Employee Newsletter. Issue 2 May ISO certification achieved

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1 Issue 2 May 2013 ISO certification achieved We are pleased to announce that after 11 months of continuing improvement and external audit of the company s systems and internal controls, we are now ISO 9001 and ISO certified. Our Quality and Environmental Management System specifies how all of our business processes are managed. Compliance to these processes are regularly audited by an independent assessor who ensures that we maintain our ISO 9001 and certification. Our processes include: Implementing employee training procedures to ensure high standards of working practice. Carrying out regular audits to detect and improve unsatisfactory quality levels. Regular communication with our customers to make sure that our quality and safety standards are being met. As demonstration of our commitment to sustainable business practices, we regularly evaluate the environmental impact of our activities, products and services and take action to continually improve our environmental performance. This newsletter highlights some of these actions and details our performance against our environmental targets.

2 Welcome to Stephanie Aungier Stephanie Aungier recently joined the Prime Clean team at the Keston office as Finance Assistant, initially on a part time basis. She has previously held the role of Purchase Ledger supervisor at Lancaster/Rentokil. Stephanie will be assisting Matt Croney in all areas of finance, supervising the Purchase Ledger and overseeing the payroll inputting. In her spare time she likes horse riding, going to the gym and going out with friends. Chloe s walk for charity Working towards OHSAS Following our certification in ISO 9001 and for our quality and environmental management system we will be working with National Business Standards again. In May 2013 we will start working with NBS towards OHSAS certification for our health and safety management system. The certification shows that we are committed to protecting our employees, visitors and contractors from risk. On Sunday 19 May Chloe Stephens from our Keston Head Office will be taking part in an 11- mile Fun Walk to raise money for St Christopher s Hospice. The hospice provides free palliative care for dying people and support for their families. If you would like to sponsor Chloe and donate to this worthwhile charity then you can do so here: Recent wins We have recently won new work with the Pestana Hotel in Chelsea Bridge, Care UK, Appleton, Cundalls, BAAF and the Jewish Community Centre. Each of these contracts will play a significant part in our future development adding to our growing portfolio of clients in London and Essex. Green Building Council Prime Clean are the first cleaning company to become members of the UK Green Building Council. Look out for more information about this on our website and in the next issue of the newsletter. And finally Happy birthday to Tom Stephens from our Keston Head Office who will turn eighteen on Friday 10 May. Contents Page ISO certification achieved 1 Welcome to Stephanie Aungier 2 Chloe s walk for charity 2 Working towards OHSAS Recent wins 2 Green Building Council 2 Environmentally-friendly cleaning products 3 Client feedback 4 Environmental initiatives at the Keston office 5 Training tip: add a signature to your s 8

3 Environmentally-friendly cleaning products As part of our promise to reduce environmental harm through our business practices, we use Ecolabel products on our cleaning contracts where ever possible. What is the Ecolabel? The European Ecolabel is used to identify products that meet high standards of both performance and environmental quality. The products undergo environmental tests and the results are independently verified before being awarded with the European Ecolabel. Other environmental labels indicate specific concerns such as the product s recyclability or energy efficiency. The difference with Ecolabel products is that you can be sure that the product has minimal environmental impact at all stages of its lifecycle, from its creation to its disposal. The website at lists the following environmental standards for all its Ecolabel products. Detergents must break down into harmless substances once they enter the environment. The products must come in a minimal amount of packaging, thus taking up less space in landfill. Detergents must come with guidelines for safe handling and use. Recommendations on the label instruct the consumer about how to use the correct amount of detergent for the job in hand. All-purpose cleaners must have instructions for diluting the detergent effectively to clean practically any washable surface. Cleaning products all contain cleaning agents that help to strip away grime. After being flushed down the drain, many detergents cause undue harm to nature. By contrast, cleaning products with the European Ecolabel do the same job while causing minimal environmental harm. Ecolabeling reassures you that the products have been created with low environmental impact and cause minimal environmental harm through their use and disposal. Examples of the Ecolabel products we use on our contracts include: Metsä Tissues tissue paper products Clover Products ecological all-purpose and washroom cleaners Opalion Plastics general domestic and trade refuse and compactor sacks More information on Ecolabel products and labelling can be found on the following website:

4 Client feedback VistaJet Our client at VistaJet recently gave the following positive feedback about the service they receive from us: After 6 months of working with two different cleaning companies over three floors, VistaJet opted to use Prime Clean's services for the whole premises owing to the professionalism, friendliness and efficiency of Jeanette, the management team and the wonderful operatives. The daily clean is thorough and leaves the offices immaculate, despite the team having to work around a 24-hour operation. Feedback is acted on immediately and any special cleaning requests are carried out quickly and competently. Running a busy office in a 24-hour, growing company, it is refreshing to have such a hands-on and communicative cleaning service, ready and willing to respond to our ever-increasing needs. I have no hesitation in recommending the services of the Prime Clean team to other businesses, and know that we will continue our relationship for a long time. Pestana Hotel, Chelsea Bridge Our client at Pestana Hotel had the following to say about their cleaning contract: Prime Clean took over the cleaning contract at the Pestana Chelsea Bridge Hotel & Spa on 21 st December The mobilisation of the contract ran very smoothly and Prime Clean retained the existing team. As you can appreciate this is an exceedingly busy environment and we expect the highest standards. The quality of the cleaning is a critical part of the success of the hotel. Since Prime Clean started the contract, there has been far more attention to detail and what the hotel requires to deliver the expected standards. The Account Manager, Jeanette Van Roy, is in the hotel each week to conduct quality audits; reviews, ongoing training and any other issues. The result is reviewed with our hotel Head House Keeper, Mary Fanis. Prime Clean have continuously assessed and upgraded working equipment to provide a better performance and all issues are responded with the upmost urgency. Overall we are very pleased with our decision to have moved to Prime Clean.

5 Environmental initiatives at the Keston office We have set ourselves the target of reducing our electricity, gas, water, fuel and paper consumption at the Keston head office. We are measuring our usage on a monthly basis so that we can keep a track of how we are getting on. We are also aiming to recycle more and keep a measure of our recycled waste. Often the simplest strategies are the most effective when it comes to sustainability. One of the things we have been doing is replacing our light bulbs with energy-saving light bulbs at head office. According to the energy saving trust, by replacing a traditional light bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb of the same brightness you can save approximately 3 per year, or 50 over the life of the bulb ( We have also recently installed a very cheap and simple way to save approximately one litre of water every time the toilet is flushed. Plastic bottles (such as empty water bottles) are filled with sand and placed in the toilet cisterns. This reduces the amount of water in the cistern and therefore saves water each time the toilet is flushed. Below are the measurement charts from the past year showing our current usage levels and what we are aiming to improve on over the next twelve months Electricity and gas analysis Kwh Mar-12 Apr-12 May-12 Jun-12 Jul-12 Aug-12 Sep-12 Oct-12 Nov-12 Dec-12 Jan-13 Feb-13 Mar-13 electricity (kwh) gas (kwh)

6 7 Water analysis 6 5 m3 4 3 water (m3) Mar-12 Apr-12 May-12 Jun-12 Jul-12 Aug-12 Sep-12 Oct-12 Nov-12 Dec-12 Jan-13 Feb-13 Mar Fuel analysis 300 litres used Mar-12 Apr-12 May-12 Jun-12 Jul-12 Aug-12 Sep-12 Oct-12 Nov-12 Dec-12 Jan-13 Feb-13 Mar-13 fuel (litres) TIP: Did you know that by leaving your mobile phone charger plugged into the socket when you ve finished charging it you re wasting electricity? It might not be much when it s just one charger, but think about all the people who do this. We could have a big impact on the environment if we all got into the habit of unplugging our chargers when we d finished using them.

7 8 7 6 Paper analysis reams paper (reams) Mar-12 Apr-12 May-12 Jun-12 Jul-12 Aug-12 Sep-12 Oct-12 Nov-12 Dec-12 Jan-13 Feb-13 Mar-13 We recently asked all our clients to complete a survey to monitor their satisfaction with the service that they receive from Prime Clean. The chart below shows a summary of all the responses received, which is very positive. We will compare the results each year to ensure that we are meeting the high standards that our client s deserve and that we set for ourselves. Customer satisfaction 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Reception area General office Meeting rooms Toilets / washroroms Kitchen areas Corridors Windows Stairways Cleaner Appearance Cleaner Attitude Account Manager Overall Performance

8 Training tip: how to add a signature to your s To ensure consistency with the company s branding it is important to add the correct sign-off to your s. You will find the latest template for the signature in the Standard Documents folder in the Team Site on SharePoint. Using the steps below add the contents of that file to your signature then update the details with your own contact information. 1. Go onto SharePoint then Team Site > Standard Documents > Signature text and images.docx and open up the Word document containing the latest text and images for the signature. 2. Open up Microsoft Outlook and click on the File tab. Scroll down to Options and click to open the Options dialogue box. 3. In the Outlook Options dialogue box that opens, click Mail on the left-hand side, then Signatures on the right.

9 4. The Signatures and Stationery dialogue box will open. 5. Click into the Word document containing the signature template and copy all the text and images in it. A quick way to do this is to press Ctrl + A (to Select All) then Ctrl + C (to Copy all the information from the document). 6. Go back into Outlook and check that the account under Choose default signature is your correct address. Click New and then type a name for your new signature e.g. Lisa_Prime.

10 7. After typing a name for your signature and clicking OK, paste in the contents of the Word document into the space at the bottom of the dialogue box. You can do this quickly by pressing Ctrl + V. At the top right select the name of your signature from the dropdown for New Messages. You can also choose to have your signature added to Replies/forwards as well. 8. Now you need to add your contact details where it indicates e.g. replacing First name Surname with your name, adding your mobile and office phone numbers, and including your address. Then click OK to save your signature and close the Signatures and Stationery dialogue box. Click OK again to save and close the Outlook Options dialogue box. 9. Test out your signature settings by going back into your inbox and selecting New Message. If you have an article you d like to submit for the next issue of the newsletter please contact Lisa Payne on lisa.payne@primeclean.com.