One Window Cleaner Pulled, Another Stuck

Window cleaner hurt after car runs over hose on St Giles, Norwich: A window cleaner was injured when a hose became trapped under a car. At 6.50am on Wednesday the man was cleaning windows on St Giles Street when a dark-coloured car ran over the hose, pulling the reel from the back of his van. He was knocked to the floor and he injured his shoulder. The car drove off and officers want to speak to the driver. Calls should be made to PC Pearce on 101.

Window washer briefly stuck on downtown Norfolk building: A man was briefly stuck outside the 13th floor of an office building in downtown Norfolk Friday morning. The man was washing windows on the USI building on Main Street when he apparently got stuck. Norfolk Fire and Rescue crews went to help, but the man had gotten himself to safety by the time they arrived, Battalion Chief Harry Worley told WVEC.

Diabetes, Global Prices & Other Window Cleaning Revelations

John Batterbee, of Lakenham, who has lost 8 stone and been able to stop treatment for his type 2 diabetes.

Major diabetes study launched in Norwich: The £2.2m research study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), will screen 10,000 people in Norfolk who are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes and then prescribe dedicated lifestyle education on diet and exercise that could prevent hundreds of people developing the condition. Diabetes is one of the biggest public health challenges facing the country and, if successful, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and University of East Anglia study could lead to mass screening and intervention programmes and substantial savings for the NHS.

In England it is estimated 2.4m people have the condition. About 80pc of those with diabetes in England have type 2 diabetes. In Norfolk there are about 30,000 people with diabetes and about 2,500 are newly diagnosed each year. Type 2 diabetes is most commonly diagnosed in adults over the age of 40, although increasingly it is appearing in young people and young adults. Glucose builds up in the blood, as in people with type 1 diabetes, but symptoms appear more gradually and the diabetes may not be diagnosed for some years.

John Batterbee before he lost 8 stone.

Study participants will undergo a simple blood test to check the level of glucose in their blood. Higher than normal glucose (known as Impaired Fasting Glucose or IFG) could mean they are in a “pre-diabetes” phase and are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. A group of those at risk of developing type 2 diabetes will then be given help to improve diet and exercise levels in order to see if preventative changes to their lifestyle can help reduce the risk of them developing the condition.

The research has been welcomed by Lakenham man John Batterbee, who now no longer needs treatment for type 2 diabetes after he lost eight stone. The 38-year-old, who used to take eight tablets and two insulin injections a day for his diabetes, said: “I was signed off from the hospital last month because my diabetes has completely gone. “My blood pressure is now perfect and my sugar levels are perfect.” Mr Batterbee, who has his own window cleaning business, had been due to have a gastric bypass, when one of his customers suggested he join her Slimming World Group in Poringland. In 28 weeks he lost 5st 3lb and went from 20st 5lb to 15st 2lb. Now, nearly eight months later, he has reached his target of shedding eight stone in total and has found that his sleep apnoea has also gone.

Mr Batterbee, who lives in Huxley Close, said: “I believe that many people don’t realise how big they have got - I didn’t until I saw a photograph of myself and couldn’t believe that was how I looked. “You just don’t believe it’s your weight that is the problem. “For me it was my high blood pressure that really got me thinking about making a change because my doctor scared me by telling me how it was a silent killer. “The help and support I have had from the Slimming World Group and the doctors at the hospital has been unbelievable - I couldn’t have done it without them. “Some scare tatics along with some support would really help. 

If they could show you a chart and say you are going to get diabetes then perhaps people will make a change. “People need to be told the reality. I’m annoyed I let myself get to that stage. “I don’t think people realise how awkward being diabetic is - you have to watch what you eat and it really is a pain.” Mr Batterbee, who is married to Sharon and has an 11-year-old son and two adult stepsons, said: “I believe a little bit more education is the key to helping people.” If you or a friend has diabetes & you would like a cure - go here or here.

Families find ways to combat rising grocery prices: With a wife and two teenagers, Rafael Andrade says he is doing all he can to combat the rising prices of food and other grocery store commodities. Experts forecast a 3 percent to 5 percent increase in the months ahead due to a spike in the costs of grain and gasoline. So what is Andrade, who owns a window cleaning business, doing to make sure he, his family and his bank account don’t look like they’re beginning to starve?

The jump in prices has caused shoppers to scour grocery store ads, flock to the warehouse and thrift bakery stores and ranch markets and cut back altogether. “I’ve noticed that the prices have gone up,” said Andrade, as his family loaded up bags of groceries in front of the Fry’s at 825 W. University Drive in Mesa. “So, I look at the sales ads from all of the grocery stores. Fry’s, Bashas’, Safeway, Albertson’s. I used to be able to buy orange juice for 99 cents, now it’s $1.19. Fruits and vegetables are going up, too. We’re starting to go to Sprout’s or a Ranch Market because the produce is cheaper and it’s just as fresh. We go to Costco to buy soap and toilet paper. We’re using coupons, too.”

Andrade, who grocery shops with his family once a week, estimates they are saving $80 per week by scouring the ads to look for deals and using coupons. And, he still buys snacks — “if they’re on sale,” he said. According to the United Nations, global food prices hit a record high in February due to upward-spiraling gas prices and stockpiling by importers. These factors are hitting the already volatile cereal markets. Wheat, corn, sugar and edible oils have seen the sharpest price increases in the last six months, with a relatively smaller increase in rice. Produce has already skyrocketed, with prices expected to rise by roughly one-fourth to one-third in the next year. The rising costs of corn, wheat and other commodities, including gasoline, is causing increases in virtually everything we buy. Wheat is needed for loaves of bread while corn feeds cows, pigs and chickens for our meat. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices of fruits and vegetables already are up 3 percent, milk is up 10 percent and beef up 13 percent from a year ago.

Window washer looks forward to spring: Everyone looks up to Bing Mulder. That's because he spends a good deal his time at the top of a 24-foot ladder washing windows with a squeegee. The 54-year-old from St. Louis works for Sunshine Window Cleaning, and does windows for businesses throughout the metro-east. How did you get into the window washing business? "I was a welder till the recession in the '80s. There was no work. I looked around because I still had bills to pay. I started this in '84."

You wash windows all year long. Would you rather work at 0 degrees or 100? "I prefer the warm. At my age, these bones don't like the cold." It was a sunny 40 degrees on Friday morning, when Bing was working in a knit cap, flannel shirt jacket but no gloves. "We wash windows in ice and snow. Whatever it takes. At this time of year, oh yeah, I'm ready for spring." Did you wash windows Monday in the snow and rain? "Yes. Some customers have windows under awnings or overhangs."

Do you ever wash windows suspended from ropes on skyscrapers? "I used to. I was working at St. Louis Center. It was a calm day but the tall buildings catch the wind like a wind tunnel. Up there, a gentle breeze feels like 15-mph winds. All of a sudden, the wind lifted me up like a kite and slammed me into the wall. I never went back up. This ladder's high enough for me now."

Are you afraid of heights? "Heck, no. I go sky diving." Are you afraid of anything? "My wife (Barb)," he joked. Do most of the people walking on the sidewalk below you walk under the ladder or go around it? "Most people are OK walking under. You just have to make sure the person up above likes you," he said with a mischievous grin.

In praise of … window cleaners: The HMS Window Cleaner has been launched on the Calder to clean the panes of the Hepworth Gallery - Clarity and transparency are buzzwords nowadays, and honour for those who guarantee both in everyday life is overdue. Events last week at the Hepworth gallery, which opens in Wakefield in mid-May as a showcase for the Yorkshire sculptor and a new civic art gallery combined, provide an excuse. The riverside position of David Chipperfield's building means that land-based teams are not practicable: dangling from the multi-angled roofs would risk a dip. 

HMS Window Cleaner has thus been launched on the Calder, bobbing below the weir as her crew squeegee above. Their voyage is understandably a spectator sport, as window cleaning increasingly is, especially in cities. Cradles high on tower blocks are as awesome in their way as climbers on rock faces, from Yosemite's El Capitan to Kilnsey Crag. The teams on the wavy glass that encases the Guardian's own Kings Place building work like synchronised swimmers with their sweeping, soap-and-rinsing arcs. 

A modest new market for telescopic poles and other cunning gadgets has been created by houses whose basement areas, converted into separate flats, are no longer accessible for footing ladders. Arrangements on London's Shard are going to be well worth the wait. All this is welcome attention for a brave and skilled craft and also a satisfying complement to George Formby's twinky-twanky ukulele song. In his day it was what the window cleaner saw indoors that could be intriguing. Now the action outside promises just as much.

Window Cleaners: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

The Good...

Norwich man's diabetes cured by weight loss: A Lakenham window cleaner has managed to transform his health after losing more than five stone. John Batterbee used to take eight tablets and two insulin injections a day for his type 2 diabetes, but no longer needs any treatment. His high blood pressure has improved and so has his sleep apnoea. The 38-year-old, who has his own window cleaning business, was due to have drastic weight loss surgery when one of his customers, Hayley Hooper, suggested he join her Slimming World Group. In the past 28 weeks he has lost 5st 3lb and gone from 20st 5lb to 15st 2lb.
He said: “I had a bad experience a few years ago at a different club when I got put down in front of everyone, and I decided that sort of thing was not for me. I have had a problem with people who tell you to lose weight when they haven't been there themselves. But I found out that Hayley had lost weight on that diet as well and that changed my attitude a bit. I went along and it has been brilliant ever since.” Now he has swapped deep-fried chips for oven chips and thrown out the deep fat frier. He uses a low-fat cooking spray for frying and snacks on fruit and vegetables instead of crisps and pasties.
He said: “The health benefits are amazing. I feel quite annoyed I let myself that way to start with. I don't like looking fat and I hate looking at pictures of how I used to be. “My ideal weight is still three stone off, and that still seems like a long way. But my target when I joined Slimming World was 15st and I am only 2lb off that.” When he went to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital for his annual diabetes check last year, the doctor warned him that he had to improve his health. Mr Batterbee said: “I told him 'I am really struggling with my weight, I have almost given up.' When he suggested weight loss surgery I just jumped at it, it was what I wanted to hear.”
Mr Batterbee, who is married to Sharon and has a 10-year-old son and two adult stepsons, had been referred to the Luton and Dunstable Hospital for weight loss surgery, and was due to have a gastric bypass. But by the time he had an appointment there he had joined Slimming World and had already lost two stone, though he was still eligible for surgery. When he returned for a pre-operation check-up two weeks ago he had lost more weight and was told he no longer needed surgery. He is currently waiting for the results of tests to show whether his diabetes has gone completely. He said: “If I had had the surgery there would have been major side-effects. It is brilliant not to want or need that now.”
About 31,000 people in Norfolk (excluding Great Yarmouth and Waveney) have diabetes, and around 2,300 people are diagnosed with diabetes each year. It is estimated that at least half of all diabetes cases could be prevented if adults kept their weight to a healthy level. Khin Swe Myint, consultant physician in diabetes at the N&N, said: “I am very pleased with John's progress. He has lost a substantial amount of weight through his own efforts and this has led to a reduction in the medication he needs, including insulin.
“There are many benefits to weight loss for patients with diabetes who will feel much better and have more energy. Patients commonly require less medication for blood pressure, diabetes and indeed sometimes may also cure their sleep apnoea which could be associated with being overweight.” Hayley Hooper, who runs the Slimming World Poringland Group, said: “I am really proud of John and the support the members of the group have given him each week.”

The Bad....

Jailed Liverpudlian heroin courier & window cleaner claimed he was forced at gunpoint to make trip to Shetland: The latest Liverpudlian heroin courier to be jailed at Lerwick Sheriff Court said he was forced at gunpoint to make the trip to Shetland in punishment for having beaten up a man with drug gangster connections. To avoid having his legs broken in revenge David Garnett, 39, of Lawrence Road, Liverpool, concealed bags of heroin inside his body and caught the bus to Aberdeen before boarding the NorthLink ferry on 26th May. Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie told the court on Wednesday the police had intelligence about his activities and were waiting at the Holmsgarth terminal the next day for “yet another Liverpudlian to come off the boat with diamorphine concealed in their rectum”.
Garnett initially refused to co-operate despite an X-ray at the hospital showing he had four packages in his abdomen. A warrant had to be obtained to allow a laxative to be administered against his will. Mr MacKenzie said the four packages of heroin had contained 780 individual wraps of £20 bags worth a total of about £15,600. He told Sheriff Graeme Napier that, as he had heard umpteen times before, the drugs mule had been coerced into smuggling heroin into Shetland. One day in Liverpool he had been walking his dog along a canal when he got into an altercation with another dog-walker. Garnett administered “a severe beating” to the man, Mr MacKenzie said.
Unfortunately the man used his family connections high up in the organised crime world to exact retribution, causing Garnett to be before the court facing years in jail. His defence lawyer Tommy Allan pointed out that Garnett’s string of previous convictions had not involved drugs but he had been ordered to go to Shetland or have his legs broken. “He was quite clear that they were serious about this,” Mr Allan said. Since his first court appearance in Lerwick in May Mr Garnett, a window-cleaner and car-washer, had co-operated and always intended pleading guilty, Mr Allan told the court. The Sheriff was amazed Garnett could get work as a window-cleaner with such an “appalling” criminal record, which included stretches inside. He jailed him for 40 months, backdated to 31st May since when he has been on remand.

And the Ugly....

Saturdays Window Cleaning News

Little optimism goes long way: While Canadians, and particularly newsmakers, have always had a pessimistic habit of believing that when the United States economy catches a cold, Canada will also automatically suffer, this has not proven to be totally true during these past few years. The business service industry is also predicted to continue growing as it is now well known that the service sector has replaced the production of goods as our principal form of economic activity. Two additional service areas that support the day-to-day operation and management of businesses are also creating significant job opportunities. For instance, Statistics Canada predicts that by 2014, the building services field will represent 50 per cent of all service sector jobs. These jobs include janitorial, landscaping, carpet, window and chimney cleaning and will be found in both private homes as well as businesses.

City licenses, building permits drop during 2009: The good news: despite a year-long recession that gripped Mesquite, the number of new city business licenses increased slightly to 217 from 211 during 2008. The bad news: revoked and expired business licenses took a big leap in 2009. Revoked/expired city business licenses jumped from 277 in 2008 to 514 in 2009. Many of the business licenses erased from the city’s list over the past year were those belonging to mortgage companies, real estate brokers and out-of-town contractors. Most of the new city business licenses: real estate brokers and local/out-of-town contractors. “When I first started in licensing, we had about 2,100 active business licenses,” said Maria Trujillo, who handles business licenses for the city. “Now it’s down to about 1,600. But keep in mind that contractors used to have to have a license for each contracting service offered, but we have new regulations requiring contractors to have just one license. They’re able to combine all the licenses into one now.” Business licenses for services – everything from lawn mowing to house sitting to window cleaning – are among the most common.

Commitment from the top: How Lynn Elliott instills a service mindset at Columbus Window Cleaning Co. - It’d be nearly impossible for E-Wynn Inc., which does business as Columbus Window Cleaning Co., not to reflect the service mindset ingrained in its president and CEO, Lynn Elliott. Her commitment is obvious through her involvement on many local boards, which mean much more to her than just more titles on her resume. For example, as the board chair of the Columbus Housing Partnership, she met with board members individually over lunch to discuss the organization’s goals and to ensure that each member was comfortable with his or her role.
Then as the director of development and communications for Action for Children, a nonprofit focused on early learning initiatives, Elliott created a communitywide model for child care and education programs called Learning Begins Right from the Start by expanding strategic alliances between community organizations and securing corporate contributions. Elliott also coordinated the School Business Partnership Program at Upper Arlington City Schools, creating an outreach program that resulted in the support of 260 Columbus companies. Later, she turned those networking tactics into a graduate class at the OSU College of Education called Building School Community Partnerships, which was offered for five years.
When Elliott stepped into her role in 2000, she put a community giving plan in place. A committee reviews needs and decides where to donate an annual contribution — usually to an organization involved in housing, education or the arts. The company also offers gift certificates for free or reduced-cost window cleaning to local fund-raising events, while Elliott helps draft written fund-raising materials. She also encourages employees to get personally involved, noting the company’s hours — 7:00 to 3:30 in the summer and 8:00 to 4:30 in the winter — are convenient for coaching sports or participating in evening meetings. She considers supporting her employees’ participation, whether financially or through team sponsorship.

Grandad asked for I.D.! Trevor Butcher was told he could not buy six cans of beer and a bottle of sherry unless he produced some proof-of-age ID. The 60-year-old window cleaner with greying hair was given the ultimatum at his local newsagent’s and post office in Chelmsford, Essex. He said yesterday: “The man at the counter, aged about 40, said: ‘You know what I’m going to ask now?’ I was at a loss. Then he asked me if I was over 25 and said: ‘Have you any ID?’ “I couldn’t believe it. By this time I was a bit miffed and said they could keep their booze!”
Manager Kevin Lind said the shop had to ask for ID as part of licensing conditions after selling alcohol to a 15-year-old in 2008. He said: “We are determined to meet the terms and rigorously enforce the under-25 check, although we are embarrassed at having to ask older people.”

Missing man mystery: St. George » It's been nearly a month since Steven Koecher vanished, leaving his family alternating between hope and despair as they endlessly speculate. The 30-year-old St. George man was last seen Dec. 13 in a homeowner's surveillance video leaving his car in a residential area in Henderson, Nev. Inside the car were Christmas presents for his young cousins and snack food, according to his cousin, Jeff Bradshaw, of Las Vegas. A police investigation, searches of the surrounding desert by helicopter and all-terrain vehicles, and the efforts of family and friends has turned up nothing substantive. "We're taking things one day at a time," said Steven's mother, Deanne, who lives in Bountiful. "We go through different scenarios to try and get a handle on it, but none of it makes sense. I can't believe it's been this many days."
Greg Webb, a good friend of Koecher's in the LDS church, said he called Koecher the morning he disappeared. His cell phone has not been used since, nor his bank cards. Webb said he asked Koecher to attend a church meeting in his place that day at 11 a.m. "He said he was in Las Vegas, but would go back [to St. George] if I needed him to," said Webb. "I was also in Vegas so decided to go back myself. I told him just to do whatever it was he had to do and I'd see him later. That's it. I wish I would have asked him to go back to St. George." Webb, who did not know why Koecher was in the Las Vegas area, said his friend always told him if he was not planning to be at church. That Sunday, he never called. "It's one thing that sticks out in my mind," said Webb.
Webb said Koecher, who worked for The Salt Lake Tribune 's online edition from March 2007 until July 2008, had been actively looking for a full-time job and had sent out his résumé to a list of possible employers. The power company was threatening to disconnect electricity at the house where Koecher rented a room and lived alone, according to Webb. Deanne Koecher said she knew her son was having financial difficulty, but said the power bill was the landlord's responsibility. "We talked about [finances] in our last conversation and I felt he was in control of things and I offered to help with his rent, saying that's what families did for each other," she said. "I transferred some money into his account, but it was never used." She described her son as "a good young man" with a fondness for drawing, playing the guitar and singing.
"He didn't have issues or addictions or anything that could have led this to happen," said his mother. "He was devout to his church and liked water sports, always taking advantage of an opportunity to go boating." She said Koecher, who has three brothers and a sister, graduated from high school in Amarillo, Texas, and served a mission in Brazil for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He studied at Ricks College (now Brigham Young University-Idaho) in Rexburg, Idaho, and eventually graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in communications. Deanne Koecher said her son liked his job at the Tribune , except the overnight aspect. He also didn't like winter temperature inversions. "Last winter really got to him so he took the opportunity to move to St. George," said his mother. Once there, he initially had a job selling advertising for a publication and later worked part-time for a window-washing business.

Norwich, Conn. The back tax issue that reared its head in the 2009 elections has popped up in Mayor Peter Nystrom’s office. Bonnie Cuprak, who was appointed by Nystrom as secretary for him and the City Council, is making $50 weekly payments to the city out of her salary on $1,300 in back taxes and $1,700 in fines she owes the city. Cuprak is disputing the personal property taxes assessed against a window cleaning business she owned with her husband. According to the city budget, the annual salary for Cuprak’s part-time position is $22,113. She works 21 hours a week. She is the wife of Peter Cuprak, a Republican who served with Nystrom on the City Council and in the state Legislature in the 1980s. The Cupraks are long-time friends of the mayor.
Cuprak said she was held harmless for the debt by a Superior Court judge in 2008, but she does not have paperwork of the decision. “The lawyers stopped calling after that, and I went back to looking for a job,” she said. The Bulletin was made aware of the debt through a series of anonymous phone calls and letters.
Tax issue in campaign: During the city’s fall election, one mayoral candidate, three council candidates and two school board candidates were listed as having delinquent city taxes. One school board candidate disputed the bill’s accuracy. One council candidate from the Norwich For Change Party dropped out of the race because she was unemployed and could not afford to pay at the time. “I’m not paying this back because I thought it would be an issue, because I’m not a politician,” Cuprak said. “I’m not paying the bill to protect Peter Nystrom. I’m paying the bill now because now I have a job. And as soon as I got the job, I went to the city and made arrangements.”
Nystrom said he was made aware of Cuprak’s debt and payment arrangements after he asked her to take the job. He also said if anyone thought they could use the issue against him politically, they’re mistaken. “I would have offered her the job whether I knew or not,” he said. “I’ve known Bonnie for years. She’s very qualified to do the work. And I don’t need protecting. If she offers her resignation, I won’t accept it.” City Manager Alan Bergren and Comptroller Joseph Ruffo declined to comment.
Mayor stands by her: Nystrom said Cuprak is one of many people who have been out of work and have financial troubles. He said her payment arrangement settles the matter. “Anyone who thinks I would just throw someone aside because she lost her job and had money problems really ought to look at themselves in the mirror,” he said. Cuprak said her family’s financial difficulties date back to 1999, when her husband, a firefighter, was injured on a fire call. He underwent three surgeries in three years and couldn’t work. They lost ownership of their home nearly three years ago, and now pay rent to a landlord to live there. She then lost her job at the state Legislature after the 2008 term.
Cuprak said she intends to fight what she calls an unjust bill for equipment she said is worth about $380. “You fight after you pay it off,” she said. “You fight with clean hands.” She also believes the leaking of the information about her tax situation was a political vendetta. “Anyone who would use anonymous letters to go after a secretary to hurt the mayor or hurt my husband is a coward,” she said.

Three Window Cleaning Stories for Wednesday

The Dubai businessman Peter Manzi has a deviously simple plan to clean up: On a recent Monday afternoon, I watched as a shopper stood in the Géant hypermarket in Dubai, contemplating an expanse of window-cleaning products. First, the man picked up a spray bottle containing a blue liquid and examined the ingredients, then he did the same with purple and pink. The bottles of Clearwater, a colourless glass cleaner located on one of the lower shelves, went unexplored. Purple it was.

Clearwater, which is currently being produced in Dubai by an Englishman named Peter Manzi, could very well be the eco-friendliest household cleaner on the planet. In fact, I’ve just taken a swig of the stuff, and I’m fine. This is probably because Clearwater is just, well, clear water. As the bottle informs, it’s “100% Chemical Free”.
Manzi insists that there is more to his product than meets the eye. It’s gone through a filtering process, one involving complicated-sounding things like reverse osmosis. “Normal drinking water has particles in it – calcium, sodium, magnesium,” Manzi explains. “But this is pure water.” The idea is that, stripped of its minerals, water attempts to replenish itself with whatever particles it can find. As Manzi puts it: “It tries to revert back to its natural state. It actually draws in the dirt.”
Even if this is true, it doesn’t fit on a catchy label, so consumers are confronted with something that looks, smells and tastes like the stuff that comes out of their taps. “Yes, this question has arisen,” Manzi says. “I’ve had some comments.”
Manzi, 49, launched Clearwater glass cleaner six months ago, on the back of a window-washing enterprise he founded in 2007. The Clearwater cleaning company has done well, with corporate contracts that include ENOC and Etihad, along with enough individual clients to keep its 25 employees busy. While his firm isn’t the only one using hyper-purified water to clean windows, Manzi says that he’s the first to put it into a spray bottle – a leap, he says, that will one day make him a global force in the household cleaner category. “This could be in Wal-Mart or Tesco,” he says. “Why not?” Earlier this year, as part of an expansion drive, Manzi set up a plant in Barsha; according to him, it can produce 75,000 litres of purified water a day, though it might be a while until the plant is working at full capacity. Meanwhile, Manzi’s efforts to get local supermarkets to carry Clearwater haven’t been entirely successful – all but Geant and Le Marché have turned him down – and he is currently shifting only about 500 bottles a month. “I’m hoping the numbers will go up,” he says. “We’re looking into advertising, doing a proper marketing campaign.”
Despite Clearwater’s limited success so far, Manzi says he is confident that his product will soon be able to compete with more established brands. In fact, he adds, his biggest worry is that larger companies will see what he is doing and develop a clear water of their own. “There are only so many ways to filtrate water,” he says. ”You can’t protect yourself against imitators. The only thing I can do is get this product out there, because if the big players thought they could make money, they’d get it out there pretty quick.” The environmental appeal alone, he adds, makes Clearwater a very attractive prospect for the future.
“There’s a feel about the world now,” Manzi says. “If we want to protect ourselves, we need to start using these kinds of products.” Consumers, however, have 100 years of conventional wisdom telling them chemicals are uniquely effective at doing things like cleaning windows, that a bottle of household cleaner should be a strange colour, have a distinctive aroma and be harmful if swallowed. “The proof is in trying the product,” Manzi insists. “Buy a bottle and try it at home.”
I take Manzi’s advice and test Clearwater on a balcony door that hasn’t been cleaned, to my knowledge, since I moved into my flat over a year ago. As the bottle contains no instructions, I spray it on, leave it for a moment, then wipe it off with kitchen towels. My control group is an adjacent window, which I wash in the same way with ordinary tap water. The tap water window ends up streaky; the Clearwater window doesn’t. I wash a third window with a major-brand, blue-tinted glass cleaner, which also leaves the window streak-free. But I don’t dare to drink it.

A toast to the city's small businesses - A route back to employment: Starting a business offered a route back to employment for single dad Norman Straight, who set up window cleaning company Straight Clean after five years out of work. Mr Straight, 31, from the Marlpit estate in Norwich, was left with responsibility for his sons Jay, 13, Dominic, 11 and eight-year-old Ethan after the break up of a relationship in 2002, and spent years out of work, selling the Big Issue to help make ends meet. But in October 2007 he had an idea to go out armed with a mop and bucket to earn some cash, and with help from business support organisations he set up his company last year.
Mr Straight, who was recently named entrepreneur of the year in a national New Entrepreneur Scholarship competition, went on to win two big contracts, with the Henderson Business Centre in Earlham and an old people's home in Cringleford. He said winning new business was difficult in the recession but being self-employed helped him fit work around his family commitments. He said: “Being self-employed gives you much more freedom as a single parent. As a small business I can offer a personal touch. I know my customers and I treat them as individuals, where a big company would treat everyone the same. “I know most of my customers by name.
“You should think carefully before setting up a business in the recession. People just haven't got much money at the moment. When I go and try and get new business people are cleaning their own windows, even shops are doing it themselves, but I am keeping my head above the water.” Knowing my industry gave me the confidence to go it alone. With a string of shops standing empty across the city, starting up a business in a recession can be scary.

Ex-firefighter red-faced over shed blaze: Red-faced former firefighter Ross Sheppard had to call the fire brigade out when his shed caught fire. Mr Sheppard, 30, was burning cardboard and wood in an incinerator bin in his back garden when the flames spread to a wooden shed. The shed caught fire when Mr Sheppard went indoors to attend to his six-week-old son, Louie, and his partner, Claire Fonteyne, 30. The couple, who live in Awdry Road, Devizes, were alerted to the fire by the barking of their Jack Russell dog, Vinni, and Mr Sheppard quickly filled a bucket with water and threw it over the flames. He refilled the bucket about six times and, as well as attempting to douse the flames, he threw water on to his second wooden shed next to the one on fire to stop it spreading. He was unable to put out the fire but did stop it engulfing the other shed, although two perspex window panels in it melted.
Mr Sheppard, a window cleaner, said: “The flames were about ten feet high and the roof of the shed was well ablaze. The roof was gone so then it was a case of controlling it until the fire engine came. “I probably could have put it out eventually but it was easier to call the fire brigade out. It could have caught neighbours’ sheds so potentially it could have been a lot worse. “I went indoors to feed Louie and I got distracted. If I had stayed with the incinerator bin the shed wouldn’t have caught fire.” The shed that was on fire was destroyed, along with a trampoline and two children’s bikes which were inside.
Mr Sheppard was a retained fire fighter in Devizes for four years from 2000. He was featured in a local news television programme which filmed him as a new recruit to the fire service and followed his progress through training. He left the fire service when he moved from the town centre and could not give the same commitment. Pip Flowers, commander of Devizes Fire Station, said: “While we were on the fire truck driving to the fire we said to each other that we thought it was near Ross’s house. “Ross was a bit embarrassed about it and he had a fair bit of mickey taking from us. Joking aside Ross did everything right when he realised the shed was on fire. His actions in putting water on the second shed definitely saved it from going up in flames. He did well with what he had available to contain the fire.”