ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

The German capital Berlin is to host the 2017 Congress of the World Federation of Building Service Contractors (WFBSC) this September, alongside the CMS professional cleaning trade exhibition.

The theme of the congress, which takes place from September 18-20, is Cleaning in the Digital World - Processes, People, Technology'. The CMS exhibition then takes place from September 19-22.

Speaking at the recent launch of both events in Berlin Messe Berlin's ceo Dr Christian Göke explained: "Our objective is to position CMS as the international platform for expertise in the cleaning and hygiene market and to target audiences in every corresponding segment."

Thomas Dietrich, president of the German contract cleaning association BIV offered some background statistics on the German contract cleaning market. "In 2014 a total of 641,681 people were employed in building cleaning, a 2.9 per cent increase over the previous year. This figure is projected to rise by 0.2 per cent in 2015, to 642,964.

"There was a 7.5 per cent increase in the number of companies in this sector in 2014, to 21,309. The index figures for 2015 predict a slight decline by 0.4 per cent to a total of 21,220 businesses. However for 2016 a small increase of 1.7 per cent is forecast, which will bring the total number of businesses up to 21,580."

Dietrich concluded: "In 2014 the industry generated sales amounting to €14,872,961,000. Increases of 7.2 per cent in 2015 and 5.2 per cent in 2016 will boost sales by the industry to just under €17 billion."

The VDMA is the association representing German manufacturers of cleaning equipment. Its chairman is Markus Asch, who explained: "On the German market the 50 or so suppliers of cleaning systems for commercial and industrial users, employing a workforce of approximately 5,250, achieved sales of just over €900 million in 2016. Around 73 per cent of the output of German manufacturers is exported. Their share of the world market was approximately 20 per cent, and they account for around 50 per cent of sales on the European market.

"At the start of 2017 domestic business remained stable, compared with the turbulence on foreign markets, where the industry was affected by increased uncertainty in the wake of the US election and the Brexit referendum in the UK - where the effects of unfavourable exchange rate movements were very evident. This in turn reduced the competitiveness of our industry's prices."

Asch continued: "Although there were high hopes for the BRIC nations, they have been the focus of concern for more than two-and-a-half years now. The problems in Russia and Brazil, as well as declining growth in China, have resulted in a less positive outlook.

"The growth rates observed by machinery constructors in India are encouraging, but the total volume is still too small to compensate for negative tendencies on the main markets."

The cleaning chemicals sector was also highlighted, by the chairman of the building cleaning division of the IHO Werner Schulze. "During the last calendar year turnover in Germany's professional cleaning and hygiene sector exceeded €1 billion. The total workforce numbered over 7,000. Building cleaning products accounted for around 25 per cent of the above sum.

"At 4.7 per cent, the industry's spending on research and development last year was significantly above the average for the other branches of the chemical industry. In contrast to these positive statistics 2.5 per cent was spent on compliance with European laws. In 2015 these costs had already risen sharply from 1.5 to 2.2 per cent and they continue to complicate the situation within the industry."

Registration for the WFBSC congress is now open, and there are discounts for registering before July 27.

For details of the congress visit: wfbsc2017.berlin

For information about the CMS exhibition visit: www.cms-berlin.de

•ECJ is a media partner for both the WFBSC Congress and the CMS exhibition.