A woman from Swansea who started her own cleaning business has turned it into a multi-million pound company.
Chief executive and entrepreneur Rachael Flanagan started Mrs Buckét Cleaning Services in 2005 at 18-years-old with £20 worth of leaflets and a hoover.
Today, the business is on track to reach a turnover of £5m this year and is now looking to reach £10m in the next three years, doubling its staff from 330 to 660 employees across south Wales and south west England.
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Rachael started the company just cleaning houses before she moved to cleaning larger offices and commercial sites. Her major clients include Panasonic, Sony and the Wales Millennium Centre.
Now Rachael is looking at growing the business UK-wide.
She said: "We’ve identified large workspaces, such as logistics firms, manufacturing plants, warehouse environments, automotive companies and technology businesses, where we have relevant experience and can hit the ground running with our knowledge of their sectors and expectations.
“We already have operations in and around Bristol and this experience of scaling up is crucial to our growth plans.
“Our constant investment in state-of-the-art equipment means that we are continuously innovating to ensure the highest quality service for our clients. The days of a cleaner pushing round a dirty mop are long gone. We want to work with people who understand the value of what we do and the fact that post-pandemic, having a top-quality cleaning service in place offers tangible benefits to all businesses.”
She also wants to change the perception of the cleaning industry and has made Mrs Buckét Cleaning Services a real living wage employer.
"It is so important to us that we’re leading the charge to change the way people perceive cleaners," said Rachael. "There is a mistaken belief that cleaners are poorly educated, poorly paid and forced to work antisocial hours. That couldn’t be further from the truth and we want people to see the way the industry has evolved.
"All our staff are paid at least the Real Living Wage, with opportunities for everyone to progress and be promoted. Having a successful, thriving, enthusiastic team is essential for our growth and future plans."
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