Molly Maid Franchisees Celebrate Their Success and New Records
With sales growth over 20% and record demand from new customers, it’s been a remarkable year for Molly Maid, which made a recent trip to Rome with eight of their Franchisees even more special. The eight Franchisees qualified for the weekend trip to the eternal city by growing their business a combined 60% compared to 2021. It’s this type of sales growth that has Jonathan Holden, the Chief Operating Officer of Molly Maid UK, even more excited about the future for the country’s leading domestic cleaning brand and Franchisor.
“Coming out of the pandemic and then Brexit we knew that we were going to experience some huge growth because many of the smaller cleaning companies simply ceased trading and many cleaners left the industry or the country. But all of the customers they were cleaning still wanted their home cleaned and we knew many would turn to Molly Maid because we are the most well-known and searched name in the industry.”
Fast forward to 2022 and Holden says the company’s growth predictions have been far surpassed. “The level of demand we’ve experienced since COVID has been so much greater than we thought it would be and it really shows no sign of stopping either.” Holden adds that many Franchisees still have a waiting list of customers wanting their home cleaned, something that they have never experienced in their 37 years of operation in the UK.
It’s this sales growth that is helping Franchisees set new records in their own business – even for the most experienced of Franchisees. Denise Walker, the Franchisee for Newcastle West & Northumberland, is one of the eight Franchisees who travelled to Rome. She recently celebrated her 17th anniversary with Molly Maid and is on track for a 34% increase in sales, making 2022 her most successful year ever.
But the pace of growth for Walker since COVID has her constantly racing to find spots for customers wanting service on her already busy schedules. It’s why trips like these provide much needed down time as much as the opportunity to celebrate with friends and colleagues. “These trips give me the chance to realise how much I’ve achieved and how much I am appreciated by Molly Maid. It’s a time for a bit of self-indulgence and being able to say to myself ‘hey look what I’ve done’.” This was Walker’s third consecutive trip with Molly Maid – the other two were Venice in 2019 and Athens in 2020 (delayed obviously because of the pandemic).
The booming market is as much to do with the company’s recent growth as is their constant focus on improving systems for its Franchisees. Coming out of the pandemic the company rolled out several changes to their website including an emphasis on their HomeSafe trademark and cleaning system, which was recognised by the Government and something that has helped reassure customers of their safe working practices. It’s an approach that they continue to build on with their Best Employer initiative to recognise, among other things, the leading employment practices followed by their Franchisees. It’s an initiative that has helped Franchisees attract new staff to take advantage of the opportunity, which for many other companies in the cleaning industry has been a challenge.
Though it may be a challenge for some companies, it obviously hasn’t been for those Franchisees in Rome, including Walker and colleagues Gill and Rob Dawson, the husband-and-wife team for Molly Maid in Burton upon Trent & Derby. Like Walker, Rome was also their third straight trip and also like Walker, 2022 is set to be their best year for sales growth with a projected increase of 50%, taking their annual turnover to just under £500,000 annually. The dynamic duo were BFA Franchisee of the Year Finalists in 2019, so know a thing or two about growing a successful business, but say the strong market this year allowed them to expand much more quickly than in prior years and something they started planning for in January – not usually a time when businesses are expanding.
When asked about the success being achieved by Franchisees like Walker and the Dawsons, Holden is, in a word, excited. “We will see Franchisees double and triple their sales in the next few years because our market has grown so much and our brand is the most searched and most well-known. Our number one job is to help them to take advantage of the great opportunities to make their business even more profitable and successful.” Indeed, there is lots to celebrate for Molly Maid.
This article comes courtesy of Molly Maid, the UK’s leading home cleaning franchise. Molly Maid UK is a full member of the British Franchise Association