Signum’s reliability, knowledge, and excellent communication skills lead to client peace of mind

Company: Beta Technology, a well-established innovation technology consultancy, sublets a substantial part of its headquarters to Harrison College, a non-profit, specialist business and enterprise post-16 college providing a challenging, future-focused provision for young adults with high-functioning autism and SEMH needs.

The brief:

To provide a complete overhaul to the maintenance service provision, followed by general ongoing maintenance, including monthly reports and quarterly meetings with the client, Beta Technology and its tenant, Harrison College.

Project duration: One year (ongoing)

When it comes to maintenance provision, reliability, precise attention to detail, and an excellent knowledge of the legal requirements are key for educational facilities. Beta Technology and Harrison College needed a new partner to complete outstanding remedial issues around the building, and to take on the ongoing planned preventative maintenance and compliance work. We talk to Richard Wrigley, Beta managing director, Mike Peebles, chief executive officer for Harrison College, and Signum managing director Jill Wood about how the project has progressed:

Beta Technology and tenant Harrison College were introduced to Signum via the Doncaster Chamber, with Signum asked to tender for services in May 2023. The contract was signed the following month.

Signum’s first task was to quickly resolve some outstanding issues and repairs that needed immediate attention, and then to overhaul the ongoing maintenance service provision. Signum also completed some legionella remedial work and external ground works, along with a full roof condition survey.

Richard explained: “The Beta Technology Directors Pension Scheme bought the building in 2016 and reconfigured it to be as it is now. As a result of Covid, Beta moved its operation predominantly to being remote working and this released most of the building for Harrison College to take on as it expanded. With Beta staff no longer being regularly in the building, we needed to move to a different model of maintaining the building, where before we had organised the maintenance. This led us to bring in a facilities management company.

“Our first facilities management company helped us to move from a self-delivered service to a third-party service. As this progressed it became clear that our needs and those of our main tenant, Harrison College, were more rigorous than what was previously required so we needed to relook at how the service was delivered. In 2023, in discussion with Harrison College, we decided to look for a new facilities management company and Signum delivered a strong proposal, answering very specific questions that enabled both Beta and the College to have confidence that they could undertake the work.

“For Beta, running a building ourselves worked to some degree when we were the main occupier, but it is not our core competence. Having a company like Signum takes away the concern of managing the building remotely. Signum has understood from day one the needs of both the building owners, Beta Technology Directors Pension Scheme, and the operational needs of Harrison College. This has enabled a good day-to-day working relationship to be built up. There is good management of quotes and jobs through their on-line portal, and they have a clear response system for requests.”

The list of services provided for the building’s preventative maintenance and compliance includes emergency lighting, gas boilers, air conditioning system, fire extinguishers, and building fabric inspections.

Mike says that the three key requirements to a successful relationship with a facilities management company are its flexibility, knowledge, and its people.

He explained: “For any educational facility, it is imperative for those tasked with maintaining the building to be reliable, have a precise attention to detail, and an excellent knowledge of the legal requirements around maintenance provision. When we were introduced to Jill, it was clear she had excellent communication skills and an understanding of our needs. The fact that Signum has experience with educational facilities made it an easy choice to bring them on board.

“Good communication and a willingness to pick up the phone, and not rely entirely on email, is key for me. Roles have changed within the college over the last eight months, and I now spend less time on the admin side of the service, with responsibility passed to a colleague. This could have led to problems, but the communication within the Signum team meant the transition was smooth. Because of safeguarding requirements, we have many smaller details that need to be adhered to, and when dealing with several team members this could be a problem, Again, Signum’s communication skills has meant that all team members are aware of our needs. I would recommend Signum 100% – to have a very tight, professional, and organised team supporting our needs is hugely comforting.”

Jill said: ‘It has been an excellent first year working with Beta and Harrison College. There was much early work that needed our attention, so we had to hit the ground running and attend to that, while working on the overhaul of the general maintenance provision. Our team responded superbly to the challenge, carrying out some of the work during school holidays to allow access, and we look forward to a successful continued relationship with Beta and Harrison College.”