Situated In the heart of the Welsh capital, Cardiff Arms Park is the home of Cardiff Rugby, with a central location next to the Principality Stadium.

Originally made up of both cricket and rugby grounds, the Cardiff Arms Park has a long and varied history; having recorded its first spectators in 1881, the park hosted the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and in 1966 held the first ever floodlit game. 

In 1969 the previous cricket ground made way for the present Cardiff Arms Park, and the original rugby ground became known as the National Stadium, which in 1999 was redeveloped for the Rugby World Cup and the Millennium Stadium – also known as the Principality Stadium.

Understanding the needs of a busy venue 

With a capacity of over 10,000, Cardiff Arms Park is a popular venue not only for rugby games but also for corporate and community activities and events. With so many spectators and visitors coming through their doors, the stadium management team needed to ensure they were working with a cleaning business that understood the specific challenges associated with stadium cleaning, such as working antisocial hours, or the demand for a higher volume of staff.

At AQS, we know that different events pose different challenges, and ensure that Risk Assessment Method Statements (RAMS) are completed for each occasion to ensure the cleaning programme is completely aligned to the event’s specific requirements. In doing this, we can be sure that all requirements have been correctly assessed and that our teams are prepared for every eventuality.

Stadium cleaning is a huge undertaking, involving everything from litter picking to cleaning and sanitising seating, benches and walkways, washrooms, changing rooms and exterior areas. But having cleaned up after more than 18 million spectators over the years, we are proud to say we are experts in this area.

Offering a rounded service

Commenting on the service we provide at Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Rugby Stadium Manager Jamie Muir explains: “I’ve been Stadium Manager at Cardiff Arms Park for seven years, and when I joined the team AQS had already been working with us for several years, looking after our match day cleans.

“During the time we’ve worked with AQS, the services they provide us with have expanded,” Jamie continues,” they now look after our daily cleaning needs too - all areas of cleaning in fact, including our waste removal and ‘one-off’ cleans such as deep cleaning the kitchen, or cleaning the duct work and canopies. AQS work with all the stadia in Cardiff and offer a very well-rounded service.” 

We have two resident AQS cleaners on site at the stadium throughout the week - a morning cleaner responsible for cleaning the club house, function room and bar, and an evening cleaner whose responsibility is to clean the offices, changing rooms, medical rooms and bar.

On match days, cleaning the stadium is more of a mass operation, with operatives performing pre-match, during, and after match cleaning. We bring in teams to look after different jobs; one team might go in immediately after the match to begin the litter picking, followed by another team responsible for mopping, and a third team who will clean ‘behind the scenes’ areas, such as toilets and changing rooms. 

Jamie comments: “Ultimately, because AQS are able to keep on top of the cleaning throughout the day, it means that our overall post-match cleaning time is reduced.” 

Working together to develop a long-lasting partnership

When it comes to delivering an exceptional and effective cleaning service, we take pride in the fact that our clients think of us not just as a supplier, but as a partner. 

“A large part of my deputy Kerry’s role is around cleaning and hygiene on site,” explains Jamie, “so she works closely with the AQS team and is quite specific about the jobs that need doing; but AQS are very good at coming back to us and saying ‘we think it could be done in a different way’ - the operatives they have on the ground are brilliant, they know the stadium inside and out - probably better than me! They know the ‘weird and wonderful’ aspects, the areas they need to do extra work on. That hands-on experience really is invaluable.” 

Covid-19 has had an impact on all areas of cleaning and hygiene, with most settings introducing additional or more intense cleaning and sanitising programmes. Jamie explains how the pandemic affected Cardiff Arms Park: “Covid has really brought all the stadiums in Cardiff closer together- we’ve learnt a lot and Robin [Kinrade, AQS Director] has been involved in most of that process. 

“We worked really well with AQS throughout the pandemic, I’ve leaned on Robin a lot. There was a point when we were a support mechanism for the hospital and Robin worked very closely with me to make sure we could manage - AQS really stepped up. Ultimately, we were able to leave the cleaning and hygiene elements up to AQS, and for them to come to us with a plan that worked.”

Chris Williams, AQS Business Support Manager and the primary day to day contact for Jamie and his team, comments: “We know that the service we provide has a direct impact on the experience the visitors have when they come to the park, which is why we spend time assessing requirements and ensuring that all our teams are suitably trained and able to deliver the high standards that AQS have come to be known for. We’re very proud to have been working with the team at Cardiff Arms Park for over ten years and look forward to working together for many more to come.”

To find out more about our stadium and events cleaning services, or how we work with other clients, please get in touch on 01443 217000 or complete our form for a free quote.