The Symington Building Induction
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The Symington Building Induction Contents About The Symington Building Accessing The Symington Building Health & Safety Shared Building Facilities The Symington Building Protocols Summary Welcome to The Symington Building Induction Module! This module is a compulsory module for all partners and Councillors based in The Symington Building. The module must be completed before you commence work in The Symington Building and for you to receive your building access card. This module should take you approximately 30 minutes to read through. About The Symington Building Where is The Symington Building? The Symington Building is situated on Adam and Eve Street in Market Harborough, LE16 7AG. A Google Map showing the council offices is in the image above. Adam and Eve Street is identified with the purple marker and The Symington Building itself is identified with the "A" Marker The History of The Symington Building In 1861 Robert and William Symington took over part of a disused carpet factory in Adam and Eve Street. In this factory they produced corsets under their own name as well as those of their major clients. In 1876 the brothers managed to raise enough money to buy all of the factory building and as this was not big enough for their expanding business, in 1884 they built a new factory on Church Gate over the road. This was what is now known as The Symington Building. At the start of the First World War their business was an international concern with the reputation of a market leader and The Symington Building towered over the centre of Market Harborough. R & WH Symington was for many years the largest employer in Market Harborough and the company and family had a great impact on the town and its people. The building was, for it's time, clean and light with good sanitary provision and drinking fountains for the workers on each floor. From most accounts, the factory workforce was a strong community and in 1901 the Symington Clubroom was added to the building and was the hub of the social life for the company, with plays being performed, concerts given and a weekly Saturday night dance. Factory staff would come together to celebrate major local and national events. In 1967 the Courtaulds Group took over the factory and in 1980 the offices and some of the workrooms were sold to Harborough District Council to be turned into the Council offices, the museum and library. The factory finally ceased production of underwear and swim wear in May 1990 and the factory closed. In January 2013 work began on updating the building, which was renamed The Symington Building and so a new chapter in the story of this building begins... A Guided Tour Over the next few pages, we will take you through a virtual tour of the building, starting with the ground floor and finishing on the third floor. You will see images of the layout of each floor and will be able to see what is on each floor as well as some of the facilities Ground Floor This is a diagram of the Ground Floor, which is mainly public access and includes Customer Services, Concierge, Toilets First Floor The first floor is available to the public and includes the Harborough Museum, the Library, Registrar services and Leicestershire County Council Adult Learning services. This is the main museum area where you can see some exciting exhibits including The Hallaton Treasure - found in what turned out to be one of the most important Iron Age Sites in Britain, you can see the remains of an ornately decorated Roman silver- gilt helmet, over five thousand silver and gold coins as well as some mysterious silver finds! The Battle of Naseby Harborough Rubber Company Harborough during the wars And in homage to our previous occupiers - a display of Symington's corsets and exhibition of life working in the corset factory! The Library is situated on this floor too and has a wide range of fiction and non fiction books for adults and children alike, as well as other useful resources There are PC's, printers and photocopiers available for customers to use. The Library also runs special themed events for all users and also provides a Tourist Information Service. There is an area in Museum which is used for Special Exhibits Information will be available on the Symington Intranet site so look out for what's coming up. Leicester County Council Adult Learning Service are also based on the first floor, shown in green above. This will be used for learning events and advice and support for adult learners. Information on the services and courses available can be found on the Leicestershire County Council website. There is a kitchen area for staff use and an accessible toilet facility with baby changing for customer use. The Registration Service is on the first floor. This is where customers will come, by appointment, to register births and deaths and where marriage ceremonies will take place. The blue area is a meeting room predominately for use by the Registrar services. There is also the original ornate staircase where wedding parties will exit after their ceremony. It will also be used for photograph Second Floor On this floor you will find the Harborough District Council Civic Suites, Leicestershire County Council Office accommodation and touchdown desks, the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Job Centre Plus. Kitchen and toilet facilities are available for colleagues working on this floor and for those using the Civic Suite. Third Floor This floor is the Harborough District Council Offices and is for staff only, not open to the public. Accessing The Symington Building When is The Symington Building Open? Due to the nature of the different businesses and services within the building, different parts of the building will be accessible at different times. Retail Outlets All Retail Outlets have the option of being open 7 days a week. They will determine their own opening hours and these should be displayed by the retail outlets. Some of the outlets may be open until late in the evening, depending on their business. HDC Customer Services The face to face Customer Service on the ground floor are open to the public Monday to Friday from 08:45 to 17:00 except Wednesday when the opening time is 09:30. The Library & Museum The Library and Museum will be open at the following times Monday CLOSED Tuesday 10.00 am to 6.00 pm Wednesday 10.00pm to 6.00pm Thursday 10.00 am to 6.00 pm Friday 10.00 am to 6.00 pm Saturday 10.00 am to 4.00 pm Sunday Closed Registrar The registrar is open at the same time as the Library and Museum. An appointment is usually required for this service. Office Accommodation Generally, office accommodation will be open from approximately 7.00am until approximately 7.00pm Monday to Friday, 8.00 am to 6.00pm on Saturdays. At the moment, office accommodation is not open on Sundays. If this is required, please speak to the Building Management team on 01858 821021. There will be regular meetings held in the Civic Suite which last until approximately 8.00 pm so you can stay on to work later if you need to. You are encouraged though to leave the office accommodation by 7.00pm. If you do need to have access to the office area after this time, please inform the concierge. Getting into the Building - Access Cards Everyone working in The Symington Building will require an access card to enter the building. These cards will be provided by the Building Management team after approval from your organisations' HR department/Senior Manager. The cards will be provided at the end of your induction tour. The card you receive will be set up to provide you access to the areas relevant to your organisation. The card system is computerised and keeps historic records which can be accessed by managers. If you need to amend the areas you have access to, this can be done by the Building Management team. The cards will have time restrictions for example, you will not be allowed access at 2.00 am unless this is a requirement of your job! Any access required out of hours must be approved by the Building Management team. You will not be permitted to enter the building unless you have an access card. Any defective cards will be replaced free of charge but a £10 charge will be made to the partner organisation whose employee has lost their card. If a card has been lost or stolen the Building Management team must be informed and in the event of theft a crime number obtained from the police, a £10 charge is also valid unless the card is found. Getting Into the Building - Which Entrance do I use? The Symington Building has several entrances and exits. All external doors apart from the main entrance doors are secure at all times with magnetic locks. Some of the doors are accessible using the access cards. The entrances and exits are shown in the ground floor image in the "About The Symington Building" Section. You will be shown the staff entrances on your induction tour and these are situated at the rear of the building, from the Mill Hill and Fox Yard car parks. Staff may use the front entrance of the building to access the office areas, but as customers can access all floors via the lift, it's important to be vigilant when entering access restricted areas and if you are unsure whether someone works within the building ask them to show their pass.