Being an ethical employer with a fair wage policy, this doesn’t affect us. Cleaning is hard and valuable work, and we pay what the market will bear.

I think all our Green Moppers deserve much more than we can afford to pay them, but we do what we can. Many cleaning companies pay minimum wage and have staff on temporary contracts, avoiding holiday pay and so on.

So they may have lower costs than us, but our staff stay with us longer and perform better as a result of being paid a fair wage. They have holiday pay as well as rewards for good and consistent work.

We think this means our customers getter better value, as well as knowing that they’re using an ethical company which reflects well on their business.
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All good things come to an end. And our lovely Green Mopper Chris is finally moving on to pastures new. I wanted to share his resignation letter as it made us feel very proud. We’re going to miss you Chris! *sobs uncontrollably*

“Rachel & Ceri,
I’ve been avoiding this for some while as it’s not something I necessarily want, though life must go on!
As discussed previously I was considering staying down here for further study at Sussex, but after a lot of thought I would be better off going up to Manchester as their university far better suits my interests. Therefore, with much regret, I’ll be leaving Green Mop..
Completing my BA certainly wouldn’t have been possible without the money earned while working for you, so for this reason I’m forever grateful for both your time and consistent confidence in my abilities.
You’ve all been hugely accomodating and understanding throughout and, in comparison to other jobs I’ve held, Green Mop can easily be called the best.
Also, I can’t stress enough how brilliant John is with staff on the ground. He completely appreciates the difficulties encountered by cleaners and has always done a fantastic job as a supervisor and fellow cleaner.
I wish both of you all the best - if I ever win the lottery I promise I’ll invest heavily in your company!
Thanks again for more than ‘just a job’,
Chris “

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Dealing with commercial waste is an issue for many of our customers. Most businesses that use our services would want to know that the stuff they throw away is dealt with in the most planet friendly way possible. That’s why I was so pleased and excited to hear of the plans that Brighton Paper Round have for the future. They have partnered up with Magpie, whom I’m sure you all know and love, and offer excellent recycling solutions for businesses across our city. They are working towards a Zero-to-Landfill service, with plans to recycle almost everything, including food. Stuff that can’t be recycled will be sent to an Energy from Waste facility to create electricity. All cost effectively. What’s not to like! More info on their website.

We are very proud to have won a Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce Star Award at last week’s AGM and dinner. Having been a member of the Chamber for less than a year, I was chuffed to have even been nominated and was surprised to win. It was even better that the Star Awards are voted for by fellow Chamber members. So to all those who kindly took the time to vote Green Mop; thank you very, very much.

However, I did have to do an acceptance speech! Being confident that I wouldn’t win, I made all sorts of ridiculous promises to show my appreciation through the medium of dance. Specifically a moonwalk. I was showing off, frankly. When Green Mop’s name was read out, my joy and glee were quickly replaced with fear and panic as I noticed my Chamber pals looking at me expectantly awaiting my moonwalk performance. Needless to say, I bottled out. I had no idea what to say, and luckily the microphone stand was set for normal sized people, so I couldn’t reach it! Oh how they all laughed as I tried to reach on tip toes.

So, what I should have said was a few heart felt thank yous; to all the members of the Chamber of Commerce who make it a fun, informative, friendly, vibrant gang to be a part of, to all the staff and volunteers who work so hard to make it work, to all the businesses we’ve worked with as a result of our membership, and to all the new friends I’ve made along the way. That’s what I should have said!
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This is our Steve. Doesn’t he look smart. He is the latest Green Mopper to be rewarded in our Mopper of the Month vote.

Steve is all the things a good Green Mopper should be; hard working, thorough and reliable. Working with us is his second job, as by day he is a courier. So his work ethic is to be applauded.

Steve also helped out recently covering for one of his fellow Moppers who urgently needed time off. We like team work here at Green Mop, and we know Steve values it too.

Steve quietly gets on with his work, never lets anyone down and has even spotted potential Green Mop customers for us to follow up. So it’s that extra effort he makes that made him stand out amongst all the other hard working Green Moppers.

So, thanks loads Steve!

I’ve blogged before about people glazing over the minute you mention you’re any of the following:

• Green or Eco
• Fairtrade
• Sustainable
• Ethical

They’re thinking the following:

• Expensive
• Boring
• Preaching
• Hippy
• Why should I?

Well recently I attended a Green Group meeting organised by Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce. It was the idea of local business owner Clare Hall who worked with the Chamber to bring together 20 or so local businesses and organisations who have that ‘Green’ slant to what they do or the way that they do it. In a room full of like minded people, there was great passion for creating a focal point and information hub to benefit other businesses, and the city as a whole.

I also went to the Brighton and Hove 10:10 campaign first birthday celebrations, where we were treated to presentations from business and education sectors, local community groups and home improvement experts. They all described the steps they had taken in the last year to reduce their carbon footprint, and the plans and targets for the future. Again, it was a room full of like minded people all applauding the efforts made, all feeling positive about what can be achieved.

At these events, we’re kind of preaching to the converted. We need to find away to help the cynics see why we are doing these things. Why people like Clare Hall give up their time to try to bring about change. It’s easy to get excited about all the things we can do and the ways we can help. But local businesses have to want to be helped and to want to change their often deep routed habits.

For me, the message should be a simple one. Do what you can.

Not all of us can have a wind turbine in the back garden, but we can switch things off if we’re not using them. Not all of us can replace our boiler for a more efficient one, but we can turn the thermostat down a notch. People shouldn’t feel they’re being told off, or that they’re not doing enough. But they should be pointed in the right direction to make a start on the right path. They should be encouraged to make greener choices. And the Green Gang will hopefully make that easy for all by being encouraging, approachable and supportive. Sharing knowledge and experience and making it simple for habits to be changed to new, cleaner, greener habits.
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I went to the ever popular Brighton and Hove Chamber networking breakfast this morning. We got to talking about how the atmosphere of friendliness is, perhaps, quite unique to our city.

We’re all in it together. Success of our individual businesses will reflect on our community as a whole. If we all support each other and do business with a smile rather than a snarl, then I like to think that this has a positive effect on us all.

We all have competitors, but if you believe you’re offering a great product or service then there is room for us all. We’ll all win some, we’ll all lose some. But let’s stay friendly!

There are a lot of local cleaning companies who Green Mop competes with, along with some national ones. The national companies want to come in and “steamroller” the local ones. So my one plea would be to choose local. It may not be Green Mop, it may be one of my competitors, but please choose a local business. It benefits us all in the long run.
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Did you know that Johnny Sparkles does our site inspections and has his own Sparkle-o-Meter scale? All our hardworking Green Moppers have to pass the Sparkle test to get good marks on the site inspection. So Johnny has demanded his own page on the website so that he can explain what he’s marking people on, how he decides the score and why. He’s like the Simon Cowell of Green Mop - harsh, but fair. Only he can judge if a Green Mopper has The Mop Factor.

So I’m getting the lovely Zone 1 Creative chaps to add the special page. I’ll let you know when it’s ready….
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We have a very clever system that we use so that when our Green Moppers turn up to a site to clean, they call a free phone number with their unique codes to clock in. When they’ve completed their shift, they call it again and clock out.

We first used the system for lone workers, as we could keep a check on them arriving on site and when they left.

We now use it for all the team as it can produce their timesheets automatically on payday.

Clever eh!

We’ve had a good year here at Green Mop. In our fourth year of business, it really feels like we have established ourselves and our direction during 2010.

It’s been a difficult year for businesses, but we’ve still managed significant growth, even with the sale of the domestic side of Green Mop in the summer. Being able to focus fully on our commercial customers has helped Green Mop to push on and increase our share of a competitive market. I’d like to thank all those we’ve done business with in 2010. The whole team at Green Mop appreciate your faith in us.

Our team of Green Moppers has grown too. Cleaning is hard work, and we obviously rely on our cleaning teams to provide a consistently good service to all our customers. We have a wide range of people working with us; students, house husbands, people with day jobs, as well as a core of full timers. All of them have played their part in a successful year, and I thank them all.

So, looking forward to 2011, I hope that even more local businesses will turn to us for their cleaning needs, which will mean more jobs for local people.

Wishing you all a safe and happy Christmas!