.. I’m not a natural ‘networker’! Today I attended my first networking event - it was a breakfast club thingy. All the other attendees were very kind and nice to me, but I still felt like a bit of a twit! I had to say a bit about Green Mop, and I had worked out a lovely little speach… but I have absolutely no idea what I said. I stumbled and I mumbled, and generally didn’t get the message across that we are FAB! We’re green, we’re good, we’re cost effective, we’re award winning, we’re fair. I don’t think I managed to say any of that! Oh well. And the picture of the mushrooms on toast is because I somehow ended up with that for my breakfast, and I HATE mushrooms.

Green Mop Towers is on the move again. We’re heading back to Hove on 1st October. So our office phone number is changing too (thanks BT - you’re RUBBISH!)

Our new address is: Spectrum House, 96a Coleridge Street, Hove, BN3 5AA.

Our new landline number is: 01273 256203

I told you all about Hettie, the talented songstress we have working for us (until she hits the big time!). Well, another one of our Green Moppers is also a star in the making.. Sanna is a singing and dancing (and cleaning) queen. Check her out here

Oooh.. much excitement at Green Mop towers. A few of our wonderful, hardworking Green Moppers are taking advantage of the Government sponsored Train to Gain initiative. They are doing an NVQ in Cleaning! So for the next 6 months they will be regularly monitored and be doing homework in order to gain the qualification. I think it’s absolutely brilliant!

A little off topic, but a while back, we had a fabulous Green Mopper called Hettie. She left us for a little while to go to France.. But great news this week, she’s back in Team Green Mop, and I couldn’t be more pleased. We’re proud of our Hettie… Not only is she a fantastic, reliable, hardworking Green Mopper, she’s also a Pop Superstar in the making. She split from her old band recently to take the bold step of going it alone, and by the sounds of the new stuff she’s making, it was the right decision. You can have a listen by clicking here. You heard it here first! I can just see her first stadium tour now… sponsored by Green Mop…

I’ve just been down to the One Brighton developement. If you’re not familiar with it, it is the new developement in the New England Street area and is an Eco Friendly building. We’ve been cleaning the marketing suite down there for a while now, and now it’s nearing completion we’ve been asked to do the ’sparkle’ cleans. Which means we are giving the flats a final buff up before the buyers move in.

So I went for a look at some of the flats and had a wander round the building. They really seem to have thought of everything, from the colour coded recycling point to the allotment! Yes! An allotment on a roof terrace about 6 floors up with panoramic views of Brighton. Fabulous!

They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery. We at Green Mop are very flattered that several of cleaning companies are now jumping on the ‘Green’ bandwagon. I still haven’t found one in our area that ONLY uses eco friendly products. They’re all starting to offer it as an option, which must mean that their customers are demanding it. Which, of course, is all good. The band wagon jumpers’ eco option is often a higher price that their standard service, obviously! I don’t want to show off… but I’m going to! Here at Green Mop we have only ever used non-toxic cleaning products. We have never been anything other than green (hence the name!). It really isn’t just a gimmick with us, or cynically chasing the green pound. You can trust in our green credentials because it’s what we truly believe in!

So what a wonderful Pride we had. Shame about the rain, but the revellers I saw out and about seemed to enjoy their day regardless!
Green Mop were involved again this year. We were cleaning the Pound-a-Pee toilets all day, as well as the loos in the VIP and members area. 9 very hard working Green Moppers stepped up to the challenge and did us proud.
It’s a great idea to have some nicer loos available for those prepared to part with a quid. All the profits from it go the good cause, so it’s all good. And it’s good that the Pride organisers are choosing ‘green’ where they can.
Johnny Sparkles (The King of all Moppers) said that after the heavens opened, many people were coming along to wash their muddy feet too!

Now, we know full well that we’re not usually the cheapest option for either Commercial or Domestic customers. But it’s a difficult quandry for us.

We could cut prices by only paying minimum wage? It’s really not an option. Cleaning is an important job, and one that is not only hard work, but also requires workers that are responsible, meticulous and that take pride in their work. Minimum wage does not reflect the value of the work. I wish I could pay all my Green Moppers more, they certainly deserve it, but it’s just not realistic. But a fair days pay for a good days work is the right balance.

We could cut prices if we stopped supplying the cleaning products and cloths? This, again, is really not going to work for Green Mop. It works for other companies, but they don’t have an impeccable green reputation to protect! If we just used what customers supplied, some would undoubtedly expect us to use the odd chemical product here or there.

For Commercial customers, we probably can’t compete with some of the big, national companies. But they use very cheap products, pay minimum wage, and focus on quantity rather than quality making tiny profits but on hundreds of contracts.

On the domestic side, we can’t compete with cash-in-hand individuals. They don’t get holiday pay, make NI contributions, they’re usually not insured, they don’t supply products and cloths etc.

So, I think that our great customer service, green and ethical values and great cleaning means that we give all our customers value for money!

 WOW! What a difference a revamp makes! The new and improved and incredibly splendid Green Mop website is now live. I am really pleased with how it looks. The Zone 1 chaps have done a fantastic job. Have a little nosey round and see what you think!