Executive Housekeeping Today - Demo - (Page 5)

Cleaning in the United Kingdom If we were to go back in time in the United Kingdom, many people may remember the “ladies that do”—50-plus women with hair curlers, a head scarf, and the obligatory cigarette in the mouth (more commonly known as the fag)! The sight of these women scrubbing the front doorsteps of shops, offices, and their own front door are still available, and are still the butt of jokes from the top comedians. But things have changed Today, the cleaning industry in the U.K. is a massive one. Gone are the days when shops would employ an early-morning cleaner; public and hotel toilets would have attendants who remained there all day; and hotels would employ all their own staff. Today, we are talking large-scale industrial cleaning, with contract cleaners maintaining multiple stores and visiting several times a day. The same goes with public conveniences, and with a lot of the country’s larger hotels, especially in London—they now give entire buildings or floors out to contract cleaners for servicing. There are many similarities between the cleaning industry in the U.K. and the U.S.A. For one, there seems to be a move away from calling it cleaning! We now like to say things like “servicing” and “room attendants” (instead of maids). In addition, both countries have increased the use of contract cleaners as opposed to regular staffing; and both countries have increased the use of environmentally-preferred products. However, there are many differences as well. i by Jean Roberts and Ian Hughes Differences: Size and Age Matter! shire (relations to Her Majesty, the Queen), have furniture from their Chatsworth House on loan to the hotel. One table is approximately worth £10,000 (Editor’s note: That’s about $20,000 to us Yanks)! The housekeeper has to ensure the highest standards of cleanliness and maintenance, while making sure to not use products that could damage the historic furniture. We often do not use the latest sanitizer products—for example, we still use bees wax. In addition, many buildings in the U.K. have art and pictures hung that have special cleaning requirements. Many buildings also have open fires with log and coal burning, which makes for a very pleasant atmosphere, but adds a lot of cleaning requirements for the specialists in housekeeping. In the U.K., our properties are smaller in comparison to our sisters’ in the States; on average, our properties have 100 rooms. Having said that, we do range from small, boutique, eight-room properties, all the way to the largest properties in London, which have 1,200 rooms. Offices and multi-use facilities are also smaller in comparison to the U.S. U.K. housekeepers have to take into consideration that the country has a large amount of properties that date back to the 1600s and earlier. Many of the U.K.’s historic public buildings; for example, cathedrals, town halls, theatres, universities (like Oxford and Cambridge), etc., are in areas of high traffic—both by vehicle and foot—and this causes a lot of fumes and dirt. The fact that these buildings are historic and have millions of visitors a year makes them require a completely different style of cleaning—they require special cleaning on top of day-to-day cleaning. For example, many of these older buildings have stone, and stone cleaning requires special firms to come clean it; however, cleaning stone causes a lot more dirt for the housekeeping staff, which increases their day-today cleaning. Housekeepers also have to take into consideration the historic furniture and art within the buildings. For example, the Devonshire Arms Bolton Abbey hotel, owned by the Duke and Duchess of Devon- Current Cleaning Initiatives In more modern establishments in the U.K., easier cleaning tactics are being implemented; for example, carpets are being taken out and replaced by hard surfaces, as this allows for easier maintenance and cleaning. It eliminates the requirements of regular carpet cleaning, and is therefore more cost-effective. Wallpaper is also being replaced with painted walls and all bathrooms are changing to tile for easier cleaning. Similar to the U.S., microfiber cleaning cloths are now becoming commonplace in the cleaning industry in the U.K. This newer technology assists the high standards of cleaning in this country. (continued on page 10) July 2007/Executive Housekeeping Today 5

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Executive Housekeeping Today - Demo

Contents Executive Corner FTEs: A Fresh Approach to an Old Challenge Cleaning in the United Kingdom Frugal Housekeeper The Green Scene

Executive Housekeeping Today - Demo

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