Vertas Group Limited has agreed a contract to deliver an integrated soft facilities management services solution to five Essex schools built and operated by Skanska.
The £2.9m contract started 1 April 2018, and runs until 31 December 2021. The Five schools – Woodlands School, Castle View School, Cornelius Vermuyden School, Columbus School and College – provide education for a total of 2,240 students. Vertas will provide cleaning, grounds maintenance, recycling and waste management, pest prevention, specialist kitchen cleaning and window cleaning services.
As part of the new service Vertas will also run waste management, segregation and recycling sessions for staff and students to help them reduce their environmental impact. This will be supported with the installation of new waste segregation recycling bins across the sites.
The contract will also provide benefits to cleaning staff working in the schools. Specialist equipment, such as trollies and mopping systems, has been selected to reduce staff fatigue, lower the risk of repetitive strain injury and potential hazards.
Ian Surtees, Chief Executive Officer at Vertas Group, said: “Skanska share our priorities of putting staff safety, health and wellbeing first. Skanska is also a company passionate about the environment and sustainability which sits perfectly with Vertas brand values.
“This is the first new contract to include our very recently acquired business – Vertas Environmental – as a service. Since 2016 the cooking oil from the 400 schools we cater for has been converted to biodiesel. With waste management and recycling now part of the Vertas proposition we will use this biodiesel to power our grounds maintenance equipment across these five Essex schools.
“We welcome Skanska as a new client and very much look forward to looking after these five schools, allowing teachers and school staff to focus on education and pastoral care, while we support Skanska in providing exceptional learning spaces.”
