsors, Hillyer McKewown, CleverIT, Cowgills, Ideal265, Shorrock Trichem, Orka Works, Senate Group and Elite Washrooms.

#WestgroveAwards2021

Welcome to the February issue of your Westgrove Colleague Newsletter.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Westgrove would like to wish all our colleagues a very happy Chinese New Year! 2021 is the year of the Ox which signifies the hard work, positivity and honesty that will be revealed in all of us in the coming 12 months. If you would like to know more about the year in which you were born, click here.

We’re Expanding

We are delighted to welcome 60 new colleagues to the Westgrove Community from Touchwood Shopping Centre in Solihull.

The new contract award sees Westgrove expanding into maintenance services alongside cleaning and security. You can read more about Touchwood and the expansion into Total Facilities Management here.

Health and Safety Check-up

Westgrove have just completed part of their annual audit process and are delighted to have achieved a record score yet again from the SIA Approved Contractor Scheme.

Tony Page, Head of Health Safety and Compliance would like to thank all those who have contributed in helping us to achieve another great score, particularly during these difficult times. Westgrove are committed to the Health, Safety and Compliance of all our colleagues and here’s how you helped us achieve our 2020 Health and Safety targets:

Westgrove in the Community

Fast growing facilities management company, The Westgrove Group, launches into the total facilities management market by adding hard services to its well-established multi award-winning soft services provision. The expansion will see the company offering planned and reactive maintenance services to existing and new partners across the UK.

To further strengthen its position in the market, Westgrove has appointed a Technical Services Director to drive its business forward. Paul Booth joins the Westgrove Leadership Team as Technical Services Director to support and grow the business across the UK in hard facilities management. Paul has worked extensively in facilities management both on the front line and in management, bringing a wealth of experience in the delivery of engineering services to a broad range of partners.

Westgrove has already secured its first Total Facilities Management contract with Touchwood Shopping Centre in Solihull delivering cleaning, security, concierge and hard services with a team of 60 colleagues.

Claire McKinley-Smith, Managing Director at The Westgrove Group, said ‘This is an exciting development for the business and a real milestone in our growth. Hard services will add real value to our already strong soft services offering and we are confident that Paul will help us take the business into new sectors and services. We pride ourselves on the quality of our customer service, the flexibility we can provide as an independent business and the introduction of innovative new services and technologies.”

Paul said: “With my years of experience in hard services both client side and as a provider, I am looking forward to building on the success of Westgrove’s award winning soft services provision and becoming part of such a forward thinking and innovative company.”

Westgrove specialises in providing total facilities management to shopping centres and mixed-use destinations, manufacturing, business parks and airports throughout the UK. Following a successful 22-year history, the company has expanded to over a £30M turnover business and offering hard services to enhance its well-established award-winning soft services provision. Based in Warrington, Westgrove was founded by Group Chairmen Simon Whittle and Steve Fives.

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.

Quarter 4 saw more ‘Covid’ difficulties for our teams who navigated through the November ‘Firebreak’ lockdown and the run up to Christmas in such difficult circumstances. Many colleagues went above and above what is expected of them to ensure their centre operated smoothly and for this we are extremely proud and thankful.

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

Our Quarter 4 winners are:

Site Manager of the Quarter

Mo Osman, Queens Square

Mo has a passion for what he does and it shines through.  He is enthusiastic and always willing to help. 

Steve Allen, Haymarket

Steve has a can-do attitude.  He is always willing to go the extra mile for his site, Haymarket and Westgrove.  Steve passion shines through in all work he undertakes.   

Becky Higgins, Maylord

Becky demonstrates exceptional levels of leadership.  Her team work to high standards, and Becky’s attention to detail is exemplary.

Michael Clark, Doncaster Sheffield Airport

Mike and the team have helped DSA achieve a very good rating in their latest audit by the governing body that audit PRM services at all UK airports.  It shows what a great, friendly and dedicated team Mike has in place. 

Colleague of the Quarter

Anabela Silva, Tata

Ana has been the back bone of her team and has remained positive and hardworking throughout the pandemic.

Alanna Brown, The Lowry

Since joining Westgrove a year ago, Alana has been a fantastic asset to the team at The Lowry.  She has pulled the team together, organised her department and shown true leadership.    

Yordanka Kazakova, The Lowry

After completing training to become a security officer, Dani has show outstanding effort and commitment to her new role along with her can-do attitude. 

Florin Centiu, Lion Yard

With his can-do attitude, Florin is always willing to help out his team members.  He has a great attitude to work and has implemented new standards and schedules within the team. 

Newcomer of the Quarter

Kianya Lightborne, Touchwood

Kianya’s can-do attitude and passion for what she does make her a fantastic asset to her team.  During Touchwood’s mobilisation, Kianya worked hard throughout and helped collate vital information from within the team.  She is already a valued member of the Westgrove family. 

Majid Hussain, Queens Square

Majid is spoken highly of by all at Queens Square.  He is an asset to the team and shows fantastic customer service, always willing to help his team, tenants and customers.

Team of the Quarter

Telford, Cleaning Team

The team maintain high standards at all times.

Quadrant, Security & Cleaning Teams

The teams often help each other out and work together.  They have been hard working and dedicated during the pandemic. 

Castle Quay, Cleaning Team

The team maintain extremely high standards, gaining the grade of “Platinum” in the Loo of the Year awards 2020!

Covid Spirit

Anthony Gibbs, Castle Quay

Anthony stepped up during the pandemic.  He was unfortunately left as the only cleaner for a day and maintained standards in the malls and toilets excellently and efficiently. 

CSR of the Quarter

Lianne McArdle, Runcorn

Lianne arranged free packed lunches for her local community during lockdown to help feel underprivileged children.  She contacted all the food retailers in her centre to ask for donations and collated all the food packages.    

Service Excellence

• Mark Quinn & Carl Fox, St Johns
• Dawn Smith, Swan Centre
• Tony Keay, Royal Priors
• Darren Harris & Dean Selby, Gloucester Quays
• PRM & Cleaning Teams, Doncaster Sheffield Airport
• Jaspreet Singh, Queens Square
• Tracy Brown, St Johns
• Melissa Heaton, Longridge House
• Simon Kilkenny & Tony Warburton, Runcorn
• Anthony Liggins, Tata
• Simon Philips, Cornbow
• Craig Wilkinson, Touchwood
• Denise Phillips, Market Place
• Nizam Patel, Market Place
• Dawn Ackerley, The Lowry
• Nick De Jonge, Touchwood
• Jeff Gleeson, Touchwood

Outstanding Act

• Ahmed Karim & Alan McCabe, St Johns
• Security Team, St Johns
• James Ellery, Lion Yard
• John Paul Osborne, Morgan Quarter
• Shannon Blount & David Hardy, Gloucester Quays
• Orion Phillips, Castle Quay
• Syed Shah, Queens Square
• Debra Taylor, Tom Taylor, Deena Openshaw, Dave Phillips, Carlos Graca & Gill Davidson, Market Place
• Stephen Mott, The Galleries
• Seb Tyrer, Market Place
• Muhammad Ali, Templars Square

Congratulations to all our Quarter 4 winners and everyone who was nominated for an award!

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