Behind every gleaming marble foyer and spotless kitchen in London’s finest hotel, restaurant and members club is a night-shift army whose work rarely sees the light of day. One of their standout leaders is Lawrence Yaw Adjei, who walked into Act-Clean a decade ago and became a night cleaner, and now directs high-profile sites, from The Ritz to The Standard.
When Lawrence arrived in London fifteen years ago, he needed work. A friend slipped him the address of a small high-street cleaning firm, Act-Clean, and urged him to give it a try. “I walked in, registered, and started almost immediately as a cleaner,” he remembers.
That first role was simple: scrub, sweep and polish through the quiet hours while businesses slept.
“Act-Clean changed my life. I’m Ghanaian-born, now a British citizen, and everything I’ve achieved here is tied to this company.”
Yet Lawrence always had ambition and treated it like a springboard. “I had a career plan,” he says. “So, after every shift I’d take the company’s method-statement binder home and read it cover to cover. I wanted to know the do’s, the don’ts, every chemical, every risk.”
His line manager recognised his potential and within 12 months he was promoted to night supervisor, leading the team at a Piccadilly restaurant. A year later he’d impressed senior managers with the meticulous reports he filed at 6 a.m. including chronologies of every task, snag and near-miss. “They realised I wasn’t just good with a mop,” he laughs. “I could analyse data, spot patterns and suggest fixes.”
The trust paid off when an unexpected vacancy opened as a site manager. Feeling nervous but determined, he interviewed, passed and took the helm as site manager of one of London’s most prestigious addresses.
“They realised I wasn’t just good with a mop,” he laughs. “I could analyse data, spot patterns and suggest fixes.”
Today Lawrence is a full Operations Manager, overseeing contracts which covers hotels and restaurants. The scope is varied: leading his supervisors, coordinating the night teams, and ensuring cleaning excellence every night by making unannounced spot-checks on everything from fryer-oil drainage to marble-floor polishing. “Respect is reciprocal,” he tells every crew member. “You know the handbook: punctuality, PPE, method statements. Follow them and I’ll back you all the way. Break them and I’ll call you up.”
That fairness is echoed in Act-Clean’s culture of promotion from within. “They spot talent and fan the flame”, Lawrence says. And he is driven by one core value: delighting clients.
“At the end of the day it’s the client who is most important,” he says. “If an email lands, I make it the priority of the night and we nail it, no excuses.”
For Lawrence safety is another non-negotiable. Clearing hot embers, for instance, requires heat-beater gloves, goggles, respirator and canopy extraction. “If the right gloves go missing, we replace them before the shift starts, no shortcuts,” Lawrence insists.
What’s next? “The sky’s the limit,” he grins. “Act-Clean changed my life. I’m Ghanaian-born, now a British citizen, and everything I’ve achieved here is tied to this company. I owe it to be my best every night.”
Lawrence’s rise, driven by resilience, discipline and an eagerness to learn captures Act-Clean’s talent-first culture: a place where night-shift newcomers can grow into senior leaders who keep London’s premier venues sparkling, long after the lights go down.
If you think you could follow in Lawrence’s foot steps, we’re always looking for people who display passion, excellence, integrity and honesty.
Check out our current available opportunities.
