The Cleaning Show Review 2021
The Cleaning Show celebrates the work of cleaning and hygiene operatives with a triumphant return to London
15 November 2021: The UK’s largest and most important event in the cleaning and hygiene sector, The Cleaning Show, welcomed more than 4,600 visitors through its doors when it made its triumphant return to London. It marked the industry’s first physical event since the UK’s national lockdown was lifted, coming at a critical time as cleaning lands high on the agenda of businesses across the country.
Industry experts take to the stage
Opening the event, Nigel Mills MP, Chair of the Cleaning and Hygiene All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), welcomed visitors and exhibitors, highlighting the important role the show plays in bringing the industry together to celebrate the sector and facilitate business. He paid tribute to the industry and the role cleaning and hygiene operatives have played over the past 18 months and highlighted how the APPG would help shine a light on an industry that was once overlooked.
Delving into the critical role of the Cleaning and Hygiene APPG, Jim Melvin, Chairman of the British Cleaning Council, took to the stage in the opening session of the event’s conference programme. He spoke passionately to the packed audience about the duty of the BCC as the voice of the industry, and how the APPG would recognise professionalism within the sector, fight for key worker status for cleaning and hygiene operators and establish a verified apprenticeship scheme. He highlighted the importance of recognising the efforts of the industry, citing New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, as an example as she introduced the ‘Thank Your Cleaner Day’ to celebrate the efforts of the industry in safeguarding the general public.
The Cleaning Show conference programme also welcomed Sebastian Bachellier, Programme Manager and Project Lead for the Recognised Service Providers scheme at the Living Wage Foundation, and Charlie Mowat, Founder and CEO, The Clean Space. Sebastian outlined the importance of the real Living Wage and the achievements of the programme to date, including bringing £1.5 billion to the pockets of low paid workers. He also revealed that the programme would focus on ‘Living Hours’ – which would go a step beyond the living wage and tackle the insecurity of working hours.
With sustainability high on the agenda for visitors and exhibitors alike, James Lee, Council Member, Cleaning & Hygiene Suppliers Association declared that innovation alone wouldn’t solve the industry’s problems. He identified five pillars of sustainability: product, packaging, transportation, social and ethical values and corporate emissions, waste and water, while highlighting the challenges – from financial pressures to a resistance to change – that would need to be overcome for lasting change.
Speaking after the session, visitor Nick Hutchings, Business Development Manager, Electromech, said: “It's interesting to see where the cleaning industry is going with regards to sustainability and eco-friendly products. The Roadmap Towards Sustainability conference session was particularly interesting to me as I feel that everyone should be paid fairly – it’s the difference between surviving.”
Day two of the programme saw technology take the spotlight, with Darren Marston, Executive Chairman of ICE, delivering a session on the rise of co-bots and how autonomous cleaning can support and enhance current cleaning practices. He highlighted the company’s role in pioneering autonomous cleaning and how customers, including Stratford’s Westfield – the largest shopping centre in Europe – had installed its range of Co-Botics machines in March 2021 to resounding success, with employees “embracing the technology and the future.”
In another session titled ‘Technology matters – employing new technology to deliver a modern cleaning service’, Dominic Ponniah, CEO and Co-Founder of Cleanology, shared key examples of innovation in the areas of sustainability, robotics and the digital revolution. He noted how solutions "don’t need to reinvent the wheel or be high tech to deliver a modern cleaning service". Alongside cleaning solutions, he explored how data-driven technology “is the new gold”, helping cleaning businesses to report issues, provide alerts for predictive cleaning and maintenance, and record attendance through the use of geo-location and facial recognition.
The leading platform for new product launches
Highlighting The Cleaning Show’s position as a hotbed of innovation, several exhibitors used the show’s return as the opportunity to announce new product launches. Among the new products announced at the show, Killis revealed ‘Rex’ – a king-sized, autonomous cleaning robot targeting commercial and industrial settings, with complete remote handling. Lionsbot, a Singapore-headquartered smart robotics company, conceptualised Rex during the pandemic to empower the cleaning workforce and to keep them safe. It uses lidar technology to clean 4,032m² – the size of a football field – in one hour, the highest cleaning efficiency in its size class.
Speaking about the launch, Charlotte Killi, Head of Sales, Killis, said: “The Cleaning show has given us a chance to exhibit our latest innovations and display what we’ve been working on during the pandemic. It’s a super exciting time to showcase everything that’s gone on behind the scenes. We have unveiled our latest robot machine, Rex - which means ‘King’ in Latin - meaning it’s the King of cleaning machines,able to clean the size equivalent of 8 football fields in one charge of 8 hours. Everyone has been really excited and have been wanting to take photographs with our machines.”
Speaking about the event, Magdalena Kopec, Business Support Manager, Kingdom Cleaning, said: “The show is a great place to find new products. It’s good to physically see how new products work in person instead of seeing them solely online. It's also a great place to network with new suppliers. I enjoyed seeing the robotic cleaning machines in particular, like the Killis robot machines.”
Demonstrating the growing importance of sustainability and a green approach to cleaning, first-time exhibitor FogPod revealed its electrostatic devices that produce a 'positively charged' spray that binds to surfaces giving 360-degree coverage. The company, born out of the pandemic in January 2020, offers both handheld devices and motion sanitiser stands, which offer no contact sanitisation. Elsewhere, ICE, the UK’s largest independent provider of cleaning equipment, introduced its handheld ICE Aquasmart Unit. The patented Diamond-Technology in the ICE Aquasmart Nano produces aqueous ozone – a natural cleaner, sanitiser and deodoriser that is more powerful than bleach but completely safe to use on all surfaces.
Speaking about this year’s event, Julie Kitchener, Head of Customer Service & Marketing, ICE said: "The show has been brilliant - it's great to be back and have the chance to speak to the industry in person. We've had so many exciting leads. Most of the interest has been for the co-botics and we've had a lot of questions from visitors who want to see them in real life. We also launched our AquaSmart chemical-free units. The combination of the launch of AquaSmart and the fact our co-botic machines recycle water has demonstrated how important sustainability is and a big area of interest for visitors at the show."
Exhibiting at the show is a highlight for many of the participating companies as explained by David Green, Commercial Coordinator, Lavor. He said: “I've been doing trade shows for 25 years and I can firmly say this is in the top five shows I've ever been to. The quality of the attendees is second to none and there have been no time wasters. We've had conversations with serious buyers, which proves that the event attracts the right clientele to make exhibiting worthwhile. Our stand and our products have been well received and I now have a pile of business cards to get through after the show ends! The Cleaning Show has been fantastic and we look forward to exhibiting in Manchester next year."
Announcements at the show continued with The Worshipful Company Of Environmental Cleaners (WCEC) using the event to launchits Chartered Practitioner scheme to the entire cleaning industry. Demonstrating the industry’s professional commitment, skill and expertise, the scheme means cleaning professionals can now register as Chartered Practitioners, with Yvonne Taylor from OCS and Robert Sutherland from RAMS FM confirming their new status at the show.
Shaping the future of the industry
Demonstrating the industry’s most innovative and new technologies, The Cleaning & Support Services Association (CSSA) played host to the new CSSA Innovation Showcase – a pavilion dedicated to nine companies selected by a panel of industry experts and representatives. Selected from more than 30 entries, Bunzl Cleaning & Hygiene Supplies (BCHS), Washroom Wizard, w’air, ICE, NextDynamics, Optiqo, Orion Eco Solutions, Selden, and Softbank Robotics provided attendees with a first-hand insight into the cleaning industry of the future with the latest products spanning new fabric care systems, autonomous cleaning equipment and IoT air care solutions.
Guinness World Record holder Terry ‘Turbo’ Burrows outshines the competition
Drawing in the crowds on the second day, the popular Window Cleaning World Cup returned, in partnership with the Federation of Window Cleaners (FWC). Ten times Guinness World Record holder Terry ‘Turbo’ Burrows returned to be crowned the winner with a time of 14.37. He was followed by Darren Ansbro of DA Components with a time of 16.16 and in third place Ashley Mackintosh of Northampton-based Mackintosh Clean with a time of 17.16.
Speaking about the event’s triumphant return, Stuart Dacre, Event Director, said: “It’s been a long wait but I can’t describe how good it feels to bring the cleaning industry back face-to-face for three action-packed days of inspiration, innovation and insight. It’s been particularly special to recognise the efforts of cleaning and hygiene operators and the critical role they have played in keeping people and places safe over the past 18 months. The response from exhibitors and visitors has been overwhelming. We’d like to thank everyone who has participated in this year’s show and look forward to opening our doors once again when we return to Manchester in 2022.”
The Cleaning Show returns to Manchester Central from 6-7 April 2022. To find out more, visit: https://cleaningshow.co.uk/manchester/
The Cleaning Show returns to highlight new cleaning and sanitation practices
17 August 2021: The global pandemic has seen cleanliness and sanitation become a top priority for business owners and consumers alike. Helping showcase the latest advancements in cleaning practices and technologies, The Cleaning Show returns to ExCeL, London from 2-4 November 2021.
The show, organised by the British Cleaning Council and Quartz Business Media, is set to attract more than 7,000 senior cleaning professionals from across the contract cleaning, facilities management (FM), healthcare, hospitality, retail, and public services sectors – making it the UK’s largest and most important event in the cleaning and hygiene sector. And, as the first event in the sector to take place since the UK’s national lockdown was lifted, attendees will be able to connect, learn and discover new products, services, and suppliers at a critical time as businesses across the UK prioritise cleaning protocols to ensure returning staff and customers remain safe.
Preventative cleaning in a post-pandemic future
More than 60 leading cleaning suppliers are already confirmed to exhibit, including returning exhibitors, Evans Vanodine, Numatic, ICE, Karcher UK, MITIE, Nilfisk and Killis. Attendees will have the opportunity to test and source new and exciting products from these exhibitors, along with companies joining the event for the first time, including Apex Supplies, Team Software and Wepa Professional.
With new and recently launched innovations on display, attendees can find the solutions to help them meet the increasing demands for heightened cleanliness and sanitation in a post-pandemic future. For example, ICE, the UK’s largest independent provider of cleaning equipment, will be on hand to showcase its wide range of future friendly cleaning solutions. Among its newly launched products, ICE unveiled its new UV Bot – the latest in its co-botics range designed to advance autonomous cleaning through innovation. It enables the operator to add disinfectant and set tasks before the self-driving UV bots begins its work. It is complete with 3D obstacle avoidance and 360° UV-C and ultrasonic dry mist disinfection.
One of the largest specialist cleaning providers in the UK, MITIE Cleaning Services, will demonstrate the importance of clean, safe environments for maintaining the productivity and wellbeing of customers and employees. The award-winning company works across a wide range of sectors including Government and Defence, Healthcare and Education, Technical Services, Business Services to Private sector clients in Manufacturing, Transport, Retail, providing essential services and deploying industry leading technology to create safe and effective workspaces.
Among the first-time exhibitors joining the show is Wepa Professional which will showcase its new Satino disinfection range. Offering premium solutions for hand hygiene in public spaces, Satino by WEPA disinfection stands offer touch-free sensor control, combined with quick installation and uncomplicated handling. Ideal for medium and high-frequency use, the range is ideal for a wide range of applications in hotels, offices, production facilities, medical practices, retail and more.
New to 2021, attendees can also find out more about floor care without compromise using Timberline Cleaning Equipment – available exclusively in the UK through Apex Supplies. While TEAM Software will highlight its leading software for security, cleaning and facilities management companies, designed to help manage the workforce and back office systems.
Lessons learnt during the global pandemic
Reflecting on lessons learnt during the global pandemic and celebrating the hard work and achievements of cleaning professionals across the UK, The Cleaning Show conference makes an eagerly awaited return. It will provide a platform for attendees to learn and discuss the latest developments, and the critical next steps for an industry on the frontline of public health and safety. Industry experts will come together to discuss the role of cleaning in protecting public health and safety; how autonomous cleaning can support and enhance current cleaning practices; and how employing new technology can deliver a modern cleaning service.
Demonstrating excellence
New for 2021, the Cleaning & Support Services Association will be hosting its 2021 CSSA Innovation Showcase in a dedicated pavilion at the event to highlight and celebrate the industry’s most innovative cleaning products, services and initiatives. Businesses and organisations operating throughout the industry can enter their innovations via the CSSA website. Prior to The Cleaning Show, the CSSA will hold an Innovator's Pitch with a panel of leading industry experts who will review and interview all entrants and select those to be exhibited at the Innovation Showcase itself. Visit https://www.cssa-uk.co.uk/ for further information on submitting an entry.
Jim Melvin, Chairman, British Cleaning Council, said: “This past year has more than demonstrated the importance of the cleaning and hygiene industry, which reacted and helped significantly and professionally in safeguarding and protecting the public in order to ensure that the UK’s commercial and public spaces are safe.
“Continuing to spearhead innovation, the industry has quickly adapted to all of the emerging challenges, and we are truly excited to return to the ExCeL, London as the first physical event for the sector to demonstrate our collective collaboration in continuing to drive the industry forward at such a critical time.”
Stuart Dacre, Event Director, The Cleaning Show, added: “As the UK goes back to work, we are delighted to connect the industry face-to-face once again, and look forward to announcing our best-in-class educational programme and exciting show features in the coming months. It really will be an event that no cleaning professional can miss.”
Registration for The Cleaning Show 2021 is now open. To register today and find further information on this year’s programme, visit https://cleaningshow.co.uk/.
