Domestic housekeeping business now has 30 franchises and £1.5m turnover
National domestic homecare franchise business Bright & Beautiful welcomed on board five new business owners in March 2013, taking the number of franchises nationwide up to 30 and the company’s annual turnover to £1.5m.
The five new Bright & Beautiful businesses will be run by people from a range of professional backgrounds including a United Nations war crimes tribunal manager, teachers and a banking manager.
Since launching in 2007, Bright and Beautiful has taken the housekeeping industry by storm with a radical, ethical and eco-friendly approach to business that is designed to support women and their families in the UK and overseas. The new franchisees, pictured here with Bright & Beautiful MD and founder Rachel Ray and the head office team are:
Deborah Taylor who will be running the Leeds franchise and formerly worked for a High Street bank
Linda Harris will be running her business across North and West Manchester and had previously worked as a teacher for 20 years.
Hayley Charlton and partner Adam Shardlow who have taken over an additional franchise area in Wilmslow an Alderley Edge. Hayley, who is 23 and a student at Salford University, has successfully run the Manchester and Salford franchise since 2011.
Amina Ibrahim, who formerly worked as part of the United Nations International War Crimes Tribunal, will be running her business in Marylebone, London
Paula Abbey will be running a rural Cheshire franchise and was formerly a teacher.
Since launching in 2007 Bright & Beautiful has enabled 30 women to start their own business and has also generated 130 jobs for other women, most of which are “family friendly” hours. The company now has a £1.5 million turnover, 30 franchises across the UK, employs over 130 women, is growing by an average of one new franchise per month and recruits between 10-20 new employees each month, delivering eco-friendly cleaning, tidying, laundry and ironing services.
Rachel who lives in Greater Manchester and has two young daughters, says: “Bringing able to help give new franchisees to launch their new businesses is very exciting and rewarding, especially as Hayley’s first area has done so well for her that she has taken over a second! My vision for Bright & Beautiful was always to support and empower women and we see more and more women who want a career but who are not prepared to sacrifice their family for the sake of their job. The fact that they can deliver an impeccable service for our clients, earn a good salary running a Bright & Beautiful franchise, manage their own team of professional housekeepers and be there for their children after school has really been the secret of our success.”
Rachel’s business model is based around a franchise system that trains women across the UK to manage a team of professional housekeepers. The franchises are all run by businesswomen who wanted to explore a new balanced career – from former sales managers, fashion buyers and policewomen, just like Rachel herself, who left a high flying career as a business consultant and accountant to strike out on her own.
At a time when female unemployment is at a 23 year high in the UK, Bright & Beautiful is bucking the trend by creating employment opportunities for women all across the country.
A rapidly growing industry – a million more people now employ a cleaner than ten years ago – the domestic cleaning business is also a grey area in the UK, in that it is largely unregulated; workers don’t receive holiday or maternity pay and there is very little quality control. Rachel’s business implements proper training, salaries and fair working conditions for all of its 100% female workforce and the past year has seen her lobbying her local MPs to effect a change in the law.