Organic growth proves fruitful
June 23rd 2008

Ridge Crest Cleaning won what it claims was the UK’s first green cleaning contract with Maidstone Borough Council in 2005. Then it applied the philosophy across all contracts. The result is rapid growth – and lower environmental impact and costs for clients. Brendan Coyne reports

Ian Beach set up Ridge Crest in 2004. But the breakthrough came in early 2005 when it won what he claims is the UK’s first environmentallyfriendly contract with Maidstone Borough Council. “At that time we were led by the council,” admits Beach. “The tender stipulated rigorous environmental criteria.

We simply stuck to that and bid, demonstrating everything was as environmentally-friendly as possible. And we won the contract.” As the contact progressed, the advantages became clear. “It cut the chemicals on site. We only used four products: Sulfamic acid, microfibre and steam for the washrooms; eliminated chemicals while still providing a sterile environment in the kitchenette by using microfibre and steam,” Beach explains. “For general purpose degreasers and hard surface cleaning we used a derivative of orange peel, an extremely powerful degreaser which tackles a variety of applications including carpet cleaning.” He says all consumables are recycled and chlorine-free.

All contracts are now approached in the same way, something Beach feels is a major growth factor: Ridge Crest’s first year turnover was £95k; this year the books closed at £2.1m. “When tendering, clients might sit through several similar presentation. Our approach sets us apart. It get them interested.” But are they willing to pay for it? “They pay less, we have demonstrated cost savings with all of our clients,” Beach claims. “The low number of products simplifies site procedures, cleaners are much easier to train and retain exactly what to do with each chemical, CoSHH is simplified, so productivity is higher. We also have a high level of management: an operations manager looks after only five contracts; the industry norm is more like 15.”

Does the reduction in chemical offset the investment in microfibre? “Yes, microfibre lasts – you can wash the latest products at least 100 times, and the washing cost is no different to a traditional cloth. It has many benefits.” Glass cleaning is one example. Beach says warm water in a spray bottle and a microfibre performs as well as expensive glass cleaners. “Even better, it won’t leave a smeary finish over time.”

What about daytime cleaning as a means of cutting utility bills? “It definitely has its merits but many of our clients are within the educational sector; you don’t get into classrooms during the day. And two of our major clients are distribution depots where we are Asda’s preferred clients,” says Beach.

Waste not, want not

Of Ridge Crest’s other contracts, Beach says cash and environmental savings made for Wimbledon Stadium are interesting. “The Saturday car boot sale and Sunday market generate huge amounts of cardboard and plastic waste, plus glass and plastic glasses from the greyhound stadium.

Previously, says Beach, all of it went to landfill. “I investigated recycling and put procedures in place. Now for the cardboard they receive £45 per tonne, for the plastic £160 per tonne, and their glass is taken away free of charge.” The measure cut the landfill bill in half, from in the region of £30,000 to just over £15,000. “Naturally,” says Beach, “they were delighted.”

How green?

How green is Ridge Crest itself? “We do all of the good housekeeping things, save energy, recycle all of our waste, plan our routes very carefully.” says Beach. “We aim to become carbon neutral by 2010, and we have just started an audit to enable us to offset our footprint.”

The future

Whereas Maidstone Borough Council took the lead with environmentally friendly contracts, Beach says a lack of governmental coherence, both locally and nationally, is hampering sustainable cleaning. “There’s no joined up thinking. Whereas Maidstone took the initiative, other councils in the region are less interested.”

After the Maidstone contract launched, Beach says he had a lot of interest from government officials. “Wasn’t Milliband involved in environment at one time?” he deadpans. “Well his secretary called a couple of times. But since then, it’s all gone very quiet.”

So how should the situation be addressed? Something like the Dutch government's commitment to sustainable procurement by 2010 – thought to be worth EURO30bn? “I think government should issue guidelines on the type of methods and contractors that local councils should use. Personally I think tenders should be sought only from ISO14001-accredited firms.”

Perhaps Ridge Crest Wales, which launched last month, will receive greater attention from the Welsh Assembly. Following its sponsorship of the Welsh Rugby Player’s Association of the Year awards, the firm has appointed Welsh rugby captain Ryan Jones as chief executive. Either way, the Ridge Crest’s steep growth curve is a reasonable hint that greener contracting is a sound business plan.

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