COVID TAUGHT US TO BE AGILE, CLEANER AND GREENER

TheSasse Group with its 6500 employees has been providing facility management services for 45 years, including in the UK, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria and Singapore. During the COVID pandemic, the business developed concepts to raise hygiene and cleaning standards to a whole new level.

The COVID pandemic has forced us to think again: how do we make facilities served by our organisation even cleaner, safer and more sustainable? Because that is exactly what our customers have been demanding since the pandemic, and quite rightly so, an even higher standard of hygiene and cleanliness.

One of our answers is called 4 Level Hygiene Concept. We developed this new programme during the pandemic and implemented it at across our portfolio. The success proves us right; our customers were awarded the Skytrax 4 Star Rating for COVID 19 safety, among others. In turn, some other aviation customers have received the first certification of its kind in the UK as part of the Airport Council International (ACI) Airport Health Accreditation program as a result.

While businesses are working on its returning strategies, we see it as our duty to support our customers in this process and to sustainably increase hygiene and safety at the respective properties. At Sasse, we do this not only with highly motivated employees, but also with state-of-the-art technology and digital solutions.

For example, the Sasse Group was the first company to introduce robotics in the UK. In the meantime, we have implemented our autonomous cleaning concept at all airports served by our company. This step is also a response to the recruitment crisis triggered by the pandemic and Brexit. A cleaning robot cannot fully replace good sta , of course, but it can help compensate for sta shortages. In addition, with the help of autonomous cleaning equipment, we could increase hygiene standards and contribute to the passenger experience.

At Sasse, we have always worked with state-ofthe-art technology. We have digitised our entire workflow with a bespoke developed CAFM system and an app for our employees and customers. Thanks to these new technologies, we were not only able to reduce expensive administration costs, but we were also able to create more transparency for our customers and ensure an almost exclusively data-oriented service delivery.

The next digitisation project is already on the horizon. In 2023, as part of our “On Demand” strategy, we want to convert all public washroom facilities in the airports we serve in the UK to SMART Washrooms. This means sensors in all consumable dispensers, people counters and feedback systems for passengers, among other things. Further digitisation and on demand projects are already in the pipeline and will follow. The way we managed and serviced our contracts until the COVID pandemic began is a thing of the past. We are very aware that we must be even more agile and innovative to meet the demands of our customers in the future.

CSR is always at the centre of all these initiatives and based on the CSR strategy developed by the Group in 2020. In addition, we want to support our customers in their CSR strategies and thus make our contribution. Our new hygiene concepts, robotics technologies, and digitalisation initiatives o er the first sustainable solutions in this regard. Our decision to become a Real Living Wage Employer during the pandemic was also an important component of our CSR strategy.

No question, COVID was also very challenging for us, but there is also something positive to report: We have grown even closer with many of our customers during the pandemic. We have managed to build even more mutual understanding and trust over the past two years. Together, we have found a way out of the crisis and are now shaping the future. And this is based on a common understanding which is characterised by agility and flexibility.

At the heart of all our e orts is always safety and the highest standards of hygiene for the facilities we service. To achieve this, we rely on new technologies, innovative cleaning concepts and our experience from 45 years’ of facility management. At Sasse, we want to ensure that our clients premises not only remain clean - but become even safer, greener and more sustainable.