Facilities management is a demanding industry, challenging companies within it to overcome high turnover rates, competitive tendering, and unpredictable economies – so, it’s not often you find a family-run facilities management company – in the form of Fallow Management Ltd (Fallow) – celebrating 35 years of successful and profitable trade, providing cleaning and security solutions for corporate businesses across the UK. Now named our Best Cleaning and Security Solutions Company 2024 – Kent, we speak to Managing Director, Tracey Scott-Fox and Operations Director, Sharon Mottram. An Ethos of Honesty and Transparency “We care about the things that the people we care about care about.” What’s the secret behind Fallow Management Ltd in Kent? The sisters leading this second-generation family-run business say their success is firmly rooted in their relentless focus on winning the hearts, as well as the minds, of their employees and customers. Fostering an atmosphere of trust and open communication has been essential in cultivating a workforce that is highly motivated, resilient to change, wellprepared to face the challenges of the industry, and most importantly, one that feels valued and cared for. The theme of ‘care’ underpins so much of what Fallow Management does and stands for, featuring prominently in the company values and being felt strongly across the nationwide team of 195 security and cleaning operatives. In fact, Tracey Scott-Fox and Sharon Mottram attribute much of their staff and customer retention to leveraging goodwill and loyalty by treating every member of staff, customer, supplier, and stakeholder like family. The ‘Fallow Family’ is the term they use to describe what it feels like to work for them, and with them, and they believe it’s why the company has a 97% staff retention rate, 30% of its customer contracts are over 10 years old, and 100% of new contracts have been secured through authentic word of mouth. When asked why Fallow Management overtly champions the concept of ‘family’ and genuinely cares about what’s important to its staff and customers, Tracey tells us, “At Fallow, we believe that humanity will always have a place in commercial business. Prioritising people’s desire for connection at work – especially in a world where online messaging and the use of AI threatens to minimise the value of heart-led communication – is why we work hard to create a real and meaningful sense of belonging and human connection in the workplace.” And it looks like it’s paying off dividends… The company’s most recent staff survey revealed that 99% of staff feel part of the ‘Fallow Family’, 95% are planning to still be working for it in two years’ time, and over 25% of its customer contracts have existed for over 15 years. During the most recent SIA Audit, the Auditor commented that during her site visits, “the word ‘family’ came up repeatedly. The company’s values were not mere marketing slogans or straplines – they were real and experienced by staff in their dealings with the company which made them feel very loyal.” So, what do Tracey and Sharon think their Fallow Family will ‘care’ about over the next few years? “Our customers simply want us to keep doing what we’ve always done for them: provide trained, professional, happy members of staff, manage their accounts with integrity and transparency, and solve their problems with speed and precision the moment they arise. “Our staff are highlighting two priorities for us to tackle: continuing to offer benefits they value like rewards, recognitions, access to a free holiday home, a counsellor, social events, and competitive pay rates and pension. We also know a significant proportion of our staff have Special Educational Needs or learning difficulties and they are talking to us about how they would like to access essential training and job-related resources in different formats, so we are currently trialling YouTube videos and QR coded visual and audible training resources to facilitate this.” “Ultimately our goal for the future is to continue to function as a large business that turns over several million pounds a year, yet still feels like a close-knit family. Whatever matters to our Fallow Family matters to us.” Company: Fallow Management Ltd Contact: Tracey Scott-Fox and Sharon Mottram Email: [email protected] Website: www.fallowmanagement.com
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