The Standard Issue 4 2023
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THE CHAIRMAN'S HELLO:<br />
STARTING WITH A SPARKLE<br />
BY SOO BARTHOLOMEW MBICSc<br />
This is my first report to<br />
you as Chairman of this<br />
great Institute and it is with<br />
tremendous pride that I sit<br />
here writing it. For those<br />
of you who know me, you<br />
are, I hope, aware that I<br />
am passionate about the<br />
industry, having worked<br />
my way up the ladder<br />
from the days when I was<br />
a cleaning operative at<br />
a small primary school in<br />
Berkshire to now working<br />
as the Technical Director<br />
with the leading innovative,<br />
technology-led company in<br />
the industry.<br />
<strong>The</strong> role of the cleaning operative,<br />
their safety, training, career<br />
pathway and recognition of their<br />
role is very much at the forefront<br />
of my thoughts when I am at work,<br />
but how we go about achieving<br />
this is multi-faceted and it is with<br />
this in my mind I am sharing some<br />
excerpts of my first speech as the<br />
Chairman from our Awards event in<br />
September, as I am aware that not<br />
all of you were able to attend.<br />
Our industry challenges us every<br />
day, from maintaining clean and<br />
hygienic spaces in which to work,<br />
play and live in, staffing, vetting,<br />
training and lastly, managing all of<br />
this. We cannot do it without all of<br />
the wheels and cogs turning in the<br />
right direction at the right time, so<br />
with that train of thought, I would<br />
like BICSc to promote and engage<br />
with all levels and all areas of<br />
our industry.<br />
I believe that the greatest challenge<br />
is to educate those who sit outside<br />
of the industry in the level of skills<br />
that are needed to deliver clean and<br />
hygienic spaces and that while in<br />
the past these have been perceived<br />
as menial tasks, they are in fact<br />
tasks that require a higher level of<br />
skill and understanding.<br />
I am so pleased to see that the<br />
Apprenticeship scheme is now at<br />
the final sign off stage, but we must<br />
not stop there. Now that we have<br />
the apprenticeship scheme, we<br />
need to ensure that we have good<br />
take-up, to guarantee that we use it<br />
and don’t lose it.<br />
I would like BICSc to engage with<br />
all the various trade bodies to<br />
ensure we share our knowledge,<br />
best practices and, as BICSc, we<br />
ensure we develop the courses and<br />
the training that<br />
delivers the skills<br />
to the operatives,<br />
supervisors,<br />
and managers<br />
of the future.<br />
Allowing us<br />
all to gain the<br />
recognition from<br />
everyone, that the<br />
cleaning industry<br />
is truly a skilled<br />
industry not just<br />
in the delivery of<br />
cleaning, but in<br />
sales, accounting,<br />
HR, health and<br />
safety, and<br />
compliance among<br />
other crucial areas.<br />
For our part, BICSc now has<br />
training modules accessible online,<br />
which helps reduce the time that<br />
operatives and managers need to<br />
spend away from their day-to-day<br />
activities. We want to develop these<br />
further to ensure we are delivering<br />
the knowledge and skills base the<br />
industry needs to move forward<br />
alongside the innovation that is now<br />
rapidly emerging.<br />
We will be looking to set-up<br />
workshops and webinars to ask you<br />
all what you would like to see from<br />
us and how we can enhance our<br />
offering to ensure that BICSc can<br />
meet all your future needs. I very<br />
much look forward to seeing you<br />
at these.<br />
Soo<br />
SOO BARTHOLOMEW<br />
National Chairman<br />
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