Workplace cleaning, better
Adding green value to workplace cleaning services is high on NuServe's agenda. A post in our series on B Corp companies in the UK.
At first glance, it’s difficult to see how a workspace cleaning company like NuServe could be certified as a B Corp. The sector is overwhelmingly cost driven, with clients largely determining the rates. The environmental footprint is high and – as Georgina Lockwood, Sustainability Officer of NuServe tells us – the Good Jobs Institute would describe most operatives in the sector as having ‘bad’ jobs.
But NuServe has been a certified B Corp since September 2020 and, at time of writing, it is the only UK-registered cleaning services company to have done so. When an invitation to tender includes a sustainability clause - which is increasingly common - the certification stands the company in good stead. As Georgina says: “We have people contacting us because we're B Corp. So that's great when we get an inquiry like that, we’re 90% going to land the business.
“But when you get to tender phase [it] does boil down to the bottom line”.
Founded in 1997 and with its origins in South Africa, NuServe has grown over the years to more than 600 people, serving 150 companies. Like the rest of the sector, the pandemic years have been hard, but the company has seen it through and is now looking towards adapting to changes in the industry influenced by the ‘new normal’. Georgina tells us that one of the shifts is towards visible cleaning – having cleaners onsite during the working day: “That has dual benefits in terms of the fact that it gives your cleaners a more sociable life - the most coveted job is a housekeeper job – but then that also brings in a bit of a hospitality element, because depending on the contract the housekeeper might be making tea for the CEO”.
Georgina explains that the drive for B Corp certification came from NuServe’s Managing Director, Simon Duke, after reading Yvon Chouinard’s book ‘Let My People Go Surfing’. Simon realised that NuServe could have a sustainable business model while continuing to make money and without impacting the lives of future generations on the planet. He started exploring the options for how the firm could get eco-certified and found that B Corps was considered the most rigorous. So he took NuServe through the B Corp journey.
By the very nature of its business, NuServe’s B Corp assessment score is close to the threshold[1] but it seems to Green Edge that its sustainability initiatives - including the appointment of Georgina as Sustainability Officer – put it on a trajectory for an increased score at the next three-year assessment point. A new electric vehicle fleet, elimination of single use plastics, replacement of caustic chemicals with plant-based products, and a carbon net zero footprint are all on the agenda. Much of this has already been achieved.
In some of the key areas, though, the structure of the industry means NuServe has less than total direct control. The major area is in the cleaners it hires. High staff turnover means contracts may not operate as efficiently, cleaners may have more than one job working for different companies, many workers are expats and may not even speak English, clients set the rates and dictate who gets hired, and in some sectors like Education, additional requirements like DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) may apply. So, NuServe’s response is to operate as responsibly and sustainably as it can within the constraints as they exist. The company is working with the Living Wage Foundation to place all its frontline workers on the real Living Wage by the end of 2022, a move that will no doubt require negotiations with clients as contracts are bid for, or renewed. An ‘Above and Beyond’ scheme is in place to build self-esteem. Where possible, appointments are made so that travel to work is minimised. And Georgina tells us that the company is proud of its Service Manager role: “The Service Managers look after the HR of the site and the hiring and the logistic. They’re all hired internally and are promoted [to the role] and go through skills development. And the Service Managers and the Account Managers work closely together: the Account Managers look after the clients and the Service Managers look after the staff.”
Building the green value
Alongside being the sustainability ‘face’ of NuServe, much of Georgina’s work is consultative, either internally or externally. Where a tender contains sections on sustainability, those parts of the tender usually come to her to respond. The job also involves a fair amount of research, something Green Edge can empathise with from our own experience in turning back the covers of the green economy. “This year I’ve become an expert on waste”, she says. “The reduce, reuse and recycle thing for clients is a big area and it's dismal in this country. So we need to upskill people. How much value add is that, if you have an operative that can come up and say, we're producing too many disposable coffee cups on site. And then for the manager to go to the client and say, we can propose an alternative. We can get ceramic mugs and a washing system in place, or we can set up coffee cup recycling, because you're producing enough. If your operatives are trained to pick that up, it adds value to our service. But the operatives need to stay long enough for us to be able to get them to that level”.
Coffee cup recycling is now pretty commonplace, but what about recycling human hair? She’s had client requests for things like that: human hair can be used to clean up oil spills, we hear. That may sound strange, but where there’s a female shower in the office and a cycle to work scheme in place, then it’s not beyond the realms of impracticality. As we see so often, it’s just about mindshifts. She says: “My role is very internal at the moment, it's about getting NuServe right first. I kind of educate and help and provide ideas and innovations for the managers once a month. But when a client has rigorous sustainability targets like some of them do, then I get involved”.
Using hair booms to control oil spills. Source: Green Salon Collective
We move on to talk about some of the more technological advances being introduced into the sector, such as robots (robotised vacuum cleaners) and other ergonomic equipment. Robots are expensive to install but work well in the more easily laid-out offices – although, true to her brief, Georgina does point out that end-of-life circularity is poorly considered in the design of the current models. Again, retaining staff to keep the skills for the new technologies in the family is key. The Living Wage is one thing, but again NuServe is pushing the envelope and identifying the markers that would make people want to leave. A new Diversity and Inclusion Council was introduced last year with a direct line to senior management. In addition to the usual D&I considerations, the Council has proved to be a good ideas generator for staff retention, including support for English lessons and the potential for a concierge-type service for advice with visas, legal support and so on.
Like so much else in the green economy, the trick is to find the biggest bang for the buck. NuServe’s highest impact is the cleaning products it uses, followed by its carbon footprint in terms of staff travel to the workplace. Within the constraints of its sector, it is addressing both. Georgina concludes: “The hardest part for me is winning hearts and minds of staff. Having the ideas is the easy part, but my next step is you’ve got to face a really busy team. I don't want to just tell and finger wag. I need to get them on board with this and that is my biggest challenge”.
A challenge for all of us, Georgina. Stay with it.
Thanks to Georgina Lockwood of NuServe for her time in making this Green Edge post. Green Edge opinions may not necessarily coincide with Georgina’s own.
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[1] NuServe’s B Corp score is 81.1. A score of 80 qualifies for B Corp certification and B Corp gives 50.9 as the median score for ordinary businesses.