Assessing the here and now
June 1st 2009

Are current conditions in the carpet and upholstery care market a cause for concern?

Cleaning Systems UK's Sandy Pearson,MD, gives his overview of the situation

Cleaning Systems UK performs cleaning, restoration and maintenance of carpets, fabrics and floors.The Fife based company also sells machinery and chemicals, and provides training and consultancy services.The business also contains a wood, stone and resilient floor division, Absolute Floorcare.

As a supplier to other carpet and upholstery cleaning businesses, and also overseeing Cleaning Systems UK's commercial cleaning division, Pearson believes he is well placed to give an insight into this market sector.

While Cleaning Systems UK has been trading for 20 years Pearson started his foray into carpet and upholstery care in the recession of the 70s. "At that time there seemed to be a lot of people getting redundancy payments and launching into carpet and upholstery cleaning – it seemed a popular thing to do.Mind you laminate floors ere not around and everything seemed to be carpeted, including the loos. Hot water extraction, while in its infancy, was the preferred method and suppliers appeared to be doing very well.

"This recession seems to be different.Despite industry statements that 'people will clean before they replace,' the feedback I get from our trade customers is that for some this isn't happening in sufficient volumes to negate the effects of the general downturn. No doubt there will be businesses bucking the trend but for many it is a bit of a roller coaster ride.

Under pressure

"Cleaning machinery manufactures seem to be having a torrid time. While sales staff will always come and go, since the beginning of this year the turnover has been particularly high and of course some companies are letting sales staff go and not filling the vacancy.The Scottish Cleaning Exhibition organised by BICSc in Scotland for May has had to be postponed as a result of the downturn.

"There seems to be extreme pressure on chemical manufacturers' costs with raw material for extraction powders rising significantly.The pound's performance against the euro and dollar is also adding to increases in import costs." Pearson has noticed a fall off in commercial carpet care with frequencies for carpet maintenance reaching levels where they will impact negatively on the life cycle costs of the installation. In the hospitality sector, reduced cleaning and a drop off in standards can have a catastrophic effect at inspections for star status.

Looking ahead

As to the future Pearson says,"I don't believe our business sector will collapse, there will always be a need for carpet and upholstery cleaning.There will undoubtedly be businesses who will make adjustments to improve the offering to obtain more of a smaller market.

"Carpet and upholstery cleaners are in a service industry and customer expectations of what they get for their hard earned cash will be more demanding. "I have noticed a steady stream of our clients upgrading to more powerful units, investing in additional training and complimentary services to their core businesses. "To do this indicates to me that A:They can find the resources to do so and B:They are sufficiently confident in the future to invest now."

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