The Laughing Winter Window Cleaner & the Swindon Swindler

Motorists suffer as big freeze continues – but window cleaner's laughing: Emergency services across the region had a busy day. Staffordshire Police received a high number of calls from stranded motorists. Officers are now urging drivers to avoid side roads and country lanes where possible. The bad weather has brought good news for some. Window cleaner Dean Taberner is in great demand with his innovative system that stops water from freezing and allows him to reach high windows even when it is too icy for ladders. Dean, aged 30, from Blurton, said: "The water is de-ionised and chemicals added to it in a tank in the back of the van. We then pump it through a telescopic pole with a brush on the end." See how he did it here.

A Minnesota mid-winter dream: The January thaw began this past weekend as temperatures slowly inched their way up past zero into the single digits and hit 31 on Wednesday. The National Weather Service predicts that temperatures will be in the mid-30s by this weekend, with mostly sunny skies but also with a slight chance of rain and snow in the early part of next week. The thaw is predicted to continue into next week, possibly hitting 34 degrees next Wednesday. Downtown Austin window washers Dustin Gwin and Kris Jorgenson of Endres Window Cleaning worked on the front windows of Steve's Pizza. One block south, Art Polzin chipped ice off the Main Street sidewalk outside Piggy Blues Bar-B-Que. "It helps a lot," said Matt Endres, owner of the window cleaning service, about the warmer weather.

Victims conned by window cleaner: A Councillor and elderly Swindon residents were just some of the victims falling foul of a rogue window cleaner who could now face a lengthy prison sentence. David Green, of no fixed abode, admitted fraud by taking money for window cleaning jobs and not fulfilling his duties on four Swindon properties between November 2008 and March 2009. The 43-year-old has also pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud, three burglaries and one count of theft in Somerset and Bristol. In total 11 charges have been admitted by Green out of 271 offences that will be taken into consideration by Bristol Crown Court. One of Green’s victims was Abbey Meads councillor Justin Tomlinson, the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for North Swindon at the next election. “I’m delighted this man is facing the punishment he deserves,” said Mr Tomlinson, who was targeted by Green in February last year. “Myself and the Swindon Advertiser have highlighted this menace and helped police discover additional evidence to make sure this didn’t happen again.”
Mr Tomlinson added Green used to clean his windows lawfully a number of years ago in West Swindon. Green then came round again offering him window cleaning and cleaning or fixing gutters. The guttering job was finished and £99 changed hands, but the windows weren’t cleaned, claimed Mr Tomlinson. Reputable Liden window cleaner Simon Smith of SWC Cleaning said the public must check what they are agreeing to and not to make any payment until the job has been carried out satisfactorily. He said: “I take pride in what I do and make sure the job is done properly.” Mr Smith also said English window cleaners should be licensed like they are in Scotland as it would reduce fraud.
While Detective Constable Iain Crouch of Swindon Police said: “The majority of window cleaners have legitimate companies. “When and where the work takes place and its standard should all be agreed before the work is carried out and payment is made. “People should also be mindful or their property and possessions while workers, who may not be known by the person, come to their house.” DC Crouch said Green was an isolated case and wasn’t aware any similar offences over the last five years in Swindon. The Federation of Window Cleaners, who have 1,200 UK members, said they produce a plastic identity card and certificate for those registered with them. They also said reputable window cleaners would have registered contact details, which can be easily checked by the public. Judge Michael Longman said Green would be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Friday, February 19. Green has been remanded in custody.

Firm is offering training for redundant workers: An industrial cleaning firm, which won support on television’s Dragon’s Den, is offering training to people made redundant in the recession. UK Commercial Cleaning Services (UKCC), which founder Tony Earnshaw grew from a window cleaning round to a £1.5m turnover business, has offered ten work placements for people between the ages of 18 and 65. Washington-based UKCC, which Mr Earnshaw established with £300 five years ago, when he was 19, has teamed up with training provider ESG Sencia to provide participants with skills in window cleaning, basic commercial cleaning and customer relations, over a 13-week period. The aim of the training programme, linked to the New Deal scheme, is to give people a boost in their confidence and allow them to add the experience to their CV.
Trainees are based at the company’s Washington hub for four out of five working days and use the fifth day to search for jobs. Mr Earnshaw, who received investment from North-Eastbased entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne in the last series of Dragons’ Den, decided to offer the training after seeing the devastating effects that the recession is having on workers in the region. He said: “It is devastating that people are struggling to find work. We hope to show skills can be transferable and it’s not difficult to take the bold step of applying for jobs in a different industry.
“We hope to continue to offer these placements and that the training helps towards gaining employment.”

City businesses to unite - again (Australia): Moves are afoot to establish Warrnambool's largest-ever chamber of commerce group to represent businesses and consumers. An informal cross-section of business community representatives has been discussing the proposal for about six months and hopes to hold a public meeting to elect a committee to run the new organisation. It would give traders across the municipality a united voice and fill a void left by the demise of several previous representative groups. About 1500 businesses are based in Warrnambool and there about about 6000 registered business names, yet there is no umbrella organisation as in other regional centres. "It's for all businesses from the handyman service, butcher, window cleaner through to the multi-nationals for the greater Warrnambool - north, east, west and central."

Scrubbing, scraping & pole-ing, these guys really need to invest in a water fed pole!