The introduction of the National Living Wage earlier this year has meant an increase in expenditure for some cleaning contractors. Fifty pence per hour does not sound too onerous but in reality this equates to almost a £1000 a year for full time employee’s. A significant cost absorbed by contractor or client, what has the impact been on the market so far?
According to the Living Wage Foundation, 80% of employers now report an increase in the quality and retention of staff and their flexibility therefore the standard of their services too.
Over the last decade competition to win business saw prices being driven even lower and with profit margins as tight as they are in the professional cleaning industry the impact of these changes is that the industry has had to accept that low margins and smaller resources are now a fact of life.
We’ve looked at ways of optimising time, budget and labour. We can reduce cleaning costs per square metre by optimising water, power and detergent usage ultimately meaning a longer clean, less down time and higher productivity.
In low traffic areas, we look at cleaning without detergent, it does not get any safer or cheaper than water although we appreciate on really dirty floors chemicals will always need to be used to ensure the area is really clean.
60 second bursts of power increases water, chemical and down pressure for those hard to clean areas and the use of equipment with reduced sound levels allows for daytime cleaning in noise sensitive areas. It’s well documented that daytime cleaning improves standards and reduces costs.
Night time cleaning is still a must though for a majority of clients especially within the hospitality and retail sectors and in these cases we look at use of electricity etc. e.g. cleaning one floor at a time reducing the amount of total lighting time and doing things in the right order. This not only means we can offer value for money but also helps reduce our client’s energy supply bills and improve their CSR credentials.
When using cleaning products and detergents, we consider cost in use rather than cost in litre, dilution and coverage ratio’s and how effective it is. If you’re having to use more of a cleaning product than you need then it becomes an expensive outlay.
Client’s often come to us because they have been unhappy with the performances of their previous cleaning provider and we’d like to think they stay with us because not only are they happy with the price but they’re happy with the continuity of service and staff and our consultative approach.
Take a look at our testimonials page on our website to see what some of them say about us.
