Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 17th November 2011 Issue no. 496
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Figures released today show that UK unemployment has reached 2.62 million and the Governor of the Bank of England has again cut the UK growth forecast. The UK is not alone though as many countries - and particularly those in mainland Europe - are in a similar (and in some cases far worse) situation. Those of us who have jobs or run businesses should be doing all we can to ensure that our competition doesn't steal our work from us. And of course cleaning contractors are having to pull out all the stops, as when businesses close down, the cleaning isn't required anymore so greater numbers of contractors are chasing fewer contracts. Reputation - always important - becomes even more valuable. This is something that takes a long time to build up, yet it can be destroyed incredibly quickly - and even more so in these days of social media. In this week's news, under the heading: 'Customers are shouting, but is anybody listening?' we report on the results of a survey into customer complaints, what companies do about them and the damage social media can do to an organisation's reputation. The survey reveals that while the majority of British consumers will complain about poor service, almost half believe that their complaints fall on deaf ears. Yours,
  This Week's News
SCA reorganises hygiene operations for increased efficiency, market presence and growth
Backstage battle over energy efficiency directive Targets proposed in the EU's draft energy efficiency directive are being contested by member states, with Britain and the Netherlands pushing for some provisions to be deleted entirely, EurActiv reports. One headline figure in the original directive - a mandatory 3% annual public buildings renovation rate - has been earmarked for deletion in the latest EU draft, seen by EurActiv. One EU diplomat involved in the discussions told EurActiv that the amendment had been made because of "the current budgetary restraints of member states. Scottish botulism poisoning highlights limitations of anti-bacterial sanitisers News of an outbreak of Botulism poisoning in Scotland this week has heightened awareness and concerns over food hygiene and infection control. The cases are believed to have been caused by a contaminated batch of Lloyd Grossman's curry sauce. With two people hospitalised after consuming the sauce, there are fears that the outbreak could spread if proper infection control procedures are not followed. Botulism is a notifiable disease - patients suspected of infection should be treated in a side room with strict infection control procedures. A botulism anti-toxin is available, and should be administered as treatment. Making the case for daytime cleaning
A 'Right Royal' Service for Queen Alexandra College
Hovima Aparthotels wins Check Safety First award for exceptional standards
Central vacuuming systems could change commercial cleaning, says Vacrite
Girbau UK launches smarter washers to save energy and water
Cintas and Rubbermaid to deliver rental cleaning solutions together In their continual pursuit to provide customers with world-class products and services, Cintas and Rubbermaid Commercial Products, jointly announced on Monday a strategic alliance to offer custom cleaning and hygiene solutions to Cintas customers - some 800,000 business across North America. One of these solutions is a new co-branded microfibre offering that blends the performance of RCP's products with the service excellence of Cintas to provide what the two companies say is a best-in-class facility maintenance system. Ensure compliance with PPG26 Pollution Prevention Guidelines
Cut staff sick days with antibacterial surface protection PHS Washrooms, has launched a campaign to target the financial impact of sickness absence, with the implementation of antibacterial surface protection in UK washrooms. SteriTouch is a permanent antibacterial protection that the company claims will reduce the spread of germs and minimise cross infection. This treatment is now incorporated as standard into a core selection of its washroom products. UK Government plans to reform PFI model On Tuesday the UK Government announced that it is to review the private finance initiative and consider other delivery models. The objective of the review, led by the Treasury, is to create a new model for delivering public assets and services that takes advantage of private sector expertise, but at a lower cost to the taxpayer. Annual CIPD survey shows shift in priorities for reward professionals The majority (78%) of reward professionals continue to be concerned about the ability of their organisations to manage reward risks, according to the annual Reward Risks Survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. In particular, they are concerned about achieving the balance between affordability and the need to offer competitive reward packages as demand for key skills picks up and employees' appreciation of the value of total packages diminishes. The Cleanzine Archive Search We keep an extensive archive of news stories and product information that have featured in past issues of The Cleanzine. If you would like to run a search of the The Cleanzine web site using the search tool below please just go ahead by entering in the name of the person, product or company or any other key words that you are looking for. How to contact us at The Cleanzine:
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Our weekly updated Hospital Hygiene features current developments and product solutions cleaning and hygiene industry manufacturers are coming up with. Read More. Recent UK News
UK's top cleaners recognised at Golden Service Awards 2011
MITIE CEO named National Business Awards 'Leader of the Year'
Contract Cleaning Market: Research & Analysis UK 2011-2015, now published MTW Research has published a new Research & Analysis market report, providing a fresh, comprehensive & reliable review of the public & private sector UK Contract Cleaning Market in 2011 with forecasts to 2015. IICRC (The Clean Trust) publishes list of forthcoming courses The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning & Restoration Certification (which as we reported in a recent issue of Cleanzine, is currently being rebranded to become 'The Clean Trust') has published its latest schedule of training and certification courses. Courses taking place at various locations around the UK during November, include 'Water Restoration Technician', 'Stone, Masonry & Ceramic Tile Cleaning Technician' and 'Applied Structural Drying Technician', although the list includes many other specialist courses being held over the coming months. Download the list of courses here. Awards event in Scotland celebrates cleaning skills contest
Emprise still ensuring the show goes on at Delfont Mackintosh
from Andrew Large, Chief Executive, Cleaning & Support Services Association I would like to respond to the article in Cleanzine issue 492 by David Camp concerning gangmasters. David is right to highlight the gold plating of the law creating the Gangmaster's Licencing Authority, as it is clear that the law did not intend to cover the activities of cleaning companies. However I take issue with his characterisation of certain cleaning businesses as "gangmasters". Unger UK supports Keep Britain Tidy's 'Love Where You Live' campaign
St Pancras International's cleaning runs as scheduled, thanks to Rubbermaid
Post Office guarantees to beat business insurance renewal quotes The Post Office is guaranteeing to beat business insurance renewal quotes for self-employed property maintainers.* Roadshow highlights business cost of poor indoor air quality The UK is said to have the highest rate of illnesses caused by water systems, dampness and mould, ventilation and conditioning systems and building materials in the EU. A new campaign was launched last week to urge UK businesses to fit adequate ventilation systems that comply with European guidelines. |
