BRITISH CLEANING COUNCIL
Handing over the reins
By Simon Hollingbery, chairman, British Cleaning Council. The BCC will welcome its 15th chairman in July when I step down and pass the reins to BICSc CEO Stan Atkins. As is customary I will relinquish the post after two years, and I know the Council will continue on its present stable path with Stan at the helm. It’s been a great privilege to be chairman of the Council - we have some
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terrific members, and chairing the meetings has been great fun at times. My confidence in the future of the UK cleaning industry has been greatly enhanced seeing at first hand all the great work our members do. Looking back over the past two years I think the Council has been involved in some really worthwhile projects and I’m particularly pleased we managed to get the regional cleaning show in Manchester off the ground. I’m also delighted we’ve been able to attract both the British Pest Control Association and the Domestic Cleaning Alliance into the fold and welcome an old one back, with the CSSA rising like a phoenix to take up its place as the preeminent association for the contract sector. We’ve also been at the forefront of a number of Contact details
campaigns - Know Your Rights at Work with the EHRC, and the Tidy Britain APPG chaired by Jim Fitzpatrick MP being two of the most noteworthy. The Council has also played a major role in cracking down on illegal working, and we have been able to help the industry combat this issue by inviting key speakers from the main government agencies to give presentations at our meetings and at the Cleaning Show. The Council has also continued to use funds from the successful Cleaning Shows to fund worthwhile ventures in the industry. We’ve seen the British Toilet Association’s interactive Toilet Map become fully active with Changing Places, and have sponsored various member projects, including the CSSA for its new awards,
and the CHSA and BACS for their conference on REACH. The BCC’s role in the UK cleaning industry is never more important than when we’re asked to collate data, and earlier this year we undertook this task again, publishing the figures in our ‘Industry Trends’ report 2017. This kind of data can make a real difference to companies when planning and gives us a real industry snapshot. The membership of the Council is very strong at the moment, and I feel that we’ve made some great progress over the last two years, and I know that will continue as we work through our new business plan. Before signing off my last Chairman’s Column, I’d just like to say thank you to everyone who has supported me as BCC chairman. I’d also like to give a special thanks to our secretary, Pat
Wherton, for all her tireless work behind the scenes, and also wish our media guru, Lee Baker, all the best for the future as he is moving on to pastures new. I will remain on the Council’s board for the foreseeable future, and will be on hand to assist Stan if he needs it. I hope you all have a great summer and I look forward to seeing many of you again when we meet at the regional Cleaning Show in Manchester next year.
For further information on the British Cleaning Council and details of its members contact: The General Secretary, BCC Ltd, PO Box 10362, Syston, Leicester, LE7 2WJ, UK E: info@britishcleaningcouncil.org W: www.britishcleaningcouncil.org
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