Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Erithwc on May 17, 2012, 10:49:38 am
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Are the small local stores for tesco and sainsburys done by national companys or are they up for grabs by the local window cleaners ?
Thanks Paul
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Sainsburys local in Milton Keynes is done by a 1 man band who just popped in and asked
Graham
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Are the small local stores for tesco and sainsburys done by national companys or are they up for grabs by the local window cleaners ?
Thanks Paul
As far as I am aware Sainsbury's local stores were never a national account. I have cleaned the windows and signage of ours for years. There was always payment issues. Sainsbury's HQ was never happy with local window cleaners doing the windows and being paid out of the till. We did the job, gave the manager the invoice and he claimed it on his expense account which was included in his monthly wage packet. Then you had to find him before he spent it.
Last year we were cancelled because of an HQ directive and window cleaning went inhouse with poor results. We got the job back 3 months ago.
Although the system has changed slightly, it still takes ages to get paid. Expect to wait a couple of months although a month is about right.
Before you rush in consider the following. The front doors are usually automatic door openers. We clean the inside and outside front entrance windows and door, so we have to find a quite time to close the doors to clean them. Ours is open between 6am and 11pm. The staff start work at 5am to prepare the store for opening time.
Ours is a big store and has a large bit of signage and outside lighting to be cleaned every 2 weeks. We dust the lighting off with a damp cloth on an Unger flexi clamp and pole as well as the sign and lighting above the ATM. All other signage and blank advertising frames are done wfp. The large front window is done WFP but the door is done by hand.
In the summer we have found the best time to clean is to arrive there at about 5.15am and plan to finish cleaning the outside front door just before they open at 6 am. If you can draw the attention of a staff member with the authority to open the door early for you, then you can clean the inside of the door before they open. Finish off inside at you should be out a few minutes later. By starting early I can pull the hose out without fear of it becoming a trip hazard in summer, but if I clean during the day, I prefer to use the backpack.
However, you will have to do everything by hand in the winter because freezing water will cause a slip hazard if the temperatures are that low. You will have to sometimes wait while the manager opens up the glass the front door opens into so you can clean the other side of the internal and external windows. If you do the store during business hours they will always get busy when you want the doors closed and the staff focus turns to customer service. We have sometimes waited 15 minutes for the rush to die down.
So our experience is that it can and usually takes another 1/2 an hour to do it during business hours and in winter. It's regular guaranteed work but hardly ever goes the way you quoted it.
Spruce