Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 25th April 2024 Issue no. 1111
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The original and best - for over 20 years!
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Welcome to the Cleanzine
The original Cleaning & Hygiene industry e-news
Twenty years ago, when Internet broadcasting was in its infancy, and to get online we had to unplug the ‘phone and insert a lead from computer into vacated socket, John Austen and I broadcast our first Cleanzine. We had no idea how things were going to go and I don't think anyone expected us to be around for long - the concept was too new and so radically different. I recall my surprise at reaching our 100th issue. It doesn’t seem that long ago - yet here we are at our 1,000th! That's the equivalent of just over 83 years-worth of the monthly printed publications which were still the norm for the first few years of Cleanzine’s existence. Although I say it myself, that's quite an achievement - especially when I realise I've managed to write 1,000 Leaders!
How things have changed... Not just with 'dial-up' Internet being replaced by a wireless signal which allows us to work almost anywhere, but in terms of our industry. When John and I attended our first Show as Cleanzine, (Interclean, Amsterdam) exhibitors were amused to see us taking videos of their live demo's for our broadcasts. Now such videos are a marketing tool staple… If ‘a picture tells a thousand words', a decent video can surely provide a book's-worth. Technologically, our industry's advanced enormously, but in my view it's our professionalism that's improved most. Emphasis has been put on enhancing the service provider/client relationship and serious attention paid to branding, so cleaning teams can represent their brand as they work. The fact that cleaners are far more thoroughly trained these days and are highly skilled, too, is obvious to me whenever I get to observe them working. They’ll interact with and advise the public – seemingly proud to be responsible for keeping our environment clean. For those who hadn’t previously noticed our cleaners, Covid-19 proved a turning point in their perception of the role cleaners play in keeping us all safe. Crucial, frontline/key workers? I reckon so.
Sadly, some people have short memories. Below, we run a Soapbox on behalf of Jim Melvin, chairman of The British Cleaning Council, who understandably was astonished to learn recently, that cleaning is still considered by some in Government, (whom we thought were onside) to be less important than some other industries. Please get involved in Jim’s study – and if you’re one of our thousands of overseas readers, are your country’s cleaners getting the support and recognition they deserve? Do please, let me know how things stand.
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Yours,
20th January 2022