Company Profile
The early years – 1984
EC Clean Agencies, at the time operating as C.R. Oakes Agencies (Sole Proprietor), had its origins in East London in 1984. Like so many family businesses, it had its foundations in the formation of longstanding partnerships with clients, assisting them to solve problems through the provision of cost effective cleaning solutions. In 1989 Industroclean was added to the brands for distribution in the Eastern Cape. Industroclean and its distributors comprised of a footprint of family owned business which collectively branded as Wetrok to offer a national coverage for corporate clients. With Cedric passing in 1993, his wife, Patti, transformed the business into a Close Corporation and registered it as E.C. Clean Agencies cc in 1994.
The Nineties
In the following years the business continued to grow, doubling its staff complement, and relocating from East London to Port Elizabeth in 1998. Brent Oakes joined in 2000, allowing Patti to concentrate on the establishment of the educational business, Siyaya Skills Institute, in 2002. Over the next 10 years the same personal, valued service enabled the business to flourish.
The new brooms
In 2009 the longstanding Closed Corporation was converted to a Private Company to pave the way for the inclusion of outside shareholders. In 2010 EC Clean Agencies became a distributor for the Nilfisk range of cleaning equipment through the Industroclean association in the Eastern Cape. This allowed EC Clean Agencies to offer a much broader range of equipment and greater levels of innovation than had previously been available to customers, providing excellent quality, backup service and great value.
Francois de Villiers joined the business in September 2012. Francois had worked within the contract cleaning industry for more than 10 years as one of the founding shareholders of Zama Specialised Cleaning. His knowledge and insight has afforded our team a greater level of understanding of how to add value within our clients’ businesses. His faith and commitment in E.C. Clean Agencies’ service offering was further demonstrated when he became a shareholder in early 2014.
Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment
Never afraid of change, Brent and Francois felt it was a vital part of the progressive business strategy that the company invest in the transformation processes outlined by the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Codes of Good Practice. E.C Clean Agencies entered into an Empowerment deal in May 2014 which saw Acorn Black Investments (Pty) Ltd, a black empowerment company, acquire a 65.36% stake in the business. EC Clean Agencies is happy to offer clients its Level 1 B-BBEE Credentials, now including a 65.36% Black, 30% Black women ownership.
Outlook
Notwithstanding its humble beginnings, our team remains committed to sourcing, supplying and supporting the best possible solutions to our clients. EC Clean Agencies is a proud distributor and importer of quality cleaning equipment, machinery, consumables, chemicals, washroom accessories, safety ware, equipment rentals and repair services for all cleaning related requirements. Our offering includes brands such as Nilfisk Advance, Industroclean, 3M, HOST Carpet Cleaning Systems, Unger Window Cleaning Products, Chicopee Wipes, PacVac, Vikan, Trust, Ecotribe, Innovative, Kimberly Clark, Nampak, Rubbermaid, Vileda and Filmop.
The EC Clean Agencies Difference
Our mantra is to add value by providing the best industry leading cleaning solutions. Whether you need guidance with identifying the correct chemical and methodology to sanitize a specific surface, or if your requirements extend to process efficiency and mechanisation, our professional team of consultants are enthusiastically awaiting an opportunity to find the correct cleaning solutions for you.
Our core competencies extend from the FMCG, Hospitality, Education and Healthcare environments to Retail, Commercial and Heavy Industrial sites. We can advise and assist in the design and implementation of cleaning specifications, the installation of HAACP, automation specification, roster design, process flow, and hygiene audits.
Our products, processes and people are benchmarked against international best practices and we are able to supply a full range of consumables, chemicals, equipment and machinery. All products are supported by our dedicated product training team and comprehensive warrantees.
EC Clean Agencies is furthermore a proud part of the Acorn Black Investment family of companies, whose members include Siyaya Skills Institute. Siyaya is a registered Further Education and Training College with full Service Seta accreditation, and has various NQF aligned vocational qualifications as well as shorter unit standard aligned skills programs available to EC Clean Agencies customers at preferential rates.