An interview with Louise Brown – Wigan & Leigh College

Wigan & Leigh College is a further education organisation which provides education for students aged 16+.

The college has around 9000 students and is split across 7 buildings. 4 in Wigan and 3 in Leigh.

In April 2022, the college appointed GMS Services Ltd to carry out Legionella Risk Assessments, PPM and Remedial Works across the estate of properties.

Louise Brown (Vice Principal) took time out to answer some questions put to her by our Technical Director – Carl Ollerton.

1. What was it like before you had our product or service?

The PPM schedule lacked visibility and live data reporting and our aim was to ensure that a transparent process was in place accessible across the full estates department.

2. What problem(s) were you trying to solve with our product or service?

We wanted to have a clear and transparent PPM schedule in place that all managers and technical operatives in the estates team had visibility of and move to a position where we had access to live data for these PPM works accessible on line.  A key target was moving away from a paper based approach.

3. Where did you start your search?

We looked for highly regarded and recommended companies, as also wanted a local company as part of our commitment to the Community Wealth Building agenda.

4. What made our product or service stand out from other options?

The highly knowledgeable team and access to technical experts.  The wider package offered including the training, software and data dashboard were key to our decision making.

5. What was the obstacle that almost prevented you from buying our product or service?

None

6. What sold you on buying this product or service?

Access to the on line data and the team of experts we had interacted with during our early discussions.

7. What made you happiest about working with our company?

We feel safe in the knowledge that we have a PPM schedule in place with a team of experts in the field.  The people working with us on the project have been fantastic!

8. What have you been able to achieve since using our product or service?

A clear and structured PPM

Visibility of data

Agree a forward plan of maintenance and upgrades where needed.

The full estates team trained in this area of their work.

9. What has exceeded your expectations since working with us?

The support we’ve had from Carl and his team.

The App and data reporting.

10. What’s the main reason you would recommend our product or service?

A team of highly skilled and knowledgeable professionals.

Good value for money with the service provided.

The responsiveness of the team when needed.

Understanding the complexities of working in our environment with  multi sites and planned capital building projects.

11. What is it about our business surprised you the most?

Personal approach to help problem solve.

The value for money.

12. What would you tell someone who’s considering our business?

Don’t hesitate – get Carl and his team on board as soon as possible.

13. Was there anything we could have done differently?

No!

14. If there’s one word you could use to describe your experience with us, what would it be and why?

Experts!  The skills, knowledge and expertise of GMS have been outstanding.

15. How has your business been impacted since starting to use our product or service?

Systems in place, data accessible enabling clear monitoring of the PPM schedule for this area of the work.

16. What was one unexpected benefit you experienced from using our product or service? 

The training – it was organised quickly, delivered in a thorough and highly engaging way.

17. How was your experience working with us throughout the COVID-19 pandemic?

N/A

18. If you had to choose one, what would be your favorite feature of our product or service? How has it made your life easier? 

The APP enabling real time reporting.

19. On a scale of one to ten, how likely are you to recommend our product or service to others?

10

20. Did you face unexpected curveballs when implementing our product? If so, how did our team help you surmount those challenges?

There were some areas where remedial works were advised however, the team were clear in their recommendations, thoroughly explaining why they were advising certain actions and supported us in enabling the works to be completed quickly at a convenient time without disrupting the day to day activities of the business.

21. Is there anything else that you would like to comment on or say about our product or business?

Just say a big thank you to all the team for their fantastic support.