Last week’s leader in which I highlighted the disgusting state of my London Underground train (see our Facebook page for a picture gallery) prompted an article from Kärcher UK’s James Gordon on how to implement best cleaning practice in transport & logistics – excellent marketing! 

  

On Tuesday I had occasion to travel into London again and while I’m pleased to report that all the national rail and underground trains I used, plus walkways, elevators, stairs, platforms etc, all seemed pristine, I was sad to see how much disruption the services face these days – which, according to tannoy announcements, seemed to include parts of particular underground lines being completely shut. How frustrating for travellers on a tight schedule! During rush hour when extra services are scheduled it can be possible to find a different route, but with cleaners often working unsocial hours (and with the dreadfully unfair ULEZ scheme preventing many from using their cars in Greater London) I wonder how they cope with unreliable public transport? I grumbled about my dirty train but at least I was able to get to where I needed to be, on time… 

  

My destination on Tuesday was the Café Royale in Regent Street for the UK leg of the global launch of i-team Global’s i-walk – and while I tend not to mention individual companies in these Leaders, it’s warranted here. If you read my Leaders regularly, you’ll be aware of my passion for sustainability, hatred of unnecessary waste and support of those who strive to look after us – the cleaners. All these issues/concerns were perfectly met by the product and the philosophy behind it. Instead of seeing a new machine I discovered an enhancement available to current equipment that takes it to another level entirely. Loyal customers don’t need to discard their equipment which may well be reasonably new and perfectly adequate, but can simply buy the enhancement, (see more below).

We definitely need more like this! “We want to add features rather than sell more machines,” explained Ben van de Scheur, (managing director and one of the driving forces behind i-team Global) who went on to say that the average age of a cleaner in the Netherlands where the company’s based, is 48. “We ask ourselves, ‘How do we keep them comfortably in work? Once they start to feel something hurting it’s too late. Them having to bend forward to look at the floor all day is not what we want. People often forget that it’s not just the equipment which uses energy, but its operator too. How do we conserve that energy so they feel better at the end of their shift, energised and proud of what they’ve achieved?” Yes please!