Home / Contracts / Sodexo awarded FM contract for new COVID-19 laboratory

Sodexo awarded FM contract for new COVID-19 laboratory

Sodexo has been awarded the contract to provide a range of facilities management services at the new Department of Health and Social Care owned and run Rosalind Franklin Laboratory in Royal Leamington Spa.

The new laboratory, named after Rosalind Franklin, is part of the NHS Test and Trace laboratory network and will increase the UK’s COVID-19 testing capacity by hundreds of thousands a day as it scales up its operations over the coming months.

As part of the facilities management contract, management positions are already being filled from the local area to assist in the mobilisation of the new laboratory and a local waste management provider has been contracted for waste and recycling services at the laboratory.

When fully operational, 90 people will be employed as part of the facilities management contract, recruited as much as possible from within a 30-mile radius of the laboratory.

The range of services which Sodexo will provide includes communal area cleaning, security, grounds maintenance, waste management, logistics, maintenance and 24/7 catering services.

Due to the 24/7 operation of the laboratory Sodexo will implement a micro market to provide a flexible and consistent food service for all staff working, any time of the day. The micro market will be a contactless catering solution offering customers diverse range of drinks, healthy and indulgent snacks, sandwiches and salads, plus hot meal options. Staff at the laboratory will be able to scan and go using self-service tills.

Stuart Winters, CEO Healthcare, Sodexo UK & Ireland, said: “I am extremely proud that we continue to play our part in the fight against this pandemic, supporting NHS Test and Trace, to increase the UK’s COVID-19 testing capacity.

“We know that working in close partnership with our client, being agile and responsive to their needs, is absolutely vital and I am delighted that we have been recognised for our ability to do this for NHS Test and Trace.

“We look forward to providing high quality services which will improve the daily lives of everyone working at the new Rosalind Franklin Laboratory in Royal Leamington Spa, helping them provide an important service as part of the continued fight against COVID-19.”

[Pictured] An artists impression of a micro market which will be installed at the new laboratory

FMJ and Grundon Waste Management have launched the 2021 waste and recycling management survey. It’s the fourth year for the annual appraisal of how FMs manage their waste and recycling activities and one which marks an unprecedented period of disruption to services due to the pandemic.

In order to understand how FMs have navigated their way through the last year and their plans for meeting stringent waste and recycling targets we’ve posed a series of questions – aided by the advice and experience of our editorial steering committee.

The results of the 2021 survey will be published in FMJ magazine and form the basis of a white paper co-written by FMJ and the experts at Grundon on how to approach waste and recycling strategies.

To take part in the survey click here.

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