Celebrating 10 successful years in business
Robertus and Laima Vork receive their Certificate of Long Service from Abby Latu.
They say time flies when you’re having fun and enjoying what you’re doing.
Ask Robertus Vork where the past 10 years have gone and he’ll be stuck for an answer. It’s been a decade since Robertus and his wife Laima bought their CrestClean business – and they can hardly believe it’s been that long.
“Ten years have flown past,” says Robertus. Unlike other jobs, cleaning can be all absorbing and there’s seldom a dull moment, he adds.
The Hawkes’s Bay couple both have day jobs. Robert is self-employed draftsman and Laima is a fully qualified reflexologist.
They look after their CrestClean customers in the evenings. “We’ve found as soon as we start the cleaning in the evening the time just flies past,” says Robert.
They decided to buy a cleaning business to balance the ebbs and flows of income they received from their day jobs. Owning a Crest franchise means a guaranteed regular pay cheque every two weeks.
Originally from Holland, Robertus has lived in New Zealand for the past 40 years. Laima, who is from Lithuania, and her husband enjoy travelling. Each year they aim to take a four-week holiday.
Last year’s trip was extra special when they got to meet a young Vietnamese boy they have been sponsoring through the charity ChildFund.
“We decided to go and visit him and see how he was doing,” says Robertus.
“He lives in a village commune and we could see all the new facilities that had been provided by ChildFund through the support of its sponsors.”
Later this year Robertus, 66, and Laima, 55, are planning a trip to Europe to visit family, helped by the $2,500 travel voucher from CrestClean to mark their long service.
Abby Latu, CrestClean’s Hawke’s Bay Regional Manager, says the couple are model franchisees. “They are very hardworking and extremely loyal to their customers.
“It’s great to see people reach personal milestones. It means I know my people are happy in their businesses.”
