Life-long friends from Portsmouth pool expertise to start extreme cleaning company Atlantis Cleaning Solutions

TWO life-long friends have teamed up to create their own cleaning business – and demand for their service has seen their idea take off.
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Adam Sawyer and Eric Cookson were neighbours as children in North End and their lives have been entwined ever since. Eric was a manager at Iceland and Adam was a construction worker before they both moved into cleaning in the housing sector in 2012.

Now, after nearly a decade spent working for other people, the pair have set up their own business, inspired by the pandemic.

Lockdown saw them set up Atlantis Cleaning Solutions - and they haven’t looked back.

Adam Sawyer and his friend Eric Cookson, set up Atlantis Cleaning Solutions. Picture: Habibur RahmanAdam Sawyer and his friend Eric Cookson, set up Atlantis Cleaning Solutions. Picture: Habibur Rahman
Adam Sawyer and his friend Eric Cookson, set up Atlantis Cleaning Solutions. Picture: Habibur Rahman
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Adam said: ‘Our personality traits of orderliness and attention to detail have naturally translated into professional pride and a desire to serve others by providing solutions to extreme cleaning burdens.

‘I felt great satisfaction when a property in extremely poor condition, ranging from a multitude of syringes strewn around to significant hoard clearances, yielded results surpassing client expectations.

‘Both Eric and I have witnessed first-hand the incredible pressures faced by frontline sectors, in particular, the demands placed upon the housing sector. To alleviate these stressors in a timely, confidential and robust professional manner while delivering invaluable outcomes is an entrepreneurial adventure we are both extremely passionate about!’

The pair have pooled their knowledge of extreme cleaning and are now carrying our services such as tenancy and construction-related cleans, professional grade carpet cleaning, commercial jet washing, window cleaning and gutter clearance, waste management, plus more. They say they hope to stand out for their core values of authenticity, clear communication, attentiveness, promise delivery and fairness.

They were given support from firms CDM Contractors Group and CPC Electrical, which gave them advice on how to start out – and they say their venture has paid off as the pandemic has seen demand for their services soar.

Adam said: ‘It was the very nature of the pandemic which motivated our desire to provide practical solutions to reduce or negate its spread.

‘We knew the stakes could not be higher after millions of people lost their lives.

‘Yes, we had our anxieties we had to manage, as this virus was seemingly relentless and unstoppable, yet, although incomparable, I often considered the resilient British spirit that carried us through two World Wars.

‘It would have been a travesty for us to have been crippled by inaction knowing we can play some role in fighting this, so, anxieties aside, we took action and formulated ACS.’

During lockdown the duo completed end-of-tenancy cleans as landlords were concerned about ensuring strict levels of sanitation for future tenants, with the occasional emergency call-out’s to communal blocks where suspected outbreaks of Covid were reported.

They have also taken on some of the more extreme cleans, tidying up hoards and abandoned properties.

Adam said: ‘One abandoned property had been void for over a month and the electricity had been cut off.

‘As we started to clear the kitchen, the fridge freezer was firmly sealed, I pulled it open and the largest amount of rotten fish, meat and vegetables piled out, quickly followed by the most nose-violating smell.

‘Usually, I would wear a mask with some Vicks VapoRub if, not on this occasion. Being the professionals we are, we did clean it but not without ensuring Vicks is an essential piece of kit in the future.’

The duo say they hope to become Hampshire’s go-to extreme cleaning resource and they have plans in the pipeline to start a specialist pole reach window cleaning service.

For more go to atlantiscleaning.co.uk

Story by Kimberley Barber

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