UK Banker Becomes Window Cleaner

DARTFORD, UK: Banker hit by credit crunch becomes window cleaner - For casualties of the credit crunch, could a dramatic career change be a blessing in disguise? Alice Fletcher spoke to a former city banker who swapped his suit for the overalls of a window cleaner. Most people would be phased at losing their highflying banking job, but when Scott Manzi found himself in just that predicament he cheerfully swapped the briefcase for a bucket and sponge to earn his bread as a window cleaner.

The 22-year-old resident of Pinewood Place, Dartford, had worked at Citi’s glamorous Canary Wharf offices for five years when a cost-cutting measure meant his department was relocated to Hungary, leaving him jobless. After a second job at an Icelandic bank also fell through when the company went bust, he realised it was time to leave the banking world and try something new. He said: "I liked the idea of being outside and working for myself, as I didn't like being in an office and working for someone else. "When my dad first suggested me doing window cleaning, I thought it would be good because I would be active.

Scott did a short trial with a family friend and realised window cleaning was the job for him, so he signed up for four months of unpaid work to master the trade. With what he could scrape together from his redundancy pay and a loan from his dad, Scott managed to raise the £15,000 he needed to buy a van and the necessary high-tech equipment and three weeks ago started his own company, Bedazzled Window Cleaning Ltd. Scott has no regrets about his change in career and would never consider returning to the financial sector, and said: "I see it as a long term career and would love to eventually be in a position where I can employ other people."

He admits it has been a dramatic lifestyle change and that people now expect him to be the stereotypical cheeky chappy window cleaner. He said: "I tell people I won't be the type who climbs a ladder to look in at people - I won't even have a ladder, as the system I use means I can do it all from the ground." Asked about the future, Scott aims to attract over 500 customers and hopes he will soon be able to repay his father’s loan. He said: “I plan to cover all of Kent and even London if there are big jobs." He is also working on that most vital of window cleaning skills, adding, "I will have to start whistling, as that's expected of a window cleaner."