The Richard Spooner Column: Cleaning up in the Covid crisis�
A brilliant idea passed my window the other day. Well, it caught my eye. A black and yellow van had emblazoned on its side: Bin washing service.
It set my mind racing. Was this an idea born out of the Covid-19 crisis or had I missed its launch years ago? Then I discovered scores of similar firms when I Googled them in my parish so the latter appears to be the case.
Whatever, it struck me as an admirable enterprise. Because who hasn 't lamented the gunge that collects in the bottom of their wheelie bin?
In today 's ultra-sanitised world where you have to wash your hands simply for breathing I suppose it 's inevitable that your wheelie bins should be kept in pristine condition.
For most of us, putting the bins out is now the highlight of the week. Going outside legitimately to wheel out the bin has replaced popping to the pub for a pint or the local Italian for a bowl of pasta.
You never know who you are going to bump into and there 's always the prospect of a bit of socially-distanced gossip.
My bin cleaners had their van fitted with spray pump and cleaning was finished efficiently followed by a dousing with a sanitise cocktail. So I now have a sparkingly clean and healthy bin that would pass any inspection from the Covid-19 thought police.
Clearly the wheelie bin cleaning business must have been uplifted by the need to be super clean in everything we touch and the threat of catching Covid from almost anything we touch is a great attitude adjuster.
I started to wonder what other businesses might have been thriving in these straitened times.
A piece of research I saw the other day named the businesses that have not only survived in the pandemic but positively flourished.
Top of the pile was Amazon, of course. Since the world implemented lockdown restrictions, Amazon became the epicentre for online sales, increasing owner Jeff Bezos 's net worth to over £200 billion, making him the world 's richest person.
Just Eat, the online food order and delivery service which is an intermediary between independent takeaway food outlets and customers, is also doing pretty well.
It has become a go-to delivery service and over the past six months they reported fulfilling 77 million orders in the UK alone. I suppose their service is some - but not much - consolation for not being able to visit your favourite trattoria or Indian.
DIY is also enjoying success as many people have used their new-found spare time at home to crack on with those jobs that have been hanging around for years. All DIY giants are booming sales and B&Q report profit margins soaring by 25 per cent by June last year.
Who now doesn 't actually look forward to a trip to the supermarket? If not, you can always have a home delivery and as a result most supermarkets are experiencing seriously improved sales margins.
Tesco were quite savvy in emphasising home deliveries during lockdown, resulting in an eight per cent increase in sales to £13.4 billion in the 13 weeks to 30 May alone.
Tesco were doubly smart because they also noticed that home deliveries were here to stay and invested in the process and doubled their capacity. Delivery slots jumped from 600,000 to 1.3 million over a five-week period. Sainsbury 's also enjoyed increased sales by upping heir home delivery game.
There always a silver lining in any crisis - and in this case it 's the interior of my wheelie bin�