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Centralised Cleaning Systems

Cleaning Equipment – Midlands

The Midlands has been a significant region in the development of cleaning equipment and the leading suppliers B & G Clean have been at the forefront. The Midlands as a geographical area consisting of Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, the West Midlands and Worcestershire is hard to define at the margins. It could be argued say that North Nottinghamshire has more to do with South Yorkshire than its county town or that Oxfordshire would identify itself more the M4 corridor rather than Birmingham.

One thing is certain; the Midlands were at the industrial heart of the nation with a reputation for invention and technological advancement which drove the country’s industrial success until the end of the last century. The factories and mines of the West and East Midlands created wealth and ultimately improved the lives of its workers, but the by-product of industrial endeavour is industrial dirt and grime. The area north of Birmingham is known as the Black Country for good reason. Dickens wrote, in The Old Curiosity Shop that the factories, “Poured out their plague of smoke, obscured the light and made foul the melancholy air”. Although the Black Country is singled out, the problems of industrial pollution both within and without the workplace were faced wherever factories were situated.

Cleaning Equipment – Midlands – Development

As time has moved on, the awareness of the need for a clean environment has increased and, beginning with the first Clean Air Act of 1956, there was an increasing imperative to clean up the workplace. Some of this is driven by government legislation but often it is seen a good housekeeping for the benefit of workers and mangers. To achieve effective cleaning there are now a plethora of machines to wash, steam or vacuum the floors, walls, machinery etc. Much of this cleaning equipment was developed during the last century and has meant a cleaner and safer working environment

Cleaning Equipment – Midlands – Types of Cleaning Machine

The Midlands could be said to have had significant input into the development of the different types of cleaning equipment. The steam cleaner for instance has a direct relationship with the famous Birmingham industrialist and inventor James Watt; H.C.Booth who was born in Gloucester (one of the areas hard to define, but we’ll say it’s the Midlands) could lay claim to the invention of the vacuum cleaner in 1901, but sadly Hoover was more successful. One of the most useful pieces of cleaning equipment developed in the last forty years or so is the industrial pressure washer and who other than Sir Isaac Newton (born Grantham – another grey area) could be said to have discovered the principles behind this machine.

Cleaning Equipment in the Midlands has a long history and B & G Clean, with depots in Staffordshire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands have been part of that history for over 25 years, providing service and expert advice to customers in the Midlands and the rest of the UK.