Lee Andrews, CEO of DOC Cleaning, reports.
As many business owners and directors will know, running a company takes up so much time that you can go for months, if not years, without bumping into your opposite number in the competition, let alone those who run companies in other sectors of the cleaning industry. Add to the mix the fact that networking opportunities can be few and far between, especially if you work outside London, and it is easy to develop a personal view of the industry that could be at odds with what others are thinking.
So it is particularly satisfying to attend an industry function where people are happy to lower their guard and openly discuss the issues and challenges facing us at the moment. Cue the events hosted by the Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners (WCEC). The WCEC brings together professionals from all corners of the industry and was founded 50 years ago by Eric Hill, the same innovator who established BICSc. I feel we are lucky to have such an institution in our midst, not because of the pomp and ceremony – after all it is one of the City of London’s Livery Companies with its own coat of arms - but because of what its existence says about the maturity of our industry and its desire to promote professional standards in an environment where we struggle at times to put across the complexity of our work and the value it brings to society.
The stated aims of the organisation are to encourage and maintain high standards of practice and integrity in the industry and promote and support education and training, research projects and charities. An impressive achievement in the last two years has been to gain royal assent for the award to individual members of Chartered Practitioner status, complete with the letters ‘CP’. Members who achieve the status - and it is not awarded without a high degree of scrutiny - join a formal register of Environmental Cleaning Professionals as a means of recognising and maintaining high standards and ongoing proficiency for individuals. In conjunction with the ongoing work to secure a recognised apprenticeship for industry staff, and of course the excellent qualifications offered by organisations such as BICSc and UhUb, the Chartered Practitioner status forms another building block in the development of a professional career path within cleaning, something that we so desperately need to attract people to our industry.
The other feature I particularly like with regard to the WCEC is that it does not just represent one sector of our industry, but is a cross section of professionals from every quarter, including cleaning contractors, facilities management, chemical manufacturers, paper manufacturers, janitorial suppliers, environmental health officers, waste management, and cleaning equipment manufacturers. Alongside the ‘voice’ of cleaning, the British Cleaning Council, the WCEC is another cross-sector body where the common interests our industry are finding a unified voice that will surely strengthen our lobbying position on key issues.
So, people may smile at tradition and bemoan the slow progress being made towards recognition of our industry’s demands. What’s clear, however, is that we have some fine associations distilling ideas and fighting our causes. When we do finally achieve the status we all crave on behalf of the industry, it will be in no small part down to the sterling work these groups undertake.
www.doccleaning.com
About the contributor
Lee Andrews
CEO
DOC Cleaning