Ups & Downs: Window Cleaning News

The Red Army flooded into Rome yesterday to prepare for tonight's clash of the titans. More than 30,000 Manchester United fans arrived hoping to see a piece of history when their team does battle with mighty Barcelona in the Champions League final. The Eternal City was buzzing with anticipation of what promises to be a football spectacular watched by millions around the globe. Bars, restaurants and cafes were packed with supporters who started drinking early to beat a booze ban that began at 11pm last night. And touts tried to cash in on the glorious occasion by flogging tickets, some fake, for up to £2,000. Around 5,000 United fans have arrived without tickets. One, window cleaner Wayne Barlow, said he was in Rome to soak up the atmosphere. The 34-year-old, from Manchester, sitting outside an Irish pub with friends, said: "Touts are asking silly money. But we're just happy being here and having a few drinks.

Toronto, Canada: One of the peregrine parents looks on in 2008 as a firefighter, after rappelling through heavy rain from the roof to the 13th-storey ledge, prepares to remove the three white falcon chicks. The pair, which have been annually nesting on a ledge on the 13th floor of the Radisson Hotel for the past few years, returned to the city despite being struck by misfortune in 2008. Heavy June rains drowned three chicks that year, despite a dramatic rescue attempt by a Winnipeg firefighter who rappelled down the side of the building. Tracy Maconachie, a conservation biologist who has co-ordinated the recovery project for 16 years, said steps have been taken this year to give the family a little more protection. A local window washing company was able to place a box filled with gravel on the ledge. The deaths shocked viewers from around the world, who watch the progress of the falcon family via a live webcam — dubbed the Falcon Cam — attached near the nest. The camera is a project involving CBC Manitoba, Shaw Cable Systems and the Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project.

Firm is cleaning up: A Cleaning company has created 100 new jobs and further expansion could be on the cards. Hartlepool firm Ableclean can proudly look back on six months of continuous growth at a time when others are struggling to survive. But managing director David Haggan is not resting on his laurels. He said: "I am looking to buy other companies. "There are 100 companies in this country that are vulnerable. They are cleaning companies which are vulnerable and are in danger of going under." Ableclean is going from strength to strength and is ranked as one of the top 70 in the UK. Mr Haggan said: "We employ nearly 400 people all over the country and we have expanded in the last six months. We have taken a lot of major contracts on." Ableclean operates from Lowthian Road and was founded in 1990 before being taken over in 1996 by Mr Haggan.
He now runs the firm with his two sons David and Lee. There's more good news. The company has gained the ISO 9001 2008 certification to ensure customers receive excellent quality of service. The firm handles everything from small contracts to huge orders for major companies.
Their services can range from daily office cleaning to window cleaning, contract cleaning to one-off graffiti removal. Mr Haggan added: "One aspect of the work which is becoming more and more in demand is builders cleans which is going in after building work and giving the area a thorough clean. "We have achieved our success after a lot of hard work and dedication. "We pride ourselves on our utmost commitment to clients, not only to win contracts but also to meet and exceed their contracts on an ongoing basis."

Enterprising young people are nothing new. Lots of people, mowed lawns or washed cars once upon a time. But these days, it seems, more teenagers — not content with bagging groceries or serving fries, jobs that in some cases are harder to come by — are getting an itch to do their own thing.Parker Madl, 17, a junior at Blue Valley High School. When he was 13 and a seventh-grader, he started a window-washing business. It helps that his father sells cleaning supplies. Two years ago, Parker hired his older twin brothers, hence the name Madl Brothers Window Cleaning. “They kind of mooched off me when they saw how good it was working out,” says Madl, who plans to continue the business once he starts college.

Gary Eenigenburg used to build dream homes for Hoosiers, now he's helping to sustain them. A former project manager with VanDerNoord Homes, Eenigenburg purchased a Window Genie franchise a year ago. Services offered by Window Genie include window cleaning, window tinting, deck cleaning and sealing and house washing. "Homeowners were always asking me about these different services and who did them," Eenigenburg said. "I never really had an answer for them." Eenigenburg did some research, partnered up with Steve VanEk, and now owns the only Window Genie franchises in Chicagoland serving Lake and Porter counties. "It was perfect synergy. We started this company and it's working out great," Eenigenburg said. Based in St. John, Window Genie also provides cleaning and sealing of concrete, cleaning and protection of gutters and cleaning of chandeliers, tile and grout. What Eenigenburg and his team really enjoy is window tinting because it helps environmentally-friendly consumers keep the green theme going. The window film Eenigenburg utilizes is a high-quality product made to keep glare and summer heat out of the home. It can also reduce heat in a room and save homeowners money on their air conditioning bill. "It will also save dark wood furniture and floors from fading," Eenigenburg said. Along with window tinting, deck cleaning and sealing is a popular service because, in this economy, homeowners are focusing on maintaining and upkeep rather than buying new. "Decks dirty and gray can be restored and made to look like new without a lot of reconstruction," Eenigenburg said.
Window cleaning is also a popular service offered by the business. "A lot of people think, 'Oh, that's something I could do myself.' They can't believe the difference between a professional cleaning and someone else doing it," Eenigenburg said. Window Genie provides free estimates for its services. "Since I'm the owner the buck stops with me, and I stand behind it," Eenigenburg said.

Sodexo putting its faith in bundled services: Irish companies are slowly moving towards the concept of having one firm providing all their non core services, according to the general manager of Sodexo Ireland. Jeremy Dicks, head of the Irish branch of the food and facilities management provider, said the tradition generally in Ireland was to have separate providers for different services. But now, said Dicks, the trend was moving towards companies having one service provider to manage everything from catering, landscaping and administration to security and pest control.‘‘Clients have been comfortable dealing with the individual window cleaner, groundskeeper, cleaning company and separate security company. Sodexo has been operating in Ireland for the past 46 years, and employs 2,000 people in 200 locations across the island, with 1,600 employed in the Republic. With central offices in Dublin, Belfast and Cork, Sodexo’s clients include Hibernian, Allianz, the Central Bank, Fás and Government Buildings. Sodexo also has a major presence in private schools, mainly in the Dublin area.

Young workers hit hard by recession: The number of minimum-wage jobs has dropped, making it easier for fast-food outlets to find employees. A difficult economy means students are having a hard time finding work this summer. When Andrew Graham started recruiting for his summer window-cleaning business, he got more than 50 resumes, twice as many as a year earlier. The 21-year-old Carleton engineering student hired six students, twice as many as he had in his first year. "There are definitely more people looking for summer jobs." The recession is putting a squeeze on the job market, including summer employment opportunities. The result is some young people like Graham are turning to alternatives such as starting a business. Governments are pumping more money into job placement programs including providing wage subsidies to encourage hiring.
Almost 25,000 jobs have disappeared in the last five months in Ottawa-Gatineau, lifting the unemployment rate to 5.5 per cent in April -- well below the national unemployment rate of eight per cent. Unemployment of workers aged 15 to 24 was 10.9 per cent in April in Ottawa-Gatineau, up from 10.5 per cent a year earlier. That is more than twice the 4.4 per cent unemployment rate of people 25 and over.

Window Cleaning new starters: John Crean from Ratoath adds with a laugh that he is also something of an adventurer, someone who is travelling into the unknown, in unfamiliar terrain, scanning the landscape for directions as he goes along. Towards the end of last year, Crean, who is in his mid-40s, was made redundant from his job with a Dublin-based insurance brokers. He had spent almost 25 years in the insurance business and generally enjoyed the work as a broker and underwriter. He has since sought to mark out a new trail for himself by setting up a self-help group for unemployed people in the Ratoath area. The group was formed earlier this year and those interested in putting forward and exploring new ideas were invited to attend. Crean – who is originally from Wexford but who has lived in Ratoath for 10 years – contacted local politician Nick Killian who supported the idea. Crean told friends and acquaintances. The word was soon out on the street that the group was meeting and Crean was more than surprised when a large contingent showed up on the first morning. “What I wanted was that I would meet with other people who had lost their job and who had the same sort of issues. After I was made redundant, I would be up during the night wondering: 'What am I going to do?’. Not in a panic, but wondering,” he says.

“And I thought there must be other people around the place who are in the same situation as I am. I talked to Nick and I talked to a couple of lads I know locally. I said: 'Look, why don’t we meet up and we would do it, say, at 11 o’clock on a Tuesday morning, we can have a discussion and maybe we can see if we can come up with some ideas because it’s the only way we are going to get a job,” he adds. The first morning, 25 people showed up, male and female. Most of them were professionals. There were health and safety people, architects, sales managers, plumbers. Business consultants came, offered their time free and chaired the meetings. “I wanted it as a group where if you came in this week and said, 'What about setting up a window washing company in Ratoath?’, the idea would be discussed, people would either encourage you or give reasons why it wouldn’t work; it would be a team effort rather than anything on an individual basis. At least you would have a network of people there who can help you. People might say, 'I know somebody who could help you in that project, I’ll give them a ring for you’,” adds Crean.

Laid-off workers look in different directions for work: "Whenever there's a downturn, we see increasing activity," said Steve Pellarin, executive director of the London Small Business Centre. "We've been watching the volume increase over the last 10 months. There are people who come to the table with a skill set and have knowledge" of the field in which they want to begin a business. Josh Brock, 31, fits into that category, but took the SEB program because "there were things I would have overlooked." His 2008 layoff from Formet Industries in St. Thomas gave him time to pursue his ambition of self-employment. Aware of the trend toward retirees moving into condominiums, Brock thought many might stay in their homes if they had someone to do outdoor work. He started Home Smart Services Group, which offers lawn work, snow removal, spring and fall cleanup, power washing and exterior window cleaning among its services.

Folks who headed down to the Missoula farmer's market over the Memorial Day weekend got a little surprise when they looked up to the Millennium building and saw Spiderman dangling from it. For the last three years Spiderman, along with his alter ego, have fought grime on the side of the building with a bucket, sponge, and spider thread. The window washing started around 10:30 in the morning and kids and adults watched from the streets as the super heroes swung back and forth cleaning the building. Spiderman got a little help from Spectrum Window Cleaning and now that the building is clean, Spiderman wont be back until next year. Also see here.

Mabel Henderson is a dedicated and passionate woman of African descent who immigrated to the United States in 2001. Through hard work and determination, Henderson started cleaning service Clean Queen in 2003. Clean Queen specializes in providing cleaning and sanitation solutions for homes, offices, restaurants, warehouses and newly constructed infrastructures. For Clean Queen, the client is number one. “I personally inspect the jobs after completion and follow up with clients to get their feedback,” Henderson said. Henderson is a long-standing board member of the Alliance for African Assistance, which helps refugees adapt to their new environment. In 2002, Henderson founded America Linking with Africa, a nonprofit organization that raises HIV and AIDS awareness in Africa and the U.S. “I was inspired by the numbers of people infected and affected by HIV in Africa particularly in my home country of Botswana, which has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in Africa,” Henderson said.

'Window cleaner' stole from 82-year-old woman: Wednesday, 10.20am - A THIEF posing as a window cleaner stole cash from an 82-year-old woman on Sunday (May 24). The man visited the victim on the afternoon claiming to be a window cleaner collecting money. He was given a small amount of loose change and left. The thief returned later that night at 8pm saying he had dropped some money on the floor during his earlier visit. He then went into the living room and stole £80 cash from a handbag. The man is described as white, of slim build and about 5ft 10in tall. He had short dark hair and was wearing a shirt and dark trousers. Information to police on 01476 402222 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.