‘Full circle’ moments in life should always be treasured and after nearly 20 years with our organisation, predominantly as Site Cleaning Manager at the British Motor Museum, Dave Barr has had his we clean homecoming and full circle moment…
Dave Barr has consistently epitomised the we cleanethos, operating with full commitment and a smile on his face, nothing is ever too much trouble!
Nearing his 20 Year Service Award, Dave has spent much of his time away from our Head Office, a short drive down the M40 at the popular tourist attraction, the British Motor Museum.
As Site Cleaning Manager he oversaw a large team of cleaning staff who carried out varying cleaning tasks to ensure that this ever-popular venue always had the highest cleaning standards.
Earlier this year an opportunity arose in our growing Warehouse Team for a Delivery Driver, with Mike Joyce retiring. Dave with his bubbly personality, immaculate presentation and strong organisation was earmarked for the role and he has now arrived back in Rubery, operating out of our Head Office to service our 350+ client locations.
Dave Barr taking delivery of his brand new corporate van as he transitions into his Delivery / Warehousing role!
Dave will work closely with Ray Janssen and Stuart Basterfield under the guidance of Gary Gallier to ensure that both contract start deliveries and consumable / material deliveries are carried out in a timely fashion.
To supplement what has been a period of growth for our Warehousing and Logistics team, we have introduced a new, we clean branded Van for Dave to utilise, ensuring we can fully cope with increased demand whilst highlighting our continued investment in our ever expanding fleet of ‘green’ vehicles.
This special homecoming also coincides with a special landmark within Dave’s personal life, as today he celebrates his 60th Birthday!
Dave Barr with Gary Gallier and We Clean Directors David Harker & Paul Concannon!
Director Paul Concannon, can remember Dave first joining the Company, and looks back fondly on many great memories over years:
“Dave is a very special and popular member of the we clean‘family’ having joined the company way back in 2004 working as a mobile cleaning operative within the BDHT (Bromsgrove & District Housing Trust) contract. Since those early days he has gone on to do a number of roles within the business but most notably as Site Cleaning Manager at the prestigious British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire where he did an outstanding job for over 14 years! With his 60th Birthday approaching Dave was ready for a change and the Stores Delivery Driver role fitted perfectly for the next phase of h
is career allowing him to come closer to home both personally and professionally and everyone at the we clean HQ is so pleased that Dave is going to be around. On behalf of everyone at we clean we would like to wish Dave a very Happy 60th Birthday he really is an absolute ‘diamond’ and we are so proud to have him in our team!”
The stars have truly aligned as we welcome Dave back into our Head Office & Warehousing set up, as he celebrates his 60th Birthday and as a former Dee Richards Pride Award winner we are immensely proud that he will continue to further his career within we clean!
We are absolutely delighted to announce that we clean have been re-accredited for a fourth time by the Investors In People (IIP) accreditation body!
As an organisation we clean has been an Investors in People business since 2012 and we are immensely proud to be formally recognised as a company that continually values the importance of its ‘people’ in delivering exceptional levels of service to our growing and evolving client base’!
Investors in People is the international standard for people management, defining what it takes to lead, support, and manage people effectively to achieve sustainable results.
When being examined against the Investors in People framework there are 9 key indicators upon which an organisation and its staff are judged:
Leading and Inspiring People
Living the organisations values and behaviours
Empowering and involving people
Managing performance
Recognising and rewarding high performance
Structuring work
Building capability
Delivering continuous improvement
Creating sustainable success
Scoring well above the average across all of the above key indicators, the examiners were pleased to see a ‘real positive culture’ within we clean commenting:
“You place great importance on your people and it is great to see that as an organisation you continue to recognise how crucial it is to invest time and resources in trying to make we clean a better place to work. This was a commendable decision made by we clean as it is an opportunity for the good works in the organisation to be recognised and also a platform for you to develop further. The three main takeaways are:
You continue to promote clear two-way communication and a culture of openness, trust, respect, flexibility, care, and responsiveness in line with your values.
Your leadership can only be described as passionate and caring, which was mirrored throughout the organisation. There is a strong commitment to developing every aspect of the organisation in a consistent manner so the vision, values, and strategy can be brought to fruition.
After 3 years, your people are still passionate about working for you and hold you in high regard. As a company, they continue to be your key priority placing emphasis on ensuring they are happy and feel valued!
Special thanks to you Jessica Powell and Gaynor Powell who orchestrated the whole assessment and coordinated people to be in the right place at the right time. It was a pleasure to witness your people’s passion for their work, pride, and focus on the vision, as well as capture thoughts and opinions, examples, and anecdotes. Well done to you all and congratulations!”
We have grown significantly since our last IIP Assessment 3 years ago adding a further 300 staff during this time making a workforce that now totals nearly 700 staff as of July 2024! Despite this significant expansion particularly within the frontline cleaning team our focused and flat-line management structure has ensured that we have continued to support our staff keeping them fully engaged in our unique ‘company ethos’ and empower them to carry on delivering the high levels of service our clients have come to expect from brand we clean.
We employ a number of motivational initiatives throughout the year such as:
The Dee Richards Pride Awards Programme
10 Year Service Awards
Two weekly attendance bonuses for staff
Annual Christmas bonuses
Birthday cards
Management staff are continually encouraged to evolve and excel within their roles with regular one-to-one review meetings allowing the Directors of we clean to identify clear development pathways for appropriate progression.
Every employee within the business has their personal development tracked and managed via a comprehensive Training Matrix which is overseen by the Company’s dedicated Training Manager, Duncan Thomson who is supported by a number of external training partners such as The British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc) and Environmental Excellence Training & Development Ltd, to ensure we remain at the forefront of an ever-evolving Cleaning Industry!
The Investors In People audit also identified and were extremely impressed by the opportunities within we clean to develop meaningful careers within the discipline of cleaning and the genuine progression to Senior Management roles within the organization from a frontline cleaning operative position.
The Company can be very proud that employees such as Maureen Francis and Charlene Bowen are now experienced Contract Managers after starting with the business as Location Managers and Jean Green, Sean Wright, Dale Brewer, Melissa Rowe, Ben Shields and Diane Murray are all now operating in Contract Management Support roles after beginning their time with we clean as Cleaning Operatives.
Gaynor Powell, Director of HR alongside Jessica Powell, HR & Recruitment Advisor have worked immensely hard in supporting the whole IIP re-accreditation process and they were genuinely thrilled with the way the re-evaluation of our internal ‘people management’ systems went with Gaynor commenting:
“I am absolutely delighted that we clean have been re-accredited once again as an ‘Investor In People’ business.
It has been a remarkable team effort from everyone within our organisation and it demonstrates clearly the value that we place upon our people, we really are a ‘people business’!
The formal feedback from the IIP Assessor Sharon Rowe was that our scoring was well above the average for the service industry noting that our internal communication was excellent, with staff stating they felt well informed of what’s going on within the business ranging from day to day activities to more longer term future plans such as growing our service offering and broadening our geographical reach”.
Paul Concannon Director was also extremely pleased with the outcomes of the IIP re-accreditation process commenting:
“Firstly a massive thank you to all those involved and who contributed to the IIP re-evaluation process with particular thanks to Gaynor Powell and Jessica Powell who had to invest a huge amount of time in making the necessary preparations to ensure the employee engagements with the IIP assessor ran smoothly”!
“As a people business the IIP programme is the most critical and important accreditation to our organization and it is really pleasing that as the we clean brand has continued to grow, with company revenues increasing by 56% since our last audit back in 2021, we haven’t lost the key essence of our ‘company ethos’ with the report highlighting that everyone assessed fully understood the ‘core values’ of the business and what it means to work for we clean”!
It is this more than anything else that will drive our business forward on a day to day basis ‘to do the job right’ as we continue to be we clean and proud of it!
We are absolutely delighted to welcome Julia Morris back into the we clean team, restarting her career with the organisation following her first role back in 2006!
In what is truly a ‘Good News’ story Julia has returned to her roots at our highly valued client, the Birmingham Hippodrome, as a Day Time Front of House Attendant!
We genuinely encourage all frontline staff to develop careers with our organisation and to develop as both individuals and professionals. However, external factors or building management changes can sometimes mean that career paths are not always straightforward, making it all the more special when staff return to work with us…
Julia’s we clean journey began in 2006 following our appointment as the approved cleaning contractor for the Birmingham Hippodrome – a big leap for a 3 year old cleaning company still in its infancy!
Julia TUPE transferred into the team, operating as Day Time Janitor, a public facing and fast paced role which she excelled in with her strong work ethic and positive attitude before leaving in 2009 to start a family!
Following a 5 year hiatus Julia then rejoined we clean in another Day Time role, as a Housekeeper within BrindleyplaceBuilding No. 4, working closely with our Internal Cleaning Manager, Baba Seckan (who is now working for us within One Centenary Way in Paradise).
A slightly different role, in a commercial office environment instead of a venue, Julia adapted and continued to provide an outstanding level of service – displaying real attention to detail and carrying out her role with great discipline.
Unfortunately, through a change of ownership and managing agent at Brindleyplace our cleaning contract ceased across the estate in September of 2023, leaving staff with the option to transfer to the new provider.
Julia, after a lengthy career withwe clean including a starring role in both our company video ‘A Day In The Life’ and on the cover of the 4th edition of our in-house magazine, The Clean, was keen to remain with the business.
Thankfully, a suitable full time position became available that was perfect for Julia!
A return to where she first started with the organisation, and a wonderful full circle moment as she rejoined our Birmingham Hippodrome Team once more as Day Time Front of House Attendant!
Julia Morris (inside L) pictured with David Holmes-McClure, Health & Safety Manager (L), Yvette Meade, Internal Cleaning Manager Birmingham Hippodrome (inside R) and Paul Concannon, Director (R)
For Julia to return to the role she first carried out all those years ago is a truly special moment, and we couldn’t be more delighted to welcome her once more back into the team with Director Paul Concannon commenting:
“We are so pleased to see Julia back with her we clean family at one of our most prestigious contracts!
Julia fully embraces our company ethos and I have no doubt that she will once again provide a very professional, reliable and passionate cleaning service to the Birmingham Hippodrome.
The Birmingham Hippodrome is more popular than ever with over 600,000 patrons per annum that visit to see a whole array of varying performances – but they can be rest assured that Julia will play her part in making that experience as special as it can be!”
We are delighted to have recently awarded longstanding Cleaning Operative, David Bird, his 10 Year Service Award!
A true ‘Black Country gent’, David has been a mainstay within the regions key and most respected financial institution namely, The West Brom Building Society (WBBS)!
David Bird (C) receiving his 10 Year Service Award alongside Adele Hayward, Head of Operations, Mark Brayford, Corporate Facilities Manager, We Clean Director, Paul Concannon and Contract Manager Jane Shields.
A decade is a long period of time and over the last few years in particular the cleaning industry and the landscape within which our teams operate has changed dramatically but there certain qualities and traits that will always stand the test of time within our industry and that is loyalty and commitment.
Our staff work extremely hard, often rising early in the morning to ensure iconic venues and household names across the Midlands are ready for the working day and it gives us immense pride that nearly 30% of our employees have been doing this with us for 10 years or more.
To have such a large percentage of our 600+ cleaning staff working with we clean for this length of time is outstanding in an industry that is often recognised as being a transient workplace setting and highlights the genuine career paths that are available to all staff working within our organisation!
Kicking off his career with we clean all those years ago David was initially under the tutelage of our retired Contract Manager Lynn Gill who helped mould David into the highly skilled and diligent Operative that he is today, complimented by a wonderful ‘work ethic’ he has been able to service The West Brom’s state-of-the-art Head Office for many years achieving excellent results.
“David is a very unassuming member of our team and simply gets on with his work, day in day out. I count myself fortunate to have him within the team and I am very proud to see him join the coveted ’10 Year we clean Club’!
Another person who has witnessed David’s growth and development over this time is Mark Brayford, Corporate Facilities Manager at The West Brom. Mark has always championed our on-site staff to develop both personally and professionally, commenting:
“David is a popular member of the we clean team at the WBBS Head Office. He is well known and liked and has a reputation for his helpfulness and a passion to maintain the high cleaning standards set. Nothing is ever too much trouble and we value David greatly and congratulate him on the recognition of his 10 Years of committed service.”
David is very much we clean, his professionalism, humility and that overriding sense of integrity epitomises completely our unique Company Ethos with a desire and passion to do the job right!!
Well done David we are proud to have you in our team – here’s to the next 10 years!”
