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BCC supports ‘living wage’
Labour leadership candidate Ed Miliband has promised that, if elected, he will offer substantial tax cuts for any company which commits to guaranteeing a ‘living wage’ of at least £7.60 an hour for their workers. The pledge is designed to build upon Labour’s reputation for tackling low pay, after it introduced the legally binding minimum wage in 1999 which now stands at £5.83 an hour.
The announcement came as research carried out by the Institute for Fiscal Studies revealed that companies paying below the ‘living wage’ cost the taxpayer approximately £6 billion a year. They claim that the government is effectively subsidising companies that offer employees low-pay by paying tax credits and benefits to workers, while the Treasury receives less in revenue from income taxes.
Miliband claimed that the government’s bill of funding low-paid workers could be reduced by up to £4.1 billion a year if every business adopted the ‘living wage’. Under his measures, any firms that refused to offer their workers at least £7.60 would not be eligible for lower levels of corporation tax.
Speaking to the British Cleaning Council, Miliband said: "It's right that government should encourage businesses to pay their employees a living wage. By offering a tax break to those firms who pay a living wage, rather than simply the National Minimum Wage, we can encourage more businesses to choose to pay this higher rate."
Mark Woodhead, chairman of the British Cleaning Council, added: “We support fair pay for workers, and the living wage campaign is a very effective tool for conveying the rewards of remunerating employees fairly. While companies should be encouraged to behave responsibly, these tax incentives will provide even more support to enable them to improve the pay of those who carry out this vital job every day."
Andrew Large, chief executive of the Cleaning and Support Services Association, added: “The CSSA supports all cleaning contractors who pay their workers the living wage.”
Evidence from companies such as Barclays Bank in Canary Wharf, who pay cleaners the ‘living wage’, have shown it helps reduce staff turnover and boost worker productivity, thereby reducing the costs.
www.britishcleaningcouncil.org
Restaurants engaged in poor hygiene practices, study claims
The Health Protection Agency has claimed that restaurants and takeaways are using cleaning cloths contaminated with potentially dangerous bacteria. The bacteria on unclean cloths can transfer to the hands of staff, and then on to work surfaces, equipment and utensils, leading to health problems for the public.
Researchers at the HPA sampled 133 cloths used for cleaning in 120 restaurants and takeaways in the north-east of England, and found that 56% of the cloths contained unacceptable levels of bacteria. Only a third of restaurant kitchens (32%) were following the recommendation to use disposable cloths and change them regularly. The remainder had reusable cloths - in 15% of the kitchens, staff were unsure how often they were replaced.
While most restaurants disinfected their reusable cloths every 10 to 24 hours, a number of restaurants left it longer than 24 hours, while some did not know how regularly their cloths were disinfected.
Mark Woodhead, chairman of the British Cleaning Council, said: "Exposure to these harmful bacteria can cause food poisoning and certain groups, such as the young, old and pregnant women, are extremely vulnerable. Our member, the CIEH, runs a comprehensive course called Food Safety in Catering, which will go some way to helping address these worrying findings, and is proven to improve the knowledge of all those involved in commercial food preparation."
www.britishcleaningcouncil.org
Delphis Eco helps ‘make a difference’
As part of the ‘Start’ initiative, a 12 day 'Garden party to make a difference' - hosted by The Prince of Wales at Clarence House - aimed to give people a fun day out while at the same time, via the exhibits, demonstrate the small steps that can be taken to build a more sustainable future. With a recognised ecological offering, Delphis Eco, manufacturer of cleaning chemical concentrates, took part in the event.
Delphis Eco’s forward thinking approach is designed to reduce both its own and its customers' carbon footprint. With a clear business ethos, Delphis Eco is attracting customers genuinely seeking a green alternative. With an established brand and growing market share, Delphis Eco supplies less chemicals, whilst reducing and simplifying inventories with products that are non-toxic, non-flammable, non- carcinogenic and non-harmful to marine and aquatic life.
Fast approaching its 3rd year in business, Delphis Eco is driven by delivering high quality products that are ecological. The range includes nine DEFRA accredited products including: a multi-purpose cleaner, a floor maintainer, a daily use toilet cleaner, and a glass & stainless steel cleaner.
Delphis was the first chemical manufacturer to be awarded the European Ecolabel Flower DEFRA accreditation for goods and services that meet strict criteria limiting the impacts of consumer products on the environment.
Mark Jankovich, managing director, said: “Delphis Eco is solely driven by supplying environmentally responsible cleaning products. Our products are extremely effective and competitively priced when compared to other chemical cleaning products in the category. We educate customers to be green at every stage: spoken, thought and action. This has been a hard process for the last 2.5 years but we are really delighted to see the step changes in customer buying behaviour that are now well underway.”
The next 12 months will see further innovation from Delphis Eco with new products such as a limescale remover & graffiti remover to name but a few.
www.delphiseco.com
Fimap - Italian passion for innovation
Well established throughout Europe, Fimap is using in excess of 40 years experience to support its efforts in redefining attitudes to mechanical floor cleaning. This passion is epitomised by the Genie, a market leader in compact scrubber dryers.
Fimap designs and develops equipment based on the fundamentals that a product has to be affordable at the point of purchase and cost effective in use. Massimiliano Ruffo, CEO of Fimap, disputes the premise that innovation has to be more expensive than existing technology and cites Fimap's range of new micro riders as a prime example: “Larger capacity, quieter, more environmentally friendly, simpler to use and easier to maintain… yet with pricing in line with pedestrian machines.”
Kevin Day, Fimap’s UK country manager, added:?“Machine manufacturers have to deliver benefits and improve productivity. In an industry driven by labour costs this is surely a great benefit.”
Not only is the Fimap product range new to the UK market but equally important is Fimap’s attitude to working with its partners. Kevin Day believes that success and security is born from working together and never more so than in today’s economic climate: “Fimap is looking for UK partners who are not only brand strong but also brand proud. I believe an association with Fimap can only strengthen this position.”
Please contact: kevin.day@fimap.com
Final speaker confirmed for BCC Conference
The final speaker for the British Cleaning Conference, taking place on 5 October at London’s CBI Centre, has now been confirmed. Will Butler- Adams, CEO of Brompton Bicycle’s Ltd, will be speaking about the advantages of manufacturing domestically and the benefits of sourcing products from British-based companies during challenging economic times.
The company, which turns out 100 precision-crafted bicycles a day from its factory in Kew, west London, sources all its materials and manpower domestically. It sells bikes in 27 overseas markets, as well as servicing the needs of the 200,000 dedicated Brompton customers already on the road.
Mark Woodhead, chairman of the British Cleaning Council, said: “We are delighted that Mr. Butler-Adams has agreed to speak at the Cleaning Conference. Brompton is the last major manufacturer making bikes in London and the company is a true British success story. I am sure the delegates on the day will be very keen to hear his advice on the advantages to be derived from choosing British manufacturing, as there is a wealth of knowledge that can be transferred between our industries.”
Butler-Adams, whose background is in engineering, took over as managing director of Brompton's in 2008. He has overseen the expansion of the business by 25% a year as it constantly refines and augments its product. It currently exports approximately 70% of its bikes to international markets, and is well-placed to continue to grow as a key player in the urban cycling renaissance.
Limited tickets remain available for the BCC Conference: visit www.britishcleaningcouncil.org/cleaningconference.html for further details.
NVQ success for resource
resourceUK, working in partnership with the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE), has acknowledged staff development through the presentation and award of a new bespoke NVQ. The bespoke NVQ certification was presented to all team members of the ‘Bus stop, shelter cleaning and maintenance’ team at Rotherham Interchange.
The NVQ is the result of resourceUK identifying and acknowledging customer needs through the research and analysis of individual feedback, which provides staff with the necessary skills and experience to deliver consistently high quality services.
Tony Hall, service delivery manager at resourceUK, said: “We believe that public transport users are entitled to a clean, safe environment that is supported by up-to-date information when commencing their journey - the resourceUK Bus stop shelter team plays a major role in this provision. Through this we recognised the need to deliver a quality service through efficiencies that acknowledge customer needs by applying a regime that demonstrates innovation through market best practice.”
Dave Whittle of SYPTE said: “This is the first qualification of its kind in the country; the development by resourceUK, in response to SYPTE’s particular requirements to ensure customers receive a consistently high quality experience, stand as testament to the commitment resourceUK shows to the partnership with SYPTE, and the shared ethos of ‘recruit for attitude, train for skills’.”
www.resource-group.com
