Cleaning is an ignored industry, although the number of its employees and the amount of money that annually ‘flows through’ makes it one of the largest industries.
The Cleaning Industry Presentation Is Missing
Cleaning is an ignored industry, although the number of its employees and the amount of money that annually ‘flows through’ makes it one of the largest industries. One of the most dynamic industries in the European Union, cleaning has a turnabout of many millions of euros and employs millions of people, mostly in small enterprises. Cleaning is requested everywhere.
At the same time, it is one of the services that users regard as practically ‘invisible’ as long as it functions well. They begin to see the need of this service only in the case of imperfections or a total absence.
The fact that cleaning lacks any public presentation in the form of a well-established specialised trade fair further contributes to the ‘invisibility’ of cleaning as a field that deserves respect. ‘This should change this year,’ the AFC – All For Clean trade fair organisers promise. It will take place in September.
The Situation Abroad
Trade fairs focusing on cleaning and cleaning technology are nothing exceptional abroad. In addition to large international trade fairs such as CMS or Interclean, many local cleaning shows take place in the West (Great Britain being a good example). There has been no such event in the Czech Republic for a long time. Although some attempts occurred, the results were unconvincing.
Our Experience from Previous Trade Fairs
Four years ago, two trade fair events were organised that focused on the cleaning industry. The first one, FOR WASTE & CLEANING took place at the exhibition grounds in Letňany while the CLEAN Expo took place at Holešovice. The ÚKLID+ČIŠTĚNÍ periodical participated in both of these events, not only as the media partner, but also as one of the exhibitors.Therefore, we had first-hand information about the problems the two events faced. The greatest problem was that cleaning played second fiddle at both of these events.
Waste-Focused Trade Fair
The FOR WASTE & CLEANING was an event that mostly focused on the word ‘waste’ in its title, i.e. the waste industry that slightly overshadowed cleaning – after all also because of the low attendance of the cleaning industry exhibitors.
Cleaning as Part of Fitness Industry
The CLEAN Expo at the Holešovice exhibition grounds was a ‘tolerated’ addition to the thematically non-corresponding Fitness Expo which occupied the majority of the exhibition hall.
Only a very few visitors strayed – more by mistake than because of their interest – at the end of the hall where the cleaning stands occupied a very small space.
Had someone decided to plan their visit to the trade fair, they would have had problems to find it – the organiser forgot to present the CLEAN Expo at all; both at the exhibition grounds (there was no information at the entrance or the information panels inside the compound) and as part of the commercial and information campaign.
The CLEAN Expo trade fair ended in disillusion and never took place again. The word ‘CLEANING’ was dropped from the FOR WASTE & CLEANING trade fair title along with the indication of its focus on cleaning. There has been no cleaning industry trade fair for three years.
A Different Cleaning Trade Fair
Everything changed this year. On 24–25 September 2015, the first year of the AFC (All For Clean) trade fair will take place in the ALDIS Congress Centre in Hradec Králové which will specialise in the cleaning industry and will not be an ‘addition’ to other trade fairs.
‘We wanted to organise a separate event for the cleaning industry – and so we had to organise it ourselves,’ smiles Radovan Anděl, co-founder of the cleaning company Andílci, s.r.o. that organises the trade fair.
The AFC 2015 will offer news regarding cleaning technologies, chemistry, equipment, and services. ‘The trade fair is conceived as a space for presentation of suppliers, professional cleaning equipment, and a contracting exhibition.’
‘A place where suppliers can meet their potential clients – cleaning companies,’ explains Radovan Anděl. An interesting public programme will be part of the event.
The AFC 2015 organisers definitely do not want it to be another isolated event. ‘We do not seek to organise a one-time event but to establish a long-term tradition of a professional trade fair that will take place every year,’ Radovan Anděl assures.
Radovan Anděl: ‘There Is No Reason Why Cleaning Should Be Short of Its Trade Fair’
The cleaning company Andílci, s.r.o. has many customers and very good testimonials; however, with its slightly more than twenty employees it is no ‘giant’.
Nevertheless, this small company embarked on a journey that much larger and more qualified companies have not solved satisfactorily until now: to organise a cleaning trade fair. ‘I believe that the reason behind was that these events were not organised by people interested in this industry. They did not put their heart into it,’ Radovan Anděl thinks.
Besides the heart and cleaning industry awareness, the organisers from Andílci, s.r.o. have experience organising of events where many people meet at one place. ‘Before cleaning became part of our work, we organised cultural and social events,’ Radovan Anděl confirms.