A cleaning entrepreneur from Swansea who started the business with just £20 for marketing and a hoover is now running a multi-million pound business.
Chief executive and entrepreneur Rachael Flanagan started commercial cleaning company Mrs Buckét Cleaning Services in 2005 at 18-years-old.
Today, the Swansea-headquartered commercial cleaning venture is now on track to exceed its three year target of £5m turnover this year and is now looking to achieve £10m turnover in the next three years, doubling staff from 330 to 660 employees across south Wales and south west England.
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Ms Flanagan started the business cleaning houses before moving into commercial cleaning and securing major clients such as Panasonic, Sony, CBRE and the Wales Millennium Centre. She is now eyeing national growth targeting clients UK-wide after increased interest from national customers.
Ms Flanagan 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.”
The firm is also aiming to change the perception of the cleaning industry and is 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 Ms Flanagan. "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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