John and I made the decision to temporarily reduce the frequency of KBzine - this industry's oldest e-zine - early on in the pandemic because it was clear that the sector was going to be badly hit by the measures being taken to keep the virus at bay. My normally overflowing mailbox became quite sparse and we started to receive large numbers of broadcast bounce-backs as more people became furloughed.

At the opposite end of the scale, work on Cleanzine - our e-zine which we started broadcasting when Richard and Debbie Schwarz launched KBzine as part of a joint portfolio - got silly. Cleaning became recognised, globally, as one of the most important industries in the world and we could have produced a bulging issue twice daily, as the sector waded in to produce extra supplies of PPE, sanitisers, foggers and the like and train cleaners in different disciplines to ensure that our facilities and people who had to go out to work, were as safe as possible. As a result, John and I didn't take our two-week annual break and I think it was this, together with a multitude of phone calls from cleaning industry colleagues throughout the day and sometimes at weekends, along with caring for my mother who has advanced dementia, which meant that KBzine was put on the back burner for longer than it should have been. It wasn't planned; it was more a case of running out of time each day and falling into my bed exhausted - but determined to produce an issue the following day. Best laid plans eh?

I last wrote a KBzine leader on 1st September fully expecting to follow up with another on 1st October, which I just couldn't get around to finishing - despite having plenty to write about. John and I even discussed, just in passing, the possibility of giving up. I've absent-mindedly mulled it over but hadn't given it much thought because I've been so frazzled.

Well hey - I love this industry and John does too! So here we are; we're staying - and - while we're not yet going to revert to weekly broadcasts, we're not going to leave it quite as long before the next one.

So how are you doing? I know some in the sector are launching new products and ranges, but how are you finding business? What are you doing to overcome the problems the pandemic has put in your way? I really would like to know, so please do get in touch.

Yours,

Jan Hobbs