Client: Oldham Council — environmental services, led by Ian Monaghan, Environmental Manager
Quick take
Oldham Council has worked with No Graffiti Ltd since 2003. What began as graffiti removal now covers four service lines — urgent offensive removal, public space cleansing, technical removals on difficult substrates and external pressure cleaning — all through a single point of contact on agreed rates. Every reported offensive tag is cleared inside 48 hours, most of them the same day.
Most contractor relationships in local government last as long as the framework that created them. This one has outlasted every framework renewal, change of administration and budget round since 2003. Oldham Council has used No Graffiti Ltd for twenty-three years, and the work has grown from graffiti removal alone into four service lines running under a single point of contact.
This case study is published with the client named. The figures below reflect the work as delivered across the borough.
About the client
Oldham Council is a metropolitan borough authority in Greater Manchester serving approximately 240,000 residents. Its environmental services team is responsible for street cleansing, parks and play areas, and the upkeep of council-owned buildings and public spaces — from the town centre and district shopping parades to housing estates, subways, bridges and boundary walls.
Like every local authority, the team works to tight budgets and visible street-cleanliness standards, with graffiti competing for resources against litter, fly-tipping and grounds maintenance.
The challenge
A borough of 240,000 people generates graffiti faster than any single in-house team can chase it — and not all of it can wait. Racist, threatening and obscene tags appear on estates, subways and shop shutters where residents see them on the way to work and on the school run. Every hour one of those stays up is an hour the council is judged on.
- Offensive graffiti needs a different response model. Hate-based and threatening content cannot sit in the same queue as an ordinary tag.
- Routine work still has to happen. Gum-fouled pavements, weathered civic buildings and tired public spaces do not stop needing attention because something urgent has come in.
- Difficult substrates. Porous brick, natural stone and layered paint are where most contractors either damage the surface or walk away from the job.
- Too many suppliers. Splitting graffiti, cleansing and pressure washing across separate contractors means separate rates, separate reporting and no single owner when something goes wrong.
The solution
Four service lines, one point of contact
Rather than a graffiti-only contract, the arrangement covers everything the environmental services team needs from a specialist cleaning supplier:
- Urgent offensive removal. Hate-based, threatening and obscene graffiti is prioritised above all other scheduled work and cleared same or next day.
- Public space cleansing. Town centre paving, subways, seating, bus shelters and play areas on a planned cycle, with reactive cover between rounds.
- Difficult removals. Porous brick, natural stone, layered paint and repeat hotspots — the method is always tested on a discreet area before we commit to the elevation.
- External pressure cleaning. Civic buildings, car parks, walkways and hard standing restored without damaging the substrate beneath.
- Evidence and reporting. Before-and-after photographs and job records for every attendance, ready for member enquiries, complaints and audit.
Why the method matters more than the machine
The single biggest cause of complaints about graffiti removal is not graffiti left behind — it is damage left behind. Ghosting on render, bleached patches on stone, blown mortar on old brick. We match the system to the surface rather than reaching for the same jet wash every time, using steam and hot-water systems, chemical removers and poultices, chemical-free options and controlled pressure washing as the substrate dictates.
The results
- Offensive graffiti gone before it spreads. Every reported hate-based, threatening or obscene tag is cleared inside 48 hours, and most the same day.
- One supplier instead of four. Four service lines run through a single point of contact on agreed rates and response times, with one person accountable for all of it.
- A relationship that has outlasted the contracts. Twenty-three years and every framework renewal since 2003.
Offensive graffiti is not just graffiti that happens to be rude. Racist, religious-hate, homophobic and transphobic content, and graffiti that names or accuses an individual, all put real people at risk — which is why it gets its own response standard rather than a place in the queue.
Frequently asked questions
How quickly can offensive graffiti be removed?
Offensive, racist, threatening or obscene graffiti is prioritised above all other scheduled work. In practice it is cleared the same day wherever we can reach the site, and inside 48 hours in every case.
Can one contractor really cover graffiti, cleansing and pressure washing?
Yes — and for a local authority it is usually cheaper and far simpler to manage. One set of agreed rates, one set of response times, one point of contact and one reporting format across every service line.
What happens on surfaces that are easily damaged?
Porous brick, natural stone and old render need a tested method, not a powerful one. We trial the approach on a discreet area first and only then treat the full elevation. Removal is not always the cheapest or safest answer, and where it isn't we will say so.
Do you work with councils outside Oldham?
Yes. We work with councils, housing associations, facilities management companies and commercial clients across Greater Manchester and Cheshire, including Manchester, Salford, Stockport, Rochdale, Bury, Bolton, Trafford, Tameside and Wigan.
Whatever's on your walls, we've cleaned it before.
Councils, housing associations, retail and commercial sites across Greater Manchester and Cheshire. Send a photo and a postcode and we'll come back within one working hour.
