National Apprenticeship Week - How BICSc is supporting the development of an apprenticeship for the cleaning industry

Godfred Bonse ABICSc

Godfred has been involved in Contract Management for over 20 years. His original contract management duties entailed delivering contract management on the TFL – London Underground Ltd contract. However, as both his role and his experience developed, he progressed to a General Manager role, delivering excellent customer satisfaction, building effective customer relationships, continuous improvement on service delivery, efficient staff management, recruiting and building a team of high-calibre staff, whilst coaching and developing managers, supervisors, and operatives to deliver highest standards on the contracts. Achieving and exceeding targets on KPIs; delivering targets on activities, zero tolerance on accident levels, and cost reduction. He manages and controls methods and processes effectively delivering customer satisfaction profitably.

Godfred gained valuable experience in services delivery on the TFL – London Underground Contract for approximately 20 years, having worked with Comatec, Blue Diamond, Dericheboug, Initial Rentokil, Mitie, and Interserve over the years, and currently with ABM.

He is educated in accounting, finance, and law and trained in Lean Leadership and Management programmes, which has sharpened his skills in critical thinking, analysis, budgetary control, negotiations, compliance, and accounts management.

Neil Spencer-Cook, MBICSc, Group Managing Director

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 60,000 candidates have registered.

Teresa Sacco, LBICSc, Customer Support Team Leader and International Accounts Manager

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.

Matt Ferrin, ABICSc, Digital Project Specialist

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 and Virtual Training Suite.

James Atkins, LBICSc, Verifier

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.

Maureen Kelso, LBICSc, Senior Verifier

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.

Claire Lowe, PBICSc, Cleaning Operative

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.

Denise Hanson, FBICSc, Commercial Director

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.

Kelsey Hargreaves, LBICSc, Technical Specialist

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.

Nigel Howe, LBICSc, Digital Project Manager and Technical Writer

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.

Matt Evans, PBICSc, Digital Marketing Assistant

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.

Karen St James Boyde, ABICSc, Membership Specialist

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.

Marion Wood, PBICSc, Communications & Event Management

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.

Diane Latchford, LBICSc, Training & Verification Manager

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.

Jo Begg, MBICSc, Compliance & Project Manager

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.

Samantha Willson, MBICSc, Business Development Manager

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.

Virginie Dunford, MBICSc, Head of Finance

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.

Lisa Harrington, ABICSc, Customer Service Assistant

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 Kornuta-Pigozne, ABICSc, Accounts Assistant

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.

James Marston, LBICSc, Trainer

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.

Dawn Wheeler, ABICSc, Training & Logistics Advisor

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.

Nicky Ellis, LBICSc, Customer Support Advisor

Nicky has experience in the cleaning industry by looking after FM contracts in the water treatment sector maintaining the hygiene of water storage facilities for the prevention of disease and contamination, such as legionella. Nicky brings with her 15 years of customer service and admin experience and has worked with a variety of sectors including engineering, commercial, and healthcare. Nicky started out studying business and finance for 3 years at college and really enjoys customer services providing the best support to her customers.

Amelia Amesbury, LBICSc, Assistant Technical Specialist

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.

Frank Veneman FBICSc

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 Reynolds MBICSc

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.

Lorraine Davis MBICSc

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.

Soo Bartholomew MBICSc

Soo has worked in the cleaning and FM industry for over 30 years, working her way up from a cleaning operative in local schools when her children were little 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 at SC Johnson Wax at Frimley Green. 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 with SC Johnson Wax (now Diversey Sealed Air) at Frimley Green and continued with her qualification to become a BICSc assessor.

Since 2001 Soo has trained more than 300 managers, supervisors and cleaning operatives in PBICSc and CPSS skills and has opened four ATP training hubs for her employers, along with developing in-house induction training programs for her staff to lead them into BICSc Licence to Practice and CPSS 2.0.

Soo has continued her education with BICSc and has now qualified in delivering training and assessment for Accommodation Skills within the CPSS skills suite. In 2011 she was elected onto the BICSc Council. In 2015 Soo entered the Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners, becoming a Freeman of the City of London in 2016 and in 2021 became one of the first members of the Livery to be entered on to the Register as a Chartered Practitioner in Environmental Cleaning.

Darrin McCartney MBICSc

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.

Wendy Glasgow LBICSc

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.

Hamid Ghadry FBICSc

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.

Paul Fereday MBICSc

I’ve been in the cleaning industry since August 2005 and just with the one company, ISS Facility Services. Back in the day, after being with ISS for a few months, the first external course I went on was a BICSc Assessor’s course, which was a week’s residential course and the knowledge gained stood me in good stead for the development of my career in our industry.

During the last 14 years, I’ve had a range of duties including in HSQE, Compliance and Operations roles, leading to my current position heading up the Cleaning Excellence Department for ISS in the UK. A role I’ve enjoyed immensely since early 2017. The areas my team focuses on can be broken down into seven:

Contract interventions – i.e. productivity and quality improvements via process re-engineering, continuous improvement, change management
Introducing innovation – working with colleagues across the UK business, ISS Europe groups and ISS Global
Contract mobilisations
Business development/Solutions assistance
Rationalisation and Procurement
Best practice and standardisation (including training strategy for the business)
Electronic auditing systems – design and implementation of appropriate systems

I have two key interests:

Bringing innovation into the cleaning business to ensure our cleaning operatives, supervisors and front-line managers have the ‘tools’ they need to deliver excellent customer service to delight our customers and help make their jobs easier and more fun. To this end, I lead a cross-business unit Innovation Group in ISS UK, sit on the ISS Northern European Innovation Board and ISS Global Collaborative Innovation Group.
Raising the standards of training delivered in ISS for our front-line staff, to increase their professionalism in their own eyes and those of our customers.

Jill Roberts FBICSc

Jill has 38 years’ experience in cleaning and facilities management currently as Facilities Manager, Cleaning Services at the University of Leeds, over the years she has managed facilities and cleaning services to varying complex establishments including hotel, nursing home, local authority, schools, colleges, shopping centre, airport and now Universities.

The University of Leeds has a complex in house facilities operation that includes over 300 cleaning operatives and 76 buildings.

She is passionate about promoting cleaning as a professional industry and always strives for continuous improvement and creative solutions through new innovations and development and as such keeps up to date with the industry and is currently an executive committee member of BACHE (British Association of Cleaning in Higher Education).

One of the key factors in the success of improving cleaning services throughout her career has been by implementing effective training through becoming accredited BICSc training and assessment centres and is totally committed to BICSc aim of raising standards of education, building awareness of the cleaning industry through professional standards and accredited training.

Yvonne Taylor

Yvonne has been working within the FM sector since 1995 starting as a pot washer and cleaning operative with Compass. After progression through the ranks in 2000 Yvonne became the General Manger for a large Healthcare Trust with Medirest, quickly progressing to Regional Operations Manager. In 2007 she gained further knowledge and experience working for Balfour Beatty as Head of Soft Services for Healthcare, Education and Blue Lights. In 2012 Yvonne joined G4S as a Soft FM Solutions Specialist working within in all sectors creating innovative service delivery models. In September 2015 Yvonne joined OCS as Head of Cleaning covering the UK, Ireland and Middle East a position she is very passionate about, Yvonne is responsible for ensuring the OCS model is delivered to the highest standards, using the latest technology and innovation and a bespoke training programme for their cleaning operatives.

Andy Keogh

Andy has worked within higher education since 1994. Andy became a member of BICSc in 2002 at a time when he was working as a Housekeeping Manager at Warwick University. Andy has consistently encouraged the delivery of BICSc standards.

Between 2010 and 2014 Andy was part of the Estates team at Warwick University where he continued to deliver BICSc training and assessment. During this time he was appointed as Cleaning Services Manager at Aston University in Birmingham. In 2016 he became the Facilities Officer and is now responsible for cleaning, portering, postal services and the campus wardens.

Andy has a CIPD qualification in Human Resources and during 2018 he also completed the BIFM level 4 certificate.

Andy will bring years of experience and knowledge to Council and is passionate about his new role as part of BICSc Council.

Andrew Ingham LBICSc

The cleaning industry is Andrew second calling after serving 16 years in the UK Armed Forces, so although a relative newcomer to the sector he brings a wealth of knowledge in regards to learning & development, team dynamics and behavioural change.

In 2015 he joined the ISS Cleaning Excellence Team and in doing so was exposed to so some of the most knowledgeable and experienced cleaning professional in the business, this accelerated his understanding and appreciation of the sector, as well as the obstacles that hold it back.

He is currently employed on the ISS PwC account as the Senior Operations Manager where he is responsible the 6 sites that makes up the London region as well as overall responsibility for Learning & Development, Standards, mobilisations as well as the Health, Safety and wellbeing across the 23 sites.

Andrew cares deeply about education, wellbeing and creating pathways for individuals who want to progress within the industry.

Lorraine Larman FBICSc

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

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