Julius Rutherfoord

Since the advent of working from home and hybrid working arrangements, getting employees to the office has been a significant challenge facing businesses worldwide. To meet the increasing expectations of workers, demand for Grade A office space (prime location, modern design, state-of-the-art facilities, and high-level amenities) has soared since the Covid-19 pandemic.

To meet these high expectations, facilities managers are pushing their suppliers to deliver similarly high standards. Julius Rutherfoord & Co , a commercial cleaning business servicing top-tier London office spaces for more than 30 years, is using its forward-thinking approaches to technology, people, and processes to come out on top.

Known for its meticulous standards and focus on quality assurance, the company delivers contract cleaning to some of the most prestigious institutions and public sector organisations in London.

When Lauren Hanley, Head of Business Support Services , joined the business, she recognised that the company already had the right mindset — a focus on improvement — but lacked the right tools to capture and act on information at scale. Her goal was to modernise how Julius Rutherfoord measured quality and compliance, turning everyday audits into insights that could drive the entire organisation forward.

Understanding the challenge

Initially, Lauren wanted to solve a common challenge - how do we transform our unreliable auditing into something which identifies areas for improvement in the business?

Before adopting SafetyCulture, Julius Rutherfoord already had an auditing process in place, but it wasn’t being used to its full potential.

The company’s cleaning contracts included strict KPIs and SLAs, requiring regular audits of their services. But the in-house system they were using was limited and time-consuming, as the architects had left the business, leaving behind a platform with limited ownership and control.

“When we sell a cleaning contract as part of our KPIs and SLAs, we commit to making sure that our clients receive an audit of our services,” Lauren explains. “And that those audits reach a certain percentage of achievement or completion.”

With the old system, it was difficult to extract this data. While the company was meeting their contracted commitments, it wasn’t easy to prove this to customers.

The challenge was clear: the company needed to shift from a compliance-based approach to a data-driven culture of improvement, where visibility, accountability, and insight powered operational excellence.

Finding a solution

Lauren saw an opportunity with SafetyCulture to revitalise how Julius Rutherfoord approached quality control and build a meaningful culture of improvement. The rollout began by replicating the company’s existing audit templates digitally in SafetyCulture, ensuring continuity for frontline teams.

At first, the increased visibility came as a surprise.  “We nearly pulled the plug right at the beginning, because people were reporting so much more, and we thought it was suggesting that we were doing a horrible job,” Lauren admits.

But Lauren and her team knew they were onto something. Workers were empowered to flag, fix, and learn from incidents — not bury them. Instead of missing problematic trends, the increase in reported issues created a culture of openness and improvement.  “Now we have more understanding of what’s actually happening.”

From health and safety, to vehicle checks, to service audits, Lauren’s team and Julius Rutherfoord clients are richer in data and insight than ever before.

Every space that Julius Rutherfoord looks after is unique, and so is their contract. Following the initial rollout, the SafetyCulture processes were tailored to reflect the unique specifications of each client contract. The specifications detail the agreed-upon schedule and requirements for each space serviced by Julius Rutherfoord, ranging from waste management and dusting to vacuuming and removing fingerprint marks from high-traffic fixtures, all reflecting the attention to detail that has become Julius Rutherfoord’s signature service.

Now, audit data can be captured on any device, in real time, and shared instantly with management or clients. Self-audits, incident reporting, and follow-up actions are all integrated, creating a closed feedback loop that helps the company act fast on trends or risks.

Big changes, even bigger impact

Lauren’s work with SafetyCulture has produced incredible results within her teams, and with customers.

Frontline workers appreciate that the process is quicker, simpler, and more transparent. They can complete inspections using their mobile devices, capture evidence instantly, and know their observations lead to action. The feedback loop has tightened: when issues are raised, they’re addressed promptly, and staff see the outcomes. That visibility has boosted confidence and accountability across the business.

Customers love the visibility over what’s going on in their spaces. Each site now receives transparent, digital audit reports that show precisely how standards are being met. The SafetyCulture Analytics Dashboards provide both the company and its clients with clear visual insights into trends, compliance levels, and performance scores. Clients can see that Julius Rutherfoord isn’t just meeting contractual KPIs but actively using data to enhance performance.

This approach has become a clear differentiator. By offering bespoke audits tailored to each client’s needs, Julius Rutherfoord has positioned itself as a partner focused on continuous improvement — not just a service provider. “It’s a unique sort of selling point for us,” Lauren notes, highlighting how SafetyCulture supports both operational excellence and commercial growth.

SafetyCulture has ultimately helped Julius Rutherfoord reinforce its reputation for reliability, transparency, and professionalism. By combining inspections, analytics, and action tracking in one platform, Julius Rutherfoord can now see patterns, address risks before they escalate, and measure success more accurately.