Interserve FM Archive

14 September 2020

Interserve finalist in COVID-19 Response Awards

Interserve’s Communities and International business unit is a finalist in the prestigious IWFM COVID-19 Response Award for mobilising a key NHS Nightingale contract in just 12-days.

The company’s nomination focuses on its Communities & International business unit which mobilised the total facilities management contract for the North West Nightingale NHS Hospital Trust (NWNHT) in Manchester.

The IWFM Awards recognise the best FM companies in the country. The COVID-19 Response Award winners are chosen by a public vote. Each of the 20 finalists has submitted a video hosted on the IWFM’s website and the public can choose their winners by clicking here. Interserve’s Communities & International business unit employs in the region of 5,500 people involved in the delivery of critical total facilities management services to 11 hospitals, half-a-dozen healthcare centres, the London Ambulance Service and the Scottish National Blood

Transfusion Service. The business unit, which also delivers best-in-class services to local authorities, 150 schools and police forces including West Yorkshire Police, has been at the forefront of the response to COVID-19.

Martin Burholt, Managing Director of Communities & International, was contacted by NHS senior managers to ask if Interserve could deliver the NWNHT contract. He was asked if Interserve could support the hospital so it could open in 12-days to receive six patients per hour.

The NWNHT is housed in the Manchester Central Complex, a 23,000 SQM event space which historically was a Victorian railway station. Interserve was commissioned to deliver all hard and soft FM which are vital to the safe running of a hospital and ensuring the best possible environment was maintained to enable patients to recover and staff to work in safe and hygienic conditions.

These services included: A full total FM solution of both hard and soft services Implement health and safety procedures & training Induct and train more than 400 members of Interserve staff and over 1000 site staff Prepare to deliver 1500 patient meals and 2000 staff meals per day On-board new supply chain partners Implement IT support systems

All services had to be built and designed from scratch. Interserve played a critical role in working alongside partners to design the facilities elements of the hospital together with the principal construction firm – Vinci – and the Armed Forces. Martin Burholt, Managing Director of Communities & International, said: “I am absolutely delighted the IWFM’s judges have chosen our nomination as one of their finalists in the COVID-19 Response Awards.

“I am immensely proud of the work our colleagues and partner agencies delivered to mobilise this vital FM contract in just 12-days, and I strongly encourage people to watch the video and to cast their vote. I believe this award perfectly illustrates the best that outsourcers can deliver.”

Notes to editors

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