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Adam Ramsdale

Pumpkin Field

Post Halloween Clean

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Post Halloween Clean

Halloween, that time of year where it is okay to go around scaring each other and it’s all normal. The time of year where you can dress up and not get looked at funny! And the time of year when if you don’t give a treat you may receive a trick… However, more importantly, it’s time for the post Halloween clean! So, here are some tips and tricks on how to deal with the smashed pumpkins, the left-over food and the drooping decorations.

HalloweenPumpkin

Who’s going to tidy this up?

It’s the day after the night before, too many sweets and toffee apples some my say. There is always a mess left from a party which is always going to be dreaded but needs to be sorted! Our first tip here is start at the top and work down, this will allow you to ease yourself into the work removing a cobweb from here and there. It also will not matter if you drop something as the floor is yet to be cleaned.

The floor is normally the biggest and hardest task; all the food, dropped by guests, that knocked over plant which has left soil all over the floor and then that mystery thing you don’t quite want to know what it is but it needs to GO! For carpets you will need to us a dabbing motion on stains! DON’T RUB! This can result is spreading, last thing you want on your cream carpet is a big brown stain where the chocolate has been scrubbed in. Ensure you use a cold water as hot water can damage carpets, and a clean cloth! (We recommend Microfiber).

EXTRA TIP: Why try using the freezing method on stuck pieces of food? Freeze with ice then scrap off to remove easily from carpet and hard floors.

Messy After Party

Messy After Party

I ain’t afraid of no ghost

Those meddling kids! They think its funny to mess up your hard worked on pumpkin. To be fair, we don’t know if it’s kids or teens and shouldn’t assume. The vandals who have thrown toilet paper all over the house and smashed your decorations will not have the last laugh this time!

Firstly that toilet paper, get rid of that ASAP (As Soon As Possible). The last thing you want is to wait until the morning and let it get wet from morning dew because after it is wet it can become twice as hard to remove! The best thing for this situation is a leaf blower, you will be amazed how easily the paper becomes unravelled, this will make it easy to pick up and collect.

The next thing is the Pumpkins, someone was obviously extremely jealous of your amazing design so don’t feel too bad as it must mean you are an amazing artist! Or at least tell yourself that to help with the pain. This is easy but be careful ’cause the seeds get EVERYWHERE! Use a dust pan and bush and scrap what’s left of your pumpkin into the bin. Try not to move it around too much as it will make the job a lot harder.

EXTRA TIP: IF you have been egged, don’t worry. Hose it down, make sure you don’t scrub the shells as it may damage the paintwork. Once all the big bits are removed, scrub all the final bits off. Jobs done!

Spooky Ghost

Accent Property

ACCENT GROUP

By | Case Studies, TUPE | 2 Comments

Accent Group

Following an OJEU Tender process, Ideal was awarded the contract by Accent Group. Where we provided Communal Area Cleaning, Caretaking Services and Window Cleaning. Doing so across the General Needs and Sheltered Social Housing accommodation in their Eastern, North East and Yorkshire portfolios.

Although the client’s procurement timetable allowed a mobilisation period of less than three weeks from contract signing to commencement of services, our comprehensive mobilisation plan enabled us to ensure that the TUPE transfer of existing staff took place in a smooth and efficient manner. This was critical for Accent as it involved their staff  as well as those transferring from the outgoing contractors.

On Contract

On start we wrote to all residents, introducing our company and drawing their attention to the scheme notice boards. This information detailed the specification of the cleaning to be performed on their scheme. As well as the frequencies which the cleaning would take place. There was also access to a Helpdesk provided.

Work is programmed and scheduled from our Nottingham Head Office and controlled and operated from our Nottingham, Peterborough and Leeds Offices. The services are delivered by fully equipped mobile teams on the general needs schemes and by static cleaning operatives on the Sheltered Schemes and Accent’s offices. Window Cleaning is delivered by carefully selected Sub-contractors; and the service controlled and managed centrally by Ideal.

The inclusion and involvement of the schemes’ residents was a priority for Accent. Meaning, Ideal’s management teams attend meetings alongside Accent management to deal with any cleaning concerns. This also allowed both parties to acquire direct feedback from the residents on the quality of the service.

Contributions

Other innovations Ideal have contributed to the Accent contract include the introduction of: a dedicated Help Desk and Issues Log; pre-paid Customer Satisfaction Survey Cards; in order to collect satisfaction data and also communicating to all residents by individual letter and via scheme notice boards; the agreed cleaning specification; when and how frequently the cleaning will take place and providing I.D. photographs of the cleaning operatives for recognition purposes. This latter item has been well received particularly by older and more vulnerable residents.

MODERN HOUSING SOLUTIONS

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MODERN HOUSING SOLUTIONS

First of all, from 2006 until 2014 Ideal worked as a Specialist Subcontractor to MODern Housing Solutions (Prime) Ltd. We provided Office and Common Area cleaning and conducting of void, pre-occupation cleans to service family homes in the Eastern, Western and South Eastern zones of the country. Two years later Ideal took over the London and South West Zones when the incumbent contractor’s business failed. Abandoning the contract. As a result, Ideal responded quickly when asked to step in dealing with the TUPE issues and processes and integrating a substantial workforce in a very short time frame over 2 to 3 days.

Ideal won the full Contract on a National basis in November 2012. Due to the number of house cleans conducted by Ideal which was in excess of 18,000 per annum. The work covered a housing stock of over 45,000 properties. This contract was very complex in its nature and required a robust coordination and administrative structure. Our dedicated central help allowed us to achieve this. It acted as the main communications hub through which all work requests came in. Head Office arranged all our works and delivered them by mobile teams from local branches.

Contract resource were 150 Cleaning Operatives and was managed by 5 Regional Area Managers supported by 12 Regional Supervisors, 8 Administration, Customer Support and Help Desk Staff. Measurement data reporting was provided by Ideal detailing works by type, volumes and region including numbers of Ordered Cleans, Quotations for Pre-Payment Cleans, Aborts and Recalls by Region by Month and YTD.

Dale Housing

DALES HOUSING

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The Start

Dales Housing selected Ideal to provide communal cleaning to their properties and offices, following a public tender process which began in 2014, . With the service delivery beginning in April 2015.

Dales Housing (DH), part of the Acclaim Housing Group, a non-profitable organisation regulated by the Homes and Communities Agency. They provide a portfolio of homes for rental, leasehold, shared ownership and sale across Derbyshire, all accompanied with first class customer service.

Above all, DH own and manage approximately 3,500 properties. This are comprising of family housing, single person’s accommodation, as well as, designated older peoples’ flats/bungalows and sheltered housing.

Dales Housing’s Mission Statement; “We work to meet the needs of our customers and communities by providing continually improving high quality homes and services”. Going well with our commitment to providing a high quality and above all high standard service and to providing work opportunities to the local community.

Our work

“We are very pleased to have been chosen by Dales Housing as their Cleaning Services provider and look forward to a mutually rewarding partnership and to providing and maintaining an improved communal environment for Dales Housing’s customers”  – Philip Taylor – Ideal Group Managing Director

Currently, cleaning services are being provided to General Needs Schemes in Matlock, Darley Dale, Wirksworth, Ashbourne as well as Hathersage. Here Dales Housing’s customers require and have agreed to a communal area cleaning service. To Sheltered Accommodation in Matlock, Wirksworth, Bakewell and Ashbourne. The cleaning frequencies on General Needs schemes depend on local agreements with residents and vary from Weekly to Monthly cleans. Sheltered Schemes are cleaned to the highest possible standard on a daily basis. The cleaning works are then delivered with a mix of static cleaning operatives. Who’s job it is to mainly performing the daily cleans additionally with the mobile teams performing the weekly, fortnightly and Monthly works.

The management lead for Ideal on this contract is Regional Manager Chris Dring. Chris has built up a considerable expertise in this type of multi-site and variable frequency contract cleaning. His involvement in the similar contracts for other Housing Associations. Assisting Chris is his Dales Area Supervisor, Andrew Harvey. Who provides support and guidance to the most important team members – the Cleaning Operatives.

Finally, we are currently working with Dales Housing on surveying additional sites, where they rolled out communal area cleaning after a period of consultation with their tenants. This work is now complete by mobile works on an arrange basis.