In these early days there were few, if any, duct cleaning firms around so he and his team did the cleaning themselves. And the next job that needed cleaning, he and his team once again did it themselves.

Had he found a niche? Well, it seems so but when he left his safe job with a ductwork installer to start Ductbusters, he was far from sure he was doing the right thing.
He started Ductbusters in September 1996. Turnover in the first year was around £50,000.

In its best year, Ductbusters turned over £1.8million and Quinn wants to be turning over £5million in the next few years.
First, there was no specialist cleaning equipment and no-one to make it.

Quinn worked out what he needed for the business, some of which was available in the commercial sector and other equipment which needed modification. Further, he had a brother who was a toolmaker and he helped out, making parts so that, for instance, vacuum cleaners could be carried on an operative's back.
'Originally it was all very Heath Robinson but it worked.'

Quinn did not get the first ductwork cleaning job he went for.

But he got the second and it kept him and his two assistants in a job for two weeks.
Halfway through the second week he received a telephone call from an old friend asking him whether he knew anyone who would clean ductwork.

Quinn laughs as he recalls this second job at the Derby Royal Free Hospital took six weeks.

It was all pretty hand-to-mouth living in the early days.

He has, he says, never looked back and today employs some 36 staff with 12 teams of two operatives on the road.

Last year, he admits, was more difficult than in others but the first month of this year has brought in a fair number of new customers.

In fact, he is so confident that business is burgeoning, he already has planning permission to extend the premises to increase staff and warehouse facilities.

And with more than 600 hospitals on the books, educational establishments and a number of large blue chip clients it is no wonder he is optimistic.

'I reckon Ductbusters has 50% of the hospitals in the UK on its books, from the Channel Islands up to the Shetland Isles,' says sales director Ian Wall.

And as well as hospitals he names 10 Downing St, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace and Clarence House.

'At Clarence House', Quinn recalls, 'Princess Anne pinched my parking space.'
Did he complain, I asked?

'No, I waited until she went and then parked up,' he grinned.
At the other end of the scale, Ductbusters has worked in most of the prisons in the UK.

Quinn says when he was surveying one prison, a warden asked if he had worked in prisons before to which Quinn replied he had been in more prisons than Ronnie Biggs!

All the work is channelled from the Halesowen office. And he adds that some 55% of work is repeat business.

'Not a bad figure when you consider some clients do not need their ductwork cleaned every year or indeed every two years.'

He maintains the records show Ductbusters' operatives (not the same one!) will be cleaning 363 days a year and working 24 hours a day.

Home grown surveyors?

Another recruitment problem is finding experienced surveyors. Which is why, again, the people are home grown with the best duct cleaning operatives being promoted and trained.

'Ductbusters is accredited by the HVCA, it is a Safe Contractor, member of the Infection Control body and is Constructionline accredited too.'

And he says it does not matter how much training staff are put through, the company has to prove its worth when getting on to the approved contractor lists.

Quinn remembers a banner which was strung up in a factory where he once worked. It read: 'Better the goods bring back the customer than the customers bring back the goods'. It is a mantra which, he says, has served him in good stead in his career.

Wall says there is a vast market out there and it is getting bigger. One thing is for sure - the longer you leave ductwork uncleaned the dirtier it gets and the risks increase.

People are becoming more aware about indoor air quality and the effects it can have on health and performance. Take hospital infections, for instance, with MRSA, C Diff, Aspergillus and legionella all now being recognised by the public as potential killers. Standards, like the HVCA TR19 and HTM 0301, have raised the bar.

'But until ductwork cleaning in hospitals gains a higher priority or is made law, these infections will return again and again,' adds Wall. There is a growing consensus of independent opinion that dirty ventilation systems will lead to the airborne transmission of bacteria.

All other indoor areas with mechanical ventilation systems face the same problems to a greater or lesser degree.

Quinn maintains hospitals say they cannot afford to clean ductwork but he insists cleaning ductwork is cheaper than paying out compensation when patients contract infections.

Ductbusters has tested some hospital ductwork where there aremore than 300CFUs (colony forming units) whereas hospitals say the maximum CFUs should be no more than 10.

So are there hospitals which are being built at the moment where, for instance, Aspergillus, a bacterium which is in cement, is prevalent?

Yes, he says, frankly. But not all.

'The better builders know what they want and are prepared to go the extra mile but there are others who don't.'

Quinn added that his daughter went into hospital to have his granddaughter recently and, knowing Ductbusters had the cleaning contract for the ductwork, he was content but there were, he says, other hospitals where he would be unhappy about being a patient.

Ductbusters recommends ductwork in an operating theatre be cleaned once a year, in an oncology suite (the cancer unit) he would expect to clean it once every two years while more general wards and offices should have the ductwork cleaned once every five years.

But, he adds, there should be a risk assessment every year anywhere there is a ductwork system.

'There are certain guidelines - less than 60 microns for supply ductwork to comply with TR19 - which should be adhered to but if the ductwork does not need cleaning then leave it alone.'

Risk assessment

But the duty of care is on the hospital, says Quinn. On the other hand, he geustimates only 30% of hospitals do risk assessment.
Wall has been instrumental in offering free CPD seminars to consultants to explain about the need for, and techniques involved in, ductwork cleaning and is also willing to advise contractors and consultants for new build projects who require clean ductwork upon handover.

'The more of this we do, the better for the ductwork cleaner.'

Some contractors - Balfour Beatty and Skanska, for instance, - call Ductbusters in during the planning stage to advise on ductwork cleaning. For instance, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham has 50 kilometres of ductwork and this is not unusual in buildings of this size and requires a more detailed approach.

And to make it easy for clients, Ductbusters has the latest CAD technology on its computers and a printer which is able to take the large blueprint sizes so that clients can send plans easily and quickly.

That Ductbusters goes that extra mile for customers is plain to see. Quinn is passionate about his firm and passionate about clean ductwork.

It is a combination which is hard to match.