10 Questions with... James McLean
Each month we ask a cleaning industry professional the Tomorrow’s Cleaning 10 Questions. This month, we chatted to James McLean, CEO at WhiffAway Group.
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WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB? Besides selling tuck at school and golf balls at weekend
car boot sales, my first job was in security at a University Students Union.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE CLEANING INDUSTRY? My mother, Valerie McLean, was the inventor of the
world's first retro-fit waterless urinal system and I worked with her to commercialise the technology in a start- up environment. The opportunity to work with her with disruptive innovation, which helped our environment and saved customers’ money, was very appealing.
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WHICH THREE WORDS DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Stubborn, generous and kind.
IF YOU COULD VISIT ONE PLACE IN THE WORLD, WHERE WOULD YOU GO AND WHY?
I would like to see more of China, and in particular visit the Terracotta Army. I'm still very much a child at heart and appreciate manmade things on that scale.
HOW WOULD YOU IMPROVE THE CLEANING INDUSTRY?
Everything starts with people and how we look after them and manage their activity. We’re actively developing smart- enabled solutions for washrooms that identify patterns, provide alerts, hold people accountable and raise standards.
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IF AN INTERN WERE TO START TOMORROW, WHAT’S THE ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WOULD
GIVE THEM? Be bold in your decision making and don't be afraid to make mistakes. It’s often only those who don't make decisions that don't make mistakes. A big part of life is about making decisions and learning from mistakes.
IF YOU WON THE LOTTERY TOMORROW, HOW WOULD YOU SPEND YOUR FORTUNE?
I'm a simple person and rather boring in this respect – life is not about money and money breeds resentment. I would tell no-one, put the funds in a high interest account and use the interest for good things.
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IF YOU COULD HOST A DINNER PARTY AND INVITE ANY THREE PEOPLE, DEAD OR ALIVE, WHO WOULD
THEY BE AND WHY? Winston Churchill, who never wavered from doing the right thing no matter what the cost, the Queen, the most resolute and steadfast lady living today and a perfect example of doing one’s duty, and my father. I lost him at a very young
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age (10 years old) and would have liked to have known him more.
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WHAT, DO YOU THINK, IS THE FUTURE OF THE CLEANING INDUSTRY?
I believe the future is less labour intensive and the emergence of IOT will help assist demand-driven cleaning practices. How we clean will also change, including moving away from harmful chemicals and over to sustainable materials through disruptive innovation. The industry will become less cost-driven, prompting more and more companies to in-source their cleaning provision.
Alastair Scott, Sales Director at Robert Scott, asks: 10
IF YOU COULD HAVE A SUPERPOWER, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?
Whilst not a superpower as such, I would wish to have more patience with people and understand why things that might seem so obvious don't happen overnight.
www.whiffaway.com
Check out next month’s issue to see what James asked our next industry professional…
twitter.com/TomoCleaning
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