Adrian Owen, Chair of the British Association of Cleaning in Higher Education (BACHE-FM), celebrates the 20th anniversary of the founding of the association.
The British Association of Cleaning in Higher Education (BACHE) was established in 2004. Our members are cleaning operatives, supervisors and managers who between them are responsible for cleaning and servicing some 14.3 million square meters of property at universities and further education colleges.
Facilities is critical to the successful running of any organisation be it a factory, retail park or a university and, through BACHE-FM, we have a unique opportunity to connect with our colleagues working on cleaning and soft facilities in order to share best practice and strive towards continual improvement in our delivery models.
This anniversary is a milestone for BACHE-FM and we are looking forward to the next 20 years supporting our members, networking and sharing best practice.
I began my career in the cleaning sector with zero knowledge coming in from a financial background in 2012. My first BACHE conference in 2013 was at Wolverhampton University and I was hooked. I am still in contact with many of the new friends in the industry I met at that conference. I have been on the executive since around 2018 and, as the current chair, I continue to support the association that ignited my passion for facilities.
BACHE-FM has grown a lot in terms of members and also sponsors since its foundation. When I got involved some ten years ago, there were maybe five or six sponsors at conference and it seemed to be the same faces every year. Now we boast up to 20 sponsors at conference every year.
Last year, the association changed its name to BACHE-FM and added the strapline ‘more than just cleaning’ to recognise that many of our members now manage a wider remit than just cleaning, which often includes soft services FM in their roles. However, cleaning is and will remain at the core of our values and in our hearts.
In the last year, we have built a strong executive and are working on our offering to members. We have been developing a pathways training plan for the professional career progression of members.
This year, we will celebrate our anniversary at our annual conference with the theme ‘The Big Birthday BACHE – here’s to the next 20 years’. Our conference features an awards ceremony for cleaning and facilities operatives. The awards ceremony is, for me, one of the most important things we do at BACHE-FM because operatives rarely get recognised for their efforts. They largely go unnoticed because they often finish their shift before the users of the building they are cleaning have even set off for work. To be able to invite them to the gala dinner and present them with an award for their hard work is amazing.
The conference is always the highlight of our year but watch this space because we will be launching a whole lot more over the coming years.
www.bachefm.org.uk
About the contributor
Adrian Owen
Chair
BACHE-FM