UK soft services provider Churchill Group have signed the Neurodiversity in Business Charter committing to comprehensive workplace inclusion of neurodiverse employees. The charter is an initiative from Neurodiversity in Business (NiB), an industry forum led by Dan Harris, which draws on the experiences of interdisciplinary professionals and leading companies to share best practices, and improve…
Cleaning
UK startup Biovate Hygienics is claiming an industry first following the launch of its ‘Zero Compromise’ range of plastic-free paper bottles for commercial cleaning products. Bottle interiors feature a protective bio liner that prevents contact with liquid products – a coating made from natural pure plant sap latex. Outer cases are infused with natural seaweed…
Outernet London, the Capital’s newest immersive entertainment district, has appointed Cleanology as cleaning service provider. Bring cultural and retail experiences to life under a wider, centralised ecosystem which includes live performances, and hotels, restaurants and bars, Outernet offers boasts above-ground public media spaces with daily footfall in excess of 170,000. Dominic Ponniah, CEO of contract…
Jim Melvin, Chairman of the British Cleaning Council (BCC), comments as proposals for an Apprenticeship Levy funded industry-wide training scheme for the cleaning and hygiene sector are submitted to the approving body. It is hoped that the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (iATE) will give the final agreement and confirmation for the Apprenticeship Standard…
Bidvest Noonan has announced Stephen Taylor as the Director of Operations for its Transport Solutions business unit which launched in December 2021. The business unit specialises in cleaning and support services for rail, coach, tram and bus service operators, with the facility services company which has bases in the United Kingdom and the Republic of…
Truvox International has launched its new Valet Dual Motor Upright high-performance commercial upright vacuum cleaner. The robust machine is ideal for use in healthcare, education, hotels and office facilities. “We are delighted to launch our new easy-to-use Valet Dual Motor Upright (VDMU) vacuum cleaner which sets a new standard for high performance cleaning in the…
Compass Group healthcare business Medirest and its partner, Royal Surrey Hospital, have been awarded ‘Exemplar’ site status, for the early and proficient implementation of the 2021 UK National Standards for Cleaning. The recognition acknowledges the delivery of the best-in-class service and that they will share learnings and experiences to enable other trusts to follow suit.…
A new report by MPs in the United Kingdom into the role of cleaning and hygiene during the Covid-19 pandemic has recommeended the introduction of minimum standards for hand and other hygiene infrastructure and cleaning of venues to prepare the country for future public health emergencies. The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Cleaning and…
To mark Living Wage Week in the United Kingdom, the British Cleaning Council (BCC) is renewing calls for cleaning and hygiene sector businesses to pay the real Living Wage – a voluntary salary scale that is higher than the government’s ‘National Living Wage’. Supporting the real Living Wage means committing to paying employees a wage…
Lynne Snoding, Diversey’s sector marketing manager for Food Service & BSC in the UK and Ireland, provides guidance on reducing cleaning-related energy costs as companies transition to net zero. Government targets to reduce CO2 emissions as part of the wider commitment to zero carbon by 2050 have focused attention on energy consumption across all parts…
The British Cleaning Council (BCC) has branded recent comments on migrant workers made by Home Secretary Suella Braverman as being ‘ridiculous’, ‘completely out of touch’ and ‘divorced from reality’. According to the BCC, the United Kingdom’s hygiene and hygiene and waste sector has been suffering from severe staff shortages since a tightening of immigration rules…
The British Cleaning Council (BCC) is warning continuing staff shortages in the cleaning, hygiene and waste sector will amplify the impact of a feared ‘twindemic’ combining winter flu and new immune evasive Sars-Cov-2 variants. The cleaning, hygiene and waste sector – which is one of the ten biggest industries in the UK – has played…
Angry and disappointed cleaning and hygiene industry leaders have hit out after opposition parties so far avoided meeting with them to discuss key and pressing sector issues. Leading Trade association, The British Cleaning Council (BCC) wrote t,o the Labour, Scottish Nationalist, Lib Dem and Green parties in August but none of them have so far…
The remaining two sessions of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Cleaning and Hygiene Industry inquiry into the role of cleaning and hygiene during the Covid-19 pandemic have been postponed following the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The APPG inquiry, which is entitled “Embedding Effective Hygiene for a Resilient UK“, held its…
Next-gen biological and ecological cleaning products manufacturer Biovate Hygienics has launched new product ranges targeted at caterers with Bidfood, one of the UK’s largest foodservice wholesalers. Under the partnership, Bidfood will serve as the manufacturer’s national catering distribution partner. Two ranges are now available, with the first offers what the Biovate Hygienics describes as a…
A special sustainability award presented to Derrycourt, one of Ireland’s leading contract cleaning and facilities management businesses, by Diversey recognises the contribution the company has made to promoting sustainable cleaning. Eugene Grogan, Sector Sales Lead for BSC at Diversey Ireland, made the presentation to Gerard McCarthy, Operations Manager at Derrycourt, at a recent event in…
Solihull Community Housing (SCH) which operates housing services on behalf of Solihull Council in England’s West Midlands has selected Pinnacle Group as the cleaning contractor for a council-owned portfolio of over 600 homes and administrative facilities. Pinnacle previously held the £1 million contract between 2010 and 2015. As part of the latest agreement which came…
GreenTeck Global have signed a five-year partnership with Alliance Scotland for distribution of its innovative range of natural cleaning solutions throughout Scotland. As part of the relationship, Alliance Scotland will represent GreenTeck Global’s COSHH-free products across all sectors, from local authorities and public transport bodies to hospitality companies. The move will see more of Alliance’s…
Dr Lisa Ackerley, CEnvH, FRSPH, Director of Medical and Scientific Engagement – Hygiene at Reckitt, explains how the development of targeted hygiene protocols is helping to create a more hygienic, time-saving and cost-saving Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. With Dettol as the Official Hygiene Partner, Targeted Hygiene approach is being put into action at the Birmingham…
UK facility services provider Parr Facilities Management (Parr FM) which operates offices in Manchester, Glasgow and Belfast, has been named as a supplier on the NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) second-generation Hard Facilities Management framework agreement. The Hard Facilities Management 2 (Hard FM) framework agreement offers a compliant route to market to all NHS…
Business leaders from the UK’s cleaning and hygiene sector have hit out over the government’s failure to engage properly with them following earlier request for a meeting to discuss the findings of the Sue Gray report into Partygate. The report’s findings included evidence of cleaners at No 10 Downing Street and other Whitehall departments being…
Diversey Holdings consider the wide range of solutions that can be deployed to prevent infection in healthcare facilities. Healthcare housekeeping and infection prevention teams have increased the frequency of hand hygiene and surface disinfection since the start of the pandemic. These are both key to breaking the chain of infection but, with cleaning done more…
British Cleaning Council (BCC) chairman Jim Melvin has requested a meeting with UK Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, Simon Case, to discuss the appalling ‘lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff’ in Number 10 Downing Street identified by Sue Gray in her full report into lockdown-breaking parties in…
Diversey’s new Degragerm 24 Shield helps hotels prevent the spread of Covid-19 and other infections by enabling on-going surface disinfection for up to 24 hours from application. The innovative, ready-to-use product meets numerous disinfection standards, including BSI PAS22424 and EPA RSS that specifically assure its ongoing performance properties. It is ideal for frequent touch surfaces…
Jim Melvin, Chairman of the British Cleaning Council (BCC), comments on the mistreatment of cleaning and security staff identified by senior civil servant Sue Gray in her full report into lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street. Industry leaders are ‘appalled and upset’ after Sue Gray’s report said there were ‘multiple examples of a lack of respect and…
Dr Lisa Ackerley, CEnvH, FRSPH, Director of Medical and Scientific Engagement and Hygiene at Reckitt, shares insights into what brands can learn from the hygiene protocols she helped develop for COP26. The first UK lockdown – announced on 23 March, 2020 in a televised press conference – may seem a distant memory, but its legacy…
Incentive QAS has appointed Bryan Haley as business development manager. Haley will manage all new bids and business opportunities in a role that will involve ownership of the company’s CRM system and Incentive QAS tender platforms. He joins Incentive QAS from GSF where he held a variety of roles over a 13-year period, most recently heading up…
Churchill Group is delivering train presentation, depot cleaning, office cleaning and visitor minibus services in London under a five-year £20 million contract with international high-speed rail service operator, Eurostar. Execution of the contract began in 2021, following a six-week technical implementation period under an interim transformation manager who was recruited to oversee key implementation milestones.…
Donna Mitchell, Sector Marketing Manager for Hospitality at Diversey, UK & Ireland, comments on the need for vigilance in maintaining kiosk hygiene in the next normal. Self-service touchscreens and kiosks are increasingly popular in retail and hospitality. In these settings they are going to be touched by a lot of different people in quick succession…
Sam Greaves, managing director of the Cleenol Group, considers the impact of demand for fitness facilities on the cleaning products market following the pandemic. In the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic we saw a rapid increase in the use of cleaning and disinfection products as individuals and organisations stepped up hygiene practices to prevent…
Incentive FM have applied an innovative antimicrobial coating from Nordic Chem at out-of-town shopping and leisure centre, The Mall at Cribbs Causeway, near Bristol. Independently certified to prevent the spread of harmful pathogens including the SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus for a period of up to 90 days with a single application, the coating supplements regular…