Knowles and Son (Oxford) Ltd

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Background

With a turnover of £1.4 billion and over 14 million customers, Thames Water is a substantial blue chip company. Its Swindon call centre has a staff of almost 1,000. Knowles and Son are an Oxford-based family construction business founded in 1797. The firm has a term maintenance contract with Thames Water. Newbury Interiors has worked with Knowles and Son on a wide variety of projects over the last decade.

Thames Water asked Knowles and Son to refurbish 11 washrooms in the Walnut Court call centre, making them wheelchair-accessible in accordance with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). They brought Newbury Interiors in to provide costed designs based on Thames Water's concepts. Working in partnership with Knowles and Son, Newbury Interiors took on the entire on-site refurbishment operation.

Scope of works

• Strip out existing washrooms
• Sanitary ware
• Vanity units
• Partitions
• Ceilings
• Lighting
• Plumbing
• Decoration
• Project management

Critical issues

To cater for the needs of disabled employees, the work had to be completed as swiftly as possible. It was also important to plan and implement a phased programme of work, to ensure that adequate washroom facilities were maintained for call centre staff at all times during the refurbishment. All 11 washrooms needed to be refurbished to the standards demanded by the DDA, and matched to the existing design.

What the client said

"We have worked with Newbury Interiors for many years," said Nigel Welch, Contracts manager at Knowles and Son. "They are flexible, creative and work in partnership with us to deliver what our clients need. We are very happy with the job they've done - I would be very happy to recommend them to any blue chip company looking for an interior specialist."

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