We must face recession ‘head on’ says BCC
April 1st 2009 “Last year was a difficult year for the cleaning industry in general, due to the approaching recession,” says Steve Wright chairman of The British Cleaning Council (BCC).“It was a year that even the best of us couldn’t plan for.Who could have known that the banks were about to collapse?”
One big issue the BCC has had to face recently is the increased difficulty of attracting sponsorship for industry awards.
(The BCC co-owns the Cleaning Show, organises the Clean Britain Awards scheme and is sponsor to the Golden Service Awards, the Loo of the Year Awards and the Building Cleanability Awards).“Major players are under pressure to maintain margins and must therefore question the validity of any marketing spend.
Sponsorship, which brings short term exposure, is in some cases losing out to other activities which bring more sustained visibility.
“2009 will be a particularly difficult year for everyone in the cleaning industry,”argues Wright.“We can’t hide from the current state of affairs.The only way forward is to face recession head on. It’s a time to grow closer to our customers and to work in partnership with them to ensure survival of both parties.
“The cleaning industry is not recession proof but it can be expected to suffer less than other industries which do not provide essential products and services.We have already seen cutbacks in cleaning chemical and machinery manufacture, while for service it’s just a matter of time. If a manufacturing plant reduces output it will still need cleaning services but at a reduced rate.Cleaning will therefore continue right until the bitter end.
“The bad news for cleaning companies is, however, that they will recover at a slower rate than their manufacturing counterparts once the recession is over.While manufacturing can be switched on and off, reduced levels of cleaning service contracted during a recession are likely to be renegotiated at the same level once the economy levels out. “Unfortunately the worst is still to come for our industry.
“On the legal front it is crucial that additional tax and national insurance charges to be incurred by companies in the future are passed on to customers. If companies try to absorb these costs themselves they could find themselves in serious difficulty.
“Finally, the million dollar question – how should we survive recession? The best advice I can offer to a company is to spend its way through these difficult times. Smart investment in training and marketing will provide a certain level of protection and will give the company a better chance of survival long term.”
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