David moving up the ladder

David (34), who started cleaning windows at the age of 15, is now the manager of Rise 2 Shine, a firm which specialises in contract cleaning and refrigeration services as well as his window cleaning roots.

David explained how he got his foot on the ladder in the window cleaning business. He said: “I was 15 or 16 and I asked Bunty (Ian Bunting) if he knew of any work going. He told me to call at his house. He gave me a ladder and told me to wash his windows. After I did that he told me to go round the doors in Thornhill Park and see if anyone else wanted their windows cleaned.

“That’s how I got started. I fell in with different contractors and the business grew and grew.”

David married Adele in 2007, but before getting married he ‘put the serious head on’. He explained: “I was living at home and had no bills or mortgage hanging over me so it was a casual business.

“In 2007 before I got married I decided it was time to put the serious head on and set up a business that I could make a living off.

“Four years ago I went to Bank of Ireland. The company was growing and I needed a bank to back me. I haven’t looked back since.”

He gave thanks to the bank for their backing, in particular Gareth Williamson, branch manager in Portadown.

The upward trajectory of David’s Rise 2 Shine business led Bank of Ireland to ask him to feature in a nationwide poster campaign.

David employs upwards of 40 people and his contract and refrigeration services carry out work for major supermarkets all over the UK.

He said: “I don’t do the window cleaning anymore myself but we still clean windows for some of my original clients.”