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
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Cycling makes environmental and economic sense for London window cleaner
Antony Cairns cycles to work with all his window cleaning equipment attached to his bicycle.
Antony Cairns has been selected as a Green Streets champion for Fitzrovia. Antony is a window cleaner and travels into Fitzrovia by bicycle from his home in Somers Town. The Green Streets campaign is part of Camden Council‘s plan to encourage more walking and cycling in Fitzrovia and was officially launched yesterday (Tuesday 21 February 2012).
For Antony cycling not only makes environmental sense it also makes a lot of economic sense. “I can get around quickly and cheaply and easily carry my buckets and gear,” says Antony.
He was asked to be a green champion because his work brings him into contact with lots of businesses and people in Fitzrovia and he is an ideal example of someone using cycling as a way to get around.
“As a window cleaner I get to meet a lot of people and a variety of businesses in Fitzrovia. I’m also able to put people in touch with each other through my work,” says Antony who runs his own business.
“I got chosen as a green champion through these connections I have in the neighbourhood. I clean windows all over Fitzrovia. Lee Lyons of the Fitzrovia Partnership had seen me and said that Woof London, a marketing agency, were looking for suitable people to be green champions for a campaign that Camden Council were running. Lee thought I’d be good at this because I was using a bicycle to get around.
“It’s easy for me to promote cycling because riding a bike is so necessary for me to do my job. People are often impressed that I carry all my gear on the bike including a folding ladder,” says Antony.
Most of his work is in Fitzrovia, but Antony also cycles to do a number of window cleaning jobs in, Regent’s Street and across the river in Waterloo. Antony has been a window cleaner for five years and has always got around by either walking or cycling.
You can contact Antony at London Window Cleaning Services.
As it was Shrove Tuesday yesterday cyclists and walkers were treated to free pancakes at Whitfield Gardens and Bedford Square.