Field of cleans Here, OCS discusses post-event cleaning at Manchester City’s home ground, the Etihad.
Cleaning will always be in demand where there are large gatherings of people. This can make life difficult for service providers working in destinations and venues, and especially for those who work at facilities that host different types of event throughout the year.
The Etihad Stadium is one such venue, with cleaning partner OCS having to work around a jam-packed football season and busy summer concert programme to keep facilities clean. Sean Roberts, Operations Manager for the City Group contract, said: “It’s a big contract but we’ve hit upon a formula that allows us to keep everything performing well, even between consecutive nights with capacity crowds.”
OCS was awarded the contract in 2016 following the stadium’s expansion to 55,000 seats, a move which made it the eighth largest ground in the UK. As well as the Etihad stadium, the agreement also sees OCS providing cleaning, waste management, pest control, hygiene and window cleaning services across the academy complex in Manchester and the City Football Group’s regional offices in London.
Cleaning during the football season is now a well-drilled exercise for OCS staff, yet a site with such prestige still remains a challenge. Roberts continued: “MCFC was formed as a community project in 1880 so local engagement underpins everything at the club, and it understandably wants to have its best foot forward when rival fans visit. We are proud to provide employment for over 280 local people.”
For a home game, a team of 30 operatives split into eight teams is used, allocated to a dedicated section of the ground. These operatives will complete a full clean and waste removal service at both stadiums before, during, and within 24 hours of the final whistle. Between both the Etihad and the academy, a considerable number of matches take place throughout the course of the year, as well as daily stadium tours, which staff cover by frequently checking the tour’s planned route.
Concerts are a different proposition. The pitch is covered for standing concert goers, increasing capacity by 1,000 people. Uplift in footfall not only increases the amount of waste around the site but also the use of the ground’s key facilities. Post-concert, toilets will be in need of an in-depth clean and, without a half time period to work with, another full run of the ground needs completing en masse. The OCS team will work a 12-hour night shift to ensure full recovery between events, with extra labour dedicated when consecutive events take place.
Successful management of sites like the Etihad rely on flexible staffing arrangements. Roberts noted: “Despite a summer which includes sell-out visits from Metallica, Muse and the Spice Girls, we’ve been able to maintain the ground even with multiple visitors. Technology may grab headlines, but exceptional cleaning standards still depend on exceptional cleaning operatives. Readily trained and flexible labour that’s prepared to run through with a fine toothcomb is vital in a facility of this size.”
Innovation, however, is not far from OCS’s work at the Etihad. The company’s aim to achieve zero to landfill across all sites has resulted in the installation of an on-site anaerobic digestor which not only processes general refuse and food waste from events but also grass cuttings. Last year, around 1025 tonnes of general waste was removed from the facility, with recycling being separated on site prior to collection for energy recovery.
It’s clear that OCS’s experience within destinations and venues gives the company an advantage when running large contracts like the Etihad, but that doesn’t mean the company rests on its laurels. Roberts concluded: “While we have a successful event cleaning template, it wouldn’t be in the spirit of the club to think we can’t improve our service year on year.”
www.ocs.com/uk
50 | EVENT CLEAN-UPS
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