The importance of preparation and planning

Student accommodation cleaning is a mammoth task, requiring a lot of planning to ensure everything runs smoothly, and there is always a very tight schedule to get thousands of rooms ready for new students keen to make the place their own.

We caught up with Anna on the importance of planning ahead, and how she approaches recruitment in this specialised cleaning sector.

Anna is responsible for organising all the student accommodation cleaning schedules across four cities – Cardiff, Manchester, Liverpool, and Sheffield. Due to the short space of time between students moving out and the following term’s students moving in, everything needs to be highly organised.

Surveying sites

Anna visits each site personally, speaking with the site manager to make an evaluation of the priorities and assess the scale of the operation. Anna takes down the exact number of dwellings, kitchens, and other areas, noting any areas that need more intensive work.

Good communication with site managers is essential, says Anna:

"We take pride in the excellent relationships we build with the site managers. One of our clients was so pleased with the service we provided for them at the end of the academic year, they are using AQS as their preferred supplier for any additional jobs that come up during the rest of the year. They know

we deliver quality work, and that we keep our promises."

Recruiting right

Finding the right team to work across the student accommodation cleaning programme is often the most time-consuming part of the job. This type of cleaning is particularly challenging, dirty work that may not be suitable for everyone. One incentive, however, is that cleaning operatives have the potential to earn more than that might do for conventional cleaning work, which is an attractive point.

"Ideally, I want to have the team booked in for the summer by the beginning of March," says Anna, "and I use social media to find people and spread the word. I need to find at least 30 people to work in six groups across the different cities."

Although finding the right people can be tricky, Anna always ends up with teams that make AQS proud by doing the job well and representing the company with a courteous nature.

Sourcing suppliers

Even the right people can't do the job without the right tools and products. With this in mind, Anna needs to find suppliers that AQS can trust.

Anna explains: "We need to build good relationships with local suppliers and ensure they can fulfil specific demands we have, such as stock allocations and next-day delivery.

“At AQS, we have a zero-tolerance policy for any supplier who attempts to put safety or quality of work in jeopardy. Our handling procedures simply don’t let that happen, because we have frameworks in place to make sure we use companies with excellent reviews and appropriate accreditations.”

Targeted training

Inductions and training for the student accommodation cleaning operatives takes place in June, and includes all staff being shown how to safely use and dispose of the various products needed for each job. Safety is always paramount, and Anna is proud to say her team know the score:

"The teams I manage are always taught exactly how to use products and understand the risks involved in not following the rules. We are highly disciplined, and we know how to dispose of products we use in an environmentally-friendly way."

Here’s just some of the feedback from one of our happy clients this year:

“This summer across Sheffield has been fantastic. From the early planning sessions we held over Teams and in person in the city, the site teams felt like Tudor had it well under control.

“Communication has been really clear throughout which is key to success in such a busy period. 
Please pass on my thanks to Karol and his team as the feedback from Jenni, Rebecca and Rob has been brilliant.” Regional Manager, iQ Student Accommodation

“Anna - I would like to particularly thank you for your constant communication. You always had the numbers at hand each week on our calls and no matter which site we were talking about you always had the information needed at the drop of a hat.” Regional Manager (North West) iQ Student Accommodation

At AQS, we are proactive in establishing new working partnerships, please get in touch for more information about our student accommodation cleaning programme, we'll be happy to help.