Selecting an eco-friendly cleaning company for your workplace is of utmost importance in today's environmentally conscious world. With increasing concerns about climate change, pollution, and the overall health of our planet, adopting sustainable practices has become a necessity rather than an option. Here are some reasons why choosing an eco-friendly cleaning company is crucial for your workplace.
First and foremost, opting for an eco-friendly cleaning company helps reduce the negative impact on the environment. Traditional cleaning products often contain harmful chemicals that can contaminate the air, water, and soil, leading to long-term ecological damage. In contrast, eco-friendly cleaning companies prioritise the use of non-toxic, biodegradable, and plant-based cleaning agents. By minimising the use of harmful chemicals, these companies help protect the environment, safeguarding the health of ecosystems and preserving natural resources.
By employing eco-friendly cleaning techniques, such as using HEPA filters, natural disinfectants, and microfibre cleaning cloths, these companies create a healthier work environment for employees. Clean, fresh air enhances overall well-being, reduces absenteeism, and boosts productivity.
It is no secret that high on the list of consideration when selecting a commercial cleaning company for your workplace or school, that a big consideration is on how much the company consider the environment as part of their business operations, making eco friendly cleaning companies a go to choice.
Finally, opting for an eco-friendly cleaning company can have a positive impact on the overall well-being and morale of your employees. When individuals know that their workplace is being cleaned with environmentally friendly products, they feel a sense of pride and satisfaction, knowing they are part of an organisation that prioritises sustainability. This can contribute to a more positive work culture, higher employee engagement, and improved retention rates.
Eco friendly cleaning companies and eco conscious cleaning companies appear to be everywhere when you search on google - however, how many truly are?
There are far more things to do than simply say "we are an eco friendly cleaning company" and hope people believe it. But, how do you prove it?
ISO 14001 is the international standard that specifies requirements for an effective environmental management system (EMS). At Green Fox Cleaning, we are proud to be an ISO 14001 certified organisation. Click here to learn more about ISO 14001.
There are many other considerations taken by us and processes in place to ensure we operate with full consideration of our environmental impact, and detailed fully in our sustainability policy. A few of our key points include the following:
In conclusion, finding the best eco friendly cleaning companies for your workplace is essential for several reasons. It helps protect the environment, enhances indoor air quality, showcases corporate social responsibility, and improves employee well-being. By making this conscious choice, you not only contribute to a healthier planet but also create a positive work environment that benefits everyone involved.
We hope you have found this selecting a great eco friendly cleaning company. Asking the right questions at the beginning of your search for a great commercial cleaning company will save you time in the long run.
You can click here to contact your LOCAL Green Fox office to discuss how they can help improve the appearance of your workplace in a environmentally conscious way.
At Green Fox Cleaning, we are experienced in working with, and understand the challenges faced by charities.
Budgets can often be tight - yet by the very nature of their existence the sites are often used by some of the most vulnerable people and animals - meaning the highest levels of cleanliness are essential.
Our local charity cleaning teams - both managers and operatives understand that non-profit organisations centre around generosity, and that a clean environment is essential for staff to carry out work for charitable purposes.
With us providing daily cleaning services to charities in various sectors and of different all sizes throughout Hampshire, West Sussex East Sussex and Surrey, we have written this article to help you make a safe choice, and ensure you can focus your efforts on the running of your charity, and not the cleaning of it.
There are a number of key considerations when selecting a commercial cleaning company for your charity cleaning services. Here are what we consider the top three points we would recommend you ask any company when they come to quote for your charity cleaning services, to minimise the risk of you spending time managing the contractor.
Don't be afraid to ask this. Some commercial cleaning companies use subcontractors and "self-employed" staff to avoid needing to pay pension, holiday pay etc. What this means in reality is they have little or no control over who is coming through your premises door each day.
At Green Fox, all cleaning staff are directly employed by us. Our process will include background checks through various sources, enhanced DBS checks at all charity sites, where the highest levels of vetting for safeguarding compliance are required. With our company Directors being former Police Officers with over 30 years service between them, you can be assured that client safeguarding is at the top of our list.
Time and time again we hear horror stories of cleaning companies placing untrained staff to clean in sites, and don't even induct them on essentials such as the location of fire exits! All Green Fox Cleaning employees are trained by our in-house British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc) trainers and receive a detailed and paid induction before starting work at all of our charity sites where they are expected to work.
Turning up in the morning to find your charity has not been cleaned venue is pretty much the worst case scenario when outsourcing your daily charity cleaning services.
At Green Fox Cleaning, we operate a live GPS employee attendance management system which is monitored 24/7 live-time by an on-call manager. In the event a cleaner doesn't arrive as expected, an on-call manager is alerted immediately and will investigate, and deploy one of our mobile team if required, to ensure you NEVER turn up to a dirty premises!
At Green Fox, we can be flexible to work around the days and times you require cleaning. We can work out in hours around your staff, out of hours, weekdays or weekends.
The types of charities we provide regular cleaning services to include:
We hope you have found this article on charity cleaning services useful. Asking the right questions at the beginning of your search for a great commercial cleaning company will save you time in the long run.
We hope you have found this article on charity cleaning services useful. You can click here to contact your local office to discuss how they can help you.
At Green Fox, we clean for numerous state schools, private schools and academies alike of all sizes. This post is a school cleaning services case study which details how we have transferred just one of these schools through our hard work and professional, local approach.
The below photos give a slight insight into the scale of the task associated with when we were awarded the daily cleaning contract at Shoreham Academy where daily cleaning services started in August 2021 .
Based over three floors, with a site in excess of 13,000 square metres and boasting two sports halls and a dance hall utilised by community lettings until after 9pm, the size of the task and the amount of planning required to ensure the smooth running was clear to see.
For the previous ten years, the school cleaning services contracted cleaning services were handled by a large and well known national cleaning company. The contract was being run with staff shortages, standards were poor and staff morale was reportedly low.
The cleaning team required at this site owing to the size was circa 15 cleaning staff per day, to include a site supervisor to oversee the daily running, and liaise with the facilities management team.
Upon contract award in this cleaning services case study, we had to firstly consider a piece of legislation known as TUPE. The full name being the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, TUPE is a piece of legislation that is designed to protect staff when a service provider changes hand, and stops employees constantly fearing for job security.
Many clients can view TUPE as a bad thing, as they often look to change cleaning contractor as the cleaning standards have been poor, and expect to have exactly the same issues if the new cleaning company inherit the same staff. Despite what some unscrupulous cleaning companies may tell you to win a school cleaning services contract, TUPE is not optional. A typical fine for non-compliance is circa £10,000 per employee! You can read more about TUPE from one of our other useful posts by clicking here.
For us, TUPE can be a GREAT thing. If the staff have the right attitude, we can always teach the skills to clean properly with our British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc) in-house accredited trainers. They know the premises, but have perhaps lacked guidance, motivated and management.
Prior to commencement of the contract, we met the current team on a few occasions with the agreement of the facilities team, to allow us to reassure the current team and explain how the transferring process would work.
Changing company for a cleaner can be a worrying time - is their job safe? What will their new manager be like?
The team here quickly realised they needn't have worried, From day one they received a pay rise, and a great employee benefits package. One employee had been there for 8 years, and one for 12 years - always on the minimum wage. At Green Fox Cleaning, we always pay our staff a fair wage - NEVER the minimum wage!
Having said this, if any transferred employee fails to meet our required highest levels of professionalism and cleaning standards, we will instigate performance management measures, which can ultimately result in job loss. In this case, three of the ten transferred staff (including the long serving supervisor) were unwilling to work with us, and lost their jobs after a couple of weeks despite the efforts of our teams to support and develop them.
Our Management Team recruited replacement staff for the existing vacancies that were not filled by the outgoing cleaning contractor, and those for the vacancies from those failing to meet our standards.
In the weeks and months from contract award to starting our work at Shoreham Academy, we worked closely with our carefully selected eco-conscious suppliers, to ensure we selected the best equipment and chemicals to undertake the task.
Floor plans were used to carefully plan and allocate cleaning areas for each operative, to ensure they were fairly spread and achievable within the allotted time. When it comes to school cleaning services, it is essential that the time allocated to each area is sufficient to clean to a clinical standard.
Previously most cleaning was undertaken by manual mopping. We quickly identified this was not an efficient use of time, and we could make the work easier for the team, more efficient and deliver better results.
When we started, the team couldn't believe their luck - ride on machinery to clean floors, scrubbing machines and the most effective yet environmentally friendly cleaning chemicals.
The ride on machine was carefully selected to ensure it fitted in the lift, and could access all ten long corridors over the three floors, and access the external sports hall through a safe route. Upgrades included flashing lights and an audible warning system, to keep everyone safe.
All staff were trained in the safe operation of all equipment and chemicals they would be expected to use. Plus they were told of the most important tool in their kit - the cleaning in progress warning sign!
Upon day one of this award in this cleaning services case study, a full classroom day was spent to induct all staff on health and safety, our company processes, and form a team bond between the transferred and new staff - to ensure a one team approach. Leading on from this was our in-house training team training the cleaning team on all aspects of cleaning - from how to correctly fold a cloth, on to more advanced cleaning techniques.
The biggest challenge by far has been the "c" word - coronavirus. The number of staff absences as a result of this virus was significant, meaning meticulous planning and utilising mobile support teams to ensure we delivered our contractual obligations and left the academy looking great - day after day.
The community lettings across the dance hall and two large sports halls are also a challenge. These are used until 9pm, meaning our later team have a one hour window to work together to clean these large spaces and associated changing rooms before the end of the shift. Teamwork and carefully structured shift patterns, along with close liaisons with the Shoreham Academy premises team for any short notice changes ensure this also runs like clockwork, planning weekly letting use cleaning rotas to the finest detail and timings.
Since the start of this school cleaning services case study contract, we are proud to confirm the following improvements:
The below review is from the Shoreham Academy Facilities Manager which was received after we had been delivering cleaning services for nine months. It is testament to the heard work of the local management and administration team, as well as each and every hard working Green Fox employee that works at the academy.
We hope you have found this school cleaning services case study useful. We look forward to a long and healthy working relationship with all at Shoreham Academy, as well as all our other clients served by our local offices.
You can click here to contact your local Green Fox Cleaning office, to see how they can help improve the appearance of your premises with our school and academy cleaning services.
In the current climate, Strep A cleaning is therefore something that is very topical, and must NOT be taken lightly.
Group A streptococcus is a common bacteria that can be found in the throat or on the skin, according to the U.K. Health Security Agency. The bacteria doesn’t always cause illness, but it can cause tonsillitis, sore throat, skin rashes, scarlet fever and impetigo.
Concerns have been raised by the UK Health Security Agency following an increase in lower respiratory Group A Strep infections in some children over the past few weeks, which have caused severe illness and, very sadly, a number of deaths. Currently, there is no evidence that a new strain is circulating according to government reports.
The current increase is most likely related to high amounts of circulating bacteria in the environment.
The Strep A bacteria can enter the body through inhalation, ingestion, or abrasion to the skin, Most Group A streptococcus infections cause relatively mild illnesses such as ‘strep throat’ (a sore throat), or skin infections. Strep A is also the main cause of Scarlet Fever.
The Strep A infection can be spread through close contact between individuals and through shared contact with physical surfaces such as doorplates, handles and taps, so it is essential that good Strep A cleaning processes are in place to minimise the risk.
It should be noted that much like Coronavirus, that hand washing remains the most important step in preventing such infections.
Yes. Group A streptococcus is highly contagious and spreads through close contact with an infected person. It could be passed through a few different ways, including coughs, sneezes or by contact with a wound, health officials said.
Common symptoms are not limited to, but can include the following. If in doubt - always seek medical advice immediately.
Surfaces should be cleaned and disinfected as part of a normal cleaning routine, paying particular attention to door handles, light switches and other high touch points and surfaces such as door plates. These processes should be largely in place already if you have a good commercial cleaning company providing your daily cleaning services.
Coronavirus gave the world a stark reminder of the need for good, organised and professional cleaning at places of work - the days of a mop and a single cloth are long gone thankfully!
At Green Fox Cleaning, we are always planning for the worst scenarios, but ensuring we have the best products to tackle them. We have a tried and tested range of products that can be used at clients sites should there be a need.
The exact products we place will be decided on a case by case basis, but will only be those with manufacturer approval as being effective for Strep A cleaning and prevention.
Contact times of selected products must be followed when undertaking Strep A cleaning, or indeed any cleaning.
Contact time is the amount of time the product remains on a surface one sprayed, before being wiped with a dry cloth and then being left to air dry. Our carefully selected products require typically just a one minute contact time, ensuring an efficient AND effective cleaning process.
We hope you have found this information on Strep A cleaning useful.
You can click here to contact your local Green Fox Cleaning office, to see how they can help improve the safety of your workplace with strict scheduled cleaning processes, with effective cleaning products.
In February 2020, we began providing daily medical premises cleaning services across two doctor surgeries for the Emsworth Surgery group - one in Emsworth and one in nearby village Westbourne.
The below photos show the two practice buildings as they were when we commenced the contract.
The Emsworth surgery was the main surgery for the group, but the surgery was far too small for the ever growing patient numbers joining the group for their primary medical care. At this time, the daily medical premises cleaning services were being undertaken by a commercial cleaning company that were going into administration.
We were invited to tender for the supply of daily cleaning services alongside other commercial cleaning companies.
We were successful in our bid to provide daily medical premises cleaning services across both sites shown in the above photos, with the client recognising the value we could offer them.
Upon contract award, we transferred two long standing cleaners who worked at Emsworth Surgery each day from the company that lost the contract, and employed a new cleaner to work at the George & Dragon Surgery each day where there was a vacancy.
Transferring of employees to a new company when a contract is lost is common practice within the cleaning industry, under a piece of legislation called Transfer of Undertakings and Protection of Employment regulations - best known as TUPE. You can read more about TUPE and the legal requirements of it by clicking here.
Changing company for a cleaner can be a worrying time - is their job safe? What will their new manager be like?
The team here quickly realised they needn't have worried, From day one they received a pay rise, and a great employee benefits package. One employee had been there for 8 years, and one for 15 years - always on the minimum wage. At Green Fox Cleaning, we always pay our staff a fair wage - NEVER the minimum wage!
As with all our clients, we formed a great working relationship with the staff and management team at both sites, and delivered a reliable, consistent service. When we started the contract, we were made aware that a build was underway (but temporarily halted by Covid) for a £3.5m super-hub surgery, being build on an old hospital site.
The plan was that the daily medical premises cleaning services at the George & Dragon surgery would continue to run as normal to support residents in the village, and the Emsworth Surgery would close down and relocate to this new premises.
The Practice Manager for the group on top of her daily roles and responsibilities, was heavily involved with the builders at the new super-hub. We attended this site numerous times throughout the build, to discuss the design of the multiple cleaning cupboards across the various floors, placement of hand gel dispensers, and worked closely with our trusted local suppliers to deliver the best possible value to the client.
Our assistance with consumable ordering and stock management in turn removed this added responsibility from the Practice Manager.
Throughout the ongoing build, we continued delivering reliable daily medical premises cleaning services at the original Emsworth Surgery premises.
We received an update early 2021 that the new super-hub was due to open in April 2021. This experienced various further delays, during which period we had to balance our recruitment to add several new members to the team when the larger premises opened. There was a need to balance the time to interview, vet and reference new staff.- making sure this process was close enough to any start date to avoid the staff securing other roles.
The new super-hub finally went live in June 2021. We completed a post builders clean over an intense two day weekend period to lift all areas to a clinical level of cleanliness, prior to delivering daily medical premises cleaning services here following the opening on the Monday.
We used the weekend to move our equipment from the old Emsworth Surgery to the new super-hub, and place new site folders with new risk assessments and cleaning schedules.
The first week involved an Area Manager being on-site with the supervisor and team, inducting the team and working alongside them. A premises of this size and requiring medical premises cleaning standards requires military levels of precision to ensure the smooth delivery.
Floor plans were used to carefully plan and allocate cleaning areas for each operative, to ensure they were fairly spread and achievable within the allotted time. When it comes to medical premises cleaning, it is essential that the time allocated to each area is sufficient to clean to a clinical standard.
The below image shows the new £3.5m Emsworth super-hub from one angle. It is spread over three floors with 18 consultation rooms, three waiting rooms, two stairwells and numerous toilets and administration offices and staff areas.
Due to the size of the new super-hub, we needed a dedicated site supervisor, and a team of a further four cleaning operatives to support them. The cleaning increased from four hours per day to ten hours per day. This would have been considerably higher, had it not been for the placement of two site dedicated floor scrubbing machines. These machines not only clean the floors far deeper than a mop ever would (they can often just push dirt around - especially if the water isn't changed frequently!), but also reduce the cleaning time and associated labour costs.
The below review is from the current Emsworth Surgery Practice Manager.
Medical premises cleaning can only be truly efficient and achieve full CQC compliance with the correctly trained staff, supplied with the correct equipment, and a good commercial cleaning company offering a proactively managed service.
We hope you have found our case study on medical premises cleaning services useful. You can learn more about the latest CQC requirements in relation to medical premises cleaning by clicking here.
You can click here to contact your local Green Fox Cleaning office, to see how they can help improve the appearance of your surgery with our medical premises cleaning services, and ensure full CQC compliance.
Leisure centres are at heart of local communities - often a place to not only exercise, but also for many to socialise. Top quality leisure centre cleaning services will increase member numbers, and in turn the investment in the continual improvement of the premises.
Have you ever been to a leisure centre and used the poolside changing rooms, to find the floors blackened, or an unpleasant smell coming from the grill? It really doesn't make you want to rush back, does it?
Many leisure centres have historically employed in-house cleaners, however this can cause no end of problems.
We had a lovely compliment the other day about how clean the changing rooms are becoming……so thank you!
Sam, Leisure Centre Manager
Top 4 questions to ask when selecting a company for leisure centre cleaning services
There are a number of key considerations when selecting a commercial cleaning company for your leisure centre cleaning services. Here are four key questions we would recommend you ask any company when they come to quote for your leisure centre cleaning services.
Time and time again we hear horror stories of cleaning companies placing untrained staff to clean client sites, and don't even induct them on essentials such as the location of fire exits! All Green Fox Cleaning employees are trained by our in-house British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc) trainers and receive a detailed and paid induction before starting work at all of our academy sites.
Don't be afraid to ask this. Some companies use subcontractors and "self-employed" staff to avoid needing to pay pension, holiday pay etc. What this means in reality is they have little or no control over who is coming through your door each day.
All Green Fox Cleaning staff are directly employed by us. Our leisure centre cleaning recruitment process involves the highest levels of vetting and selection. Our process will include background checks through various sources, including enhanced DBS checks, where high levels of vetting for safeguarding compliance are required. With our company Directors being former Police Officers with over 30 years service between them, you can be assured that client safeguarding is at the top of our list when it comes to cleaning services at your leisure centre.
Many national cleaning companies delivering leisure centre cleaning services do not have access to a good local cleaning team, able to respond to unexpected sickness or other absences. We hear horror stories of leisure centre staff and even centre managers having to clean their leisure centres, where their cleaning contractors have let them down.
With Green Fox Cleaning, our local approach with local offices and local staff means you will always have the support you need for your leisure centre. Our friendly local management team are always on hand with our 24-hour client and employee support line, and will be familiar faces when completing regular site visits to ensure the highest standards are being maintained.
If a cleaning company are proposing the placement of mops at your leisure centre, it is time to keep looking. With the build-up for body fats and the floor textures, the selection of the most effective cleaning chemicals AND machinery is key to delivering the best results at your leisure centre, day after day.
We hope you have found this article on leisure centre cleaning services useful. Asking the right questions at the beginning of your search for a great commercial cleaning company will save you time in the long run.
You can click here to contact your local Green Fox Cleaning office, to see how they can help improve the appearance of your leisure centre.
Whether or not to outsource cleaning services for your business is ultimately a strategic decision. Outsourcing your cleaning arrangements can offer many benefits to business owners who want their teams to focus on growing and improving the business, rather than focusing on business maintenance and cleaning issues, especially amid a growing workload and on a tight budget.
The question of whether to outsource cleaning services at your workplace is a common one, and one that more and more businesses are making the decision of doing. But why?
Historically, some businesses and schools were insistent that they would keep cleaning services in-house, because it was cheaper. The review process would be something like this:
The following five points are often forgotten when deciding whether or not to outsource cleaning services:
When you consider the above five points, the price difference is much closer than it may first appear, when considering whether or not to outsource cleaning services at your place of work. There is of course much more to consider than this, but it is likely that the above is going to cost close to, if not more than £250 per month!
It's a good question - there has to be a benefit to you. The first obvious benefit is that assuming you select a good company, you can forget about the cleaning, and focus on your main role. It means that someone else is responsible for ongoing standards of cleanliness at your workplace, dealing with performance issues, stock management, risk assessments and much more.
If outsourced correctly, the cleaning can ultimately be a magical mystery that happens in the background. Things such as cleaning audits will be undertaken and sent to you if you wish, and you can have as much or as little involvement in the service as you wish. That is as long as you select a good company - a bad commercial cleaning company could end up causing you more work than before! You can click here to learn more about making a great choice when selecting a commercial cleaning company.
When you currently have your cleaning arrangements in-house, it is natural that you would want to protect these members of staff if the decision os made to outsource cleaning. A good commercial cleaning company will understand the process for transferring cleaners from both other cleaning companies and from in-house roles under The Transfer of Undertakings and Protection of Employment (TUPE) regulations 2006, which fully protects the individuals. You can read our blog on TUPE by clicking here.
We hope you have found this article on considerations around whether or not to outsource cleaning services at your place of work useful.. To get in touch with your local Green Fox Cleaning office to find out how we can help you explore this option, click here.
You can learn more about the history of outsourcing services from Wikipedia by clicking here.
NHS England and NHS Improvement guidance states that all healthcare settings including primary care are expected to ensure full compliance with the new National Standards of Healthcare Cleanliness by November 2022. Premises expected to comply includes but is not limited to GP surgeries, primary care, dental care, acute hospitals, mental health, community, ambulance trusts, clinics and care homes.
There are five key requirements to ensure your full compliance with the new NHS standards of cleanliness, summarised as follows:
At Green Fox, we work with various medical premises of all sizes across Hampshire, Sussex and Surrey. We understand the importance of the highest levels of cleanliness at your medical practice, day after day. Lets look in a little more detail at the three audit types as outlined in the new NHS cleaning standards guidance.
What is the 50-point mandatory audit?
As the title suggests, this part of the new structure details 50 key areas that must be checked for cleanliness and compliance, with the last point including all cleaning equipment, including cleaning trolleys. You can find the 50 point check list and details for the next two audit parts detailed below, by simply clicking here.
What is the efficacy Audit?
In short, the efficacy audit has been designed to measure how you or your cleaning contractors clean, as opposed to what you clean and how frequently your cleaning takes place. Efficaciousness is determined using evidence-based, scientific methods. This will include:
What is the external audit?
In short, the external audit is contacting other local medial premises, to inspect each-other under the new NHS cleaning standards. This is not formally scored, but used for general observation, and looking to implement changes and improvements for any issues identified.
This third-party audit performs a vital role. There are no scores involved: it’s all about the systems you have in place. Are your functional risk areas divided sensibly? Have you got a system to identify low-performing areas and how effective is your remediation process?
We hope you have found this article on the NHS cleaning standards useful. To get in touch with your local Green Fox Cleaning office to find out how we can help ensure your full compliance with the new NHS cleaning standards, click here.
To find out more from the NHS website about the new NHS cleaning standards, click here.
On the 5th July 1948 an historic moment occurred in British history, a culmination of a bold and pioneering plan to make healthcare no longer exclusive to those who could afford it but to make it accessible to everyone. The NHS was born.
Before the creation of the NHS or anything like it, when someone found themselves needing a doctor or to use medical facilities, patients were generally expected to pay for those treatments.
Since then, the NHS has gone through many changes, improvements, updates and modernisation processes. No-one back in 1948 would have been able to foresee the way in which the NHS developed, succeeded, pioneered and expanded.
Today, the NHS is facing a greater crisis still. The issues of funding and demand continue to rise and the ability to provide free healthcare to all is a continuous topic of debate for many.
Things such as the implementation of new NHS cleaning standards help ensure continual improvement is sought.
More and more schools are now opting to convert to academy status. With high numbers of staff and pupils attending your premises on a daily basis, the provision of a clean and safe environment is essential. Learn more here about making the right choice for your academy cleaning services.
Academies in the same way as traditional schools, require all staff to be highly vetted to fulfil safeguarding requirements, and need to know that anyone working on their premises is 100% trustworthy.
Time and time again we hear from academies that have engaged the services of a national cleaning company that have promised the world, but failed to deliver. A lack of local presence will often mean little or no support when you most need it, and can result in a less thank sparkly academy.
With us providing daily cleaning services to schools and academies of all sizes throughout Hampshire, West Sussex East Sussex and Surrey currently, we have written this article to help you make a safe choice, and ensure you can focus your efforts on developing your pupils, and not worrying about the cleaning of your academy!
"Since joining Shoreham Academy as our cleaning contractor, Green Fox have made a huge improvement in the way the cleaning contract operates, with a strong emphasis on personal support from the management team, who have always taken a keen interest in ensuring everything runs smoothly.
Kelvin Coburn - Site Manager - Shoreham Academy
Our input is now quite minimal as Green Fox take care of all our needs – we are certainly in very capable hands. ‘Small enough to care, big enough to cope’ - Green Fox are all that we hoped for in a cleaning contractor and more."
Top 5 questions to ask when selecting a company for academy cleaning services
There are a number of key considerations when selecting a commercial cleaning company for your school cleaning services. Here are five key points we would recommend you ask any company when they come to quote for your school cleaning services.
Don't be afraid to ask this. Some companies use subcontractors and "self-employed" staff to avoid needing to pay pension, holiday pay etc. What this means in reality is they have little or no control over who is coming through your door each day.
All Green Fox Cleaning staff are directly employed by us. Our academy safer recruitment process involves the highest levels of vetting and selection. Our process will include background checks through various sources, enhanced DBS checks at all academy sites, where the highest levels of vetting for safeguarding compliance are required. With our company Directors being former Police Officers with over 30 years service between them, you can be assured that client safeguarding is at the top of our list.
Time and time again we hear horror stories of cleaning companies placing untrained staff to clean in academies, and don't even induct them on essentials such as the location of fire exits! All Green Fox Cleaning employees are trained by our in-house British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc) trainers and receive a detailed and paid induction before starting work at all of our academy sites.
Turning up in the morning to find your academy has not been cleaned is pretty much the worst case scenario when outsourcing your daily school cleaning services.
At Green Fox Cleaning, we operate a live GPS employee attendance management system which is monitored 24/7 live-time by an on-call manager. In the event a cleaner doesn't arrive as expected, an on-call manager is alerted immediately and will investigate, and deploy one of our mobile team if required, to ensure you NEVER turn up to a dirty academy!
Many national cleaning companies delivering academy cleaning services do not have access to a good local team, able to respond to unexpected sickness or other absences. We hear horror stories of site managers having to clean their academy when unlocking in the morning, where their cleaning company has failed to deliver the contracted hours and fully clean the academy.
With Green Fox Cleaning, our local approach with local offices and local staff means you will always have the support you need for your academy. Our friendly local management team are always on hand with our 24-hour client and employee support line, and will be familiar faces when completing regular site visits to ensure the highest standards are being maintained.
A good commercial cleaning company offering academy cleaning services should offer the best equipment, to deliver the best results. This will of course come at a cost, which it is essential you consider the VALUE being offered by any commercial cleaning company quoting for your academy cleaning services, rather than simply the annual cost on paper.
Things such as the site team having to clean where areas are missed, or having to call and complain about the poor service received are all hidden costs to your academy. At Green Fox Cleaning, we offer the latest cleaning chemicals in dosage systems, massively reducing our plastic usage. Our investment in the latest cleaning machinery also ensures great results, day after day with our academy cleaning services.
We hope you have found this article on academy cleaning services useful. Asking the right questions at the beginning of your search for a great commercial cleaning company will save you time in the long run.
With OFSTED inspections and the focus on the ability for you to be able to tackle any viral outbreaks, there really are no second chances or compromises when it comes to delivering the highest levels of cleanliness, day in, day out.
We hope you have found this article on academy cleaning services useful. You can click here to learn more about our School Cleaning services throughout Hampshire, West Sussex, East Sussex and Surrey.
Whatever you do for work, feeling supported and appreciated by your employer is not far off as important as being paid a fair wage - even more important for some people,
With so many companies out there, how do you find the best cleaning companies to work for?
First, let's consider the various roles within a commercial cleaning company:
First, you need to consider which role you are most interested in. The best cleaning companies to work for will always make time to discuss the different opportunities within their organisation, and see what is likely to be the best option for you.
But how do you even begin trying to work out which are the best cleaning companies to work for?
First of all - do your research online. Websites such as indeed have specific sections which allow former and current employees to review companies.
IMPORTANT - always read all reviews and make your own mind up. There will always be the odd disgruntled former employee seeking revenge, and even other companies posting fake reviews - read all the reviews and make your own overall assessment. There are some people that simply don't like being picked up when they don't wish to work hard, where companies with no local management have allowed them to perhaps be lazy, and they believe this to be the norm.
The below are what we consider the three best questions to ask any cleaning company, when trying to find the best cleaning companies to work for, regardless of the role you are potentially interested in.
Most management and office roles will be on permanent hours, either full or part time. Sadly, cleaning operatives aren't always looked after the same way.
Whilst zero hours and self-employment suits some people, it won't benefit most. With ether of the above, you are missing out on the guarantee of regular weekly hours, which could ultimately leave you in financial worry very quickly if the work dries up.
At Green Fox Cleaning, our staff all enjoy permanent contracts with regular weekly guaranteed hours. This offers job security and allows you to confidentially budget your home life.
Managers should expect to receive training around company systems, processes and much more. Again, the same level of initial training and support does not always appear to be given to those working hands-on roles.
Time and time again we hear horror stories of cleaning companies placing untrained staff to clean in sites, and staff being "chucked in at the deep end." All Green Fox Cleaning employees receive a full company induction, and those involved in any cleaning duties are trained by our in-house British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc) trainers. They also receive a detailed and paid induction before starting work at any of our sites.
Don't be afraid to ask this - it is currently a candidates market to a large degree, and the best cleaning companies to work for should be investing to recruit and retain their staff.
All Green Fox Cleaning employees from apprentices to cleaning operatives to managers receive the following employee benefits:
We hope you have found this article on find the best cleaning companies to work for useful, and realised you may have just found THE best cleaning company to work for.
If you are interested in exploring a career with Green Fox Cleaning in any role from management to cleaning duties, click here to contact your local office.
