01-15-2014, 05:15 PM
(Shorty tried to post this article that was printed in an Australian trade magazine, but the Aksimet spam remover on our forum nixed it. So I'm posting it for him. Nice story Shorty! And a well deserved tribute to a man who has been a genuine friend of the industry. Keep up the good work mate.)
Cairns carpet cleaner gets prestigious Woolsafe award
48 INCLEAN January/February 2014
CARPET & RESTORATION
WA
NSW
QLD
SA
VIC
By Pip Miller
I was looking forward to meeting Shorty Glanville again. It had been
six years since I first interviewed him at his home in Cairns, North
Queensland, about life at the helm of two cleaning businesses. At
the time I was struck by his indefatigable passion for the cleaning
industry and 'never say die' attitude that has deservedly culminated in
a prestigious honourarium awarded by Woolsafe Australia.
Shorty's surprise at being the first ever industry member to receive
such high praise and recognition from certifying body, Woolsafe Australia --
an industry resource for information and advice about carpet and rug care,
arrived out of the blue and in the form of a framed certificate that he
collected from Australia Post.
"At first I was over the moon," he exclaimed. "Then I thought about
it and how many other people were, in my opinion, more deserving
and smarter than me."
Shorty's reaction is to be expected. That is the nature of the man
whose humble view of his life is more about getting on with the job
than sitting back and navel gazing about his achievements. Those
that know him would agree that he is a character in the truest sense,
one of those people you warm to immediately with his big smile
and welcoming nature. It is not surprising then, to learn that over
the 40 years Shorty has worked in the industry, he has accrued
many likeminded friends from around the world whose one thing in
common is a shared love of the cleaning industry.
In his letter to Shorty, accompanying the framed honourarium
award, Patrick Burgess of Woolsafe Australia said that during a
discussion at the recent Woolsafe Conference, held at Ausclean
PULIRE, it was unanimously agreed by Colin Nation of ABBsolve
Services, Steve Bakker, Woolsafe's marketing manager and himself
that Shorty's extremely generous contribution to industry should not
go unrecognised.
The letter read: 'We would like you to accept this small token of our
appreciation for the work you have done, and are still doing, for the
carpet cleaning industry. Woolsafe Australia was proud to have you as
a member and hope you will accept this honourary membership. On
behalf of Woolsafe Australia and all its members, we say thank you!'
Shorty, who is 69 years of age next March, says he has no intention
of slowing down. He and his wife of more than 30 years, Delia, are
a formidable team who have weathered the economic downturn of
recent years to come out all guns a' blazing with their businesses;
Shorty says Cairns Commercial Carpet Care is a business that grew
out of the GFC's ashes to become a thriving entity that will see the
couple busy for the months ahead with contracts that include Defence
Housing Australia, KPMG, Prouds, Goldmark, Angus & Coote
Jewelers and the vast network of far northern Flight Centres.
Back in 2006 when I interviewed Shorty for the first time his
residential carpet and upholstery care business, Get Shorty, was very
much the main source of income. Then came the downturn and a
whole series of development companies went to the wall taking their
large stock of apartment buildings spread across Cairns.
To survive, Shorty and Delia knew they needed to make changes
and restricted their business to focus less on residential and more on
the commercial potential of Cairns and far north Queensland.
"We are facing the start of our busy season with Defence Housing,"
revealed Shorty. "The school holidays are when most people are
relocated and the cleaning begins. From memory we have 11 homes
to clean as well as a seven day stint with KMPG and another week
with local primary school, Our Lady Help of Christians."
Having spent three decades in the industry Shorty says he has
witnessed a whole raft of changes with technology streamlining and
improving the way they do things.
"Back in the day it was steam cleaning but now we use a method
called very low moisture carpet care or VLM that is just brilliant," he
enthused. "The cleaning solutions we use now are also much more
efficient and kinder to the environment."
Shorty discovered this method back in 2004 when he visited the US
to attend a cleaning conference. At the time it was very new and no
one was really convinced, however since then it has revolutionised the
way professionals clean carpets, himself included.
"We have two different machines we use. The Cimex CR48
for encapsulation cleaning of commercial carpets and the Hoss
Sprayborg for pad capping in residential buildings specifically
designed to deal with extremely soiled floor treatments," he explained.
"We rarely use the truck mount system anymore. These new machines
are light and portable and much more environmentally sustainable
-- using one tenth of the amount of water that you would a steam
cleaner with the added safety of being self contained. There are
no hoses to trip over and are much quieter, eliminating the risk of
industrial deafness, and because they are taken inside, there is no
security issues with open doors, etc."
For now, Shorty is content to still work hard but at a slightly slower
pace. When I called to make time for our interview he suggested
Friday as that was his new day off. When I asked how that regime was
going, he said that this was actually his first Friday off -- and there
we are, talking about work!
As I said my goodbyes Shorty quipped, "I will never retire! What else
would I do?" We agreed that work is keeping him young. His parting
words cited one of his mates as a case in point. "I was speaking to my
friend in the States recently who had recently retired from cleaning and
after just two months he was complaining about being bored. He said,
never stop working. I said right, no problem with that," stated Shorty
with a chuckle.
Cairns carpet cleaner gets prestigious Woolsafe award
48 INCLEAN January/February 2014
CARPET & RESTORATION
WA
NSW
QLD
SA
VIC
By Pip Miller
I was looking forward to meeting Shorty Glanville again. It had been
six years since I first interviewed him at his home in Cairns, North
Queensland, about life at the helm of two cleaning businesses. At
the time I was struck by his indefatigable passion for the cleaning
industry and 'never say die' attitude that has deservedly culminated in
a prestigious honourarium awarded by Woolsafe Australia.
Shorty's surprise at being the first ever industry member to receive
such high praise and recognition from certifying body, Woolsafe Australia --
an industry resource for information and advice about carpet and rug care,
arrived out of the blue and in the form of a framed certificate that he
collected from Australia Post.
"At first I was over the moon," he exclaimed. "Then I thought about
it and how many other people were, in my opinion, more deserving
and smarter than me."
Shorty's reaction is to be expected. That is the nature of the man
whose humble view of his life is more about getting on with the job
than sitting back and navel gazing about his achievements. Those
that know him would agree that he is a character in the truest sense,
one of those people you warm to immediately with his big smile
and welcoming nature. It is not surprising then, to learn that over
the 40 years Shorty has worked in the industry, he has accrued
many likeminded friends from around the world whose one thing in
common is a shared love of the cleaning industry.
In his letter to Shorty, accompanying the framed honourarium
award, Patrick Burgess of Woolsafe Australia said that during a
discussion at the recent Woolsafe Conference, held at Ausclean
PULIRE, it was unanimously agreed by Colin Nation of ABBsolve
Services, Steve Bakker, Woolsafe's marketing manager and himself
that Shorty's extremely generous contribution to industry should not
go unrecognised.
The letter read: 'We would like you to accept this small token of our
appreciation for the work you have done, and are still doing, for the
carpet cleaning industry. Woolsafe Australia was proud to have you as
a member and hope you will accept this honourary membership. On
behalf of Woolsafe Australia and all its members, we say thank you!'
Shorty, who is 69 years of age next March, says he has no intention
of slowing down. He and his wife of more than 30 years, Delia, are
a formidable team who have weathered the economic downturn of
recent years to come out all guns a' blazing with their businesses;
Shorty says Cairns Commercial Carpet Care is a business that grew
out of the GFC's ashes to become a thriving entity that will see the
couple busy for the months ahead with contracts that include Defence
Housing Australia, KPMG, Prouds, Goldmark, Angus & Coote
Jewelers and the vast network of far northern Flight Centres.
Back in 2006 when I interviewed Shorty for the first time his
residential carpet and upholstery care business, Get Shorty, was very
much the main source of income. Then came the downturn and a
whole series of development companies went to the wall taking their
large stock of apartment buildings spread across Cairns.
To survive, Shorty and Delia knew they needed to make changes
and restricted their business to focus less on residential and more on
the commercial potential of Cairns and far north Queensland.
"We are facing the start of our busy season with Defence Housing,"
revealed Shorty. "The school holidays are when most people are
relocated and the cleaning begins. From memory we have 11 homes
to clean as well as a seven day stint with KMPG and another week
with local primary school, Our Lady Help of Christians."
Having spent three decades in the industry Shorty says he has
witnessed a whole raft of changes with technology streamlining and
improving the way they do things.
"Back in the day it was steam cleaning but now we use a method
called very low moisture carpet care or VLM that is just brilliant," he
enthused. "The cleaning solutions we use now are also much more
efficient and kinder to the environment."
Shorty discovered this method back in 2004 when he visited the US
to attend a cleaning conference. At the time it was very new and no
one was really convinced, however since then it has revolutionised the
way professionals clean carpets, himself included.
"We have two different machines we use. The Cimex CR48
for encapsulation cleaning of commercial carpets and the Hoss
Sprayborg for pad capping in residential buildings specifically
designed to deal with extremely soiled floor treatments," he explained.
"We rarely use the truck mount system anymore. These new machines
are light and portable and much more environmentally sustainable
-- using one tenth of the amount of water that you would a steam
cleaner with the added safety of being self contained. There are
no hoses to trip over and are much quieter, eliminating the risk of
industrial deafness, and because they are taken inside, there is no
security issues with open doors, etc."
For now, Shorty is content to still work hard but at a slightly slower
pace. When I called to make time for our interview he suggested
Friday as that was his new day off. When I asked how that regime was
going, he said that this was actually his first Friday off -- and there
we are, talking about work!
As I said my goodbyes Shorty quipped, "I will never retire! What else
would I do?" We agreed that work is keeping him young. His parting
words cited one of his mates as a case in point. "I was speaking to my
friend in the States recently who had recently retired from cleaning and
after just two months he was complaining about being bored. He said,
never stop working. I said right, no problem with that," stated Shorty
with a chuckle.
![[Image: Shorty2_zpsde8cbcd5.jpg]](http://s101.photobucket.com/user/ShortyDownUnder/media/Shorty2_zpsde8cbcd5.jpg.html)
