Window cleaners need new recruits

Mar 17 2008 by Karen Dent, The Journal

A HUSBAND and wife are looking to double the size of the workforce at their commercial window cleaning firm after winning a number of new contracts.

SBNT Window Cleaning Contractors and Cleaning Services, which is run by Newton and Kirsty Tucker and counts Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium among customers, currently employs four staff and is keen to take on four more.

“The work’s there but we don’t have the men to do it,” said Newton, 34, from Ingleby Barwick near Stockton, who has been window cleaning for 10 years. He concentrates on the external window cleaning while Kirsty’s team looks after the internal window cleaning side of the business.

The firm, which has clients in Teesside and North Yorkshire, has just added Brulines, a pub equipment company in Stockton, to its portfolio as well as telecommunications business Odyssey Systems. It also cleans the internal windows for house building clients including George Wimpey Homes.

Kirsty said: “This is an important job because essentially we are getting homes ready for the people who are going to move in. Sometimes it’s the buyer’s first home, so the standard of cleaning and preparation has to be really high.”

The team is keen to take on two internal and two external window cleaners immediately. Newton says he is looking for fit and enthusiastic people, but admits it can be difficult to source staff.

He said: “I always tell people who begin working for me that it is the toughest job in the world. You’re outside in the winter and it can be hot in the summer.”