Chelseas dream steam
August 1st 2003

There is a quote in the reception of Stamford Bridge by Ken Bates, chairman, Chelsea Football Club The Romans didnt build a great empire by organising meetings - they did it by killing anybody that got in their way. This direct approach to business seems to have pervaded the whole culture at Chelsea including the cleaning regime. Cleaning Matters met up with Neil Harkness, director, Octavia Support Services and Colin Marshall, sales director, 3G Cleaning to discuss cleaning Stamford Bridge and in particular the continual problem of removing chewing gum Commenting on the high demand made by companies such as Chelsea Village Management, facilities management company of the Chelsea Village complex, Neil Harkness states that You're only as good as your last clean. No-one remembers the 170 good cleans, just the last one, and if it was bad, then you can lose your contract. Octavia Support Services of which Neil Harkness is director are the cleaners of Chelseas Stamford Bridge site. But with experience and attention to detail, cleaning the whole stadium takes just 48 hours after a game with only 22 people. To achieve this investment in the right equipment to speed up the job and keep down costs is necessary. The only thing that Chelsea seem to do more of than spend money on new players is to chew gum. With a remit for the concourses, carpet areas, millennium suites, toilets and terraces and a capacity of 42 500, Neil has certainly got his work cut out. If some months there are five games this means that over 200 000 people can pass through the gates with a lot of them chewing gum and then disposing of it on floors, seats and anywhere else you can think of. In the past this had to be scraped up by hand which is both time consuming and not completely effective. When the gum is removed there is an oily residue that is visible where the gum has been. Damage can also occur to carpets when the gum is frozen and then chipped away. However, this is no longer the case with the purchase of a couple of 3Gs GumCart Vapour 3000 machines. These have reduced the problem caused by chewing gum immensely. With the fact that they are more efficient these products will pay for themselves within the year. It is quicker, cleaner and environmentally friendly, says Neil. The GumCart Vapour 3000 is a versatile chewing gum removal unit and can be used inside or in protected areas externally. The unit supports a single operator and can be plugged into mains electricity. It is a continuous dry steam unit with a chemical applicator and automatic boiler refill. I now cost a steamer into every job that I do. It is a universal cleaning tool that can sanitise toilets, deep clean kitchen areas and chemical wise it saves me having to buy a certain amount of descaler, toilet chemicals and floor chemicals that I would otherwise have to, comments Neil. For more information on 3Gs gum or graffiti removal equipment or services contact:

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