Clean for Good Report Reveals Need for More Ethical Outsourcing

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23 July 2020

The potential dangers that employers face when they outsource cleaning services have been outlined a report, forwarded by Dr Eve Poole.

According to recent research by YouGov, some 83 per cent of businesses in London have outsourced a key service to a third party. In the cleaning sector in 2020, it is estimated that 60 per cent of workers still earn less than the Living Wage.

The report was written for Clean for Good, a London based ethical cleaning company, and explains what businesses can do to ensure more ethical practices. It includes a six-point checklist for firms when considering outsourcing cleaning services.

“Done well, outsourcing can deliver innovation, efficiency and positive outcomes. It can help small organisations access expertise they could never afford to hire in-house. It can help large organisations achieve efficiencies and enable them to focus on their core business. But done badly, outsourcing can not only cause a serious operational headache, it can unravel an organisation’s hard-earned reputation.”

–Tim Thorlby

Managing Director, Clean for Good

Helping to “Build Back Better” Post-COVID-19

The report “From outsourcing to ethical sourcing: How to buy in services without selling out” highlights the importance for firms to protect their frontline employees when making outsourcing decisions and sets out the benefits to firms of ethical outsourcing as we look to “Build Back Better” following COVID-19. 

The report also highlights the recent case of Emmanuel Gomes, an outsourced cleaner at the Ministry of Justice who died shortly after a shift during lockdown. His working conditions attracted national publicity and called the Ministry’s outsourcing policy into question.

Dr Eve Poole, the Third Church Estates Commissioner for England, who wrote the foreword to the report commented: “Now more than ever we need to know that our working spaces are pristine, and we need to trust those cleaning for us to do a great job. 

“They are more likely to thrive at work and perform to the highest level if they are not exploited, so in buying ethically you buy into a service culture that is about partnership, dignity and respect.”

Tim Thorlby, Managing Director of Clean for Good, added: “This report makes clear the benefits of ethical outsourcing to firms and their employees in the cleaning sector and beyond. Done well, outsourcing can deliver innovation, efficiency and positive outcomes. 

“It can help small organisations access expertise they could never afford to hire in-house. It can help large organisations achieve efficiencies and enable them to focus on their core business. But done badly, outsourcing can not only cause a serious operational headache, it can unravel an organisation’s hard-earned reputation.”

Who are Clean for Good?

Clean for Good cleans offices and workspaces in central and inner London, and was founded in 2017. It is a a fully accredited Living Wage Employer that prides itself on its ethical supply chain.

In May 2020, Clean for Good won a NatWest/Pioneers Post ‘Top 25 Trailblazing Newcomer Award’, as one of the fastest-growing social businesses in the UK.   

The majority of Clean for Good’s shares are owned by the three founding Christian charities – the Parish of St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe, the Centre for Theology & Community and Church Mission Society.

During lockdown, the company committed to retain every cleaner and pay everyone 100 per cent of their wages, and for five months (March to July 2020) it has done so – even though all but two customers shut their doors at the beginning of lockdown.  

Picture: A photograph of a mirror being cleaned, showing a gloved hand and a trigger spray bottle

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 23 July 2020

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