Thursday, March 8, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Dad’s sick...so I’m running his window cleaning business
11:00am Monday 5th March 2012 in News By Faye Hackwell
aking up dad’s mantle – window cleaner Jack Smith
A SON is keeping his family window cleaning business afloat while his dad fights cancer.
Jack Smith, 20, from Basildon, didn’t want to see the company his father, Matthew Smith, worked hard to build up fold when his dad fell ill, so he took it on himself.
Matthew, 43, was diagnosed with kidney cancer two years ago and underwent gruelling chemotherapy. He is making a good recovery and has entered remission.
Jack, who lives with his dad in Spruce Close, used to work as an underwriter in London, but didn’t want to see Shine Cleaning Services fade away.
He said: “My dad had done it for 15 years, so I decided to take it on. We’re really close – I’d call my dad my best friend – and I feel really proud to have kept the business going by following in his footsteps.
“My dad can’t handle the physical side of the job any more.
“He’s still a bit involved in the financial side, although I do most of it myself.”
Many of the cleaning company’s regular customers have been hiring its services for more than a decade because they built up a rapport with outgoing and friendly Matthew.
Jack said: “A lot of them are pleased to see me carrying on the business, because he was so popular.”
Jack currently cleans houses and small commercial properties across south Essex, but plans to expand the business in the future by securing big contracts and taking on staff.
He said: “I’d love to clean some of the big skyscrapers in London and it would be great to get a contract with Southend Airport, because it’s a big local business.
“If I had children one day it would be great if they could carry the family business into a third generation.”
Man confesses to love of Window Cleaning
While some people may find Window Cleaning a chore, one man has admitted that he simply loves doing it.
Writing on Australia's The Chronicle, Greg Johnson, the chief executive of Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce, told his readers of his passion for Window Cleaning.
He explains that, when window cleaning, he sprays on the cleaning agent, agitates it with the reverse sponge side of the squeegee, and then uses long strokes on the pane with the squeegee.
After this he uses a wet cloth to get moisture out of the corners before using a dry cloth on the surface.
Such is his passion for Window Cleaning that he interviewed professional cleaner Terry Koukoulis, asking for some tips.
The cleaner told Mr Johnson that washing up liquid can be added to a bucket of water for a great solution.
Following this, the cleaner should agitate the sponge side of the applicator on the window surface to get at any tough bits.
They should then squeegee the liquid off in one operatic action that never leaves the surface of the window, before taking a dry cloth to the corners.
It is important to get window cleaning right, because even if people scrub the rest of their home, if the panes are left dirty then it can look unkempt and maybe even derelict.
Posted by Antoaneta Tsocheva
Source: http://www.fastklean.co.uk/news/Window-Cleaning-Advice-London/801308804-Man-confesses-to-love-of-Window-Cleaning-.html
Good Samaritan rescues man left clinging to roof
A LOCAL window cleaner was left clinging to the roof of a home for half an hour last week as fierce gusts knocked over his ladders, leaving him struggling to stay on the roof.
Yet even as he clung onto the roof traffic drove by as he called for help with only one good Samaritan stopping to help, which he believes saved him from a broken leg or worse.
Stoneyford man Neil Gardner, from Classic Cleaning, was on a sloping roof as he cleaned windows near the Down Royal Racecourse when the drama began last Thursday.
He was left clinging onto the roof from 16 feet in the air for around half an hour.
Neil said: “It was only about 15 to 16 feet high, but I would have broken my leg at least if I had fallen. I am very grateful to the person who stopped for me. I was calling for help but there was nobody around and the homes were all empty because it was the middle of the day.
“I tried to wave down traffic but only one lorry stopped and then drove on saying they couldn’t help me; who would do that to another human being?
“It was horrible anticipating how to jump down, wondering if I could reach nearby bushes to break my fall.”
Neil added: “The person who helped me showed up in a builder’s lorry and he found the ladders that had blown off the side of the house, which allowed me to get down. All I really want is to thank the guy who saved me and say thanks very much, I very much appreciate it.”
Neil, who has been cleaning windows for 18 years, says this is the first time that anything like this has ever happened. The incident also meant that he was late to collect his four-year-old and one-year-old children from Nursery.
Despite his ordeal, he says that it won’t put him off in the future.
“This has never happened to me before, besides, I’ve got to pay the mortgage” he said.
Source: http://www.lisburntoday.co.uk/news/local/good-samaritan-rescues-man-left-clinging-to-roof-1-3579676