Direct Shine

A different quote today seen Direct Shine quoting for a big marquee clean in Edinburgh.

The company is expanding well across the capital and that’s reflected by drawing the attention of potential clients like this.

Direct Shine now have over 1000 regular commercial and residential clients in Edinburgh and this is growing daily.

Whether we get the job or not it’s a great sign of our growing reputation not only locally but also across Scotland.

Today also seen a quote request come in for a large site in the centre of Glasgow so these are great signs for the company and this will be quoted early next week by myself.

A lot of my quotes aren’t much fun but i did take advantage of having a little walk round and see the animals on this one and fingers crossed the job comes in 👌

Have a great weekend and enjoy the sun ☀️

My wife and director of Direct Shine Romy is doing a great job of being a host at our holiday let in Burghead and now we are one of the top rated in the area for accommodation.

We still have some availability if anyone would like to book a little stay away👌

airbnb.com/h/clearwaterburghead

A little update as it’s been a while since I’ve touched base with how the company is getting on….

After one of the harshest wet periods in our history (which my teams handled exceptionally as expected) the usual winter conditions, staff Xmas holidays and unlucky periods of sickness we have scraped out the other side.

The last 3 months has seen our vehicle repairs break £10k yes that’s over ten thousand pounds due to issues that could not be avoided and again unlucky how it all came at once.

Many look at us and see the busy company but the truth is this last 4 months has been incredibly trying and one where I’m relieved to get back on a level footing.

It’s no secret external government influences/ policies are holding us back with investment and costs are rising all the time putting pressure on our margins but we are still in profit and keeping top local staff in employment which is what we love to do.

Investment in our back office via Ai and new operating system has helped us so much in our goal of maximum efficiency and the decision to do this proved spot on and this will give us a great base for the upcoming year.

When you see the companies going bust and are saying they are struggling I can assure you first hand they will be and are being tested to the maximum just now so please if you can support a local firm and not these big multinationals that pay zero tax in the country do so as it helps.

It’s not all doom and gloom though and we are now firing forward like we do best;

1) We have welcomed an excellent new member of the team who is coming in to assist in reducing wait times in the upcoming busy periods.

2) The teams are now fully booked over the next 5 weeks which is amazing at this time of year so thank you as always.

3) x 10 new 5 star reviews which is showing we are working hard and although still and always will make the odd mistake by in large our teams are smashing it and improving all the time.

4) The back office is now operating in the manner it needs to, although this has never been the office staffs fault, it was mine as I was slow to bring in back office systems due to having no experience in this side but I have now and they are thriving with these systems.

5) Full staff and all vehicles fully repaired ready to maximise earnings over the next 6-8 months.

I have never been one to sugar coat and lie as I believe when times are good let people know but equally when it’s tough to do the same as this is life in general.

It’s been tough but it’s now looking good and as any business worth its salt will say it’s about surviving the hard times and being in a position to smash the good ones and that exactly where we are now.

As always thank you for your support, thank you to my team and have a great weekend all ❤️

Another recruitment drive done and in the end over 120 ish applicants is narrowed down to 1.

I don’t envy anyone trying to get jobs these days, it’s not easy and really can be a bit of luck that separates it.

We may take on another from this recruitment drive but will wait and see for now on how the spring goes for us.

The cost to hire now for a single position with pensions, wages, taxes, holidays and Ni is in the region of £34k a year on our base wages (before vans, fuels, accountants, repairs costs, parts, insurances, office costs, uniforms and a million other things)

It’s not cheap and we have to be incredibly careful so next time you think your windows are going up a few pound please be aware our costs are high.

We do our best to ensure we are competitive but without doubt hiring staff costs big money now and carries risk so we have to be on the ball.

We are delighted to have some new blood in the company ready to push on with our more established teams.

New teams and staff at times are crucial as it keeps us fresh, hungry and pushing to be the best we can be.

Direct Shine will keep all applicants for this run for any additional position that pops up over the next 3-4 months so all may not be wasted.

Thank you as always for any likes and shares and please have a great weekend 👌

Nice afternoon spent with some of the teams from Tradestack today who are the team that have been implementing our Ai software…

Sarel van Baalen and Remo came down from London to spend some time with us and get a feel of what our team get upto behind the scenes.

As a company the Ai systems won’t cost anyone a job but it will let us redirect our office teams to carry out other tasks which will help us to maintain profit whilst we attempt to push forward within an environment where increased costs have hindered growth.

Safe journey Sarel/Remo and thank you very much for your time.

Have a great weekend 👌