Keeping it in the family
December 1st 2008 DOC works on prestigious sites around the capital, priding itself on quality of people and performance.Gerardine Coyne gave its London sites the eye
Bored with sitting around the bay, two former London dock workers,Dave O'Connor and Bob Andrews, founded family run company DOC Cleaning in 1972. O'Connor (pictured right) is still a director, Bob Andrews' son Lee is MD (middle), and his other son Danny (left) is operations director. Lee's son Lee (19) has now started work for the company at the National Gallery learning the ropes while completing a foundation degree in Environmental Cleaning Management. DOC likes to start them early then?"Yes, I was 12 when I first worked for the company at the National Gallery. In fact it was my 12th birthday.My dad gave me a fiver and I bought a watch," laughs Lee Andrews.
However, Lee Andrews admits that today the labour pool for cleaners is shrinking."No one leaves school wanting to be a cleaner." Andrews says there are virtually no native English cleaners and as other countries become more affluent,'traditional' sources of labour are drying up."In the mid-90s we had lots of Spanish and Portuguese staff, but as they learn the language and gain qualifications, they move into areas like nursing."Now that companies are employing workers from outside the EU there are legal issues and legislation pushes costs up."It's good that minimum wage and holiday pay is up but clients aren't happy, and rates are market driven," says Lee Andrews. He says a lot of clients won't pay Boris Johnson's 'Living Wage' of £7.65/hr."In our tender we say – this is our pay rate – is there any movement, i.e. are you willing to pay more? We are never the cheapest, not because we're greedy, but because we believe cleaning is about the quality of the labour." DOC's belief in quality of labour has paid off. It was granted a Royal Warrant of Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen in January 2008, in consideration of its length of service and continuous high standards of workmanship on behalf of the Royal Household.The company has always operated at historic and prestigious sites, notably The National Gallery (34 years),The Palace of Westminster (36 years) and Buckingham Palace (15 years). Lee Andrews believes the company's success is down to its personal hands-on approach."We get involved in everything."However, he also admits it's the staff who make the company."We can't take all the credit.As we've grown we've taken on very good people.We won't employ just anyone.We want them to have our ethics.We like to keep our contracts, not just have them for three years and then move on."Staff retention rates are excellent."We have people who've worked here since 1972, though they do have to do their work in a wheelchair," he kids.
DOC try and promote from within, so they are big on training. Joelma Empy is originally from Brazil and started working for DOC as a cleaner seven years ago. She is now site manager at Tower 42, the tallest building in the City of London."I've always been a hard worker,' Empy says,"but I didn't expect to get this high up, because I could hardly say 'hello' when I came to England."Over several years DOC put Empy on over a dozen courses ranging from health and safety to understanding management and people skills. Since Empy started working at Tower 42 two months ago, she says the feedback has been good,"We have had emails every day praising our quick response. If they have a problem I sort it straight away as I have one guy working for me who is completely on call to do anything that comes up." She says the biggest challenge was retraining the staff who opted to stay on from the previous contractor under TUPE. Happily, all full time staff have been retained after re-training using BICSc methods.
The art of cleaning
John Morrissey is the house manager overseeing DOC's contract at the National Gallery. He edged Cleaning Matters away from Lee Andrews for a quiet word during his fag break, but though his face was serious his words were warm."DOC has been here 25 years and we don't have any problems.There is a lot of competition, but they are one of the few contractors seen as part of the organisation."Morrissey says DOC is friendly and takes a real interest in the building."They don't see it as a money machine.Great care and pride is taken.We must be one of the cleanest galleries in Britain – and Europe." Morrissey says DOC attends a good number of meetings as the National Gallery is such a complex organisation.
Though Morrissey openly admits that Lee Andrews frequently bribes him with bacon butties, he is genuine as he concludes that for DOC,"Nothing is too much trouble." Kevin Stewart is DOC's main man at the National Gallery.He says the challenges are the restricted hours.Office areas must be cleaned between six and eight, and public areas from eight until ten. Dust mopping is done daily, and floors are buffed weekly. Eight percent of the floors are sealed with lacquer bona – an environmental floor seal with minimal drying time and maintenance.
DOC recommended the use of the lacquer as an improvement to using a solvent based product to clean which required galleries to be shut down for a week."They're a good company to work for. It's like a little family," says Stewart. His enthusiasm for the paintings however, is not as keen."After 18 years, sometimes when you look closely you think,'that foot's out of proportion – I could have done better than that'".
Director O'Connor believes longevity plays a large part in the company's success and that the more you enjoy your job, the better you are.Again, it is all about that family feeling."I'm godfather to the DL (direct labour), I go to the weddings and the funerals.We're unique in the friendships we strike up and maintain. I've been working here (at Parliament buildings) since I was 21, now I'm 60 – and I'm still on friendly terms with the people Imet in the beginning." This is proved by the waves and nods O'Connor gets as we sit with our drinks in the cafe area. And the final word? O'Connor is in earnest as he smiles,"Don't be a contractor, be part of the building." |
