“It is, above all, a question of organisation and methodology when you want to become established as one of the most prominent names in public cleaning in the French capital,” points out Production Director Fernando de Oliveira who has been working for Labrenne for the past ten years.
Mr. de Oliveira’s field of responsibility comprises the coordination of the team of managers who, in turn, coordinate the company’s cleaning personnel that go out and take on cleaning on the spot. “I very much enjoy working for Labrenne, as we are regularly cleaning for 400 private customers, most of which are companies, and for another 100 customers from various public authorities. It is essential that we keep in contact with them. We work for large groups of companies. Only when our management team visits them on a regular basis, can we find out about their needs. It pays to define their standards of satisfaction and translate them into cleaning services”, explains Mr. de Oliveira.
Labrenne can look back on more than 30 years of experience in the market. The company was founded by Philippe Caussin and Carlos Fernandes who both had worked in the cleaning sector before starting their own enterprise.
From the beginning, their focus was on airport and train station cleaning. “Mr. Caussin is a true entrepreneur who now has shares in over 13 companies. He is equally active in the real estate market,” adds Mr. de Oliveira.
Although Labrenne is involved in various business sectors, cleaning accounts for 80% of the company’s turnover, which amount to 45 million EUR. Furnishing of offices and provision of personnel are additional activities with which Labrenne is engaged.
“Cleaning is at the heart of our business. Cleaning at our level means that staff working for us in public spaces always keep in mind high safety and hygiene standards. Every day a great number of people have to be coordinated and directed to the right locations using the appropriate cleaning products. We clean virtually anything. We are real professionals. At the moment we have airports, stations, metro stations, companies, offices, hospitals, health clinics as well as supermarkets on our customer list,” states Mr. de Oliveira.
Labrenne employs a workforce of 2,200 people at the moment. “We clean a total surface area of 40 million m2. Or to put it another way, we clean about half of Paris, which means that we are responsible for cleaning half of one of Europe’s major cities. In and around Paris we are responsible for cleaning 240 stations. This might give you an idea of the position of our company in the cleaning market,” stresses Mr. de Oliveira.
As the company is in the hands of two proprietors who meet up with their staff on a regular basis, in-house communication guarantees that Labrenne can respond quickly to customer requests. “Many customers choose us because of our reputation but we also make use of the latest cleaning technologies to guarantee a high cleaning standard at all places,” adds Mr. de Oliviera.
Apart from photo-catalytic cleaning that benefits the environment, Labrenne makes use of cryo-cleaning techniques. Here, the contact between pellet and treated surface causes a thermic shock that subsequently removes the dirt. Many of the cleaning jobs are outside the building, where mechanical cleaning with water is the best solution.
“There are some complicated and difficult surfaces which we clean using dry steam, as this method is highly effective and reduces water consumption,” points out Mr. de Oliveira. The company is certified according to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards.
“We invest in the training of our staff, and we are a regular visitor at conferences in order to stay ahead in our field,” says Mr. de Oliveira. Labrenne is popular as an employer and does not need to launch recruitment ads, as most new personnel are acquired through word-of-mouth recommendations.
“There are always staff members who recommend us to their friends and relatives. This is probably the best and easiest way to find new staff,” states Mr. de Oliveira. For the coming years, Labrenne is determined to continue its success story in cleaning in and around Paris.
