"After leaving my career with the police, I spent the next 20 years in various blue chip management positions in fast-moving client-focussed sectors like security, debt recovery and financial services. As I managed businesses for corporate companies, there was always a niggling ambition in the back of mind - I wanted to take control of my own destiny! I wanted to run my own business.

The opportunity came about when my employer started a 12-month restructure, and my duties were reduced. This felt like the nudge I needed to take the leap, and I grasped the opportunity to start my own business.

Having worked in the service industry for many years, I knew that the cleaning sector would be an exciting proposition.

Why? It's an industry which will always be in demand -
we will always need cleaners - and is a relatively simple business to operate and develop. More so, for me, was the opportunity to set a new benchmark; I was drawn to the challenge of making a real difference in what is often perceived as a pretty staid service
sector. So, The Fine Cleaning Company was born!

Initially, I was balancing running the young business alongside my regular day job. I was slowly building up a client base, and doing all of the cleaning myself... your classic 'man in
a van'!

As I took on new clients, the business grew from one van, to two, to three. From one team of cleaners, to two, to three! I'll never forget how exciting it was to bring onboard a new client in those early days - something that is now so regular today.

When the business began to really take off at a rapid pace, I decided to take the plunge, leave my employed role, and work full time on growing The Fine Cleaning Company. I never looked back.

A real milestone moment for us was when we opened our first office in Bath. It felt like we were really putting a stake in the ground! We had arrived.

Fast forward several years, and we now offer cleaning services to residential homes, Airbnb properties, letting agents, estate agents, offices, commercial premises, builders and developers, and many more across the Bath, Bristol and Weston-super-Mare areas.

We complete over 10,000 hours of cleaning every year, which we've been excited to see consistently increase year-on-year.

Along the way we've cleaned for many interesting clients, including a superyacht designer, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, several multi-business owners, doctors, authors, actors,
designers, MPs and many more. Without naming names, one particular client has been a well-known TV and film star; and was the owner of a South Devon hotel which became world-famous in only 12 episodes for offering an appalling service to its guests!

If I were to go back and speak to my past self, the only advice I'd give is to start the venture much earlier - and not listen to the naysayers!

As we start the next chapter in our exciting business journey, we're now looking to build a network of franchisees across the UK (and potentially beyond!). We're excited to start franchising the brand as we know it can give us the growth, market penetration and brand awareness which we now seek as we take the business to the next level.

If you'd like to find out more about becoming a franchise owner for The Fine Cleaning Company, visit www.thefinecleaningcompany.co.uk/franchise, or get in touch via
info@thefinecleaningcompany.co.uk