It was back to reality for Dave and Jan this week after their success at the 2011 Property Management Awards hosted by News on the Block at Lords County Cricket Ground.  “We had a great night” beamed Dave, “we knew we’d made the shortlist for the award and we were pleased about that, but to win – well that just confirmed we’re on the top of our game.” 

After being thoroughly scrutinized by the panel of independent judges, they were particularly impressed with our committment to customer satisfaction – this is what the judges had to say:

“Envirocare Maintenance Solutions impressed the judges with their clearly written contracts, stakeholder liaison, customer feedback mechanisms, ability to take on challenging sites and participation in community activities.  In addition, a great set of nominations found favour with the judges – complimenting Envirocare for making “regular, thorough site inspection visits”, for “going above and beyond what residents expect”, and for taking “the quality of their work very seriously”.

Dave and Jan collecting the Contractor of the Year Award

Dave and Phil pose for a picture

Two more members of that team are Mariusz Kosiak & Konrad Zacharczyk…

Mariusz, Team Supervisor & Konrad, Grounds Maintenance Operative

Up First we have Mariusz…

1.  What was your 1^st ever job and how old were you?

 Aged 12.  Picking fruit & vegetables for a local farmer.  I remember it being really hard work and a really long day!  I started early in the morning until late at night all summer!

2.  What is your earliest memory and how old were you?

 Aged 6.  My Dad took me to a forest near to where we lived and taught me how to pick mushrooms properly.  Nobody wanted to try my collection! lol!

3.  What is your favourite CD at the moment?

 In search of sunrise by Tiesto

4.  Name your favourite 3 course meal…

Starter – Prawns cooked in butter and Chilli

Main –  Chicken Livers, onion, mashed potatoes and grated beetroots

Dessert – Mole’s Mound Cake

5.  What is your superstar name? (The name of your first ever pet and your mothers surname)

 Grey Stankiewicz

6.  Either, what would you change in the past, or what would you make happen in the future

 Change in the past…I would never have started smoking cigarettes!

Make happen in the future…Take my wife on a trip around the world

Next up is Konrad…

1.  What was your 1^st ever job and how old were you?

 Aged 14.  Wroking on my Grandfathers farm

2.  What is your earliest memory and how old were you?

 Aged 7.  My parents bought me a big truck that I could sit on.  I remember one day I was pushing my truck in front of me and I hadn’t seen a parked car -  pushed my truck into the car, fell over – I still have the scar on my head now!

3.  What is your favourite CD at the moment?

The sound of Dubstep 2 

4.  Name your favourite 3 course meal…

Starter – Cheese & Ham toastie

Main – Spaghetti

Dessert – Rice Pudding

5.  What is your superstar name? (The name of your first ever pet and your mothers surname)

 Bej Dziudosz

Thank you for your time guys…

Who would believe it’s a full year since our initial ISO and OHSAS assessment?  12 months have passed since the Envirocare team proudly received the ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 accreditation, acknowledging the establishment of our integrated management system for quality, environmental considerations and health and safety. 

Last week Steve Scott from ACS Registrars revisited Envirocare for the annual surveillance, the three day audit also included a visit to our Milton Keynes branch from Craig Prince, ACS’ Midlands auditor.  As promised the report was promptly completed by Steve and we’re pleased to say it was once again very positive. 

Improvements and developments made during the course of 2011 were highlighted in the report along with suggestions for the coming year.  “We’ve made the system work for us’  commented Angie our Health and Safety Coordinator “the principles of the standards are evident in our policies, procedures and practices, everyone here is committed to continuous improvement and efficient ways of working, we were confident our surveillance visit report would reflect that”.

 If you want to know more about the standards visit www.iso.org

Well I hope everyone is getting ready for the weather change?

We have gotten away with it for long enough I think – it hasn’t been too bad so far but everyone thinks a-change-is-a-coming!

Hope you have your grit bins ready?

Now for our usual weekly spot which you should know by now is something a little light hearted…

Its time to “Get to know” David Yates, Managing Director and Phil Harrington, Director a bit better….

David Yates & Phil Harrington (Yes, they always dress like this!)

1.  What was your 1^st ever job and how old were you?

 Labourer on a farm aged 14 years,  I remember my first day at work they put me on a tractor - the 1st time I had ever been on one, to cut hayand drove straight into the hedgerow!  Basically, I was too small to reach the pedals properly! 

2.  What is your earliest memory and how old were you?

Playfighting with my brother aged 5 years.  He hit me and I fell backwards over a beanbag and split my head on the wardrobe!

3.  What is your favourite CD at the moment?

Don’t really have or listen to CDs – I just listen to local radio

4.  Name your favourite 3 course meal…

Starter – Anti pasta

Main – Fillet Steak Rare

Dessert – Cheese & Pate platter with a bottle of bolly!

5.  What is your superstar name? (The name of your first ever pet and your mothers surname)

Pirate Harrison

6.  Either, what would you change in the past, or what would you make happen in the future?

In the past, I would have met my wife earlier in my life

and in the future, I would spend much more time with my family

…Thanks Dave, and now its time for the same questions to Phil…

1.  What was your 1^st ever job and how old were you?

Not sure the exact age but I used to mow my Nans grass for half a crown!

2.  What is your earliest memory and how old were you?

Again, not sure of exact age but I was really young.  I remember being bored sat in my pram, parked up outside on a really sunny afternoon

3.  What is your favourite CD at the moment?

Well, the CD that is playing in my car right now is “Italian in 3 months”.  We are now in month 13!

4.  Name your favourite 3 course meal…

Starter – Asparagus wrapped in home cured ham

Main – Home reared belly pork, slow cooked for over 14 hours with roast potatoes and green vegetables.

Dessert – Third course is an irrelavance as I would still be munching on the crackling!

5.  What is your superstar name? (The name of your first ever pet and your mothers surname)

Bingo McKenna

6.  Either, what would you change in the past, or what would you make happen in the future?

If  I could go back and change the past I would change my date of birth to a later one

In the future I would continue as I am but I would be much younger because I would have changed my date of birth!

Thank you so much for taking the time out in your busy schedules.

Thats it for this week…who is up for arranging a bus to Phils house to sample some of his home reared hog roast? Yum!

Until next time…

Apologies in advance to those that have been caught on our office camera unawares…here are the long anticipated end of year party photographs…

Mariusz & Konrad, Grounds Maintenance Operatives

Terri Graham & Alison Capper, Reception

Ryan Kilner, IT Support & Luke Yates Accounts Clerk

Most of the gang!

The smallest size glass size available - 2.5 pints!

Cheers! Noel Keane, Marketing Manager

Dave Martin, Envirocare Mechanic

Mariusz demonstrates his dance moves!

Luke, Mick Mann, Operations Manager & Mark Shaw, Regional Manager Yorkshire

What a likely lot they look!

If you see a few green hats, plaits and steins popping up in the photos – yes, it was a Bavarian Night and what a great night was had by all!

See you next week!