Tag Archives: London

Something for everyone on the menu

We’re in the midst of the London restaurant festival – a month celebrating the diversity and quality of eateries and food on offer in our great capital, with 350 restaurants across the city taking part.

Overall, apparently there are around 17,000 restaurants in London and in many ways, they sum up the nature of the city better than any other feature. The range in budgets, cultures, locations, attitudes and appearances is truly mind boggling – a real cosmopolitan melting pot.

Whether you head to the East End for pie and mash, Little Italy for pasta, Chinatown for dim sum or the burrito van on the South Bank, there truly is something for everyone.

The restaurants really are part of what makes London great, and I haven’t even started on the buildings they are in. Some of the high level restaurants, such as the Aqua Shard or Duck & Waffle in the Heron Tower near Liverpool Street, provide views seen by very few Londoners (except those who work in high level cleaning or high level maintenance like us!).

However, in common with the cleaning industry, the hospitality industry as a whole is not known for the longevity of its staff, or its generous wage levels. We’ve seen numerous examples in our industry of the benefits that come with paying the Living Wage, including – but not limited to – happier, more motivated staff, easier recruitment, better retention levels, and happier customers.

The end of the restaurant festival coincides with this year’s Living Wage Week (30 October to 5 November). Wouldn’t it be great if the overlap was more than just on the calendar and we saw an increase in the number of restaurants signing up to pay the fair wage?

Blog post: Take some advice from an expert

by Sean Canty, Director, CAM Specialist Support

Whatever views you held during the ‘Brexit’ referendum, perhaps the most surprising aspect was people’s willingness to heed the advice ‘not to listen to experts’. It’s a phenomena apparently equally at home in Donald Trump’s quest for the presidency of the United States.

It’s a pretty frightening turn of events. Taken in the context of whether or not to leave the European Union the advice sounds a little on the implausible side, but in other contexts it is downright dangerous. Experts, whatever their field, become so through years of studying and experience, and what they think shouldn’t be taken lightly.

The internet has done many wonderful things, information can now be shared widely and we no longer have to rely on monopoly media outlets for our news. However, the old adage ‘don’t believe everything you read’ remains as true as ever when you don’t know who is publishing it or why. We continue to need reliable, independent experts across a variety of subjects who can help us ‘sort the wheat from the chaff’.

In our industry for instance not everyone understands what working at height encompasses and they often don’t appreciate the risks of even a seemingly mundane task. Anything that means taking a step off the ground, or where there’s a danger of falling, is a work at height task and should only be undertaken by a competent person with the right equipment.

We are experts at cleaning at height and conducting maintenance at height and provide FM services in London and the surrounding areas – we have industry-recognised training, years of experience and a variety of specialist equipment to take on any task whether just above head height or multiple stories up in inaccessible locations.

We conduct individual risk assessments for every job and don’t just rely on generic forms. Anything less would be dangerous for our operatives and the general public, which isn’t a risk worth taking.

So please, whatever your political persuasion, don’t forget they’re called experts for a reason, and you ignore them at your peril!

Working at height specialism lands CAM an Olympic-sized challenge

CAM Specialist Support’s expertise in high level cleaning has secured it a contract to clean the Here East building in The Queen Elizabeth Park, Stratford, London.

Previously part of the London Olympics site, the building was used as the media centre during the 2012 games. Current tenants include BT Sports studios, Loughborough University and a number of new start up and retail clients.

CAM conducts bespoke risk assessments for every job it carries out and selects the most appropriate work at height method, or methods, from its armoury. This includes rope access, mobile elevated work platforms and water-fed pole systems.

Sean Canty, Director at CAM Specialist Support, said: “I’m delighted to have won the contract for this showcase building. The client told us we were specifically selected due to our reputation for delivering quality service and our understanding of the specific and unique requirements of delivering a clean building when working at height.”

CAM works on a wide variety of buildings across London and the South East, and specialises in cleaning and commercial building maintenance tasks in those hard to access places that others just can’t reach.

Blog post: London’s legacy

The Rio Olympics are now but a memory and we hope they will be remembered for more positive reasons than the issues clouding their run up, the reactions of some disappointed coaches and false allegations of a street robbery. These, together with political upheaval in Brazil, the Zika virus, pollution, Russian doping scandals, and the like, are far from the Olympic ideal.

At least the people of Great Britain have some bragging rights, our Olympians having achieved the distinction of coming second in the medal table. Well done to all who took part and especially those who returned with medals. You’ve certainly done us proud!

It’s easy to forget the run-up to the London 2012 Olympics when all sorts of catastrophes were predicted, but luckily there was nothing on the scale that faced the Rio organisers. There was bound to have been a lot of pressure having the eyes of the world upon you, but the end result in London was nothing short of spectacular. Not just success on track and field, but a real coming together as a city and a nation.

It was a great time to be in London, the sun seemed to be shining every day and everyone seemed to have a smile on their face – even people who don’t like sport were caught up in the mood.

It was a proud time for CAM as a company too, playing our part in keeping London’s buildings clean and well maintained. The dedication and training we’ve put in to learning our craft and achieving excellence may not see us rewarded with gold medals, but CAM’s expertise in high level cleaning and maintenance means a lot of happy customers which is as good as a medal to us.

CAM’s rope access teams and water-fed pole operatives are surely using similar skills to some of the Olympic stars, maybe sailing and pole vaulting? Maybe we should have an Olympics for FM services where people can show off their talents. I know it’s a winter sport, but all that sweeping and floor polishing cleaning operatives do would surely help with curling!

Anyway, getting back to the matter at hand, let’s hope that now the Rio games have ended, they will be remembered for the carnival not the chaos and the people of Rio can be as proud as those from London at how the world viewed their great city.

Blog post: Mixing the old and the new

The mix of the traditional and the modern is one of the things that makes London such a great place to live, work and visit. Walk down an unfamiliar street and you just don’t know what will be waiting around the corner; will it be an ancient church or a vibrant new office block? And will it be the same next time you go around? The City of London Corporation reports that over 50% of buildings have been redeveloped since 1997.

When you work in commercial building maintenance, including high level cleaning, like we do, you really get to experience the rich tapestry that makes up London. One site we work on is just by St. Paul’s Cathedral. So we’ll be at the top of a modern, largely glass, office block and can see not only the Cathedral, but the Millennium footbridge and Tate Modern, as well as the Tower of London and a host of City offices like the ‘Cheesegrater’ and ‘Walkie Talkie’ beyond.

This melting pot is captured brilliantly by the City of London’s livery companies. They bring together the very traditional – think gowns and ceremonial halls – with modern business to give people the opportunity network with professionals from across their industry and to get involved in socially responsible initiatives, such as supporting education.

There are 110 such livery companies. Here at CAM, a number of us are Freemen or Liverymen of the Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners. In fact, my colleague Matt and I recently organised an event for potential new members so that they could find out more about what being a member of the Worshipful Company really means. In summary, members can network and socialise with over 200 people at work in the cleaning industry whilst also engaging in charitable and community activities.

At CAM, we’re passionate about the cleaning industry, and about attracting bright, ambitious people to join it. We believe the Worshipful Company is highly relevant, combining the traditions and mystique of The City with the changing needs of a major 21st Century Industry. It exists “to encourage and foster the craft of Environmental Cleaning and kindred occupations by means of professional and social intercourse and the mutual exchange of information between those concerned with the craft and those occupations.”

We think that, like London itself, the livery company’s mix of old and new is the recipe for success.

Blog post: A marathon not a sprint – changing perceptions of the cleaning industry

by Sean Canty, Director, CAM Specialist Support

April is London Marathon month, an event that I know not all Londoners welcome, especially those living or working on the route and facing major disruption. However, I see the Marathon as a great celebration of everything that is wonderful about our city.

It’s a colourful, multicultural event open to everyone, from the world’s elite athletes to well, frankly, eccentric oddballs! How else would you describe the guys dressed in a diving suit, Dr Who’s Tardis or a bottle of London Pride? And, of course, the Marathon raises millions for a wide variety of good causes; more than £770 million since the first race in 1981.

It’s also a great showcase for our Capital with the route taking in buildings displaying London’s heritage and modernity in equal measure – including a number that CAM is responsible for cleaning and maintaining. Thousands line the route and millions watch around the world to see the sights and sounds. Good luck to everyone taking part, whether running competitively or walking in a silly costume. I hope you achieve your goal.

A clean sweep

Although I’m not attempting this gruelling test, I am involved in a major challenge and that is to alter people’s perceptions of the cleaning industry. Something that will definitely be more of a marathon than a sprint!

The action of sweeping and mopping is widely perceived as low skilled. However, this is because there’s a lack of understanding about the training that a professional cleaner undertakes. This necessarily includes health and safety for personal and public protection, COSHH regulations and customer service training – all required before individuals can develop their skills and make career progress in the industry.

Just because people mop and sweep at home doesn’t mean they are ready to do so in a public environment. The myth that cleaning is low-skilled is exemplified by public comments such as those by Sir Michael Wilshaw in his criticisms of apprenticeships being awarded for “low-level” skills like making coffee and mopping floors.

Like many jobs, cleaners start at the base level. How is this any different to a young man or woman joining a manufacturing business, learning the basics needed to get a foundation in the industry and then looking to build a career? The answer is that it’s not, yet those working in the different industries are looked upon very differently and it’s time that changed.

I’ve written to the CSSA to call on them to challenge this perception of the cleaning industry and hope many more of you will join the cause. The finish line may be a long way off, but it would be a major achievement to reach it!

This blog post was first published on the Cleaning Matters website.

Sharing the benefits of being a Living Wage employer

The increased costs of paying higher wages are a concern to many businesses, so London Living Wage employer CAM Specialist Support – a commercial high-level cleaning and building maintenance business – was happy to share its experiences of the benefits with a group of local businesses recently.

Speaking at an event organised by Lewisham Council, Sean Canty, Director at CAM, outlined what the Living Wage means to the business and admitted: “we understand why companies might be reluctant to join the London Living Wage scheme, but any uncertainty is behind us now. We have always looked to pay our staff well and paid the London Living Wage rate for a couple of years before becoming officially accredited.”

Since receiving the official accreditation, CAM has seen a better quality of applicants for vacant posts within the company and staff retention and engagement has improved. It has also led to a reduction in absenteeism.

“We’ve found that there is greater awareness of CAM from both existing and potential customers – some of which insist their contractors are accredited – and that we can add value to their businesses now we have the accreditation. This has all helped to grow our business,” said Sean.

Fellow director Matt Johnson added: “Paying the London Living Wage has enhanced the way we view ourselves as a company, and the way we are viewed by existing and potential customers. Our initial fear that we would need to reduce our staff levels to cope with the costs has proved unfounded thanks to the extra business we’ve been able to secure.”

The event was hosted by the Mayor of Lewisham and also featured a presentation from Katherine Chapman of the Living Wage Foundation and the announcement of a business rate rebate scheme for Living Wage employers in the London Borough of Lewisham to help them with accreditation costs.