An interview Racheal did with the brilliant Julie Stanford from Essential Business - www.essential-business.co.uk

We are very pleased to announce our first franchise opening in Cheltenham.

Green Mop Cheltenham launches today with Claire Blizard at the helm. Claire used to live in Brighton, and used Green Mop’s cleaning services.

After a spell in Australia, she has returned to her roots where, she believes, the green and ethical values of Green Mop will be embraced by residents and businesses in her home town.

Claire says, “I struggled to find a ‘green’ cleaning service in the area, and thought Green Mop would be great for Cheltenham’s homes and workplaces.”

We thought it was a brilliant idea. And, with Claire’s background in business and her work ethic, I know she’ll make a success of Green Mop Cheltenham.
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Look out for exciting Green Mop news. Soon.

Not quite yet.

We can’t wait to tell you. But we can’t yet. No, really, I can’t spill the beans yet. Sorry.

*cough* Franchise *oops*

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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A visual testiment to how you don’t need harsh chemicals to clean. Even your oven.

Tools for the job:

Hot water

Soda Crystals (powder and liquid varieties)

Copper scourer

Elbow grease

Microfibre cloth

Rubber gloves

Method:

Dissolve about a cup full of powder soda crystals in a sink of hot water. Pop the racks in to soak. (may need to turn them after 5 mins if they’re too big to immerse completely in the water)

Slosh a bit of liquid soda crystals on the glass of the oven door. Smear it round with your gloved hand.

Have a cuppa.

Attack the oven racks with your copper scourer. Rinse in clean water.

Attack the oven door with your copper scourer. Wipe off with wet cloth. Buff dry with microfibre cloth.

Results:

A clean oven (see before and after pics below). Without the need to have a well ventilated room, extra thick special rubber gloves, eye protective goggles and a mask to avoid inhaling burny burny fumes.

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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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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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This is Chris. He takes his work very seriously, as you can tell. He has been chosen as our latest Green Mopper of the month.

Chris is the most helpful and hard working young person I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. This is his second Green Mopper award, and Johnny Sparkles thinks that we should rename it to the Chris Tucker Award as he shows the attitude and work ethic of a true Green Mop hero.

So thank you for all the hard work and commitment you continually show. Thanks for covering jobs at the last minute, and being a great example to all the team.
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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!

This is our lovely Darius who has been voted by the team as the Green Mopper of the Month for November.

Darius is an enthusiastic and hard working Green Mopper and he’s always willing to take on challenging jobs with a smile. His cleaning is always to a very high standard, and he gets consistently high scores on the Sparkle-ometer scale (which is hard because Johnny Sparkles is very hard to impress!).

So, thanks for all your hard work Darius!