Argos

Facts and figures

• Retail support services to national portfolio of 745 stores across the UK and Ireland
• 1,500 staff have transferred to Interserve by TUPE
• Comprehensive staff engagement programme
• Preferred supplier for cleaning and associated services across the Home Retail Group

Will Jary, Operational Support Manager at Argos said: “We were impressed by Interserve’s proposal which demonstrates its great attention to both cost and service quality. Interserve has great experience in TUPE transfers and sustainability which also makes it a natural choice for this contract.”

Partnership drives success in retail services

In 2009, Argos took the decision to outsource its cleaning requirements to just one supplier with a view to improving efficiency and service quality.

Following competitive tender, Interserve signed a deal with Argos, also making Interserve the preferred supplier for cleaning and associated services across the Home Retail Group.

The three-year contract involves store cleaning, window cleaning, high level cleaning and warehouse cleaning at 745 stores throughout the UK.

It involved the transfer of over 1,500 employees, under TUPE, across 745 UK stores, from a range of suppliers - all achieved within a 90-day mobilisation period.

Services

• Store cleaning
• Window cleaning
• High level cleaning
• Warehouse cleaning

Achievements

From the outset Interserve has been working with Argos to improve the quality, sustainability and customer experience throughout the store estate.

• Mobilisation of the contract took a two-phased approach. Under Phase 1, the transfer of 300 employees at the self-clean stores took place within 30 days. Phase 2 covered the remaining 1,200 employees at the contract-cleaned stores under a 90-day mobilisation period.
• The operating model is delivered in line with following basic principles which are key to a successful partnership; a close understanding of internal structure and strategy, open communication and innovation.

To support this approach, administration and help desk teams are located at Argos headquarters in Milton Keynes, allowing account managers to develop close working relationships with the Argos team.

Interserve also provides a 24/7 helpdesk for managing service issues and queries in accordance with agreed service level agreements. Logged calls are immediately transferred to the relevant Area Support Manager with an one-hour response time with an escalation procedure in place for non responses.

Find out about the work we do for Homebase, also part of the Home Retail Group.