Not many people take part in work experience while at college expecting it to lead to a whole career, but for Marcus Gray that is precisely what happened. While there, he caught the attention of the firm’s director Chris Gilbey. From college, Marcus attended the University of Hertfordshire and spent time in the US at the College of Charleston studying business and economics. In his last year, he did some business development work with Chris Gilbey and Samantha Osborne’s recently formed company, Reef Cleaning Solutions.
“From that, they offered me a job after I graduated, and by that point I had a year’s experience working for Reef part-time,” Marcus says.
Marcus had been busy building up a strong foundation experience, starting his own website design company, and from the outset he was clear his ambition was to run a business.
“That showed through to Operations Director Samantha and Managing Director Chris and has led to where we are now as businesses, with myself and our Commercial Director George Osborne making significant strategic decisions,” Marcus says.
Today, Marcus serves as Reef Cleaning Solutions’ Regional Director following previous roles in Account Management.
Reef is a contract cleaning company that focuses on the education sector, cleaning schools and colleges as well as residential and commercial premises. The firm was established ten years ago in 2013, founded by Chris and Samantha, experienced professionals within the cleaning industry with over 35 years of experience behind them.
“They made the decision after working for large national and multi-national companies to start their own business and build from the ground up based on an ethos that put people first to deliver an excellent and personable service,” Marcus tells us. “Today the company employs around 650 people, and we have ambitions of delivering sustainable growth that will result in employing in excess of 1000 people across London, the Home Counties, Cambridgeshire, and the Midlands.”
In a Class of Their Own
From the outset, Reef decided to focus on the education sector as its core business, a sector the firm’s founders identified as a great opportunity to build their business around. “By having a portfolio heavily weighted towards educational environments, we have been able to learn and fully understand the requirements of these and in doing so we have been able to offer clients a rewarding balance between service delivery and return on investment. Furthermore, cleaning in these environments is always going to be required, it is publicly funded and to a large degree recession-proof,” Marcus explains.
The pandemic is a perfect example of the robustness of Reef’s business model.
“Overnight, the economy shut down,” Marcus says. “Had our portfolio been as heavily weighted towards the commercial sector; it is likely that we would not be in the same position we are today. Schools, however, stayed open and had budgets and funding remain in place to continue operating and paying contractors like us. Fortunately, we continued to have fantastic support from a key partner of ours, Nilfisk, during this time.
In practice, the pandemic meant a great deal more work for Reef, as schools needed to continue operating, and in an environment where cleanliness and sanitisation was a higher priority than ever before.
Reef has been able to establish itself as a leading player in the education sector thanks to the strong interpersonal relationships it has been able to build.
“Our unique selling point has always been that we are personable and approachable,” Marcus says. “I am very keen on building professional and accommodating relationships. We structure our management around each of our contracts with proximity in mind. It gives Managers time to get on with and be more personable with our clients. This has been fundamental in helping us establish a well-regarded reputation within the industry.
More Bang for Your Buck
Those relationships are critical in the post-pandemic era, a time for readjustment across a wide range of sectors – the cleaning and education sectors especially.
“We have had a pandemic, which has resulted in more work, but we also face much higher expectations from clients,” says Marcus. “Across all sectors, more resources are required, and expectations have increased. However, within the education sector, public budgets remain relatively stagnant and inflationary pressures have resulted in budget implications”.
In navigating those new needs, expectations and limits, the interpersonal relationships that Reef’s management has built are more essential than ever.
“We feel in a position where we can have open and honest discussions with our clients, and this is pivotal in agreeing the expectations and delivery of service” Marcus tells us. “We can talk about what the client would like to achieve and tailor our specifications accordingly on how to reach this. We can go even further by assessing different ways of cleaning, such as innovations in AI robotics and chemical free cleaning technologies. We’re fortunate to have fantastic partners supporting us in this area, in particular Nilfisk and Avica.
Finding Cleaners
Clients are not the only ones with shifting expectations. The labour market has also undergone a major shift.
“Following the official departure of the UK from the European Union, there have been fundamental changes in the macroeconomic landscape, in particular the labour market,” Marcus points out. “So, we have far more recruitment and retention campaigns taking place in an effort to staff our sites.”
Finding reliable and consistent staff remains one of Reef Cleaning Solutions’ key priorities.
“We get approximately 80% of our staff recruited through online channels, with the rest made up of referrals through existing staff members,” Marcus points out. “More recently we have been in touch with charities and businesses in the north that specialise in helping people get back into work following periods of unemployment.”
It is not enough to recruit good staff, however. It is also essential to retain good talent and staff that go the extra mile.
“Having Managers visit their sites and recognises good work where it is done,” says Marcus. “We encourage wage rates in line with the Living Wage Foundation. We also offer workplaces that engage in a good team ethic and employee morale, with ad hoc ‘Cleaner of the Month’ awards that recognise good work by individuals, giving them a card and voucher to say thank you.”
The business is weighted heavily towards the cleaners on the ground, but just as Marcus was recognised as a potential talent early in his career, the company management remains alert for people who would benefit from development.
“If we take a look at our current management structure, 30% of our managers have been successfully promoted internally, from being cleaners who have become supervisors, who have become area supervisors and then area managers,” Marcus tells us. “There is room and scope for progress. If you do a good job, it is recognised, and those individuals will always be considered for roles that are available, both at our contracted locations and at Head Office.”
Indeed, when we speak to Marcus, he is preparing for the next step in his own career development.
“I came into the business five years ago in 2018,” he says. “Three years ago, George Osborne came on-board, and we were both eager to drive the business forward with the goal being to take on more significant roles within the business in the future. We are now at a stage where we are making key strategic decisions and are now putting in place plans to agree on sustainable growth processes for the future. We want to do this while building our brand within the sector and staying loyal to our key principles. The idea is that next year we will take on further responsibility, with George running our sales and finance teams based at Head Office and me leading the operations side of the business.”
