Commercial cleaning industry sees demand recovery even as many offices remain empty
BNN Bloomberg
At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Colin Bates could only watch helplessly as many of his clients shut their offices and sent people home.
TORONTO -- At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Colin Bates could only watch helplessly as many of his clients shut their offices and sent people home.
"The world changed dramatically for us here at that time as well," said the owner of several Jan-Pro commercial cleaning franchises in Ontario. "The next two weeks were terrifying for us because almost a third of our customer base called us up and stopped services."
Before long however, the company saw a sharp increase in demand for disinfection services and enhanced cleanings for the businesses that remained open, as employers looked to try and make the environment safe and reassure staff. Some large companies wanted the services daily, or even every few hours, he said.
The extra demand helped buffer the cleaning industry during the shutdowns, and companies say business is returning to normal even as many office buildings across the country remain sparsely staffed or empty.
"We continue to have strong demand for our business; we're pretty much back at pre-COVID levels now," said Bates, who also heads the Ontario division of Jan-Pro.
"A big part of this is we need to help our customers, employees and visitors feel comfortable being back in the office," he added.
