It doesn’t matter how many days you spend in the office, you need the comfort of knowing the cleanliness and hygiene are top class to keep staff and tenants safe. James Carver, Managing Director of Office Space Cleaning and Facilities Management (OSCFM) discusses how his business has adapted to new challenges.
Tell us about how OSCFM was set up and why it’s different from other commercial cleaning and facilities management providers?
OSCFM was established to provide a highly bespoke cleaning and facilities management service to multi-tenanted buildings where the requirements and support needed can vary radically. Since OSCFM was launched, we’ve built incredible partnerships with office providers, such as OSiT and Boutique.
We know just how important it is for both operators and tenants of high-quality spaces to have the high-quality service to match, and ensure their offices provide the safe, clean and professional environment they expect. For us, a constant line of communication between our team and a client’s is what enables us to deliver that standard of support.
What are the biggest changes you believe your sector will face in the coming years?
Without a doubt – the evolution in the way we work. This will require a very different approach to cleaning and facilities management. Hybrid and flexible working will mean a meteoric rise in the shared use of workstations and communal areas, which will require more regular cleaning. Understandably so, officer providers will also need to show that their workplaces offer a safe, attractive, and high-quality environment to tempt reticent workers back to the office, which means putting workplace cleanliness and hygiene at the top of the agenda – it can no longer be an afterthought.
What did COVID teach you as a business and what advice would you share with other leaders, as a result?
The onset of COVID was, of course, an incredibly challenging period for the sector, but it also taught us and many other businesses the importance of adapting quickly. Keeping in close contact with our clients, we recognised that rapid deployment of enhanced cleaning services could help them keep their spaces open. We responded by providing a full range of deep cleaning services, such as fogging, to ensure that spaces were kept safe for tenants. It’s a valuable lesson for any business leader that hard times will always come and it’s how you respond that matters.
What is your greatest challenge as a business?
Like almost every sector across the economy, we understand the absolute importance of ensuring that sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. Our clients are also rightly adapting to these values and we want to make sure that we support them in this. But we recognise this is a major undertaking for any business – not something that will happen overnight. It’s easy to make token gestures towards more sustainable practices, but at OSCFM we want to make sure that the steps we are taking, from sustainable products to responsible waste management, are the right ones. We are really proud of the progress we have made as a company in this area, and we are committed to doing it properly for the long term.
What do you think business leaders can sometimes underestimate as integral to success?
We know that our people are paramount to the success of our business. It’s easy for leaders to get caught up in the big picture, but ultimately, a business is nothing without its team. For us, that means placing an absolute premium on how our team is treated and valued. Leaders do well to remember that supported and trusted workers make for a far more productive and effective team.
Office Space Cleaning and Facilities Management was born from a need to provide a high-quality service within commercial cleaning and facilities management. Catering for medium to large organisations the business deals primarily with multi-tenanted buildings where security and a wide scope of services are paramount.
With over 30 years’ experience in outsourced services and commercial property development, the senior management team understands the importance of the ‘customer experience’ and belives communication is key to deliver a five-star quality service to discerning clients.
Find out more about the services offered by Office Space Cleaning & Facilities Management at www.officespacecleaning.co.uk or call 020 3795 2400.
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This interview first appeared on the business advice and support website www.newbusiness.co.uk