ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

UK supermarket group Morrisons has cancelled window cleaning at all its stores for two months. Maintenance Management Ltd (MML), which handles Morrisons' facilities, told contractors the retailer is facing a "tough end of year in respect of their budgetary position".

As well as the "financial constraints", MML claimed window cleaning was cancelled because "the weather forecast for this winter shows an increase in snow and frost".

The window cleaning ban, which was launched at the start of December, will run until February 2 which marks the end of Morrisons' financial year.

A spokesman for Morrisons said the "budgetary position" referred to in the email was the store maintenance budget, not the company's wider financial position.

Morrisons said: "Morrisons has decided to reduce window cleaning at stores because it is less important to customers at the darkest time of the year, because the water that runs off windows can be a slippage hazard in the winter, and so we can spend money on maintenance activity that our customers do care about at this time of year.

"We will be restoring the normal service in the spring and the reduction does not affect windows easily seen by customers."