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That’s great for the catering and hospitality industry, as many venues will be showing #Euro2016, #Wimbledon & the #Olympics on their screens over the summer period. Undoubtedly lots of people will take this opportunity to go out and paint the town red. Lots of food and beverages will be consumed; strawberries and cream, Pimms and the like – meaning spillages on the floor and stains will no doubt occur!

To save you from being red in the face over the state of your carpets WMS are here to help so you can enjoy this summer period!

We provide first-class, carpet cleaning services in London, Reading, Luton and the South West for offices, public houses, hotels, restaurants, shops and other buildings! Frequent cleaning not only does extend the life of your carpets, but it also enhances the quality of your environment and helps remove bacteria, pollutants and allergens. 

Please check out our carpet cleaning to find out more about our Cleaning Services or alternatively, you can email contact@wmsss.co.uk or call 01279 215 174 today!

Good Luck to Murray, Broady & Konta playing at SW19 today!

As we enter the final week of campaigning, the nations big dilemma is nearly upon us. Caught between “It’s the Economy stupid!” and “It’s about controlling immigration stupid!” each side of the argument is passionate about their outlook for Britain. But what does it means for the FM industry? We have polarising perspectives here also.

Recruitment challenges post Brexit figure highly in some of the commentary; such as this article from FM World
http://www.fm-world.co.uk/…/analysts-predict-the-economic-…/

According to recent research many businesses in the UK aren’t adhering to the minimum standards when it comes to office toilets. Employees are facing long queues for the cubicles and unsatisfactory washroom facilities, which has an effect on our country’s bottom line.

Initial Washroom Hygiene found that 20% of small businesses are not meeting the legal requirements for the minimum number of toilets they have in their offices. Additionally, according to research, over 50% of those surveyed said that they regularly had to wait to use the toilet facilities at work (wasting over 5 hours a year of productivity) and 20% commented on how unhappy they were with the general facility standards.

A global survey from WIN/Gallup International has found that 65% of those polled across 64 countries ‘agree’ that washing their hands with soap and water is something they automatically do – however 26% somewhat agree, while just under one in ten (8%) disagree.

The survey interviewed a total of 62,398 people across the world and found there are significant differences by region. Those from China and Japan were significantly less likely to automatically use soap and water (23% and 30% respectively), while those from Saudi Arabia were most likely to wash hands with soap and water.

Within Europe, the Greeks reported to be the cleanest, 85% agreeing that they wash their hands with soap and water automatically, the Dutch the least likely (50%).

In the Americas Colombia proved to be the cleanest with 93% agreeing that they automatically wash their hands with soap while Mexico was the least likely to agree with 32% either simply somewhat agreeing, somewhat disagreeing or disagreeing completely.

Around the world, 440 million school days are lost every year due to water, sanitation and hygiene related diseases (WHO/UNICEF 2013). It is estimated that hand washing with soap alone could save over 650,000 lives each year (Greenland et al 2012).

Jean-Marc Leger, president of WIN/Gallup International Association, said: “It is estimated that 35% of the global population has no access to safe bathroom facilities and that an alarmingly high number of people across the world are not washing their hands with soap and water, either because of a lack of facilities or bad habits.”

If you are interested in this article then why not check out our washroom services or for more information click here.  

A high number of workplaces are unaware of new legislation that was introduced at the start of January and means that waste handlers in England and Wales must now collect recyclable materials separately, according to workplace equipment supplier Slingsby (www.slingsby.com).

Under the Waste Regulations 2011, since 1 January 2015 public and private waste collectors have to collect paper, plastic, metal, and glass separately from each other whenever it is technically, environmentally or economically practicable to do so.

Lee Wright, marketing director at Slingsby, said: “Until fairly recently 90% of UK waste was sent to landfill which was clearly unsustainable and although we’ve made some major improvements in recent years there’s still more we can do as a nation. These latest changes aim to increase both the quantity and the quality of waste that is recycled and it follows similar regulations being introduced in Scotland at the start of 2014. The legal requirements actually lie with the waste collectors, so many are encouraging their commercial customers to separate waste as it is produced. However, it appears that many businesses are still adapting to the new regulations and many that we speak to are not even aware of them. As a result of these regulations we have seen a steady increase in sales of recycling equipment in recent months, including segregation bins, containers and signage, and there has been a surge of sales since the start of the year as firms rush to adapt. In addition to the environmental benefits of these regulations, recycling will usually save money and forward thinking workplaces can even use it to their advantage when it comes to winning work, because being able to boast about good environmental credentials often sits well with customers.”

A campaign to promote good working conditions in the cleaning industry has been launched by an industry-led taskforce set up by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The taskforce, chaired by EHRC deputy chair Caroline Waters, includes leading businesses, trade associations and trade unions.

The Commission convened the taskforce following publication of its report The Invisible Workforce: employment practices in the cleaning sector. This set out its findings on employment practices in the commercial cleaning sector in England, Scotland and Wales.

The report found many examples of good practice. These included cleaning firms with policies in place to promote equality and also clients who enter into longer-term contracts. These help firms to develop positive relationships with suppliers and also encourage investment in workforce development, leading to greater job stability.

The report also found that some employers did not provide contracts to staff. Further, some failed to pay their employees in full, or to pay sickness or holiday leave entitlements. Many cleaning operatives are female migrants, who spoke of being ‘invisible’, of being treated badly compared to other employees, and said they did not understand their rights.

To solve these problems the taskforce developed principles for responsible procurement. The purpose of this is to encourage clients who buy in cleaning services to consider the impact of procurement on the employment practices of cleaning providers. The taskforce also developed a poster to highlight the value of cleaning operatives, and Your Rights at Work postcards for cleaning firms to send to their employees explaining their employment rights.

All of the materials are available to download on the Commission’s website.

Caroline Waters, Equality and Human Rights commissioner and taskforce chair, said: “The Commission’s role is to promote and enforce the laws that protect our rights to fairness, dignity and respect. It has been a great privilege to have worked over the past year or so with so many people who are committed to improving the working conditions of cleaning operatives.

“It is fantastic that taskforce members drawn from across business, industry, trade associations, government, voluntary bodies and trade unions have come together with their thoughts, ideas and energy, and with a real appetite for tackling the problems our original report revealed. We very much hope the tools we have now produced will help to bring real and lasting change for commercial cleaning operatives.”