NEWS
Bringing you the latest updates from Top Marks Security Services
We are a Living Wage Accredited Employer
February 2023: We are really pleased to announce that we are now a Living Wage Foundation accredited employer.
​
This was one of our key objectives for this year, and whilst we have always strived to be a good employer, we wanted to solidify that by ensuring any current and prospective employees (as well as our supply chain) know that we are committed to delivering fair pay for their efforts.
Now that this is in place, the business will continue to look into other ways of making Top Marks a great place to work.
.jpg)
FY23 Customer Survey Results
January 2023: In December we reached out to our valued customers and asked for their feedback. We shared a survey with standard questions, and the response we received filled us with great pride in our business and in our great people delivering such a great service.
​
Top Marks's aim is to deliver a high quality, reliable service to companies in our local area, at reasonable and low prices. To see our customers so happy with the service makes all the effort put in worth it.
​
As part of our customer satisfaction survey, we make a pledge to donate for every form completed, and this year we received feedback which will have us make £1,000 in foodbank donations on behalf of our customers.
FY23 Staff Survey Results
January 2023: During December and January we asked all of our employees to complete a staff satisfaction survey.
The results, in line with last year, were strong. That being said, participation was only c.25% of our employees.
Of those who did respond, we received average scores as shown in the table.
​
We hope to continue to achieve such scores next year, though from a wider proportion of our employee base.
Leadership Change:
October 2022: From 1 October 2022, the role of Managing Director will be carried out by Alex Ali Marks, with Peter Marks continuing as a Director of the business.
​
We're all very excited about this change and look forward to continued energy and enthusiasm being poured into the business by Alex and Peter for many years to come.
Whilst the person you deal with may change, our continued commitment to delivering an effective, good value service will not.
Website Updates:
September 2022: We have made some changes to our website, most notably additional pages dedicated to our primary services.
​
Navigate there now via the dropdown under "Services" in the menu bar, or alternatively navigate through via our services banner on the homepage or through the service summaries on our "Services" page.
​
We've also listened to feedback and have made our website easier to read via mobile devices.
SIA Approved Contractor Scheme Success
April 2022: Top Marks for Security Services has been granted Approved Contractor Status by the SIA (Security Industry Authority) for security guarding and keyholding.
​
The ACS Standard encompasses all aspects of a security provider's operation. It takes a holistic view of how well an organisation is managed and an approved organisation must demonstrate to an independent
assessor, on an annual basis, that it has met defined standards.
​
This is something we have been working towards for a long time and is something we are very proud of. We couldn't have done it without our great staff and supportive customers.
2021/22 Customer Feedback
February 2022: In our latest round of customer feedback, we succeeded in attracting great scores yet again.
Scores were high across the board, including the following:
- Capability of operative - 9.4
- Reliability - 9.6
- Management of service - 9.6
- Responsiveness - 9.7
- Flexibility - 9.4
- Communication - 9.6
- Willingness to recommend - 9.9
​
This sort of feedback fills us with great pride and we will strive to continue delivering the quality service you enjoy for years to come
Great response from the team - we try to avoid short-notice requests, but in the event of them happening Top Marks have always found a solution - Lee, Cardinal Newman College
Very rarely have any operatives let us down and when informed [Top Marks] is on with sorting the issue very quickly - Lisa, Hurstwood Holdings
I have always found Top Marks to be an excellent company able to respond to our demands at very short notice. The team are exemplary. I would not hesitate to recommend this company. - Wendy, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
MORE COMMUNITY ACTIVITY
September 2021: Top Marks continued our efforts to give back to our local communities through September, with donations to the Luv Preston Foodbank made by Director Alexander Ali Marks (right). ​
​
Directors Lewis Marks and Peter Marks took part in the Great Manchester Run, earning donations for the Blackburn Youth Zone and the Booth Centre Manchester.
​
I'm sure you'll be keen to know which of our runners was the fastest. Peter finished the 10k in 59mins 05secs, whilst Lewis was just over a minute behind coming in at 1hr 16secs.
TOP MARKS WINDOW CLEANING
September 2021: Top Marks for Security is partnered with a team of window cleaning specialists who make use of pure water technology and water fed poles to provide a high quality, reliable and environmentally friendly window cleaning service.
​
That team of window cleaners are Top Marks Window Cleaning, and are ready to meet your window cleaning needs and are capable of servicing multi-storey needs without leaving the ground - great for those with low appetites for H&S risk.​
​
To arrange a quote or to speak to a member of the team, use our contact form on this website, find Top Marks Window Cleaning on Instagram or call 07398 032 403.
FOODBANK DONATIONS
August 2021: Following our donation earlier this year in the Manchester area, Top Marks last week delivered £300 of food to the Blackburn Foodbank.
​
Experience from the previous donation and of months volunteering in a foodbank helped our Director get a hold of the most useful items and allowed that donation to go even further.
​
- 150 packets of noodles
- 146 tins of tuna
- 48 boxes of oxo cubes
- 32 tins of spaghetti hoops
- 24 bottles of shower gel
- 12 bottles of shampoo
​
For more information, speak to your Top Marks contact today.
NEW GUARD PATROL SYSTEM
March 2021: As part of our ongoing commitment to delivering a quality service to our clients whilst ensuring that our guards are safe when carrying out their duties, Top Marks has sourced a new, award winning checkpoint solution for use across our patrol sites.
​
You may begin to see QR codes bearing our logo soon. These codes can only be activated by our trained employees and enable us to bring more real-time reporting of guard patrols to our customers.
​
For more information, speak to your Top Marks contact today
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY
February 2021: As promised in our previous news update, Top Marks has began to deliver on its commitment to deliver £1,000 of food to local foodbanks.
We want to be able to give back in each of our key geographies and therefore our first donation was made in Manchester.
​
Alexander Ali Marks (Director) stopped by The Myriad Foundation's Feed-A-Friend foodbank scheme, operated out of Levenshulme, Greater Manchester, to deliver £250 of food and volunteer some of his time to assist on the project.
​
The Myriad Foundation do a lot of great work across the region. For more details on the project and ways that you can support them can be found at Feed A Friend | Myriad Foundation
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY
February 2021: Following on from our customer satisfaction surveys issued last month, we are pleased to say that we have been through the responses and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. It fills Top Marks with great pride to see the hard work of our staff and operatives appreciated by the clients that we serve.
Stand-out scores (9.2 and above when averaged across the population of respondents) in Reliability, Responsiveness and Flexibility confirm to us that our operations are reflecting the company’s vision and mission.
In our commitment to give back to our local communities, we promised to donate an amount of food based on the responses received. Arrangements are being put in place for one of our Directors to deliver £1,000 of food to local foodbanks. We hope to receive an even greater response in our client survey next year.
Thank you all for your feedback and continued business.
NEW LOGO
January 2021: You may have already noticed, but Top Marks for Security Services has a new logo, replacing the logo which has been in place since 2005. We hope you like it and you can expect to see this logo incorporated into our documents and marketing materials soon
BACK TO SCHOOL
September 2020: Top Marks does a significant amount of work across a range of nurseries, schools and colleges in the north west. Whilst we recognise that it has been a challenging time for the education sector, we are looking forward to doing our bit to help our clients manage life under the new normal.
ISO ACCREDITATION
August 2020: Following months under lockdown, the Directors were finally able to meet with the body responsible for approving our ISO 9001 Quality Management System Accreditation.
Are you an employee or client and have thoughts on what you would like included in the News section?Â
If so, please let us know using the contact form accessed on the contact page or, if you are an employee, speak to your line manager.