After what has been a challenging eighteen months, many industries are still suffering with staff shortages, potentially impacting our recovery from Covid-19.

The rate of vacancies has risen dramatically over the last six months, with a recent survey from the British Cleaning Council (BCC) showing an increase of over 200 per cent in some cases. Whereas historically the cleaning and hygiene industry has been able to recruit workers of all nationalities, many businesses are now finding that the previous volume of overseas workers is proving difficult to replace with UK nationals.

The pandemic has highlighted more than ever the need for good standards of cleanliness and hygiene, and these staff shortages threaten to hamper the good progress that organisations are making to protect the public from the virus.

To help them address their struggles, we’ve been contacted by a number of venues who, like many other sectors, are finding it difficult to recruit for their in-house cleaning teams. We are glad to have been able to provide them with both short- and long-term solutions, to ensure that they still have trained and professional cleaning operatives protecting their customers.

How we support our staff

Our staff are the core of our business, and focusing on sustainable, ethical employment has enabled us to support our clients with the support they need. 

We want to beat the poor perception that the cleaning industry can have – notoriously high employee turnover, long hours, poorly paid – and the resulting stigma that puts people off. Instead, here at AQS, many of our team have worked with us for years, which we can attribute to the support, training and opportunities that we offer to all our staff, as well as recognising them with a decent wage. 

We’re part of the Living Wage Foundation, which found that 93% of university students want to work for accredited employers, and are proud to have Recognised Service Provider status, which means we are committed to paying all directly employed members of staff the real Living Wage.

Diana, a cleaning operative who has worked with us for over ten years, comments: “Working at AQS suits me as it provides me with great hours which allow me to balance my life outside work and enjoy some quality time with my children as well as earning a full-time wage”.

Having worked for some of the larger national companies, our Operations Manager Steve says, “It is a pleasure to work at AQS as they put their staff and clients above everything else.”

Our Contracts Manager Lee O’Shea explains what he enjoys about working with us: “At AQS everyone works as a team and supports one another which is this industry is a massive help. We have a fantastic client base with a great variation of sites, which makes my job interesting and enjoyable”. 

Introducing our mobile team

In addition to our contracts team, we employ a ‘mobile rapid response’ team offering a high level of flexibility for our clients. 

Our mobile team is indispensable. Covering all types of cleaning, from office to industrial, the members of the team are incredibly versatile, diligent and can always be deployed to a job quickly.

With a diverse customer base servicing clients such as national hotel chains, restaurants, educational facilities and block management companies, as well as public sector contracts for council buildings and transport providers, we tailor our services to meet our client’s specific requirements.

Our mobile team’s services are available 24/7 to meet the operational requirements of your business, with recurrent or one off servicing options available.

Commenting on the work that the mobile team has undertaken for one of our clients at Pentwyn Leisure Centre, “We just want to say how pleased we are at Pentwyn Leisure Centre. Your team are reliable, hard-working and nothing is too much bother. They have a wonderful standard of work and we are really happy with the service”. 

If you are based in Cardiff or the surrounding area and looking for support with cleaning or housekeeping, talk to us about how we can help provide a solution. Hopefully that would take some of the pressure off.

Find out more about the services we provide for our clients, from commercial cleaning to stadiums and specialist FM services, or to speak to us about your specific requirements, get in touch.