Growth & Jobs | Company makes landmark in the cleaning industry

When starting a business, the advice given is usually to do something you love, or to capitalise on a hobby, but how often do you hear of someone creating a business from an obsession?

Well, meet Tarik Campbell-Markland, the owner of Landmark Cleaning Solutions, a cleaning company that is used for small or large events, and even homes.

“I have an OCD [obsessive-compulsive disorder] for cleaning; everything for me has to be spic and span,” Campbell-Markland, who is also an events planner, told The Gleaner.

“I have been in events all my life; I grew up around events. Parents did Reggae Sunsplash, my father did the supplement with the Ministry of Culture, so that goes without saying that I ended up in an event business. Event planning is my forte,” Campbell-Markland said.

By planning and executing these events, she saw where a cleaning crew is necessary, even though it stemmed from a personal need to keep her surroundings clean.

“I realised that for most of these events, when we are finished setting up, the place is always a mess and there is nobody to clean it up. So it was just having my crew there setting up for an event that I said, ‘can you guys, clean up this mess for me, please because it’s hard for me to function in this mess’, and that’s how Landmark started,” she explained.

PROVIDING JOBS

Before she knew it, Landmark Cleaning Solutions was being requested for one event after another. Campbell-Markland explained that it was after being hired for a big event that she realised she was also helping to provide jobs for others.

“We got a big job with, I think it was Frenchmen, and I realised that it was also providing jobs for people, because I now have to go out and find the staff to do these jobs. After that one job, I got called from them [the staff] more often to say, ‘bossy, you don’t have nutten for me to do?’ so I started going out now and looking for these jobs,” she disclosed.

Campbell-Markland soon branched out into post-construction cleaning of homes after a friend queried if the company does clean-up of homes also. She responded with a resounding yes and soon sent a team to the house. After the positive feedback, this was added to the list of services that Landmark Cleaning Solutions provides.

Before going into events cleaning, however, the company provided attendants to clean portable toilets during events.

“So we did attendants, then we did the event cleaning, and then we went into post-construction cleaning, and then we went into homes,” Campbell-Markland stated.

Though there is some competition in the business, the owner said they have an edge because the staff is trained for the different situations and jobs.

Since its inception in October 2013, Landmark Cleaning Solutions now boasts approximately 40 to 60 staff members who are on call, and can be seen at most of the major events with ‘KLEEN-UP KRU’ printed on the back of their shirts.

With her experience in cleaning, Campbell-Markland plans to go further into training housekeepers.

vanessa.james@gleanerjm.com