London's first 'ethical' cleaning company is launching today in a church-led drive to change one of the city's most competitive and poorly paid sectors.
Clean for Good, emerging from St Andrew by the Wardrobe in the heart of London's financial Square Mile, aims to challenge rivals by offering workers a living wage, better conditions and prospects of career advancement.
Entering a highly competitive market where a third of leading companies are loss making, the 'ethical' cleaning alternative bears hallmarks of the Archbishop of Canterbury's threat to 'compete Wonga out of existence' through a network of more ethical credit unions.
The cleaning sector is notorious for its low pay and exploitative conditions with a report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission finding workers frequently do not have their employment rights upheld.
'They may be bullied or discriminated against by supervisors, experience problems obtaining their pay, have excessive workloads, and are not treated with dignity or respect,' the 2014 report noted. 'Often this can be linked to procurement practices which focus mainly on reducing cost and overlook the negative impact this can have.'
Catherine Pearson, Clean for Good's business manager, told Christian Today the issue was a 'social justice' one as workers have to do double shifts just to survive with London's rapidly rising living costs.
'The national minimum wage just doesn't cover it,' she said. 'People are working seven days in a week so they are not resting at all.'
Described as the City's 'hidden workers', more than 110,000 cleaners work in London alone and just over 32,000 operate across the UK.
Clean for Good, whose first client was a Church on the Corner, a CofE parish in north London, aims to offer training, proper contracts with paid holiday and sick leave, as well career prospects for those who want to leave cleaning.
'I think this is one of the ways the church can be relevant today,' Pearson told Christian Today. 'Doing stuff that is outside of church church walls.'
Referencing Justin Welby's call to fix a 'broken' economy, Pearson added: 'This is not about charity or giving money away. This is about contributing to the economy. This is about how we can make a difference.'
Allen Moxham, from the Church Mission Society who partly fund the project, said it was 'practical mission in action'.
He told Christian Today: 'I think increasingly people aren't prepared to cross the threshold of church buildings. You have to make the Christian faith relevant to people in the 21st century.
'This is about changing peoples lives. It's not just about talking. It's about backing it up and demonstrating God's love to people.
'It is talking the talk and walking that walk. And that is a potent combination.'
