How the ServiceMaster Clean Contract Services Mercia team supported the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The spirit of the Commonwealth Games for Birmingham 2022 was all about inclusion and togetherness. As the first Commonwealth Games with a fully integrated para-sports programme, the games celebrated unity in the city, with volunteers, athletes, and supporters coming together to enjoy weeks of sportsmanship from across the Commonwealth.

The number of people that came to Birmingham to work and partake in the games was immense, and a lot of preparation was needed to get everything in order. Especially as the number of people the city had to house was more than hotels could handle alone. This led to spaces from other sectors, such as Birmingham’s student accommodation buildings taking in athletes, staff, volunteers, security, dancers and more for the duration of the games.

One such property was Onyx, a pre-existing client of ServiceMaster Clean Contract Services Mercia, and one of the largest student accommodations in Birmingham city. Mark Harden of ServiceMaster Clean Mercia sat down with us during the Commonwealth Games to talk about his team’s work for Onyx throughout the event.

The brief

“This is the second year we’ve done the student accommodation cleaning at Onyx,” Mark tells us. The contract for this job came about last year when Onyx reached out for a quote for regular cleaning services. At this point, the building had been recently refurbished, increasing its size substantially.

“[There are] three blocks to it, it’s massive,” Mark says. “Due to our presence in the Birmingham City Centre area, they asked a ServiceMaster Mercia to quote, which myself and Ashley, our business development manager [did].”

Due to careful staff management and the growth of the business, the Mercia team were able to deliver exceptional service and return this year, with the Onyx team putting down the additional challenge of assisting them with cleaning for the Commonwealth Games. In a regular year like last year, cleaning the Onyx premises involves cleaning student bedrooms and kitchens ready for the new students to arrive. But with the building being utilised for the Commonwealth Games, a huge number of rooms had to be cleaned in a tight timeframe.

 “From the 21st of July to the 28th/29th, when the Commonwealth started, we had to get all these rooms cleaned. So, I think we did about 350 rooms for the Commonwealth and about 70 kitchens just in that week!”

How we managed the job

This meant that excellent communication was needed and the Mercia team had to work closely with the building managers and their staff.

“[We] have to work very closely with the Onyx team providing continuous updates and adding value through reporting any important information such as maintenance issues which they can rectify,” Mark says.

In this way, partnerships were a key part of the team getting the job done to the best possible standard, including helping manage the large workload. As Mark tells us, this meant having “At the max … between 35 and 40 staff on-site,” including Mark, and a supervisor running them.

“At that volume of people, you needed a high level of management support [to make] sure the team is set up, the stock is set up, dishing out work and [we are] feeding back to the in-house staff as well,” he explains.

These numbers meant that the team could take a methodical and highly efficient approach to cleaning each room.

“The structure is a team of say 5-6 people who go into one dorm, each one will pick up one room. And then generally, three people will work on a kitchen maximum, so they split it between them.”

The team then used some of our very own ServiceMaster chemicals, which work at the highest standard to return these rooms to the best condition possible before reporting any damage to rooms from student tenants, which might include cracked hobs, induction hobs, faulty fridges, damage to floors, or damage to furniture.

Going above and beyond

The Mercia team has also been helping out throughout the games by cleaning for a facility that is owned by West Midlands Police, which was used to feed athletes and staff during the games. This meant Mark and the team had to be even more flexible with their operation and working times, because of the tight security around the games.

“We had to change our cleaning times with the cleaners to early morning and late evenings that we go in so that we weren’t around because security was so tight, we couldn’t be around when athletes were present. So, we had to prep it ready for evening and morning meals. We did late evenings till about 1:00 am after the athletes had eaten and … then we would return in the mornings so that they could clean after the breakfast period.”

The result

At the close of the job, Mark reflects that the teamwork and unity of the games have been mirrored throughout the entirety of this job, which has left him satisfied at overcoming a challenging clean and feeling closer to the games that have put Birmingham on the world stage.

“It’s been enjoyable to get it done,” he says. “And you do feel connected to the games. In Birmingham, it’s been a great atmosphere. You see all the people and volunteers, and speaking to them every one is enjoying it.”

Need a new cleaner?

Do you have large premises? Would you benefit from regular cleaning by your local professionals? With a team equipped with the best tools and knowledge for the job, backed by a franchisor with over 60 years of experience as an internationally recognised leader in the cleaning industry, Mark and the rest of the ServiceMaster Contract Services Mercia team can help. Get in touch by giving them a call on 0300 003 7042 today for a free quote. Or find your nearest ServiceMaster Clean Contract Services business here.

CS Mercia employee and Helping Hands Birmingham Founder, Claire Whitaker went above and beyond to help 52-year-old homeless mum get back from Scotland, 450 miles away.

Jayne a homeless mum ended up living rough in freezing temperatures after the city council’s outreach team gave a one-way train ticket to Inverness, after thinking Jayne had family up there.

CS Mercia employee and Helping Hands Birmingham Founder, Claire Whitaker noticed that she hadn’t seen Jayne around for a while, she decided to do some investigating and found out about the outreach program. After doing the investigating and some help from a lady in a local group in Scotland Jayne was found freezing cold and starving. This local lady found Jayne near Fort William and took her home for some food and a bit of warmth, Claire then drove up to Scotland to collect Jayne and bring her back to Birmingham and get her up and running in secure accommodation.

Read more about this story on any of these links:

Birmingham Mail
Inverness Courier

ServiceMaster Clean Mercia, is a franchise of ServiceMaster, owned and managed by Kevin Harden.

ServiceMaster Clean Mercia provides commercial cleaning services for doctor surgeries, veterinary practices, car showrooms, sport stadiums, offices, factories and schoolsthroughout Birmingham, Coventry, Burton on Trent, Loughborough, Ruigby and more.

Kevin collected one of the most presitigious awards on offer from ServiceMaster Franchisee of the Year 2017 award (the Marion E Wade Award) as well as the Growth Award at the Summer Summit conference for ServiceMaster limited held in June of this year.

The Franchisee of the Year 2017 is the most prestigious award and a pinnacle achievement within the ServiceMaster Franchisee network. It is awarded to one franchisee who has displayed the highest achievement in the pursuit of excellence and professional management in the ServiceMaster tradition.

“We are very excited to receive this prestigious award and are very proud of all the hard work that has been put in by the ServiceMaster Mercia team.”Commented Business Development Manager, Mark Harden

“2017 proved to be a significant year with record sales enabling investment into new office location, staff, and territories.” Finished Mark

Picking up one award is an achievement, but to go on and win Franchisee of the Year is and outstanding achievement. Winners also get the opportunity to visit the ServiceMaster conference held in the US each year.

Managing Director of ServiceMaster, Alan Lewin said: “It was great to see so many of our franchise community and suppliers gathered together to engage in the Summer Summit event. I am always appreciative of the commitment that our franchisees and suppliers make in taking a day out of their business to invest time with peers, colleagues & the franchise support team at ServiceMaster.

“We recognise achievements in the categories of Growth, People, Customer and Invest, these headings form part of our organisational “North Star” which we use as is a simple guide to cultural performance and strategic execution for all stakeholders across our community.

“We recognise the big obvious stuff like, rising NPS scores, customer service accolades, established franchisees that have grown their revenues by in excess of £1m+, and new franchisees that have got great results from their start up, and beaten their financial projections” Finished Alan

Recognising some of the less obvious, but nonetheless culturally vital parts of franchising is imperative to ServiceMaster and the Summer Summit conference allowed this to happen.

Awards were given for not only growth, but also to those that have given back to their community, or employees of franchisees that have demonstrated their commitment to the brand attributes engaging in initiatives and actions with colleagues and customers well beyond their job description, very often in their own time at their own expense.

“Over the next 12 months we plan continue to invest in technology and innovations within our industry, maintain double digit growth and develop our management structure to deliver excellent customer service to our clients.” Finished Mark

A local entrepreneurial family has reinvested into their growing business and expanded their office cleaning franchise into Birmingham and Coventry.

ServiceMaster Clean Contract Services Mercia (CS Mercia), which is owned and operated by Kevin and Joanne Harden and son, Mark, launched in 2009 and has seen the business grow by 300% in the last five years due to a high demand for its services. The company employs over 170 staff to provide daily office, industrial and education cleaning services in major towns, such as Tamworth, Burton upon Trent, Loughborough, Rugby and Lutterworth and has now expanded to operate in the cities of Birmingham and Coventry.

Kevin Harden, managing director, CS Mercia said: “With major investments being made into Birmingham, such as HS2 and the Curzon Street regeneration, now is the ideal time to launch into these major UK cities on our border. We’re excited by the opportunity to expand our business and create new jobs in the areas.”

Mark Harden, business development manager, CS Mercia added: “By focusing on our customer’ requirements and our core services, we’ve seen fantastic growth over the last few years, specifically within the education sector, which has required a consistent, quality and credible service. This investment into Coventry and Birmingham will allow us to develop our customer base and continue our growth beyond 300%.”

CS Mercia is a franchise of ServiceMaster Limited, which is one of the UK’s largest and longest-established multi-brand franchisors and is one of 68 contract cleaning franchises in the ServiceMaster franchise network.