Aspire One Newsletter - Issue 80 November 2022

For information regarding the articles in this magazine contact aspire@landsec.com Landsec, 100 Victoria Street, London SW1E 5JL +44 (0) 20 7413 9000 aspire@landsec.com One newsletter is keen to welcome points of view from Landsec staff and Service Partners. Therefore, the views expressed in this newsletter are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Landsec. We welcome contributions whether through social media, email, letters or stories. Please forward contributions to aspire@landsec.com

Cover: Yasin Alizadeh from Bidvest Noonan tries his luck at the Fountain Room.

Right: Sol Jackson (Bywaters) and Jamie Taylor (Landsec) celebrate their coconut success.

Wow, what a night! It was brilliant to be able to hold our Landsec | Aspire Staff Recognition Awards once again, followed by our legendary Seasonal Shenanigans. Along with the rest of the Aspire Steering Board, I felt an enormous sense of pride at the awards ceremony, as we recognised the individuals, teams and Service Partners who have gone the extra mile this year. Congratulations to our worthy winners and also to everyone who was nominated. The commitment of the Aspire community plays a pivotal role in providing the best possible experience for our customers –so thank you, everyone!

As well as a selection of the photos from the Staff Recognition Awards and Christmas Party, this month’s issue includes an article on the achievement of WELL Platinum Certification

by Landsec Head Office. This is fantastic news and Aspire members played an important role in making it happen, so congratulations to everyone involved. Also in this issue, you can find out what makes Tom Lloyd, Deputy CEO of Principle Cleaning, tick as he features in our ‘5 minutes with’ interview.

With the Christmas trees and seasonal decorations going up in our properties, everything is beginning to feel festive. Some complimentary drinks and nibbles will be offered to customers at locations across the London Portfolio from 6 to 15 December, so please do what you can to make these events enjoyable for everyone.

And don’t forget to dig out your seasonal sweaters for Christmas Jumper Day on Thursday 8 December – yes, it’s a Thursday, not a Friday this year!

David Wickens Operations Director & Chair of Landsec | Aspire

Melissa Harvey (Guest Services Manager with Rapport), Daria Darnowska (Deputy Guest Services Manager with Rapport), Alison Currell (Senior Aspire Service Delivery Manager and Aspire Sponsor for Front of House & Concierge) and Louise Ody (Workspace Manager and Aspire Champion for Front of House & Concierge).

united

First-class

Office Space by Landsec festive firs

With towering trees, festive lights and glistening baubles, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. However, it doesn’t all happen by magic – a great deal of planning and effort from Aspire members goes on behind the scenes. Back in October, a group of intrepid colleagues braved the rain to travel to the farm in Christmas Common in Oxfordshire where our trees are grown. While there, they assessed the range, hand picked the perfect plants and waved them farewell on their trip back to London.

On 26 November, the Aspire team at New Street Square gathered to decorate their traditional courtyard trees. From security staff helping to manage the installation to engineering colleagues

ensuring a safe power connection, everyone pulled to together to perfect the seasonal centrepiece. With the reception tree installations scheduled for 3 and 4 December, we anticipate the same unified efforts from the team and spectacular results across the portfolio.

Once again, the seasonal decorations in our reception areas and outside spaces across the London Portfolio will be truly exceptional, and it’s all thanks to your unity and effort.

New Street Square 2021.

Landsec invites all Service Partners to raise the spirits during this festive period. Let’s put on a party, elevate the customer experience and raise the roof for the London Portfolio!

David Wickens Landsec Operations Director & Chair of Landsec | Aspire

Meet the team

LANDSEC HEAD OFFICE ACHIEVES

Platinum WELL

We’re delighted to report that Landsec Head Office has been awarded WELL Platinum Certification and that Aspire members have played a big part in this success.

The award from the International WELL Building Institute means that the property has been recognised as an outstanding example of an office space designed, constructed and operated in a way that enhances health and wellbeing.

The journey to this success has involved many people, including Aspire colleagues at NJC. Charles Walden, Account Director for NJC explains: “NJC played an important role in introducing WELL to the Landsec Portfolio when we ventured on the original accreditation some years ago.”

This support from NJC – in particular, from Ula Zawadzka, Portfolio Manager – has been recognised by Richard

Blenkinsop, Workplace Delivery Manager at Landsec. “Ula played such a massive part in us achieving Platinum,” says Richard, “through a lot of hard work, her knowledge and providing impeccable documentation for the assessors, so I would like to pass on a massive thanks to Ula and NJC for their continued excellent service and support – it is really appreciated, and we couldn’t have done it without you.”

Charles Walden added: “It’s clear that all Service Partners, working with Richard and the Landsec Head Office team, have contributed to a very distinguished accreditation and to setting the highest standards possible.”

Congratulations to everyone involved!

Office Space by Landsec

Check out all the event images now.

Colleagues from across the Landsec | Aspire community came TogetherAsOne to recognise and reward those who have gone above and beyond this year.

With a star-studded ceiling and free-flowing fizz, the Fountain Room in Bloomsbury proved the perfect location for the annual Aspire Staff Recognition Awards.

wAfter being welcomed with drinks in the bar area, over 80 award nominees and other guests enjoyed a three-course meal with wine. A trapeze artist provided entertainment during the meal, after which the awards ceremony began.

Hosted by Alison Currell, Senior Aspire Service Delivery Manager, the event recognised nominees and winners in categories including the Aspire values –Bold, United, Inclusive and Driven – as well as ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance), Innovation and Limelight, plus a special Chairman’s Award.

Before presenting the final accolade – the Chairman’s Award, chosen by David Wickens (Operations Director & Chair of Landsec | Aspire) and Jamie Taylor (Head of Property Operations), David made a short speech. He thanked Alison Currell for hosting the awards and Kelly Barlow, Assistant Workspace Manager, for organising the event. He also paid tribute to the 700 or so Aspire

members for their commitment in keeping buildings operational during the pandemic. David then revealed that there were two winners of the Chairman’s Award this year – Simon Watson of NG Bailey and Robbie Kitson of Jaguar Building Services, who had been selected for their fantastic work supporting Caxton Youth, our charity partner, with health & safety and compliance issues. It was wonderful to have Rose Swainston (CEO) and Kate Boddington (Chair) of Caxton Youth as guests at the awards to witness the presentation.

The 2022 Staff Recognition Awards ended with a few words from Jamie Taylor, as the event coincided with his very last day at Landsec after three years’ service. On behalf of Landsec | Aspire, David Wickens presented him with a bottle of fine red wine.

Jamie described what the Aspire team had achieved as “Nothing short of inspirational” and told the audience, “You and your teams should be super proud of everything you do.”

Well done to all this year’s nominees and award winners!

Check out all the event images now.

Limelight

The winner of the Limelight category, Jason Abella of Bidvest Noonan, received his award from Paul Roberts (MD of Jaguar).

bold The Bold award went to Eddy Marie Louise and Moody Mahmood of Bidvest Noonan, being collected on their behalf by Babatunde Adeyemi from Dirk Talsma (MD of Rapport).

united

The Inclusive award went to Scheila Costa of Principle and was presented by Liz Cummins (MD of London Security Solutions and Acuity, Front of House and Concierge for Bidvest Noonan).

inclusive

Mark Fairweather (MD of D2E) presented the United award to the Dashwood Site Team (NJC, Principle, NG Bailey & Bidvest Noonan).

Meet the team

Check out all the event images now.

Chairman’s Award

driven

The winners of this year’s Chairman’s accolade – Simon Watson of NG Bailey and Robbie Kitson of Jaguar – received their awards from David Wickens, Operations Director & Chair of Landsec | Aspire.

Federica Valenti of Rapport scooped the Driven award, which was presented by Paul Crilly (MD of NJC).

Meet the team

ESG

The ESG award was presented to Carl Henriksen, CEO of OryxAlign, by James Gladding (Operations Director of NG Bailey).

Innovation

Robbie Kitson and Simon Watson with Kate Boddington (Chair) and Rose Swainston (CEO) of Caxton Youth.

NJC won the Innovation award, which was presented to Charles Walden (Account Director) and Wayne Smith (Operations Director) by Sol Jackson, Head of Corporate Accounts for Bywaters.

Check out all the event images now.

Members of Landsec | Aspire from every service stream across the London Portfolio gathered at the Fountain Room in Bloomsbury to celebrate the festive season and PartyAsOne.

Check out all the event images now.

tTaking place immediately after the Staff Recognition Awards, the legendary Aspire Christmas Party took place at the Fountain Room in Bloomsbury on 25 November.

Some 250 colleagues gathered for the biggest event in the Aspire calendar, being welcomed in the bar area with trays of festive fizz. Once the doors to the main event room opened, guests enjoyed a performance by a fire dancer and then all the fun of the fair at a series of side stalls. Aspire members tried their luck at hoopla, tin can alley, cork shooting and a coconut shy, with the chance to win small prizes.

For those who couldn’t tear themselves away from the footie, the England v USA World Cup match was livestreamed on a huge screen. During half-time and once the game had finished nil-nil, partygoers enjoyed music from a live band. Guests enjoyed complimentary drinks from the bar, as well as a choice of hot food. Soon Aspire members were on the dance floor, strutting their stuff to a series of big party tunes and proving that they can play hard as well as work hard.

Organised by Landsec | Aspire’s party queen, Kelly Barlow, the night was a runaway success and just what the hard-working Aspire teams needed and deserved.

Meet the team

Meet the team

Check out all the event images now.

Meet the team

Check out all the event images now.

Meet the team

Meet the team

Tom Lloyd

Deputy CEO, Principle Cleaning Services.

Do you have any mantras in business or in life?

Never burn your bridges. You should always act with honesty and integrity because you never know when you might meet again.

What’s your favourite part of your working day or week?

I love meeting our team and visiting some of the amazing buildings that we look after. We have some wonderful people in our business and a close senior team who make work so much fun.

And your least favourite? Not winning a tender!

What do you like to do outside of work?

I enjoy playing golf, going to the gym and going for long walks. In reality, with a young family – my wife, Jelena, and I have a son aged 8 and a daughter aged 6 – I’m usually a taxi service at weekends, ferrying them around. I like to watch all kinds of sport and do play football occasionally. I did play in the Aspire match a few years ago, although pretty unsuccessfully!

Are you a fan of anything or anyone?

I support Tottenham Hotspur and go to see them play a couple of times a year. I’m somewhat disappointed that my son is a Liverpool fan!

Have you been inspired by anything you’ve seen, read or experienced lately?

Frozen Planet II – it’s been very thought-provoking. Anyone who has watched it must come to the view that climate change is a really serious issue. I’m also inspired every day by my children, with the passion they have for the things they learn at school.

What’s on your bucket list?

I’d love to do a skydive and I’d also like to climb Mount Kilimanjaro one day.

What would you say is your greatest achievement?

My family – raising two wonderful children and seeing them flourish. Another personal achievement was running the London Marathon over ten years ago – I completed it in a time of 4 hours 16 minutes, raising money for Cancer Research. I enjoyed the experience but pounding away on the roads through months of training didn’t do my knees any good! Workwise, the biggest challenge of my career was getting through the pandemic: learning new cleaning processes and leading a team through a difficult period. We came out of it in a positive position and are doing better than ever now.

What would you say is your best skill in business?

I love interacting and dealing with people. Principle has a team of 2200 people and I love seeing them thrive and develop.

What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you were younger?

I’m rubbish at DIY so I would advise myself to learn more practical skills as well as academic ones.

Do you have any regrets? No. Everything happens for a reason.

Do you have any pets?

Unfortunately, not. I grew up with Labradors and would love to have one, as would my kids. My wife is not so keen on the moulting!

What’s your all-time favourite movie? Interstellar.

What was your first ever job? Funnily enough, it was cleaning! I washed and valeted cars as a summer job while I was still at school. After studying Economics at university, I joined the graduate scheme with Rentokil Initial. One placement was in their cleaning business and that’s where I stayed. In this industry, you’re never in the same place two days running.

I love the variety and I love working with people.

Thank Your Cleaner Day 2022

19 October

The efforts of our cleaning teams across the Landsec | Aspire network are often unsung. Cleaners, you keep our office spaces and retail environments spick and span for our customers and visitors, as well as for all of us. So on 19 October, Alison Currell (Senior Aspire Service Delivery Manager), Hiren Patel (Landsec Workspace Manager) and Ross Wiles (Aspire Systems Manager) took time out of their busy schedules to personally thank the Principle cleaning team at One New Change.

Thank you all for your excellent work!

Kids get creative to say thank you from Caxton

We were thrilled to receive this fantastic card, created by the young people at our charity partner, Caxton Youth Organisation, to say ‘thank you’ to everyone who took part in the latest Aspire challenge.

Through being sponsored to walk the Thames Path from Reading to Maidenhead, participants raised over £6,000 for Caxton Youth, which supports young people with physical or learning disabilities in the borough of Westminster.

This fundraising event was a great boost to the total we have raised for Caxton Youth, which currently stands at £16,783. This is a fantastic start on our journey to meet the 2-year target of £50,000 recently set by the Operating Board.

Pictured with the card are Eliane Edmond, Head of Programmes for Caxton Youth (left), and Floyd Hall, Senior Youth Worker with the charity.

How do we support our charity?

Throughout this year, Landsec | Aspire has organised a range of challenges, events and fundraising schemes. Every penny raised is donated to our charity, with £16,783 having been raised to date.

We are proud of what we have achieved and, with our 2-year target of £50,000 set by the Operating Board, we are dedicated to changing lives for the better, in every way we can.

justgiving.com/fundraising/ aspire-thamespathwalk

Q&S DIGS DEEP

mMany thanks to the team at Q&S Ltd, who have performed some of their makeover magic on the garden of Aspire’s charity partner, Caxton Youth.

The charity’s garden at its Pimlico base was in need of some TLC, so the Q&S team got their green fingers busy recently. After first dealing with an invasive weed problem, Jamie Westcott, Ricky Elliott and John Rodgers got to work on the garden’s raised beds. “We removed some dead plants, topped up the soil levels and then added a mixture of herbs, grasses, perennials, heather and winter bulbs,” says Jamie. “In the early spring we’ll add some more edible plants and a few flowering perennials.”

On behalf of Caxton Youth, thank you so much to the Q&S team.

Caxton’s mission is to develop independent living, educational, health and social skills in order to promote inclusion, participation and effective citizenship.

Photograph by Wac Arts and Rachel Cherry.

Aspire Centre of Excellence

SPOOKTACULAR fun and games in the City

The meeting room of the Aspire Centre of Excellence (ACE) at One New Change was given a spooky makeover in preparation for our recent Halloween gaming event.

Recognising that not everyone is sporty, this activity was devised to attract new participants to a Landsec | Aspire team-building event. Held on 27 October, the day proved popular with Aspire colleagues, who took on the various gaming challenges and enjoyed the free pizza supplied. Thank you to everyone who came along on the day.

On hand at New Street Square

Well done to Linda Aldersley and Melita Luksic of the Rapport front-of-house team at 5 New Street Square for going the extra mile to be inclusive.

The pair recently helped a deaf gentleman and his support worker, who were trying to find a company that appeared to have a registered address at the building but was not actually located there. Linda and Melita searched online for the right address. With no luck, Linda telephoned a related business for more information, while Melita looked on social media. Although they were unsuccessful in finding the required address, they provided the guests with an e-mail address for the company. The visitors were extremely grateful for their efforts and asked for the ladies’ names and contact details.

A short while later, they received a message from the grateful support worker. “I would love to pass on some incredible feedback,” he wrote, “for two wonderful members of staff I had the pleasure of dealing with today. Linda and Melita were both incredibly understanding and helpful, despite the fact it was not technically to do with them. I am so very thankful for their politeness and willingness to help a stranger out; I wish that every interaction I had with reception staff could be as positive as mine was with Linda and Melita today.”

Fantastic work, ladies!

Claudia stars in movie

We reported last month that Claudia Nunes, Receptionist with Rapport at Nova, was one of three Rapport employees selected to participate in the company’s Black Future Month feature. Black Future month is a campaign that has grown out of Black History Month and aims to look beyond the past and present to visualise what the future may hold for black people.

“It was a remarkable experience celebrating Black Future Month,” says Claudia. “It was an opportunity to acknowledge and remember our history and how far we have come. We still have work to do but we are going in the right direction.”

As part of the activities, Claudia was filmed in a special movie, which can be viewed at: vimeo.com/772428807/55076d0f06 Congratulations, Claudia!

inclusive

Meet the team

You heard it through the Grapevine

In this section of One magazine, we share snippets of news from across the Aspire family. It’s where we welcome new faces, bid fond farewells and celebrate promotions and other achievements. Please send your news to aspire@landsec.com

Congratulations to Lissania Charlton, Cluster Supervisor at 62 Buckingham Gate and 123 Victoria Street, who is leaving Rapport to take up a position with Landsec as Workspace Assistant in the City, working with Louise Ody and Jordon Joseph. Lissania actually began as an apprentice with Landsec at Palace Street and Portland House, before moving to Office Concierge, and subsequently Rapport, at 62 Buckingham Gate. Her colleagues at Rapport say she will be truly missed but wish her the best of luck.

We welcome two new starters in our front-of-house teams. Denisa Balan has joined Rapport as Receptionist at The Zig Zag Building. Denisa has considerable experience, which she’s looking forward to applying in her new role. “I’m a person who is positive about every aspect of life,” says Denisa. “There are many things I like to do, see and experience. I like to be surrounded by people. I like delicious food and comfortable shoes. And I like to laugh. I’m so proud to be part of the Rapport family and be at one of the Landsec buildings.”

Another new face you will see around our reception areas is Suraj Chand. He’s joined Rapport as a Dedicated Cover for the Landsec Portfolio. Suraj is from New Delhi, India, and can speak three languages: Hindi, Nepalese and English. “I’m 28 years old,” says Suraj. “I studied Hospitality Management and recently finished my Master’s degree in Business Administration. I love meeting new people and learning about their lives and their background. I can

almost instantly create rapport with strangers and I like making people feel comfortable in my presence.”

Many congratulations to Luke Voce, Contract Manager with NG Bailey, and his wife on the birth of their baby, Florence Elizabeth Rachel Voce. Lastly, we have to say ‘farewell’ to Daria Darnowska, Deputy Guest Services Manager with Rapport, as she has been promoted to a new account with the company. “It has been an absolute pleasure working with Landsec and I will truly, truly miss it,” said Daria. “Landsec was the first contract and the start of my adventure with corporate industry, so it will always have a special place in my heart.” Congratulations on your promotion, Daria!

OLÉ!

tThere was great excitement at 62 Buckingham Gate last month when Spanish restaurant & bar, Ibérica made a pop-up appearance in the building’s reception.

Organised by Marco Cuenca Haro, Receptionist with Rapport at 62 BG, the event allowed people to sample authentic Spanish cuisine and proved a hit with both customers and Landsec | Aspire colleagues. Gracias, Marco!

Nikki saves Christmas

Hats off to Nikki Jones, Central Administrator

the Property

based at the Aspire Centre of Excellence (ACE), for helping to save Christmas at Landsec’s Braintree Village. Due to a technical issue, payment of the company supplying the decorations at the popular shopping centre was delayed and this threatened to pull the plug on the festive installations at Braintree. However, Nikki proved she was driven in getting to the source of the problem and ensuring it was resolved successfully. Josef O’Sullivan, Centre Director of Braintree Village, was extremely grateful and praised Nikki’s efforts as being “above and beyond”. Well done, Nikki!

driven

Meet the team Josef O’Sullivan (Right) , Centre Director of Braintree Village.

with

Support team

Leveraging the power of data to provide insights is a critical component of the Aspire strategy. With Landsec creating more dynamic ways of capturing data, we have been able to crunch large and diverse volumes of data that relate to our properties, assets, customers and the Aspire team. Some of this analysis has brought visibility to grey areas

in

Certificate of Recognition Player

of the month

Neat as a pin

hHats off to Linda Aldersley for offering brilliant service to a customer at New Street Square.

Linda, who only joined the Rapport team a few months ago, is described by her colleagues as welcoming, professional and always willing to go the extra mile. A customer at New Street Square recently singled her out for praise for helping a visiting partner who had arrived to sign in. The lady in question was having a stressful morning, with her train delayed and having lost a button from the back of her dress.

Linda swiftly signed her in, located a safety pin to secure the dress and got her to her meeting on time.

Well done, Linda, for being driven in providing excellent customer service!

CHRISTMAS JUMPER DAY