CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYER PROFILE: Johnsons 1871
Among the many companies who receive NVQ assessment from DMR is Johnsons 1871, a Cheshire-based removal firm specialising in a range of services including logistics, furniture installation, hygiene and project management.
Johnsons started as a local family business with a fleet of horse and carts; they now employ over 70 staff and operate right across the UK. In 2021, they’re celebrating their 150th anniversary.
Last month, we spoke with Johnsons 1871 Operations and Installations Manager, Sean Tracey, to find out more about the firm. You can watch the full interview further down the page, but we’ve also picked out a few quotes if you’re short of time.
Sean on staff training at Johnsons…
“We believe that training is important for everybody within the business…NVQ assessment is very important: to make sure that our lads have the knowledge and expertise and the safety apsect under control, but also to show to our clients that we are committed to bettering the staff, and to give them every opportunity to grow within their roles, and advance within the company.”
On social value and supporting the local community…
“We sponsor a couple of local football teams and provide kits and equipment for the young ones that are playing football. We also sponsor a child for guitar lessons – he receives a free guitar lesson every week of term time for his whole school career, and there are plans to appoint one student every year [to the sponsorship programme]. We do a lot of laptop donations: we have a Johnsons Technology arm that refurbishes redundant IT equipment and a lot of that is then donated back into local schools. In recent times, that’s been invaluable because a lot of children working from home don’t have access to IT equipment. Johnsons have been able to make sure that children are having the best opportunities given the circumstances…I think Johnsons are brilliant when it comes to volunteering and supporting the local community around the sites we operate on.”
On supporting other businesses during the pandemic…
“Johnsons have a hydrostatic cleaning system which basically disinfects the whole of the area that is touches…it goes on dry and can be sprayed onto live electrical equipment so laptops and PCs don’t need to be unplugged. We now offer this service around offices and homes across the UK on a 24/7 basis. If your office was working 8 to 8, you can ring up Johnsons Hygiene and Clean and they would come into your office at 9 or 10pm and work through the night to make sure that your office is fully sanitised and disinfected, so that when you come in in the morning, everything’s been cleaned”.
On keeping staff safe during the pandemic…
“We were quite lucky to be given a government essential workers permission certificate very early in the pandemic because we were doing a lot of government work at DEFRA, MOD and DWP including our logistics arm of the business which has been delivering hand sanitiser to all government staff. The challenge for us on the ground was to make sure our employees that are still working are kept safe. We’ve reduced the number of people travelling together in vehicles, we provide new gloves on request, hand sanitiser in every vehicle, disinfectant wipes, and we’ve had full face masks and face shields provided to every employee to make sure the guys are as safe as possible.”
On sustainability and recycling…
“In the furniture installation world, there’s a lot of packaging – everything comes wrapped and double wrapped and triple wrapped. Rather than just dumping everything into a skip to go to landfill, we’re meticulous with recycling. Cardboard, plastic, metal, wood – it’s all segregated and ethically disposed of…It’s drilled into our lads on a daily basis: recycling, recycling, recycling. It’s the least we can do to make sure our impact on the environment is reduced to a minimum.”
On 150th birthday celebrations…
“There’s been a lot of chat within the company about what to do to mark the 150 years. With the pandemic, there’s a lot of stuff that can’t be done. One thing that is definitely going through is the order of new vehicles that will be wrapped in the livery of Johnsons though the ages. The pictures on the side of the trucks will be Johnsons from 1871 through to 2021.”