Helen Emerson, our H&S Incident Prevention Executive, told us about her role in the risk and compliance team and safety community. Helen shared how working together we use data-driven insights and expertise to continuously improve our safety performance.
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Richard Seddon – How cleaning practices will change in the post-pandemic world
“Push your boundaries beyond the ordinary; be that “extra” in “extraordinary.”
In the years before the pandemic, cleaning teams were often unnoticed as they quietly went about their work. In some sectors such as Life Sciences and Agri-foods, cleaning has always been critical and essential to business continuity. In many other industries cleaning less likely to be considered in a risk management strategy.
The pandemic has transformed perceptions about cleaning services. Management teams want to show their investment in cleaning to reassure their people that workplaces are both clean and safe. As a result of this, today, businesses want their cleaning teams to more visible.
We are living in a world where cleaning is more valued and prioritised than ever before. This brings added pressure on the industry to continuously offer more dynamic and efficient solutions. However, the industry has proven itself to be equal to this challenge. In recent years, we have seen the implementation of new cleaning strategies, the introduction of specialist sanitisers and chemicals, and new technologies.
At Bidvest Noonan, we stepped up our training programmes to ensure our people are ready to lead the way today and in the future. There is a great quote from author Roy. T. Bennett that says to “push your boundaries beyond the ordinary; be that “extra” in “extraordinary””. I believe our cleaning teams are that extra. The work they do is extraordinary.
We have also made big investments in our structures and resources to support our clients, and we continuously invest in innovation. Earlier this year, Bidvest Noonan launched Edge, our new innovation programme. The programme was designed to enable us to innovate faster and share ideas and lessons across our group. Edge is helping us to evaluate solutions across a wide range of domains, ranging from robotics to green cleaning solutions.
The growing demand for greener cleaning solutions has also become a driving force in our industry. More and more companies employ cleaner chemicals and products with a lower carbon footprint. At Bidvest Noonan, this been a motivation for many years. We champion environmentally-friendly products and practices and recently signed a pledge to cut our carbon emissions dramatically.
These changes are helping our industry to grow and develop. I have every confidence that it will continue on its strong trajectory. It will continue to serve our economy and communities and to provide stable employment and opportunities for all the dedicated people who have committed themselves to the industry.
Welcoming Amber Support Solutions and Scott Brannigan
Amber Support Solutions, the leading Northern Irish provider of industrial cleaning services, has become part of Bidvest Noonan in a move designed to accelerate the Group’s growth and increase the value and support it delivers to clients in Northern Ireland.
As part of the plan, Bidvest Noonan has appointed Amber Managing Director, Scott Brannigan, to the new role of Managing Director for Bidvest Noonan, Northern Ireland. The Amber business will continue to operate under the Amber brand within the Group. As a member of the Group’s senior leadership team and as Managing Director for Northern Ireland, Scott Brannigan will take responsibility for growing Amber and Bidvest Noonan’s wider business in the region.
Amber was established in 2010 and the business has a strong portfolio of clients across the public, corporate, manufacturing, retail, and commercial sectors. It is a specialist industrial cleaning company that offers services ranging from window to carpet cleaning.
The Bidvest Noonan Northern Ireland business, which Scott will lead, employs a total of 1,500 people and is already one of the region’s largest and most successful facility services companies, with a 44-year history of delivering exceptional value to clients. Across the Island of Ireland, Bidvest Noonan is the market leader for security and cleaning services, and it has a substantial and well-established M&E engineering services business. In total, the Group has a turnover in excess of £700 million and employs over 27,000 people across its key markets.
“Scott’s appointment as Managing Director for Northern Ireland demonstrates our commitment to the Northern Irish market, and to our focus on enhancing the services we provide to our NI customers, through ongoing investment in our people, services, and capabilities in the region. Amber is a great business. It has an outstanding team and a strong brand and a reputation for high standards and excellent customer service. We look forward to working with them to build on their achievements to date,” said Declan Doyle, CEO of Bidvest Noonan.
Scott Brannigan said: “This is very positive news for both Bidvest Noonan and Amber clients as well as our people. The investment from Bidvest Noonan, and their expertise and support, gives us the platform and support we need to continue to grow our business across Northern Ireland. The enlarged Northern Ireland business will allow us to provide an even stronger best-in-class service proposition to clients. I really look forward working with my team, new Bidvest Noonan colleagues in Northern Ireland, and the wider team in the future to continue providing clients with the high standards of service for which we are known”.
“We believe that working together we can both cement Bidvest Noonan’s position as market leader for facility services in Northern Ireland and Amber’s position as market leader for industrial services. This is great news and I know that this partnership will deliver increased value and support for clients,” he added.
Bidvest Noonan recently announced the acquisition of Cordant Services, a leading UK provider of security and cleaning services and, separately, Axis Group, another leading UK provider of Security, Cleaning, and Front of House Services. The deals have further strengthened Bidvest Noonan’s position as one of the fastest-growing services businesses in the UK and a market leader in Ireland.
Cordant Services is now part of Bidvest Noonan
Bidvest Noonan has signed agreement that will see Cordant Services join its group. This move further expands Bidvest Noonan’s leadership position, footprint, service profile and expertise in the UK. It also brings the total number of employees to more than 27,000 employees and annual revenues beyond £700 million.
Founded in 1957 and employing more than 7,000 people, Cordant Services is made up of three dedicated divisions Cordant Security, Cordant Cleaning and Cordant Thistle, a specialist and industrial cleaning business. With a total turnover in excess of £170 million, Cordant Services operates across 1,900 client locations throughout the UK in a range of industries.
Bidvest Noonan is a leading provider for services such as Security, Cleaning, Front of House and Ancillary Services in the UK & Ireland. The company has significantly expanded its services and footprint in the UK and Ireland in recent years through a combination of organic and acquisition-led growth, to consolidate its leadership position in Ireland and become a market leader in the UK.
Welcoming the announcement, Declan Doyle, CEO of Bidvest Noonan, said: “This is a landmark moment for Bidvest Noonan and Cordant Services, as together we will deliver even greater support and value to our clients and create more opportunities for our people. It cements Bidvest Noonan’s position as a leading provider of security, cleaning and support services in the UK, with a significantly enhanced footprint, capability and expertise to deliver the highest standards of services to clients across a wide range of sectors and industries.
“Importantly to us, we are achieving this by bringing over 7,000 new colleagues to the Bidvest Noonan team who share our passion and commitment for delivering great value, high-standards and excellent service to customers. We look forward to working with our new colleagues to further enhance the services and supports to clients and build on their successes to date.”
Managing director of Cordant Services, Guy Pakenham, who together with his senior team will remain at the helm of the business, added: “This transaction is a very positive reflection of the quality of our business and all of our people and today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Cordant Services. I am thrilled that we are now part of Bidvest Noonan. Bidvest Noonan is an exceptional company whose leadership team is passionate about delivering outstanding value to clients and supporting their people.”
Today’s announcement follows Bidvest Noonan’s acquisition of Axis Group, a leading UK provider of Security, Cleaning and Front of House Services, in January 2021.
Leadership, training, and technology trends in the security sector
Darren Martin has built highly successful and award-winning security teams. He is an industry expert with experience in protecting large and prestigious clients. We asked Darren to share his thoughts on leadership, training, and technology trends in the security sector today.
What has been your journey to becoming a Strategic Account Manager at Bidvest Noonan?
I started my security career seventeen years ago as a Security Officer, and over a short period of time I developed a strong skillset in loss prevention and risk management. By the age of 22, I had already progressed to the position of Security Manager for one of the largest luxury department stores in Ireland.
This client facing role helped me to further enhance my skills in leadership, people management, effective communication and problem solving. One of the most important things that I learned early on in my career, was that it is imperative you are a person of high integrity, and that the most successful relationships you will have with clients and colleagues are built on trust.
In my five years working in operations, I have been very lucky to have enjoyed success working in partnership with some of the best-known retailers on the high street, the largest luxury department stores and destination shopping centres, as well as popular tourist attractions and multinational corporations.
The security industry is constantly changing, especially after COVID-19. What skills do you think are most important for security professionals nowadays?
Since the start of the pandemic, the security industry has had to rapidly adapt to changing conditions. The role of the Security Officer has evolved from a uniformed deterrent at the entrance, to an ambassador for the business they represent. By showing empathy, using strong communication and customer service skills, the security professional can support the customer journey, enhance their experience, all while advising of the current safety protocols in place.
We have also seen a shift in the way that the security professional uses technology by having to incorporate occupancy counting, temperature checking and contact tracing efforts as part of their daily duties.
And for leadership? What are the essential traits for successful management in security?
I would have to say that being self-motivated, an effective communicator and people orientated are all essential traits to being successful. It is vital to be able to motivate and empower your team members, if you can enlarge their vision, insight and understanding then this is the best way for a team to build momentum and achieve their goals.
How a company can go about ‘upskilling’ its current security teams?
We are always looking for new ways to upskill our security teams. Examples of this include the roll out of a suicide awareness training programme at the start of the year, regular scenario testing events with our colleague Mark Hobden, and most recently providing access to our officers, supervisors and managers to new recognised security and risk management training programmes through our partnership with ISRM.
In my opinion Continuous Professional Development is a personal choice, and one that is very important to me in my role. I completed the Level 6 Diploma for Certified Security Management Professionals last year, and recently completed a Level 5 certificate in Corporate Risk & Crisis Management. It is vital to keep up to date with emerging global risks and threats, as well as mitigating factors and new ways of working.
What trends do you expect to see in the security sector in 2021 and beyond?
I expect to continue to see the security sector catching up with its use of artificial intelligence, this will have a real positive impact on the way that surveillance is used. Operators will become more efficient and proactive by moving to an event-based way of working, rather than continuous manual monitoring.
Companies will continue to move towards remote security solutions as they combine new technologies with traditional manned guarding techniques. Security Officers are being equipped with added tools to enable them to do their jobs more effectively. These include video analytics software for alarm detection, drones for perimeter protection and quicker response, as well as mobile monitoring solutions.
Digital transformation will continue to be a driver of change in business by allowing us to collaborate more efficiently and deliver better value. Security leaders will need to be prepared for the additional risks that this will present. Personal data will continue to be an attractive target for hackers and there will be an increase in the frequency and severity of cybersecurity incidents, particularly ransomware and phishing attacks.
Bidvest Noonan Appoints Microbiology Expert to support Life Sciences growth
Bidvest Noonan has recruited Tessa Rossi, a microbiologist with extensive research and laboratory experience, to enhance its support to its growing portfolio of life sciences clients.
Rossi previously served as Lead Research Scientist at Ophthalmica, a South African ophthalmic medical devices company, and as Quality Control Microbiology Analyst at a multi-national pharma leader.
In this newly created role, Rossi will contribute to the design of contamination control programs, procedures, and policies for
biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device manufacturing sites.
Bidvest Noonan works with life sciences companies to prevent biological, chemical or physical contamination during their manufacturing processes. The company has continuously invested in its GMP and GLP cleaning expertise to support these efforts. The appointment of Tessa Rossi bolsters the businesses expertise as it prepares to mobilise a number of new contracts in the sector.
Commenting on the appointment, Managing Director Cormac Sheils said, “I’m delighted to welcome Tessa to our team. We are proud to support companies that produce many of the world’s most important and ground-breaking medicines and biotechnologies. The work they do has never been more important. I know that Tessa will enable us to provide even greater support to them.”
Tessa Rossi said, “I’m excited to be part of the Bidvest Noonan team. I’m looking forward to working closely with my new colleagues to drive improvements for our portfolio of world-class life sciences companies. “
