ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Latest research by the British Cleaning Council (BCC) has revealed there are approximately 1.63 million workers in the industry, making up around five per cent of the UK workforce.

This makes it one of the top 10 largest UK industries for employment, says the umbrella body covering all aspects of the cleaning sector. 

This total has been calculated for the first time by including cleaning workers employed by businesses and organisations in non-core cleaning industries such as cabin crew who clean planes at turnaround and shopworkers who clean the store.

Overall, employment in the industry has increased by five per cent between 2015 and 2018 - greater than the entire economy, which recorded a three per cent growth in that period.

Cleaning contributed over £54.5 billion (€62.1 billion) to the economy in 2018 with overall turnover increasing by 28 per cent since 2013, double the 14 per cent turnover of the economy overall in the same period (ONS 2019).

BCC Chairman Paul Thrupp commented: "The cleaning industry has long believed its overall employment figure was much understated by the official statistics for the core cleaning activities. So this report is a valuable contribution to the national conversation about the financial, environmental and social value of cleaning to the nation."

For a copy of the BCC's annual research report visit britishcleaningcouncil.org