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Champions of Fair Trade
Case Study in September 2006 issue of European Cleaning Journal 4th January 2007
The Clean Space Partnership is a London-based independent contract cleaning company which believes it has a unique operating model. Cleaning operatives are well-rewarded and motivated – allowing the company to qualify as a Fairtrade Services provider. ECJ finds out more.
The Clean Space Partnership prides itself on being a contractor with a difference. Based in Central London, this rapidly growing business run by dynamic young management professionals has built its success on the basis of being a Fairtrade Services provider. Managing director Charlie Mowat explains more. “We are different because our cleaning operatives are our business partners. Instead of exploiting them we invite them to invest in our business. They are not paid an industry-standard low wage for a dead-end job with no prospects, no training and no respect.” He continues: “Instead, they part-own the contracts they service and receive the bulk of the fees. With that ownership comes responsibility and pride – the responsibility of ensuring their contracts are highly serviced and pride in a job well done.”
This may sound idealistic in an industry so often driven by price – and one where the staff are all too frequently the victims of cost cutting and competition. But for The Clean Space Partnership the formula is working. Staff are well-paid, clients are paying no more than they would with other London contractors and the company is growing by an average of eight per cent a month. “We are commercially successful,” Mowat emphasises. “The company doubled in size last year and is on target to do the same in 2006.” From the set-up of the business three years ago, Mowat has been clear about his objectives. He was not totally new to the industry -his father had a small cleaning company – and after university he worked in management consultancy before considering the possibility of forming his own version of a cleaning company.
“There were a number of important points for me to consider,” he explains. “What are the market forces? Low barriers to entry – it i very easy to start a cleaning firm. What are the main issues facing cleaning company owners? I found that a major issue was high staff turnover and low morale. I was looking at the industry as an outsider at that time and I asked myself what we could do to rectify these problems with the workforce. “The cleaning industry has a terrible reputation in this regard and I did come into the sector with some preconceptions. For example, it does not have a reputation for providing a great service, and it is perceived as employing low calibre staff. But I quickly realised that the people actually doing the job want to do a good job and they do care.”
That’s why The Clean Space Partnership was set up on the basis that cleaners are given ownership of the contracts they work rather like a franchise. The cleaner financially invests in the contract and is then paid 90 per cent of the contract fees each month. The Clean Space Partnership organises the clients, insurances, training, etc and also offers the security of a public profile – a brand that gives clients confidence in them. Before joining the company, cleaners undergo a rigorous recruitment process. “Our business is all about the people after all,” says Mowat. First there is a telephone interview to ascertain the candidate can eak English well, for example, has all the legal documentation and has some experience in the cleaning sector. The applicant is then required to complete an application form in order to provide more details. The next stage is a visit to The Clean Space Partnership headquarters in London to attend a presentation where the details of the general concept are presented. There is then a series of listening and comprehension tests, followed by an examination in health and safety matters. Managers then conduct a one-on-one interview as the final stage. The outcome is that around 50 per cent of these applicants actually join the company. “Unlike many other cleaning contractors we have no labour shortages and no problem whatsoever with recruitment. In fact we can select the people we feel are best for our business,”
Mowat emphasises.
The new recruits are then moved towards working as quickly as possible. A client will already be in place so they are given the specification, health and safety details, job list, etc. During their first month on the job a supervisor from The Clean Space Partnership monitors them regularly, liaises with the client and smooths over any probl which may arise. “Training is carried out on-site and they can also enrol for National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) training free of charge,” Mowat explains. The Clean Space Partnership also runs in-house training courses so all new recruits understand the concept of offering the client the best service, managing a cleaning team, etc. After the first month The Clean Space Partnership continues to manage the contract on an ongoing basis – it is the contract managers who maintain a relationship with clients and who monitor the job to ensure everything is progressing well. “We do also encourage our cleaners to interact directly
with the client as much as possible though, as it helps to build that relationship." The company also holds an 'open house surgery' at its head office once a weekso cleaners can talk over any concerns they have about their particular business.
“Some of the cleaners are now really progressing well and have more than one contract running,” Mowat says. “A large proportion of our contracts are small and have just one or two people working in the team. Many are also working either early mornings or late in the evening – we do not see much daytime cleaning in our business.” So the ethical operation run by Charlie Mowat is working for the cleaners – how is it perceived by the company’s 250 London clients? “When I meet potential clients,” says Mowat, “the majority of them like the idea of using an ethical business. And from their perspective it does not cost any more than employing another cleaning contractor. They pay industry-average prices and are really buying into our concept.”
Research has also shown that The Clean Space Partnership is providing a better service to its clients than many of them have experienced with previous contractors. This is borne out by the comments from one of the company’s clients, Maxine Fletcher, office manager of TV production company T Group. She talked to The Clean Space Partnership because she was not happy wth her previous contractor. “The company was simply not cleaning to the standards we required,” she explains. She was immediately impressed by how youthful and dynamic The Clean Space Partnership is. “We quickly establsihed a good rapport because we felt it had a similar outlook to us in our own business. And in an industry which has a reputation for paying staff badly, I was happy to find a company that looks after its cleaners and ensures they earn well.” This reassurance that her cleaner was not being exploited was important for Fletcher. “I would rather pay more and know the cleaner is happy in the job,” she adds. “Although with The Clean Space Partnership we are not paying any more than with our previous contractor. We need our cleaner to be flexible in his approach to work and we cannot compromise on standards.” The close working relationship she also has with her contracts manager is also reassuring, Fletcher says, and adds to the overall feeling of confidence she has in the company. “I have never been impressed with cleaning companies in the past but dealing with The Clean Space Partnership has changed that,” she concludes.
And the company is so confident that clients will be happy with its services that it does not impose any minimum terms on its contracts – which is radically different to the rest of the contracting sector. As Charlie Mowat explains: “I would rather keep clients on the basis they are happy with what we offer than the fact they are tied into a contract they cannot get out of.” Mowat is clearly a highly ambitious businessman and he intends to grow The Clean Space Partnership so that it becomes a significant player in the market. By 2009 he aims to achieve a turnover of between E4.4 and E7.35 million. “The opportunities for us then are endless,” he says, “but first we really want to prove that this is a viable business model.” While being determined to achieve commercial success, however, Mowat is also adamant that he will get there in a way that is ethically sound. “People in our industry are undervalued and they are the core of our business – and in The Clean Space Partnership that will always be the case.” So far, The Clean Space Partnership is proof that there can be competitive advantage in running an ethical business. That’s why Mowat is promoting the Fair Trade Services mark, which will be awarded to companies in people-driven serivce and support industries. According to the scheme, those businesses taking part will have to conform with rigorous criteria in terms of treatment of staff, pay, training, working conditions and pastoral care.
The scheme is still in its early days and the company is for it to be accredited by an independent body – Mowat is currently campaigning hard and working with other organisations with a view to progressing this. “The people in our industry who are actually doing the job deserve a fair percentage of the earnings. We must recognise that people are key to us and the cleaning industry as a whole needs to see that in order to move forward.” Mowat concludes: “I just cannot
understand how the industry has survived so long by operating in this way. Until everyone wakes up to this situation the same problems are going to be experienced. Nobody questions how this industry is running itself and that really does need to happen.”
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