Gill Quickfall was “doing fly in and fly out before it became fashionable” and after more than 25 years in mining operations he has learned that food quality is one of the five essentials to keep miners happy. The Senior Mine Accountant at CST Minerals’ remote Lady Annie copper mine and processing facility 120km NW of Mount Isa, Gill has run numerous camps on behalf of various owners and says that as far as the workers are concerned there are only a few things you have to get right. “At the end of the day there are only five things people care about salary, roster, flights, accommodation and food.” A relatively new mine bought by the Hong Kong based CST Minerals in 2010, the FIFO Lady Annie operation had four of the five factors in place. The food itself was pretty good, but Gill was less than impressed with the service he was getting from the caterer who had been contracted since day one. “Basically the catering management was hard to find when we needed them. We saw very few management people and weren’t getting a quick response to issues that were arising on the mine site,” he said. “Due to this situation we decided to put the catering and janitorial services contract to tender at the start of 2012, asking four companies to respond to a 30-page tender document.” Continued overleaf > Caterer Shines At Copper Mine Lady Annie Gets Best Of All Worlds - Better Quality, Big Savings, Happy Camp Mining Case Studies Examined c atering Issue 1 australia australia The four included the incumbent, two of the industry’s major players, and Catering Industries, a highly experienced name in education, aged care, business and industry but a comparative newcomer in remote site management. Gill learned that Catering Industries had recruited experienced site management expertise and thought that the company’s strong reputation in the highly regulated and closely monitored Aged Care sector was a good recommendation. He also reasoned that as a small to medium mine of just 300 employees and contractors in total, with 150-170 on site at any given time, some of the industry’s larger caterers may not be as inclined to sharpen their pencils when it came to quoting. “The larger mining houses probably don’t see pricing as a big issue, but it is for us. But at the same time we needed to look after our people well. “With catering you pretty much get what you pay for at the end of the day so we stipulated as part of the tender process minimum standards of service, food quality and variety – hence the reason for a 30 page tender invitation,” he said. Lady Annie Copper Mine
Transcript
Gill Quickfall was “doing fly in and fly out before it became fashionable” and after more than 25 years in mining operations he has learned that food quality is one of the five essentials to keep miners happy.
The Senior Mine Accountant at CST Minerals’ remote Lady Annie copper mine and processing facility 120km NW of Mount Isa, Gill has run numerous camps on behalf of various owners and says that as far as the workers are concerned there are only a few things you have to get right.
“At the end of the day there are only five things people care about salary, roster, flights, accommodation and food.”
A relatively new mine bought by the Hong Kong based CST Minerals in 2010, the FIFO Lady Annie operation had four of the five factors in place. The food itself was pretty good, but Gill was less than impressed with the service he was getting from the caterer who had been contracted since day one.
“Basically the catering management was hard to find when we needed them. We saw very few management people and weren’t getting a quick response to issues that were arising on the mine site,” he said.
“Due to this situation we decided to put the catering and janitorial services contract to tender at the start of 2012, asking four companies to respond to a 30-page tender document.” Continued overleaf >
Caterer ShinesAt Copper Mine
Lady Annie Gets Best Of All Worlds - Better Quality, Big
Savings, Happy Camp
Mining Case Studies Examined
cateringIssue 1
australiaaustralia
The four included the incumbent, two of the industry’s major players, and Catering Industries, a highly experienced name in education, aged care, business and industry but a comparative newcomer in remote site management.
Gill learned that Catering Industries had recruited experienced site management expertise and thought that the company’s strong reputation in the highly regulated and closely monitored Aged Care sector was a good recommendation.
He also reasoned that as a small to medium mine of just 300 employees and contractors in total, with 150-170 on site at any given time, some of the industry’s
larger caterers may not be as inclined to sharpen their pencils when it came to quoting.
“The larger mining houses probably don’t see pricing as a big issue, but it is for us. But at the same time we needed to look after our people well.
“With catering you pretty much get what you pay for at the end of the day so we stipulated as part of the tender process minimum standards of service, food quality and variety – hence the reason for a 30 page tender invitation,” he said.
Lady Annie Copper Mine
Quality, Service Standards High
When the tenders came in, Catering Industries was one of the two most competitive bidders.
On the basis of his site experience and following extensive meetings with Catering Industries, the decision was a no brainer. The contract was awarded in May 2012 and Gill has had no cause to regret the decision.
Given his 25 years at more than six different FIFO sites, he rates the company highly.
“They deliver what we asked for and if we have any issues they address them immediately and responsibly.
“They have 16 staff in total working 14 days on, 7 days off providing catering and janitorial services 24/7.
“Catering Industries are great, aside from their site camp manger on duty every day their National Manager for Remote Catering comes up once every two to three months for a few days at a time.
“We also get their health and safety people in regularly doing ongoing training.
“We never got that with the previous contractor.”
As to the food itself, the quality and variety, Gill said tongue in cheek that miners are always the first to complain if something is not up to scratch.
“The menu changes daily and operates over a 20-30 day cycle.
“Because we work an eight on, six off roster it is quite some time before workers have gone through the whole menu.”
From Formula I VIP areas to remote mine sites of 1800 employees, there is little that Stuart Ward has not experienced when it comes to catering and services.
The National Manager - Remote Services for Catering Industries, Stuart was previously Senior Operations Manager for a rival company looking after 21 sites.
In a career that has included 10 years in the army, a position as General Manager of Oxford Airport in the UK and even GM of a club, Stuart has seen catering and service delivery from all sides and relishes the opportunity to lead a start-up remote services division.
“We started two years ago with a clean sheet and the opportunity to do it right,” Stuart said.
“I’ve seen so many operations get too big for their boots and forget that client service and food quality are the essentials.
“Catering Industries took my advice when establishing our service. We’re paying above award wages to attract top staff and go to great lengths to get the basics right, right down to seemingly little things such as rotating jobs for the cleaners so they don’t become bored or complacent.
“Currently there are six firms catering to 80% of Australian sites. We’re determined to make inroads as a quality service provider.”
ALL NEW BUSINESS ENQUIRIES: Ph 1300 364 092 WEB SITE: www.cateringindustries.com.au
One of mining’s satisfaction measures is employee turnover. Based on the fact that Lady Annie’s rate is as good as, if not better than, most, Gill is confident he now has all five critical factors in place.
“We have a good roster, pay well, provide good accommodation and facilities. The flights are improving and now our food too is right up there,” he said.
“We’re getting better quality and service for a competitive price,” Gill said.
