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Partly Political Broadcast
As the race for the 2015 General Election hots up, Lee Baker, PR and Media Manager at the BCC takes a look at what the outcome could mean for the cleaning industry.
By the time you read this the 2015 General Election campaign will be in full swing. As I write, the polls show both major parties neck and neck, and no serious political commentator is brave enough to predict who’ll be forming the next government in May.
This year’s election is being played out against a benign economic climate compared to the previous one in 2010. The last five years have seen a very slow path back to recovery, but the economic turmoil of 2007-2010 is still fresh in the memory of anyone who experienced it.
The global financial crash and the recessions that followed caused the longest period of stagnant growth in living memory, and brought an extremely challenging period for everyone involved in the cleaning industry.
But cleanliness standards are something that cannot be compromised whatever economic conditions prevail, and with demand still there in the market, companies managed to weather the worst of the economic storm.
Some sections of the industry even managed to flourish during the recession. Research found that small cleaning start-ups actually increased during the downturn. The relatively low start-up capital compared to other industries proved a great incentive for young entrepreneurs looking for an affordable way to build a new business.
But coming back from the brink of economic catastrophe hasn’t been without difficulties. Most businesses
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have had to cut costs as well as capital expenditure, which has had implications all along the supply chain. Margins are now tighter than ever, and as most contracts are decided on price alone, important issues like living wage, daytime cleaning and environmental sustainability could be overlooked.
That’s why it’s so important that there are organisations like the British Cleaning Council, who can continue to campaign for these broader issues, whatever the economic landscape of the time might be.
So as the major parties slug it out over the next few weeks, will it actually make any difference to the cleaning industry?
Well, from the perspective of the BCC, the answer is a resounding yes, as the Council is determined to have its voice heard in Westminster during the next five years.
At the time of the last election in 2010 the BCC published its own manifesto, that laid out its core beliefs of Sustainability, Education & Training, Healthcare, Technology, Waste Management, Health & Safety, Public Hygiene, and Specialist Cleaning, covering all the issues BCC members felt would be the most important to the cleaning industry as a whole.
These core issues are as viable today as they were then, but with the coalition’s determination to concentrate almost solely on the deficit during the last five years, it has been difficult to lobby effectively on the ideas in our ‘BCC Manifesto’.
Cleanliness standards are something that cannot be compromised whatever economic conditions prevail.
Now we are in calmer economic waters we would like to see the new government take a stronger interest in our sector. Events like the recent Cleaning Show at the Excel help to raise the profile of the industry, and it was good that a number of politicians did take an interest. We have to build on that and make sure we get our message across during the course of the next parliament.
The BCC continues to be the voice of the cleaning industry, and we will make sure that voice is heard, whatever the colour of the next government may be.
www.britishcleaningcouncil.org
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