Cleaning Hygiene Today Cleaning Hygiene Magazine
A commercial cleaning firm which helps maintain some of Derby’s best-known buildings has won a prestigious King’s Award for Enterprise for helping refugee women get back into work and rebuild their lives.
Upbeat Clean, based in St Chad’s Road, has been named as one of five local King’s Award for Enterprise winners today after picking up the award for Promoting Opportunity through Social Mobility.
It is the first organisation in the county to win the coveted social mobility award, which is one of the rarest King’s Awards to win and recognises organisations which operate programmes designed to support people from disadvantaged backgrounds in improving their job skills and their chances of finding work.
Upbeat Clean was founded as a social enterprise by city charity Upbeat Communities in 2020, as part of its work helping refugees and asylum seekers to settle and rebuild their lives in the UK.
Headed by its Managing Director, Michael Gladwell, it provides meaningful employment refugee women who live in the city after having fled war or persecution, giving them the chance to earn money for themselves and their families and access training.
In recent years it has increased its remit to make a positive impact on the cleaning sector, having taken on people who were already working in the industry but were not being given their full employment entitlements, including annual leave and pension contributions.
It currently employs 40 staff and its clients include a number of well-known city firms, including Getinge on Pride Park, Derby Museums, Derby County Community Trust and QUAD, with more high-profile customers waiting in the wings.
The new contracts mean the company expects to employ 60 people by the end of the year, including the creation of management and operational roles for its current staff to step into.
Gladwell said: “Our team are delighted to be recognised by the King for combining excellent cleaning with life-changing employment.
“We knew before we started that there was huge potential in partnering with refugee women who have fled horrific situations with their children, giving them an opportunity not only to work, but to realise their full potential and take on management and leadership roles.
“They’ve done that amazingly, thanks to the incredible support from over 40 Derby companies who are using their budgets to get excellent cleaning and change lives.”
Gladwell has ambitious plans to grow the company further and to help him achieve his ambitions, last year Upbeat Clean employed a new General Manager, Paul Gray.
He said: “My last role was at Getinge and I was responsible for giving Upbeat Clean the contract to clean their premises in Indurent Park, because I realised it would be a good thing to be involved in.
“Now that I’m working for the company itself, I’m proud of the work we do. The King’s Award is extremely well-deserved for all the hard work the team do and the way they are changing people’s lives.”
