Living Wage - A Fair Days Pay

Mayor Steve Bullock and Councillors at Cam Specialist Support Services with Matt Johnson (far left) the Managing Director and apprentices.

Incentive for living wage: Lewisham council has honoured a Living Wage employer as it unveiled proposals to slash business rates up to £5,000 to encourage other firms to follow their example. Sir Steve Bullock, Mayor of Lewisham, presented Matt Johnson and Sean Canty, joint owners of CAM Specialist Support, with a certificate in recognition of the company’s commitment to paying their employees a fair wage.

The cleaning company at Malham Industrial Estate in Forest Hill, received its Living Wage accreditation in August. It was founded by Matt Johnson, who started out as a window cleaner, 25-years ago and now has a £3million turnover. Mr Johnson said: “The cleaning industry offers tremendous opportunities to the right people. I myself started off as a window cleaner and now run my own diverse company.

However, we need to make the industry more attractive to quality applicants so that our profession gains the credibility it deserves. The first stage on that journey is to ensure we pay a wage that people can actually live on.”

Lewisham’s Mayor and Cabinet meeting today, is due to consider proposals to give companies a business rate discount if they get accredited with the Living Wage Foundation. The wage level, which is to be £9.40 an hour in London from next April, is the amount calculated independently by the Living Wage Foundation. This is more than £2 higher than the national living wage announced by George Osborne in the budget. 

The council says Lewisham faces higher than average levels of in-work poverty with one in four jobs in the borough paying below the living wage. Sir Steve said: “We were proud to be the first Living Wage council in the country. But we want to do more to encourage and support our partners and local businesses to pay the Living Wage too. A fair day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.”

Commenting on the award, Johnson said: “We pay the Living Wage, because we believe it is the right thing to do morally. I want everyone who works here to be able to feed and clothe their families and not be worrying about in-work poverty. As well as the moral benefits, we’ve found there are commercial returns as staff are more loyal and flexible when they are being treated with respect, reducing recruitment time and costs. 

Paying the Living Wage also means people are less likely to take shortcuts while working and we have an excellent safety record as a result. “We hope more businesses will realise the benefits of paying the Living Wage to their staff and contractors so that everyone receives a fairer deal.”

Regular Cleaning Services

A Telegraph Business Club film on Regular Cleaning Services: Regular Cleaning Services has grown to become a major player in the competitive market for cleaning services in the City of London, West End and the Home Counties. The Chairman, Terry Carrigan, founded the company in 1969. He initially used money earned by cleaning windows to supplement his income at the Post Office; then, as his reputation grew and he obtained more work it became a full-time venture. Just five years later he extended into office cleaning. Over the last three decades the firm has grown organically to become one of the largest privately owned players in the market.

The same principles that helped Carrigan in the early days still permeate Regular Cleaning Services today. The emphasis is on getting the service right. Honesty, hard work and concern for both the clients and the cleaners employed by the firm are the values that underpin Regular Cleaning Services. The facts speak for themselves: many employees have worked for 20 plus years at the firm and many clients have continued to employ Regular Cleaning Services for 15 plus years. Those values also helped Regular Cleaning Services to grow. Today it provides a full range of day-to-day general commercial cleaning and specialist cleaning services fundamental to the safe and efficient operation of corporate buildings.

"Whatever the type of building and however it is used, one way to guarantee peace of mind is an efficient cleaning programme," states the Regular Cleaning Services website and that, in simple terms, is what they do. They plan the operation, they ensure that they have the necessary resource in place in the shape of a capable motivated workforce and they ensure the work is completed to the agreed standard. Satisfaction is affirmed through regular client liaison. The firm has an impressive portfolio of clients from the insurance, legal and financial sectors and London’s major property managing agents, as well as shopping centres, health clubs and media organisations within their portfolio.

Based in purpose built offices in South East London, it has been ideally placed to take advantage of years of economic growth and dynamism in the City of London, West End and M25 area. The offices include a fully equipped training room and on-site stores facility. From this base, Regular Cleaning Services offers a one-stop-shop solution with general commercial, specialist, and window cleaning services, as well as support and washroom services. The firm itself points to the quality of the service it provides. Management are trained to pay attention to detail, to carefully listen to what the customers want and to ensure they deliver a consistent high standard of work. All of these factors have helped RCS to maintain enviably high rates of client retention.

Unlike most of the major players in the cleaning market, Regular Cleaning Services is a privately owned firm. With no external shareholder interests to be considered and the owners directly involved in affairs, it believes that this has allowed it to deliver a more personal service than competitors. This, together with a flat management structure allows for sharp incisive action and it prides itself on being able to deliver a pro-active and flexible approach that services the individual needs of each and every contract.

The company operates to an ISO 9001 accredited Quality Management System which underlies the basis of its service delivery. Performance is reported on and discussed with clients at scheduled meetings; services are carried out and audited in line with cleaning specifications and they operate a Help Desk to capture and deal with any enquiries and issues that may occur. The firm can also take advantage of the many years of experience it has gained in the business. Staff training and high employee retention rates provide clients with peace of mind. Great importance is placed on ensuring that the staff are fully inducted, are trained in the skills required and understand the importance of carrying out their work safely.

Nowhere is this more significant than the window cleaning division. Strict adherence by the operatives to the company’s rules and constant monitoring and audit by the company Health and Safety Manager have all helped to maintain its exemplary safety record. Also adding to client comfort is the fact that all employees are fully vetted and understand the importance of maintaining confidentiality. Recognising the importance of this area, their recruitment process actually exceeds legal requirements and they are also able to provide enhanced levels of vetting to meet with individual client requirements.

It has taken a lead role in ensuring that its services are conducted with minimum impact on the environment. It regularly meets with its suppliers of cleaning chemicals and washroom consumables to source the most suitable products to get the job done without adversely affecting the environment. All aspects of the service provision are carried out with the intention of reducing the carbon footprint of both Regular Cleaning Services and the client. Looking ahead, all the foundation stones seem to be in place and with an enthused management team continuing to apply the core values of honest hard work, attention to detail and desire to deliver service excellence, the firm appears well placed to achieve greater growth.

Article produced by Regular Cleaning Services, which takes sole responsibility for the content.