‘A day in the life of an estate operative’ – James Beeston goes back to the floor

In July 2021, I spent a day going back to the floor as an Estate Operative at Gallions Point in London. It was a hot summer’s day, and it was quickly apparent how physically demanding the role is.

I spent my day cleaning and moving cleaning supplies around the building so that we could provide a safe and spotless home for our residents. As we were cleaning communal areas of the building, it was important that we used clear warning signs to prevent trips, slips and falls and we also had to ensure that we were considerate of residents by making it easy for them to get passed us.

Gallions Point is a large development, so cleaning is not an easy job for two. I was incredibly impressed at how well the teamwork together, they are really engaged in their work, which showed in the quality of the results.

The best bit of my day as a member of the ‘front line’ team, was that I had the opportunity to speak to residents as they went about their day-to-day lives. The Estate Operatives are the members of the team most frequently seen by the residents, which highlighted how important it was for the team to be polite, professional and approachable.

Overall, I found my day at Gallions Point very insightful and l learned a lot about the workload and responsibilities of our on-site teams.

Posted: 28 January 2022 by James Beeston, Property Team Manager