Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 24th April 2025 Issue no. 1159

Your industry news - first

The original and best - for over 20 years!

We strongly recommend viewing Cleanzine full size in your web browser. Click our masthead above to visit our website version.

Elite Contract Clean manages rapid business growth using SmartTask software for daily operations

From its head office in Chesterfield and regional offices in Manchester and Ipswich, Elite Contract Clean provides a range of services nationwide, including daily office, commercial, industrial and warehouse cleaning. Striving to improve service standards and engage with customers even more efficiently, it has invested in SmartTask workforce management to support its daily operations.

"Our investment in SmartTask has definitely reaped benefits for the business,” reveals Craig Denton, Elite’s managing director. “We chose SmartTask software as it is designed specifically for the cleaning industry, providing all of the features that we were looking for in one solution. It enables us to work more efficiently and provide a professional service. It is definitely a selling feature when it comes to talking to new clients."

The SmartTask team initially worked with Craig and his management staff to deploy the software, enabling its operations to 'go digital'. Elite uses SmartTask software to manage rosters for around 70 people. All operatives receive rosters via an app on their smartphones.

Easy to use, the app is well liked by the staff, who also use it to manage holiday entitlement, booking time off or checking holiday owed.

Staff use mobile devices to clock on and off at client sites for their contracted shifts, with a five-minute window to allow time for running late. If they are delayed the system automatically flags up to the operations team. This live visibility of the staff locations enables swift action to be taken in case of sickness or other absence.

The comprehensive nature of the software has benefited the company with more flexible services for clients and faster, more accurate payroll for staff. The contracts manager uses SmartTask to make ad-hoc changes and is able to change or add shifts at short notice in response to client demand. The working hours data in SmartTask is then imported into Sage and any changes are reflected accurately in the payroll.

Since amendments can be made immediately, rather than waiting for the time sheets to check back, it results in improved cashflow and happier employees.

Using SmartTask electronic forms enables Elite to provide additional services to customers in a more professional, efficient manner. For example, operatives carry out cleaning and quality audit reports and equipment checks using electronic forms on their smartphones, which, along with the associated hours worked, clients are able to immediately see and sign off on the customer portal.

"With up to 70 operatives working at any one time that would be a huge number of timesheets to manage,” says Craig. “We have immediately made a saving in time and paper by using SmartTask electronic forms, as well as the accuracy and visibility that they give us which has helped us to improve our customer service."

As well as providing a more professional and efficient way of working, the electronic documents can capture location, date and time of where the activity or work was carried out. Photos can be attached when required for extra details or evidence. Previously this was achieved using paper forms which had to be manually signed and posted back to the office for checking and collation, taking longer and with the increased risk of lost or misfiled forms.

Elite also uses electronic forms for PAT (Portable Appliance) testing of all equipment inhouse. Photos and records of the equipment are all electronically logged and stored securely and easily for retrieval, helping manage annual certification renewals.

"We started our business in Feb 2021 and are now in our fourth year,” adds Craig. “We have built on our success over the years and continue to grow. There is no doubt that using SmartTask has underpinned our company success and we know it will easily accommodate our future growth."

Benefits at a glance:

* Easy for staff to clock on/off and book holidays
* More responsive customer service with ability to check attendance and make alternative arrangements if required
* Time taken for payroll has been reduced by 75% - from one day to two hours
* Electronic forms significantly reduce paper use and present a more professional approach for cleaning and quality audits carried out using smartphones
* Secure electronic records of customer details and PAT equipment testing data
* Customer portal provides full visibility for clients of time sheets/work completed and Proof of Attendance

SmartTask Modules/features -
* Employee Scheduling - automate scheduling, shifts and rosters, send to staff mobile devices.
* Proof of Attendance - Capture attendance, clocking in/out details.
* Receive alerts for no shows and reschedule accordingly.
* Duty of Care/Lone Worker to meet requirements with welfare calls, and alerts for missed calls.
* Holiday and sickness management - employees can view and request holiday via the app, which managers can authorise. No paper forms.
* Payroll integration - hours worked transferred seamlessly to payroll, for fast accurate calculation
* SmartForms - replacing manual, paper-based processes, ideal for Quality and Cleaning audits.
* Customer Portal - direct access for clients to details of services provided.

https://smarttask.co.uk/ / https://elitecontractclean.com

10th April 2025