While some businesses require their staff to return full time, some are embracing a hybrid model and others are permitting staff to work from home permanently.

Many organisations are now considering what ‘hybrid’ means for them, how they can meet this new employee demand, and what needs to be in place for these new ways of working to be effective.

For most organisations, the introduction of hybrid working will require a culture shift and establishing new ways of working and associated policies and practices.

Nonetheless, with the reactivation of onsite catering, cleaning, security and vending in whatever format now suits individual businesses, Mount Charles is perfectly positioned to offer businesses the service bundles they require.

Established as Northern Ireland’s largest independent business support services provider, we currently employ 2,500 team members and service over 400 clients across the UK and Ireland.

As an independent, family run organisation, Mount Charles had been able to react rapidly to the changing needs of the market. By employing digital and robotic technology we have adapted and tailored our offering to provide the most innovative, personalised and dynamic services in the market today.

To support the new hybrid working model, we have introduced unattended retail units (micro-markets), which provide a catering service 24x7 tailored to our clients’ daily demographics.

Our ability to think outside the box means we do things more creatively, re-engineering commercial models to design service solutions that provide flexibility to a changing landscape and best value for money. We are re-imagining the workplace cafeteria providing exciting seasonal and locally sourced menu options in flexible formats and staggering lunch schedules to ensure social distancing.

In the last six months we have introduced super high-tech vending machines, with touch screens and card readers serving staff meals that can be heated on the go.

In addition, we have introduced robotic cleaning machines to certain sites, which can clean into the evening and night, to reduce disruption, improve productivity and reduce costs.”

Our service- and sector-specific expertise enables us to create bespoke bundled services around the requirements of each client and because our internal processes are lean and efficient, our administration and overhead costs reflect this.

In the last three years automation and technology has had a profound impact on the way we work and has changed many areas in the business such as financial, data collection, workforce management, sales and promotion, management reporting, procurement, and customer feedback.

Our new technology has enhanced operational effectiveness and client engagement so we can now inspect our operations in real-time, allowing us to monitor trends, react quickly to emerging issues and provide better management information to all our clients via our online portal.