Merit in the community

Case Study:

Sainsbury's Distribution Centre in Basingstoke is 300,000 sq/ft and has played a crucial part in the success of Sainsbury's supermarkets over the past 50 years. The Basingstoke site employs over 1000 employees and plays a huge role in the local economy and community. The core activity of the site is the receiving, security and distribution of food products with an average value of £18-£20 million at anyone time. The site controls over 20,000 HGV deliveries and dispatches per annum.

Merit Hygiene Services were requested by Sainsbury's to review their current Contract Cleaning supplier to see where value could be added and to review KPI’s in line with new targets.

The first part of the process was to complete a series of in-depth meetings which aimed to establish the goals, objectives and timeline of the project.
Once these had been established Merit Hygiene Services could set about a GAP analysis. This involved reviewing all processes and procedures, contracts and documents. This was also the point where we met formerly with employees and managers to discuss their support in the project.

At this point Merit Hygiene Services were in a position to produce a comprehensive quote and Service Level Agreement, which was developed and signed beginning the implementation stage.

The first part of the implementation stage involved the dialog and subsequent transfer of employment contracts under the Transfer Of Undertaking Employee Protection 2006, (TUPE). The second part involved a complete overhaul of the cleaning functions; risk assessment, method statements, training files, COSHH assessments, supplier agreements, schedules of work, PPE management, Job Specs and personnel HR files.

The distribution centre itself operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. Volumes never stop, which means the cleaning function itself can never stop. Each day the site has over 30 cleaners working 8 hour shifts with over 780 tones of shrink wrap and cardboard being recycled per annum and 221 tones of general waste. Even a 30 minute stoppage of the cleaning function could result in the closure of the site on health and safety grounds, which in turn could cost millions of pounds.

The implementation stage of the project commenced in mid November, which was significant given the huge increases in volumes the site receives each December for the Christmas uplift. It was clear from day one that Merit Hygiene Services had their work cut out in order to transfer the cleaning function quickly, efficiently with health & safety at the forefront of the transfer. However, by having clear mile stones, approaching the project in a positive manner, having the support of Sainsbury's and the original Hygiene Operatives, the implementation was a success. Cleaning standards increased significantly, direct costs and liabilities have been reduced, waste being recycled has increased by over 70% and employees are now more motivated than ever.

The project did not end at this point, since then the Merit Hygiene Services team have developed the contract continually. The contract now includes the contract management of a team of full time recoup employees responsible for repairing, recording and recycling broken and damaged products. We have also successfully transferred the hygiene function of a satellite site into the contract, which improved the service and reduced costs. Although we are proud of what we have achieved for our client, we are equally proud of what we have achieved for the Hygiene Operatives. Providing safe working systems, job security and increases in pay have resulted in a professional, motivated team.