ISS has been named as a supplier on Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) RM6331 Healthcare Soft FM Framework, with ISS Mediclean Limited listed against four lots covering various soft FM services. The RM6331 framework enables ISS to provide soft FM services primarily to the NHS and healthcare customers (though it is open to any public sector organisation), and has a FTS value of £3.5 billion. The framework, which is for a three-year duration as of February 2024 with the option for a 12-month extension, will focus primarily on soft FM and include hotel services such as linen & laundry, waste ma ..read more

Seventy per cent of maintenance professionals state that staying compliant is the most significant problem in their business, according to a recent poll by SFG20. Of those surveyed, just over half report that meeting safety standards is their biggest priority in 2024. However, all poll respondents (100 per cent of those surveyed) remain unsure about how prepared they are to comply with the Building Safety Act and the golden thread requirements for facility managers. Consistently remaining compliant can often be overlooked when maintenance budgets and strategies face rising costs of materials a ..read more

The Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners (WCEC) has welcomed Lorraine Larman as its new Master following her installation ceremony on 19 April at St Olave’s Church in the City. She takes over the mantle from former Master Jim Melvin. Larman has worked in the service industry for 35 years and has been a dedicated member of the WCEC for the past 12 years, specialising in compliance and health and safety in environmental cleaning. Among her varied representations in the cleaning industry, Larman was a Board member of the British Institute of Cleaning Science; she has also been instrumenta ..read more

The Midlands and Central England’s most outstanding workplaces have been announced with British Council for Offices (BCO) Awards going to five office buildings across the region. Held at ICC in Birmingham, the BCO’s annual Midlands and Central Awards Lunch recognised projects that demonstrate best practice in office design, fit-out, operation and sustainability, setting the standard for excellence across the sector. The winners of this year’s competition in the Midlands and Central England stand out for their ambition in combining user-centric design credentials with the creative implementatio ..read more

Hard service provider, Thermatic Technical FM & Energy Services has completed its comprehensive company restructuring exercise. The group’s Board of Directors, Chairman Colin Tennent, Financial Director Paul Douglas-Fleet and Managing Director Jack Prady led the restructure which comprised of internal promotions and the creation of Director of FM to lead the company’s Customer and Growth strategy. (l-r) Paul Douglas-Fleet Finance Director, Jen Buckley Director of People & Culture, and Rachael Crozier HSE Director Senior in-house promotions include Jen Buckley being appointed as Direc ..read more

A dedicated group for young engineers and newcomers to the industry has been launched by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA). The BESA NextGen network replaces the Association’s ‘Future Leaders’ group which was formed in 2017 to support young engineers working for member companies who were seen to have future management potential. The new network is more broadly based and aims to provide technical knowledge, career support, and networking opportunities for younger engineers and those in the early stages of a building engineering career working for both member and non-member co ..read more

With today marking the eighth annual Stop Food Waste Day, Compass Group UK & Ireland has announced that it has donated 79.5 tonnes of food over the past year (FY23). This is the equivalent of around 185,500 meals going to organisations including FareShare, which received 27 tonnes; Olio, which received 29 tonnes; and Too Good To Go, which received 22 tonnes, as well as local charities. In addition, Compass has converted 753,252 litres of cooking oil into biofuels. With 25-30 per cent of the world’s food produced lost or wasted according to WRAP – addressing food waste has never been so im ..read more

Amey’s People Director Stephanie Johnson describes a raft of recruitment and training strategies that aim to bring back the long term unemployed to the workforce The UK workforce has been changing dramatically over the last few years as a result of post-Brexit changes to immigration and the impact of the COVID pandemic in increasing the number of those with long-term illnesses. The latest figures show the greatest contributor to economic inactivity is by those suffering from long-term sickness, rising from around two million at the start of 2019 to two and a half million by January 2023. Under ..read more

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust has appointed ISS to deliver a range of FM services across eight sites for a five-year term. The contract, which is valued at approximately £45 million over its duration, will see ISS take on around 300 staff providing cleaning, portering, pest control and window cleaning to the south London Trust. ISS management on the contract will be responsible for driving service improvements, including the introduction of specialist service teams managing critical and fast-moving wards, such as the emergency and radiology departments. ISS will also implement its innovati ..read more

Southern Health Trust, in partnership with Compass Group UK and Ireland’s healthcare division, Medirest, has been awarded NHS ‘Exemplar’ status for outstanding cleaning services at four sites. The acknowledgement recognises their partnership approach to cleanliness, which has embraced the 2021 National Standards for Healthcare Cleaning, alongside using innovation, sustainability and efficacy auditing systems. Over the past year, progress and investment has been made across the cleaning services including the introduction of a cleaning robot, which enhances repetitive cleaning procedures in ope ..read more