Latest Dougland News
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New Minimum Wage Rate from 1 October 2010
With effect from the 1 October 2010, the new minimum wage rates will be as follows:
16 & 17 year olds £3.64 ph 18 - 20 year olds£4.92 ph Over 21's£5.93 ph
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New Commercial Director appointed
Stuart Conroy has joined the Board of Dougland Support Services as our new Commercial Director. Stuart has spent the last twenty years working in the FM and Soft Service sectors, leading Business Development & Management teams.
"I'm really excited by the opportunity to become part of the Dougland team. Dougland's great reputation, longevity and independence are unrivaled in the cleaning industry. What I hope to do is raise our company profile so that more organisations can see that there is a real alternative to the mediocre service delivered by our competitors. The energy here and desire to exceed clients' expectations is totally contagious!"
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Willing to travel....
Maria Hantig, our Site Manager at St Anns Shopping Centre in Harrow, went over and above the call of duty recently when she found herself stranded in Romania during the recent airline disruption caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland.
Having taken leave to visit Romania, Maria was due back to work early Sunday morning but found herself 'grounded' when she tried to leave on Friday.
By way of alternative transport, Maria left Romania at 1200 on Friday, by coach, from there she travelled to Hungary, arriving at 2000, then onto Austria managing to get there at 0400 Saturday. Maria went on to arrive in Germany at 1200 and Belgium at 1600 - all by coach!
Once Maria arrived in France at 1800, she got a ferry across the channel arriving in good old England at 2100 Saturday.
After that marathon journey, Maria managed to turn up for work only 10 minutes late!!!
Well done Maria!! That's what we call dedication!
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Farewell Olive
On the 31st March Olive Sutton retired after 22 years working at Charter Place, Uxbridge.
Pictured here with Area Manager, Linda Etheridge and John Rees, Site Manager, Olive was given a send off complete with flowers and chocoloates.
Thank you Olive for all your hard work and have a lovely retirement!
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9th Annual Manager's Conference
On the 16th and 17th March we held the 9th Annual Managers Meeting for Chris Dickens' region.
24 Managers gathered at Botley Park & Country Club from as far north as Chesterfield, Yeovil from the west and Dartford in the east.
The two-day conference included the Managing Director's address, a suppliers seminar, discussions with Head Office departmental managers, a quiz and annual awards to the staff including, Broken Disc Award, Loo of the Year Awards and Manager of the Year - joint winners: Janet Stephens and Carlos Barreiros.
"It is extremely important that we all get the opportunity to meet each other and be able to discuss matters that are important to us. Sharing experiences and finding solutions to problems through discussion is just one of the benefits of this conference." said Operations Director, Chris Dickens. "Dougland value our staff and realise that it is the people at the 'rockface' that make the Company as successful as it is."
"Looking around this room I feel immensely proud," said Managing Director Barrie Richards, "this is what it is all about - people with similar jobs and responsibilities, who would not normally get the chance to meet, sharing problems and helping each other out."
Next year will be the 10th Annual Meeting and Chris will be organising something special to mark the anniversary.
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Extensions to contracts
Dougland's current cleaning contract at Brighton Marina, which commenced in March 2007, has just been extended further from its original term from the 1 March 2010. Our Client there is "extremely happy" with our service delivery and stated that it was an "easy decision to make".
This recent success, comes hot on the heels of two other contract extensions. At the very end of 2009 we were informed by Victoria Coach Station that our contract, which we have proudly held since January 2002, will be continued for a further period from January.
And more good news - our work at the prestigious National Archives, has been rewarded by a further extension of a number of years from April 1st. We have now been carrying out cleaning services at the National Archives in Kew since 2000 and we are delighted to be able to continue our work there.
Well done to all our staff who have contributed in giving our clients the confidence in Dougland to continue to deliver professional and consistent service levels.
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Trolley Management System at Castlepoint
On the 1st January 2010 Dougland will commence a new Trolley Management contract at Castlepoint in Bournemouth. The contract involves 18 staff, including a Full Time Trolley Manager, who will be responsible for circulating the trolleys from around the various car park locations to ensure there are always plenty for customers in the trolley bays outside the stores in Castlepoint. We will also be collecting 'stray' trolleys that have found their way to bus stops, housing areas, etc.
Another part of the contract will be the maintenance and repair of the trolley fleet so that visitors to the Centre will always be able to find a trolley for their shopping needs!
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More new business...
Dougland are delighted to add the Sovereign Centre in Weston Super Mare to their portfolio as from the beginning of November. Situated right in the centre of the town, the Sovereign Centre is a very busy shopping mall featuring some of the biggest names in the British retail scene. Dougland are proud to provide the cleaning and related services to this Centre.
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ISO 14001:2004 Certification
Dougland can now confirm that as from October 29 2009, our management system has been assessed and we are now fully certified as meeting the requirements of ISO14001:2004 for the following activities: The provision of cleaning and related services to shopping centres, airports, local authorities and industry.
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Recommendation for ISO 14001:2004 (EMS) Certification
On 3 October 2009, Dougland were delighted to gain recommendation by SGS UK Ltd for the ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management Systems (EMS) certification. Our formal certification will be available shortly.
During our recent audit, Dougland were able to fully demonstrate our commitment to the environment in all our day-to-day operations and our compliance with environmental standards.
Our certification will help us to manage the environmental aspects of our business activities more effectively, while taking into consideration environmental protection, pollution prevention and socio-economic needs.
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New Business....
The last six months has seen a steady flow of new business for Dougland Support Services.
In April we won the prestigious Priory Centre in Dartford. Dougland are responsible for the care and upkeep of the public areas, including internal and external glazing, and the back of house areas. Other aspects of our responsibility include provision of all pot plants and plants around the centre.
June saw our success in gaining the contract to provide Cleaning and Support Services to Palace Gardens Shopping Centre in Enfield. Additional to cleaning duties on the malls, management suite, security control room etc., we also assist the Maintenance Staff where necessary with watering of plants, re-barking of tree bases and removal of pigeon nests where necessary.
In August we were successful in winning two contracts. We were very proud to be chosen as cleaning contractors for The Blade in Reading. A new building, The Blade is Reading's most significant office development for a decade. Rising to an impressive 128m, it is Reading's tallest office building and our responsibilities include the quarterly window cleaning and abseiling of The Blade. We also clean the common areas of the building.
Also in August we won the three year contract to carry out cleaning related services at Kingsland Shopping Centre in Dalston, London. A busy and well known shopping centre in East London, Kingsland Shopping Centre houses top high street shops as well as stalls within the malls, Dougland are responsible for keeping the centre in pristine condition at all times.
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New Shopping Centre Contracts
We are delighted to announce that the beginning of 2009 has brought us significant success in the confirmation and commencement of new contract awards around the UK.
Vicar Lane, Chesterfield
We are excited and proud to be awarded the cleaning contract at Vicar Lane Shopping Centre in Chesterfield and this contract started effectively and professionally on the 1st January 2009. The services we provide, includes all the day-to-day cleaning activities that a very busy, open shopping centre, large car park and tenanted areas needs. Like many of our contracts, this full service package includes all janitorial requirements and the supply of consumable requisites such as toilet rolls and feminine hygiene products etc. In addition, we were awarded the pest control contract for this site.
Broadwalk, Bristol
We are the chosen cleaning contractors for BroadWalk Shopping Centre in Bristol, this includes all day-to-day cleaning activities of a busy shopping centre and also involves the regular cleaning of all external car parks and includes tenant’s waste removal. In addition to the standard levels of service, we have been able to offer an all inclusive package that includes a menu of periodic cleaning and all within the main contract value. This contract was commenced March 2009.
Eden Walk, Kingston-upon-Thames
Once again our professionalism and innovation to our core cleaning service have brought us success in a prestigious contract at Eden Walk, Kingston-upon-Thames on the outskirts of London. The services we provide within this challenging retail environment include daily cleaning activities, all janitorial requirements, consumables and pest control elements.
We have additional contract commencements planned for the early part of 2009, please visit this site at regular intervals for updates on our new business wins.
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New Look Dougland
We started 2009 with a brand new image that is more reflective of the modern, innovative approaches we bring to the cleaning industry. Launched in January, our new logo and design style has been applied across all our stationery, business cards and website, and will be rolled out across our vehicle fleet over the coming months.
The new corporate identity keeps pace with the reality of Dougland's increasing client base, winning value offering and financial success.
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Site Manager's Conference
Once again we brought together all our Site Supervisors and Site Managers from around the country to one venue, for a two day conference. This enables the individual Site Managers to meet their opposite numbers, who may work in the same environment, working alongside different shopping centres, or may be from a different industry entirely: industrial, commercial or leisure. They have the opportunity to meet the executive and management team, enjoy guest speakers, attend training modules, workshops, demonstrations of new technology, equipment and materials. All of this goes to build an exceptionally effective team building experience, where problems are shared and solved together - a key component of our continual improvement programme.
Now in its 8th year, this unique event has a growing number of attendees including suppliers and consultants willing to be involved in nurturing, training and motivating our teams.
As you can see from elsewhere in our website we believe people make the success of our business and we know this level of investment no matter how significant, will enhance the quality of service we bring to our clients. Our staff feel more important as a result of this event and go back to our individual clients, refreshed, with new ideas and innovations.
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Gloria takes a well earned break...
Gloria Hawes, Dougland's first ever employee, started with the company in 1969 on our first contract at the Job Centre in Havant, a contract we held for 28 years. Gloria was a foundation stone of the Company and has continued to be a major part of the Dougland Team since the early days.
Gloria is now taking a well-deserved break from Dougland and on Friday 22nd May the management and staff have organised a presentation to Gloria as a massive thank you for her hard work, dedication and unswerving loyalty to Dougland over the past 40 years.
Well done and a BIG thank you to Gloria!
