"Gather & Gather’s passion for food and excellence in customer service shone through and the assessors experienced both personally.”
Vigilance can report that Mitie’s catering business, Gather & Gather, has been awarded the Hospitality Assured (HA) accreditation by the Institute of Hospitality for its work with Vodafone UK, just six months after being appointed.
The award is testament to how Gather & Gather operates – providing great food and drink and putting the customer at the heart of everything it does. This was something the HA assessors picked up on, commenting that Gather & Gather and Vodafone had achieved everything they were aiming for in terms of food quality, variety and customer service. One of the most noted improvements was in team morale, particularly within the kitchen team.
Together, Vodafone and Gather & Gather have worked hard to create an inspirational dining experience for employees. This is backed up by Gather & Gather’s role as part of the Mitie 1team integrated FM operation within Vodafone. This team ethic was very obvious to the HA assessors who stressed the great communication across the contract and overall goal to Hospitality Assured World Class status by March 2017.
“To gain HA status in under seven months is commendable,” said John Burchell, one of the HA assessors. “Team members and customers commented enthusiastically about the improvements in the food. A strong emphasis has also been placed on healthy eating and there is close cooperation with Nuffield and Vodafone’s wellbeing team. Gather & Gather’s passion for food and excellence in customer service shone through and the assessors experienced both personally.”
Allister Richards, Gather & Gather’s Managing Director said: “The HA report picks up on our commitment to food, great service and doing things our own way. But most of all it’s a fantastic recognition of all the hard work the team has put into driving change over the past few months and this proves again that our food, service style, design ethos and culture are a powerful and impactful combination.”
Gather & Gather serves 9,000 Vodafone UK employees every day – across 12 different locations – bringing food and people together, supporting Vodafone’s vision to build Britain’s best workplace
In another developmemt Mitie keeps lone workers safe
Recently, Mitie and its partner Lone Worker Solutions were awarded a contract to protect employees of Essex County Council (ECC) when they are working alone or out of sight of colleagues, Vigilance can report.
ECC is working with Mitie and its specialist partner, Lone Worker Solutions (LWS) to bring their LoneWorker Manager system into play for employees.
Vigilance learn that the new safety system, LoneWorker Manager, will be deployed across dedicated devices and mobile apps, offering emergency, reactive and proactive support to staff whenever they need it.
Jason Towse, Managing Director of Mitie’s Total Security Management (TSM) business said: “The system we provide through our partner Lone Worker Solutions was a natural choice for ECC as our security team are already on site and understand the system fully so can offer assistance at any time. They also benefit from the seamless support of our expert team at Mitec keeping them safe 24/7.”
Garry Fisher, Corporate Health and Safety Manager of Essex County Council claimed: "Protection systems like this can't prevent a problem from occurring. But when something goes wrong, it is comforting for staff to know that if they press the button, someone will be listening; they know that you are in trouble, and they know where you are."
George Stavrinidis, CEO Lone Worker Solutions added: "Deep rooted in the way Lone Worker Solutions operates is the recognition that one size does not fit all. Understanding this, we have developed the broadest range of technology to deliver a more robust and usable system."
ECC is one of the UK's biggest councils, employing approximately 37,000 staff. Their services include: education, social care, waste and recycling, transport and highways, libraries, and leisure and tourism. Many of the employees delivering these services work by themselves, and often in challenging customer-facing roles.
LoneWorker Manager works across specialised devices, including a specially designed SOSFob that fits into worker’s pockets and smart phone and desktop apps. The system monitors the lone workers 24/7, through a direct connection with Mitie's state-of-the-art technology centre, Mitec.