Ace chalks up 40 years

Ace Janitorial of Sheffield, one of Jangro’s founding organisations in 1980, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Ace has traded through several recessions and remains as successful today as it ever has been with a £2 million turnover.

Attercliffe based Ace was formed by Alf Cullumbine who built his business on supplying local steel making and engineering companies with goods from a van at the factory gates. He built the business on listening to customer needs, sourcing the best products and delivering them on time with a fast personal service. In 1980, when Jangro was setting up with identical business ethics, Cullumbine immediately joined and Ace remains a key player in today’s 40-strong Jangro membership.

Ace remains a family affair, today operated by Cullumbine’s sons Phil, Paul and Mark. It now sells very little to what remains of Sheffield’s steel industry because the business has evolved to meet the demands of a variety of growing service sectors, but the personal family service remains.

Phil Cullumbine said: “Our business profile has changed greatly. We are now supplying contract cleaners and FM companies as well as many direct accounts in hospitals, care homes, schools and businesses in leisure and tourism. The belief that ‘customer is king’ was passed down from dad and that will keep us on the right track.”

Sodexo Foundation donates £20,000 to Save the Children

STOP Hunger, the Sodexo Foundation’s global initiative active in almost 40 countries worldwide, has donated £20,000 to help Save the Children fill trucks with life saving food in East Africa.

In the UK, STOP Hunger was launched in 2005 to tackle hunger and malnutrition in local communities. Part of Sodexo’s Better Tomorrow Plan sustainability strategy to 2020, the initiative has three main components: financial donations thanks to employee fundraising; sharing of Sodexo knowledge with charity partners; and employee volunteering through charity partners.

STOP Hunger supports charities that tackle hunger, poor nutrition and promote life skills such as cooking in local communities, and it provides a central focus for Sodexo employee fundraising and volunteering. Until now, STOP Hunger’s approach has been consistent with Sodexo’s worldwide policy to ‘think global but act local’. 

However, in the face of regular overseas humanitarian disasters needing urgent international assistance, the Sodexo Foundation trustees have recently broadened the scope of causes to which STOP Hunger funds can be applied.

The Sodexo Foundation’s £20,000 donation to Save the Children’s ‘Fill a Truck Appeal’ has been led by Natalie Bickford, Sodexo HR director and a foundation trustee. She said: “STOP Hunger’s focus is local but, with over 13 million people facing starvation in East Africa at the moment, we have to look further and help those in the most desperate need. Thanks to the outstanding support of Sodexo employees, suppliers, customers and clients, we’re helping to stop children from dying at a rate of one every six minutes in the worst hit areas.”

Thomas Jelley, corporate citizenship manager, Sodexo, said: “Since the launch of STOP Hunger in the UK and Ireland, we have raised over £1.2 million to support charities operating locally. Thanks to Sodexo’s continued dedication to tackling hunger, I’m thrilled to see us support Save the Children’s East Africa food crisis relief effort,”
Olivia Zinzan, emergency communications officer at Save the Children, said: “Sodexo’s generous donation to Save the Children’s ‘Fill a Truck Appeal’ has helped Save the Children to deliver life-saving high- nutrient peanut paste to malnourished children across East Africa. 

This is a simple and low cost treatment that ensures a speedy recovery, and has helped us to save thousands of children’s lives.”

www.sodexo.com

The best of the best - the country’s top cleaners are recognised at the Golden Service Awards 2011

The UK & Ireland’s very best cleaners and cleaning companies have been revealed at this year’s Golden Service Awards, organised by Kimberly- Clark Professional, in partnership with the Cleaning & Support Services Association (CSSA). At a glittering ceremony on Friday 4 November, a total of 19 awards were dished out to deserving winners across 18 categories.

There was a particularly strong showing from the retail sector, which provided the winners in five categories. They included Integrated Cleaning Management, which scooped the award for Best Cleaned Premises - Large Retail Establishment for its work at Marks & Spencer’s flagship store at Marble Arch in central London.

The public sector also accounted for five awards. The prize for Best Cleaned Premises - Public Sector Buildings was taken home by Derrycourt Cleaning Specialists for its work at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. There were also winners from the healthcare and education sectors.

There were loud cheers for Tomasz Patykiewicz from Cagney Contract Cleaning, who was named as the Kimberly-Clark Professional Cleaner of the Year for his work at the Convention Centre in Dublin. Also celebrating was Sue Brown from Aramark, who was named the British Cleaning Council’s Site Supervisor of the Year for her role at New College, Durham.

For the first time in the history of the Golden Service Awards there was a tie in one category. The award for Best Cleaned Premises - Educational Establishment was shared by Julius Rutherfoord Commercial Cleaning Services for South Thames College in London, and VINCI Construction UK for Mexborough School in South Yorkshire.

This year’s Golden Service Awards received a total of 133 entries from across the UK and Ireland.  Judges selected 79 finalists from which the 19 winners were chosen.

Marta Longhurst, regional marketing manager for UK, Ireland & Benelux at Kimberly-Clark Professional, said: “The standard of entries in this year’s Golden Service Awards was very high and it was a tough job for the judges. But all winners were richly deserving of their awards for their focus on hard work and skill to achieve the highest possible standards for their customers.”

A record 600 professionals from small, medium and large contract cleaning firms and in-house teams, as well as local authorities and hospitals, attended the Golden Service Awards event. Also in attendance was Diversey, the Gold sponsor of the Golden Service Awards, as well as the ambassador sponsors Cleaning & Maintenance magazine, the British Cleaning Council and the British Institute of Cleaning Science.

The complete list of winners:

The Kimberly-Clark Professional Cleaner of the Year: Tomasz Patykiewicz from Cagney Contract Cleaning for The Convention Centre, Dublin.

The British Cleaning Council Site Supervisor of the Year: Sue Brown from Aramark Ltd for New College, Durham.

Best Cleaned Premises - Educational Establishment (Joint Winner): Julius Rutherfoord Commercial Cleaning Services for South Thames College, London

Best Cleaned Premises - Educational Establishment (Joint Winner): VINCI Construction UK Ltd for Mexborough School, South Yorkshire.

Best Cleaned Premises - Healthcare Establishment: Bradford District Care Trust for Care UK’s Eccleshill NHS Treatment Centre, Bradford.

Best Cleaned Premises - Public Sector Buildings: Derrycourt Cleaning Specialists for the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.

Best Cleaned Premises - Large Retail Establishment: Integrated Cleaning Management Ltd for Marks & Spencer, Marble Arch, London.

Best Cleaned Premises - Manufacturing: Turner Facilities Management Ltd for Newsprinters (Eurocentral) Ltd, Motherwell.

Best Cleaned Premises - Individual Retail Unit: Derrycourt Cleaning Specialists for Avoca Handweavers, Kilmacanogue, County Wicklow.

Best Cleaned Premises - Transport: ISS Facility Services for Stansted Airport Ltd, Essex.

The C&M Award for Best Cleaned Premises - Offices above 50,001 sq. ft: Strand for Wellcome Trust, Gibbs Building and Wellcome Collection, London.

Best Cleaned Premises - Offices below 50,000 sq. ft: Time-Out Cleaning Services Ltd for Bruntwood Booths Park, Greater Manchester.

Best Cleaned Premises - Hospitality: Cagney Contract Cleaning for The Convention Centre, Dublin.

The Best Specialist Cleaning Company Award: Rentokil Specialist Hygiene for Newcastle Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne.

The Diversey Environmental Awareness Award: The Environmental Services Department at The Trafford Centre, Manchester.

The Health & Safety Award: Integrated Cleaning Management Ltd for its health & safety programme implemented for M&S.

The CSSA Award for Excellence in a Small Cleaning Business: Greenzone Cleaning & Support Services Ltd.

Service Delivery Innovation of the Year: Serco for Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Falkirk.

The BICSc Industry Training Award: The Trafford Centre, Manchester.

Further information can be found at: www.goldenserviceawards.co.uk. 

For those unable to wait, please note that the organisers will update this site with information on the 2013 programme in Autumn 2012.

Painting the town green

Making an existing building more sustainable by sensitively adapting it to meet modern environmental standards is not only culturally important to maintaining our heritage but also makes good business sense. Consider Belfast’s Grand Opera House or the Ulster Museum which are both excellent examples of how old buildings can benefit from retrofitting to keep up to date with the changing times.

Retrofitting is an important issue for any facilities management professional managing an older building, which requires protection and conservation for future generations.

The British Institute of Facilities Management hosted its annual BIFM conference on 4 November at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall, sponsored by Aramark and H&J Martin, and one of the main topics highlighted was the issue of ‘retrofitting’.

One of the key benefits of retrofitting is undoubtedly the return on investment achieved through improving the efficiency of a building. 

Retrofitting can also make an existing building more suitable for use and can have a greater positive impact on the environment, guaranteeing you operate a green business in an old building.

Key speaker at the annual conference, Dawson Stelfox, chairman of Consarc Design Group, is an expert in retrofitting old buildings and ensuring these buildings meet the ever increasing standards demanded of them. A highly regarded architect, Dawson has a vast experience of working on a number of key buildings in Northern Ireland.
The conference provided a platform for professional organisations to share ideas, enhance their knowledge base and network with others in this rapidly growing sector.

www.bifm.org.uk

Survey reveals importance of hygiene to the public

A report released to coincide with Global Handwashing Day on 15 October has revealed that almost two thirds of people avoid gatherings or cancel plans due to concerns over poor hygiene levels in public places.

Nearly half of those questioned in the survey said they had refrained from using a public lavatory, while a quarter have avoided swimming or using showers at a health club because of poor cleanliness. Almost 1 in 10 people also admitted they had turned down an invitation for dinner at a friend’s house because they were worried about the levels of hygiene and cleanliness they would encounter.

The report, Hygiene Matters, was conducted for hygiene firm SCA, and questioned 7000 people in nine countries - UK, Germany, China, France, Australia, Mexico, Russia, Sweden and the United States - about their views on hygiene in society.

Mark Woodhead, chairman of the British Cleaning Council, said: "We are surrounded by hygiene in our daily lives, and this report shows that cleanliness is one of the most important factors when people are making decisions. From the predictable - public toilets, to the more subtle - dinner at a friend’s house, the survey emphasises the importance of good hygiene and clean environments in public and private places.”

Global Handwashing Day aims to habitualise hand washing with soap in an attempt to reduce the spread of diseases and illnesses. Events to promote the practice in homes, schools, workplaces and communities were held around the world to mark the day.

www.britishcleaningcouncil.org

Public toilet petition online

Public toilets are not always available where or when you need them - there is often a queue at the ladies, and facilities for disabled people, children and for changing babies are not always adequate.

However, public toilet provision is at the discretion of local authorities, and there is currently no legal requirement for councils to provide any toilets at all. In fact, 40% of public toilets have closed in the last 10 years. The campaign group ‘We need the Loo’, a joint venture between the Women’s Design Service, the British Toilet Association and the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering, has therefore launched an online petition to ask the government to make adequate public toilet provision a legal requirement.

If you would like to play your part in ensuring we have public toilets as part of more sustainable, comfortable and inclusive communities, please publicise this petition. It has its own Facebook page, and the petition can be found by searching for public toilets on the government’s e-petition web site, or by using this link - http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/15258.
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The e-petition website allows anyone to put up a petition, and if any petition gets at least 100,000 signatures, it will be eligible for debate in the House of Commons. So we urge people to sign it, and pass the information on to others so that they can also sign it, and hopefully help bring about truly sustainable communities.