Many many moons ago James had an early mid-life crisis and left the rat race of trekking around Britain opening stores for TK Maxx. He was frustrated at the awful contract cleaning companies he worked with and realised he could do things so much better! The rest is history. He’s not particularly good at relaxing but sometimes enjoys early morning mountain biking and planting trees.

Marie joined Vanguard initially to seal the deal when selling big juicy cleaning contracts. She then turned her fire on coaching her team to deliver amazing customer service and that remains her passion to this day. She used to like horse riding until she got thrown off so now she does tamer things like mountain biking and white water rafting.

The official longest serving member of the management team John has done most things for Vanguard at some point or other. He is known as the “fixer” and the knottier the problem the more he likes to resolve it. The rest of the time he’s a petrol head and like many proper Welshmen loves his rallying.

After 25 years of working in the public sector Neil fancied a go at the cut and thrust of the real world and has never looked back. His regular review meetings with clients keep our standards of service excellent and consistent. In his spare time he enjoys nothing better than trips to Chester Zoo with his young family and when they’re in bed you’ll find him watching horror films.

Sandra’s team without exception adore her and is it any wonder when you witness the support and help she lavishes on them like a mother hen! Her specialism is getting brilliant people in awkward to recruit places. She is a party animal at heart and loves her holidays and weekends in her jacuzzi. Surprisingly she actually used to live in Hollywood.

After 30 years of selling televisions Pete is now one of our longest standing Area managers. He knows the score and is a wise head on wise shoulders keeping a steady hand on the tiller that steers his team. He will be found most Saturdays watching his beloved Shrewsbury Town FC whom he actually used to play for at the same time as sporting a perm like Kevin Keegans.

Danny used to supervise a team of cleaners at a large national pharmaceutical factory but then the Vanguard beacon beckoned and he took to the road looking after our Wirral and North Wales sites. Few people know that in another life he was one pot away from a professional snooker player.

Rising through the ranks with Pete as his mentor he has been schooled by the best and then he was unleashed to look after Stoke and the M6 corridor! It’s a big secret but he did actually used to be a part time fire fighter.

John has many years of experience in managing large teams of cleaners in a national facilities role. In another life he was an army man so you will find his shoes are always very shiny. His passion outside work is cooking and we all look forward to when he brings his scrummy cakes into the office.

Before Liam saw the light and joined Vanguard he was involved in managing the facilities and cleaning of a large group of schools so his experience is right up our alley. In his spare time he likes nothing better than cutting and chopping logs up for his wood burner.

Rach is coming up to the 10 year Mark working in our accounts department. She honed her skills working for Barclays Bank for 20 years and now she not only looks after our pounds but also our pennies. Rach is one of those rare people who never makes mistakes and you have to be up very early in the morning to catch her out! In her spare time you will find her doing Zumba and Clubacise (whatever that is).

Beth spent many years in the payroll department of a large accountants and now we benefit from her superb knowledge of all things payroll and tax code! She can often be heard patiently explaining holiday pay or tax codes to a confused member of staff! Few people know that she was actually a lifeguard in a Kentucky YMCA once upon a time.

Never has someone who talks so much been able to achieve so much in a day’s work! As operational support she keeps all our area managers on their toes and is as cool as a cucumber when under pressure. She loves shopping, walks and eating out – in that order.

Luke is Pete’s latest prodigy and is being taught in the ways of managing in a calm and highly organised fashion. He will often be seen auditing sites around the Midlands - with a keen eye for detail he makes sure standards remain extremely high and loves getting stuck in with his cleaners and leading from the front. Luke is another Shrewsbury Town supporter but in his saner moments takes himself off to the wilds of Scotland on holiday.

Gareth came to work for us having previously cleaned ambulances in Manchester so what this chap hasn’t cleaned isn’t worth talking about. When he isn’t organising his team of cleaners you will find him having a relaxing fish in his local lake.

Jason is another person who has been with Vanguard since the dawn of time. Last year he celebrated his 10 year anniversary with us so he is a familiar face across all our sites delivering amazing standards of window cleaning and other high level activities - fearless with heights he tells us he used to like climbing trees as a nipper. Nowadays in his spare time he puts his feet up outside his caravan in Aberwystwyth with a nice chilled Fosters.

Trev has been taught his window cleaning skills by Jason over the past couple of years. He has obviously been taught by the best and now works alongside Jason. Sometimes Trev is even allowed to drive the van! Trev likes his tattoos and will show you an interesting one on his neck if you ask nicely. The rest of the time Trev likes making his Land Rover breakdown somewhere remote in Wales.

Ken looks after our customers floors – someone has to do it – and Kens been the man for a good few years now. Whether its carpets or hard flooring Ken will have seen the problems all before and will work out how to fix it. When he isn’t behind the wheel of his carpet extractor machine he will be walking his German Shepherd called Mylo. Oh and he likes the very occasional cigar and brandy too.

Peter provides the vital maintenance services for our customers and ourselves alike. He’s multi-talented and there’s not much he can’t do when it comes to building and maintenance. He refurbished our new offices from scratch. Over the years he’s done many things from being a turkey inseminator to deer stalking to being a scout leader.