Category: ServiceMaster News

The clean you expect, the service you deserve.

“25 year Anniversary”

On the 4^th February 1991 Nick Dee Shapland started up ServiceMaster Contract Services Newbury and Reading as a sole proprietor.

The first week, following training, was about putting a weekly programme together, in order to create new business. This comprised of driving around Newbury prospecting for customers and picking up compliment slips on the way.

Nick would return home, file the prospects names, produce and send out 20 prospect letters per week, 3 days later he would follow it up with a telesales call. The first appointment was with the Abbey National Building Society in Newbury, this was the first cleaning contract to be won by Nick, and he remembers the euphoria when he was told he had won the contract.

In August 1991, Nick introduced himself to Vodafone, a relatively new business to Newbury at that time, to promote the ServiceMaster Spotlight Carpet Care, a carpet maintenance programme for office buildings. Two years later, office cleaning followed and for the next 10 years ServiceMaster had the cleaning contract for Vodafone in Newbury.

In 1998 the business became a limited business, Deeland Limited t/a ServiceMaster. In 2001, Nick decided to open a Launderette in Boundary road, Newbury, The Laundry Basket.

In 2003, Nick had the opportunity to tender for Sovereign Housing Association for the countrywide communal cleaning contract for the South East and South West Region. Sovereign Housing confirmed the appointment of ServiceMaster in June 2004. The cleaning contract would run from 2004 to 2012 when Sovereign were required to go out to tender, the contract was renewed in 2013.

Over the 12 years that ServiceMaster has worked in partnership with Sovereign Housing we have introduced many innovations to the communal cleaning programme. Nick highlighted it’s a privilege to work closely with housing associations such as Sovereign, as its given him insight to the important role they play in the community, we have learnt the importance of working closely with both the housing association and its tenants, the customer, which many cleaning contractors do not always have the infrastructure to deal with.

In 2008, Nick was starting to work on the business, rather than in it and the theme of the 2008 AGM was the Pursuit of Excellence. In 2009 Deeland Limited was in a position to set up a Human Resources Department, with its own Personnel Manager, who was CIPD Accredited, this enabled the business to embrace its culture  of   Principles – People – Performance

In 2009/2010 the business was restructured with 7 departments, we introduced a Quality Assurance Management Programme, QAMP, comprising of Monthly meetings for each department, with set agenda’s. The results of which, to see the interaction between staff was something to behold.

Nick said that introducing the Human Resources Department was his eureka moment, as it not only enabled the company to look after the welfare of its people better, it also ensured the company was able to acknowledge it’s peoples performance, positive or negative and the company was well protected both legally and  financially. It also brought about how Nick was seeing his business and how important it was for our people to be on the same wave length, Nick’s philosophy became:

“It’s not what we see, It’s how we see it together, that determines our future and our success “

In 2010 Deeland Limited was awarded ISO 9001 and ISO1400 by ISOQUAR UKAS approved. Today ServiceMaster has its own Quality Assurance Manager to ensure its procedures are followed and its personnel utilise them.

Awards

Since Nick started up his business in 1991, Deeland Limited has been recognised by both its Franchisor, ServiceMaster and the British Franchise Association. Winning ServiceMaster’s top award for its franchise network, the Marian E. Wade Award on 3 occasions, 1997, 2007 and 2013.

In 2013 Deeland Limited t/a ServiceMaster won the British Franchise Associations (bfa) top award for Customer Service, based on their Business Culture and their Quality Assurance Management, which enables their people to achieve and maintain a high level of customer service.

Today Deeland employs over 450 people and has an annual turnover of 5 million pounds. We are in a strong position to grow the business even further, as our business culture and our Quality Management produces GREAT TEAM WORK, which our customers appreciate.

Nick has purposely not mentioned any names in this article as he acknowledges that over the 25 years he has been in business he has received great support from all his staff, from the past to the present and recognises there have been those who have gone above and beyond for the business and for that he says a big thank you!

At ServiceMaster Newbury we support Cardiac Risk in the Young – CRY, therefore last month during CRY awareness week staff have raised a total of £ 419.50.

All our cleaning Technicians, Area Mangers and Area Supervisors also played their part by having the CRY logo sign on their vans.  They also carried collection boxes and information leaflets with them to handout when they visited various sites, which raised £345.00.  Thank you to everyone that took part and contributed to CRY.

We held our Macmillan coffee morning on Friday 25^th September and raised £265.89.

A massive thank you to everyone that came along to support us and to all of our amazing bakers, who donated cakes and biscuits to make this a successful event.

Amanda Cook, Area Manager for Newbury, joined her husband David as he provided breakdown and recovery support for the MGA Classic Road Run, celebrating the 60^th Anniversary of the iconic sports car.  Participants arrived from as far away as Australia, with their precious cargo being shipped overseas in advance of the 10 day trip in September.

As 60 MGA’s wound their way from Land’s End to John O’Groats, Amanda raised awareness of Deeland Ltd t/a ServiceMaster’s nominated Charity, Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), who’s vision is “Preventing young sudden cardiac deaths through awareness, screening and research, and supporting affected families.”  Stopping off en route, Amanda distributed leaflets and raised £132.24, plus donations of raffle prizes.

If you would like any further information on CRY, and the amazing work they do, please visit http://www.c-r-y.org.uk/.

Congratulations to three of our staff members, who completed the 9th annual CRY Heart of London Bridges walk on Saturday 28^th June to raise funds & awareness for the CRY organisation. Walkers gathered at the Embankment at 11.00 a.m. to walk 8km (just under 5 miles), crossing 7 Thames bridges & taking in some great views of at least 12 of London’s famous landmarks, including County Hall, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, Somerset House, St Paul’s Cathedral, Royal Festival Hall, the Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Southwark Cathedral, the Tower of London, City Hall & HMS Belfast. The landmarks represent the 12 young sudden cardiac deaths that occur each week in the UK.

We have moved our workshop facilities to new premises in Woodley, but we are still able to accommodate the cleaning of rugs, we can either arrange to collect your rugs from your home or you can drop off your rugs for cleaning in our workshop if you prefer.  Please call us on your local office number to arrange for an appointment or an assessment on your rug.

Telephone: 01635 40400 or 01628 821111

We are delighted to announce that Deeland Ltd t/a ServiceMaster has been awarded the Marion E. Wade award of excellence for 2013. This prestigious award distinguishes us as the best in the ServiceMaster franchise network and rewards high achievement in the pursuit of excellence and professional management in the ServiceMaster tradition. It is indeed an honour to have been awarded the Marion E. Wade award three times in 16 years.  We would like to thank all of our staff for their continued hard work and high standards, which have contributed to this success, and hope to continue delivering high standards to our customers.

At the beginning of October, we celebrated the new adventure ahead for our HR and Business Services Manager Shirley Ellis as she takes early retirement to Sweden.  Of course, we were all sad to see her depart as Shirley has been a key member of the ServiceMaster team for over 8 years. To give her a great send-off in recognition of all she has achieved, we held a party in our large meeting room, featuring pig racing, a buffet, toasts and a few tears. The pig racing went down a storm, with one of our Area Managers transforming into a Worzel Gummidge character to compere the event.  The evening went well with speeches from Shirley and Nick Dee Shapland, MD, wishing Shirley and husband David every happiness.  Juanita Holloway has now stepped up to become HR Manager and is enjoying her new challenge.

On 26^th September, ServiceMaster joined forces with companies and supporters around the country to bake, eat and donate for Macmillan. We all donned our aprons and wooden spoons to put our culinary skills to the test to raise money for the fantastic charity that cares for people living with cancer and their loved ones, which will affect 1 in 3 of us during our lifetime. All morning we welcomed guests from local businesses, residents, and passing traffic to our offices where we had a café area set up, with over 30 types of cakes and pastries, and hot drinks on tap. Towards the end of the event, a few staff members wandered the streets in the local areas with boxes of cakes, enticing people that couldn’t get away from their desks. For the customers who could make it into the offices, there was a raffle for the chance to win one of several prizes kindly donated by our colleagues and supporters. The prizes included an MOT, Diamond earrings, two bottles of Prosecco, and a remote controlled helicopter, and more. At the 2013 Macmillan coffee morning, ServiceMaster raised a total of £364, and this year we aimed to beat that total. This year, with the raffle and cake sales, ServiceMaster raised £504, beating last year’s sum by a long way. The money raised by our kind supporters will help support and advise people living with cancer across the UK.

Only a few weeks ago, the tabloids told us that England has the best World Cup squad in years. This gave fans the confidence to dress their homes and cars with St George flags and wear football shirts on even non-match days. The past weeks have been full of late-night football games, office sweepstakes and watching games where England isn’t involved. World Cup fever has divided a nation. The half that waves a flag at any opportunity, wearing facepaint and watching all games at every hour of the day and announcing the latest scores, have spent the summer in football heaven. The other half of the nation either don’t care about the sporting event, or despise it for playing havoc with TV scheduling and dominating conversations of loved ones. The best displays of patriotism are shown around sporting and national events, if you cast your minds back to the Olympics of 2012, Royal wedding and Diamond Jubilee, you will most likely remember the sea of Union Jacks waving frantically on our TV screens oozing pride and patriotism. On a normal day without big national events, we rarely see the St George cross or Union Jack adorning neighbours windows and car wing mirrors. The lack of acknowledgement points to a confusion in allegiances. As King Henry IV said: “Patriotism must be founded on great principals and supported by great virtue”. Because however you show support for your country, it should be shown consistently. Show the world you care, don’t wait for certain events to sing the praises of what you love. As for the World Cup, whether you are gripped by football fever or are sick of the sound of whistles, remember that from 13^th July it will all be over for another four years!