Summary

Needs:

• To improve customer satisfaction levels

• To improve internal efficiency and promote a “one team” approach

• To increase consistency

• To have independent auditing

Benefits:

• Demonstrates commitment to continual improvement and focus on quality

• Illustrates high degree of competency

• Boosts morale amongst staff striving to achieve the same objectives

• Increases confidence amongst managers as audit reporting highlights achievement and makes constructive comment on areas for improvement

Background 

A landmark building on London’s skyline, Central Hall Westminster boasts elegant marble foyers and sweeping stairways that lead to an extensive complex of halls, conference rooms, exhibition areas, art gallery and café.  The structural design of Central Hall Westminster was a pioneering achievement in architectural engineering and the use of ferro-concrete. The ceiling of the Great Hall is one of the largest reinforced concrete domes in the world and the balconies are cantilevered.

The Suffragettes, campaigning for the vote for women, met here in 1914. Mahatma Gandhi spoke in the Lecture Hall in autumn 1931, and General de Gaulle founded the Free French Movement here in the early 1940’s. Perhaps most famously, Central Hall was the chosen venue for the Inaugural Assembly of the United Nations in 1946.  More recently, Central Hall has hosted the Ladbroke Grove and Marchioness Public Inquiries and for two years it was the London venue for “The Bloody Sunday Inquiry” chaired by Lord Saville.

A major refurbishment and upgrading was undertaken in 2004/05 following which Central Hall were privileged to welcome HM The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Tony Blair and other Government Ministers, who came to the Royal British Legion Concert of Reconciliation to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.

Client Needs

Every organisation would like to improve the way it operates, whether that means increasing market share, driving down costs, managing risk more effectively or improving customer satisfaction.  A quality management system provides the framework needed to monitor and improve performance. 

Challenges

Service delivery at Central Hall Westminster is outsourced, with the provision of catering, cleaning, portering, security, audio visual services and building maintenance being undertaken by a number of specialist service partners.  “A major challenge is getting all these service partners working as one team.  The client is not interested in who is delivering the service, only that they are contracting with Central Hall to provide it.  It is therefore imperative that we provide a seamless, consistent and high quality service that delights our clients”, says Michael Sharp, Managing Director 

Another issue was the avoidance of an overly bureaucratic system that involves reams and reams of paperwork.  It was important that the Quality Management System integrated into the existing intranet based management system.

Benefits

Staff who may have been wary of an ongoing internal audit can now see the benefits of ISO 9001. Issues raised within the organisation are now identified, reported and resolved more quickly.

The management system and newly implemented intranet system have led to an increased sense of unity across the organisation’s service partners.  The intranet provides a portal for improved access to information and system documentation, and has proved to be one of the most popular outcomes of establishing the QMS. 

Catlow Consulting’s Role

Michael Sharp said, “We asked Catlow Consulting to manage the preparation for certification and bring the service partners together as “one team” to enable our goal.  Working with Philip Catlow, (who has previously helped us to achieve ISO14001 certification), and who has a good knowledge of our operational issues, meant that we were able to achieve certification within a six month timeframe without undue work being placed on our already busy team.  Not only did we achieve certification smoothly, but we have also built a cohesive team of service partners who now work to our “One Team Approach”.  The result is a better quality and consistency of service.  Our client feedback confirms this”.