Case Studies
Castle Point
Background
Pinnacle PSG took over the grounds maintenance and street scene service at Castle Point Borough Council in Essex in June 2006, following a competitive tendering exercise. Most of the workforce at the time transferred to Pinnacle PSG under TUPE rulings, fully protecting all staff’s conditions of service. The street scene aspect of the contract was particularly in need of attention and required immediate action. The 14 main roads and a further 60 miles of residential roads had not been properly maintained for over six years. A combination of mechanical and ‘by-hand’ clearance and sweeping was urgently needed to bring streets up to a high standard. Having achieved this an annual programme to maintain these high standards, was needed to be put in place, and was.
Delivering on commitments
Street cleaners’ routes were reorganised as they were structured in an ad-hoc fashion and based on a reactive system. We immediately structured these routes so areas were cleaned on a three week cycle and more pro-active standards put in place. In our initial bid, we promised to buy a second specialist mechanical ‘Johnston Road Sweeper’, costing in the region of £40,000. Within five months of the contract starting the machine hit the streets, resulting in much cleaner streets after halving mechanical road sweeping cycles from six to three weeks.
A key element to the success of the contract was to get staff on board by providing focused training, completely alien to them up to this point. All managers attended a two day awayday to help them to develop their managerial techniques. This was supported by a one day offsite team building exercise attended by all staff.
Working with the community
Pinnacle PSG has a strong record of putting something back into the communities its serves and this can be clearly seen in a community project in this part of Essex. Residents and Castle Point Councillors had been asking the council to clear the beach area around Thorney Bay, Canvey Island of weeds, needles, dog faeces and rats for many years. Within six months Pinnacle PSG had set this as a management challenge to our local staff. The beach was cleared and an attractive rockery built with the waste materials, leading to positive feedback from local residents and Councillors.
Castle Point Bowls Club’s grounds received a massive makeover thanks to the support Pinnacle PSG. gave to the council. We laid new turf around the edges of the Bowls Club’s green and the edges of the green were repaired and reinforced. And all just in time for the start of the bowls season. We also work with local forum groups, providing landscaping and tree planting to enhance the environment around the area. In a addition, we take part in, and supply, materials to local groups to organise and average of two community clean ups a month in local areas.
Measuring Pinnacle PSG’s success
Prior to Pinnacle PSG taking over the contract, council performance indicators showed a 14% defects rate in street cleaning. After just three months we reduced this figure to 13%. Today, it is just 2.8%, although the criteria for this indicator were revised in 2007.
