Lorraine Hall is Director of The Cleaning Corporation, Breaffy, Castlebar - a husband and wife operation and thriving cleaning business since 1995.
"Training accreditation and continuous development of all of our staff, supervisors and Management, combined with service improvements, and operating procedures with a Full Service Guarantee, means that we continue to lead the way in our industry, in all aspects of our cleaning services,” said Lorraine.
"The business is on call seven days a week. Working from home is the new normal for people following the arrival of Covid 19 – but for me working from home is normal – though since 2007 we operate from a purpose built office and stores that help maintain the discipline you must have when working from a home office. When you are working from a home office you need to be disciplined and we do try to work standard office hours, and also close for lunch," she added.
"However with Covid-19 still very much to the forefront, the business is busy, and the business comes first and we love our work; we have a wonderful staff of over 70, and that allows us to be where we are. Though home working has become the new normal for many, I have been doing it for over 20 years, so it is my normal and has been for a long time. We have invested a lot in recent years in Training, particularly in Health & Safety and also in compliance including Covid-19 & Coronavirus training for all of our staff.
"The business has seen unprecedented demand for services to comply with returning to work protocols, education protocols, and the government roadmaps issued and updated over the last 18 months. As a small business we have also employed the excellent services of local specialist contractors for Health & Safety, for HR and a local telephone answering service when needed – allowing us to concentrate on our business this means that the day to day tasks in the specialist fields of HR & H&S are managed specifically and allow us more time for the business; and that has been a good decision for us.
"It is a different world that we now find ourselves in; where the focus for cleaning is for Hygiene and Health and not just for aesthetics, this has involved a mindset change for many; and this is a change for good.
"Cleaning and providing a safe work environment has come to the top of the list for facility managers and the importance of providing a safe environment for staff, customers, students, visitors etc and compliance with protocols and also a common sense approach, that is knowledge and science based, is very important in getting it right, everything that we do makes a difference and helps to reduce the risk to people.
"We also try to be as environmentally sound as we can. Not many people would know that for almost 15 years we have been using harvested rainwater that is purified through a reverse osmosis system for all of our Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning and Window Cleaning, this really helps reduce our detergent usage and reduces our carbon footprint, which is something that we are very keen to continue to develop.
"Services provided by us include: (1 ) Commercial Contract Cleaning, (2 ) Commercial Contract Window Cleaning, (3 ) Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning, (4 ) Specialist Rug Cleaning Service, (5 ) Floor Maintenance and Renovation, (6 ) Janitorial Supplies and (7 ) Technical Support and Advice including design advice.
Lorraine enjoys working with her husband John, who is from Castlebar and they each work within their own remit and skillset to combine a winning formula. Lorraine deals with administration management, finance, accounts. John is the cleaning and operations expert. Lorraine is originally from Newcastle in the North East of England, but her parents are from Westport and Castlebar. She spent every summer and most school holidays in Mayo as a child, so it was a very natural move to return to Ireland when their children were small, in 1995. "It’s the old cliché - when you want something done, ask someone who is busy,” said Lorraine.
The Cleaning Corporation, Lecarrow House, Breaffy, Castlebar, (094 ) 9289000. Website: www.cleaningcorporation.ie or email: [email protected].
