| With more than 50 new skyscrapers approved for or | | | | house cleaning companiesin London trying to recruit |
| currently under construction in the City of London, | | | | this daring new brand of employee. Rock-climbing |
| extreme cleaning in the capital will reach new heights | | | | schools and venues can expect an increasing number |
| over the next few years. Cleaning companies like | | | | of headhunters coming in to check things out over |
| House Cleaning London are opening new branches of | | | | the coming months. The lucky individuals can expect |
| high-rise window cleaning that rely on bucket lifts, | | | | hazard pay and, given the proper experience and an |
| exterior elevators and climbing equipment. This is | | | | ability to work well under pressure, salaries in excess |
| serious technology and with it comes serious money. | | | | of £3000 per month. This is to say nothing of the |
| The massive investment required of companies will | | | | cost of equipment and the materials required for |
| be recouped in multi-year, multi-million pound cleaning | | | | cleaning millions of square feet of exterior glass, |
| contracts. This is just the kind of thing required to | | | | marble and steel framework. |
| take care of the extreme cleaning tasks required by | | | | If the new Burj-Dubai building is anything to go by, |
| buildings like the 310m high Shard London Bridge, due | | | | window cleaning alone may take a team of up to a |
| for completion in East London just prior to the 2012 | | | | dozen cleaners some three months to complete. |
| Summer Olympics. | | | | Even with the help of bucket-lifts and exterior |
| Of these new superstructures, more than a dozen | | | | elevators mounted on the outside of these |
| are scheduled to reach more than 200m in height: | | | | skyscrapers, technical malfunctions and the sheer |
| some 20m more than the Gherkin, if that helps | | | | height of some of the buildings pose significant |
| provide some perspective. While some of these | | | | dangers to the people tasked with cleaning and |
| commercial towers will employ in-house cleaning | | | | maintaining their exterior shells. The funny thing is, |
| personnel, many will be shopping for daring cleaners | | | | with the banking business being what it is today, |
| able to scale to such very high heights in the interest | | | | cleaners on the outside of some of these buildings |
| of keeping corner office windows nice and shiny. | | | | might be taking home more than the MBAs on the |
| There is currently something of a frenzy amongst | | | | inside whose windows they’re cleaning. |