Social Enterprise Spotlight – All Cleaned Up Scotland Ltd
Posted: 04 April 2018, in Sector News
Our newest Social Enterprise Spotlight is John Friary and All Cleaned Up (Scotland) Ltd – a Social Enterprise specialising in industrial and commercial cleaning, while also delivering employability programmes to some of the most disadvantaged communities in Scotland. Get in touch with John at info@allcleanedupscotland.co.uk – check out www.allcleanedupscotland.co.uk. Connect with them on Facebook too. Read and share their Q&A interview below!
Every few weeks we focus on a randomly selected social enterprise member for intense marketing support and promotion. All Cleaned Up Scotland Ltd will feature in all e-bulletins, on our website homepage and on all our social media, alongside other support, reaching thousands of people across Scotland and beyond. Want to star in the Spotlight? Email team@socialenterprise.scot.
What’s your social and/or environmental mission? ACU is a Social Enterprise aiming to provide training opportunities for those with barriers to employment. By assisting marginalised people we will offer them the opportunity to learn new skills and secure a positive future.
How do you do it? (Client group, practical daily work, customers) We operate an industrial cleaning company and run a Secret Jobs Programme which is an 8 week course of training, employability support and practical on site work experience.
What’s your personal motivation for being a social entrepreneur? We fully support the principles of social enterprise and our particular model has given people an opportunity to get into sustainable employment. Supporting ex-offenders into work is supported by the Scottish Government and we take great satisfaction from our successes in achieving this and are committed to developing and expanding his model.
What are your current projects? We have a number of contracts with housing associations in the Borders, East Lothian and Stirling as well as a school and office contract. We also work with Gorgie City Farm, a fellow Social Enterprise. We are involved in a number of construction site contracts and one off projects.
What exciting things do you have coming up? We are continuing to explore opportunities to develop and we are developing a real expertise in construction site cleaning. We are looking to expand this area of work over the next year. We have and are making very good working relationships with some of the major construction companies operating in Scotland.
Who do you want to work with more? We are keen to do more housing association and construction site cleaning and are accredited by BSI in quality, environmental and health and safety management. We are open to the broad range of cleaning opportunities as well as developing our employability project with a number of third sector partners.
What’s your biggest challenge? We operate in a very competitive marketplace with many very large cleaning and FM companies so bidding for new tenders is always a challenge. We continually take on new staff and volunteers many of whom have not been in employment for a significant time so the support we offer them is very important. We are still a relatively small company with opportunities to grow in a steady way so good management is always critical.
What top tips would you give to other social enterprises? I suggest being focused on the key elements of what makes you a social enterprise and make full use of the support of social enterprise networks and other support organisations. Develop at a manageable and sustainable pace and remind staff of your values as it will motivate them and give them pride in what they do.