Tag: Westgrove Group

Westgrove Group beats competition to win Birchwood Park security contract

Posted on November 15, 2018 by - Owner

The Westgrove Group has been chosen to supply security services to one of the North West’s most prestigious business parks.

Westgrove has been appointed by managing agents CBRE to provide the security for Birchwood Park in Warrington, the region’s leading out of town business location.

The destination, which today provides 1.1 million sq. ft. of office and warehouse space, is home to more than 165 companies and over 6,000 people from large blue chip organisations to SMEs and new start-ups.

The park is also one of the key sites in the Cheshire Science Corridor Enterprise Zone and is nationally recognised as the UK’s hub for the Nuclear Services industry.

High profile firms include Rolls-Royce Nuclear, Sellafield, Wood Plc and Atkins as well as international businesses including Ricoh, Müller, TATA and Dr Schär.

As well as celebrating the start of a new partnership, both Westgrove Group and Birchwood Park have celebrated their 20th anniversaries this year.

Westgrove started trading in August 1998 and Birchwood Park started life in March 1998 when MEPC acquired the 74-acre site from the UK Atomic Energy Authority. Since then the park – now owned by Warrington Borough Council – has almost tripled in size.

Westgrove Managing Director Claire McKinley Smith said: “We are delighted to win our third contract with CBRE, this time a prestigious local partnership.

“We worked hard to show Birchwood Park that our security knowledge and expertise aligned with our colleague centric approach is second to none.

“All our security colleagues are highly trained by one of the country’s leading senior police officers. We also provide bespoke real-time reporting and an intelligent patrolling system with our exclusive software, Sphere.”

Westgrove is a member of The British Security Industry Association (BSIA), the trade body representing the UK’s private security industry. The company’s security teams and security officers have won a number of awards for their bravery, use of technology and teamwork.

The Westgrove Group employs over 1,000 people in shopping centres, airports and business parks across the UK and works with major landlords and managing agents.

Other recent significant contract wins include The Galleries Shopping Centre in Bristol and St Johns Shopping Centre in Liverpool.

Birchwood Park in Warrington

The Westgrove Group supports #PurpleTuesday

Posted on November 12, 2018 by - Owner

The Westgrove Group has pledged its support for #PurpleTuesday, the UK’s first accessible shopping day.

Alongside shopping centres all over the UK, Westgrove will be getting behind the #PurpleTuesday message promoting accessibility for all and taking part in the initiative on Tuesday, 13th November.

Nearly one in every five people in the UK has a disability or impairment. Their collective spending power – the Purple Pound – is worth £249 billion to the UK economy.

Westgrove Brand & Development Director Laurie Barton Wright said: “We are proud to be supporting the #PurpleTuesday initiative.

“We are working with a number of our schemes to support the initiative by providing disability awareness information so they can deliver exceptional customer service.

One of the schemes leading the way is St Johns Shopping Centre in Liverpool. The centre is the first shopping centre to be awarded Disability Confident Level 3, meaning that it is a champion for disability awareness within the local and business community.

Centre manager Neil Ashcroft said: “There are still real – and perceived – barriers that make it harder for disabled people to spend money in-store and enjoy a drink or a meal out. It’s why we are going to be celebrating Purple Tuesday throughout the centre.”

Purple Tuesday has been established to recognise the importance and needs of disabled customers and to promote inclusive shopping.

Taking place to coincide with the run up to the peak Christmas period, the event has been created by disability organisation Purple.

It had been endorsed by the Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work, and some of the UK’s biggest retail brands and retail property groups including Marks & Spencer, Argos, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Landsec and Hammerson.

The day will see retailers in stores and online introducing new measures to make shopping a more inclusive experience, sending a powerful message that they care about all their customers and that their business matters to them.

Purple Tuesday

Customer service award for The Westgrove Group’s team at Market Place Shopping Centre

Posted on October 11, 2018 by - Owner

The Westgrove Group has helped Market Place Shopping Centre in Bolton to scoop an award.

Market Place won the Customer Excellence Award at the Bolton Business Awards. The Centre was praised for its outstanding service and for achieving regular four and five-star ratings on Facebook.

The Westgrove Group delivers cleaning and security for Market Place and also provides the shopping centre’s team with customer service training.

The centre follows Westgrove’s Aspire Service Excellence programme which has been specially designed for shopping centres. Teams work towards attaining different status levels based on their knowledge, engagement and commitment to delivering outstanding service levels.

Earlier this year, Market Place also won the overall Site of the Year Award for delivering Aspire 7* Service Excellence at Westgrove’s Annual Reward & Recognition Awards.

Nikki Wilson-Cook, Centre Manager of Market Place said: “We are absolutely thrilled that Market Place has been recognised at the Bolton Business Awards – winning both the Retailer of The Year award and the Customer Excellence award in partnership with Westgrove Group.

“As a team we are focussed on continually moving Market Place forward to ensure it’s a thriving, fun and entertaining place for people to come and spend some time in Bolton.

“We have a team of really good people with a passion and pride in the job that they do. All our staff strive to give the best possible customer service.”

Market Place has recently undergone a £23 million refurbishment since it was purchased by Inception Holdings Sarl.

Over the last four years, footfall has increased by 45% from 3.8million to 6.5million people and 252 new jobs have been created.

Westgrove Group Managing Director Claire McKinley Smith said: “We are delighted to be working with the team at Market Place to help them deliver brilliant customer service every day.”

The Westgrove Group is one of the largest independent security and cleaning companies in the UK operating alongside the larger PLC’s.

Westgrove PRM team at Doncaster Sheffield Airport win Service Excellence award

Posted on September 25, 2018 by - Owner

A specialist assistance team at Doncaster Sheffield Airport have won a Service Excellence award for their work.

The PRM Team (Persons with Reduced Mobility) provide specialised assistance for all disabled passengers using the South Yorkshire airport which was recently named as the best airport in the UK by Which? Magazine for the second time in a row.

Warrington based facilities management specialist The Westgrove Group were appointed as the PRM and Cleaning provider for DSA earlier this year.

The PRM team received a highly regarded ‘Service Excellence’ award as part of the company’s proactive ‘Reward & Recognition’ scheme.

The team were praised by passengers after working with a pilgrim flight to Lourdes and their work helping seven Para-Olympians going out on a flight.

Westgrove Managing Director Claire McKinley Smith said: “PRM passengers are made up of many different classifications of disabled passengers with a variety of needs.

“Their journey and customer experience through the airport are of critical important to DSA. From the moment they arrive to the time they board the plane, it’s the job of DSA and Westgrove to ensure that this transition is seamless and hassle free.

“The Lourdes pilgrim flights require great care due to the high numbers of passengers that require special assistance to board the flights.

“A lot of planning went into the latest operation where the PRM team assisted 36 wheelchair passengers onto the flight.

“A further seven Para-Olympians going out on another flight at the same time also required help.

“We were delighted to hear that a number of passengers had complimented the team on social media and felt that this work in particular deserved special recognition.”

As part of the ongoing work to continuously improve the PRM service at DSA, Westgrove are holding a 3-day training and awareness course at the airport and supporting a PRM Open Day on the 17th October.

Prestigious Finance Awards North West nomination for The Westgrove Group

Posted on September 25, 2018 by - Owner

Westgrove Shopping Centre Facility Management

The Westgrove Group, one of the largest independent facilities companies in the UK, has been shortlisted for the annual Finance Awards North West.

The awards, held by Robert Walters in partnership with the ICAEW Manchester, The Growth Company and RSM have previously been held in the Midlands and the South East, becoming the largest awards of their kind.

Due to this success, 2018 marks the first year for the North West awards, tapping into a fresh pool of talent working within a thriving finance market.

The Westgrove Group, based in Warrington, is one of five companies shortlisted for Small Finance Team of the Year.

More than 500 professionals are expected to attend the awards evening at Manchester Cathedral on Thursday, October 11th where the winners will be revealed.

Westgrove Group Managing Director Claire McKinley Smith said: “This is a prestigious award and we are delighted that our Finance Team is one of five to be shortlisted.”

The Westgrove Group is one of the largest independent security and cleaning companies in the UK operating alongside the larger PLC’s.

The company, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last month, employs over 1,000 people in over 50 shopping centres and airports across the UK working with major landlords and managing agents.

 

New partnership with Alder Hey Children’s Hospital

Posted on September 17, 2018 by - Owner

The Westgrove Group has announced a new partnership with Alder Hey Children’s Charity to help raise money for the hospital.

The Warrington-headquartered company, one of the largest independent security and cleaning companies, will launch their support with a sponsored walk across all their sites later this month.

The walk, which takes place on Friday September 28th, will see Westgrove’s partners and colleagues across the country raise money for every mile they complete.

The fundraising day will help provide funds for a new App designed to help children when they first arrive at the hospital.

Alder Hey is one of Europe’s biggest and busiest children’s hospitals, caring for 270,000 patients and families every year and treating everything from common illnesses to highly complex and specialist conditions.

Westgrove Brand & Development Director Laurie Barton Wright said: “We are delighted to be supporting the incredible care that Alder Hey Children’s Hospital gives to children and young people.

“We look after over 100 sites across the UK and our colleagues walk miles every day, so we thought it would be a good idea to turn the miles they walk in to pounds to help the charity. For every mile they walk, we will donate £1 to the charity.”

The Westgrove Group, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, employs over 1,000 people in shopping centres and airports across the UK working with major landlords and managing agents.

 

First ‘Women in Security’ Award nomination for The Westgrove Group

Posted on September 14, 2018 by - Owner

A female security officer from a Manchester shopping park has been shortlisted out of 200 nominations for a prestigious industry award after saving a woman’s life.

Rebecca Howarth of The Westgrove Group, the Warrington based independent security company, was nominated for the Woman in Security awards, the first time the company has taken part.

The awards are specifically for women who operate on the frontline of the security industry and includes entries from door supervisors, security officers, CCTV operatives, engineers, profit protection officers, investigators and monitoring operatives in ARCs.

Rebecca was on a night shift in May at Crown Point Shopping Centre in Denton, Manchester, and was using the CCTV system to monitor the site. She spotted a distressed woman standing in the middle of the motorway bridge nearby, informed the local Police control room and immediately went to help.

Over four hours, she talked to her, calmed her down and called for assistance. The woman has since been in touch with a thank you card and present for Rebecca.

Westgrove Group Managing Director Claire McKinley Smith said: “It is amazing that the Women in Security awards take time to highlight females working in the security industry. Rebecca has shown to many people what it takes to be a very good security officer regardless of gender and to stand out within the industry.”

Rebecca was one of 12 women to be shortlisted for this year’s Woman in Security awards hosted in London by the Fire & Security Association last night. Judges were selected from the chairs and chief executives of the leading professional organisations within the security industry.

The Westgrove Group is one of the largest independent security and cleaning companies operating alongside the larger PLC’s.

Based in Warrington the company, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last month, employs over 1,000 people in over 50 shopping centres and airports across the UK working with major landlords and managing agents.