Client testimonials
Banking
Handelsbanken
“Capita Symonds H&SES is an extremely good company run by very professional people. They are very approachable and are always there for us. Capita Symonds H&SES covers all the Bank’s health and safety requirements and addresses all the necessary issues. It has helped us to progress our health and safety and maintain compliance with the Regulations. “
Tony Finnigan - Head of Office Services
UniCredit Markets & Investment Banking
“We felt that we needed better knowledge and independent advice. It was becoming increasingly difficult to devote enough time to effectively manage our health and safety in-house. Using Capita Symonds H&SES has helped achieve things on a much faster basis as well as enabling us to concentrate on other issues. Capita Symonds H&SES has also helped improve the health and productivity of our staff. Capita Symonds H&SES covers a very specialist area and is very thorough.”
Keith Charouneau - Director , Head of Facilities Management
Distribution
Callaway Golf
“Capita Symonds H&SES takes care of all our health and safety issues. It provides expert advice when it is needed. It also ensures that we comply with the legislation and that our employees are safe. The comfort factor is very important; we like the peace of mind that everything is done correctly. Capita Symonds H&SES’s expertise makes sure that we are not exposed in any way. Health and safety is a very time consuming area consequently using Capita Symonds H&SES is very cost effective. Capita Symonds H&SES is highly professional, very knowledgeable and extremely helpful. The consultant provides a superb service. “
Penny Harrison - Human Resources Director
Greenhous Group
Capita Symonds H&SES has been of great assistance in ensuring that the Greenhous Group continues to be proactive with regard to the important issue of health and safety. Their guidance in helping us to keep up to date with legislation has been of great importance. It is a comfort to know that when we need help they are at hand. They are a valuable part of the Greenhous overall health and safety strategy.
Derek Passant – Chief Executive
Education
Boston College 
“Capita Symonds H&SES is excellent. We are very impressed with the efficient and effective way they do everything it says on the contract. Having access to specialist consultants is very important. Also, it is much more cost effective using independent specialists. They are always available whenever we need to call upon them. Capita Symonds H&SES has an outstanding reservoir of knowledge. The quality of materials such as health and safety manual, documentation, user guides are all superb. We are now in much better shape to act on health and safety issues.”
John Allison-Maybank - Director of Client Services
Epping Forest College
“Using Capita Symonds H&SES is a cost effective way to have high quality services at an affordable price. Capita Symonds H&SES focuses attention on our priorities, carries out essential training and is ‘always there when needed’. We get quick access to the best advice and practice available. Capita Symonds H&SES services work very well for us.”
Sue Clipson - Executive Assistant - Project Co-ordinator
Hereford Cathedral School
"Datasound helped us develop a completely new Health & Safety system. Since employing them, we have improved significantly, in not only the administrative elements of H & S, but in our pro-active management of day to day H & S issues. The consultants and support team are first class, with regular site visits a particular feature of an all round excellent service. The content and presentation of the training days provided were relevant and easily understood by staff and furthermore, were included in the overall price package. In discussions with the School Governor with responsibility for H & S, we concluded that we have received excellent value for money from the contract with Capita Symonds H&SES and would happily recommend them to other organisations."
Simon Jones – Burser
The Kingsley School 
“We wanted to progress with our health and safety aspect towards school life and Capita Symonds H&SES has helped us do this. The Platinum service is perfect. Capita Symonds H&SES is professional, extremely approachable and very friendly. We get regular consultant visits, email and telephone contact which is all very satisfactory.”
Alan Savage – Premises Manager
South Cheshire College
“Capita Symonds H&SES was highly professional, extremely knowledgeable, and very supportive in helping us to manage health and safety. Capita Symonds H&SES has been a great help and it enabled us to get up to date with our health and safety policies and procedures. The Platinum contract was very thorough and this was executed very efficiently and most effectively by Capita Symonds H&SES.”
Michelle Walker - Health and Welfare Manager
Stratford upon Avon College
“Capita Symonds H&SES provides us with qualified advice and has helped to improve our health and safety. Capita Symonds H&SES has a wealth of expertise combined with a flexible approach. It also has special knowledge that comes from dealing with other educational establishments. We get good advice and practical guidance. We have established a firm relationship with Capita Symonds H&SES’s experienced consultant in order to ensure that our needs are met.”
Alex Patterson – Facilities Manager
Nord Anglia Education Plc
“Capita Symonds H&SES is highly efficient, extremely reliable and very helpful. It is also a very professional company with the right people to do the job. Capita Symonds H&SES has a pragmatic approach to health and safety and provides us with good sound advice. It has helped us with site audits and the implementation of appropriate policies and procedures. Outsourcing the audit aspects of health and safety management has proved to be a very effective way of managing this function. Capita Symonds H&SES is ideal because it is an independent recognisable authority on health and safety.“
Mike McHale – Deputy Director of Education
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Entertainment & Leisure
Callaway Golf
“Capita Symonds H&SES takes care of all our health and safety issues. It provides expert advice when it is needed. It also ensures that we comply with the legislation and that our employees are safe. The comfort factor is very important; we like the peace of mind that everything is done correctly. Capita Symonds H&SES’s expertise makes sure that we are not exposed in any way. Health and safety is a very time consuming area consequently using Capita Symonds H&SES is very cost effective. Capita Symonds H&SES is highly professional, very knowledgeable and extremely helpful. The consultant provides a superb service. “Penny Harrison - Human Resources Director
Graves (Cumberland) Ltd
“Capita Symonds H&SES is a very efficient and professional company. It has helped improve our health and safety policy which was a little bit daunting. Capita Symonds H&SES keeps us on top of all aspects of health and safety. It makes sure that we do not miss anything. This has relieved us of a lot of worries concerning health and safety. Using Capita Symonds H&SES is very cost effective. We would not be able to do it for the same cost in-house.”
Vince Hughes – Company Secretary
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
“Capita Symonds H&SES communicates in a down to earth practical way. It has a thorough understanding of health and safety. It combines professionalism with integrity. We like the Capita Symonds H&SES way of working with you. This seems to be part of their ethos. The Platinum service is coherent, practical and has a lot of different aspects to it.”
Andrew MacNair – Head of Marketing
Government
Metropolitan Police
In response to a detailed specification Capita Symonds H&SES produced the required template for a manual and saved them a lot of time and effort. It was also beneficial to get an independent view. According to Nick Kettle, “The Met Police got the product that they wanted. It has set the framework from which the organisation can achieve successful health and safety management and a standard that can be audited against.”
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Healthcare
KIMAL Plc
“As an ever growing commercial organisation, we required some assistance in managing our health and safety function, and achieving this as cost effectively as possible. We found that using Capita Symonds H&SES offered us the best overall solution, additionally, they have added to our confidence in dealing with health & safety issues. The Capita Symonds H&SES package ensures that we receive continual professional H & S advice including that on prompt compliance to any new regulations. Overall, they offer an all encompassing flexible package that is delivered in a friendly, responsive and professional manner, which gives us increased ‘peace of mind’ “
Sean Hogarth Group Technical Manager (Kimal PLC)
Havens Christian Hospice
“We are committed as an organisation to meet all our health and safety requirements. As our consultants, Capita Symonds H&SES manages to mix professionalism and friendliness extremely well. ‘It does exactly what it says on the tin’. It is of paramount importance that we trust the consultant’s advice and judgement. “
Susan Lucibello - Support Services & Facilities Manager
Yorkshire Eye Hospital
“Capita Symonds H&SES is excellent. They are experts in health and safety. They are constantly willing to help and always at the end of a phone. Capita Symonds H&SES provides the right level of support and advice is always forthcoming. It is definitely beneficial getting good independent advice.”
Brian Johnson – Facilities Manager
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Industry
Paul Fabrications Ltd
“Capita Symonds H&SES is a very professional organisation. It did not promise the earth and has delivered exactly what was required. What you see is what you get. Capita Symonds H&SES has used its expertise to ensure that we are fully compliant with all the health and safety regulations. The Platinum package contains the necessary elements that meet the requirements of our business. Capita Symonds H&SES provides us with security and comfort.”
Alan Turner - Financial Director
Q-Park Medical Ltd
“We needed the expertise of an external provider to manage our health and safety properly. Capita Symonds H&SES has provided us with a tool kit to enable us to effectively manage our health and safety. It helps us to prioritise and focus on important issues. A company of our size does not have the resources to achieve a cost effective way of organising health and safety on a professional basis. Also using an external provider does not overload our internal resources. We therefore get to where we want to be on a comparatively cost effective basis. Capita Symonds H&SES is a very professional and competent organisation. It is extremely helpful and very constructive.”
John Price - Production Manager
River Plastics
“Capita Symonds H&SES has helped us considerably. It has spent a lot of time advising on health and safety matters, assessing all our procedures and helping to update them. It has made sure that we comply with all the legislation and also advises on the implications of new legislation. The Capita Symonds H&SES service is very user friendly and it takes a lot of pressure off us. It has done everything required and more. The expertise of the consultants is very impressive and they are always available. Capita Symonds H&SES keeps health and safety simple so that we can understand it.”
Sandra Collins – Personnel Director
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Offices
GTA Travel
“Capita Symonds H&SES is a good company to work with. We are very happy with the service. Our health and safety requirements for 800 staff are quite complex. Getting health and safety right is a long process but with Capita Symonds H&SES’s help we are making good progress. We are certainly moving in the right direction.”
Carol Foley - Facilities Manager
Interglobal Ltd UK
“Capita Symonds H&SES is a cost efficient way of meeting our legal requirements and satisfying our moral obligations to our employees. Capita Symonds H&SES is very pragmatic and practical. It offers us practical solutions and helps to put them in place. It keeps health and safety simple. Capita Symonds H&SES works with you and it has delivered everything that it promised. Capita Symonds H&SES is always there at the end of a phone.”
Julie Leddy - HR & Training Manager
Liberty Syndicates
“Capita Symonds H&SES is a very professional company that is always happy to help. The Platinum package is effectively tailored to our requirements. It is more practical using Capita Symonds H&SES to look after our health and safety than doing it in-house. Capita Symonds H&SES has highlighted anything that has needed to be done and all the outstanding issues have been completed. We have a very good working relationship.”
Gill Nichols - Assistant to MD
Lawrence Graham
“Capita Symonds H&SES has taken away a lot of the legislative and administrative burden which has greatly assisted me. Capita Symonds H&SES has laid a good groundwork so that management and employees understand that health and safety is an important part of working life. It has been a good experience so far. Outsourcing is far more cost effective than employing an in-house person. Also it enables us focus on other areas of business as health and safety is taken care of.”
Paul Way - Facilities Manager
McCann Erickson Advertising Ltd
“Capita Symonds H&SES has helped us get everything organised. It addresses every health and safety requirement that we need. Capita Symonds H&SES is always there to answer questions and help. Under Capita Symonds H&SES’s expert guidance we have implemented all the necessary health and safety features to ensure compliance with all the regulations. It is more cost-effective to subcontract out our health and safety than to manage it in-house. Capita Symonds H&SES is absolutely superb. We could not do without them.”
Casey Stevens - Operations Manager
MRM Worldwide
“Capita Symonds H&SES has been a great help and saves us time. The company is a good fountain of knowledge. It has helped us achieve compliance and also keeps us up to date. It effectively keeps MRM on top of all the health and safety issues. The comfort factor is important; it is the reassurance that MRM is doing the right thing. Capita Symonds H&SES is very good value for money. It’s staff are very professional and are always on hand to provide assistance and answer questions.”
Eileen Taylor - Facilities Manager
Shipowners Claims Bureau Inc
“It was important to utilise outside expertise as we need someone to tell us what should be done and how to do it. Capita Symonds H&SES has definitely helped us achieve our health and safety objectives. Capita Symonds H&SES provides us with constant advice and gives guidance when it is needed. It highlights legislation changes and any action we must take. Capita Symonds H&SES has made life easy for us. It keeps health and safety simple which is what we want. We like the comfort factor that there is someone there to support us. Our consultant is excellent and always approachable.”
Linda Halliday - VP Corporate Administration
Wynnwyth Group Ltd
“Capita Symonds H&SES has brought a higher level of understanding and competence to our organisation. Capita Symonds H&SES offers a good product. In particular the quality and the value of the training in the Gold service was excellent. The materials produced by Capita Symonds H&SES were of a high standard. The Consultant was a pleasure to work with and made a difficult and arduous task achievable; her knowledge of our business sector was excellent and her approach extremely flexible. I would recommend any business trying to establish their health and safety standards to use Capita Symonds H&SES’s services.” Darren Bonner – Head of Group Human Resources
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Other Sectors
Insurance Companies
Interglobal Ltd UK
“Capita Symonds H&SES is a cost efficient way of meeting our legal requirements and satisfying our moral obligations to our employees. Capita Symonds H&SES is very pragmatic and practical. It offers us practical solutions and helps to put them in place. It keeps health and safety simple. Capita Symonds H&SES works with you and it has delivered everything that it promised. Capita Symonds H&SES is always there at the end of a phone.”
Julie Leddy - HR & Training Manager
Liberty Syndicates
“Capita Symonds H&SES is a very professional company that is always happy to help. The Platinum package is effectively tailored to our requirements. It is more practical using Capita Symonds H&SES to look after our health and safety than doing it in-house. Capita Symonds H&SES has highlighted anything that has needed to be done and all the outstanding issues have been completed. We have a very good working relationship.”
Gill Nichols - Assistant to MD
Rias
“Using Capita Symonds H&SES to help address our health and safety issues is more effective than doing it in-house. Capita Symonds H&SES has the required level of knowledge, experience and expertise. It provides excellent back-up and support. Capita Symonds H&SES has helped us achieve all our health and safety objectives. We now have very detailed policies and procedures and are confident that we are fully compliant with all the Regulations. Capita Symonds H&SES enhances the comfort factor, which is important from a business perspective. Overall Capita Symonds H&SES is excellent. It does everything we want them to do and more. “
Chris Stone – Facilities Manager
Shipowners Claims Bureau Inc
“It was important to utilise outside expertise as we need someone to tell us what should be done and how to do it. Capita Symonds H&SES has definitely helped us achieve our health and safety objectives. Capita Symonds H&SES provides us with constant advice and gives guidance when it is needed. It highlights legislation changes and any action we must take. Capita Symonds H&SES has made life easy for us. It keeps health and safety simple which is what we want. We like the comfort factor that there is someone there to support us. Our consultant is excellent and always approachable.”
Linda Halliday - VP Corporate Administration
Parking Equipment
Zeag (UK) Ltd 
“Capita Symonds H&SES is a very knowledgeable and very professional organisation. Health and safety was too complex an area to do ourselves. Capita Symonds H&SES provided a first class alternative. Capita Symonds H&SES is a special resource – it is like they are part of our company. It translates the requirements of the legislation into easy understandable English. We always get sensible answers from Capita Symonds H&SES combined with practical recommendations.”
Joan Foskett - PA & HR Administrator
Retail Information Systems
Toshiba Tec Europe
“Capita Symonds H&SES is a great help to us. It always sort things out and does what is necessary. Capita Symonds H&SES has helped us to achieve all our health and safety objectives. The staff are excellent to work with. They are always available and do everything that is asked of them.”
Paul Davison – Facilities Manager
Retailers
Stella Travel Services 
“Capita Symonds H&SES’s services have helped us achieve compliance with the legislation. Capita Symonds H&SES is very reactive and provides excellent support when there are queries or issues to resolve. Capita Symonds H&SES staff gives expert advice and are extremely helpful. Overall it is a very cost effective and efficient service.”
Carolyn Rooney – Office Manager
The Swatch Group (UK) Ltd
“The Swatch Group wanted a unified and easy to manage health and safety process. Capita Symonds H&SES has given us a practical approach to health and safety. Its health and safety advice focuses on exactly what the Swatch Group needs to do.”
Phil Semke - Retail Financial Controller
Diesel London Ltd
“Capita Symonds H&SES has provided us with regular and consistent visits to our various sites. It has promptly highlighted any immediate action to be taken, providing us with clear focused advice specifically relating to health and safety. Capita Symonds H&SES in our experience is providing an excellent service. We are confident with their level of service and would have no hesitation in recommending it to others.”
Caroline Langridge - Retail Operations Manager
Case studies
Seafield Logistics
Sea?eld Logistics is a rapidly growing supply chain specialist and provides customers with tailored logistics solutions that precisely ?t their needs. The company provides a range of services, including logistics, warehousing, distribution and contract packing. Sea?eld was struggling to put an effective health and safety plan into action. Managers found themselves talking about health and safety management more than actually doing it. Encouraging employees to take health and safety messages on board was time consuming, and keeping up with changing legislation was proving to be resource-intensive. Capita Symonds H&SES took charge of health and safety management, allowing Sea?eld to become 100% compliant with legislation, and helping them save considerable time and money .
Seafield Logistics case study (PDF)
The Kingsley School
The Kingsley School in Leamington Spa provides education to girls of 3-18 years old. It aims to provide a friendly, caring and supportive environment in which pupils are encouraged to work hard, enjoy their learning and achieve their best. The success of this goal relies heavily on ensuring the health and safety of pupils and staff at all times. Health and safety meetings at the school were often dominated by trivial issues. With a lot of time being wasted in discussions, staff were keen to ?nd a more efficient way of managing health and safety that would put important issues ?rst. With Capita Symonds H&SES in charge, Kingsley School was able to dramatically reduce the time spent in meetings, and help employees to prioritise tasks more efficiently.
Kingsley School case study (PDF)
Assessing Medical Device Usage in Hospitals
Introduction
In the medical profession health and safety practice and procedures are of critical importance. In this regard Capita Symonds H&SES has been working very closely with KIMAL who specialise in the manufacture of innovative medical devices. The main purpose was to formulate an independent and objective analysis of risk within the clinical environment.
Health and Safety for Medical Devices
Capita Symonds H&SES has undertaken a number of specific projects for KIMAL assessing the safety and health risks associated with a number of medical devices.
Capita Symonds H&SES looked at the specific hazards relating to the use of certain medical devices in hospitals. It concluded that there were already measures in place to control the risks to safety and health, although not all of these measures were used on a regular basis.
Comment
According to KIMAL’s Rebecca Gittins, “Capita Symonds H&SES is a very professional organisation. The projects were very much a team effort and Capita Symonds H&SES was an excellent company to work with. The Capita Symonds H&SES Consultant was very knowledgeable and made a positive contribution to the projects.”
McCann Erickson Gets the Best in Health and Safety
Introduction
McCann Erickson is one of the UK’s top three advertising agencies. From the outset a complete health and safety structure with cohesive policies, procedures and the correct documentation were required. It was decided that Capita Symonds H&SES’s Platinum Health and Safety Management service was the ideal vehicle to take them forward.
The McCann Erickson working environment, which covers two buildings and approximately 400 employees, is constantly changing. Staff mobility, in terms of new starters and a high number of internal moves, is a feature that affects this major UK advertising agency on an on-going basis.
Platinum Service
Capita Symonds H&SES has helped McCann Erickson get everything organised. Under Capita Symonds H&SES’s expert guidance the company implemented all the necessary health and safety features to ensure compliance with all the regulations. The Capita Symonds H&SES Platinum package included audits/inspections, display screen equipment (DSE) workstation assessments, training, policy document etc. Structures and procedures are in place and are attended to on an on-going basis.
DSE Workstation Assessments
The workstation assessments had a profound effect on the whole company making them aware of health and safety issues. Constant staff changes make completing all the workstation assessments a difficult process. Capita Symonds H&SES has provided McCann Erickson with an electronic package for carrying out the workstation assessments. In addition an assessor goes in every two weeks and visits problem workstations.
Policy and Procedures
Capita Symonds H&SES also set up internal health and safety committee meetings which the consultant regularly attends. The health and safety policy document is invaluable as they now have a good reference document which is accessible to staff and clients alike and has a positive impact on other areas of the business.
Comment
According to Casey Stevens “Capita Symonds H&SES has helped us get everything organised. It addresses every health and safety requirement that we need. Capita Symonds H&SES is always there to answer questions and help. Under Capita Symonds H&SES’s expert guidance we have implemented all the necessary health and safety features to ensure compliance with all the regulations. It is more cost-effective to subcontract out our health and safety than to manage it in-house. Capita Symonds H&SES is absolutely superb. We could not do without them.
Capita Symonds H&SES Provides Rias with Expert Support on the Corporate Manslaughter Act
The new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 is generating some concern amongst organisations and is making them more aware of their responsibilities. Organisations have a duty of care in the way that they manage their activities and they can be found guilty if a death results from serious mismanagement.
Rias, a specialist over 50s insurance company with over 1,200 employees, has taken the Act very seriously. Rias already had well established health and safety policies and procedures thanks to its association with Capita Symonds H&SES, a specialist heath and safety consultancy.
Rias identified a need to take a detailed look at the current safeguards and also make people aware of their responsibilities, especially senior management. It was also important to increase awareness and get employees to take more ownership of their actions.
In order to achieve this, Capita Symonds H&SES carried out a training course for directors and produced a Health and Safety Handbook for managers. Capita Symonds H&SES also helped Rias to tweak its health and safety policies and procedures to take the new Act into account. For example, anyone driving on company business comes under the new law and so a proper driving policy was implemented in order to provide adequate safeguards.
According to Chris Stone, the Facilities Manager at Rias, “Capita Symonds H&SES played an important role in increasing health and safety awareness, highlighting management responsibilities and getting everything in place. It has the right expertise and provided us with impartial and independent advice.”
UniCredit Banks on Capita Symonds H&SES for Health and Safety
Introduction
The organisation was expanding and in London was moving its 3 buildings into a brand new HQ.
The UniCredit Group is the result of the merger of nine of Italy's largest banks and the mergers with HVB Group in Germany and Austria and the Capitalia Group in Italy. The organisation was expanding and in London was moving its 3 buildings into a brand new HQ.
The bank’s heath and safety requirements were becoming onerous and more demanding. The bank decided the best option was to outsource its health and safety management to Capita Symonds H&SES. It opted for the full Platinum service.
Level of Service
Capita Symonds H&SES’s corporate Health and Safety Management scheme offered the bank a cost effective alternative to managing health and safety in-house. The Platinum service is a complete package covering every aspect of the corporate health and safety requirements. Capita Symonds H&SES focuses on installing Health and Safety policies and procedures, which represent “Best Practice” for the bank. Another attractive feature was its comprehensive and fully supportive hands-on service to UniCredit.
This gave the bank access to better knowledge and also independent advice. As an independent source Capita Symonds H&SES’s recommendations are much more meaningful.
Audits and Inspections
Initially Capita Symonds H&SES carried out premises audits and inspections. The audits are then re-done on a regular basis. Capita Symonds H&SES also assisted with the risk assessments and preparing the relevant health and safety documentation. The Consultant highlighted what action had to be taken and managed the implementation of that action.
Staff Training
Training was another integral part of the package. It helped to introduce employees to all the fundamentals of health and safety in the workplace. The courses highlighted the areas, which need to be considered when establishing a relevant and pro-active health and safety management regime. The health and safety guide booklets also helped improve staff awareness of health and safety issues.
Satisfaction
UniCredit believe that the time spent, quality of information and degree of support has been well worth the value of the contract. In dealing with the staff, Capita Symonds H&SES is very friendly and considerate. This is very important in a banking environment.
Upto Date Policies
Compliance with all the health and safety regulations is extremely important. It is essential to keep abreast of the legislation and also avoid the possibility of litigation. It is good to have the reassurance that the bank is covered on all health and safety issues and on any concerns that might occur. It is comforting that the bank has the reassurance that everything is in order.
Comment
According to Keith Charouneau, Director and Head of Facilities Management, “We felt that we needed better knowledge and independent advice. It was becoming increasingly difficult to devote enough time to effectively manage our health and safety in-house. Using Capita Symonds H&SES has helped achieve things on a much faster basis as well as enabling us to concentrate on other issues. Capita Symonds H&SES has also helped improve the health and productivity of our staff. Capita Symonds H&SES covers a very specialist area and is very thorough.”
UniCredit - Banks on Capita Symonds H&SES