Maryculter House has been welcoming guests since the 13th century - it has been 800 years in the making! They can trace their history right back to the time of the Great Crusades, when King William the Lion granted part of the land of Culter on the south side of the River Dee to the Knights Templar in 1187.
Between 1221 and 1236, the powerful Bisset family (the Lords of Aboyne), founded the Preceptory, or College, of the Knights Templar on the site of Maryculter House. All that remains of these buildings today are the stone vaulted chambers located underneath the Great Hall, and the somewhat enchanting burial grounds and chapel ruins in the grounds next to the hotel. Dating back to 1460, the atmospheric Great Hall is the most ancient part of the hotel, and is redolent with historic grandeur. It is probably one of the oldest, continually inhabited dwellings in the area.
The Challenge
Problems that faced the management team prior to engaging and bringing Safetynet into the business were;
- Poor support from their existing health and safety support company
- Lack of in-house knowledge
- A need to consolidate all aspects of health and safety under one umbrella so they could be confident they were operating safely and professionally.
These challenges were causing a lot of unnecessary stress within the team. It also meant that they didn't have any oversight as to the effectiveness of the operation when it came to health and safety.
The Solution
When the team at Maryculter House came to us, we spent a lot of time talking to the entire team and staff about the challenges they faced day to day. Once we'd made our assessment of the situation, we came up with a plan that would achieve their key objective to bring their health and safety procedures and systems of work into a cohesive and well-organised management system.
The outcome would not only provide a clear understanding of policies, guidelines, and procedures that everyone could work within and buy into, it would reduce the stress and anxiety associated with H&S in the work environment. To this end, our plan has provided them with their own dedicated, qualified consultant who is always available whenever needed. The Safetynet consultant keeps the business up to date with changes in legislation as well as “prompting” the team as and when reviews are required. There is more certainty and clarity around the effectiveness of their health and safety management which means they can get on with the business of providing the first class hospitality their guests expect of them.
As they reported back to us, "Everything has improved since Safetynet's involvement with the business. We now have continual and consistent access to industry professionals who genuinely care about how we manage the health and safety aspects of our business as much as we do."
Moving Forward
Maryculter House are now able to rely on the quick responses and the certainty they can reach out for our support when they need it. As part of our ongoing health and safety management support, we hold face-to-face meetings with the team at Maryculter House on a regular basis. This means we gain valuable insights and understanding of the property, how it operates and what practical measures they can continue to implement to make improvements to the health and safety of all staff.
"It's the law – you have to do it, but it's always good to over-deliver on health and safety and have everything ship-shape and professional. Safetynet help us with that."
