I like my job as an end-of-tenancy cleaning team supervisor. But even on my brightest day, I would not call it interesting. Challenging, dynamic, demanding – but hardly interesting. A couple of weeks, however, something happened that might have changed my opinion on that.
We had received a standard pre-scheduled tenancy cleaning booking for a 3-bedroom apartment in south Chelsea, close to the Physic Garden. From all the details left by the tenant, the place was in excellent condition and did not look like a cleaning challenge. The only peculiarity was that the person who booked us would not be able to attend the final check-up, but she assured us that her landlady (in her early sixties) would. Contrary to what you may think, this happens quite often.
We arrived on time and immediately rolled our sleeves (the tenant had provided us with a key). The apartment was indeed very neat and well-kept. In just under three hours, my team was about done. I was just starting to throw an impatient glance at my watch, wondering if the landlady would ever appear, when the front door opened. In came a very beautiful lady in her late thirties (or at least she looked at that age).
I stopped dead in my tracks. A quick aside – I love watching TV, especially the new BBC and ITV shows. So I could recognise the woman in a couple of seconds – it was Suranne Jones! She immediately saw my reaction and jokingly said: “Let’s get this out of the way – yes, it’s me, and sure – we can take a selfie if you wish!” I managed to gather my last shreds of professionalism and declined the offer (barely!).
As it turned out, the apartment belonged to her parents, who had asked her to take care of the tenancy cleaning inspection. She couldn’t be sweeter and more cooperative – not a shred of celebrity pride about her!
Anyway, I could hardly expect to meet another big star on my next job. But this encounter made my year so far!