News : Standards Fit For A Queen

On a recent visit by HM Queen Elizabeth II to London’s most talked-about landmark building ‘the Gherkin’, Her Majesty experienced lunch at Searcy’s restaurant under its glass dome 180 ft above the city. Strand’s team which is been responsible for maintaining top levels of cleaning at 30 St Mary’s Axe, rose to the challenge of ensuring that the venue looked ‘tip top’ for the Queen’s visit.

Searcy’s General Manager Mark Harris was full of praise for the Strand team’s efforts following the event saying, “The venue looked amazing and sparkled.” The team were on-hand to deal with last minute requirements with a ‘can-do’ attitude and, said Mark, “Sandra [contract manager] managed the requests amazingly well and she really has made my life a good deal easier over the last few days as I was able to rely on the fact that she was going to deliver what she promised.”

The whole Strand team worked extremely hard to ensure the venue was ready to receive its VIP guests with one particular member of the cleaning team, Carlos, receiving exceptional praise. “One man in particular was an absolute star – Carlos. He was in at the crack of dawn and had the task of running around after chefs making marks on the floor, police dogs making a mess everywhere, cleaning cupboards being inspected and pulled apart by the police and so on and so forth. What was most impressive was the fact that nothing was too much trouble and he always carried out all tasks with a smile on his face. I know how hard it is to get good people and you should be very proud of him,” concluded Mark Harris.