Art Cleaning (Midlands) Ltd Achieves 2nd place in the Window Cleaning Company of the year 2017


Established in 1999 by Managing Director, Simon Hart, Art Cleaning has gone from strength to strength.


As a sole trader, Simon built the business on his own, concentrating on domestic customers and perfecting his craft. Quickly building a reputation for quality and reliability, the time came to employ others to support the increase in demand.


Always a keen entrepreneur, Simon recognised the opportunity to provide additional cleaning services that could be offered to complement the Window Cleaning industry. Having a strong workforce behind him, the company upskilled the workforce and diversified its services, concentrating primarily on the Commercial sector.


On the 10th March 2005 the company became registered with Companies House and Art Cleaning (Midlands) Limited was born. What once was a one man band has grown into a company that presently employees approximately 25 people, invests in the latest technology and holds a fleet of 6 vans.


During the recent recession we were able to weather the storm remarkably well and posted a steady growth. Most recently our growth has been an amazing 30% in the last financial year and we believe this is down to the commitment to our customers for providing a high quality and efficient service.


Specialists within the Public and Commercial sector, within the last 5 years we have not only secured new business but have been successful in retaining ALL of our major contracts on year by year terms or those that have gone out for retender, including:


• Nottinghamshire County Council • Worcestershire Health & Care NHS Trust • University of Birmingham


Competition within our industry is fierce and to ensure we are leaders in our field, we invest in the latest technology, such as hot water systems on all of our vans, and invest in employee training on a regular basis.


Last year our training expenditure was approximately £8000 in the last year, which is a reflection of our absolute commitment to employee development across the entire workforce.


Our training plan for our Manual workforce typically covers; • Mandatory Health and Safety training on a quarterly basis • Skills based 121 to training on machinery and best practices


• Outsourced training covering courses such as ‘Safe Working at Height’ and IOSH Cleaning Windows Safely


Our training plan for our Office based workforce and Management team covers;


• Mandatory Health and Safety training on a quarterly basis • Management skills training including IOSH Managing Safely Course


• Adhoc upskill training to meet the demands of changing business regulations such as SAGE training for People’s Pension.


In addition, as a company we are keen to ensure our processes and procedures are as efficient as possible and in February 2015 this was recognised when we successfully passed our ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management certification audit and have continued to pass each year. This is testament to our commitment of continually improving our Management Systems for the benefit of our staff, company and clients.


Last year Art Cleaning was involved in several high profile projects within Birmingham that attracted national news coverage. The first was Grand Central Station at Birmingham New Street, a project that took 5 years to complete and approximately £750million. Our team were responsible for cleaning the iconic stainless steel mirrored façade that snakes around the building prior to their official opening date. In order to ensure the smooth running of the works and the need to liaise with many different contractors, Simon based himself at the site for an entire month.


The next project we were involved in was the new Resort World Leisure Complex at the NEC that saw us cleaning the windows and cladding prior to their grand opening. And finally we were successful in securing the contract for Edgbaston Stadium Cricket Ground that regularly hosts International and National cricket tournaments. As such we work to a tight schedule of cleaning both the Internal/ External Windows and Cladding to ensure works are completed according to their event calendar.


Client experience is at the very core of our business and we have a robust system in place to measure our client experience. Our KPI target for Client Satisfaction is 98%.


After each job has been completed, our clients complete a Job Satisfaction sheet that will ask them to access how satisfied they are and also provide any additional comments. This information is then gathered and recorded on to our systems on a month by month basis.


Our Operations Manager will then carry out Quality Control by way of site visit or phone call, to all new clients and approximately 25% of existing clients. The average post Quality Control figure is then obtained.


Annual averages in the last 2 years are: 2015 – 98% and 2016 – 98%. Any areas of concern that have been raised by our clients are addressed immediately and will be rectified to their complete satisfaction. Any training needs that are highlighted as a result will be incorporated into the training plan for the individual(s) and scheduled accordingly.


In 2015 we were proud to have been shortlisted by our client of 7 years, the University of Birmingham, for their Hospitality and Accommodation Services External Business Supplier award. The University has approximately 850 suppliers, so to have been shortlisted was an incredible achievement. We were invited to the awards ceremony and were delighted to be announced as the winners. This was a very proud moment in our company history and an achievement for all our team.


As a company we are also committed to putting back into the community and as such have forged a relationship with local charitable organisation ‘New Heights’ based in Kingstanding. Finally, in 2015 we organised an event for Children in Need called “Coming to a Window near You ...Pudsey!” where we descended on our clients in distinctive yellow onesies. We raised £1622 for Children in Need and were able to put Window Cleaning in the limelight – another exciting and proud moment in our history!


We are thrilled to have achieved second place in the Cleaning Company of the year 2017 – more significant is that our Employee Robert Baker won first prize for window cleaner of the year 2017 and he was awarded with a trophy and gift.


See Robert on page 5.


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