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Established in 1982, the British Cleaning Council (BCC) is the authoritative voice of UK cleaning, hygiene and waste industry, a sector worth nearly £59bn a year to the country’s economy and one which employs 1.47 million people.

The council’s membership is made up of 21 trade and membership associations which are all linked to the cleaning and hygiene professions. From contract cleaning to waste management, pest control to housekeeping, training providers to machine manufacturers, chemical suppliers to wheelie-bin washers – the BCC coordinates, campaigns and supports the affairs of the whole of the UK’s cleaning industry.

 

How did join the British Cleaning Council?
Membership of the council is open to any recognised trade association, research/educational body, or institution concerned with industrial, commercial and institutional cleaning. 

Although we cannot join the British Cleaning Council we follow there guidance extremely closely.

 

What is the relationship between British Cleaning Council and its members?
The British Cleaning Council is an umbrella organisation for its 21 constituents. A representative director from each member company meets at council meetings and each are eligible to apply for funding. British Cleaning Council`s funding comes from half of the profits from the biennial Cleaning Show.

Beginnings 1982

It was the year of the Falklands War, a loaf of bread cost 37p and Steven Spielberg had everyone spell bound with a strange creature called ET. It was also the year that three industry insiders decided the UK cleaning industry needed to speak with one voice, and so formed the British Cleaning Council.

 

The three co-founders; David Watt, Terence King and Robert Burtinshaw, became inspired after hearing the newly installed Master of the Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners, David Evans, tell an audience at the Installation Banquet in 1981 that he felt all sectors of the UK cleaning industry should amalgamate to advance their common interests.

 

The aim of the new body would be to draw together all the many strands that go to make up the UK cleaning industry and be an umbrella organisation under which all other industry associations could convene. The objectives were to improve, health, hygiene and general cleanliness, and to raise the profile of the industry both at home and abroad.

 

These ideals were widely shared and a number of associations came on board right from the start. The BCC’s founder members were:  Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners (WCEC), Industrial Machine Manufacturers Association (ICMMA), Janitorial Supply Association (JANSA), British Association for Chemical Specialities (BACS), British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc),Federation of Window Cleaners (FWC),National Carpet Cleaners Association (NCA).

 

 The Cleaning Show

The original members were determined that the newly formed Council should not be considered a ‘talking shop’ so it was decided from the outset that the Council would need adequate funds to operate effectively. The board were adamant that they wanted to support and fund members’ schemes, and to do this properly they needed a good source of income.

 

The co-founders therefore decided, with the support of the BCC, to form a company; British Cleaning Council Exhibitions ltd (BCCE) which would join forces with another exhibition organiser, with the aim of setting up and promoting national and regional cleaning exhibitions.

The first joint venture company was Reed Exhibitions, followed by Turret Press, which in turn was followed in the early 90s, by Quartz Business Media, who are still the BCC’s Cleaning Show partners today.

 

The first jointly run event ‘BCCE 88’ was held in March 1988 at Olympia in London. The three day exhibition exceed expectations and the next show was organised for the following year.  In the 90s the show moved to the NEC in Birmingham, and then came back to London in 2015 where it presently resides.

 

In 2016, the format was expanded with the first Cleaning Show in Manchester, which proved a great success. The Manchester Cleaning Show is now a fixture in the sector's calendar.

 

The success of the Cleaning Show allowed the Council to plough funds back into the industry in the form of grants to help members’ projects. Over the years thousands of pounds have been awarded to help fledgling projects get off the ground.

 

The Winds of Change

From the 1980s onwards the pace of change in cleaning industry gathered momentum, with technological, economic and political forces all having a big impact.

 

But the BCC had arrived at the perfect time to meet this change, and was well placed to play a leading role, both by giving the industry a voice, and by being the body the industry could unite behind as the winds of change swept across the UK.

 

One of the biggest changes that took place was the government’s introduction of compulsory competitive tendering, which opened up the market in local authority and NHS service provision.

 

The contract cleaning sector exploded overnight as companies sprung up trying to win the lucrative government cleaning contracts.

At the same time this was happening a great swath of new legislation and regulations, many from the EU, were coming into play which directly affected the cleaning industry.

 

The Council was again perfectly positioned to help the industry meet these challenges. And through the collective wisdom and experience of its membership was able to share best practice and pass on knowledge which members could use in their everyday businesses.

 

With so much change happening and so many new guidelines and rules to follow, companies could see the advantages of belonging to a trade association, and the BCC’s membership continued to grow through the 90s with big associations like the CSSA, and Keep Britain Tidy coming onboard.

 

The Voice of the Industry

As the BCC evolved it was able to spearhead the drive for better standards in the industry. In 2010 the Council published its own manifesto to accompany the General Election, and for the first time it was able to write down its core aims and beliefs in a document that all members could sign up to.

 

The Council was now the undisputed voice of the industry and the manifesto highlighted its members’ priorities: Sustainability, Education and Training, Healthcare, Technology, Waste Management, Health and Safety, Public Hygiene and Specialist Cleaning.

The outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020 gave a new spur to the drive to make sure the voice of the industry was heard in the corridors of power.

 

The sector and its staff performed a critical role during the pandemic, keeping the public and keyworkers safe, healthy and well. The BCC intensified its campaign for recognition for this frontline role and the importance of the industry.

 

The BCC led the drive for the formation of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Cleaning and Hygiene Industry in 2021, in order to help the sector communicate with policymakers.

 

The following year, it launched the We Clean, We Care campaign to reflect the pride of staff in their vital role.

 

The Future

The 40 years since the BCC’s formation has brought many social, political and economic changes, but the cleaning industry has weathered all the storms that has come its way, and is today in a strong position to face the future.

 

The BCC’s co-founders philosophy from the start was that a collective body of professionals will always be more powerful than an individual person or company, and that is as viable today as it was 40 years ago.

 

For the UK Cleaning and Hygiene Industry

 

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Cleaning and Hygiene Industry was inaugurated in February 2021, with the support of a sizeable number of MPs from all the major political parties and members of The House of Lords.

The group exists to promote the critical importance of the cleaning and hygiene industry to the people of the United Kingdom.

The APPG is operated by the MPs and members of the House of Lords with the British Cleaning Council acting in the role of secretariat and organising a significant number of steering groups in seeking to carry out the industry’s clear, focused and much needed strategic aims.

 

For the UK Cleaning and Hygiene Industry

 

During 2021, the APPG to conduct a short inquiry to highlight the essential nature of the work undertaken by cleaning and hygiene operatives. [Cleaning is skilled work. It should be recognised as a skilled occupation.

 

To work with the cleaning industry trailblazer group, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, and Departmental Ministers and their officials to encourage the development of occupational standards and the introduction of Level 2 apprenticeships in cleaning science.

 

The APPG to promote the importance of the cleaning and hygiene sector to restore popular confidence to return to public places, including workplaces.

 

In the aftermath of the pandemic, the APPG to encourage the adoption and promotion of preventative health and hygiene, such as best practise in disinfection control and sanitisation of surfaces and the introduction of a standard colour-coding system for hygiene to help prevent cross contamination during the cleaning process.

 

To promote the adoption of the real Living Wage; to underline the importance of paying good wages to people in essential occupations, such as cleaning. To shift the adjudication of public sector cleaning contracts away from cost at the expense of value and to end the “race to the bottom”.

 

For the UK Cleaning and Hygiene Industry

 

Purpose

The APPG for the Cleaning and Hygiene Industry exists to promote the critical importance of the cleaning and hygiene sector to people in the United Kingdom. The sector provides essential cleaning and hygiene products and services, and is focused on the well-being of people, their health and safety, as well as the protection of the environment. The importance of the sector, and the essential and skilled work carried out by cleaning and hygiene operatives, is generally undervalued. The pandemic has highlighted it is more important than ever that the vital work undertaken by cleaning and hygiene operatives be properly recognised.

Aims

To support ‘critical and essential worker’ recognition for a significant number of cleaning and hygiene industry staff; they play an essential role in the fight against COVID-19 by maintaining hygienic environments and protecting the health and well-being of people in all kinds of places and properties. Effective cleaning and hygiene regimes are critical and essential to restoring the confidence of the nation in returning to work and normality, thereby supporting the UK economy to recover from the impact of COVID-19.

To support the delivery of an Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education recognised apprenticeship in cleaning science. To support the creation of a recognised accreditation for cleaning and hygiene operatives.

To support the real Living Wage on the basis that a fair day’s work merits a fair day’s pay. Cleaning and hygiene operatives deserve a wage which meets their everyday needs and properly recognises their contribution towards the health and well-being of people and the management of the environment.

To highlight the importance of employee well-being and mental health awareness.

To continue drive the cleaning and hygiene industry and its supply chains in fully complying with the Modern Slavery Act.

To highlight the cleaning and hygiene industry’s contribution towards the attainment of the Government’s sustainability and environmental targets, and the 2050 Net Zero emissions target.

To highlight the importance of properly regulating cleaning and disinfection products.

To highlight issues of product safety and the elimination of unregulated products making unsubstantiated claims.

To highlight the impact of EU Regulations on the distribution and availability of products in Northern Ireland.

To encourage the sector’s commitment to a green recovery by setting stretching targets to reduce waste: to eliminate the unnecessary use of single-use plastic and to create a circular economy for all types of packaging.

To see the sector’s SMEs are treated fairly by having their invoices paid in full and on time.

To assess how changes to immigration rules impact the cleaning and hygiene industry and to assist the Government in driving change.

To consider how increasing automation and other technology based innovations impact the work undertaken in the cleaning Version 2.1 4 and hygiene sector and the skills required of cleaning operatives.