Our President and Vice-Chancellor (Interim) Professor Mark Spearing recently visited a number of areas across Estates and Facilities, meeting with colleagues and finding out more about the key work they do for our University community.
Mark met with colleagues from a number of teams and services, including: Catering colleagues; Electricians; members of Post and Portering; some of our Landscape Gardeners; colleagues from Conferencing, Events and Hospitality; Chefs and kitchen staff.
“The sheer passion and dedication of our staff never ceases to amaze me,” Mark commented. “During my Estates and Facilities visit, I met colleagues from such diverse areas and services, all of which are integral to the day-to-day running of our University.
“Hearing people’s stories is fascinating: you learn things you never would have guessed. For example, it takes at least six weeks for colleagues from our Blue Room fine dining venue to develop and approve a new recipe for their menu, with the dish only being included once the whole team is in agreement.
“I also met a number of staff who have been with the University for some impressively long periods of time – 20 and even 30 years! I am particularly impressed by their commitment and loyalty, and also the amount of change that they have witnessed in the University during their time with us.”
Did you know:
- More than 800 staff work across Estates and Facilities – that’s over 11 per cent of our total body of staff.
- Last year, just under 1 million letters were processed by our Postal Team.
- Catering staff (such as our colleagues in the Piazza) regularly receive thank you cards from our students.
- As a keen gardener himself, Mark has a huge appreciation for the amazing work our Grounds Team does to keep our campuses looking beautiful in every season.
Read the first post in our ‘Out and about’ series here.
