CHTMAG.COM INTERVIEW FEATURE THE ROLE OF THE CHAIRMAN Simon Hollingbery became chairman of the British Cleaning Council in the summer of 2015, becoming the first BCC chairman from the public sector. He is also the building cleaning services manager at Reading Borough Council, and chairman of ABCD, (The Association of Building Cleaning DSPs) who are members of the BCC. CHT caught up with Simon at the recent Manchester Cleaning Show at Event City, and started by asking him about the new regional cleaning event We are delighted with the APRIL 2016 11 CLEANING HYGIENE TODAY Manchester Cleaning Show. Attendance over the two days has been confirmed at just under 2,500, which is many more than we thought when we were planning it with our partners Quartz. It comes off the back of a really successful cleaning show at the Excel in London last year, and with things going so well in Manchester we’re set to hold it again in two years’ time. It shows that the cleaning industry is on the up, and very buoyant at the moment. BCC Why did you put yourself forward for chairman of the BCC? I’d been deputy chairman to Doug Cooke for two years, but Doug found he needed more time to spend on his own company Principle Cleaning, so he decided to step down from the chairman’s duties. I’m actually planning to retire in two years, so I put myself forward to fill the chairman’s chair for just two years, and I’ll be passing the baton on again next year. Do you have any changes planned for the BCC? I think we’ve become a lot more proactive towards our members over the last 12 months. We’ve set up a number of working groups to look at issues that concern the membership, and these groups will be reporting back to the board in due course. We’re currently developing a new business plan to take us through the next three years, and again, this is being driven by BCC members. What are your priorities for your two year tenure? Once we have the business plan in place then the priority will be to deliver as much of it as we can. The last BCC manifesto was written just before the 2010 election - when Gordon Brown was still prime minister! The world has moved on quite a lot since then. So getting the business plan in place is a big priority. Also, our focus is now moving on to the next cleaning show at the Excel in London in March 2017, which promises to be the biggest yet. Being the first BCC chairman from the public sector, have you noticed any differences between the public and private sectors, and does that mean you have to run things differently compared to predecessors? The differences between public and private aren’t as pronounced as you may think in the cleaning industry. At the end of the day we’ve all got the same objectives. The biggest challenge the whole of the industry has faced in recent times was the big recession of 09/10, after the banking crash. The shockwaves were felt across the sector and we’ve all have to change the way we operate. But, thankfully, that is behind us and now and the emphasis is very much on bringing this very diverse industry together, through events like the Cleaning Show. Is there any expansion plans for the BCC? No expansions plans as such, although we have welcomed two new members in the last 12 months; The British Pest Control Association, and The Domestic Cleaning Alliance. That brings us up to 21 members, but we remain open for new members, if an organisation fits our criteria. Industry What are your thoughts on the state of the cleaning industry, both at present and in the future? The industry is going through a bit of a revolution at the moment. This in part is being driven by the Living Wage, but also with things like daytime cleaning, new The biggest challenge the whole of the industry has faced in recent times was the big recession of 09/10, after the banking crash.”
Cleaning Hygiene Today April 2016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above