St Andrew’s Healthcare, is a mental health Charity established almost 200 years ago with the purpose to inspire hope for those living with complex mental health needs. Across three hospitals and two community sites they provide treatment and care for around 650 service users, requiring an on-premises laundry solution at each site to ensure smooth running of each location
Gary Eccles, Strategic Sourcing Manager, is tasked with ensuring they partner with the best service contract provider at the best value and explains a bit more about their operation and why they chose an Essentia contract with Electrolux Professional.
“Northampton has more than 40 wards served by a central laundry with 12 washers & dryers of varying sizes up to 45kg. At Birmingham & Essex with eight and six wards respectively, each are served by 4 washers & dryers and one ironer each. So its a large breadth of equipment of varying ages and sizes and we’ve been working with Electrolux Professional for more than 15 years”.
Gary explains that investing in their Essentia package gives them the security of ongoing support and what it means to them; “the regular maintenance minimizes equipment downtime – this is vital for us given the continuous operation to serve those 650 service users”. Amongst the other benefits of their Essentia package, Essentia extends the lifespan of the equipment – they have many legacy machines that without regular maintenance would likely require replacement. They can also budget with confidence, as unexpected maintenance costs are eliminated. Equipment quality is also maintained; “working direct with Electrolux Professional we have access to their expertise and know that all parts fitted will be the same quality as when the machines were new”.
In terms of how their Essentia contract was formulated it was very much a consultative process;
“We worked in partnership to look at our operation and our agreement is completely bespoke. As our facilities have changed, we’ve the flexibility to adjust our package to ensure its always exactly what we need”
Summing up the benefits to organizations considering an Essentia contract, Gary honed in on the coverage of legacy products; equipment does not have to be brand new and can be from differing manufacturers. In addition there is a reduced admin burden, with PO’s not needing to be raised for individual jobs.
But perhaps the key benefit is a single point of contact who understands them as the customer; “having an attentive direct account manager really makes communication easier and slicker – they know our operation well”
Perhaps a given, but to conclude Gary reflected on the high standards of the team; “the team always act professionally politely and with the knowledge to offer the charity advice as needed”.