Regency Facilities Management

Going from Strength to Strength

The saying ‘from little acorns do large trees grow’ has never been so applicable as it is to Regency Facilities Management, a company based at Prestwick Airport who are going from strength to strength.

Offering a seven day a week, 24-hour a day service, Regency started life as a carpet cleaning company in 1983 but has come on leaps and bounds since Keith Glass bought the company in 2009. This is as a result of both tendering and winning contracts from the Public Sector.

Managing Director Keith said: “I started working with Regency in 1999 and ten years later bought the company. At that time, we were based in Ayr but later moved to Prestwick to accommodate an increased demand in the business. Regency has been based from Prestwick Airport for around seven years now.”

Explaining the vast array of work they undertake Keith said: “We specialise in facilities management and cover everything from commercial cleaning and joinery work to painting and decorating. We also deal with waste management. The facilities management side of the company is where the real growth is.

“We have grown in a relatively short space of time from employing a handful of staff to where we are now with almost 130 full-time employees and we cover all areas of the United Kingdom.”

Keith and General Manager Jamie McGinn, who joined as an office administrator seven years ago, pride themselves on employing people who otherwise would struggle to find full-time work.

Keith explained: “People may have been out of work for a long time or are young and never had a job but we take them on, train them and I’m proud to say we have a very high retention rate with many of our staff having been with us for years.

“As we have grown, we have been able to take on people through South Ayrshire Council’s employability and skills team. I have enjoyed being able to employ people who may otherwise not have found employment.”

Regency’s staff work all over the UK and some of the company’s contracts with Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service take their employees to remote locations in Scotland including Lerwick and Kirkwall.

Keith said: “We clean police cells, offices, vans and even crime scenes. We have specially trained personnel who undertake these jobs. It entails a lot of travelling but the staff enjoy it.”

Regency also has major contracts for all three Ayrshire councils – South, East and North – as well as housing organisations in these areas. Regency also has contracts in England, working with the Ministry of Justice, amongst several others, which sees them cover major cities including London, Manchester and Birmingham. Keith added: “We are looking to open a second base of operation in Birmingham.”

Keith and Jamie partially credit Regency’s success story down to the fact they are incredibly versatile. He said: “We will do any kind of work including time critical reactive jobs. We have grown steadily over the years due to winning public contracts and by offering additional services to all of our clients. This has increased our reputation and assisted our growth.”

A contract last year saw some of the Regency team working on a museum on the Balmoral Estate. Keith recalls: “This was around the time the late Queen passed and Regency was fortunate enough to be able to leave a floral tribute.”

Regency puts a lot back into the local community and is sponsoring both the International Ayr Show and Prestfest in September. Charities it supports include Ayrshire Cancer Support and Cash For Kids.

While based at the airport, Regency has picked up work from various places including Chevron Aircraft Maintenance and from the airport itself. Last month they worked on the STREETrave event at the Low Green in Ayr and provided both cleaning and facilities services.

Keith added: “As a result of the great success of the event, Regency has secured a deal to cover the event for the next five years!”