Campus Matters The newsletter for Commercial Services February 2017
Welcome from Gillian Arnold Higher education is changing. We can either see this as a difficult time or as an exciting opportunity. I see it as an exciting opportunity. Having been at Royal Holloway for just a couple of months I can see what a fantastic place it is, at which to work and study and how committed everybody is to developing a truly unique student experience. Royal Holloway is embarking on an ambitious plan of growth and development and that gives us the opportunity to really look at what services we offer and grow and develop in new ways. To do this, we need to listen to our customers and understand what is important to them. I was delighted to see the scores for Hospitality Assured as we are clearly in a fantastic place to move forward. You can read more about the assessors’ feedback on page 4.
have not done, from peeling potatoes in a chip shop, chambermaiding and dressing salmon in a field, to being hall manger, catering manager or receptionist. While I am happy to admit I was not the best at all these jobs, I do understand the stresses and pressures that they bring and know that those who do these roles have a wealth of expertise and experience. I love working with people who are passionate about what they do, in an organisation that makes a real difference. Education is important and changes lives; we are all part of that change and we should be proud of that. Gillian
In the last couple of months I have had the pleasure of meeting with many of you. I would like to thank you for making me feel welcome and for all the help and support you have provided. For those I have not yet met, I will continue to try and get round all areas and meet you all in due course. If you have any ideas or suggestions, then please feel free to stop me if you see me or to contact me directly. For those I have not met, my career started in a range of hotels and hospitality businesses, but I have been in higher education for the last 25 years. There are not many jobs in hospitality I
Gillian Almond, Commercial Services Director
The new Commercial Services directorate December saw the arrival of Gillian Almond, our new Commercial Services Director and with it, the re-organisation of what was the Campus Services Directorate to form a new organisation. The new Commercial Services directorate is made up of the following areas of service:
Residential Services, covering customer services, house-keeping, environmental services and post and parcel services, headed by Jonathan Main;
Conferences & Catering (including internal and conference marketing), headed by Mike Hoare.
The non-commercial areas of the Campus Services Premises sections (ie non-residential cleaning services, College porters, Bedford Square operations, the College bus service, waste management and security/parking) now report in to the Estates Directorate.
Wedding open day Do you know anyone who is looking for a venue for their wedding? The Conference and Catering team are offering members of the public the opportunity to visit our impressive function spaces on Sunday 26th February from 10am until 3pm. Guests will be able to visit the Picture Gallery, Dining Hall and quadrangles and members of the team will be on hand to answer any questions. Some of our preferred wedding suppliers will also be showcasing their products, including wedding cakes, photography, flowers, bridal gowns and more. Please contact us to book an appointment time.
Shortlisted in UK Weddings Awards Royal Holloway has been shortlisted for a UK Weddings Award in the “Best Historic Venue” category for the second year running. Congratulations to the Conference office on this fantastic achievement.
Playing host to Gareth Malone’s “The Choir” At the end of November, Gareth Malone's The Choir: Best in Britain reached the semi-final stage, with Royal Holloway providing the back drop to the contest to find Britain's most entertaining and undiscovered amateur choir.
flexible seminar rooms, with additional rehearsals taking place in the chapel. The choirs all stayed in Founder’s and enjoyed their meals in the dining hall. The week culminated in the choirs performing on stage in the Windsor Building in front of a 400 strong live audience, each vying for a spot in the live final. "It's an amazingly imposing building to come into," said Gareth Malone about Founder's. "It's the kind of place that makes you think, 'I need to do a really good job!’”
Founder's has proved to be a popular location in the production of a range of TV shows and films over the years, including Downton Abbey, Basic Instinct 2, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Celebrity The choirs spent a week on campus, honing their Masterchef, Antiques Roadshow and Midsomer singing skills in their own dedicated rehearsal Murders. space in one of The Windsor Building’s many
A taste of America Staff and students were treated to a range of traditional Thanksgiving fare at a The Hub Thanksgiving Street Food Festival in November.
Customers were given the choice of all of the traditional Thanksgiving food in a wrap, baguette or bowl. Alternatively there was the ever popular American burger bar, a choice of flautas and a selection of homemade all American desserts to finish.
Catering Outlets Manager Rebecca Nurse said, “It was fantastic to see such a huge turnout for our inaugural Thanksgiving Street Food event. Seating was at such a premium that students were even sitting on the terrace outside! There is always a huge amount of effort that goes into the planning and execution of our Street Food Festivals, so well done to everyone who was involved in making the event such a success.”
Accidents up-date
Last term, Campus Services was responsible for reporting the greatest number of accidents in the College due to excellent reporting practices. Congratulations to our newly trained “ Emergency Response at Work” First Aiders who are: Eva Knowlden, Heike Gilmour, Katarzyna Strudwick, Joanne Sayer, Elizabeth Plant, John Brannan, Dan Wilson and Kunanthan Arumaiyagam.
Hospitality Assured - results revealed In November last year we welcomed back the Assessors from Hospitality Assured to come and reassess our business. Hospitality Assured is the standard for service and business excellence, created by the Institute of Hospitality, specifically for customer facing businesses. The process encourages businesses to develop best practice by viewing their own operation from a customer perspective to see where improvements can be made to benefit the The Assessors commended us on having “a very business. strong team working culture where everyone After two days of rigorous interviews with helps others to achieve the aims and objectives of over 25 representatives from across the depart- the department.” They identified that some of ment, we were awarded a score of 76.8% which our strengths, namely delivery of customer compares to the 75.9% we gained at our previous service, flexibility of staffing and comprehensive assessment in 2015. training programmes, all contribute to the Graded across 9 “steps”, our overall scores are set achievement of a great student experience. out below: The Steps
Our score
1
Customer Research
77.5%
2
Customer Service Promise
74.2%
3
Business Planning
75.6%
4
Operational Planning and Standards of Performance
76.2%
5
Resources
80%
6
Training & Development
78.7%
7
Service Delivery
75.8%
8
Service Recovery
76.7%
9
Customer Satisfaction Improvement
78.3%
As well as highlighting what we are doing well, a number of opportunities for improvement were identified, in particular relating to the customer feedback processes, measurement opportunities and inconsistencies in service delivery.
Share your favourite recipe Share your favourite home cooked recipes and our outlets could be making them for thousands of students and staff to enjoy. Just email catering@royalholloway.ac.uk your most treasured home cooked starter, main course, dessert or drink to be in with a chance of having it cooked in one of our outlets.