Putting a sustainable shine on The Square

Putting a sustainable shine on The Square

As part of Q3’s commitment to working sustainably, the company has adopted an environmentally friendly cleaning technology across many of its large contracts, including The Square shopping centre in Camberley.

The Toucan Eco system is used for virtually all hard surface cleaning across the shopping centre, replacing several conventional, chemical products that were used historically.

The cleaning solution is created on site using a special Active Plus device which produces 20 litre batches of water-based cleaner, at a time. This is then distributed around the site in re-usable bottles or containers – an approach that drastically reduces both the use of single-use plastics, and the carbon cost normally associated with shipping ready-mixed chemicals to site.

Once mixed, the solution has a shelf life of about a week, cleaning and sanitising surfaces and killing up to 99.999% of all germs. The same solution used for wiping hard surfaces is also used through the scrubber-drier that operates along the floors of the shopping centre. One product does everything, so there is no opportunity for someone to accidentally using the wrong product for any particular application.

The cleaning operatives like Miriam love it too because it’s virtually harmless, so there’s no risk of chemicals being inhaled or spills causing skin conditions. It’s made the wearing of PPE superfluous.

Speaking about the benefits of Toucan Eco, Q3 Operations Director, Luis Lopes, said, “This innovation has delivered a revolution in the way we work, reducing costs, improving health and safety, while reducing carbon emissions and plastic waste. It’s a winner all round!”

Top marks from the mystery shopper!!!

Mystery shopping is a technique used extensively in the retail sector to help organisations understand their customers’ experiences and identify potential areas for improvement in the quality of service delivery.

It’s a process that the Praxis Retail Management Team at The Square shopping centre in Camberley have been deploying across the site for some time. The third-party mystery shopper embarks on a series of approaches each month, to test the reaction and response of the centre team via The Square’s phone service, website, social media accounts and through personal site visits.

From Q3’s perspective, it’s the site visits and face-to-face encounters that present the big challenge. The mystery shopper can turn up at any time and will be checking the centre surreptitiously for cleanliness, safety, wayfinding, availability of facilities, sources of information, and visibility of staff.

The mystery shopper may also approach one of the cleaning or security team randomly for help, information or assistance on any manner of subject. “Where are the toilets? Where can I get something to eat? What time do you close tonight?”

So, our team needs to be well briefed to have the right answers and trained in a way to ensure that requests are dealt with politely and efficiently. Recent result have proved very encouraging. During August and September, overall scores have exceeded 96% across all the channels tested by the mystery shopper, with some scores of 100% achieved for the face-to-face encounters.

Commenting on the positive feedback from the mystery shopper programme, Gavin Vidler Shopping Centre Manager said, “The Q3 cleaning and security staff out on the centre floor are our front-line partners responsible for personal, customer engagement. These results indicate that everyone is working as a team to ensure that customer experience at The Square is being delivered to a high standard, that will keep people returning time after time.”

Contract extension for Q3 at Alhambra

Q3 is pleased to announce an extension to its contract with the Alhambra Shopping Centre in Barnsley.

The Shopping Centre in the heart of Barnsley Town Centre, is a community hub with around 40 leading retail brand units and an annual footfall of over 6 million visitors.

Alhambra was the first contract secured by Q3 following its formation in 2018. Originally covering provision of cleaning services, the contract was later expanded to include security in 2021.

The contract moved to Barnsley Council in 2023 when the council bought the lease to the centre, and it is a testament to the hard work and commitment of the onsite team of 20 Q3 people that the Council has now granted this contract extension through to February 2025.

Stuart Bellew, COO at Q3 said” We have a great team at the Alhambra, and I congratulate them on their effort and dedication in recent years, which will now ensure a continuation of the high levels of service to the client and the Barnsley public.”

Audrius Gricius – Apprentice Profile

We’re in conversation with Audrius Gricius, who works as a Controller/CCTV operator at The Square retail shopping centre contract in Camberley. Audrius is enrolled in a team leader/supervisor apprenticeship programme.

What have you learnt so far from this apprenticeship?

So far, I have gained better understanding of the role and responsibilities of a team leader/supervisor, as well as the importance of effective communication between different departments within our operation.

What have you enjoyed about this apprenticeship?

Since starting my apprenticeship, I have enjoyed learning new skills and acquiring knowledge to help me in my current role. I have found the apprenticeship challenging, however the support I received from my tutor Colin Ripley to be very helpful and valuable to my progression and development.

What do you hope the apprenticeship will do for you?

I had hoped that the apprenticeship would develop me with the necessary skills and knowledge to become a better person and a great team leader in my current role. I have seen from my lessons and the apprenticeship that I am confidently embedding this into my role. My next hope is that I achieve a supervisor’s position upon completion.