enoch house in 2017

what started off as a clean of 1 small apartment here has mushroomed quickly. After hearing a recommendation about my biz from a nearby customer i was asked to clean the windows for a resident in Enoch House. This is a large assisted living facility that has just been totally refurbed. its very impressive inside

Anyhow once we were seen there doing the work,other residents asked to have their windows cleaned by us. Its ramped up so much almost unbelievably its a helluva lot of windows ,a big complex of several wings -im now dedicating a full work day here every 6 weeks . The windows are not only brand new they are also of very good quality so they really gleam when they are clean

JOINING the alliance

iv never much been one for joining in with things. im more of a lone wolf type

However, joining the window cleaners alliance is something i really wanted to do.i did it today .

its been set up by a guy called Mark munro from the West country. its a group for window cleaners to band together and its ran by a window cleaner ,so its got the soul .

he is also the man behind the Window cleaning show that i mentioned in a previous post . Hes a really nice decent guy and i shared a beer with him at the show and chatted about nothing in particular but everything window cleaning related if that makes sense. Anyway,iv no doubt that his latest project [the alliance] will do very well

meeting a hero

they always say you should never meet your heros [case they dissapoint] but this hero i knew years ago i defo wanted to meet. his names Willie Erken who is the owner/inventor at Wagtail squeegees[Australia]. in his factory he makes the squeegees that my workers and i use in our everyday window cleaning work .They are an excellent product.

i drove up to the window cleaning show in the Midlands on a personal invite from the man himself.He likes to keep in touch with anybody who uses his tool range thats the sort of man he is, approachable

Willies a very friendly genuine guy and put me at ease right away. He had flown in direct from his home in Australia for the show. We chatted easily about window cleaning in general and then he gave me a suprise package of [not yet released to the market] a squeegee and rubber .

im So glad i met him and no doubt will stay in touch.

the moody window cleaner

sometimes people you- know -but dont know, stick in your mind. See the small purple car central in the foto?-ladder on top-it belongs to a ladderman window cleaner. hes been a windie at least as long as me, we work in the same area.

he works alone and never says hello or waves when we pass each other  -very moody in fact . But recently iv not seen him out working and this foto i took today when cleaning windows on the street where he lives.Last time i saw him close up i heard him more than saw as he had a terrible “hairball” type of cough.

i SENSE somethings wrong with him, the 6th sense that all window cleaners get when they do this job.hes inside and not out working on a bright n sunny day – Altho hes moody and a real grump,i still hope hes okay 

changing times

cleaning these leaded windows has always pained me.scrub scrub ,buff buff, touch up touch up, its a drag  on the arms i promise you all window cleaners hate leaded type windows

but,you take the rough with the smooth when youre a window cleaner. ….or should i say i used too…. NOT SO IN 2016!  This year im steadily  dropping jobs that i [or my lads]dont want to do now. i can only do this because my work diary is full to the brim and somethings gotta give. i took this foto for posterity as its the very last time i will clean this pesky window. i will be writing to the house and thanking them for their custom but its now time for me to move along.  

service provider of the year award

iv been nominated !  how cool is this.  nominated in the service provider of the year category  in the British small business awards 2016 ,held in October at the Grand Connaught rooms in London 

close to the wire

one of my workers overslept last week. this meant we were 30 minutes later starting work . . This day the delay meant the early morning school buses drove past us as we worked. look how close this bus was to the “oversleeper” on his ladder . He told me he clung onto the building just in case the bus accidentally caught the ladder .