What Should I Pay My Cleaning Company?

And can they really be sustainable with rates at £17 per hour?

In recent discussions with new clients, we've noticed a trend of competitors offering surprisingly low prices to win business. This isn't about self-employed cleaners, but companies claiming to run fully insured, law-abiding teams of cleaners.

Some of our clients have shared negative experiences with low-cost cleaning services, citing issues such as:

Gradually increasing hourly rates, once foot through the door
Introducing longer cleaning times
Declining quality after the initial clean

To shed light on this issue, we'll break down the costs of running a legitimate cleaning business with insured employees on the payroll. This breakdown will help you understand why we believe it's challenging for commercial cleaning companies to sustainably offer services at £17 per hour.

Our Hourly Rate Breakdown Varies between £19.50-£21.00:

Base Pay: We are a National Living Wage Employer

Holiday Pay: 12.08% of hours worked, increasing the cost to approximately £13.50 per hour

Employer's National Insurance: 12.8% for employees working over 20 hours weekly, bringing the cost to about £14.90 per hour

Cleaning Products: 7-10% of the hourly rate, raising the cost to around £16.40 per hour

Travel Expenses: Approximately £1 per hour for up to 20 miles daily at 45p per mile

Additional costs to consider:

Equipment (e.g., vacuum cleaners)
Training
Uniforms
Insurance
Background checks
Accountancy
Rent and storage
Computing and communications
Marketing and website maintenance
Profit margin

Given these factors, we're confident that our rates are as competitive as possible while still maintaining a high-quality, sustainable service.

This breakdown illustrates why it's unlikely for reputable cleaning companies to offer services at rates below £17 per hour while complying with legal requirements and providing a quality service.

Should you wish to talk about your cleaning budget with us, we would be happy to work together on developing an appropriate plan.

Call us now on 01922 621117 - 07948 799612