Clean for Good: Why we are a Living Wage Employer. “Our vision is to transform the cleaning sector for good”.

Clean for Good is an ethical cleaning company based in East London, cleaning offices and workspaces across the Capital. Founded in 2017 with the real Living Wage at its heart, Clean for Good is a business with a social purpose. It is on a mission to provide a professional cleaning service whilst ensuring that cleaners are treated with fairness and respect at work.

What has set Clean for Good apart from many other cleaning companies is its status as an accredited Living Wage Employer since the day it was founded. At the basis of the business is a belief that all cleaners should be paid a wage that meets the cost of living, enabling them to thrive and not just survive. In addition to its commitment to pay the real Living Wage, Clean for Good is leading the way in ethical employment practice in the cleaning industry by employing all of its cleaners on terms and conditions which are above the statutory minimums, including occupational sick pay and a decent pension.

Clean for Good’s aim is to deliver a great service to customers as well as to provide good, fairly paid and dignified jobs for cleaners. The company’s long-term mission is to promote change across the cleaning sector, working towards the day when every cleaner is paid the real Living Wage and is treated with respect at work.

The process

Clean for Good was founded to directly address the injustices apparent in many parts of the cleaning sector. Too often, cleaners are struggling to get by on low pay with their hard work not given the respect or recognition it deserves.

Being an accredited Living Wage Employer is a core part of the company’s vision and a central commitment. Ensuring that employees are treated fairly and respectfully requires an hourly wage that is enough to actually live on and not just get by.

Paying the real Living Wage is rooted within Clean for Good’s operational structure. The company pays all of its staff at least the London Living Wage and embeds this within all of its quotes for contracts and customers. In an industry where success is dependent upon client demands, Clean for Good is demonstrating that this does not necessitate a race to the bottom. Since the company began in February 2017, it has grown significantly with a turnover of nearly £1.2m at the end of March 2024. The company cleans many offices for business and charities, as well as shops, community centres and churches across London.

The benefits

Clean for Good’s growth shows that being an accredited Living Wage Employer is not only the right thing to do by their staff, but that putting the Living Wage at the heart of the organisation also has distinct business benefits. Some of these benefits include:

• They are able to communicate some of their core values to potential customers very quickly and succinctly. The Living Wage ‘badge’ features prominently on their website and in all marketing material.
• They can differentiate themselves from others in the cleaning industry, offering an ethical choice for those requiring cleaning services.
• They were chosen as one of Natwest's Top 25 Trailblazing Newcomers in the UK for 2020. They have also featured in Natwest’s Top 100 Pioneering Social Enterprises in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
• In January 2023 they became a certified B-Corp, one of very few cleaning companies in the UK to earn this recognition.
• They have been able to recruit and retain staff more easily than other cleaning companies. They have staff who have been with them for more than 3 years, which is rare in the cleaning world. This allows them to build long standing stable relationships with their clients and drive up the standard of service that they can provide.

Lessons learned and advice for other employers

The success of Clean for Good demonstrates clearly that a cleaning company committed to paying the real Living Wage need not struggle, but indeed can flourish.

Charlie Walker, Clean for Good’s Managing Director says:

“We have been able to demonstrate that we can genuinely embed our passion for ethical values throughout the business, whilst also  being able to provide a professional, excellent service for our clients. 

In partnership with our clients we really are changing the market and beginning to see the impact we can have. We survey our staff every year, and in the most recent survey one cleaner told us: “It’s a complete change: I can earn more and work less; I can spend time with my family, and I can be paid fairly. It’s a big change; I’m happy.”

Our vision is to transform the cleaning sector for good, so there is a long way to go, but the last 7 years has proved it is possible!”

By placing the Living Wage at the centre of everything they do, Clean for Good not only offer their cleaners more respect and dignity at work, they also offer customers the assurance that the individuals cleaning their offices and workspaces aren’t living in poverty. As the growth of the business demonstrates, there is a clear appetite from those buying cleaning services for a provider doing the right thing by their workers.

Further information

You can find more information about Clean for Good on www.cleanforgood.co.uk.

This case study was originally published in April 2019, and was updated in August 2024.