Clean for Good, backed by a church, aims to win business from established firms with its promotion of ethical principles

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A church-backed commercial cleaning company which pays its staff the London living wage is aiming to win business from established firms by promoting ethical principles.

Clean for Good aims to provide a fairer deal for workers in an industry known for low wages, antisocial hours and poor working conditions.



The company, which formally launched this week, is committed to providing paid leave, guaranteed working hours and training as well as the London living wage.



“We have no zero-hours contracts although we offer flexible hours for employees who want to combine work with study or family responsibilities,” said its business manager, Catherine Pearson.



“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.”



Pearson is aiming for a turnover of at least £600,000 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.”



Clean for Good’s 10 staff are paid £9.75 per hour. The nine women and one man are from diverse ethnic backgrounds.



Until recently, Florentina, 36, was working in a fast food outlet for 72 hours a week without a contract and being paid in cash. Now she works for Clean for Good for 30 to 40 hours a week, making the same money as she did before, paying tax and with a legal contract. She sends some of her earnings home to Romania, where her children, aged 14 and 12, live.



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% of the company’s shares; the remainder are owned by individual investors.



Jonny Baker, of the Church Mission Society, said: “Clean for Good is a potent combination of pioneering mission, social enterprise and God’s love. It is a practical mission in action.”

