Interserve FM Archive

16 July 2020

Edinburgh Zoo praises Interserve for support during COVID-19 pandemic

Interserve has been praised as a roaring success for the work undertaken at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Edinburgh Zoo during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Interserve’s team of 20 colleagues carry out a range of services across the wildlife conservation charity’s 82-hectare park, including cleaning, park presentation, security, window cleaning and washroom services.

Headed by Regional Manager Jim Donnell and Regional Operations Manager Tracie Tonner, the Interserve team have been working with the zoo’s management team throughout lockdown to ensure the attraction was ready once guidelines permitted reopening

Bruce Ritchie, Head of Business Operations and Visitor Experience at Edinburgh Zoo, said: “It is great to have Interserve’s team back and they worked hard to get us ready. The support from Tracie and Jim has been invaluable over the last few months and shows the benefits of the partnership. It was very reassuring to have them available.”

First awarded the contract in early 2013, Interserve won another five-year deal in 2018.

David Purdy, Sector Director at Interserve’s Business & Industry business unit, said: “I am delighted Mr Ritchie is so appreciative of the work carried out by Interserve to support Edinburgh Zoo both during lockdown and as the major attraction re-opened to the public.

“It was vital that we supported Edinburgh Zoo to re-open as safely as possible and as quickly as possible once the Scottish Government’s guidelines permitted it to do so. Our expertise was instrumental in planning and delivering a robust solution consisting of introducing single-file systems, measures to support social distancing and the installation of hand sanitisers at appropriate places.

“Interserve is a market-leading business that has decades of experience in delivering the very best facilities management services to businesses across the UK.”

Notes to editors

Interserve Facilities Management was a part of the Interserve Group and was acquired by Mitie on 30 November 2020.