WORKING TOGETHER
BWT & Harrow School

Harrow School is a long-standing, prestigious Independent Boarding School for boys. Harrow School was founded in 1572 under a Royal Charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I. It is located in a leafy 300-acre estate, encompassing much of Harrow on the Hill in north-west London. With a long history of providing exemplary educational and pastoral care, this school lives up to its standards by only offering the very best facilities and services to its staff and students.

The problem Harrow School faced in consistently being able to supply drinking water of high standard was two-fold. Firstly, the incumbent supplier, despite frequent interventions by the school, had continued to fall short of the agreed SLA’s, promised. Leading to poor customer service and a lack of communication that had left water cooler units needing repair or servicing, sometimes for many weeks. Secondly, Harrow School was keen to find a partner with a proven sustainability record to help them move forward towards a more sustainable approach of their own.

A lack of response from their previous supplier saw Harrow School left with little option but to find a new supplier that would not only provide the highest standard of service and quality but help with their sustainability goals as well.

With the process well under way to find a new and reliable partner it was no surprise that given their green credentials BWT was one of the companies in their sights. BWT are a global water technology company with speciality solutions for most ‘working water’ applications. The Business Water team at BWT is well respected by organisations across the UK for their expertise and flexibility for providing proven drinking water solutions to business organisations with changing and diverse needs. As a member of the Water Dispenser and Hydration Association (WHA), BWT is committed to providing the highest quality of drinking water and services.

Following the initial contact and subsequent exchange of ideas Business Water Sales Manager Gary Garland and General Operations Manager Lewis O’Sullivan set about developing a plan that included reducing the number of bottled watercoolers onsite and preparing a range of realistic and practical service level agreements that would allow BWT to deliver a solution in line with the school’s expectations. They presented their plan to Harrow School’s Head of Facilities, Darren Farden and Operations Assistant, Pili Malvezin. After the presentation had been reviewed, discussed and any questions answered, liking what they saw, BWT was selected as the preferred supplier.

BWT’s expertise and commitment was tested even before the agreement was signed when they received a request from the school to arrange 4 temporary bottled units for their summer school. With little time to spare, Gary Garland and Business Water’s Charlotte Delaney worked together to implement this quickly and with a minimum of fuss. In lieu of the signed contract, Gary and Charlotte also completed all the site surveys within 2 days. This identified 3 locations that could be switched from a current bottle cooler to a more practical plumbed in unit and in doing so and managed to reduce the school’s number of bottled water units from 8 to 5. The survey also identified cooler locations that could be switched once some small modifications to the plumbing had been completed.

The installation and roll out of the units followed in the coming weeks to the delight of Facilities Manager, Darren who mentioned that ‘the installers did an amazing job, at a good pace – we’re very happy!’

Charlotte continues to work closely with Harrow School to achieve their goal of zero bottled units and this is expected to be completed once any ongoing remedial works are finished. With the installations complete the priority for BWT then switched to those all important SLA’s and the need to deliver great water and the highest quality of service whilst always listening and being responsive to the schools’ needs.

Harrow School’s Operations Assistant, Pili Malvezin recently updated us with a testimonial about why BWT was selected as the preferred Supplier for the school:

‘BWT are very responsive, the machines are fresh and easy to use. We have already built up a good relationship with the depot and installers, this is very comforting. We look forward to many years of good service and partnership. The guys also did a great job with the install.’

Maintaining a high standard of service was not the only priority for the school, as Pili explains, ‘drinking water is extremely important in a school full of active young boys, it’s a necessity, it helps to keep them hydrated and focused. Plus, a high percentage of our students are from overseas and do not drink tap water which adds to the demand.’

Since the install, the Business Water team have supported both Pili and Darren and continue to replace the bottled water units and complete site surveys to find suitable locations that do not involve remedial works, easing the burden on the customer and enabling them to meet the needs of their staff and students. As well as that, a regular installer has been allocated to help build the team’s knowledge of Harrow’s very large estate.
With high quality water available at a ‘touch of button’ Harrow Schools’ staff and students have also benefitted from the reduction of single-use plastic bottles on site and in turn joining the BWT movement to change the world literally, Sip by Sip.

BWT offers full support and flexibility, and you can be assured of a high-quality service that is tailored to the needs of your business and customers.