Growing Places August 2022 by idverde UK

GROWINGGROWINGPLACESPLACES part of part of part of August 2022

#weareidverde

As most of you will know, Hannah and some of her team recently left for new pastures and opportunities, and with maternity leave, it has left the department a bit depleted. A change is as good as a rest as they say, so this has been a time to review all our communication output, to examine what is working hardest for us and the services we can best provide with a reduced team.

On page 4-5 we have set out our ideas and thoughts, ready for your feedback. We plan a bit of an overhaul of Growing Places which we hear is popular but getting a bit long. We’d like your opinion on this please, so there’s a short survey on page 8. We plan more targeted internal communication at the audience it relates to, rather than relying on all company posts.

Most critically we want to ensure we pick up all the good news in the regions ready for external sharing.

Communications and Marketing

Your comms and marketing team An update on changes in the business

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Deborah Kingsley

Above all, we are open to your ideas and feedback. We don’t have all the answers! Please do send us your feedback and in the meantime, watch out for a few changes ahead.

Since I joined idverde to help with growing the idverde brand and deepening our communication internally and externally, I have been struck by the sheer volume of good news stories, of pride in our projects and partnerships and of the huge passion to show case what we do.

~weareidverde

The current comms and marketing team

Tracy Achy – Creative Manager. Tracy has been with idverde for a number of years and is currently on maternity leave with her second child. She is responsible for all things branding, ensuring our creative assets and marketing materials are all on brand and looking their best. She returns at the end of this year.

Claire Thew – Playforce Marketing Manager. Claire is also on maternity leave after having her second son, leaving a bit of a gap within this national service. This is being managed by Debs and Oskar currently.

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Oskar Dabski – Marketing Assistant and probably your first point of contact via the marketing email. Oskar is responsible for all things social and has a good design head too. Mel Blakemore – Interim marketing help and a blast from the past! Some of you may remember Mel who was our marketing manager before Hannah Jepp. Mel has agreed to come back and support us on a part-time basis while we reorganise the team.

Deborah Kingsley – Interim comms and marketing support, looking at wider idverde branding growth across the UK and Group, as well as managing the current marketing/ comms requirements

Here’s

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Sharing with the show off: Case-studies, business profiles and all things to be proud of There are so many great things happening in our business. Almost too many to keep track of! As well as great examples for new business pitches, tenders and contract renewals, we need to tell the world about our services, our ideas and our partnerships which all contribute to our great work. Whether through social media, press articles, casestudies or project profile pieces, we want to capture and record our work. a summary of the sort of information the Marketing/Comms team need to put some great, valuable and eye-catching stories together.

Group: Communication Inside and Out #weareidverde Let’s

Your Feedback: We know we need to make the process to provide information easier. We are streamlining the case-study form, and developing a Whatsapp group so you can send photos more easily. The marketing@idverde.co.uk email is still monitored and you can share information here as usual. With a smaller team things may take a little bit longer but we will respond. 5Growing Places August 2022

#weareidverde

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Colleague support payments

Following the announcement of a colleague support payment of up to £500 this autumn, confirmation letters will be issued this month. A few months ago, we circulated a letter about giving a support payment to some colleagues to help with the rising cost of living. This support payment, of up to £500 or less depending on salary income, will be provided to those colleagues who have lower basic rates of pay and who would benefit the most from a little extra support at a tough time. Of course, rising costs are not just affecting us in our personal lives, they are having a significant impact on businesses too, so we have needed to look carefully at how we administer the scheme to ensure the funds available go to those who need it the most. We are also pleased to see that since we communicated the support, the Government has announced their Energy Discount Support Scheme which offers up to £400 discount towards the cost of energy bills which will help a bit further. Don’t forget, idverde also has plenty of supporting mechanisms to help anyone who may be struggling, from support loans to advice, so please do let your line manager or people@idverde.co.uk know if you need extra help. resources: https://www.salaryfinance.com/uk/https://perennial.org.uk/

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Useful

In October pay packets, colleagues who started working for idverde before December 31st 2021 and who earn the national minimum wage (equal to £9.50 per hour or less) will receive a support payment of £500 in their pay. Colleagues earning over national minimum wage and up to the real living wage (up to £9.90 per hour) will receive a support payment of £250. These amounts will be subject to tax and national insurance in the normal way. These amounts will be pro rata subject to the hours colleague work. It’s no secret that as a business we are looking carefully at our costs and ensuring our expenditure is budgeted and planned for. This payment for colleagues on lower incomes is an additional, albeit important, cost to our business which has been carefully accounted for and, while we can’t make it available to everyone, we are ensuring it reaches our colleagues who need it most during this difficult time. And we encourage any colleagues who may need some extra advice or support to speak to their Line Manager and/or HR business partner about other ways we can help. This is a tough period. Thank you for continuing to deliver an outstanding service across our business and let’s all keep checking in with each other as we move into the colder months.

How The Colleague Support Payment Will Work

supportConfidential when you need it most • Telephone counselling support • Personal legal advice and financial information • Health advice across a range of medical and wellbeing issues • Access to an online portal for further advice and support • Speak in confidence to a third party with anonymity assured • Available 24/7, 365 days a year To access the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) in confidence, call 0800 731 1669 (quote the name of your employer) or to access the online portal, visit www.colleaguesupport.co.uk (enter code 72968 as your username and password)

At its peak, Growing Places is as many as 26 pages! What started as a way to share photos and events, has grown and become a victim of its own success. Since this magazine is most often printed locally to be shared and read by everyone, we need to reduce the volume and make printing less intensive. We still want to share the best of what is going on locally, and to showcase our new starters, our employees of the month and those going the extra mile. We just need to tweak the way we do Yourthis. Feedback: While we work on design, we need your help to understand what you enjoy, and what isn’t as valued. If you have ideas, we’d love to hear them. Please take a few minutes to answer these questions and send your responses/ideas to marketing@idverde.co.uk: Growing Places is changing 1. How do you usually access Growing Places? 3. What news would you like to see more of? 4. Which version of Growing Places would you prefer? 2. Which features are you most interested in? We are idverde (Company and Group updates) Latest News (What news is idverde sharing externally) Team idverde (Updates on what regional teams have been up to) Coffee Stop (Interview with a colleague) FleetEye (News and important updates from Fleet) HR Updates (New starters, anniversaries) Colleague Recognition Month in pictures (images from our social media) Competition Email version idverde versionscaledA(international)Groupmonthly,down UK News A magazine style version, (yourRegionalquarterlynewsown) Regional news (other areas) Don’treadthis Notinteresting Moderatelyinteresting Interesting Loveit-moreplease Printed version 8 Growing Places August 2022

Over 125 parks in the idverde portfolio have been awarded the coveted Green Flag Award – recognising them as among the country’s best. After two years that have seen our parks and green spaces play a vital role for people through lockdowns as a place to relax, exercise and meet friends and family safely, the news that so many of our spaces have achieved the Green Flag Award is testament to the hard work and dedication of the teams across the UK that work in partnership with our clients to provide essential, diverse and much-needed green spaces for local communities.

See the full list of awards here

idverde’s awards come from right across the country, including six London boroughs, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Regent’s Park and spaces in Shropshire, Rother, Somerset and East Staffordshire.

dedicated to sustainable nature-based solutions that promote biodiversity and give people health local spaces that are a pleasure to use.”

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“These sites are vital green spaces for the community in each area. This award is testament to all the hard work of staff and volunteers, who do so much to ensure that it maintains the high standards demanded by the Green Flag Award.”

The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of green spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.

Green Flag Awards announced

Commenting on the news that so many idverde parks have met the Green Flag Award standard, Keep Britain Tidy’s Accreditation Manager Paul Todd said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved in making all these outdoor spaces worthy of a Green Flag Award.”

Latest news

“We are celebrating the estate’s 50th year with a big community event on September 3 and this excellent revamp has brightened up the whole area.”

“Upgrading the environment with planters and flower beds is one of the steps we are taking to help improve the general area and the mental health of local people,” he said.

idverde NI team up with West Winds Development Association to upgrade community garden

Billy Sproule, the West Winds Development Association’s chairman, said that the residents were delighted with the results.

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Please join us in welcoming Nigel to idverde; his breadth of experience and knowledge of how our industry works from apprenticeship level to a leadership position is something that will be of great value to Team idverde.

On a personal level, Nigel is based in Hemel Hempstead and is married with 5 boys. He is a big football fan and describes his love of golf as ‘almost psychotic,’ so if you are a keen golfer, maybe Nigel is someone to chat with!

Nigel joined the industry as an apprentice for a local authority and over 30 years, he gained experience in services including horticulture, grounds maintenance and landscape construction, coming to us from a role as Head of Operations for a landscape construction Nigelcompany.has worked with clients across numerous market sectors including the Ministry of Defence, housing associations, local authorities, civil aviation, utility infrastructure, blue chip companies and pharmaceuticals industry.

Nigel has joined our London and South East team, bringing with him over 30 years of experience in the green services industry.

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Nigel Payne joins us as Managing Director for London and South East This month, we welcome Nigel Payne to Team idverde as one of our managing directors.

Nigel says: “What excites me about idverde is the future plan for the business, our place in the industry as the leading green solutions supplier, the diverse client base and the strength of the team.”

spaces, together. We welcomed the many transferring staff with team building sessions, in addition to important training sessions covering idverde ways of working, important processes and vital safety training. We look forward to now getting going on these contracts and seeing what a difference we can make through our new, more sustainable, ways of working.”

Team idverde has kicked off on the new contracts awarded to us by The Royal Parks. This month we welcome transferring staff from Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Bushy Park, St James’s Park, The Green Park, Greenwich Park and Brompton Cemetery to Team idverde, wishing them the best of success in their future careers with us. Contract mobilisation has seen a significant fleet of new equipment - branded in the distinctive TRP colours - delivered to sites, ready for use by our new park teams. New equipment has been carefully selected by our fleet team to meet the agreed targets of 50% reduction in vehicle CO2 and 80% in small plant CO2.

Transferring staff met at welcome meetings, where our management team has focussed on helping everyone to feel settled within the team during this period of Lucychange.Fisher,

Operations Director for The Royal Parks, said: “This has been a wonderful opportunity for us to bring 7 of 8 Royal Parks’ teams of skilled parks professionals together under the same company umbrella, creating opportunities for us all to learn from each other and improve these prestigious green New contract with The Royal Parks kicks off

In case you’re wondering - TRP Head Gardener uniform permits the wearing of shorts!

Team idverde

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Got a story worth sharing? We’d like to share more employee success stories within the business. If you have something you’d like to share, please email marketing@idverde.co.uk and we will feature it in next month’s issue! Colleague Recognition Scheme - nominate someone today https://bit.ly/idverderecognitionscheme Let’s celebrate success, together 15Growing Places August 2022

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FleetEye Welcome to August’s edition of ‘Fleeteye’ a bite size version of the usual monthly round up of assets and white fleet activities over the past month with the objective of keeping you up to date on news affecting the industry and its impact to our daily working lives. Please print this off and pin to your noticeboards and create a community for this circular. This is not for the round filing cabinet! Foreword from Mike Jones, Fleet Manager Fleet Management Support Team Angus Lindsay | Group Head of Asset + Fleet Management Angus.lindsay@idverde.co.uk Debbie Walker | Fleet Support Co ordinator Debbie.walker@idverde.co.uk Tim Critchley | Engineering Support Manager Timothy.critchley@idverde.co.uk David Ramsay | Asset Manager David.ramsay@idverde.co.uk Simon Smith | Logistics Planner Simon.smith@idverde.co.uk Mike Jones | Vehicle Fleet Manager Michael.jones@idverde.co.uk Fleet team: fleet@idverde.co.uk

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Justmode.tofocus things a bit further as to the dangers of texting whilst driving Durham Constabulary have released a hard hitting documentary demonstrating the dangers of using a mobile phone whilst driving, focussed specifically around a collision on the A1(M) Use of mobile phone whilst driving

I’m sure you’re all aware of the law but as we travel the country we still see people from all walks of life and in charge of a variety of different vehicles from tractors to HGVs using mobile phones whilst driving, just to remind everyone of the law as it stands –It is illegal to hold and use a phone, SatNav, tablet or any device that can send or receive data whilst driving. This means you must not use a device in your hand for any reason whether online or offline. For example, you must not text, make calls, take photos/videos, or browse the web. The law still applies to you if you are; Stopped at traffic lights Queuing in traffic Supervising a learner driver Driving a car that turns off the engine when you stop moving Holding and using a device that’s offline or in flight

ARI / Holman Contact reminder A reminder on the below as we’re experiencing areas within the business unsure what number to call when contacting ARI/Holman for all things vehicle related. Please ensure only this phone number is used: 03440903011 The 0844 number has now been discontinued and will not be in service with immediate effect. If you require any additional ‘in cab stickers’ with this number on or key fobs email fleet@idverde.co.uk and we’ll arrange to get some sent out to you. ARI / Holman 0344 0903011 Option list 1 – Accident 2 – Breakdown 3 – Book a Service, MOT or Inspection 4 – Report a Mechanical Defect 5 – Tyres 6 – Glass last July. The devastating consequences of this incident included 3 people killed, multiple injuries including to a pregnant woman, a driver jailed for over 8 years and disqualified for more than 14 years and the wideranging levels of impact upon those who witnessed the incident, emergency services personnel and the friends and family of all involved. Although difficult to watch in places, we’d recommend taking a few minutes to view it so that there is a second thought when potentially reaching for the phone, be it in a HGV, car or Informationvan. on the incident and mobilethatsobiggestAlonghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UztJcUjGXbYDurhampolice-film.aspxcollision-speaks-out-from-prison-cell-in-hard-hitting-Articles/2022/July/Lorry-driver-who-caused-fatal-A1M-https://www.durham.police.uk/News/News-documentary;Police’sYoutubechannelandthevideo;withnotwearingseatbeltsthisisoneofthereasonsfordriversbeingstoppedbythePolice,pleaseensurethatwhenyouaredrivinganyvehicleyouabidebythelawandneveruseahandheldphonewhilstdrivingandalwayswearyour seatbelt, remember it’s your licence and you who will get the points and the fine. 17Growing Places August 2022

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August Picturesin

idverde helps with planting vegetables in a community garden for Habinteg Housing Queens Park in Loughborough announces its latest Green Flag Awrd

The Devon traffic management team helps the fire service with a road closure at Hope Cove to tackle an ongoing fire

Plantscape work featured in Malton in Bloom

Brand colour top-of-the-range traffic lights delivered to Devon traffic management team Victoria Park Bowling greens in top condition for the Commonwealth Games New vehicles in The Royal Parks’ colours Dumbarton team helps deliver Responsi’ball volunteering day Midlands Creations team project in progress 19Growing Places August 2022

A Warm Welcome We would like to welcome those of you who started with idverde in August ...New Starters! We have had... 20 Growing Places August 2022

idverde Anniversaries Happy anniversary to those of you celebrating milestones this month!

Julie Latham, James, Critchley

Timothy

Keith Lawrence

Waldron

Evans, Richard Turner, Adam Morgan, Lee Atkins, Vernald John, Daniel Williamson, Graham Davidson, Dennis Gall, Ben Pryke, Kieran Jenks, Edward Warmington, Jeffrey

Terence Gardner

Nathan Casemore, Kirkwood,

Robert Anderson, Patrick

Kofi

Mark

ObengAsiedu 45 21Growing Places August 2022

Kate Hudson, Amanda Morton, Mark Tatum

Helen

The Colleague Recognition Scheme rewards the contributions our colleagues make to go the extra mile to ensure the success of our business and demonstrating our values.

Steve’s management team has received lots of compliments from the client and local Councillors about the helpfulness and professionalism displayed by Steve. Well done Steve. Steven has been singled out for praise by the client at Livv Housing Group for his helpfulness and hard work - the client said: “I’d like to pass my thanks and gratitude on to Ste for the amount of help and work he done over the last couple of weeks, he handled a couple of difficult situations with a few of our tenants and he attended to all urgent inspections within an hour and rang me straight after with any update so I could then pass that on to management and keep them up to date. Hes a real asset to your business and I have noticed a massive improvement in the work completed and inspection turn around since he’s joined..” Well done Steven.

Helene responded quickly, decisively and safely when a fire broke out on agricultural land next to her depot. Ensuring no danger to herself or anyone else, Helene managed to move a number of vehicles to safety and assist the farmer in keeping the fire from spreading further until the emergency services arrived on scene. Great work Helene.

Housebuilder

Helene Weedon Thames Valley Support Services

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If you would like to nominate a colleague, please go to https://bit.ly/idverderecognitionscheme.

Colleague Recognition Scheme

Jo and Deborah have been recognised for their hard work in supporting the mobilisation of the new Royal Parks contracts. Well done Jo and Deborah. No availablephoto

Shaun has played an integral role improving the performance of his team, enabling them to hit perfect scores on their KPIs after struggling in some areas. Shaun’s skill and ability to collaborate with GMOs, management and the client has earned him the respect of his colleagues and raised staff morale. Shaun’s nominator states that “He is a great leader with focus on what is important, handles his team and the client with the utmost respect. He is always first on site and the last to leave and does it all with a positive ‘’can do’’ attitude.” Well done Shaun. South West & The Midlands

Jo Pryor and Deborah Hollinshead Coventry

Shaun Gallagher Culham

Each month one colleague from each region will be selected as “Colleague of the Month” and receive a thank you letter and gift voucher. We are delighted to announce this month’s winners: London & the South East Steve Morgan Kensington and Chelsea Scotland and North Steven Green Merseyside Steve is a Park Keeper in Holland park and recently went the extra mile to help the client with events for international yoga day. Steve and colleague Musse (who has since left idverde but was also praised) went above and beyond their normal duties to help, which included staying beyond their shift finish time in the evening to make sure everything was completed ready for the following day.

For up to date vacancies, visit iTrent Self Service each week. Team idverde Are you ready to make your next move internally or maybe you know someone looking to change career that would be a great fit for Team idverde? Check out our latest vacancies below! GREEN SPACE OPERATIVE Eastbourne RAF0005059 GREEN SPACE OPERATIVE Rochester RAF0005352 GREEN SPACE OPERATIVE Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park RAF0005359 TEAM LEADER Yorkshire East Ridings RAF0005219 TEAM LEADER Westbury RAF0005362 GREEN SPACE OPERATIVE Moat Homes RAF0005369 ARBORIST Solihull RAF0004981 GREEN SPACE OPERATIVE East Staffs RAF0005243 CEMETERY OPERATIVE East Staffs RAF0004736 CEMETERY OPERATIVE Regents Park RAF0005419 TEAM LEADER Wickford RAF0005405 TEAM LEADER Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park RAF0005286 HGV DRIVER Shropshire RAF0005288 TEAM LEADER Bromley - Kelsey Park RAF005360 PLANTSCAPE OPERATIVE Derby RAF0005390 TEAM LEADER Hammersmith & Fulham RAF0005398 ARBORIST Stafford RAF0005441 GREEN SPACE OPERATIVE Wickford RAF0005406 23Growing Places August 2022

Send a photo of you and your cakes to marketing@idverde.co.uk, to be in with a chance of being crowned idverde’s baker of 2022 and win a £25 Love2Shop voucher. The most impressive looking cake will take top spot and win the prize. All proceeds from the day will be donated to Macmillan Cancer Support, so please bring along some money to donate.

July’s competition winner - Congratulations to Carrie Euler from the Ballyclare office, who is the winner of July’s wordsearch competition! We had many entries last month and the winner was chosen using a prize generator - well done to all who sent in their completed entry.

idverde oﬃces across the UK will be hosting this year’s cake & coffee morning as part of Macmillan’s World’s Biggest Coffee Morning.

If you forgot your money in the oﬃce or couldn’t make it along to one of our events, please use this QR code to make a donation online.

CoffeeMacmillanMorning

Competition Time!

Date: Friday 30th September

Location: Local oﬃce or depot

This month’s competition involves taking part in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, to which you are all invited! Details in the poster below, which will be sent to all depots to display. Each office should receive a fundraising kit by post soon, if you haven’t got one please email marketing@idverde.co.uk

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Select a fundraising champion to decorate the oﬃce, take photos and count up the proceeds at the end of the day.