Tom Richards receives chartered practitioner status
Last week, our Commercial Director, Tom Richards, was officially admitted to the Register of Chartered Practitioners in Environmental Cleaning, becoming only the 50th professional to achieve this status. This status reflects Tom’s career long dedication to the cleaning industry and marks a significant step forward in recognising professional standards in a sector that, despite its scale and importance, has historically lacked formal regulation.
While the industry has benefited from strong trade bodies, networking groups, and best-practice frameworks, the Chartered Practitioner status represents a first formal recognition of individual professional excellence.
Tom’s application began with an initial expression of interest, highlighting key career achievements and milestones. Following this, he submitted a 10,000-word dissertation exploring leadership, industry expertise, innovation, and a commitment to CSR,
He was formally admitted during the recent Court Lunch at Trinity House, London, where a summary of his submission was read aloud to a panel comprising of livery members, senior industry figures, past Masters, and of course, our current Master and long-time mentor to Tom, Darren Marston.
Here’s what Tom had to say;
After 18 years of professional dedication to the cleaning industry, and a lifetime of being involved in it, applying for Chartered status felt like a natural next step. I genuinely enjoyed the process and would encourage anyone with a similar background to consider beginning their own journey. It wasn’t until I looked back, and put pen to paper, I realised quite how much I have achieved and I found it incredibly rewarding. I laughed, I cringed and I cried as worked through the 10,000 words. It was a welcome distraction for the day to day pressures of business and one I have already promoted internally to colleagues, friends and suppliers.
It was an honour to join the list of accredited industry professionals, made even more special by sharing the moment with my Dad by my side and having my mentor and great friend, Darren, serving as Master. A proud moment, and one I’ll always treasure.
