Interview with Lorraine Dale, Head Housekeeper of Windsor Castle, Berkshire UK

 What is your cultural background? Where were you born and where did you grow up?

I am English, I was born in Stevanage in Hertfordshire and I grew up around London as my mother and father ran public houses.

 

What has been your career path to date?

I started at Carshalton College, with the hope of becoming a Receptionist! .However in my second year at the college, I spent 6 weeks in a Housekeeping Department on placement.

 

What was your first role as Executive Housekeeper?

My first role was at Frimley Hall Hotel in Camberley, followed by the Copthrone Hotel in Windsor.

My first major role as Executive Housekeeper was working for Arora Hotels, I started as the opening Executive Housekeeper at their first hotel in Heathrow with 351 rooms. I then went on to become the Director of Housekeeping for all 8 properties, opening 5 hotels for Surinder Arora. My biggest accomplishment was opening the Sofitel T5 with over 600 rooms and suites, an amazing property.

What challenges did that bring?

The biggest challenges have always been recruitment and trying to employ the right calibre of staff in an affluent area. Budget restrictions on training with new starters was also challenging

 

What is your current position and Hotel? What are your current job responsibilities at your hotel?

My current role is Head Housekeeper at Windsor Castle.

I have recently taken over this position and through restructuring, I now have a team of 32 staff.

My main role is to ensure The Queen is looked after and all of her needs are met. We look after the other members of the Royal family along with all of the Queen’s guests when they stay at Windsor Castle.

We maintain the standards within the Castle, through conservation cleaning and by working closely with Royal Collection.

Whilst looking after the private side of Windsor Castle, I also have a team that maintains the public side of the Castle. We have over 1 million visitors visiting the Castle every year, so we have to run a tight cleaning schedule. This includes working with the Royal Collection and ensuring all royal artifacts are cleaned and maintained. I am also part of the Senior Management team and play a part as a Duty Manager at other Royal Residences.

 

How many staff are you responsible for?

I have 3 Managers along with 30 staff including Housekeeping Assistants ( Private side)

Daily Ladies (public and staff side) and Castle Attendants ( both sides)

 

What areas are you responsible for?

I am responsible for the whole of the Castle both internally and externally. This also covers the private side and the public side. I am currently looking at the contract cleaners, who maintain the offices and some areas within the Castle grounds, as we hope to take them back in house.

 

What would your typical day be like?

I start about 7am with a walk around and to say Good Morning to the team.

I then meet with the team at 8am as from 8.00 am till 10.00am they are cleaning the State Apartments

From 10.00am -12.30pm I work with the Housekeeping Assistants on the private side while they are cleaning Her Majesty’s private rooms and areas.

From 12.30pm onwards, I work with Royal Collection on conversation cleaning and reviewing of our current cleaning schedules.

In the afternoon I would check with my Castle Foreman on all the areas his team have been working on for example high level cleaning or in the basements.

I generally finish about 17.00-18.00

However this is very different when The Queen is in residence or we are in court. The day then starts at 6am through to about 9.00pm – busy but very exciting!

 

 

What are your top three challenges this week?

1. Introducing change within the department – we are looking at the cleaning routine within the State Apartments. I want to review how regularly this is cleaned to ensure we converse all artifacts, however we have limited time.
2. To review our staff survey and to ensure key themes are shared with the team
3. To review all current equipment being used within the Castle

 

How did you choose those managers under you?

They were in place when I joined the Castle

 

How do you deal with different cultures?

We manage a very diverse team from all countries and all with very different cultures. We are trying to embrace this by working closely with all colleges and universities.

 

How does pre-opening work compare with working in an existing property? What are the top 3 challenges in an opening?

1. Ensuring you have the correct information at all times as it is really important to be kept in the loop if there are delays in opening dates as this has an impact on staffing levels and indeed all parts of the operation
2. Ensuring that the builders hand over all areas in a suitable state and DO NOT RETURN!!
3. Training new staff

 

What are your top 3 tips for success in Housekeeping Management?

1. To be passionate about your role
2. Ensure the team know that you know your “stuff” and never be afraid to get your hands dirty
3. To build good relationships with other departments such as Reception

 

If you had to do it all over again what would you do differently?

No – I have loved every minute of my career

 

What advice would you give someone starting out in housekeeping?

To be patient, to listen and to be like a sponge!

 

How about your personal life? How do you balance work and home life?

I have a better balance with this now however there have been times when my work has taken over my life. I am very passionate about Housekeeping and always see things through to the end.

I like being involved in everything!!

 

What do you do for fun?

I am just learning to play golf!

I am also the Chairperson of the UK Housekeepers Association. This takes up a lot of my personal time however I am very passionate about the Association and developing the housekeeper of tomorrow.

 

How do you think housekeeping management has changed since you started?

I understand why we are currently outsourcing housekeeping however I have concerns about how this will impact our profession in years to come. We are not encouraging outsourced Head Housekeepers to be exposed to budgets and other important parts of the operation.

They do not have exposure to the General Managers and they are not always part of the Senior Management team.