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On 6 February 2018, association members and their guests gathered at the second ISSA UK/IE Member Networking and Education Event in London. ISSA member Amazon EU, hosted the event at their new headquarters in Shoreditch.
ISSA organised the event to give cleaning industry professionals the chance to gain insights into the latest drivers impacting the cleaning industry and the opportunity to business network with fellow industry professionals.
Dianna Steinbach, ISSA’s Vice President of International Services, welcomed attendees and gave a quick update on ISSA educational, business and certification services for the year ahead. Next to speak was Roberta Donzelli, Senior Vendor Manager, BISS EU at Amazon who gave a brief overview of Amazon’s current and planned e-commerce activity in the jansan industry.
The event then focussed on three main topics: how the UK cleaning industry should plan for the impact of Brexit, employment of the younger generation, and selling in the digital world.
Leo Ringer, the UK Head of Global Council, talked about Brexit implications for the commercial cleaning sector giving insights on how UK’s immigrant workforce dynamics will shift for the cleaning service providers. Ringer also took away some concerns from the audience by explaining anticipated import/export activities and made participants aware of key milestones they will need to watch out for during the course of the Brexit.
Jemma Redden and Chris Tarry from Access Generation CIC, a social enterprise company that provides free practical online guidance to businesses on making the workplace more accessible for 18-24 year olds at the start of their careers, addressed the topic of positioning cleaning companies an employer of choice for the younger generation. Based on research conducted with the Prince’s Trust, the new generation has a different approach about work and their life aspirations. With this in mind Access Generation CIC went on to suggest changes in the recruiting process to attract potential younger employees to the industry.
The participants of the event further gained invaluable insight in to how b2b ecommerce is evolving and what an online sales strategy should look like in the digital age. Luke Elliot, Leading Vendor Management for the Business cluster at Amazon Europe, also talked about the new dynamics of selling in the digital world.
