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PROCHEM CASE STUDIESFrench Connection It's a tough life, isn't it? Moving with the jet-set crowd, cleaning private charter yachts and aircraft on the sunny French Riviera. Well - yes - in fact, according to one Brit who's doing just that. Should you ever be in the happy position of chartering a yacht with crew in the Mediterranean, consider this. You are on a clean ship, because it is most likely to be cleaned by Prochem truckmount technology operated by Limpiezas Coronet in Palma, Majorca or Inter-Nett Cleaning on the French Riviera. Teeth grit with envy we caught up with our French Connection man, ex-pat Yorkshireman Adrian Long, who was quick to point out that successful cleaning is hard work, wherever you are.
"Of course it's nice to be cleaning luxury items but you don't get and keep the business by swanning off for a swim and cocktail," says Adrian, a veteran of the cleaning scene on the famous French coast. Established in 1988, Inter-Nett Cleaning specialises in yachts and private aircraft. The company has worked on some of the Med's finest, providing general cleaning of marine interiors and exterior wash and polish of 'planes at Cannes Airport, where the company is conveniently-located. Adrian is the proud owner of five Prochem Performer truckmount cleaning extractors. "With these, we provide a cleaning, maintenance and protection system which is safe and effective on all ultra fine fabrics, wool and other natural fibres and has kept interiors of yachts looking their best season after season," says Adrian. "Owners, captains and crew have come to rely on our service and we now cater for yachts not only on the French Riviera but also Italy, Germany, Holland and Spain. Most of the company's work is in the marinas. "The industry has grown and grown and so have the yachts," says Adrian. "When I first came down here, the biggest boat was thirty metres long. Now that's their width and they can be one hundred and twenty eight metres long." Inter-Nett has cornered this substantial, international market. Customers come to them from Florida and the Caribbean when the charter season has finished there. "There are plenty of cleaning businesses in the US but they still hold out until they get here," says Adrian. "The yachting industry is small - people travel worldwide within it and word travels with them about us. "There are other companies cleaning here but we are on it seven days a week and they pick up what's left." Adrian is keen to exploit the potential of aircraft cleaning more. "We are aiming to become first choice at the airports next. Holiday - what's that?" he grins. So how did the Yorkshire lad come to be King of Cleaning on the Cote d'Azur? "When I finished college to study building with all the diplomas, I found trade in the UK at a low ebb," Adrian tells us. "I knew a friend here working here for a French company. I came down on a Saturday and on the Monday I was working for the same outfit. I stayed for eighteen months and realised that there was a good business in carpet cleaning. "Now we're eight-strong in the business including me - I do everything including invoicing and admin - and we are having fun doing something we're good at."
Adrian has a high regard for Prochem truckmounts. "A superb technology," he sums up. "You come to know them well when you are using them week round. We now do our own servicing once a year. Prochem's service bays at Chessington are excellent but we don't seem to have time to get up there!" Inter-Nett also uses Prochem portable machines and all of its chemicals. "I like all the products Prochem sells. I stick to certain ones like S800Carpetclean XL, S888 Ultraprep TLC, B144 Stain Pro, B198 Rust Remover, and B123 Solvall Spotter." Occasionally, the company comes down to earth (so to speak) and looks after apartment contracts and a hotel. Only one? "We used to do more hotels but stopped because they buy on price not quality. We have just one on the books at the moment. I told the owner 'we're not cheap and I won't work for nothing' and he said 'we hear you're the best so how much will it cost?' So now we work for them!" Never one to rest on his laurels, Adrian is considering a possible merger with another larger company based at the airport that will strengthen his hand in winning more lucrative business there. And he has his sights set on dramatically further horizons. "I'm going out to St Martins in the Caribbean to have a look around. It's where the boats leave from on their way to the Med, and we are going to set up there." It's a tough life … sigh. |
