I was a stay-at-home mum with two wonderful kids (2 and 6) before I started at Tidy Green Clean Aberdeen West. I am a single mum and I do dog sports; I have a German Shepherd Dog called Loki and we’ve done field trials together. I love dogs and dog breeds; I find it all very interesting. I was the kid watching Crufts every year. I also like cars and bikes – I had an old TVR I got for my 16th birthday and spent a couple of years doing that up, tinkering with it, I go to car shows, things like that.
I am Office Administrator, and no two days are the same! It’s a very interesting and varied role. Callum and I have tried to define what I do; the answer’s always everything and anything I need to be involved with. It’s been a brilliant learning experience. I am ex Oil & Gas, it’s where I worked before I had my kids. There, I was operations-based and that was very pigeon-holed, whereas here, I can get involved with every aspect of the company, especially getting involved with the company at the stage it’s at. I feel like my contributions matter across the board. Callum encourages me to get involved in all areas and puts a lot of trust in me, which I always appreciate.
The cleaning we provide is invaluable, I think. It provides the same value across the board, whether it’s small jobs or big jobs; it’s amazing. Before, I had limited knowledge of what commercial cleaning involved, but seeing it now, I would never underestimate it again. Day-to-day, every business needs cleaning, from oil and gas companies to restaurants to serviced apartments to every kind of business. I’ve found it very interesting to learn about all of it.
I joined in August 2021. It feels, in a good way, like I’ve been here a lot longer than I have. I genuinely feel like I’ve worked with Callum longer than six months and the whole team have been brilliant.
I have a finger in every pie, it’s very nice to know what’s happening and I love that. For me I am very much a helping to organise in the background kind of person, I like to be able to give that support, and as the company grows, if there was another department I wanted to go into, I could. I can see at the level it’s at, I can see the growth and where it’s growing, and I can trust the process. It’s not like just being a number in a huge company, the things I do now genuinely affect the decisions made tomorrow. It’s very cool.
What I found most interesting was this: I came to my interview and Callum talked about the way we treat people and implementing the living wage. In many companies, people can feel that they’re not heard but here, we’re different. I make sure our cleaners know they can message me and that if I can help them, I do help them or make sure someone can fix a problem for them. Here, people feel like they are heard and appreciated. For me when I worked in really big companies, the only time you ever heard something was when something went wrong, there was never lots of praise. Using positive feedback is very important and there’s lots here.
I would still like to be in here in a few years’ time. I can see it progressing to being a very big competitor in this market. I can definitely see TGC being the big fish in this pond, and it would be very nice to be part of that and to say you were part of it as it was coming up, still be here and still helping out and making a difference.
When I met Callum for my interview, I assumed he was older, and I thought he would be my age at least. He’s done so much in such a short amount of time, it’s genuinely very impressive from a professional point of view. I’ve brought all the good elements of corporate life with me but left all the stress and pressure behind. I have working challenges, sure, but there’s never ever a sense I can’t ask for help. Callum’s a very good mentor and it’s been very good from the start.
If you have cleaning experience, and would like to do more; have a positive attitude, take pride in your work, enjoy being part of a team, and share our values, then please contact Callum Cruickshank, or via our Facebook page to find out more.
