In basic terms, a commercial cleaning company does exactly what its title suggests. Commercial cleaning services are engaged by a myriad of business types and sectors to take care of the daily or weekly cleaning requirements at their premises. The type and size of the contracts that commercial cleaners take on can differ depending on the capabilities of the contractor, and how many employees they have.
What type of businesses employ commercial cleaners?
The term ‘Commercial Cleaning’ covers a wide and varied programme of cleaning tasks and most of these are needed for businesses such as:
- Offices and office buildings
- Shops, shopping centres and retail outlets
- Factories
- Warehouses
- Hotels and Hospitality
- Pubs, Restaurants and Bars
- Schools, Colleges, and Universities
- Medical Centres and Doctors Surgeries
- Dentist Surgeries
- Hospitals
- Gyms and Leisure Centres
- Residential Homes
What type of services do commercial cleaners provide?
A contract cleaner will have specific expertise and knowledge about how to undertake many cleaning tasks using the correct machinery and products. A commercial cleaning contract includes but is not limited to:
- General office and business cleaning
- CQC (Care Quality Commission regulated cleaning)
- Floor, carpet, upholstery, and soft furnishing cleaning
- Window cleaning
- Kitchen, canteen, food prep area cleaning
- Toilet, changing room and bathroom cleaning
- Rubbish and waste removal
- Janitorial and consumables services
More specific commercial cleaning tasks include but are not limited to:
- Regular window cleaning
- Frequent IT equipment cleaning (phones, keyboards, tills etc)
- Frequent touch point cleaning (door handles, light switches etc)
- Periodic Carpet cleaning and/or hard floor maintenance
- Frequent kitchen and bathroom cleaning
- Janitorial and consumables service
Of course, over the last two years there has been a dominant threat to the health and safety of not just our nation, but the whole world. The emergence of Covid-19 forced businesses to take extra measures with cleaning and disinfecting in order that they could operate safely once restrictions had been relaxed.
Although thankfully today the threat of Covid isn’t the horror story it was two years ago, we need to remember that we are still in a pandemic. Scientists have agreed that the Covid-19 pandemic will end at some point and become an epidemic, but this means that the virus will never be eliminated completely. Immunity will continue to rise through vaccination and previous infection, therefore new infections will arise at a consistently lower level.
Nevertheless, employer, employee and customer safety must come first, and the advantages of disinfecting and cleaning reach beyond eliminating any potential Covid infection. Regular and professional disinfection can help lessen the risk of spread of Covid-19 and its potential variants, which is why most professional cleaning contractors have added Covid Cleaning to their schedule of services.
Why should you engage the services of a professional commercial cleaning contractor?
Gone are the days when it’s sensible to try and keep business cleaning in-house. The fast pace of business today means that cleaning tasks can seem less important than other matters at hand, and often even the most basic of those are pushed back and sometimes forgotten completely.
There are many reasons why a professional cleaning contractor can enhance your business, and not just aesthetically.
They have experience – Your contractor is expert in looking after the cleanliness and hygiene of all types of commercial premises. They have first-hand knowledge in this field and when you hire them, they will know your exacting requirements. They can tailor their service to deliver the best possible schedule of cleaning to you.
Time management – As discussed above, a busy office or business leaves very little time for cleaning. Your staff are hired for a specific role and may not consider cleaning to be part of that. Besides, when you think about things in terms of productivity, an hour spent working on their professional job will make the business money whereas an hour spent cleaning will not. By hiring a professional cleaning company, the cleaning of your premises will be carried out regardless of how busy things become.
Project a positive image – It can often be underestimated just how much a clean and sanitary workplace can enhance your reputation. Likewise, a dirty and unwelcoming premises can project a negative image, which you really don’t want! Having your building sparkling from entry will leave a positive and lasting impression on your staff, visitors, clients, and customers which in turn will help to boost your company’s public profile.
No expensive cleaning equipment – When we think of cleaning equipment, we are not always prepared for the list of items needed to carry out the basics, let alone deep cleans and periodicals. Do you have the storage space to house everything needed? Vacuum cleaners can be cumbersome machines, and if you have hard floors which need regular maintenance or carpets that require frequent cleaning then storing the machines needed for these tasks might be impossible.
Your cleaning contractor will bring all the equipment and products needed if it is written into your contract. Sometimes, domestic grade cleaning products and equipment are not adequate in a commercial setting and your contractor will have access to more heavy duty or professional grade products. You need not worry about supplies and storage as it will all be taken care of, leaving you free to run your business.
Prevent the spread of infection – Regular and thorough cleaning will help to halt the spread of any potential infection. Germs and bacteria can survive on hard surfaces for up to 72 hours, which isn’t good news if there are a few days between cleans. Shared equipment can also transfer germs between employees so regular disinfection is essential.
Since the emergence of Covid-19, sick employees are less likely to ‘battle through’ illness by coming to work; working from home has enabled many to carry on working without putting their colleagues in harm’s way. Sadly, the incubation period for some viruses happens days before symptoms start to show, so by the time somebody falls sick they could have potentially infected countless other employees. Regular cleaning can lessen the risk even if it doesn’t eliminate it completely.
Peace of Mind – Feeling relaxed is important for you when you hand over responsibility of any part of your business. Having peace of mind that each member of your cleaning team will have been fully vetted is paramount; this ensures that only honest, trustworthy, and reliable operatives will be working on your site. If your cleaning contract is out of office hours, it is vital that you have trust in your chosen provider.
Another point to consider is whether the productivity of the cleaning contractor matches the number of hours you employ them for. Here at Brightr, we are completely transparent in our processes at point of quotation. In fact, we possess some very intelligent software into which we input the dimensions of the premises in question (the database parameters adjust accordingly) plus floor types, number of toilets, food and drink prep areas, and any other relevant information. The software then accurately calculates the number of cleaning hours needed, which reassures our clients that they will never overpay for the service provided and gives them complete peace of mind.
Ad-hoc Services – If you need any additional services, these can be discussed with your supplier. Most contractors will offer an end of tenancy or pre tenancy cleaning service if you are moving to new premises and some will include exterior services such as gutter cleaning, pressure washing and graffiti removal on an ad-hoc basis.
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The cleaning of one commercial premises or site compared to another may require different skills, equipment, and processes. A deep clean may be required periodically or you may have additional facilities with security risks attached such as a pharmacy in a supermarket or machinery in a factory. This is where Brightr Ltd can help with our one-off solutions and ongoing contracts.
Our team of cleaners are expertly trained to deal with the differing requirements which can be presented to them when carrying out commercial cleaning services. After an initial visit from one of our supervisors, we will recommend how often our cleaners should visit, how often they should clean particular areas and how often a deep clean may be needed. We won’t duplicate an existing contract as we want to make sure you get exactly what you need from our services.
Each of our cleaners are fully qualified and will arrive badged and uniformed so you can easily identify them whilst they are on your site. They are also required to provide us with two references before becoming members of our team so you can be assured that you are getting reliable and trustworthy individuals who have been thoroughly vetted.
If you’d like a no obligation quote or would like to discuss your requirements, we’d be happy to speak to you. Give us a call on 01604 556677 or click here to read about our commercial cleaning services.
