‘Dad founded this firm on family values, and by sponsoring cricket we can give something back to the community that has served us well’
Robinson Services prides itself on placing a high value on its staff since growing from a one-man operation into an award-winning cleaning firm that caters for more than 4,000 clients across NI. By Laurence White
FIFTY years ago this year James Robinson, who worked shifts at the British Enkalon nylon yard spinning company in Antrim, decided to earn some extra money with a window cleaning round. He began cleaning the windows of commercial properties in the town centre on his days off and he continued to do the two jobs for the next decade.
By 1978, he felt that British Enkalon was looking a bit insecure — it was to close in 1985, just 22 years after going into production — and he went full-time in the window cleaning job.
He built up a client list of offices, shops and local factories and took on a helper.
It was from those humble beginnings that Robinson Services, now one of the top 50 employers in Northern Ireland with around 1,700 staff and a turnover of £17m, developed.
It provides cleaning, hygiene, laundry, security, specialist and outdoor services to a wide range of public and private clients and is reckoned to be the largest privately owned company in the sector in Northern Ireland.
Today the company is headed by James’ son David, who joined the business straight from school in 1985.
He recalls: “At that stage dad had four employees. I was glad to join the company as there were not that many jobs around. It was a very troubled time in Northern Ireland, but it was also a time of opportunity for us. From then, our business began to get some traction”.
Clients began asking them to clean carpets and other flooring or furnishings and by 1990 the business was taking on cleaning services in factories and offices. At the same time, the window cleaning business was expanding with banks and building societies using their services.
The client base was also increasing with big companies like Isaac Agnew car sales and W&G Baird, the Antrim-based printing company, signing up.
But the biggest boost for the firm came when it won a contract to provide services to Belfast International Airport. This, says David, gave the company the impetus to expand its horizons well beyond its core clients in Antrim.
During the 1990s, the firm grew rapidly, from 70-80 employees at the start of the decade to 300-400 by the year 2000.
David (49) says that one of the keys to the company’s growth and success has been its adherence to family values.
He adds: “People trusted us because of those values. We prided ourselves on fixing any problem that arose very quickly. Being a relatively small company, we had that flexibility.
“But we have always placed a very high value on our employees. I remember when I was young I used to come into our home and find four or five staff sitting around the table getting their lunch which was made by mum.
“She was called Sarah Jane Robinson and our company headquarters is named after her. Sadly she died a few years ago.
“She loved the company when staff dropped into the house at lunchtime and it was no bother for her to make them something to eat.
“She was also in charge of the purse strings in the early days and if we wanted to buy anything for the company, we had to go through her.”
David recalls how on occasion the company stepped in to help employees in financial need.
“We would have assisted them with loans or in getting mortgages. We trusted them. Occasionally it went wrong but most times it went well. We always remembered that people were at the core of our business.”
Dad James, now aged 87 and in poor health at the moment, also has a building named after him, a way of reminding everyone that it is essentially a family-run business.
Another significant area of expansion for the firm was the winning of contracts to provide services to shopping centres such as Forestside in Belfast, Foyleside in Londonderry and Junction One in Antrim.
That created a new arm for the business, providing retail staff.