Staycity | Shield Safety

Fast-growing, European aparthotel operator Staycity has replaced its paper-based system with Shield Safety’s RiskProof software to record its health and safety, fire safety and food safety monitoring.

The digital system gives the business a better understanding of the safety management performance across its 32 locations in the UK, Ireland, Germany, France and Italy, which it operates under the Staycity and premium Wilde Aparthotels brands.

The challenge

The move came after Staycity, named Best Operator (201+ units) in the 2023 Service Apartment Awards, experienced substantial growth with the increasing popularity of aparthotels among business and leisure travellers. In the next five years, Staycity is forecast to grow from 6,000 apartments to 15,000, and RiskProof will grow with the business.

Lloyd Green, Staycity’s Head of Operational Effectiveness, explained: “As we have grown, monitoring our safety management systems has become more complex. Carrying out a performance analysis means obtaining the paperwork from individual sites, which is no longer practical as our portfolio grows.

“RiskProof gives our central team instant access to bespoke safety management reports for individual sites or to assess group-wide performance. It means we have visibility across the business and can take immediate action if we identify any concerning trends or potential issues.”

“A recent audit has shown that using RiskProof reduces the administrative burden and increases our efficiencies. Each location is estimated to save around 15 minutes a day, giving us tens of thousands pounds in operational savings and staff have more time to focus on our customers.”

Lloyd Green

Head of Operational Effectiveness

Staycity

Support

Moving to RiskProof also allowed Staycity to use Shield Safety’s extensive expertise and experience in the hospitality sector to review its health and safety processes to align with the latest, best-practice standards.

To ease the transition further, Staycity phased RiskProof’s introduction across the business with the UK first, before being rolled out in Ireland and Germany, then into France and Italy.

“Our maintenance teams already use a mobile device to track and record various tasks, so RiskProof is an easy addition to their to-do list. The ability to record the safety checks in real-time avoids the temptation for busy staff to leave paperwork until later when data can become incomplete and inaccurate.

“The system is tailored to our needs and we have replicated the familiar look of the previous paper system on the app to make the transition easier for staff.”

The impact

Peace of mind

RiskProof has also become a valuable health and safety portal by storing the company’s health and safety information and certification. It means every location has easy access to the latest documents, eliminating the possibility of using out-of-date documents and removing concerns about any misunderstandings about health and safety regulatory and legislative requirements in each country.

“Working across international borders, staying on top of different countries’ requirements is important. RiskProof prompts us with a “what and when” notice to give peace of mind and avoid missing a vital check or renewal which in one country can be annually and every six months in another.”

“The portal also supports our commitment to sustainability by saving the need to circulate around 32,000 pieces of paper a year. It delivers a significant cost saving and the need to print documents, reducing our carbon footprint by around 160kg of CO² year,” added Lloyd.