FEATURE


IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE... CHRISTMAS?!


Tomorrow’s FM editor Rebekah Thompson took a trip to the Lapland of the Midlands, PHS Greenleaf in Birmingham, to find out how they have already been preparing for Christmas 2015.


This month, whilst many of you have


been sunning yourselves in the


great outdoors; making the most of barbeque season, getting in the garden and trimming your rose bushes, the staff at PHS Greenleaf have also been trimming trees. Christmas trees to be precise, thousands of them, with lights and baubles ready for the holiday season.


In fact, the busy little elves in Birmingham haven’t just been doing this job for the last month; they’ve been doing it since January! Yes, whilst it’s hard to believe that Christmas can be anyone’s full-time employment, besides Santa Claus himself, it is true that there is a team of around a dozen, working 9 ’til 5, 52-weeks-per-year to prepare facilities for the festive period.


HEALTH AND SAFETY


HELPERS When I was invited down to the PHS grotto, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but a warehouse stacked with literally millions of baubles was not it, however, that is what I got. After being introduced to the team I took a tour round the various ‘stations’, with two members of staff dedicated specifically to sorting and removing sharp edges from baubles; they have covered health and safety down to the last detail.


There is also a fully-dedicated Christmas light tester, whose job it is to untangle, count and check every bulb, then PAT test each set of lights, ranging from strings


26 | TOMORROW’S FM


for trees and outdoor festoons, to shaped or written signage. This job starts in January, as the decorations are taken down from the previous year, an inventory is taken and the entire process starts from scratch, preparing the illuminations for the following year’s presentations.


DRESSED TO IMPRESS I was also taken to see some ready


prepared trees, dressed and waiting to be shipped to their respective destinations when their time comes. These trees have been specified in advance by the FMs in their contracts with PHS. The contracts allow the FM to outline the style, height and date of installation for the trees, what time they should be delivered and erected, if they are a package with lights, wreaths, table decorations and the like, and when they should be collected.


There was also a selection of mock- up trees, waiting for approval by clients who have asked for bespoke decorations, to suit their company’s style, branding and ethos. Clients include, The Trafford Centre, Sky, Frankie & Benny’s and Loch Fyne, whose tailor-made decorations I’m not allowed to reveal, were all designed and ready to be approved for creation imminently.


PHS Greenleaf has seen a 35% growth in FMs outsourcing Christmas displays in the last three years, so it’s hardly surprising that their collection of decorations requires its own entire warehouse. And it’s not just the colour-coded, size, and shape-categorised baubles that have a dedicated warehouse on the Star City site, there is an entire building lined with rows of


BENEFITS OF A PHS CHRISTMAS:


• They provide full risk assessments and method statements – offering FMs the security and peace of mind that everything is installed following set standards and that lights are PAT tested etc


• They can change their display each year with 21 designs to choose from – so the same display doesn’t have to go up each year


• Hassle free: no need to take staff away from form their work to put up a tree or test the lights


• They offer a charity tree where toys can be sold or raffled for the corporate charity (David Lloyd’s currently do this each year)


• PHS offer a bespoke range – with the ability to install anything from 7ft - 45ft trees


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