The benefits of workplace recycling are something that is more than likely not considered as often, nor as seriously as it should be. This is despite the fact that sustainability and recycling are apparently a priority in the minds of organisations both large and small - with 95% of businesses claiming to take this matter seriously in a recent survey.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the recycling rate has increased from just 7 percent in 1960 to the current rate of over 35 percent. While we have come a long way since 1960, we have a lot of room for improvement. As the climate crisis rages on with little hope on the horizon, every person and workplace not only in the United Kingdom, but in the world, can do their part by getting educated about recycling and putting implementation programs in place.
Recycling is the collection and processing of materials that are not considered rubbish, but those that could be processed and turned into new useable materials. Some materials that are considered recyclable include plastics, metal cans, aluminum, paper, cardboard, paperboard, glass and organic material from municipal solid waste.
On the flip side, there are many items that cannot be recycled that sometimes make their way into recycling containers, which causes issues for the community. Some materials that cannot be recycled include food waste, plastic bags and hazardous waste.
Use your internal communications such as newsletters, email, and office posters to first introduce your new recycling scheme – make sure to use persuasive and engaging language to create a buzz around the idea.
Make sure that your employees know that they will be making a real difference to the environment by doing their bit. You should introduce the new scheme a week or so before it is officially introduced and then once again on the day.
There are many benefits to recycling besides the few that you may already have considered. These include keeping local communities clean and lightening the environmental footprint of businesses. One major benefit of recycling is that it helps create local jobs, and wages that are often spent back into the local economy.
Other significant benefits of recycling include:
Job seekers are attracted to organisations with sustainable practices. A recent survey found that just over 65% of people want to work for an organisation with a powerful social conscience. Incorporating greener practices such as office recycling can therefore help to increase customer growth by attracting and retaining a greater number of people when it comes to hiring, growing your reputation amongst those seeking to work for a greener organisation.
Sustainability is often an influential factor for customers. A recent survey showed that over 70% of the UK participants would like more information on the environmental friendliness of brands, so make sure your commitment to recycling is known by prospective customers.
Being vocal about your company recycling efforts could win you loyalty from both new and old customers.
At Green Fox Cleaning, we offer support to our clients to improve their environmental policies, and reduce their wastage through various methods and processes, including the introduction of centralised office recycling bin systems. Click here to learn more about our centralised bin options.
Further government advice around waste removal can be found by clicking here. Office recycling is something that really does need to be taken more seriously, and we hope this article has shown the benefits it can bring also.
What do commercial cleaning companies charge UK?How long is a piece of string? Ok, so that comment is a little tongue in cheek, but there are many factors that will determine the charges made by a commercial cleaning company in the UK.
A few of the key factors that will determine what do commercial cleaning companies charge UK? will include the following:
| Protecting the cleaning operative and keeping them safe |
| Providing a clean and safe environment to the client |
| Preserving assets, and prolonging the life of equipment through proper care and understanding |
| Promoting sustainability |
| Producing best practice - cleaning efficiently is a skill in itself |
As the below image shows, you will largely get what you pay for. The left image shows a Green Fox Cleaning employee cleaning a veterinary practice using advanced floor cleaning equipment, and the right shows another company that can do it for a couple of pounds an hour less.
Ok so we may have exaggerated slightly, but you must consider the value of a cleaning service rather than price alone, as the person on the right will take twice as long, and may end up costing most!
Click here to learn more about price versus value when selecting a good commercial cleaning company and considering what do commercial cleaning companies charge UK?
What do commercial cleaning companies charge UK? What should you expect to pay, or what do you want to pay? As the above information has explained, services and their associated prices will vary considerably. We wary of companies that are very cheap however, as someone will suffer. Whether that is you as the client, or an "off the books" worker being paid below the minimum wage. At Green Fox Cleaning, we value our employees and will always pay above the minimum wage.
As a very rough guide, commercial cleaning services will typically range anywhere between £13 - £22 per hour plus VAT dependant on the above factors to include the supply of basic cleaning products and equipment, more if more specialist equipment is required, and less if the client is providing all cleaning products to the company.
To get a free and no obligation quote for your cleaning needs, click here.
What do commercial cleaning companies charge UK? Hopefully you now feel better informed to make the best decision for your business.
The purpose of this article is to give you some great office cleaning tips.
Keeping your office clean should never be a hassle. It doesn’t matter whether you clean daily, weekly or monthly, or you outsource your cleaning to a local commercial cleaning company. Your working space should always be kept clean and safe for everyone.
By adapting the following simple changes, it should make the cleaning of your office a much ore straightforward and efficient process for all involved.
It sounds obvious, but the more items on a desk, the longer and harder it is to clean. Try and neatly pile paperwork where possible prior to cleaning, and minimise other items on your desk. This will also reduce the risk of bacteria or viruses hanging around on surfaces or objects that may not be cleaned as thoroughly as they perhaps should be, such as pen pots.
Vacuuming and mopping floors should be the last part of any office clean. Whilst it may seem a great idea to do it quickly at the start to get it out of the way, any dust or items dislodged will fall to the floor, meaning you will have to repeat the process and spend longer cleaning.
Start with your high dusting, then shelves, ledges and desks, and floors last of all.
Bins should be emptied on a regular basis to prevent the risk of bad smells, and should be cleaned inside and out on a regular basis to remove any spills and keep them as clean as possible. Use centralised bin systems where possible to reduce bin bag wastage and overall time on this task.
If you don't use an office cleaning company, you may well not know what the best cleaning products to clean your office are. Learn more about selecting the best cleaning products to clean your office at this link.
Having a clean office is great, but make sure you don't forget other areas such as toilets, kitchens and reception areas which are equally as important. Your whole venue needs to look great and be clean to keep everyone safe, and give a positive impression to visitors.
Don't forget - a cleaner workplace WILL result in fewer work days lost through sickness.
To learn more about how Green Fox Cleaning can assist with your office cleaning needs, click here to learn more and get in touch to request a free, no obligation quote. Whether you employ in-house, have a company you aren't happy with or don't yet have cleaners, we can help.
Learn more about where the office concept first originated from at this link.
At Green Fox Cleaning, we often get asked where the name come from? So we thought it would be good to share this story.
When our company originally formed in 2016, it was given the name "Workplace Cleaning." At that time we wanted something simple, and doing exactly what the name suggested.
As we continued growing, we decided that this name really wasn't strong enough as a brand, with our plans to expand across the country, opening local offices to deliver an unrivalled commercial cleaning service. It also became apparent quickly that Workplace Cleaning being a descriptive term couldn't be trademarked, and trying to grow a nationally recognised brand without protection was a non-starter.
The company directors Paul and Daniel Barrett began the painstaking process of considering new names and brand ideas, working late into more nights than they care to recall, and putting various options to trusted advisory parties.
The winning name after much consideration was, of course, Green Fox Cleaning.
Below are the original and new logos, as the image of the company was transformed in early 2019:
The Green Fox Cleaning name was decided on the following key areas surrounding our business model:
A major focus on our business approach is that of being conscious company. Just a few of our operating methods to consider the environment include:
We considered all sorts of other names to add to the green element, and decided on fox for the simple reason that our cleaning services operate round the clock, and often at night. Foxes are largely nocturnal. With Paul and Daniel being animal lovers, the new company name was always likely to feature an animal of some sort.
Other animal names were considered, but just didn't have the same "ring" when said out loud as Green Fox, or the same link. Paul and Daniel have always had pet cats, but Green Cat just didn't sound right!
So there you have it, that is how Green Fox was born. To learn more about our company, our vision and how we value our staff, visit this link.
Fully vetted commercial cleaners are important for businesses looking to outsource their cleaning to a company.
Whether a school where safeguarding is essential, offices where sensitive data is held, manufacturing premises relating to both local and national security or any other sector, only the highest levels of cleaner vetting should be accepted.
We have all seen horror stories of cleaners stealing from their employers homes and businesses, and would like to think this would never happen to us. But how do we prevent this happening, and keep ourselves and our businesses safe.
The days of finding a cleaner from a shop window, or accepting a telephone number on the back of a cigarette packet are long gone for most businesses.
Total trust is required on those working at your premises, often unsupervised and trusted with keys and alarm codes.
Finding a commercial cleaning company and understanding their levels of cleaning vetting and selection can be a nightmare - who to trust and where to start?
The most obvious risk that springs to mind is that of theft. Imagine having a cleaner steal something, and you haven't vetted them fully. Have you recorded photographic ID details? Do you have evidence confirming their home address or will them simply vanish off the face of the earth?
Other risks include the cleaner being exploited - "cash in hand" companies will exploit those in dire need of work who are paid below the minimum wage and not supported with regard to their welfare, and have no employment rights.
With so many commercial cleaning companies out there, it can appear impossible to identify one that will offer the levels of vetting that you require.
At Green Fox Cleaning, our founding directors are former Police Officers with over 30 years combined service. This assures our clients that our levels of cleaner vetting and client security are second to none.
You can be assured that every Green Fox Cleaner:
To find out how our fully vetted cleaners can help keep your business clean and safe, get in touch today at this link.
Sticky floors and floor cleaning bring their own challenges to most venues, despite on the face of it being a straightforward task. It’s a question we get asked often by business owners when we attend to quote for their regular cleaning service.
Sticky floors can be incredibly frustrating. You mop and scrub away, only to find the floor ends up stickier than when you started. It can feel like there’s no answer — but there always is.
There can be a number of reasons for asking yourself “why are my floors sticky?”
Believe it or not, your cleaning efforts may actually be the cause. That can be a difficult thing to hear, but once you understand the reasons, the solution becomes much easier.
Here are the most common causes:
Most people think that using extra floor cleaner will lead to squeaky‑clean floors. In reality, the opposite is true — it often leaves a sticky, soapy residue behind.
When too much cleaner is used, the excess sits on the surface and becomes tacky underfoot, especially if the floor hasn’t been rinsed properly.
This simple step alone can make the question “why are my floors sticky?” disappear.
If you clean the entire hard floor of your premises with the same bucket of water, you’re not really cleaning — you’re moving dirt around.
Dirty water = dirty floors.
And yes, sticky floors too.
Using one bucket for all areas also increases the risk of cross‑contamination — a major hygiene issue. (You can learn more about this at the link in the original article.)
FUN FACT - Dirty Sticky Floors was the first solo single by Depeche Mode vocalist Dave Gahan
Some stains need specialist chemicals to come off. Using the wrong product can leave residue, damage the floor, or simply fail to clean properly.
A basic rule of chemistry:
This isn’t something everyone will naturally understand, which is why careful product selection is essential.
Even the best cleaning product won’t work properly if:
Advanced floor‑scrubbing machines deliver results that hand‑mopping simply can’t match — and in a fraction of the time.
It may sound obvious, but if you don’t have a regular cleaning schedule, floors will get sticky. Spilt drinks, debris from shoes and everyday spillages all contribute to sticky, dirty floors.
The easiest way to ensure your floors — and the rest of your workplace — remain looking great is to engage the services of a good commercial cleaning company.
At Green Fox Cleaning, we clean in all sectors and have access to the best cleaning products and machinery, used by our highly trained staff.
If you already have a cleaning company and are still suffering from sticky floors, this is a sign of poor training or lack of understanding — and it may be time to review your options.
Sometimes the cause isn’t obvious. Here are a few less‑common reasons:
If a different brand or type of cleaner was used before, it may have left a film that reacts with your current product.
Cotton mops hold onto dirt and release it back onto the floor. Microfibre mops are far more effective.
Mineral deposits can leave a tacky feel on certain floor types.
Worn floor polish can become sticky as it breaks down.
These issues often require a deeper clean or a one‑off machine scrub.
Once you’ve solved the problem, here’s how to stop it coming back:
Small changes make a big difference.
We hope you’ve found this guide on “why are my floors sticky?” useful. Sticky floors are almost always caused by incorrect cleaning methods — and once you know the reasons, the solution is simple.
Green Fox Cleaning are a commercial cleaning company operating across all sectors. Click here to get in touch with your local office, and find out how we can help improve the appearance of your business with ours.
School cleaning services and educational premises cleaning services are specialist by the very nature of the additional considerations that must be given, with safeguarding being an obvious one. They can work towards improvement of your Ofsted rating, by showing your commitment to continual improvement and development. Selecting the best school cleaning company will be key in allowing you to focus on running your educational premises.
With the size of many schools, teams of cleaners are required every single day, with supervisors to keep everything running smoothly and to monitor cleaning standards. The supervisors at schools will normally be working ones (that is, they also clean) apart from larger sites, where their role is to solely supervise and organise staff. School cleaning services will vary in their setup dependant on the size of the school, and in turn the size of of the cleaning team.
Since the "new world" of Covid, more and more school cleaning services are taking place during school hours, meaning pupil safeguarding needs even more consideration than ever. All cleaners should be highly vetted to include DBS checked with schools clearance status added, and subject to a rigorous company selection process to ensure they are going to be a good fit at the premises, and work with a smile whilst keeping staff and pupils safe.
"Both our cleaners from Green Fox Cleaning are outstanding and I take every opportunity to tell them how happy we are with their work."
School Headteacher where Green Fox provide daily school cleaning services
The decision to outsource cleaning arrangements is becoming more and more common in not only educational premises, but in all sectors. Cleaning standards being monitored, holiday and sickness being covered with replacement cleaners and not having to budget sick pay etc are just a few benefits of outsourcing such arrangements.
Absolutely! Legislation around this means that the cleaners roles are likely to be protected, but the process of transferring them to an external company is straightforward, as long as the company are experienced in this legislation.
As an experienced school cleaning company, at Green Fox Cleaning we are highly experienced at the legislation around this process. You can learn more about the Transfer of undertakings and protection of employment (TUPE) legislative process at this link from a previous article we have written on the subject - click here.
The below list is not exhaustive, but include should be expected as minimum vetting standards by a good school cleaning company:
| Does the company offer: | A formal interview and vetting process, where identification and address verification documentation is seen, and references are obtained |
| Do the company ensure: | A full, enhanced DBS background check is completed on every cleaning operative that will be cleaning your school? |
| Do the company guarantee: | Full training is provided surrounding the safe use of products, and the importance of never leaving chemicals unsupervised |
| Do they ensure: | A detailed site induction is completed, so cleaners know exactly where to work, and where all emergency exits are. |
| Security - do they ensure: | Uniform and ID cards being issued to all claners, to enable easy and quick identification of cleaners whilst on site |
In short, a lot!
Our school and educational premises varies from some schools where we have a single cleaner working, to a university site where we have in excess of twenty employees working every single day. We work with both state and private schools to provide our school cleaning services.
Our in-house training teams, HR team and office support team ensure we are able to deliver the highest possible level of customer service and support.
School cleaning services are essential, but careful consideration should also be given before engaging a company. Ask probing questions from potential companies about their experience in this sector, what safeguarding measures they have in place, and how they can improve the appearance of your school.
You can read more about our school and educational premises cleaning and request a free, no obligation quote by clicking here.
"Reliable commercial cleaning company near me" is a commonly searched Google term. With the amount of commercial cleaning companies out there and the apparent large selection to choose from, this should come as no surprise.
Definition of Reliable:
consistently good in quality or performance; able to be trusted
Oxford Languages Dictionary
There are a number of ways to find a reliable cleaning company. A few of the most common methods include:
You can read more Green Fox Cleaning independent reviews by clicking here.
Cleaning should be largely invisible to the customer, being completed normally out of hours. You should ask any potential cleaning contractor what safeguards they have in place to ensure you never come in to a dirty premises. At Green Fox, we have the following measures in place to ensure reliability:
It is important to remember that a truly reliable cleaning company will rarely be the cheapest due to the extra investment in delivering such high service levels, but at Green Fox we aim to deliver unbeatable VALUE. This is not to say the price will necessarily be higher and may be the cheapest, but ask yourself is an extra pound or so an hour worth the extra peace of mind to know you are keeping your staff and visitors safe?
Don't forget - price is what you pay, value is what you get.
Simply visit this link and search by postcode, or call to discuss your needs:
Selecting the best office cleaning products is not as straightforward as it may seem. There are literally thousands of products on the market, all with different claims, pros and cons and the all important contact times.
Never heard of contact time? You’re probably not the only one. Essentially, it’s the amount of time a cleaning agent—a spray or a wipe, whatever you use—needs to be in contact with a surface in order to kill the bacteria, viruses, and other not-great things lingering there. If you’re not waiting long enough, your cleaning product probably (almost certainly!) isn’t getting rid of the potentially illness-causing cells. If you’re spraying and wiping as you go to clean quickly, without waiting the prescribed contact time, you’re really just doing a surface clean by wiping up dirt, debris, and other particles—not the bits that can really get you sick.
If you look at the use instructions on the rear of disinfecting products, you’ll see contact times. They tell users how long a solution needs to be in contact with the surface in order to kill the bacteria and viruses living on it—and in many cases, it’s likely much longer than you think.
Some common contact times for household cleaners are three minutes. Hospital grade disinfectants often have a contact time of ten minutes. Whatever and wherever you are cleaning, if you’re wiping up the cleaning liquid before the contact time, you’re limiting its disinfecting power.
Even the best office cleaning products are pretty much useless without the correct contact times!
This will depend very much on the products purchased. Generally speaking, standard supermarket "off the shelf" products are advertised and suitable for small sections of cleaning only, and could result in the need for different products for:
Some of the best office cleaning products are more versatile in their use, meaning you need a smaller range
Like most things in life, some products will be more developed, offer greater results and be more versatile. Advertising will also pay a large part - often you will see bold adverts on television stating they kill 99.9% of germs - a lot of cheaper less well known brands will do the same. Read packaging and compare ingredients and claims if buying off the shelf.
As you would imagine, over the years we have tested hundreds and hundreds of products. We are approached daily by product suppliers, making bold claims about their products and asking us to test them, which we often do. For us, all products used by us must meet the following criteria:
Through our careful product selection, we will normally only require the use of three or four of the best office cleaning products at most sites. This keeps operations straightforward for our highly trained cleaning operatives and keeps consistency at all sites we work at. Our core key products are also used in dosage systems, reducing our plastic usage by up to 99% on these products!
Our site packs contain full COSHH and safety data information on all products kept on site in the event of an emergency.
If you would rather let us take care of your office cleaning and use the best office cleaning products, be it daily or weekly, why not get in touch by clicking here and request a free and no obligation quote today!
Green Fox Cleaning protective film door handle covers utilise the latest technology and is specifically designed with an antimicrobial coating, to keep staff and visitors alike safe at all premises. Once applied, they will last a whole year before they need to be replaced, offering ongoing daily protection.
The Green Fox Protective Film door handle covers anti-microbial covering can be applied to a wide variety of surfaces as long as they are clean, dry, smooth, non-porous and free from oil, grease, wax or other contaminant.
In terms of handles, the Green Fox Protective film door handle covers are compatible with traditional door handles, as well as push plates and handrails.
Example images of Green Fox Protective film door handle covers.
Our protective films are available in the following pack options:
The Green Fox Protective film door handle covers can be applied to a wide variety of surfaces as long as they are clean, dry, smooth, non-porous and free from oil, grease, wax or other contaminant.
Always assume that every surface is dirty and needs to be cleaned before application. It is recommended to wear nitrile or vinyl gloves whilst applying the Green Fox Protective film door handle covers.
For standard door handles with a diameter of up to 22mm then use the 70mm x 160mm size.
You may want to reduce the length depending on the design of the handle. This is best done with a pair of scissors before removing the backing. Once it has been cut to size remove the backing completely and carefully apply the film along the length of the handle starting on the underside.
Continue to apply the film working round the handle and moving your hand from left to right to ensuring adhesion along the whole length. Finish the application with a small overlap onto the other end of the film. You may also want to remove any excess overlap with a sharp craft knife.
For larger handles, balustrading and handrails you can calculate the approximate circumference of the tube (and the width of the film you will need) by multiplying the diameter or width of the tube by 3.2.
E.g. if you have a handrail that is 50mm diameter then 50 x 3.2 = 160 so our 160mm x 1370 size would probably be a good option.
For small flat surfaces like push plates or ipads or coffee machine touch screens then you need to again make sure the surface is clean and dry. Start at one end and peel back around 7 - 10cm of the backing and work down, gradually removing the backing as you go.
You may find it useful to invest in a small felt-covered squeegee. For a touch screen it is best to cut the film slightly over-sized and trim it to size with a sharp craft knife after it has been applied.
• Under normal usage conditions, harmless when in contact with human skin (skin compatibility study carried out under dermatological control). It has no allergenic or irritant potential.
• Active compound: silver ions,< 0.3 % w/w of the entire product.
• Antimicrobial activity maintained after 365 cleanings with water, alcohol, chlorine bleach and Aniosurf® (respect the dilution recommended by the manufacturer).
• The film can be cleaned/disinfected by all conventional cleaning methods, using non-abrasive accessories, cleaning products, detergents or products currently used in healthcare environments.
• Only apply the film to areas that will not be in direct contact with unpackaged food.
• Suitable for application to regular or irregular surfaces.
• Recommended minimum application temperature: +10 °C (+50 °F).
• Operating temperature range: from -40 °C to +90 °C (-40 °F to +194 °F).
• In the case of an already painted substrate, self-adhesive media must only be applied to undamaged original paintwork. If the paintwork is not original and/or damaged, the application and the removal are at the judgement and risk of the installer.
The below table gives guidance of the price of the units. Please note that this is on a supply-only basis, and you would need to apply them following the simple application process as detailed above.
To find out more about our protective film handles, don't hesitate to get in touch with us at this link, or by calling 0333 050 1130.
Learn about the origin of door handles here.
