Eastern Europe is a big part of NJC. Many of our colleagues across our cleaning and facilities management teams have roots in Eastern Europe, shaping the culture and standards our customers experience every day. It shows up across our teams, our sites, and in our customer relationships.
Eastern Europe is also part of the wider UK story, people from Eastern Europe have built lives here, started families here, and contributed hugely to the workforce across many industries, including facilities management and cleaning.
This year, we at NJC wanted to take a moment to recognise that properly.
The idea came from a simple question from one of our operatives last year: could we do something to celebrate Romania Day on 1 December? We said yes straight away. Then we widened it, because Romania is part of a much bigger picture. The result was a focus on Eastern Europe as a whole, and what that community brings to NJC.
At NJC, people from Eastern Europe represent around 15% of our workforce. Romanian is also the second language spoken across the business. Those numbers matter because they remind us that culture and identity are part of who we are.
NJC is a people business, meaning that culture matters in how we work together every day, not just on awareness days or in a podcast episode.
Celebrating Eastern Europe is one way of recognising:
For some colleagues, this is about celebration and heritage, whereas, for others, it sits alongside more difficult realities, especially for those whose families are living through instability or conflict back home. It is one reason we try to approach moments like this with care. Pride and hardship can exist in the same story.
Romania Day, celebrated on 1 December, is a meaningful date for many Romanians. It is a moment of national pride and identity, often marked through family, food, music, flags and time spent together.
That sense of closeness, especially within families and communities, came through strongly in the conversations we have had with colleagues. People look out for each other. They stay connected. They keep traditions alive, even when they are far from home.
That matters in the workplace too. When people feel able to bring their culture with them, it strengthens belonging, and when belonging is strong, everything else works better.
Eastern Europe is not a single identity. It includes many languages, histories, religions and traditions. Baltic countries like Lithuania sit alongside Slavic nations, Balkan regions, and communities shaped by different empires and political eras. Even within one country, there are distinct groups and customs that look and feel different.
Recognising Eastern Europe properly means not flattening it into one label. It means being curious, respectful and willing to learn.
Facilities management is a sector where things have to be done properly. There is no ambiguity. Either a building is safe and clean, or it is not. Either standards are met, or they are not. In commercial cleaning and facilities management, consistency matters, and stable, supported teams deliver better outcomes on site.
Many Eastern European colleagues talk about a straightforward approach to work. A focus on doing the job well. Pride in results. A strong work ethic shaped by experience, responsibility, and the need to build something stable.
We see that every day across NJC. And our customers feel it too.
A stable, motivated team makes a difference to:
It is one of the reasons we continue to invest in our people, not just in training and support, but in culture.
A theme that comes up often when people move countries is communication. Not just language, but style.
Many Eastern Europeans are direct. British communication can be more subtle, more layered, sometimes unclear unless you know what to listen for. That can lead to misunderstandings, especially early on. Directness can be misread as rudeness. Subtlety can be misread as avoidance.
Over time, teams adjust. People learn each other. Accents become familiar. Confidence grows. What starts as difference becomes one of the strengths of a diverse workplace.
We want NJC to be a place where colleagues feel comfortable speaking up, asking questions, and being themselves. Nobody should feel judged for an accent, a pronunciation mistake, or not having the perfect words.
Something we hear often from colleagues who have moved here is gratitude. A sense that the UK has offered opportunity, and a desire to give something back through hard work, contribution, and pride in doing things well.
That mindset is part of NJC too. We see it in the way teams show up for each other, and the way colleagues take their roles seriously.
The simplest message we heard during this celebration was also the strongest: Don’t forget who you are. Don’t forget where you come from.
At NJC, we want to support that. Not by turning culture into a campaign, but by making sure people feel seen, respected and included as they are.
Celebrating Eastern Europe is one way we do that.
We marked this celebration with a special episode of the Not Just Cleaning podcast, hosted by Kieran Soar, with colleagues sharing their experiences and perspectives.
If you would like to watch or listen, you can do so below, or find the episode on YouTube.
To everyone across NJC with roots in Eastern Europe, happy Romania Day to those celebrating, and thank you for everything you bring to our teams and our culture.