As the New Year begins, winter is in full swing, and so is flu season. For businesses, this can mean increased employee sick days, lower productivity, and the potential spread of illness throughout the workplace. However, by prioritising office hygiene and implementing effective cleaning practices, you can create a healthier environment for your team and reduce the risks associated with winter germs.

Here’s how professional cleaning services, like those offered by Unique Support Services Ltd, can help you protect your staff and keep your business running smoothly during flu season.

Why Winter Germs Are a Bigger Threat

Winter brings colder temperatures, shorter days, and a tendency for people to spend more time indoors. This combination creates the perfect environment for germs to spread. Shared office spaces, particularly those with open-plan layouts, are hotspots for bacteria and viruses. High-touch areas such as door handles, keyboards, telephones, and communal kitchens can quickly become breeding grounds for harmful microbes.

Without regular and thorough cleaning, these germs can linger and infect employees, leading to a cycle of illness that disrupts workflow and team productivity.

Key Areas to Focus On for Flu Prevention

To minimise the spread of germs in your workplace, it’s essential to prioritise cleaning and sanitisation in the following areas:

1. Desks and Workstations – Employees spend a significant portion of their day at their desks, making these areas prime spots for germs. Regularly wiping down surfaces, keyboards, and computer mice with disinfectant can make a big difference.

2. High-Touch Surfaces – Door handles, light switches, lift buttons, and shared equipment such as photocopiers should be cleaned multiple times a day to prevent cross-contamination.

3. Break Rooms and Kitchens – Communal spaces where food is prepared and consumed are particularly susceptible to bacteria build-up. Sanitising countertops, sinks, and appliances is essential for maintaining hygiene.

4. Restrooms – Ensuring restrooms are cleaned and disinfected daily is critical for preventing the spread of germs. Stocking soap, hand sanitiser, and paper towels also encourages proper hygiene among staff.

The Role of Professional Cleaning Services

Professional cleaning services are essential for maintaining a clean, healthy workplace, especially during flu season. Here’s how Unique Support Services can support your business:

1. Regular Sanitisation – Our team uses advanced techniques, including fogging and anti-viral cleaning, to eliminate germs effectively and ensure a safer environment for everyone.

2. Periodic Deep Cleans – Deep cleaning is an essential process that should be carried out every six months to a year, complementing regular daily or weekly cleaning routines. Unlike routine cleaning, deep cleaning targets hard-to-reach areas, ensuring a comprehensive clean throughout.

3. Fogging Service & Anti-Viral Cleaning – Designed to provide an extra layer of protection during flu season and beyond. Proven to defeat COVID-19, this service ensures your premises are disinfected and sanitised, creating a safe environment for employees and visitors alike.

4. Tailored Cleaning Schedules – We work closely with you to design bespoke cleaning plans that align with your business’s unique requirements, whether daily, weekly, or monthly services.

5. Flu Prevention Expertise – Our expertise in flu prevention ensures that all high-risk areas, including high-touch surfaces and communal spaces, are treated with the utmost care, providing long-lasting results.

Tips for Employees to Stay Healthy

In addition to professional cleaning services, encourage your staff to:

• Wash their hands regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
• Use hand sanitiser when soap isn’t available.
• Cover their mouth and nose with a tissue or elbow when sneezing or coughing.
• Stay home if they feel unwell to avoid spreading illness.

The Bottom Line

A clean office isn’t just about appearances; it’s about protecting your team’s health and ensuring your business operates efficiently. Investing in professional cleaning services during flu season is a proactive step that demonstrates your commitment to employee well-being.

At Unique Support Services, we specialise in creating healthier work environments throughout London and the South East. Contact us today to discuss how we can help your business combat winter germs and keep your workplace safe and productive all season long.

The post Winter Germs and Office Hygiene: Protecting Your Team This Flu Season appeared first on Unique Cleaning Services.

World Clean Up Day is a global event that encourages everyone to get involved to do their bit to ‘Clean Up The Environment’ but 4 years ago i-Recognise Day was also introduced to acknowledge the invaluable, essential service delivered by cleaning operatives and this year i-Recognise Day falls on Friday 16th September.

i-Recognise Day is endorsed by BICSs (The British Institute of Cleaning Science) and is also a global event and one that we here at USS like to be a part of.

RECOGNISE -Respect Every Cleaning Operative Giving Necessary Importance to Services and Environments

Cleaning is at the forefront of creating cleaner, healthier spaces for everyone from hospitals and schools to offices and retail outlets. A cleaner space is a safer space and the important work carried out by cleaning operatives deserves to be recognised.

Why not join us in showing your appreciation and thanks this Friday to your cleaning staff who unfortunately often go unrecognised.

The post A Day Of Recognition For Cleaning Operatives Across The Globe appeared first on Unique Cleaning Services.

Throughout COVID, jobs in the sector were secure and many cleaning companies adapted to the increase in demand. The hospitality sector and non-essential shops might have been closed but schools stayed open throughout, and supermarkets were busier than ever.

Cleaning was at the forefront of everyone’s minds with the importance of cleaning being highlighted.

Many companies and individuals have higher cleaning standards than they did in 2019 and this means that the increase in demand that the industry has seen in the past 2 years has not waivered.

Cleaning is recession proof, and the industry offers job opportunities that lead to development and progression, we here at USS believe in promoting internally and providing all of our staff with the support and training that they need to succeed along with excellent rates of pay.

If you are looking for a reputable cleaning company to work for we currently have the following opportunities available: –

• Kitchen Porters
• Cleaning Operatives
• Cleaning Supervisors
• Window Cleaners

Want to find out more about working for us, send your CV to j.wiseman@unique.org.uk

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Research has shown that all of the above has led to a demand of up to 90% for office cleaners across the country and google searches have risen as follows:-

• Office Cleaners near me up by 85%
• Commercial Office Cleaners up by 52%
• Industrial Cleaners up by 600%

Office Cleaning is vital work and should be treated as such, it helps to create an inspiring workplace and visible cleaning taking place during office hours helps to reassure employees and visitors to the business that it is a safe, healthy place to be.

When thinking about your cleaning requirements, think preventative cleaning focusing on stopping dirt etc. making its way inside the premises, daily maintenance cleaning focusing on touchpoints and high foot flow areas and intermediate cleaning when deep cleans, carpet cleaning and anti-viral fogging for example can take place.

This year USS is delighted to celebrate 30 years of business within the cleaning sector and in providing office cleaning services. We ensure that our customers receive a first rate tailor-made service, cleanliness to the highest standards, reliable experienced cleaners and competitive rates.

Regardless of the industry sector or size of premises we work with our clients to ensure the best possible results.

If you would like to find out more about our office cleaning services operational in London and the South East, please call 02086694377 where a member of our team will be happy to help.

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Pre Brexit, there were concerns across the sector that there would be a shortfall in staff as historically UK Nationals have chosen not to join the sector and that has proven to be the case. The British Cleaning Council believes we will be one of the industries that is hit hardest by problems in the recruitment process and the situation is worsening daily when now more than ever the importance of cleaners should still be at the forefront of all our minds.

Despite the cleaning sector having a presence in Parliament and the hard work being recognised by the PM during the height of the pandemic, changes in our immigration system effectively classes Cleaning Operatives as unskilled workers so how do we go about changing the perception of the cleaning industry and encourage UK Nationals to pursue a career in the sector?

Honestly, few people dream of a cleaning job and most fall into the industry but there is a lot to be said for a job in the sector, it’s not just about the cleaning, it’s about Health & Safety, Quality Management and Social Responsibility plus other skills and knowledge and offers job security too.

Some cleaning companies can find themselves with notoriously high employee turnover but this may be more about the company than the people they recruit.  Here at USS the majority of our staff have been with us for many years and we put that down to the training and development opportunities we offer to our staff, the flexibility to work full or part time with hours to suit, recognition of good work and achievements and a higher rate of pay compared to the industry average.

Interested in finding out more about working for USS and the opportunities available, call the office on 020 8669 4377 and a member of the team will be happy to help.

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A skills shortage has been seen for years across these sectors and by 2019 this was widely accepted as a labour crisis, add to that that almost 300,000 people in the hospitality sector have left their jobs since March 2020 including cleaning operatives, kitchen porters and housekeeping personnel and you can see why cleaning companies and hospitality businesses are struggling to find staff.

Migrant workers made up to 37% of the English cleaning workforce pre COVID and Brexit but with new sponsor licences being required to employ from outside the UK now along with a minimum salary of £25,600, this reduces the pool of candidates available for jobs that do not pay this.

The national living wage in the UK is £8.91 yet based on a person working 37.5 hours a week, they would need to be being paid in excess of £13.00 an hour to be eligible for the immigration system and with there still being a stigma to many Brits of working as a cleaner. the question remains how do cleaning companies ensure they can continue to recruit effectively allowing them to deliver the best service possible?

If COVID has shown us anything, it is how important cleaning is and what a value professional cleaning is to be businesses and society as a whole and that is why here at USS we educate and encourage our clients to value the service that our operatives deliver allowing us to pay above the national living wage when possible.

In addition to this, we offer part time vacancies in addition to full time, hours and shifts that suit individual circumstances, a range of training programmes and personal development, an employee of the month and refer a friend scheme and promotion from within. In fact lots of our operatives have gone on to be supervisors and on some occasions beyond that to managerial positions.

If you’d like to find out more about working for USS, we’re recruiting now so why not get in touch to discuss what opportunities are available.

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Many companies are now offering ‘hybrid’ working but with this comes desk sharing and so it is more important than ever to ensure frequent and enhanced cleaning is taking place in the office especially as lots of people are still feeling nervous about restrictions being lifted.

Additional foot flow for the retail, hospitality and leisure businesses that service the office workers also means keeping their premises clean has got to be top of the agenda too.

So whatever your business, with restrictions being lifted but COVID still very much here to stay a focus on cleaning is essential if your business is to succeed and USS is here to help you do just that.

From daily office cleaning to periodic anti-viral fogging, computer and telephone cleaning, from carpet and upholstery cleaning to internal and external window cleaning including hard to reach areas and from front of house to back of house cleaning, we’ve got it covered.

If you’d like to find out more about our services, call the office today on 02086694377 and a member of our team will be happy to help.

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Julie is the glue that keeps the company running with her ability to be able to multi-task, stay calm under pressure and respond quickly to both customer and employee enquiries in a professional and friendly manner not to mention ensure everybody gets paid on time.

The awards recognise the talent and achievements of office professionals of all levels and across all types of projects, industry sectors and companies, and also acknowledge the contributions of specialist office suppliers and service providers as well.

Congratulations Julie.

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Here is our suggested 3 step approach:-

1. Return safely – ensure your premises are deep cleaned prior to opening or as soon after opening as possible
2. High touch disinfection – ensure you have a frequent cleaning program in place so that high touch points such as door handles, light switches etc. are regularly cleaned
3. Anti-viral cleaning – use an anti-viral fogging service periodically which will not only disinfect the regularly cleaned areas but also provide broader disinfecting to those harder to reach areas helping to protect against COVID-19

In addition to the steps above, we have produced a free cleaning guide which you can download here Deep Cleaning Guide for Workplaces

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