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THESTANDARD<br />

THEN & NOW<br />

01 |<br />

THESTANDARD<br />

EDITION 2 | <strong>2021</strong> | BICS.ORG.UK


Hello and welcome to this<br />

edition of THE STANDARD<br />

We hope you are all keeping well and<br />

have managed to enjoy some of the lovely<br />

warm weather we have recently been<br />

lucky enough to have, after what felt like<br />

the longest winter ever.<br />

<strong>The</strong> cover story - This one’s dedicated to something<br />

special – something that will make a difference to the way<br />

we deliver BICSc training going forward. Special, because<br />

it will contribute to an increase in the number of people<br />

working within our sector who can attain recognised<br />

industry training at a time that works for them.<br />

Yes, BICSc training is now available online! This is a<br />

mammoth milestone that has coincided with our 60th year,<br />

and it’s worth celebrating. Inside, Neil Spencer-Cook, our<br />

Chief Operating Officer and BICSc virtual world engineer,<br />

will be covering everything there is to know about the<br />

wonders of the BBS Virtual Training Suite.<br />

We are, of course, still offering face-to-face training.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Training Suite in Northampton re-opened in April, and<br />

we have seen a steady stream of candidates through the<br />

doors since then.<br />

From those who work on cruise ships who are preparing to<br />

welcome back passengers to those who are working within<br />

retail and healthcare environments, which proves again that<br />

the principles of what we train can be applied in any setting.<br />

You can also enjoy a fascinating career story from our<br />

deputy chairman, Soo Bartholomew. As well as a member’s<br />

story from CleanTec who have created an employee-owned<br />

commercial cleaning company. You can also find out who<br />

this year’s BICSc awards finalists are. We are keeping<br />

everything crossed that we will be able to host a live<br />

event come September, it would be wonderful to be able<br />

celebrate properly, more about our plans inside!<br />

In other news – with 89% of you backing our ‘get colourcoding<br />

legislated for the cleaning and hygiene industry’<br />

campaign it came as a bit of a surprise to learn that our<br />

petition proposal to introduce this as a standard for<br />

the commercial cleaning world was rejected by the UK<br />

government. We will now be progressing this topic via the<br />

All-party Parliamentary Group to at least bring it to the<br />

attention of those who may be able to support a movement<br />

that ultimately controls cross-contamination. To find out<br />

more about the APPG and what’s happening, head over<br />

to C & M’s website, their recent webinars were very<br />

informative.<br />

Until next time, from all of us here at BICSc we hope you<br />

enjoy this edition.<br />

Best Wishes<br />

Michelle Iland,<br />

PBICSc Marketing<br />

& Events Executive<br />

If you have a story to share, drop me<br />

an email at marketing@bics.org.uk<br />

and you could feature in the next<br />

edition of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Standard</strong>


FEATURING<br />

IN THIS ISSUE...<br />

Page | Cover story<br />

03 Welcome to the<br />

virtual world of<br />

BICSc Training<br />

Page | <strong>The</strong> Technical Edit<br />

10 Principles of Cleaning<br />

Science with Denise<br />

Hanson, FBICSc<br />

Page | BICSc Annual Awards<br />

11 Announcing the Finalists<br />

Hello from the Chairman,<br />

Lorraine Davis, MBICSc<br />

As we return to the new normal, it is<br />

important to remember the lessons learnt.<br />

One of the most important of these is effective hand hygiene. <strong>The</strong>n of course<br />

there is social distancing and adequate ventilation within buildings.<br />

A new focus has fallen upon the cleaning operative and accredited training now<br />

forms part of most professional induction programmes.<br />

Some of the lessons learnt will be hard to forget. Unfortunately, others will fade<br />

with time. We are still stridently attempting to turn the spotlight on a nationally<br />

recognised scheme for colour-coding in the cleaning and hygiene industry. We<br />

have great hopes that the APPG (All-party Parliamentary Group) will not only<br />

realise the importance that correct colour-coding brings to the industry, but will<br />

also bring this to the Government’s attention. If anything good is to come out of<br />

this pandemic for the cleaning industry, it should be that the perception of the<br />

cleaning operative changes forever and the importance and self-respect of the<br />

operative has been enhanced.<br />

Page | <strong>The</strong> Ishikawa Diagram<br />

15 Ceramic floor tiles with<br />

James Marston, MBICSc<br />

Page | From Northamptonshire<br />

17 to the high seas<br />

P&O Cruises introduce<br />

BICSc standards<br />

Page | My Career in Cleaning<br />

19 With Soo Bartholomew,<br />

MBICSc<br />

Page | <strong>The</strong> View from HQ<br />

24 Meet Simon our cleaning<br />

operative<br />

Page | International Update<br />

26 with Chris Ryan,<br />

MBICSc<br />

Page | New Members<br />

30 March – May <strong>2021</strong><br />

So, when a cleaning operative is asked what they do for a living, they no longer<br />

have to reply: ‘I am only a cleaner.’<br />

With best wishes<br />

Lorraine<br />

"We have great hopes that the APPG (All-party Parliamentary<br />

Group) will not only realise the importance that correct colourcoding<br />

brings to the industry, but will also bring this to the<br />

Government’s attention."<br />

02 |<br />

THESTANDARD


Welcome to the<br />

virtual world of<br />

BICSc Training<br />

With Neil Spencer-Cook, MBICSc<br />

Chief Operating Officer<br />

It’s been a year of firsts for<br />

the world as a whole, and<br />

that has meant firsts for<br />

BICSc and BBS.<br />

One of our firsts was started in March this year, with the<br />

launch of the BBS Virtual Training Suite to complement<br />

our face-to-face training. We had been hosting training<br />

over MS Teams during the earlier part of the year,<br />

but this had its limitations and still tied candidates to<br />

learning at a set time.<br />

Whilst we were utilising MS Teams we investigated and<br />

set up a virtual training platform. <strong>The</strong> chosen platform<br />

allows candidates to have access to training at a time<br />

suitable to themselves over a set number of days – they<br />

can start the course and return to it over a period of 7 or<br />

14 days depending on the course.<br />

All of the courses available are taught in<br />

several ways, there is variety in each course,<br />

and they allow the candidate to soak up the<br />

information at their own speed.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re are presentation lessons, presentations with a<br />

narrative, video presentations, video demonstrations,<br />

quizzes and virtually all courses come with a resource<br />

centre for useful downloads.<br />

For those of you familiar with the BICSc Cleaning<br />

Professional’s Skills Suite (CPSS) you will be aware that<br />

accredited training involves an assessment, for CPSS<br />

training the assessment remains, but we now offer the<br />

ability to be assessed remotely via a Teams call at a time<br />

suitable to the company and/or candidate.<br />

We started the process with the ‘passport to a career<br />

in cleaning’ the Licence to Practice (LTP), and by the<br />

end of May we had trained and assessed just under 200<br />

candidates through the Virtual Training Suite.<br />

This course was complemented with the renewal of<br />

the LTP. As you all know, the LTP needs to be renewed<br />

every 3 years, this is the easiest way to renew, it doesn’t<br />

involve a face-to-face assessment and can be completed<br />

and passed completely virtually. As candidates will have<br />

previously been assessed in the usual way, this new way<br />

to renew aims to ensure that the knowledge has been<br />

retained and a compulsory question-and-answer section<br />

is how this is now assessed.<br />

Following on from this, nine of the most popular skills<br />

from CPSS were added. By the end of the year we are<br />

aiming for at least twenty of our most popular skills to be<br />

available to you virtually.<br />

This year has also seen the introduction of the<br />

Healthcare Skills, these are an adaptation to the skills<br />

within CPSS to ensure they comply with the newly<br />

released National <strong>Standard</strong>s of Healthcare Cleanliness<br />

<strong>2021</strong>. We will also be adding the ten most trained skills<br />

in Healthcare to the Virtual Training Suite.<br />

03 |<br />

THESTANDARD


All courses come with a resource centre<br />

for useful downloads


To make what we have available even more accessible<br />

to you, our members and customers, we have created<br />

several training bundles to get you started or add to<br />

what you already hold.<br />

It doesn’t stop there, we are also in the process of converting<br />

all Cleanlogic courses so they can be delivered virtually.<br />

Currently available is the Control of Cross-Contamination<br />

(one of our most popular courses during the pandemic for<br />

obvious reasons) and the Principles of Cleaning Science, the<br />

rest of our existing offering will be available soon.<br />

Let’s not forget the FREE courses that are available as well,<br />

Hand Hygiene Explained and Understanding BICSc Colour-<br />

Coding are available now, more are planned in the coming<br />

months.<br />

We were keen for the Virtual Training Suite to be useful to<br />

all and that includes our Accredited Training Members. We<br />

are aware, particularly now, that training and assessing<br />

your staff can be a challenge timewise, so we have<br />

options to help you. We can provide the available courses<br />

(LTP and 9 skills at the moment) to you so your cleaning<br />

operatives can be trained ready for your assessors to<br />

complete the assessment.<br />

<strong>The</strong> price you pay for this will also include the issue of the<br />

skills card so for a small amount more than the cost of a skills<br />

card you can save your business the time that you would<br />

usually take to train.<br />

Of course, if you are using the Assessors App (another first<br />

for BICSc, which was released in September 2020) there is<br />

no paperwork as your assessments will be sent directly to us<br />

from the app, and we can complete the production of the<br />

skills cards, there is no need for an additional PO for this as<br />

it will have been addressed when we give your operatives<br />

access to the Virtual Training Suite. We can also let you have<br />

reports on the operatives you have enrolled, so you know<br />

where they all are and how far they have progressed. If this<br />

is something you are interested in, please do get in touch, we<br />

are more than happy to work out a way to make things easier<br />

for you.<br />

We were keen for the Virtual Training<br />

Suite to be useful to all and that<br />

includes our Accredited Training<br />

Members. We are aware, particularly<br />

now, that training and assessing your<br />

staff can be a challenge timewise, so we<br />

have options to help you.<br />

05 |<br />

THESTANDARD


<strong>The</strong>re’s more…<br />

We are also in the development stage of the BICSc<br />

Supervisor's Certificate, this will be a 360-degree course<br />

for your supervisors or future supervisors. It will mean<br />

they are trained in LTP and 7 skills, and cover topics such<br />

as, how to train a cleaning operative, Health and Safety,<br />

Cross-Contamination, Cleaning Science, HR skills, customer<br />

service and more. Once available this will be one of the most<br />

comprehensive courses for a supervisor within the cleaning<br />

and hygiene industry. With so many of you asking for a<br />

qualification like this, our aim is that this certificate fills the<br />

obvious industry gap.<br />

<strong>The</strong> pandemic has meant life has changed considerably in<br />

many ways over the last fifteen months, but for our industry<br />

it hasn’t been as negative as it has been for others. We are<br />

now seeing the benefit of cleaning and hygiene being bought<br />

to the forefront of people’s minds, which can never be a bad<br />

thing. Another plus is the cleaning operative is becoming<br />

more visible and, more importantly, more respected.<br />

Part of the BICSc mission statement is<br />

‘to protect the operative’ and one of<br />

the best ways to do this is through<br />

professional training.<br />

We are continuing to review our training offering, it’s never<br />

ending, and we are looking at ways we can make our training<br />

more accessible to all that wish to take it up.<br />

It is looking like the introduction of the BBS Virtual Training<br />

Suite has helped and with over 1,500 people enrolled on<br />

courses in its first 2 months, we are pleased to see you are<br />

taking up the available options.<br />

Finally, there’s many more courses to come, so do keep<br />

checking back and an keep an eye out for our newsletters.<br />

As always we will keep you up to date with new releases<br />

and developments.<br />

Best wishes,<br />

Neil<br />

06 |<br />

THESTANDARD


Member's Story<br />

My Time Training<br />

With BICSc<br />

My name is<br />

Sarah Ford,<br />

and I am the<br />

relationship<br />

manager<br />

and trainer<br />

for cleaning<br />

operatives at Top Mops.<br />

When I started a few years ago, I noticed a flaw in what<br />

is a great company and a lack of fully preparing staff<br />

to go out onto sites of all shapes and sizes. Quickly I<br />

took this under my wing, I site visit with staff, and show<br />

them the standards that not only I, but as a company we<br />

expect. I carried this on until I started to follow BICSc<br />

on social media and realised that there was more I could<br />

do to not only better myself but empower our staff in<br />

the same way.<br />

In November 2020, during the lockdown, I started with<br />

my Licence to Practice, which I did remotely. I made up<br />

a cleaning cupboard at the head offices and struggled<br />

with Wi-Fi as Maureen Kelso (BICSc verifier) and myself<br />

muddled on through. I work with a lot of schools and<br />

healthcare settings, meaning that doing the assessment<br />

on a site was a no-go.<br />

Passing the Licence to Practice, I’d already set my eyes on a<br />

higher goal. I arranged with the lovely office staff at BICSc<br />

to do my Accredited Trainer training. If I was going to be<br />

the best that I could be, to help our operatives be the best<br />

that they could be, I needed to ensure that I was doing<br />

everything to standard.<br />

After it was postponed by 5 months, I got to the<br />

Northampton Training Suite and was met by Sarah, who was<br />

lovely, and made me feel welcomed – despite my nerves.<br />

Within 30 minutes I’d been introduced to how the course<br />

was to go, where everything for my assessments were and<br />

we jumped straight into the first unit.<br />

We smashed through the units, having a laugh along<br />

the way and before I knew it, it was onto the trainer<br />

training. Possibly the most nerve-wracking part as I was<br />

the only one on this session of the course so had to<br />

‘train’ Sarah.<br />

<strong>The</strong> course was so great, has given me additional<br />

skills to be able to not only do my job better, by being<br />

a better operative myself, but to also be a better version<br />

of myself while training others to be the best they<br />

can be…<br />

Sarah was professional, approachable, and friendly.<br />

She helped me to calm my nerves and was fantastic at<br />

making me feel at ease, especially when, at times, my<br />

personal anxiety crept in.<br />

<strong>The</strong> course lent itself perfectly, while I am somewhat<br />

of an academic, I’m also someone who learns and<br />

retains more from ‘doing’ the theory, followed by a<br />

demonstration, and finally getting to physically do the<br />

tasks was a great way to engrain the skills into me.<br />

To be a trainer, you need a certain type of personality,<br />

it takes a certain level of confidence, which thankfully<br />

I have, but there are skills to it too. Things to know to<br />

look out for, a certain method behind the application of<br />

knowledge and skill that Sarah Gilson (a BICSc trainer)<br />

passed onto me perfectly.<br />

I think I was very lucky to not only travel to the centre,<br />

but to have Sarah delivering the course to me.<br />

I’ll remember systematic overlapping passes forever!<br />

I say it in my sleep now.<br />

I cannot wait to be in a position to see the<br />

team at BICSc again for my assessor training.<br />

Congratulations to Sarah, who is<br />

finalist in this year's Outstanding<br />

Candidate of the Year category!<br />

07 |<br />

THESTANDARD


Rubbermaid Commercial<br />

Products Europe’s<br />

innovative mop design puts<br />

user experience first<br />

Cleanliness and infection control remain<br />

at the forefront of public and corporate<br />

consciousness thanks to the coronavirus<br />

pandemic, prompting a permanent shift in<br />

cleaning culture and expectations.<br />

Cleaning staff in public spaces - such as shops, hospitals<br />

and, in some countries across Europe, reopening schools<br />

and workplaces - face heightened responsibility to<br />

control infection. Now more than ever, the visibility<br />

of cleaning solutions across these facilities provides<br />

much-needed reassurance to facility users that their<br />

health and safety is of high priority. It comes as no<br />

surprise, therefore, that the global cleaning industry is<br />

experiencing significant growth: in 2020 alone, 154,000<br />

cleaners were employed across Europe* and facilities<br />

are placing more emphasis on high quality solutions, as<br />

cleaning is no longer confined to the background.<br />

To meet this growth, and the need for high-quality<br />

sanitation, Rubbermaid Commercial Products (RCP)<br />

provides a range of solutions that offer an innovative<br />

approach to professional cleaning. Utilising ergonomic<br />

mopping systems, and superior microfibre technology,<br />

RCP’s mops are designed to provide fast and effective<br />

cleaning, in addition to improved user experience.<br />

<strong>The</strong> HYGEN PULSE Microfibre Mop, for example,<br />

contains numerous features in its design to make<br />

cleaning a faster and stress-free experience. <strong>The</strong><br />

patented onboard reservoir and solution system evenly<br />

dispenses three sprays of cleaning liquid behind the mop<br />

when triggered by the trigger handle. <strong>The</strong> targeted spray<br />

function helps to reduce waste, while the lightweight<br />

design and non-slip handle tip make the HYGEN PULSE<br />

suitable for use in a variety of environments and by<br />

a diverse workforce. <strong>The</strong>se features are especially<br />

important in the context of a global cleaning industry<br />

that is under the microscope, where speed, visibility, and<br />

efficacy of cleaning call for equipment that is innovative<br />

without compromising ease of use.<br />

In addition to ergonomic features for improved user<br />

experience, RCP’s mop range is designed to provide a<br />

high-quality clean. Made from a combination of superior<br />

Microfibre with in-built scrubber technology, RCP’s<br />

HYGEN Disposable Microfibre Mop Pads are a simple<br />

but highly effective option for cleaning staff. Suitable<br />

for dusting and mopping, the pads are colour-coded<br />

to prevent cross contamination and can be easily used<br />

in conjunction with the HYGEN PULSE. Vitally, these<br />

durable pads have been proven to remove up to 99.8%<br />

of various viruses**when combined with water alone.<br />

<strong>The</strong> HYGEN Disposable Microfibre Mop Pads’ ability to<br />

provide an effective clean without the use of chemical<br />

cleaning agents provides a low-cost cleaning option<br />

suitable for every sector and type of facility.<br />

As an industry-leader, Rubbermaid Commercial Products<br />

Europe adds value for facility users that goes beyond<br />

products that prioritise cleaning efficiency, ergonomics,<br />

and hard-working developing technologies. With the<br />

visibility and efficacy of cleaning solutions mattering<br />

more than ever, RCP is committed to supporting users<br />

with best practice advice, to ensure they can meet this<br />

growing need. This handy guide can be found on its<br />

Resource Centre.<br />

Rubbermaid Commercial Products<br />

* EFCI’s Activity Report 2018-2020 – European Cleaning and<br />

Facility Services Industry<br />

** Tested against the following viruses: Methicillin-resistant<br />

Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), Clostridioides Difficile (C.<br />

Diff), Pseudomonas Aeruginosa (Pseudo), and Feline Calicivirus<br />

Surrogate for Norovirus.


How to manage<br />

travel-related quarantine<br />

in your business<br />

Following a review of the<br />

red-amber-green travel<br />

list, the government<br />

announced on 3 June that<br />

Portugal is being removed<br />

from the green list and<br />

being put onto the amber<br />

list as of 8 June.<br />

That means that anyone traveling back from Portugal<br />

after that date will now have to isolate for 10 days<br />

upon their return. <strong>The</strong>re were also seven more<br />

countries added to the red list.<br />

As we move more into summer, and your people<br />

might be thinking of booking holidays – or even<br />

already be on holiday – it’s essential that you’re<br />

confident in how to manage any travel-related<br />

quarantine your employees might have to undertake.<br />

<strong>The</strong> experts of BICSc partner, Citation, have put<br />

together a free guide with the key considerations<br />

you need to make when an employee has to<br />

quarantine, from what pay they’re entitled to, to<br />

what to do if travel is a part of their job.<br />

AMBER<br />

FROM 8TH JUNE<br />

Your BICSc<br />

member benefit<br />

If you’d like to chat about how Citation can<br />

help with the HR and Health & Safety side of<br />

your business, just give them a call on 0345<br />

844 1111, or fill in their call-back form and<br />

they'll get right back to you.<br />

Quote ‘British Institute of Cleaning Science’<br />

when enquiring to access your member benefit.<br />

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE GUIDE<br />

09 |<br />

THESTANDARD


<strong>The</strong> Technical Edit<br />

Principles of Cleaning<br />

Science<br />

With Denise<br />

Hanson FBICSc,<br />

Head of Technical<br />

Services<br />

<strong>The</strong> hardness of water is a classification of the likelihood<br />

of limescale being an issue for the cleaning operative.<br />

Water is said to be hard where more than 121milligrams<br />

of calcium carbonate is present in a litre of water, 61<br />

milligrams to 120 milligrams being moderately hard and<br />

under 60 milligrams is classified as soft water.<br />

Running this course online for the first time<br />

made me consider just how relevant the<br />

Science of Cleaning is in these strange times. I<br />

thought I would use this technical edit to start<br />

to explore the components that we identify as<br />

the key factors of this premise.<br />

Training<br />

Water<br />

<strong>The</strong> first of these is the element of water, we all generally<br />

acknowledge that water is key to our cleaning processes but<br />

how often do we actually look at the issues that water can<br />

cause as well? Limescale and rust being just two of the most<br />

physically evident of them for most of us, although for our<br />

Celtic customers the requirement of descaling may well be<br />

an alien premise.<br />

<strong>The</strong> map identifies the water classifications for the UK,<br />

clearly identifying the majority of Scotland, Wales and the<br />

South West as soft water areas.<br />

Soft to moderately soft<br />

Medium to moderately hard<br />

Hard to very hard<br />

Temperature<br />

Cleaning<br />

products<br />

Time<br />

Mechanical<br />

action<br />

Soft water meaning not only that issues with scale are far less<br />

prevalent but additionally the amount or type of cleaning agent<br />

required could well differ to the areas that have particularly<br />

hard water. For all of us who have been lucky enough to visit<br />

the soft water areas just remember the effect that your usual<br />

amount of shampoo or bubble bath had! It is safe to say that<br />

additional rinsing was required…<br />

Further examples of the effects of the water hardness can<br />

be seen in both the professional and consumer dishwashing<br />

agents available, these often clearly define whether they are<br />

meant for hard or soft water areas. Additionally, when diluting<br />

some of our cleaning agents the manufacturer’s instructions<br />

provide a range for the amount of product required dependant<br />

on both the soilage present and the water that you are<br />

diluting with.<br />

With regards to the availability of water a startling fact from<br />

the World Health Organisation (WHO), is that whilst we in the<br />

U.K. have the luxury of merely turning on a tap to access clean<br />

drinking water they found in 2017 that ‘785 million people<br />

lack even a basic drinking-water service, including 144 million<br />

people who are dependent on surface water’.<br />

This was reiterated in a report in 2019 that 785 million people<br />

don’t have clean water close to home. (WHO/UNICEF Joint<br />

Monitoring Programme (JMP) Report 2019)<br />

So next time we’re filling that bucket to mop a floor or wash<br />

down a surface please just take a moment to consider, not only<br />

the correct amount of product to add to aid our endeavours in<br />

cleaning, but also just how lucky we are to have such a valuable<br />

resource so readily available.


<strong>2021</strong><br />

HEADLINE<br />

SPONSOR<br />

Announcing the Finalists<br />

Congratulations to all entrants that<br />

have been shortlisted as finalists for the<br />

<strong>2021</strong> BICSc Annual Awards.<br />

It’s a fantastic achievement to have made it this far, this year especially. We are delighted<br />

with the number of submitted entries, many from those who have been members of the<br />

Institute for some years and strive to uphold the highest cleaning and hygiene standards<br />

within their organisations.<br />

We were also impressed with the number of entries from those who are new to BICSc<br />

who, in a short space of time, have shown that introducing a comprehensive BICSc training<br />

programme makes a significant difference to the way they deliver their services.<br />

We would like to thank everyone who took the time to enter, and we wish<br />

the best of luck to the finalists.<br />

Assessor of the Year (UK)<br />

This award acknowledges the success of an individual Assessor who<br />

has demonstrated an outstanding level of passion, professionalism, and<br />

commitment to excellence for their students and themselves.<br />

Ann Sayles<br />

Cheswold Park Hospital<br />

Jill Feery<br />

Manchester Metropolitan University<br />

Valerie Lakin<br />

Nuffield Health


Excellence in Training & Assessment (UK)<br />

This award is to recognise the work of our Accredited<br />

Training Members within the UK who, through BICSc training<br />

and assessment, maintain exemplary delivery of cleaning and<br />

hygiene standards.<br />

Cheswold Park Hospital<br />

Manchester Metropolitan University<br />

Nuffield Health<br />

Renfrewshire Council<br />

Excellence in Training & Assessment<br />

(International)<br />

This award is to recognise the work of our Accredited<br />

Training Members outside of the UK who, through BICSc training<br />

and assessment, maintain exemplary delivery of cleaning and<br />

hygiene standards.<br />

Emrill Services<br />

United Arab Emirates<br />

G4S Commercial Facility Services<br />

Qatar<br />

Inspire Integrated<br />

United Arab Emirates<br />

12 |<br />

THESTANDARD


Outstanding Candidate<br />

of the Year (UK)<br />

This award reflects the achievement of an individual and their<br />

award of BICSc qualifications. <strong>The</strong> focus is on how the student<br />

has been able to achieve an award against adversity or has gone<br />

the extra mile to complete and receive the qualification/s within<br />

the workplace.<br />

Benedicter Edo Osagie<br />

City West Support Services Limited<br />

Darren Rawlings<br />

Aston University<br />

Sarah Ford<br />

Top Mops<br />

Outstanding Corporate Member<br />

of the Year (UK & International)<br />

This award is presented to a BICSc Corporate Member for their<br />

outstanding corporate commitment to the Institute and through<br />

excellence in supporting the Institute’s goal of Creating a<br />

Career in Cleaning!<br />

CleanTEC Services Ltd<br />

Crest Clean<br />

VINCI Facilities<br />

13 |<br />

THESTANDARD


What’s the plan for the event?<br />

<strong>The</strong> Institute has been honouring industry excellence within the field of training and<br />

accreditation since the 1960s, with <strong>2021</strong> being our 60 th anniversary,<br />

there’s even more reason to celebrate.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Forest of Arden Hotel & Country Club, Birmingham<br />

Thursday, 30 th September <strong>2021</strong><br />

12.00 – 17.00<br />

Champagne Reception | Networking | Best of British 3-course Lunch |<br />

Awards Ceremony | Special Guest Host and more<br />

Guests can look forward to networking at the champagne drinks reception, followed<br />

by a ‘Best of British’ 3-course lunch, presentation of the coveted Institute and<br />

category awards. As always, the Chairman’s charity prize draw offers the chance<br />

to win some fantastic prizes with all funds going to Dementia UK.<br />

An in-person event at the Forest of Arden will align with government restrictions. We are<br />

hoping to release tickets for sale shortly after the next roadmap announcement. If we are<br />

unable to go ahead with a live event we will present the Awards virtually.<br />

Watch this space.<br />

We would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to our amazing<br />

sponsors for their support.<br />

You can find out more about our sponsors by clicking their logo.<br />

Platinum Sponsors<br />

Diamond Sponsors<br />

14 |<br />

THESTANDARD


<strong>The</strong> Ishikawa Diagram<br />

Ceramic floor tiles<br />

with James Marston,<br />

MBICSc<br />

Training<br />

METHOD<br />

Incorrect technique<br />

Planning<br />

Management<br />

checks<br />

No standard<br />

operating procedure<br />

Not prepared<br />

Surface partially<br />

cleaned<br />

Non<br />

compliance<br />

SOLUTION<br />

CAU<br />

EQUIPMENT<br />

& MATERIALS<br />

Limited resources<br />

Wrong cleaning<br />

tools<br />

KEY<br />

Supply<br />

Ineffectual chemical<br />

Primary cause<br />

Secondary cause<br />

Management<br />

No access to<br />

equipment<br />

Budget<br />

Broken equipment<br />

Solution<br />

Floors with ceramic tiles may have cement or grout to hold them in place. This can<br />

make the surface uneven and difficult to clean as dirt is easily trapped and not so easily<br />

removed with daily cleaning methods.<br />

<strong>The</strong> use of a grout brush and appropriate chemical solution will remove dirt using the<br />

correct and safe technique. Alternatively, steam cleaners with a vacuum function will<br />

heat the dirt detaching it from the surface and drawing it away. Cylindrical brush or floor<br />

machines with brush attachments will agitate the surface and remove the dirt just as<br />

effectively. Use of a chemical agent will aid this process especially with compacted dirt<br />

providing the manufacturer’s recommended contact time is given.<br />

Care should be taken if floors are damaged allowing chemical solutions to break through.<br />

Any damage should be notified to line management before cleaning takes place.


What is the<br />

Ishikawa Diagram?<br />

Training & support<br />

PERSONNEL<br />

Inexperience<br />

<strong>The</strong> Ishikawa diagram, also called a cause and effect<br />

diagram or a fishbone diagram, is a visualisation tool for<br />

categorising the potential causes of a problem in order<br />

to identify its root causes... A fishbone diagram is useful<br />

in brainstorming sessions to focus conversation.<br />

No supervision<br />

Training<br />

inadequate<br />

Poor culture<br />

Ignored grout<br />

areas<br />

Limited skills<br />

Lack motivation<br />

SES<br />

PROBLEM<br />

ENVIRONMENT<br />

Maintanance<br />

Damaged surface<br />

Planning<br />

Incorrect cleaning<br />

frequency<br />

Staff absence<br />

Constant use<br />

Impacted dirt<br />

Time pressure<br />

THE PROBLEM<br />

(HEAD OF FISH)<br />

Dirt on ceramic tile flooring<br />

What can BICSc training do to help?<br />

Training and assessment from the Cleaning Professional's Skills Suite (CPSS)<br />

incorporating BU2 Damp mopping, AU1 Spray cleaning hard floors, AU3 Machine<br />

scrubbing and drying (with wet suction machine), AU4 Cylindrical floor machine<br />

and SU10 Steam cleaning will ensure your operators remain safe and use the right<br />

techniques for the best results.<br />

BICSc offers practical training in the skills required to clean effectively and safely in<br />

today’s modern facilities. Candidates who attend our courses understand the risks<br />

to themselves and the client. <strong>The</strong>y understand and comply with standard operating<br />

procedures and systematic ways to achieve cleaning tasks. Candidates learn effective<br />

cleaning techniques to ensure quality results and continuously high standards.


From<br />

Northamptonshire<br />

to the high seas<br />

P & O Cruises to introduce BICSc standards as they<br />

prepare to welcome guests back on board.<br />

With Emily Huelin,<br />

Senior Manager Hotel <strong>Standard</strong>s, P & O Cruises<br />

Vicky Summers, Sue Owen and I took some time out from<br />

the Housekeeping Working Group in Guest Experience to<br />

spend 4 days at the BICSc Training Suite in Northampton.<br />

Because we’ve been working so hard on updating all of our<br />

policies, procedures and ways of working, we felt it really<br />

important to validate this against the best practice that<br />

BICSc promote.<br />

"We now have the<br />

skills to train our<br />

teams as BICSc<br />

Accredited Trainers."<br />

We’ve spoken to BICSc a few times since the pandemic<br />

started and taken them through the CUK Housekeeping<br />

operation on board our ships (inclusive of all areas we clean<br />

and disinfect!). One of the biggest takeaways we wanted<br />

to get from working with BICSc was the communication of<br />

best practice for our teams on board. How could we make<br />

things easier?<br />

We explained about the period of time on board where<br />

teams will be getting ready before sailing with guests; our<br />

opportunity to complete lots of training in order that our<br />

teams understand how to deliver the new standards and<br />

BICSc suggested we complete an accredited trainer course.<br />

4 days putting our knowledge into practice in the shoes of<br />

our crew.<br />

‘We now have the skills to train our teams as BICSc<br />

Accredited Trainers’<br />

<strong>The</strong> Accredited trainer course has been designed to enable<br />

candidates to share and cascade BICSc skills training<br />

knowledge, to allow for independent assessment and<br />

certification. Providing the skill set to ensure that their<br />

candidate comprehension and basic trainer abilities are<br />

sufficient for hands-on practical training. I’m happy to<br />

report that we all passed – phew!<br />

17 |<br />

THESTANDARD


This course really took us back to basics, BICSc are<br />

meticulous about standards, and ensuring everyone<br />

demonstrated them.<br />

We validated that we are incredibly thorough with<br />

our current written standards, but we welcomed the<br />

opportunity to link in some of the tips and hints we picked<br />

up during training sessions along with lots of ideas about our<br />

long term training strategy.<br />

This " course really took us<br />

back to basics, BICSc are<br />

meticulous about standards,<br />

and ensuring everyone<br />

demonstrated them."<br />

We will be re-launching all of our ships with the introduction<br />

of ‘Cleaning Principles’.<br />

As everyone has a responsibility for keeping our ships clean<br />

and well maintained, everyone will attend these sessions as<br />

they are rolled out.<br />

‘Cleaning Principles’ is made up of 7 modules, we will share<br />

this content while pulling out the top tips for each method –<br />

our aim is to give people the skills to deliver consistently.<br />

Everyone needs to be aware of how to clean and disinfect,<br />

therefore, we are going to share best practice as well as<br />

introduce plenty of visual aids so that we keep things simple,<br />

where we can!


My Career<br />

in Cleaning<br />

With Soo Bartholomew,<br />

MBICSc, Deputy Chairman, BICSc<br />

In 1985 I left my job selling computers and word processors<br />

following the birth of my eldest daughter, and by the end of<br />

the summer 1986 I was ready to re-enter the adult world.<br />

I decided that whilst I enjoyed being a mother, I missed adult<br />

company and there were only so many nursery rhymes I<br />

could quote in a day before I started to lose my identity, I<br />

was no Earth Mother…<br />

Unsure what I wanted to do, I visited the local job centre,<br />

where I saw a role advertised for ‘Cleaner-in-charge’ at a<br />

local primary school. Having never cleaned professionally<br />

before I doubted that I would be suitable for the role, but<br />

nevertheless the hours were perfect to fit in with family life<br />

and remove the need for costly childcare and so I applied.<br />

I turned up for the interview with the headteacher, as at that<br />

time contracting in this sector was very limited, it was here<br />

I started my career in cleaning, which was to ultimately end<br />

up as my vocation.<br />

I will never forget my first day on the job, I arrived eager to<br />

complete the work, but as the only person on site I had no<br />

one to show me what to do, nor did I understand what I was<br />

required to do with any of the chemicals or equipment.<br />

<strong>The</strong> headteacher offered me reassuring words, showed<br />

me the cleaning cupboard, gave me a thick orange bound<br />

specification folder and left me to it!<br />

I parked the ‘Orange Book’ (as I soon found out it was called)<br />

for reading at my leisure at home and gathered up all the<br />

items I thought I would need, I was soon to learn that this<br />

was not really the most effective way to work, but at the<br />

time it seemed like a good idea.<br />

My working hours were 4.5 hours per day, which was a split<br />

shift between afternoons and mornings. In addition to my<br />

cleaning duties, I had to ensure the boiler was operational<br />

and working each morning, unlock and lock up all the<br />

buildings and gates, grit steps and playgrounds in the winter<br />

months and weekly clean out the grease trap from the<br />

school dining hall, not a task for the feint hearted.<br />

I soon got into the swing of things and worked out a routine<br />

for cleaning all areas on a daily basis, avidly reading the back<br />

of the cleaning chemical bottles to work out what surfaces<br />

they were to be applied to. <strong>The</strong>re wasn’t any internet in<br />

those days so I could not research that way, it was just me<br />

and the County Supplies Catalogue with brief descriptions<br />

of the chemicals and their application.<br />

No Health and Safety Risk Assessments, Method<br />

Statements or COSHH Assessments in those days, and no<br />

dilution control systems other than the 28ml pump.<br />

My first scariest moment that year came in the school<br />

Easter holidays. At Christmas I had taken holiday (as being a<br />

County Council employee I also had paid annual leave along<br />

with paid concessionary days, a paid day off for Christmas<br />

shopping and an extra paid day off for the Queen’s birthday).<br />

<strong>The</strong> Orange Book stipulated that hard floors had to be<br />

stripped back and a reapplication of polish had to be applied<br />

during each main school break – Easter, Summer and<br />

Christmas. I had previously mastered the buffer, a rather<br />

old Victor, nearly taking out the radiator and pipework in<br />

the school hall one evening on a white-knuckle ride, before<br />

taming the beast.<br />

"Armed with buckets and mops, speed<br />

stripper and a black pad I had decided<br />

to tackle the floor in the school hall<br />

first, I struggled to move out all the<br />

furniture on my own, there wasn’t any<br />

Manual Handling awareness in those<br />

days either, so I set to that task of<br />

stripping the floor."<br />

19 |<br />

THESTANDARD


I " will never forget my first day on the<br />

job, I arrived eager to complete the<br />

work, but as the only person on site I<br />

had no one to show me what to do"<br />

We always thought the floor was a brown Marley tile with<br />

remains of the original parquet herringbone flooring surrounding<br />

all 4 sides. As I applied the first coat of speed stripper and waited<br />

for the contact time, as the instructions on the container said, I<br />

cautiously started up the buffer and started to machine off the<br />

old polish – the floor turned grey to reveal the original floor tile<br />

colour to be a grey Marley tile not a brown one.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Head Teacher and I were both astounded, she had never<br />

seen the floor grey before as years of trapped dirt, polish diluted<br />

with water and layers of polish were slowly but surely removed.<br />

It was the only floor that was stripped back that school holiday as<br />

it took all of my time to get all the old layers off and re-apply nice<br />

new shiny coats of polish, I was to spend the next 7 years lovingly<br />

looking after the shine on that floor with daily buffing and floor<br />

maintainer so much so that it was only fully stripped back 4 times<br />

in those years.<br />

My second scariest moment came in the summer school break<br />

once again an incident with stripping back a floor, this time in the<br />

headteacher’s classroom, another Marley tile, but this one was<br />

a deep reddish-brown tile, having once again applied the speed<br />

strip and started to machine off the old floor polish the walls<br />

and myself started to look like we were working in an abattoir<br />

as I soon discovered the floor had a ‘bleed’. I did not discover<br />

undercoat until later in my career, how I wish I had known about<br />

it then, it could have saved me many an hour washing walls, while<br />

at the same time stripping and reapplying polish to that awful<br />

floor.<br />

During my third summer at the school I had all but finished<br />

the summer clean prior to going on holiday with my family.<br />

<strong>The</strong> school was having a small library extension built and the<br />

headteacher had told me to not leave any furniture in the<br />

main corridor as the builders would be ‘breaking through’<br />

while I was away. On my return with 3 days left before school<br />

was to restart for the winter term, I arrived to complete<br />

putting the furniture back and do a final dust prior to the new<br />

term start…<br />

20 |<br />

THESTANDARD


Yes, you guessed it, the school hall, classrooms, staff<br />

room and resources areas were covered in thick brick<br />

dust, there was a pile of earth in the main corridor and<br />

a 6ft deep hole right in the middle of the main entrance,<br />

when ‘knocking through’ the builders had discovered an<br />

Artesian Well and were now in the throes of diverting<br />

this. How the school re-opened for the winter term that<br />

year was a miracle, the parents were mobilised to help<br />

set classrooms straight, reclean desks, chairs, floors,<br />

books and other teaching aids, all while we had builders,<br />

engineers and the water board on site. But, the builders<br />

had the last laugh when they laid a Pirelli studded<br />

cream floor in the new library and reception area – my<br />

challenges just continued.<br />

In 1990 the County Council took the decision to pre-empt<br />

the government instruction to enter into Compulsory<br />

Contract Tendering and split the County into 4 areas<br />

awarding their cleaning contracts to their approved<br />

contractors and so I transferred from the Direct Labour<br />

Organisation to OCS. For the next 3 years I continued<br />

to work at the school and also support my area manager<br />

by standing in as a supervisor on some of her other<br />

contracts when she was short staffed. I was also sent on<br />

my first BICSc course, completing my Cleaning Operators<br />

Proficiency Certificate (COPC) 1 at SC Johnson Wax in<br />

Frimley Green.<br />

In the spring of 1993, all the school cleaning contracts were<br />

retendered with Initial Cleaning Services being awarded<br />

the ‘lion’s share’ of the contracts in Berkshire. However,<br />

the other 2 successful companies then pulled out of the<br />

contract at the eleventh hour, leaving all their contracts to<br />

be awarded by default to Initial. During the mobilisation<br />

of the contract, I contacted the local Initial branch office to<br />

speak to my new area manager only to be advised that they<br />

were recruiting for local area managers having unexpectedly<br />

been awarded the whole contract. I applied for the role and<br />

started my career in cleaning contract management.<br />

Initial had a huge task before them as not only was there a<br />

square meterage discrepancy on the contract (none of the<br />

temporary buildings or building extensions were included<br />

in the tender information), they had also only quoted for<br />

cleaning 46 weeks of the year and all the ex-DLO staff were<br />

on 52-week contracts. What followed was 18 months of<br />

hard work to negotiate new contracts for the employees,<br />

resolve square meterage and specification issues all the<br />

while managing the day to day challenges of operations<br />

within the cleaning delivery.<br />

Having seen considerable success in my role at Initial, I<br />

followed my line manager to MITIE becoming the Branch<br />

Manager at the Milton Keynes office where a similar<br />

challenge was to be presented to me with their contract<br />

with Bucks County Council. My biggest achievement at<br />

MITIE was my secondment to the Yateley branch where I<br />

was asked to mobilise the Hampton Court Palace contract,<br />

with all that this involved not just with the Palace but also<br />

the facilities within the park land and the volumes of visitors,<br />

particularly French school students!<br />

"My role at MITIE was varied and opened<br />

my eyes to not only the world of cleaning<br />

within local government but also industrial<br />

and corporate office cleaning and from there<br />

I moved on to Pall Mall Support Services,<br />

working on their oldest contract with<br />

Midland Bank (which ultimately became<br />

HSBC) and other blue-chip clients, such<br />

as <strong>The</strong> Big Breakfast, Price Waterhouse,<br />

Siemens and Immarsat."<br />

During my time at Pall Mall I was also responsible for the<br />

cleaning at the BOC-DS at Hemel Hempstead and it was<br />

with this contract that I achieved recognition winning the<br />

Best in Sector and Best Overall Winner at the Kimberley<br />

Clark Golden Service Awards as well as the PFM Award for<br />

Best Single Sector Service in 1997.


2001 saw me entering the world of FM when I took up<br />

a position with Turner FM as Head of Business for their<br />

Cleaning Division. During my time with them I established<br />

their BICSc Accredited Training Organisation, worked with<br />

them to successfully extend their hard services contract with<br />

the MOD in Bosnia and Kosovo and was the senior manager<br />

on their single service cleaning contracts with MTV, Carlton<br />

TV, Shell and EDS.<br />

After 8 years where I worked on central government<br />

contracts (DEFRA), coal -fired power stations,<br />

pharmaceutical warehousing and distribution, tin can<br />

production sites, Scottish law courts and newspaper<br />

production it was time to move on.<br />

In 2009 I took a position as Account Manager with Europa<br />

Support Services based in Welwyn Garden City. My role<br />

was to look after a small number of sites in and around<br />

Birmingham with the bigger picture being the support that<br />

I could offer of my knowledge both in sales and operations<br />

of cleaning as Head of Cleaning within the Europa Centre of<br />

Excellence. This led to me working on contracts from Fraser<br />

Borough in Scotland down to Truro in Cornwall and across<br />

the Irish Sea to Dublin and once again establishing the BICSc<br />

ATO hubs for the Company.<br />

In 2013 I took an 8-month sabbatical to travel around<br />

Europe with my husband and on my return took up an<br />

interim contract with Clean Event to establish their BICSc<br />

training programme and ATO for their events cleaning<br />

business at iconic event venues – Wembley Stadium,<br />

Tottenham, Fulham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and<br />

Birmingham City football stadiums, Cheltenham and Aintree<br />

race-courses and Silverstone racetrack, along with Glasgow<br />

Commonwealth Games, Stade Roland Garros and Parc de<br />

Princes home to PSG in France.<br />

Having completed a year with Clean Event, I entered<br />

into the world of consultancy, where I have continued<br />

to work for various FM clients looking at re-engineering<br />

their contracts, reviewing what is good and bad and<br />

recommending change and also working with the team<br />

at BIRKIN Cleaning Services as their Technical Director<br />

developing their training systems, establishing yet another<br />

BICSc hub – now known as an Accredited Training<br />

Member (ATM) and all the while promoting the value that<br />

BICSc training and membership will bring to ensuring the<br />

continued professionalism of the industry.<br />

In 2011 I took my place on BICSc Council, where I am<br />

now Deputy Chairman. In April 2015 I entered the<br />

Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners Livery<br />

subsequently taking my place as a Freeman of the City of<br />

London in early 2016.<br />

My career in cleaning has been full of challenges, exploits<br />

and the pre-requisite stresses that go with any operational<br />

role in today’s world. I have made many friends for life<br />

during the last 36 years and hope that I will go on to meet<br />

many more, I am passionate about an industry that is varied<br />

and inspiring along with being puzzling and perplexing at<br />

times, but rarely routine.<br />

I know that I will never know everything there is to know<br />

about the industry and so I treat every day as a School Day.<br />

What I would say with absolute knowledge<br />

though, is that there is -<br />

A CAREER IN CLEANING.<br />

Best Wishes<br />

Soo Bartholomew<br />

22 |<br />

THESTANDARD


Centenary 1920 - 2020<br />

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Cleaning & FM sector and have been working with the Industry for over 90 years<br />

and with BICSc since their formation.<br />

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Understanding the Threats and How to Protect Your Business<br />

Cyber & Data risks are an exposure that no modern business can escape, and the<br />

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View our full Cyber & Data Risks booklet<br />

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<strong>The</strong> View from HQ<br />

Meet Simon Our cleaning operative<br />

I started working as a cleaning operative at BICSc in May, where one<br />

of the first things I learnt was that I was a ‘cleaning operative’ and not a<br />

cleaner, which is a chemical!<br />

I had worked previously in several other roles<br />

that involved cleaning including working as a bin<br />

man, a road sweeper, a recycling operative at a<br />

rubbish dump and most recently as a cleaner,<br />

(operative - I know), and cleaning supervisor<br />

for a care home company that owned several<br />

properties.<br />

As someone who had worked in a cleaning<br />

capacity I was already aware of BICSc and<br />

also aware of the high standards they had for<br />

cleaning training and almost saw the company<br />

as the ‘NASA’ of cleaning!<br />

Almost immediately I learned the high standards<br />

and level of knowledge they had just speaking<br />

to other staff who worked here and after<br />

completing the BICSc Licence to Practice, the<br />

compulsory step before progressing further into<br />

the world of BICSc accredited training.<br />

I was very impressed by the level of detailed<br />

knowledge I was given. This included things<br />

that could easily be overlooked, such as folding<br />

a cloth in such a way that it allows 8 different<br />

surfaces for cleaning allowing for<br />

less chance of spreading dirt around<br />

and causing cross-contamination.<br />

I already had my own high standards<br />

as a cleaning operative but so far<br />

in my short time here these have<br />

greatly improved. All the staff here,<br />

including the office staff, have a<br />

high level of cleaning knowledge<br />

and training and I am helped and<br />

supported by everyone, which<br />

helps me to continually improve as a<br />

cleaning operative.<br />

As well as the in-depth and continuous<br />

training I am receiving and the all the<br />

friendly and supportive staff I work<br />

with I have to say this is probably my<br />

favourite position so far in my ongoing<br />

career within the cleaning industry and<br />

the most valued I have felt so far in my<br />

working life.<br />

Are you using the<br />

correct verified logo?<br />

Corporate and Accredited<br />

Training Members: Are you<br />

taking advantage of this<br />

membership benefit?<br />

Remember that you have free access to a Yoshkiverified<br />

logo that can be used digitally. This proves<br />

you are an official member of the Institute. Many<br />

claim to be members by adding an unofficial version<br />

of the BICSc logo to their website and stationery, etc.<br />

Verified logos are the only way we can attempt to<br />

clamp down on this.<br />

We only issue the Corporate and Accredited Member<br />

logos externally, never the BICSc logo on its own, this<br />

is only used by us.<br />

<strong>The</strong> public are easily able to identify and check a<br />

genuine user’s credentials with a single click of a<br />

verified logo that you are using digitally.<br />

Yoshki Smart Validation Logos are deployed via<br />

a secure snippet of web code. It takes less than<br />

10 seconds to add a Smart Validation Logo to a<br />

website. Only authorised websites can use our<br />

Smart Validation Logo.<br />

If you would like to find out more, please contact us<br />

membership@bics.org.uk


Corporate Members<br />

CleanTec Services Ltd<br />

becomes an<br />

employee-owned company<br />

This is how they did it…<br />

CleanTEC Services Ltd has become one of the first cleaning companies in the country<br />

to become an Employee-Owned Business. <strong>The</strong> business, founded by Peter Rochford<br />

and Chris Rogers in 2000 have built a reputation in providing a high-quality cleaning<br />

service across the public and private sector in the UK. As of Thursday 4th March <strong>2021</strong>,<br />

the 1250 employee make up the majority of the ownership within the company.<br />

CleanTEC has developed a strong<br />

reputation and proven expertise<br />

in delivering an efficient and<br />

effective service within the<br />

cleaning services industry, whilst<br />

ensuring the satisfaction and safety<br />

of their employees.<br />

CleanTEC’s employees have always<br />

been instrumental in the business’s<br />

success and have always been<br />

prioritised in the day to day running<br />

of the business, and the decision<br />

to become an employee-owned<br />

business formalises this value. <strong>The</strong><br />

company has grown organically<br />

through the years and now operates<br />

across the UK and has over 1,250<br />

employees.<br />

Peter Rochford, Director of<br />

CleanTEC, said: “We have just<br />

celebrated our 20th year in business,<br />

and it has been a great time to reflect<br />

on the efforts of all our employees.<br />

We wanted to sustain the future<br />

of the business and safeguard<br />

the culture of the company. This<br />

change means that our workers will<br />

be recognised as more than just<br />

employees but partners in something<br />

that they have helped create. Having<br />

the financial and legal expertise<br />

from both Andrew Williamson from<br />

WMT and Emma Cameron from<br />

VWV whom we have worked with<br />

for numerous years, there advise has<br />

been instrumental in becoming an<br />

employee-owned business.”<br />

<strong>The</strong> transition to employee<br />

ownership was project-managed<br />

by St Albans-based Chartered<br />

Accountants, WMT. <strong>The</strong><br />

corporate finance lead advisory<br />

team at WMT explored a range of<br />

strategic options from a traditional<br />

management buy-out to an<br />

open market trade sale, before<br />

concluding that an Employee<br />

Ownership Trust (EOT), alongside<br />

an Employee Benefit Trust (EBT)<br />

would be the best option for<br />

shareholders and employees alike.<br />

Andrew Williamson, Corporate<br />

Finance Partner at WMT, added:<br />

“We are pleased to have been able to<br />

support the team at Cleantec in this<br />

way, enabling them to implement a<br />

succession strategy that is also a plan<br />

for the ongoing success of CSL<br />

for years to come.”<br />

Emma Cameron, a Partner in VWV's<br />

Corporate Law team, commented:<br />

"Having acted for CleanTEC for many<br />

years and having assisted other<br />

clients with establishing employee<br />

ownership trusts, we were delighted<br />

to be able to use this expertise to<br />

assist the CleanTEC directors in their<br />

aim of ensuring the succession of<br />

the company for the benefit of its<br />

employees."<br />

Sam Grubb, CleanTEC Employee,<br />

commented: “This is a really exciting<br />

opportunity for myself and my<br />

colleagues. Knowing that the efforts<br />

of our work will be recognised in this<br />

way, it makes you feel like you are a<br />

part of something bigger. I have really<br />

enjoyed the 4 years I have been with<br />

the company and it feels like a huge<br />

incentive to stay for even longer!”<br />

Congratulations to CleanTEC who have<br />

made it as finalists within the Outstanding<br />

Corporate Member of the Year category.<br />

Pictured above<br />

Peter and Chris


International UPDATE<br />

Chris Ryan, MBICSc<br />

Head of International Business<br />

As we head towards the halfway point of <strong>2021</strong>, the pandemic<br />

and the associated ongoing travel restrictions continue to<br />

prevent any face-to-face training, verification and audit visits.<br />

As ever we continue to monitor the situation very closely<br />

with the UK government operating a traffic light system on<br />

worldwide destinations to identify the risks and required<br />

testing and quarantine associated with all countries. Until<br />

we start to see countries moving into the green list, we will<br />

be unable to travel. <strong>The</strong> list will be updated on a regular basis<br />

by the government, so it is very much a case of waiting for<br />

the restrictions to lift before any travel is reintroduced. As<br />

frustrating as this is for all, the safety of our staff and our clients<br />

remains our main priority and I’m sure you would all agree.<br />

<strong>The</strong> pandemic has presented all of us with many<br />

challenges in how we operate our businesses while<br />

continuing to deliver our services. BICSc has worked<br />

hard to change and adapt, not in terms of what we<br />

do but more around how we do it. This has been the<br />

priority to meet the client demands in what has been a<br />

difficult period for all and where the end is still the great<br />

unknown.<br />

A lot of time has been invested into our Virtual Training<br />

Suite which offers candidates the opportunity to train<br />

online. This has provided an easy to access platform<br />

where candidates can learn in their own time before<br />

booking in for their online assessment. This format<br />

has been very well received and we have had some<br />

very positive feedback from participating candidates.<br />

<strong>The</strong> process is very simple to follow and guides the<br />

candidates through the sessions step by step with video<br />

guidance and questions to build on the knowledge and<br />

reinforce the understanding as part of the learning<br />

process.<br />

We are currently working on a project delivering<br />

Licence to Practice and a number of skills to a client<br />

with a large number of operatives in the United Arab<br />

Emirates, I conducted some of the assessments to see<br />

how they worked in the virtual environment.<br />

<strong>The</strong> training centre was set up perfectly as per BICSc<br />

standards and the candidates performed the skills<br />

very competently which demonstrated how effective<br />

the online learning process was, this has been a great<br />

success for the candidates and the assessors.<br />

<strong>The</strong> online training has enabled BICSc to be more<br />

accessible on the international platform and we have<br />

had candidates from across the globe booking online<br />

training which is very encouraging. I am confident<br />

our online offering will help to grow and strengthen<br />

the brand due to the accessibility of cost-effective<br />

accredited training which previously wasn’t available in<br />

any online format.<br />

For our established Accredited Training Members, we<br />

have started conducting online audits and verifications.<br />

It still allows us to review supporting documentation,<br />

quality management and quality assurance along<br />

with the observation of assessment. It’s great to have<br />

the opportunity to engage with our Assessors albeit<br />

virtually, again it does work similarly and allows us to<br />

update you on everything BICSc during this online<br />

session. If you haven’t been contacted to date you will<br />

be in due course.<br />

<strong>The</strong> international audits conducted thus far have been<br />

successful and it’s good to see BICSc standards and best<br />

practice being delivered through our ATM centres.<br />

Until the next edition I wish you all well, stay safe<br />

and thank you for your continued support and<br />

understanding. If you have any questions or queries,<br />

please do get in touch and we’ll be happy to help and<br />

support you.<br />

Keep positive, we will get through this together.<br />

Best wishes<br />

Chris<br />

26 |<br />

THESTANDARD


Planet Mark is a sustainability certification for every<br />

type of organisation, for real estate and for products.<br />

Certification recognises continuous improvement,<br />

encourages action and builds an empowered community<br />

of like-minded individuals who make a world of difference.<br />

At Planet Mark, we know that, by bringing out the very<br />

best of people, technology and nature, we can radically<br />

reduce carbon emissions and halt climate change. We are<br />

helping organisations to make ambitious commitments,<br />

take transformative action and tell their story so that others<br />

follow suit. On average, certified businesses make a 12%<br />

cut in absolute carbon emissions and 16% carbon saving per<br />

employee through reductions in energy, waste, water, travel<br />

and procurement.<br />

“Achieving Planet Mark accreditation<br />

for the second-year running is an<br />

achievement we are all very proud of.<br />

We understand the impact that cleaning<br />

and hygiene has on the environment,<br />

part of the BICSc DNA is to promote<br />

sustainability, which is encouraged<br />

through the principles of our training.<br />

Now is the time to make a difference,<br />

both at work and at home. As we<br />

emerge from the pandemic and consider<br />

the longer-term effects it may have,<br />

we must all play our part in lowering<br />

our carbon emissions, which ultimately<br />

contributes to a cleaner, healthier, and<br />

more sustainable future. BICSc – proud<br />

to be part of the Planet Mark family.”<br />

Michelle Iland, Marketing & Events Manager, <strong>The</strong> British<br />

Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc)<br />

Cutting carbon and sustainability<br />

Sustainable cleaning encompasses far more<br />

than just using products that are more<br />

protective of the environment. With the<br />

property sector having huge environmental<br />

impacts including 40% of the UK’s carbon<br />

emissions, sustainable cleaning and<br />

facilities management has never been<br />

more important to your customers. And<br />

achieving net zero carbon emissions is<br />

easier than you think.<br />

What is net zero carbon?<br />

As a starting point, businesses should<br />

be measuring their carbon footprint to<br />

clearly understand their impact on the<br />

environment. A business that is net zero is<br />

measuring their Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions,<br />

reducing their Scope 1 and 2 emissions<br />

to zero, and Scope 3 as close to zero as<br />

possible while offsetting any residual Scope<br />

3 emissions using carbon removal offsets<br />

only. To be net zero, a business can also be<br />

carbon neutral.<br />

27 |<br />

THESTANDARD


Why net zero carbon?<br />

We have less than nine years left to make significant<br />

reductions in carbon emissions to have a chance of<br />

meeting the global 2050 net zero carbon goal. Alongside<br />

the environmental and social benefits of achieving net<br />

zero there are also significant business benefits for<br />

taking meaningful action.<br />

<strong>The</strong> increasing amount of scientific evidence<br />

surrounding the importance of net zero goals, alongside<br />

escalating public concern around community health and<br />

wellbeing, are significant drivers of net zero targets for<br />

not only governments but businesses globally.<br />

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent<br />

99% all UK limited companies and contribute more than<br />

50% of the revenue in our economy. <strong>The</strong>refore, the<br />

impact that SMEs can have is huge through both their<br />

own direct impact but also the way that they can inspire<br />

other organisations of a similar size and industry to get<br />

started on their own net zero goals.<br />

And there are clear business benefits in doing so.<br />

Demonstrating the efforts of your business in achieving<br />

net zero provides a competitive advantage as well as<br />

low carbon incentives such as operating cost savings.<br />

It also future proofs your business, ensuring climate<br />

change resilience. It can also help businesses to attract<br />

and retain the best talent.<br />

As councils, cities and governments set out ambitious<br />

climate targets, for instance the UK’s emissions<br />

targeting to achieve net zero by 2050, businesses who<br />

do not take meaningful action will face increasingly<br />

rapid changes in public opinion, pressure from<br />

stakeholders, legislative requirements, environmental<br />

shifts, technological innovation and other pressures<br />

which will transform the ‘business as usual’ approach.<br />

Planet Mark Zero Carbon Tour<br />

Throughout <strong>2021</strong>, Planet Mark is on an eight-month<br />

Zero Carbon Tour. <strong>The</strong> purpose of which is to radically<br />

increase knowledge around net zero to significantly<br />

reduce carbon. Planet Mark’s Zero Carbon Tour is taking<br />

the net zero carbon message to communities across the<br />

UK physically and worldwide digitally in support of the<br />

UN-backed Race to Zero campaign, the world’s largest<br />

alliance of actors committed to halving global emissions<br />

by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050 at<br />

the latest. It is highlighting how businesses can set their<br />

own credible net zero carbon targets in line with Race to<br />

Zero’s rigorous minimum criteria and implement plans to<br />

achieve them.<br />

<strong>2021</strong> is a crucial year in this Decade of Action,<br />

particularly for the UK as we host world leaders at the<br />

G7 Summit and COP26. <strong>The</strong> physical route of the Tour<br />

has taken us to Eden Project in June for G7 and will be<br />

culminating at COP26 in Glasgow in November.<br />

You can find out more about the Zero Carbon Tour,<br />

how you can get involved and how you can make your<br />

pledge here.<br />

Eva Kozorus, Planet Mark<br />

To ensure that all BICS<br />

members have access to<br />

relevant sustainability news,<br />

support and advice, we have<br />

teamed up to provide you<br />

content throughout the year.<br />

Feel free to send me an email<br />

with any queries at:<br />

eva.koszorus@planetmark.com<br />

alternatively you can connect<br />

with me on LinkedIn.<br />

+44 203 751 8108 | info@planetmark.com | @theplanetmark


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New Members<br />

March – May <strong>2021</strong><br />

CORPORATE MEMBER<br />

UK and International<br />

AJS Facilities<br />

Alma Supplies & Services Ltd<br />

Andrina Cleaning Services Limited<br />

Angel Facilities Management Limited<br />

Ascent Onsite Services Ltd<br />

Bison Contractors Limited<br />

Blue Pear Cleaning Limited<br />

Boston Commercial Cleaners Ltd<br />

C4 Cleaning Ltd<br />

CBS Cleaning Ltd<br />

Certified Solutions Limited<br />

Clean & Build South Ltd<br />

Clean All Crew Limited<br />

Clean and Green Services Pvt.Ltd<br />

Cleaners Got Talent Ltd<br />

Cloud Cleaners Limited<br />

DCS Cleaning UK Ltd<br />

DistinctCleaning.com Ltd<br />

Dove Cleaning & Environmental<br />

Services Ltd<br />

Edwards Ventures UK Ltd t/a Purity<br />

Clean<br />

Elite Support Services (London) Ltd<br />

Firows Hospitality Cleaning<br />

Flexcleaning Limited<br />

Frontline Security 24/7 Limited<br />

Gee Concert Limited<br />

Glen Cleaning Company Ltd<br />

Golden Crown Management Ltd t/a<br />

Golden Crown Cleaning<br />

Imrich Girga Cleaning Services Ltd<br />

Intelligent Protection Management<br />

Group Ltd<br />

Introclean Limited<br />

King's College London<br />

KS Cleaning Solutions Ltd<br />

Linc Facility Services<br />

Look Commercial Cleaning Ltd<br />

LTS Cleaning Ltd<br />

May Harris Multi Services Ltd<br />

Morganti Maintenance & Facilities<br />

Management Services L.C.C<br />

Neil Johnson Cleaning Ltd<br />

Neway International Ltd<br />

Out of Your Hands Cleaning Services<br />

Precision Industrial Services Limited<br />

Premier Cleaning and Facilities Ltd<br />

Pure & Clean Ltd<br />

Qatar International Trading &<br />

Investment Company<br />

RGS Cleaning Ltd<br />

Robinsons MEA Ltd<br />

RON Services Ltd<br />

Shiners Cleaning Contractors Limited<br />

Southgate Cleaning Services Limited<br />

Star Clean UK Ltd<br />

Support Maintenance & Cleaning<br />

TCC Cleans London Ltd t/a<br />

<strong>The</strong> Cleaner Company<br />

Tomorrow's Cleaning<br />

Touch Cleaning Hospitality<br />

and Trading<br />

Transport for Wales<br />

Ulan Middle East Cleaning<br />

Contracting & Services<br />

Unified Asset and Property<br />

Management<br />

United Support Services Contracting<br />

Co.(NASCOM)<br />

University of Oxford<br />

VISION MISSION CLEANING<br />

SDN BHD<br />

Zeus Industrial Services Ltd<br />

Accredited Training Members<br />

Chartwells Independent<br />

30 |<br />

THESTANDARD


Need to reach us?<br />

Membership<br />

membership@bics.org.uk<br />

+44 (0) 1604 678 711<br />

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bbs@bicsbusinessservices.com<br />

+44 (0) 1604 678 712<br />

bics.org.uk/training<br />

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international@bics.org.uk<br />

+44 (0) 1604 678 711<br />

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marketing@bics.org.uk<br />

+44 (0) 1604 678 713<br />

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info@bics.org.uk<br />

+44 (0) 1604 678 710<br />

Have your contact details changed?<br />

Drop a quick message to membership@bics.org.uk or give us<br />

a call and we will be happy to update your details.<br />

#CreatingACareerInCleaning<br />

f t n l<br />

EDITION 2 | <strong>2021</strong> | THESTANDARD

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