New London cleaning company founded on ethical principles

27th of October 2017
New London cleaning company founded on ethical principles

A new church-backed cleaning company in London is aiming to win business from established businesses by promoting ethical principles.

Clean for Good pays its staff the London Living Wage and is committed to providing paid leave, guaranteed working hours and training."We have no zero-hours contracts although we offer flexible hours for employees who want to combine work with study or family responsibilities," business manager Catherine Pearson told The Guardian newspaper.

"We offer staff paid holiday and sick leave, an opt-in pension and health and safety training. We use ethical products, keep our carbon footprint to a minimum and offer our clients transparency."

Clean for Good is aiming for a turnover of at least €671,000 in the next two years. "Then we would be a sustainable business, covering our overheads and making a profit," she said. Profits might be used to pay bonuses to staff, she added.

As well as taking a share of the market, Clean for Good hopes to challenge established companies to change their practices. "Often contracts are sub-contracted, sometimes more than once, and it's unclear to clients how much the cleaner actually gets for their work," Pearson added.

The company was established by a City of London church, St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe, which wanted to find a way of helping low-paid workers within its wealthy parish. It has eight clients so far, including a charity, a PR agency and a number of churches.

St-Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe, the Church Mission Society and the Centre for Theology and Community own 75 per cent of the company's shares; the remainder are owned by individual investors.

 

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