Cleaning industry body launches mini-manifesto directed at protecting the health and wealth of the nation

I have worked within the facilities management and construction industry for over 20 years. My industry experience spans a range of clients across both public and private sectors and includes multi-disciplinary knowledge in cleaning, engineering, and maintenance. Having delivered in a range of operational roles in the earlier part of my career, the latter part has focused on programme management, solution design, and strategic FM leadership.

My focus lies in continually evolving the FM service to be innovative, cost-efficient, performance optimised, and customer delighting. All of which are possible via engaged site teams bringing the product to life through the right training, application, and advocacy.

Through my time at ISS, I have developed a huge passion for promoting cleaning as a recognised career pathway and ensuring that professional training and product innovation is a key priority for our business, to enable our people to be the best they can be.

I am proud to be a member of the BICSc Council and play a part in supporting this fantastic organisation in their mission to raise the standards of cleaning education and building awareness of the cleaning industry.

Ste joined the team in 2025, bringing with him many years of experience in customer service and insurance. His approachable manner and commitment to delivering excellent support offerspeace of mind, ensuring clients feel well looked after.

Outside of work, Ste is a passionate actor and historical re-enactor with the Sealed Knot, where he combines his love of performance with a deep interest in history.

Matt joined BICSc in 2019 after graduating from university. Initially starting out as the Marketing Assistant, his aptitude and thirst for technology and his digital knowledge has played a major part in making sure BICSc has not been left behind in the online world which has been integral to building the BICSc brand. Matt has a keen eye for design and development and helps to work on the BICSc website, Virtual Training Suite and as Editor of BICSc magazine The Standard.

Hannah joined BICSc in January 2025. She is our Accounts Assistant working closely with the Head of Finance.

Hannah thoroughly enjoys working in accounts and has worked in many different sectors, managing financial accounts or working as part of a team. These sectors include construction, real estate, e-commerce and several charities. She has recently achieved an AAT Level 2 Certificate in Accounting.

I started my career in the cleaning industry back in 1998 as an engineer, repairing the cleaning equipment for Cooper Cleaning, a family run cleaning company.

Whilst working for Cooper I moved into cleaning management on the ASDA stores contract. During this time, I suffered a road traffic collision, which kept me from working for nine months.

I was offered the opportunity to start on the journey into BICSc accreditation during my recovery starting with COPC stages 1, 2, and 3. Returning to work after a long layoff, I joined two schools as their site manager from there I have had numerous roles within the cleaning industry, from the general manager of a carpet cleaning company to area manager delivering DOC contracts and managing a specialist division covering carpet cleaning, stone restoration, window cleaning etc.

Then I joined Cleanwise Training and Management where my BICSc development took off. Training BICSc to most of the large companies at the time and having many of today’s senior management through the doors we became an award-winning training company. I progressed with CPSS after the change over from COPC, collecting professional training certs and health and safety certs.

Moving on to be QuEST Manager (quality, environment, safety and training) at Birkin services helping to establish them as an ATM before moving to manage builders clean division.

My present position is with Cleantec Services also tilted QuEST Manager where I have brought my vast knowledge gained over many years and experiences to help develop their training program and manage compliance through achieving ISO accreditation, safe contractors, CHAS.

As a corporate member of BICSc, I have been given the opportunity to be co-opted onto the council for which I am most honoured and hope to continue with my journey in this wonderful institute and help others to achieve recognition in our industry.

From a financial director role, Neil joined the BICSc Senior Management team in 2015. He has a wealth of management expertise and has experience in hospitality and FM in numerous industries.

Neil’s passion is technology, especially when it can be used for efficiency purposes. Neil was the project lead on the creation of the BICSc CPSS Assessor app and, more recently, delivered the virtual training platform – to date over 100,000 candidates have registered.

Lisa has been a member of the Customer Support Team since January 2018. Prior to coming to BICSc she has had roles within finance, customer service, and prison education teaching art and craft workshops within the prison environment.

Karina came to the UK back in 2009 for a few months but ended up calling the UK her home.

She is multilingual and worked as a freelance interpreter when she arrived, then moved on to working in accounts for various industries before joining BICSc. She has been with the company for nearly 10 years and looks after everyday tasks within the accounts department.

Karen has been with BICSc for over six years and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from previous customer service roles from working both abroad and in the UK.

As our Membership Specialist she has an expert listening ear enabling her to assist our current and new members in getting the best out of their BICSc membership, both over the phone and via email.

Dawn has been with BICSc since October 2019 and started as office administrator. Coming from a customer service background, it soon became clear that Dawn has a flair when dealing with customers and was promoted to Training and Logistics Advisor in early 2022 arranging online and face to face training and assessments.

Frank Veneman is the founder and director of the MBG Consultancy Group, founded in 1991, and has over 30 years of experience as a consultant regarding the technical and quality aspects of cleaning services. He has been a member of BICSc since 2002 when MBG UK was formed. Frank is currently the research coordinator at the Association for Cleaning Research (VSR).

Over the years Frank has contributed to the development of numerous standards and certification schemes within Europe, specialising in systems for monitoring and measuring technical quality and customer and client satisfaction. With his background as a biophysicist, he has worked on projects in over a hundred hospitals, next to numerous food production plants. As a result, he has years of experience as an auditor on infection prevention, as well as in Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and Good Manufacturing Process (GMP). However, his experience is not limited to these specialist areas. He also has experience in financial institutions, military facilities, police forces, universities and schools. He is the author of several books and numerous reference and training manuals and has contributed to several technical papers.

Frank is a strong advocate of investing in people and organisations. Going the distance pays off for providers, clients and staff. Skilled cleaning operatives and cleaning supervisors are pivotal to a smooth-running cleaning contract or in-house service.

James has worked in the cleaning and FM industry for over 30 years having held several senior operational and functional roles during his career.

He spent the first 20 years within the aviation industry, initially with BAA, then for 15 years with Servisair holding various positions including Head of Health and Safety, and Operations Director, before then moving to Inflight Cleaning Services as Operations Director in 2008.

In 2012 James moved to his current employer, ISS Facilities Services, as Operations Director for the Transport Business and became Managing Director of the Cleaning and Transport Business, with over 8,000 employees and a turnover of £175m, in 2017.  After a successful 4-year spell, James took on his new role as Director of Product and Performance, Cleaning Services for the UK and Ireland in January 2022, where he is responsible for the lifecycle management of Cleaning Products and Services across the UK and Ireland.

Darrin has been working in the Cleaning Industry since 1983, directly after leaving school he started out as a Catering assistant in healthcare cleaning large hospital kitchens, then progressing to Cleaning Supervisor. Darrin then moved into Commercial cleaning with Cooper Cleaning managing cleaning of Building societies and banks in Northern Ireland.

After a few years Darrin moved into Retail cleaning managing cleaning of Tesco, Sainsbury and BQ for the Broadreach Group. He also had the cleaning services of Belfast International Airport and in 2004 won the UK overall Golden Service Award for the cleanest contract.  After the acquisition of Broadreach Group, Darrin took a change of direction and moved in Aviation cleaning and catering working for Inflight Cleaning Services as General Manager over all of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Liverpool. Since then, Darrin has worked for some many large cleaning services providers including Aramark and Mount Charles as Director of cleaning.

Darrin is now employed with Mitie as their Head of Operations for cleaning services in Scotland. His role is to bring Innovative and sustainable cleaning while improving quality through BICSc training. Darrin has been actively involved with BICSc for 12 years and joined BICSc Council in 2019 as a Co-opted Member.

I have been in the cleaning/FM industry at Management/Director level for some 35 years; working in multiple sectors, including transport, health, retail, public and private sectors.

My passion for engaging with the workforce via training and development has always been a driving force in developing the teams that reported into me. BICSc has played an important role as it provides our Managers, Supervisors and Cleaning Operatives with a recognised worldwide skill base qualification.

As a BICSc assessor I remain at the forefront of training and development, which has enabled me to contribute in developing a highly skilled, motivated workforce currently at Vinci Facilities.

I am proud to be joining as a fellow member of the BICSc Council and look forward to using my platform to promote the rich diversity within our industry.

Soo has worked in the cleaning and FM industry for over 40 years, working her way up from a cleaning operative to her current position as Technical Director for Birkin Services.

Soo first became associated with BICSc in 1992 when her then employer, OCS, placed her on a BICSc training course. From that moment on, Soo was hooked and started using BICSc best practice and applying the standards on every account she worked with. In 2001 she took her BICSc association one step further and completed more BICSc COPC skills and continued with her qualification to become a BICSc assessor.

Since 2001 Soo has trained more than 300 managers, supervisors, and cleaning operatives in BICSc skills, and has opened four training hubs.

Soo has continued her education with BICSc and is qualified in delivering training and assessment for skills within the Cleaning Professional’s Skills Suite. In 2011 she was elected to the BICSc Council and in 2023 she became the BICSc Council Chair.

In 2015 Soo entered the Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners (WCEC), becoming a Freeman of the City of London in 2016 and in 2021 she became one of the first members of the Livery to be entered into the register as a Chartered Practitioner in environmental cleaning.

I have been in the industry for more than 20 years and started my career within the cleaning industry. I completed the BICSc COPC stage 1 and 2 qualifications. The class, style, systematic approach to training, assessment and then certification, raptured me then and still does.

Our founding members were pioneers and built a structure that has withstood the test of time for 60 years. This has evolved over the years and has embraced sciences and technologies which have led the way in education.

I truly believe there is no other training solution out there which even remotely comes close to BICSc. The Institute values, develops and recognises our hard-working staff and members so careers can be built, and potentials unleashed. It is a privilege to see the colleagues that I train and assess receive their accreditations with pride.

The history and heritage of BICSc is something I am honoured to be part of, and I am proud to be a BICSc fellow member and Council member.

Lorraine has been a member of BICSc for over 16 years. She is also the current Chairman of the Employers Group for Cleaning Industry Apprenticeships.

Lorraine came to cleaning from a career in catering; BICSc was the first course she completed, and from the first day of chemical competency, she was hooked and wanted to train and assess to BICSc standards.

At the time there was no local branch meeting, so with help from BICSc headquarters, in 2005 Lorraine restarted the London & Home Counties region. It is now thriving with many events throughout the year. In 2013 she was honored to be made a Fellow of the Institute. 2013 was also the same year Lorraine became a member of the Worship Company of Environmental Cleaners and achieved the Freedom of the City of London.

In 2012 Lorraine became Chartered Safety and Health Practitioner, training first aid, IOSH and NEBOSH courses along with all other health and safety courses. She has a passion for training, mentoring and coaching people, and therefore it has been a natural progression to turn this devotion into a career.

Health and safety and the environment is Lorraine’s specialty, and she currently represents BICSc on the Cleaning Industry Liaising Forum, a committee set up by the Health and Safety Executive to oversee health and safety in the cleaning industry.

Lorraine has worked in the service industry, across many sectors and has a broad portfolio of experiences including overseeing companies in achieving accreditations in ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, Investors In People, and other safety accreditations

Three out of five council meetings attended in 2017

Lorraine is a cleaning and service matter expert with over 30 years experience within the industry. Her career has involved a mixture of senior operational and business development roles all in outsourced cleaning and facilities management sectors but particularly specialising in the technically complex healthcare and education sectors.

Lorraine was the only member of the private sector invited by Graham Jacobs of the NHS Workforce and Facilities to be part of the select steering group that developed the cleanliness section of the government’s Department of Health new PLACE ‘Patient Led Inspections Initiative’ which replaced the annual PEAT inspections. Following this work, she was invited to work with the DoH/AHCP PAS 5748 steering group (known as the Rotherham Group) which reviewed the PAS 5748 guidance published in 2011. This work was recognised when BSI submitted it for public consultation, and it was subsequently incorporated and adopted into the revised PAS 5748 (2014) edition.

Lorraine was a founder member of the ‘BSA Cleaning Advisory Group’ which advises and lobbies the government on cleaning related matters; this work has resulted in the launching of ‘The Responsible Cleaning Operator Scheme’ 2015 which was nationally acclaimed and endorsed by the UK Cleaning sector.

In February 2022 at an extraordinary members meeting, it was voted upon that Lorraine will serve as Chairman of the Institute until September 2023, this is additional year is due to the effects of the pandemic.

Having worked in logistics, construction, and business development I fell into supporting FM companies and in turn became an FM by accident, supporting clients including charities, education, private corporations, specialist services, logistics, and manufacturing among many others.

Along the way I’ve been tasked to find solutions for sites of my own, as well as supporting all levels from bids to procurement, suppliers to end users. One thing I’ve always found is that every part of maintaining an environment starts with the cleaning and support of people. As such I’ve worked to always inject support where it’s required and give the people what they require to deliver exceptional environments.

Having become a specialist in soft services by having to find solutions and support along the way I’ve also seen a lot of bad practice, and this is why I’ve joined BICSc, I want to make a difference and see cleaning in FM become the recognised skill that sets the benchmark for the future protection of the built environment at all levels.

Teresa joined BICSc in 2016. She is our Customer Support Team Leader and an account manager for the international Accredited Training Members. She is also responsible for the centres within the prison sector. As the account manager for BICSc international customers, Teresa arranges all the international trips for the training and verification team.

Prior to joining BICSc in 2016, she graduated in French and Italian and has always worked in customer services.

James joined the BICSc Team in 2016 from a cleaning/engineering career. As a verifier and assessor, he works closely with BICSc members, both in the UK and internationally, helping them to achieve and maintain BICSc standards.

James has always worked with customers in various roles and joined BICSc in 2017 as a trainer and assessor. He works with existing BICSc members providing training on BICSc skills and standards for those that want to upskill their staff, but he also works with people who want to become BICSc members and kick-start their cleaning industry career with the Licence to Practice.

Maureen started her career in the cleaning industry back in 1992 progressing through supervisory and management roles in industries as diverse as transport and education. She joined BICSc in 2012 as part of the Training and Verification team. She is responsible for undertaking our Accredited Training Member centre audits, assessor approvals, assisting with new centre set-ups, and centre and assessor licence renewals.

Having previously worked as a patient support assistant within healthcare, Claire joined BICSc as the cleaning operative in September 2022. In addition to her healthcare experience, she also holds a NVQ Level 2 in Hairdressing. As the cleaning operative Claire is the eyes and ears for the facilities department to ensure the BICSc buildings are not only clean but are also a safe environment for staff and visitors.

Virginie, or Ginny as she prefers to be known, came to the UK from France 26 years ago to work as an au pair. She moved on to accountancy roles with several different companies prior to joining the BICSc finance team in December 2017.

As well as keeping a keen eye on the BICSc purse strings to ensure the best use of members’ subscriptions as Head of Finance, she is also part of the Senior Management team.

Samantha joined BICSc in 2011 as a part-time administrator looking after the trainers’ diaries. With a passion for helping others, she transitioned seamlessly into a customer support role organising audits and membership requirements. The experience and knowledge gained from working in that role gave her the background she needed to progress to a full-time position within the sales team and the role of Business Development Manager.

Sam works with organisations and individuals within the UK and overseas, providing invaluable information and support with their training requirements.

Jo has been with BICSc since 2012, prior to this she had been an account manager in several different sectors. Initially working as an account manager for BICSc, she moved to being responsible for the Customer Support Team for several years. Given her unparalleled eye for, and attention to, detail makes her perfect for the role of Compliance & Project Manager ensuring BICSc abides by the rules for our ISO accreditations, company compliance, and oversees several projects to ensure they are delivered correctly and on time.

When Diane joined BICSc in 2019, she bought with her a wealth of business experience from telecoms, banking, and more recently, education sectors where she was a school business manager successfully managing a £1.5m budget.

She has managerial responsibility for the trainers and verifiers, along with the facilities and Health & Safety management of BICSc Head Office. She is also a BICSc Assessor.

Prior to joining BICSc in 2019, Marion spent most of her working life in the banking sector in various roles including compliance, governance, organisational, and PA roles.

Her previous experience with organisation and planning makes Marion the ideal fit for the Communications & Event Management role at BICSc ensuring that all events BICSc are involved in throughout the year are well publicised to both members and non-members and that the events run without a hitch.

Having recently graduated from the University of Winchester, Matt is new to BICSc as Digital Marketing Assistant. During his studies, Matt worked in the stores of a private hospital and for their corporate marketing team, gaining valuable experience for his future career. With his passion for design and technology, Matt hopes to bring fresh ideas to BICSc social media pages and their website.

Nigel was a trainer and technical writer for a global software company and trained customers in places ranging from Australia to Romania before coming to BICSc as a skills trainer and course writer/presenter. With his love of technology, he is now responsible for compiling and producing the courses that run on the virtual training suite. Nigel is also key to keeping the CPSS Assessor and Cleaning & Hygiene Audit apps up to date.

Kelsey, in addition to her role at BICSc, is a Youth Ambassador for Youth Employment UK.  She has experience in the cleaning industry over a range of challenging frontline positions within the NHS during the COVID pandemic.

She brings extensive experience in site inspections, project management, and overcoming the issues faced in operational cleaning service and particularly training models.

Denise has over 30 years of cleaning and hygiene experience. A successful senior manager who has excellent communication, negotiation, and inter-personal skills, Denise can matrix manage and motivate her team to achieve quality results. Experienced in successful multi-site mobilisations in time and cost critical environments, and with a career that spans facilities services for local government, MOD, major food retail, shopping centres, cleanroom and blue-chip office facilities.

Zoe started her time at BICSc in August 2024 as a Digital Content Assistant through an apprenticeship.

Before joining the company, Zoe studied photography at college and gained a HNC qualification which gave her experience within the creative industry whilst also having studied Media at A-Level. Zoe enjoys applying the skills learnt from these courses into her content creation here at BICSc.

Amelia started her journey into the cleaning industry as a cleaning operative in 2020, from there she became a supervisor and began training where she discovered a love for training and the industry. She joined our BICSc team in August 2023 as Assistant Technical Specialist and became a Youth Ambassador for Youth Employment UK.

Before joining the industry Amelia studied at university, she graduated with a degree in theatre studies and enjoys putting that knowledge to good use when training, because as the saying goes, all the world’s a stage.