Mastercare commercial cleaning services franchise network believe in building great partnerships from the ground up

Sometimes two heads are better than one. That’s certainly the opinion of Max Simmons, Director of EpiMax Technologies, and Colin Walker, Managing Director of commercial cleaning company Mastercare Franchising. The two have come together to offer their respective clients a whole-of-life approach to floor protection that will deliver terrific long-term benefits.

Says Colin, “Max and I realised we both had something great to offer each other and our customers. We’re determined to save our customers money, improve the health of their working areas, and even be kinder to the environment while we’re at it. Everyone wins!”

Max Simmons agrees. “EpiMax sells high-performance flooring for use on concrete in commercial and industrial facilities, retail environments, even car parks. The thing is, concrete is a great material but it has significant limitations when it comes to upkeep. Firstly, it’s easily attacked by acids. These erode the concrete, causing chips, which mean trip hazards because the surface is no longer flat. An uneven surface will also increase noise from forklifts and footfall and so on. Also, when you get chips, you get dust, and that makes a facility dirty. The other big enemy of concrete is oil.”

Says Colin, “If you spill oil on a porous surface, like concrete, it’s impossible to clean. Combine that with all that dust from an unprotected concrete floor - settling on surfaces, making its way into people’s lungs - and things can get ugly. That’s why the EpiMax Concrete Protection System is so good. It solves all those problems. But it’s not going to clean itself, and when it is cleaned, it needs to be looked after properly. Look after it and you could get between three and five years out of it, maybe more, depending on what it’s used for.”

The other party to benefit from the partnership is the environment. The EpiMax Concrete Protection System meets the Green Star Standard from the Green Building Council of Australia. Says Max, “The Council puts limitations on the sort of products that are used. When it comes to our flooring protection systems, the VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) content is less. I find that, if we can assure property owners of the environmental credentials of our product, they can use that to attract a higher quality of tenant, like companies that want to be good corporate citizens. Mind you, you can have the most environmentally-friendly product in the world, but if the people who maintain it – that is, the cleaners – aren’t sympathetic to the environment, it almost defeats the purpose.”

“That’s right,” interjects Colin. “We’re a member of the Green Building Council of Australia, too. We purchase environmentally benign chemicals wherever possible, and if we can’t source them, we make absolutely sure we dispose of them safely. As well, our staff are all trained when it comes to energy and waste minimisation. What we’re trying to do is set a benchmark. Cleaning has a bit of a bad reputation in some circles, and I can’t say it’s undeserved. We want to change that perception. We make sure we comply with all the relevant legislation, of course, and we subscribe to the ‘True Green @ Work’ program. We make sure all our chemical products are supplied in recyclable plastic containers, the cloths we use are all biodegradable, we even use mop and broom heads that can be soak-sanitised for re-use. Plus, where we can, we use a special type of foam-scrub technology to clean hard floor surfaces. And that means 70% less water usage.”

Max and Colin are excited to be working together. Both agree, together they have something really attractive to offer their customers. Says Max, “We’re interested in the big-picture approach to floor protection. When it comes to maintenance, I will always recommend Mastercare. They’re competent, organised and disciplined. They know what they’re doing. It’s as simple as that.”