FM story: The Floorbrite Group takes flexible approach during pandemic

The Floorbrite Group, which was founded in 1972 and employs 1,600 staff, was faced with increasing demand to help businesses ensure safe working environments.

This has included providing specialist sanitising and decontamination services for Covid-19 for offices and workplaces to protect employees and the public.

Nina Wyers, marketing and brand director at Floorbrite, said, “We have a diverse range of clients including 60 Aldi stores, fire stations, distribution centres and managing agents for commercial buildings. Even if offices have been closed, it is still important to keep the communal areas clean.

“We believe that taking a more flexible approach throughout the pandemic has enabled us to maintain business continuity and growth.

“There are so many benefits to having a flexible workforce. It means we can adapt to what our clients want at a fast pace. With the Government changing the lockdown rules about when businesses can open and close, it’s important that we have been able to adapt quickly.”

One important innovation has been a greater use of temporary, flexible workers. It allows the business to dial up and down the number of workers it needs to meet the needs of its customers.

Nina said, “During the first lockdown we had to mobilise very quickly to support a company making ventilators for the NHS – they needed lots of cleaners very quickly. All the cleaners needed a certain skillset.

“We clean for companies across the UK - from Aberdeen to Portsmouth and from Wales to Ireland. We need staff everywhere for our clients.”

The company’s embracing of greater flexibility also included a change in the way management teams worked.

Nina said: “I’ve enjoyed the mix of home and office working. We have daily meetings and board meetings which we now do virtually – it’s so easy with today’s technology, and it has set us up for the future.

“Flexibility is something that is going to be here for the long-term.”

Nina also explained how the services provided by Floorbrite had evolved as a result of the pandemic.

She said: “There’s a lot more focus on high touchpoint cleaning to ensure that workers, visitors and staff can work safely.

“Everyone is really focused on making sure staff are safe in work so cleaning shifts have increased and chemical ranges have evolved to include virucidal and antimicrobial solutions.

“There’s also been a big move to specialist cleans such as fogging or electrostatic spraying, where we deliver a coronavirus killing solution by an electrostatic spray gun and backpack in a vacant space with only three hours of downtime for the product to bond, and deep sanitisation cleans.”

Lorna Davidson, CEO of Redwigwam, the UK’s largest flexible working community which includes commercial cleaning and facilities management as one of its key sectors, said: “Floorbrite is a fantastic example of a business which has adapted quickly and shown great agility during the pandemic.

“We are seeing a dramatic shift in hiring habits in this sector and many others to a greater blend of permanent and more flexible workers.

“Having access to a pool of talented flexible workers gives companies the scope to turn on and off their hiring to meet the changing needs of the business.”

Floorbrite was founded by the late Martin Wyers and is today run by Martin’s wife, Linda, who is chairwoman, and their children, joint MDs Alex and Nik, and Nina. The business has offices in Sale, Manchester, and Birstall in West Yorkshire and Birmingham.

For more information, visit www.floorbrite.co.uk