Social Responsibility

For some time now, I have been keen to align our social responsibility to the commercial objectives of our business, so in 2007, we embarked on a journey of learning and were introduced to the University of East London.

This relationship has given us access to academic excellence and support and allowed students to apply academic theory to commercial studies and projects.

We have now extended our education links by partnering with Queen Mary, University of London.

These ongoing links with academia have built Albany’s knowledge in washroom design, hand hygiene and cleaning and, more importantly, shown how these areas can have a positive impact upon infection control and environmental sustainability.

Whilst we have been gathering in-depth knowledge about hand hygiene and product design, we have been working closely with some of our 200 customers in the education sector and, together, have identified a consistent and unaddressed concern around hygiene in schools.

Let me explain:

Most schools are committed to the government’s Healthy Schools and Eco Schools programmes with the objective of creating safe and healthy places to learn and work. They acknowledge that a child’s health has a direct impact upon the grades that he or she attains.

Nobody is in any doubt that good health and academic achievements go hand-in-hand.

However, with the help of schools, we have identified that the following problems are faced at many schools:

• Inadequate provision of clean toilets fitted with the right facilities available to pupils throughout the day
• Inadequate hygiene awareness amongst their pupils
• A lack of imaginative ways of delivering hygiene education that will resonate with children
• Schools often want to manage their cleaning in-house for a variety of reasons, which include safeguarding site security, flexibility and maintaining strong ties with the local community through employment
• School facilities or site managers are left to manage the daunting challenge of keeping the premises clean

These problems became the catalyst for further research by Albany to find potential solutions.

The Albany Healthy Schools programme is the result. University research and partnerships with several professional bodies have been invaluable in its creation.

We now sponsor three excellent organisations with a strong social conscience; namely:

Albany’s research and my investment, already exceeding £250,000, is due to a personal mission to raise hygiene awareness and standards to help schools to get the best hygiene and environmental solution from their tight budgets.

We now offer a free A+ hygiene audit to schools and educational establishments to identify and report on their results, requirements and recommendations.

Our solutions focus upon:

• Albany Max

  Hand hygiene education programme

• Healthy Hands

  Raising hand hygiene standards

• Healthy Cleaning

  Empowering school cleaning teams

• Healthy Washrooms

  Providing hygienic eco-friendly school washrooms

• Infection Control

  Specialised services that maintain a healthy learning environment

Albany Healthy Schools has now enabled us to fully align our charity and social responsibility programme to our commercial objectives

My passion for helping schools improve their hygiene standards is supported by my commercial ability to make this a reality.

We will achieve our aim by sustaining long term relationships with schools and by providing them with innovative products, services and solutions that are complemented by successful education hygiene programmes.

Mike Burton
Managing Director
Albany Facilities Limited