Ethical cleaning company offering the underprivileged a brighter future

The UK domestic cleaning sector has grown by 91% in the last three years, with the UK market currently worth around £2.86 billion. Cultural shifts in the UK and the effects of the recession have meant more women going back to work, longer working days, busier single professionals – so help around the home is now far more of a necessity than a luxury.

Manchester-based Bright & Beautiful is the new and improved face of domestic homecare stepping in to meet that need – with an award-winning ethical service that delivers eco-friendly cleaning, tidying, laundry and ironing.

Bright & Beautiful founder director Rachel Ray was inspired to set up the company after having worked in international business consultancy for 15 years.

Following a career break to have her two children Rachel wanted to pursue a career that would enable her to combine work and family. Rachel comments: “Residential cleaning really is a recession-proof business and the Bright & Beautiful vision was that it would support and empower women – our clients who need their homes managed; our franchise owners who have a business which can earn a great income but fit within school hours; our team who have fair employment rights and a great working environment and impoverished families that we sponsor overseas.

“We already have three franchises operating in the North West, all of which have been bought by businesswomen who wanted to get more balance in their working lives.

"Because we support them with professional marketing and business management, clients have been knocking on their doors and are also delighted to recommend us to their friends which has been our best possible business growth tool. Women today are juggling so many roles and responsibilities that free time has become an incredibly precious commodity – and that’s what we can give back to them.”

A client from Knutsford comments: “With two young children and a business to run, I love the fact that I can come home and relax at night without the stress of having to clean. In our world today with the fast pace and so little time - I value my time with my family. So I leave the cleaning to the B&B experts.”

The residential cleaning franchise industry is one of the UK’s fastest growing market sectors right now, with 4 million households in the UK and Ireland spending around £11 billion every year on domestic help.

Bright & Beautiful also support oppressed families across the world via a number of charitable programmes, which include:

- Change4Change - each time a new franchisee comes on board they sponsor a lady to set up a micro-business overseas including Bora Lakshmi whom Bright & Beautiful provided with a sewing machine so that she can make saris to earn a living for herself and her family.

- Compassion International – B&B sponsors six children in different parts of the world, paying for food, clothing and education for children who are orphaned or who live in extreme poverty right through until the age of 18.

- Hope For Justice - who rescue people from human trafficking, which is modern day slavery. This trade in human life is taking place on a vast global scale and is the world’s fastest growing crime.