Tags: Planteria Group

Prepare for The New Normal With Illona Hands-Free Sanitiser

As the country’s workforce starts to make its way back to factories, shops and offices throughout the UK, we do so with one overriding question on our minds – what will the ‘new normal’ look like?

Just about every organisation across the country has been affected by the recent Covid-19 outbreak, and whilst it’s true that life around the office won’t return to normal overnight, there’s a lot we can do to make our working environment feel safer and more comfortable for those returning from furlough or from home-working back to the workplace.

Planning Our Workspaces for The New-Normal

So, let’s take a quick look at some of the things we should be thinking about when re-introducing our workforce back into the office.

Cleanliness is Key

Government guidelines advise that workplaces should be cleaned more frequently, paying attention to high-contact objects like door handles and keyboards. Employers should provide handwashing facilities or hand sanitisers at entry and exit points.

We’ve all become acutely aware of is the number things we touch every day, usually without even realising it. Just think about how many items you might touch during a normal day in the office before you even get to your desk. Maybe your commute starts on public transport? Then, there are the doors, maybe there’s a turnstile, an elevator button, or did you take the stairs and grab the rail? Did you nip into the coffee shop to pick up some breakfast? Did you pay cash, or tap the buttons on the debit card keypad?

If we then consider that a 2015 study carried out by The National Library of Medicine showed that on average, we touch our faces around 23 times per hour, it’s easy to see why the simple act of regularly sanitising our hands can make such a big difference.

“On average, each of the 26 observed students touched their face 23 times per hour. Of all face touches, 44% (1,024/2,346) involved contact with a mucous membrane, whereas 56% (1,322/2,346) of contacts involved nonmucosal areas.”

Yes, it sounds fairly unpleasant when it’s put in those terms, but it’s the reason why one of the most important messages throughout this pandemic has been for the public to frequently and thoroughly wash their hands.

So, to help reduce the risk of infection in our customer’s offices and workspaces (as well as our own), we’ve developed the Ilona Touch-free Hand Sanitiser Dispenser.

It’s designed to be used completely hands-free with a simple pedal mechanism, ideal for a reception or high-traffic areas. It’s durable, robust and it looks stylish too, with a brushed stainless-steel finish. And replacing the bottle takes seconds, just unscrew, slide out the top plate, replace the bottle and slide the plate back into place – simple!

Employees Should Be Re-Introduced Gradually

This is something that replicates our overall approach to bringing the lockdown to an end; re-opening gradually. The same goes for our office spaces. It’s a good idea to start with a limited number of people, for example those who are unable to work from home.

If you have multiple teams working in the same area, you might want to consider arranging alternate days for them to be in the office. Split team working is also a good idea; this simply means that a percentage of the team works from the office while their counterparts work from home, then they switch.

Think About Your Home-Working Policy

One thing that recent months has taught many of us is that thanks to technology, we have the ability to be just as effective at home as we are in the office. If your team members are able to work from home, then putting a fixed rota in place will help to reduce any potential infection risks, whilst allowing your team to enjoy team work and social interaction again in doses.

Plan Your Workspace with Social Distancing in Mind

One thing’s for certain, we’ll need to change the way we interact with our colleagues at work. This means that people shouldn’t be seated too close together, if you have a hot-desking policy, a fixed desk policy would be more sensible, at least for the short term.

You’ll need to think about how people move around the office too. Using signs and barriers will help people pass each other without getting too close. If you have a lift, it’s a good idea to limit that to 1 or 2 people at a time, or just to those who need it. If you are re-configuring offices, be creative by adding plants which can be used to mark our separate areas, or incorporated into barriers and cabinet tops, to create a sense of well-being and calm as well as looking beautiful.

Improve the Wellbeing of Your Teams with Plants and PPE packs

Making sure employees feel comfortable about returning to the workplace goes beyond simply making sure their environment is safe. With lockdown taking its toll on many of us, getting back into the outside world can feel pretty daunting. The prospect of using public transport and heading back to the office will be a cause of anxiety for many – that’s where office plants can bring real benefits to your team’s wellbeing.

It’s currently mandatory that those of us who rely on public transport for our daily commute are required to wear some kind of face-covering while we travel.

Consider having a supply of PPE in the office for teams to use as they need. Planteria offer a ‘Sani-pac’ which contains everything you may need to help keep you safe including 3-ply masks, hand sanitiser for your personal work area, anti bacterial spray and wipes for your desks and keyboards, as well as disposable gloves, and tissues.

Make your office a welcoming, calm and relaxing place to return to, by adding some office plants. Plants are known to produce oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from the air, actually making the air in your workplace cleaner, and are shown to reduce anxiety and fatigue.

So, while it might not sound like much, investing in a few office plants can make all the difference to your team.

Get in touch with us, we are ready to help you create the best return for your team.

Tags: About us, Planteria Group

Planteria Group Growing Staff

Introducing two of our newest employees at Planteria Group: Bronwyn Anderson and Casey Gill.

Please join us in welcoming them to our growing team! To get to know Bronwyn and Casey a bit better, we asked a few questions and we’ve included their answers below.

Bronwyn Anderson:

Bronwyn’s role at Planteria Group is Executive Assistant and she joined our team in March 2017.

Q: What is your home town?

A: Buckhurst Hill

Q: What are 3 things people might not know about you?

A: 1) I wear Versace perfume

2) I love playing volleyball!

3) Worst food: peas!

Q: What is your favourite plant?

A: Ficus Ginseng

Q: What are your favourite flowers?

A: Hydrangeas

Q: What is your favourite thing so far about working at Planteria Group?

A: There is a good work ethic and culture!

Casey Gill:

Casey has also been with Planteria Group since March 2017 in her role as Social Media Coordinator.

Q: What is your home town?

A: Houston, Texas

Q: What are 3 things people might not know about you?

A: 1) I’ve lived in 3 different countries, including the United Arab Emirates.

2) I’m a certified yoga teacher and run a small yoga studio nearby.

3) Favourite colour: green! How fitting!

Q: What is your favourite plant?

A: Anything to do with succulents! I love all different types of succulents for their unique shapes and easy-care.

Q: What are your favourite flowers?

A: Lilies – particularly Stagazer Lilies for their gorgeous colour and powerful fragrance.

Q: What is your favourite thing so far about working at Planteria Group?

A: Everyone is so friendly and there is a great atmosphere in the office, it’s also a pleasure being surrounded by so much greenery!

Thanks Bronwyn and Casey! Welcome to our family.

Our team is growing like a Kentia Palm (aka: Big Ken) and we are proud of our core values. If you are interested in a career with Planteria Group, please see our job openings and apply within.

Tags: Planteria Group, Service, Workplace wellness

Core Values Demonstrated with a Smile

At Planteria Group we are proud of our core values and our big smiles which drive our approach to providing you with reliable quality service and the most stunning planting & floristry services you’ll find in the UK. We believe that with great values comes great service.

As a family-run business for the past 40 years we hold our values close to our hearts, and believe that this is one (very important) thing that makes us stand above other companies out there. Our values embody our personality and our dedication to service whilst shaping every aspect of our business to ensure we always give our best.

Outlined below are our principle values:

– Integrity

– Dedicated to Care

– Always Smart

– Committed to Excellence

– Relentless to Improve

Integrity – Our business was founded on integrity from day one and we continue to do what is right, acting responsibly and always following through on our commitments. We are honest and hard-working and will always work to achieve the high standards you have come to expect.

Dedicated to Care – we are in the business of nurturing and nothing feels better than the sense of achievement that comes with a job well done. There’s nothing we can’t handle and we thrive on attention to detail from the initial consultation through to the design process, planting and after-care maintenance. Nurturing plants, flowers and clients since 1977 – that’s something we are quite proud to announce!

Always Smart – Image isn’t everything but it is a big part of good business and it goes a long way in promoting loyalty & professionalism. Whether you visit us at our head office or if you use our services and view the results you will find us smart, tidy, professional and efficient.

Committed to Excellence – Anything less is not an option. We won’t settle for second-best and nor should you. We believe a job is only worth doing if it is done properly and professionally. All of our staff receive rigorous training and everyone at Planteria Group is an expert in their own field giving you the best possible experience.

Relentless to Improve – We are constantly challenging our designers and pushing boundaries above and beyond industry standards, driving innovation, design and execution of our services. We continue to explore and innovate using new concepts and technologies bringing you the best possible results.

Whether you’re a new client or an existing client (or perhaps a future client) we are confident that you will love our services and the benefits they bring to your business.

If you’d like further information about what we can do for your business or workspace, please contact us or request a FREE QUOTE online.

Planteria Group provides stunning planting & floristry for businesses & offices since 1977. Not only attractive to the eyes but other health benefits of greening your space include cleaner air, increased productivity & creativity as well as reducing stress & sickness creating an overall happier place to be. Interior & Exterior planting & flower designs available.

Tags: About us, Planteria Group, Service

In Safe Hands Across The UK

Proud to be a national provider of corporate planting and floristry services

We often tell our clients that we are a National Provider and we do so with some pride, but why does that matter, who does it matter to and what does it really mean?

We are currently 65 staff strong including a team of 31 technicians and florists covering 1700 client sites for both planting and floristry services. We cover the whole of the UK which currently means Dundee to Exeter, though we’ll happily go further.

Our technicians are directly employed by us, they are not contractors. We see this as important to providing the very best service and accountability to our clients. Our team receive full in-house training working to the Planteria standard.

We have long lasting relationships with our technicians who are part of the Planteria family. Many of our technicians hold long service awards with Planteria, for more than five years continuous employment, and the majority have impressive knowledge of, and experience in the horticulture industry. One has even published a book on the subject.

Our technicians are the face of Planteria Group and we know that they, in turn, build lasting relationships with our clients who sing their praises, some have also won industry recognised awards for their work. Furthermore, our team are incentivised on a customer feedback score. We use a tried and tested scoring system, the Net Promoter Score -read more about it here NPS and customer service.

Many of our clients have multiple sites. For them, having one provider for plants and plant maintenance is a sensible move. The benefits include having one point of contact and having one invoice if required. We provide them with a client web portal to view visits to all sites in one place. They also get consistent maintenance and consistent plant designs and styles, if that is something that is important to them. We take the time to understand our clients, who conversely could have a completely different requirement for corporate planting and floristry at each location and need a bespoke approach. Consolidation of contracts eases admin, simplifies life and creates cost savings.

To mention just a few examples, we are currently serving 57 locations for a well-known brewery, 12 locations for a luxury hotel chain, 66 client locations for a leading Facilities Management Company and 25 buildings for a property management company with our services for plants and flowers.

What can we do for you? – Please get in touch with us for a free quotation or when you are next putting your contract out to tender.

Tags: About us, Planteria Group

Press Release: Planteria Group Acquires Jungleworld

Planteria Group Acquires Jungleworld

In a move that makes them one of the largest privately-owned plant services companies in the UK.

Planteria Group, nationwide corporate planting and floristry experts, and provider to the FM industry,has acquired competitor Jungleworld, a specialist in the hospitality floristry sector. Both companies have a wealth of experience and a strong client base, which will combine to greatly benefit both customers and companies.

Family run Planteria Group established in 1977, made the strategic decision to buy Jungleworld. Planteria’s Managing Director Matt Anderson said, “The acquisition complements Planteria Group’s current operations, increasing our staff by 20% at our head office near Stansted with easy transport links across the UK. The move allows for an increased offering geographically for our floristry services, strengthens our buying power and sees us increasing our presence in the hospitality market sector. The coming together of the two companies has been seamless, we purchased our head office in 1996, with ambitious stretch goals in mind and had ample space for the expansion of our business.”

Both companies will run under their existing names for the current time.

Tags: Charity, Planteria Group

GOSH Fundraising Donation

Fundraising through charity events at our office is one of the ways that we work together to support those in need. Most recently, we supported Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children with a bake sale, raffle and table tennis tournament.

Following our fundraising event and after counting all of the donations, we were incredibly honoured to see the grand total of £700 on an offical cheque to GOSH. Matt Anderson, Managing Director of Planteria Group presented the cheque in person at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

Our donation helps seriously ill children and their familes when they need it most. Donations can help contribute to the building and refurbishment of the hospital, support ground-breaking research and development of new treatments, fund the most up-to-date equipment and also provide support and accommodation to children and families in need. We are proud to support Great Ormond Street Hospital and the excellent and meaningful work they do.

If you would like to make a donation to Great Ormond Street Hospital, you can do so easily by visiting their website – click here.

Each quarter our employees help select a meaningful charity to support and we work together to plan events and make donations that make a difference. This quarter we will be supporting Meningitis Now, a charity that is close to the hearts of our employees.

Tags: About us, NPS, Planteria Group, Service

NPS & The Importance of Customer Service

‘Our customers are at the heart of all we do. We enjoy the feel good factor and sense of achievement in a job well done and we like to think there is no circumstance that we cannot handle.’

‘Nurturing is natural to us: plants, flowers, clients. It’s all in the attention to detail. This is why people who choose Planteria, stay with Planteria.’

This is reflected not only in our core values but also in the care we offer to all of our clients no matter how large or small, new or old. We always strive to go above and beyond what is expected and we’re so committed to excellence that we select a number of clients each week and ask directly for feedback.

At Planteria, we measure our performance using a simple, non-biased survey to measure customer satisfaction and also understand whether our clients like us enough to recommend us to others. This is pretty powerful stuff.

Our customer satisfaction is measured with something called Net Promoter Score®, or NPS® for short.

NPS measures customer experience and also reveals how likely our clients are to suggest our services to others. This proven metric provides the core measurement for customer experience and the surveys are not only straightforward, they are also easy to understand and complete without taking too much time from our clients.

The most important question asked is: “How likely is it that you would recommend our company’s product and services to a friend or colleague?”

In other words, the question asks what is the likelihood of promotion? As such, the question not only gives an indication of customer satisfaction with the brand, but also the level of customer loyalty.

Respondents answer by choosing a number from 0-10, with 10 being the most likely to recommend.

Depending on the score our customers give, they are then classified as promoters (score 9-10), passives (score 7-8) and detractors (score 0-6).

The scores from all customers are then aggregated into one single number, which is our overall Net Promoter Score. Here’s the formula for calculating the NPS score:

NPS = (% of Promoters) – (% of Detractors)

NPS score can range from -100—if all customers are Detractors—to 100—if all customers are Promoters.

So why do we care about this so much? According to npsbenchmarks.com, the key benefits of NPS are:

· NPS scores can be used as a predictor of future customer actions

· Higher response rate due to the simplicity of the survey

· Ease of use – NPS practitioners can conduct the survey via various channels – phone, SMS, or Web.

· Quick follow-up – NPS practitioners can quickly share the customer feedback with frontline employees or managers, who can follow up with detractors and address their concerns. LEGO®, for example, address low NPS feedback in as little as 24 minutes.

At Planteria Group, our current NPS Score is 65 and we are proud to be in the top percentage of companies with strong customer loyalty. (Update: as of September 2017 our latest NPS score was an impressive 91).

For comparison, below is a snapshot of NPS scores from other companies you may be familiar with. Planteria Group rank exceptionally well by comparison. (Below data correct at time of publishing.)And for comparison by industry, it’s nice to see that we are well above the various averages shown below:(Above data correct at time of publishing July 2017)

Although our NPS scores are incredibly valuable, perhaps the most valuable aspect of the NPS surveys is the written feedback we receive from our clients. It’s hugely beneficial and rewarding to see the positive feedback and if ever there is a problem or a comment that strikes us as needing attention we can quickly respond.

Planteria Group are committed to excellence. Anything less is not an option. We believe a job is only worth doing if it’s done properly. We employ rigorous training and procedures to ensure everyone at Planteria is an expert in their field. This culture of excellence ensures our clients are consistently satisfied.

In addition to our commitment to excellence, we are also relentless to improve. We love to challenge the status quo and constantly push the boundaries of industry standards. We explore and innovate to discover new concepts, and diligently fight the resistance to change. This forward-looking, enthusiastic approach keeps us ahead of the game.

Image credits: all visual charts shown come from npsbenchmarks.com

Tags: About us, Planteria Group, Service

Planteria’s Superhero

We have a fantastic team of technicians at Planteria, who deliver and maintain plants and flowers for our clients. But there is a special role that one man has… Tom Evans our ‘superhero’ dons his cape whenever there is a cry for help.

Tom has his own regular clients, who he visits for routine maintenance of their plants and flowers but, should there ever be an issue requiring a non-routine solution, it’s Tom who is sent to save the day!

Thankfully, Tom only needs to be a part-time superhero, but there are occasions when a plant fails, or an installation needs rescuing. We talked to Tom to find out more about his role and how fulfilling it is helping us to keep our clients happy.

Q: Tell us a little about yourself?

A: I have now been with Planteria for over 10 years. It’s been a rewarding experience from day one. The old greenhouses at Chigwell were great for me (having been brought up in a flower shop as a child) but the new greenhouses at Henham are truly fantastic.

Q: As a fully trained and experienced florist and plant technician you’re capable of dealing with anything the job throws at you, what do you enjoy about the role?

A: Working with nature every day for me is fulfilling and I do enjoy solving problems for our clients. It’s a great opportunity to get to know the client, understand their issues and put things right. As the trouble-shooter I get to meet so many more customers than I did before I took on the role. I like to resolve issues fast.

Q: You travel around London all the time, do you have any memorable moments?

A: I certainly see some interesting people driving around London every day. The most memorable were David Cameron jogging one morning in Mayfair, and being introduced to Yoko Ono (of The Beatles fame) at the Jet Centre as she was about to fly out of London.

Q: With customer service a key focus for Planteria, we aim to provide solutions to all queries as soon as practically possible. How does this affect you, and your day?

A: It’s been interesting to see how technology has helped improve everything for me in this regard. Communication at Planteria through the use of smart phones and the Protean system has been a game changer, we can deal with issues quickly and make our clients happy.

Q: What is the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you in your role at Planteria?

A: Early one morning I was busy tending plants in an empty office room. Behind me I could hear an employee enter and strike up a conversation.

Client: Hi! How are you this morning?

Me: Great thanks. How was your weekend?

Client: I had a brilliant weekend thanks. We had a barbecue….blah blah

After a brief outline of their weekend and a few encouraging comments from me about the weather the conversation began making less and less sense. I turned around only to realise the client was on the phone to someone else! We were both in stitches after they hung up.

Tags: About us, Planteria Group

Planteria Round Up 2016 With a Celebration of Success

Thursday 22 December was set aside in the Planteria Group Calendar for the end of year, Whole Company Meeting, kicking off at 7:45 with a full English Breakfast. The Company have now grown so large that there isn’t a big enough meeting space within our offices to house us all, so the meeting was held off-site at the Hilton Hotel Stansted.

Our Chairman Phil Anderson opened the meeting, welcoming and thanking staff for a successful 2016. Department heads of; Sales, Operations, Finance, Marketing, Floristry and Installation then gave a round-up of achievements for the year and shared their own vision, strategic plans and goals for 2017.

Feedback from this section, during the coffee break, was enthusiastic. “It’s so interesting to hear what goes on in each department, we get so busy with our own work that we don’t have time to think about what other people are doing”

“It’s good to hear that the company is doing well and there has been so much growth in the past few years”.

After the coffee break, the Employee of The Quarter Award was presented by Phil Anderson. The worthy recipient of this Award was Marian Varvari. “Marian has an excellent work ethic, he just gets on with whatever is required of him. He is a great team member and frequently goes beyond his remit to make things work for both his colleagues and our clients.

An example – back in October, one Sunday, he could not complete his floristry round as most of the roads in his delivery area were closed, he was told they would reopen at 6pm. So, after starting at 7am at the nursery and completing 2 deliveries he went home and then went back again at 6pm and finished the round. He then did his Monday round as usual. He did not complain he just said that he did not want to let anyone down – this is true dedication”.

Long Service Awards were given to Karen Norman and Martin Collins for five years’ service.

In the final session of the day Matt Anderson, our Managing Director shook things up a bit and took the opportunity to make the most of having all our staff in one location. Matt screened a thought provoking video based on a factual customer service story. After the video, using a random numbering system, Matt put teams together of people who don’t usually work together. The groups discussed creative customer service ideas. The benefit of this was to get staff talking to one another and bonding over their work experiences and thought processes. A whole raft of ideas got generated, and the diverse mix of job roles in each group meant that the ideas generated were informed, relevant and workable. We look forward to seeing some of the ideas becoming a reality in the coming months.

The meeting was a great success and we’re now raring to go and looking forward to a flourishing 2017.

Tags: Christmas Trees, Planteria Group

Santa Claus Promoting Our Tree Service for Offices and Hotels

Yes, it may be September and seem early to think about Christmas, but if you’re a building manager, facilities manager, office manager or in charge of Hotel services, seize the moment! We have all our tree orders finalised by November, with the peak number of orders being taken in early October!

This year we’ve launched our easy to use on-line tree ordering configurator. Available in the Greater London and Cambridge areas for corporate customers. To help us promote our service we took our Santas out into the streets of London to greet commuters with some early festive cheer.

Our aim, to spread the message about our service, and to provide an extra incentive to order now we also gave away a ‘personal desk tree’, claimed by using the code on our leaflets. We certainly put a smile on the face of many city workers. Quite a few were happy to snap a ‘selfie with Santa’ to share on our social media platforms. Spreading a bit of early Christmas cheer has to be a good thing?

Our popular tree service offers live, Nordmann Fir trees as well as traditional and cone style artificial trees in a range of sizes. You choose; undecorated, lights only or fully decorated in your colour choices with optional faux gifts for the base of the tree, coordinating garlands and wreaths. When the festivities are over we take it all away! Easy as mince pie!

Order today!

Tags: About us, Planteria Group

Meet Phil, our Chairman and Founding Partner of Planteria Group

Founding partner and Company Chairman, Phil Anderson started out in true entrepreneurial style as a sole trader in office plant maintenance. He later partnered with his brother, Brian, and grew the company to the market leader it is today, servicing around 900 sites across the UK. With a career spanning nearly 40 years Phil has undoubtedly learned a lot and seen quite a few changes. I caught up with Phil to ask him to share his experiences and advice.

Q. What was your inspiration to work with plants and flowers in the first place?

A. I had worked for a wholesale flower and plant nursery and had developed a love of flowers and plants so it seemed a natural progression.

Q. What has been the toughest part of growing your business and how did you overcome it?

A Starting out on my own, with no capital or income. I didn’t join my brother financially for a few years, so I didn’t milk his profits. It was a stressful time and I got shingles through the worry of it, but the sheer need to succeed drove me on.

Q. What advice would you give to someone starting their own business?

A. Constantly look at your cash flow.

Q. If you could go back and give some advice to the 20 year old you, what would it be?

A. Don’t try to start something in half measures – give it your all.

Q. What has been the biggest contributor to the success of Planteria?

A. The next generation being given a free hand in the business.

Q. What has been the biggest change in the industry during the 39 years Planteria has been running?

A. Customers’ expectations are always increasing.

Q. What are the most exciting developments in corporate horticulture?

A. It has become the accepted ‘norm’ in office, you no longer have to sell the concept, you just have to understand your clients’ needs and show them why you are the best provider.

Q. What is the thing you are most proud of about your business?

A. Our level of service and our staff.

Q. When do you want to retire.

A. Never, completely!

Tags: About us, NPS, Planteria Group, Service

NPS score still on the up!

Our Net Promoter Score system (NPS) tracks the level of satisfied clients by asking them the vital question (“how likely are you to recommend us?”). We are very excited about our progress over the last year and are pleased to show you this graph showing the results of all our training and effort in striving for the ultimate customer service. Many thanks to all of you who contribute to this – we love to hear your feedback, whether it be positive or negative – as it allows us to be true to our core values and continue to improve.

Tags: About us, Planteria Group

More efficient, more effective. Never say Die.

With the wild weather that has recently hit this country, we suffered, along with many other companies, several power-cuts which disrupted the progress of day-to-day work. Rather than sitting tight and just waiting for them to happen, we have installed a substantial generator to ensure we can keep rolling through any power-cut! ‘substantial’ is the operative word – our operations manager reckons it has enough power to keep the local village going!

Tags: About us, Planteria Group

We’re on a high for the End of the Year!

Over the past year we’ve been busy. Our No.1 focus was to get our service from a good standard, to a great standard, to exceed all expectations…it’s been hard work and our service team have really dedicated themselves to creating ‘raving fans’! And look at the results!

Our ‘10 minute response time to all service queries’ has increased by 40%!

Our ‘solution to query provided within 2 hours’ has increased by 32%!
…in just 6 months.

We think they deserve a large pat on the back! Watch this space for next year – we’re on our journey to create raving fans…

Tags: About us, Planteria Group, Service

Instant Transparent Reporting – a Win-Win Solution for Our Clients and Us!

Planteria implemented an ‘Open Reporting’ Software tool – providing instant, transparent access about our service visits. This is a ‘must have’ for Facilities Managers with multi-site responsibilities.

Lindsey Anderson, from the Service Management team explains more about our reporting tool, the benefits for our clients and its impact on our business processes.

“We went live with our new software in May 2013. In a nutshell it works from the technicians smart phones and it records technicians’ time on site. The software also runs the work flow processes seamlessly, recording any replacement plants used and ordering plants required for the next visit to a client. The technician writes a brief ‘report’ on his visit, and then it captures a customer’s signature. All this information gets collated into a client visit sheet and sent through to the client after each visit.

Our clients love it! It keeps them totally in tune with our service visits and provides a medium for the technician to communicate directly with the site contact, even when they are in and out before office hours. Multi-site managers can now benefit from instant reporting from all of their buildings, keeping them up-to-date every day.

As well as greatly increasing our communication with our clients, it has streamlined our internal ordering processes, and automatically runs a P&L report for us which helps with accounting.

The new system of working has improved things for our technicians too. No more scrappy bits of paper, everything they need is all there on one device. They can order plants quickly and smoothly, knowing they will be there labelled up with their name, and the customer’s name, ready to collect within the next few days at our nursery.

Finally the system has been a great advantage to me in managing the scheduling of maintenance rounds. Everything is all there on one system, with an easy to use drag and drop planner board all synchronised with the technician’s Smartphones. The technology allows real time allocation, updating and completion of field service maintenance jobs, linking the technician to the office based system, making processes much more efficient with less margin for errors”.

Tags: About us, Planteria Group

We hereby announce our New Cold Store open!

To aid our rapidly growing floristry division, we have just doubled our chiller store capacity, which gives us more ability to keep our flower stock at optimum freshness…as you can see, it is a great moment for our team and will massively assist them in their work!

Tags: About us, Environment, Nature, Planteria Group

Introducing our feathered residents…!

There’s nothing like fresh, truly free range eggs from happy chickens allowed to roam the six acres at our Head Office nursery. These birds are real characters and provide us with some extra amusement. Promise we’ll keep them away from answering the phones..!

Tags: About us, Planteria Group

Meet the Team Event, London

Our Meet the Team Event day was a great success. The concept was to give our existing and potential clients an insight into our organisation and services. A good number of plant displays, showing a large range of containers and plant specimens helped provide an idea of the world of different styles and environments that can be achieved. Several demonstrations throughout the day from our florist and plant technician were very popular and showed the expertise that lies behind these key roles. The constant provision of refreshments concluded what could be described as a very enjoyable day!

We can’t wait to do the next one….see you there….

Tags: About us, Planteria, Planteria Group

Looking Back at 2018

2018 was an excellent year for growth at Planteria, with both new and existing clients engaging with our business. We ended the new year on a high, with our annual event to celebrate our achievements.

At Planteria, we value our staff not only in thought but through our actions. Our annual All Staff Meeting allows us to thank everyone for their hard work and to recognise achievement. It is an opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made and to focus on the challenges, strategy and vision for the coming year.

The impressive venue for our meeting was The Imperial War Museum in Duxford, Cambridge. This museum displays military aircraft alongside wartime memorabilia, but it is also occasionally a site from which stunning airshow displays can be enjoyed.

Luckily for us, the day of our All Staff Meeting we were blessed with a beautifully crisp winter morning. The day kicked off early, at 07:45 with a full English breakfast which equipped us for the busy agenda ahead.

A series of seminar-style presentations from our department managers shared insights and overviews of 2018. Recognising the immense ground we’ve covered together allows our organisation to take pride in our individual skills as well as the business as a whole, which emboldens us to approach the year ahead with hope and enthusiasm.

We showed our gratitude to particularly active members of our organisation through awards. Like many successful organisations, we reward long-service and excellent work, and this year we were very pleased to hand one such award to technician Sarah O’Brien, who is now the current owner of the title ‘Employee of the Quarter’.

We followed this emotive and positive start to the morning, with some delicious refreshments. To be seasonal, our treats included some festive mince pies, alongside the traditional tea, coffee, pastries and fruit. This break was made very special thanks to two of our talented team members, Lindsey Anderson and Marcus Norman, who both took to the piano to further entertain and enlighten our morning.

We continued the day with the Planteria Quiz. This battle of the brains kicked off with a round of questions inspired by our business. Other topics included questions about colleagues, food, London and ‘round-the-world’. A practical round, to build the largest free-standing structure using only paper and sellotape, was both fun and deadly serious, there were chocolate santas to win after all! Overall, it was a fun team builder that everyone could get behind.

After the quiz, Director Matt Anderson shared his vision for Planteria’s expected growth over the next two years, considering both long and short-term plans that could help us to achieve our goals, one of which will see our Head Office in Hertfordshire undergoing a re-fit to give our growing team the space they need to be creative and productive.

Following this round-up, we were given the chance to engage in a stimulating Q&A before wrapping up by lunchtime. In keeping with the festive theme started by the mince pies, the day ended with the gifting of hampers to all staff from the management team. It was at this moment that we were lucky enough to get the chance to view an aerobatic display and Spitfire fly-past, organised by The Imperial War Museum.

As usual, our annual All Staff Meeting was a roaring success. We’re ready to approach 2019 with gusto and look forward to bringing you happier, healthier, greener corporate environments through biophilic design services, our wide range of office plants and expert maintenance across the UK.

Are you ready for 2019?

Planning Our Workspaces for The New-Normal

Cleanliness is Key

Employees Should Be Re-Introduced Gradually

Think About Your Home-Working Policy

Plan Your Workspace with Social Distancing in Mind

Improve the Wellbeing of Your Teams with Plants and PPE packs

Bronwyn Anderson:

Casey Gill:

Proud to be a national provider of corporate planting and floristry services

We often tell our clients that we are a National Provider and we do so with some pride, but why does that matter, who does it matter to and what does it really mean?

Planteria Group Acquires Jungleworld

In a move that makes them one of the largest privately-owned plant services companies in the UK.

The meeting was a great success and we’re now raring to go and looking forward to a flourishing 2017.

Planteria implemented an ‘Open Reporting’ Software tool – providing instant, transparent access about our service visits. This is a ‘must have’ for Facilities Managers with multi-site responsibilities.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE?

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