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Employee of the Season – Autumn 2018

Posted by & filed under Company News.

The winner of the Rapid Employee of the Season award for autumn, is Sam Thackeray. Sam joined the Rapid team as Payroll Assistant, earlier this year and has proved to be a fantastic addition to the finance team.

As you will see from the following comments, his colleagues certainly seem to think so…

  • Sam seems to willingly takes on new tasks and helpful when asked to assist in tasks outside his office role.
  • I feel like he deserves it for putting up with a lot! You can see he works hard and has a great relationship with ops 😊.
  • Sam is a lovely colleague to work with, always pleasant and professional to both customers and colleagues. He’s reliable, eager to help and always tries his best.
  • He has been such an incredible colleague, very helpful with all the payroll queries and think he needs to know we are grateful to have him with us.
  • Great addition to the finance department, always helpful and also concerned for people’s well-being. An all-round nice man.
  • Superstar! Always there to support us and help me to resolve issues.
  • He is non-stop in payroll dealing with CM’s and employee queries. Due to absence has taken on more responsibility and shows interest in the wider business.

Congratulations on your win, Sam. Keep up the good work!

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Merry Christmas From Us to You

Posted by & filed under Corporate Social Responsibility.

 

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our customers, suppliers and staff, a very Happy Christmas.

Instead of sending Christmas cards, every year we choose a charity to support. Our staff made some great nominations, all very worthy causes, but we finally opted for Crisis who support the homeless.

The 20 people we are sponsoring will receive:

  • A warm welcome and good company
  • Three nutritious, hot meals daily, including a delicious Christmas dinner
  • A bed for the night, if needed
  • A chance to shower, freshen up and get clean clothes
  • A health check and treatment from a doctor, optician and dentist
  • Expert help with mental health and addiction problems
  • Advice on housing, employment and benefits
  • A way out of homelessness for good through Crisis’ year-round training, education and support.

Thank you for your support in 2018 and we wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2019.

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What is TUPE and how does it affect your business?

Posted by & filed under Cleaning.

TUPE (pronounced too-pee) is a word that seems to cause a lot of confusion within the cleaning industry. Speaking to potential customers, they are often unclear as to what it means and the subsequent implications on them as a business.

What is TUPE?

What is TUPE?

Firstly, the current TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings and Protection of Employees) regulations apply to every industry. It is not exclusive to cleaning. TUPE is a piece of legislation that the Government brought in to protect the employee’s rights when a contract transfers from one company to another.

(more…)

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Our Rapid Employee of the Season – Summer 2018

Posted by & filed under Company News.

Every quarter our head office team is given the opportunity to nominate one of their colleagues to be crowned Employee of the Season. We ask everyone to only vote for someone who they feel has gone above and beyond in their role during that season and really deserves to win this esteemed title.

Who was the summer 2018 winner?

Our Accounts Assistant, Laura Virtue, was the clear winner this quarter with 10 votes! Here are some of the great things that her colleagues had to say about her…

  • Laura has great attendance, she is such a positive person and has grown in confidence and productivity over the past 6 months. She’s a great team player too!
  • Laura is such a genuine, nice person who is a pleasure to work with, never met someone so happy.
  • Every day she makes me laugh and makes working here even more enjoyable.
  • She is always positive, upbeat and willing to go the extra mile.
  • Laura is very helpful and I personally find her a great support to myself and my role. Every office needs a Laura! 😊
  • She is so helpful and always chirpy.
  • She has never been in a grumpy mood always helpful in work and beyond; a great credit to the accounts department and extremely courteous.
  • She’s hard working, reliable and always has a smile on her face.
  • She is always pleasant and smiling, any requests are dealt with timely and without fuss.
  • She is always in on time, rarely off sick and willing to help out in any area that she can.

Laura is a very deserved winner, someone who is clearly held in high esteem by her colleagues. Congratulations Laura and keep up the good work!

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Our Latest Rapid Superstar – Quarter 2 of 2018

Posted by & filed under Rapid Superstar.

Last week, we had the privilege of meeting the winners of this quarter’s Superstar Award – Carla Pais and Nuno Pereira. Carla and Nuno work on two of our sites, EValue and Florco; they been highly valued Rapid employees since 2015.

Jeff Whitton, Rapid’s Managing Director (far right) and Peter Soares (third from left), Rapid’s Contracts Manager, went to EValue’s site in Newbury. They spoke to Eilidh Huntley, EValue’s Office Manager (third from right) who gave this glowing feedback on Carla and Nuno’s work…

“We are delighted that Carla & Nuno have been nominated for this award. Carla and Nuno are both extremely hard workers, they are reliable and take great pride in their work. They go that extra mile to genuinely care about us as a client – reporting anything that they see that isn’t right before it could potentially become a greater problem e.g. leaks in the toilet/problems with the dishwasher etc. They are great ambassadors for Rapid Clean and we wish them both well.”

Congratulations to Carla and Nuno and thank you both for your continued commitment to Rapid Clean. All of the other Superstar nominees will have received a small gift in the post last week.

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Macmillan Coffee Morning Success

Posted by & filed under Corporate Social Responsibility.

Bringing millions of people together for coffee and cake, Macmillan Cancer Support’s World’s Biggest Coffee Morning has become a British institution over the years – with thousands of events happening up and down the country.

On Thursday 4th October we hosted a Macmillan Coffee Morning to help raise vital funds for people living with cancer. As a company, we have long been a supporter of Macmillan. In 2015 we raised a total of £5188.33 through various sponsored and fundraising events.

Last week’s coffee morning was instigated by Sue Smitz, our Credit Controller, who did a fantastic job of rallying the troops. Our office staff were encouraged to bring in their favourite bakes as well as some pennies to purchase them. Our thanks go to Sue for organising such a successful event.

Speaking after the event, Sue said:

“We really enjoyed doing our bit for this year’s Coffee Morning. It was great to get people together, have a nibble and a natter and raise money for Macmillan at the same time. I am pleased to confirm that we raised £107.37 from the coffee morning last week. Thanks to all the bakers for supplying the delicious goodies and thank you to everyone for the generous donations!”

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Rapid Superstar Nominations – Quarter 2 of 2018

Posted by & filed under Cleaning Team, Rapid Superstar.

We have a number of excellent cleaning operatives who have been nominated to win our Superstar Award this quarter. Every person mentioned below has one thing in common: they go above and beyond in their role and their line manager wants to publicly recognise them for their hard work. 

Ecaterina-Giorgiana Raban who cleans Brakes and Bright Water Inn as nominated by Craig Love

“The customer has asked for Ecaterina to be recognised for her impeccable standards and reliability, welcoming attitude and work ethic! She is an excellent cleaner really conscientious, especially as the customer wont sign the audit off unless its 100%!”

Sirlei Rodrigues who cleans Twogether Creative as nominated by Angela Knox

“The customer speaks very highly of Sirlei and she does a tremendous job for us with no problems at all. Audit results are always high.”

Anna Blaszczyk who cleans The Huntsman as nominated by Solomon Adadevoh

“Anna is a valuable member of the team. She works to cover extra hours and is always willing to go the extra mile. When Donald the supervisor was off, she stepped up and made sure the job was done without any complaints. She is a real superstar in my eyes.”

Marie Charloton who cleans Stericycle and Point to Point as nominated by Bernice Anim

“Marie is an outstanding member of staff and has helped at many sites. She also helped deep clean toilets at Prisym and South lake School which received really good feedback. I wish more people were like her!”

Mutiat Jayeola who cleans Camberwell Leisure as nominated by Ingrid Antonio

“Mutiat is one of my supervisors who understands what it takes to lead a team. She is willing to change her own shift times and to help to arrange cover and goes over and above expectations. This individual truly deserves the recognition.”

Carla Pais and Nuno Pereira who clean E-Value and Florco as nominated by Peter Soares

“Carla and Nuno work together to deliver a very good service. They’re reliable, hard workers and are really appreciated by the clients and managers! I know the customer is as keen as me to have them recognised.”

Priscilla Baodu who cleans Jarvis Homes, Harpenden Lawn Tennis Club and Inn on the Green as nominated by Sabeeh Tahir

“Priscilla is really good at her job! Her attendance is brilliant and she makes sure we deliver the cleaning as per schedule. If the client asks her for additional, one off help then she is always happy to oblige. All clients she works with give compliments about her and she has an excellent working relationship with them.”

Scott Parnell who cleans Thames Club as nominated by Diana Marothy

“Since Scott started working at the Thames club, I have had lots of positive comments about him from the customer. He is reliable, honest and is doing a brilliant job.”

Shobha Rana Thapa who cleans Cherrywood Community Childcare as nominated by Goran Velinovski

“Shobha is a very good member of staff and is always reliable; she never lets me down. Communication is good, she is honest and is a hard worker.”

Jana Subashi who cleans Axon as nominated by Aga Skupien

“Jana is extremely helpful, kind and goes above and beyond to satisfy the customer.”

Every person mentioned will receive a letter and voucher as a thank you for their commitment to Rapid but there can only be one winner. We will let you know who that winner is in due course…

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Rapid’s Summer Fun Day and Employee of the Season

Posted by & filed under Company News.

Thankfully the fabulous weather continued for Rapid’s Summer Fun Day last Friday. We organise regular socials during the year, seeing them as a great opportunity to bring together all of our teams and this was no exception.

The barbecue was fired up to ensure we all had enough energy for the annual sports day.

Before embarking on the sports, we announced the winners of Rapid’s Employee of the Season award. Every season we ask all head office employees to anonymously vote for the colleague who they feel has gone over and above in their role during the previous few months.

We often find that more than one person wins, but this season it was a three-way tie!

Our first winner was Amy Moughal who has been working for Rapid since November 2017 as Accounts Assistant. This is what Amy’s colleagues had to say about her:

“She’s a lovely person to work with. Whenever I need help with anything she goes out of her way to do so with a smile as well.”

“Amy is hard working, very knowledgeable in her role & and is always happy to help others where she can.”

“Amy gets things done on time and is very efficient.”

Our second winner was Eddie-Lawrence Kalule who has worked in many roles over the 15 years he has been with Rapid. This is what his colleagues had to say about him:

“He is always supportive of his team no matter how stretched he is with other things. He always look after the clients/company and employees. He never wants to lose any customers/staff and always goes the extra mile. I personally call him MR RAPID!” 

“He’s had a difficult few months and he still motivates his team and helps where possible.”

“He is so good and he is always there when I need help.”

Last but not least was Bernice Anim who has worked as a Contracts Manager at Rapid for the last 11 years. This is what her colleagues said about her:

“She has really low termination rates and just gets on with it without any fuss.  Bernice is really popular in the office and every RM that has looked after her say that she is a pleasure to work with.”

“She is a clever lady, hard worker, positive person, great communicator and she helps everyone!”

“Bernice is a pleasure to work with. I always know that anything asked of her will get done and she runs her area proficiently and without fuss. She is always willing to go the extra mile for others and she genuinely cares.”

Then it was time for rounders…

I don’t think there has ever been so many competitive people on one field!

Good fun was definitely had by all.

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Why Choose Contract Cleaning?

Posted by & filed under Cleaning.

Like most service providers, we make contact with potential customers on a daily basis. We are often surprised to find that many companies have never considered outsourcing their cleaning requirements and may not be familiar with the advantages of contract cleaning.

In our experience there are 3 common reasons why companies are reluctant to take the leap from in-house to contract cleaning. You may have even given one or all of these responses yourself:

1. Contract cleaning is too expensive

If you currently have more than 2 hours of cleaning per day, then you might be surprised to find that contract cleaning could be a cost-effective solution for you. When comparing costs, it is worth considering that an in-house cleaner will require you to pay for sick cover, holiday cover, maternity leave and National Insurance. Over time, all of these add up. Outsourcing to a contract cleaning provider will also result in no more last-minute searches for a cover-cleaner or worse still, having to carry out the cleaning yourself when you have so many other jobs to get on with.

Taking away the hassle of managing staff and dealing with time-consuming personnel issues, has the knock on effect of reducing your costs and enabling your company to run more efficiently. Russell Thornton, from Tiffin Girls’ School, discovered the hidden benefits to outsourcing his cleaning needs:

“Since Rapid took on the role of overseeing the cleaning staff, I have had more time to prioritise other areas of my daily responsibilities and can rely on Rapid to ensure there is adequate staff at all times”.

A large cleaning contractor is likely to benefit from buying chemicals and equipment in bulk. Any good supplier will usually pass these savings onto their customers – another cost reduction for you.

2. I am happy with my cleaner and don’t want to change

If you currently employ a cleaner who is providing a good service, it is very simple for the cleaning company to take over as employer. At Rapid, we are always keen to hire cleaners who have been recommended to us and in certain circumstances, the current TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment) law will require us to do just that.  This law also states that the cleaning staff must be hired under the same pay and terms and conditions.

3. I don’t want to be tied into a contract

There are a lot of initial overheads involved in taking on a new site: equipment; training; advertising of staff; time etc. Of course there is likely to be a contract but this has its advantages to you as the customer – a promise of what the cleaning company will commit to providing, written down and signed by both parties.

In this industry, contracts tend to have a duration of between 1 and 3 years, sometimes longer; at Rapid, we work on a 12 month term. You should find that any decent cleaning provider will have an exit clause for poor performance, protecting you as the customer. At Rapid, we work on a 14 day improvement notice if you are unhappy with our performance.

Making a change to the familiar is always a daunting prospect but hopefully this has helped you to better understand the advantages to contract cleaning and the benefits that this service could make to your company.

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The Winner of Our Superstar Award is…

Posted by & filed under Cleaning Team, Rapid Superstar.

We had a special visitor to head office last week – the winner of our Superstar Award for quarter 1 of 2018. Maxwell Ampaw was nominated by his Contracts Manager, Bernice Anim and we received some very positive feedback from his places of work.

BJP Insurance

“Maxwell is polite, friendly and always gets the job done.”

The Pines School

“I think Maxwell is great – he is always cheerful and full of smiles which amazes me as our classrooms often look like wild beasts have rampaged through them in the day! Nothing is too much trouble for him and his good humour is a welcome tonic at the end of the day. He is also a great learner and completely deserves the Superstar award!”

What can we add to that? Congratulations Maxwell, you are clearly a huge asset to the Rapid team. We appreciate your hard-working attitude and loyalty to Rapid.

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