We have a bumper edition of the Department Profile this week, as we take a dive into all things Facilities related. With such a wide remit over six Allied locations, plus the Glasgow Tigers Speedway Stadium, the Facilities team has its hands full – fortunately it has plenty of hands to go around! We managed to catch Facilities Manager Bobby McConville at a rare quiet moment to find out more about the team that keeps Allied ticking.
Explain what your department does and its role in the company.
The Facilities Team keep the Allied estate clean, secure, safe, and legally compliant, and we’re responsible for all locations i.e. Glasgow, Rugby, Coventry, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Wigan plus all associated land and buildings owned by the Allied group including those rented to tenants. The team is also responsible for maintaining the Glasgow Tigers Speedway Stadium.
Who are the key team members?
So, we have a pretty big team split across Security, Cleaning, Facilities and Administration.
Security Staff
We have a core team of six Security staff who cover the sites 24/7, 365 days a year. They are:
- Jim, who has 17 years Allied service
- Tony, who has 13 years Allied service
- Bahram is the new kid on the block with one year of Allied service
- Frank has seven years Allied service
- Innes has three years Allied service
- John has 15 years Allied service
Cleaning Staff
The Cleaning team consists of four staff:
- Liz joined us most recently with one year Allied service
- Mechelle has five years Allied service
- Robert has two years Allied service
- Raymond also has two years Allied service
Facilities & Administration
This team has 11 staff:
- Bobby is the Facilities Manager with three years Allied service
George, or Geo, is our Joiner with 10 years Allied service- Terry is a Builder with 10 years Allied service
- Des is a Ramp / Mechanical Engineer with two years Allied service
- Daniel is our Landscaper two years Allied service
- James is a Facilities Assistant with one years Allied service
- Paul is a multi-skilled Engineer with eight years Allied service
- Kris is our Plumber and has seven years Allied service
- Peter, our Waste Operative, has one years Allied service
- Jack works on our Helpdesk with three years Allied service.
- Donna is the Administrator Manager with nine years Allied service
Prior to Allied most of the team were always involved in Facilities and many have worked at prestigious locations throughout the UK. They’re an interesting bunch when you get to know them. A few fun facts about them would be that among them we have:
A qualified chef, a musician who has played the Barrowlands, a landowner in Italy, a fanatical Speedway fan, a fanatical St Mirren fan, an ex-competitive gymnast, a civil engineer, a frequent visitor to China, and a winner of a radio competition for an all expenses paid trip to Las Vegas.
Describe your department’s typical tasks or projects each day.
Administration Team
They will go through the Helpdesk and manage any new and outstanding tickets.
On average over 40 tickets are logged daily and they need to be prioritised. Since Helpdesk was introduced some 13,000 tickets have been logged and completed across the Allied estate. Admin also manage the financial spend across the estate ensuring financial protocols and signs-offs are adhered to robustly.
Vendor and contract management are also key parts of Administration, which involves choosing external vendors for relevant services. This involves vendor selection, negotiation of contracts, and managing set service level agreements to ensure services are delivered on time and within budget.
Facilities Team
There is no typical day in the Facilities team, however a brief outline would be the first shift at 7AM sees staff arrive and begin their tasks either through Helpdesk or a continuation of tasks or time critical projects. Second shift arrives at 8AM and very much like the earlier shift they pick up or continue tasks.
Tasks can range from blocked toilets, collecting scrap, attending a ramp breakdown, redecoration of offices, room layout change, leaking roofs, drain cleaning works right through to demolition and building works. Some of those involve dealings with local authorities to ensure we are aware of underground utilities, boundaries and adherence to building and planning regulations.
Waste and Cleaning
Significant waste is produced, particularly on the Glasgow site and from numerous streams. This is a challenging area as not only does waste legislation change regularly, but costs can also increase quite dramatically depending on the type of waste, so it is important that staff are on this waste journey together and is an area which needs greater focus and effort from us all.
Early morning sees the waste scrap collected around site and the cleaning team (who have been in since 5AM) begin to clean the site prior to the arrival of staff. As you can imagine, at times it’s not the most glamorous of roles, and the small cleaning team of only four staff do an excellent job day-in-day-out.
Security
Security is 24/7 so they are either beginning or ending their shift at 7AM and monitor over 180 cameras across the estate. The Lomond Street Gatehouse alone can see over 1,000 vehicle movements daily between test drives, staff, deliveries, and visitors. When the majority of staff are asleep Allied Security are out patrolling, monitoring, and ensuring the safety of our estate.
Tell us about some recent successes, creative solutions, or impactful projects.
Recently it was that time of year where Electrical, Legionella, Asbestos, Gas and EPC certification was to be renewed which is vast task. It involves numerous partners and specialists and incurs a significant six figure cost to the company, with each location being visited, inspected and tested, and a register compiled of work which is required to comply with the ever changing compliance landscape.
Also, as we have tenants on site, we need to ensure their locations are being managed within contractual agreements. As an initiative-taking landlord we look to manage those properties and ensure those premises are treated as we would our own.
Installation of site high voltage was a recent major project and involved specialist partners and hundreds of man hours. It’s now completed, future proofing critical areas of our powered infrastructure for many years to come.
An upcoming project, which is exciting, is the installation of Solar EV panels on the Bodyshop roof and our tenanted Blood Bank roof. This project will generate not only a large amount of green power for us, but environmentally it is the right thing to do.
We have also recently started to excavate a new Allied location which will be a great addition to the Allied family. We’ve already installed around 300 meters of fencing and have begun ground clearing works of 16 acres. The land has been vacant for years and locals have told us how great it is to see Allied continue to invest and breathe life into the local community.
What challenges does the department face and how do you overcome them?
Managing expectations can be challenging. Facilities has to prioritise work, as mentioned above. We have a small, dedicated, professional team looking after all locations and they’re juggling many projects and tasks that not everyone sees. Facilities however would like to highlight the fantastic support they receive day-in and day-out from likes of John Forbes, Stephen Dick, Ronnie Stewart, Tracy Ashton and Simon Guilliatt who manage Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Wigan, Rugby, and Coventry superbly well.
There are other staff too and they know who they are so thank you to all of you.
Technology will eventually change facilities management. We’ll will look to use smart tech, software, and data to improve efficiency through actions such as monitoring energy use, maintaining equipment and controlling building systems remotely. Future wise the IoT (Internet of Things) for real-time monitoring and AI for improved maintenance and efficiency means facilities staff need to stay current with trends and adapt their strategies.
How does your work tie into the bigger picture at Allied?
We are always under pressure, stressed and think the be-all-and-end-all is work, but nothing is more important than going home safe to our family and friends. Facilities helps towards this by doing their best to ensure we all work in a clean, safe and secure working environment.
