“The new records we’ve hit are, first and foremost, down to the hard work and talents of our amazing franchisees”

A winning business model helps Molly Maid to set new records

On the weekend of March 14, 2020, Molly Maid franchisees from around the U.K. gathered in Bournemouth for their bi-annual national convention. While the event had been planned out for months, a new discussion item was hastily added to the agenda – COVID-19 and the potential impacts on a franchise owner’s business. Kevin Hipkins, president and CEO, and a 30-year veteran of the industry, still has notes on those discussions, including a prediction for the future because of COVID. “We just thought in a global health pandemic more families would turn to brands they knew to keep their family safe, and more families would want their home professionally cleaned, which is why I wrote out that ‘our business will boom’.”

Inflation-proof growth

Fast forward to today and Hipkins’ prediction has largely panned out. And, despite the storm clouds gathering around the country’s economy, the cleaning industry is one that continues to show no signs of slowing down, with the company’s franchisees continuing to set new records in all areas of business. “The new records we’ve hit are, first and foremost, down to the hard work and talents of our amazing franchisees,” he says. “They’ve been relentless in not only dealing with the disruptions caused by COVID but also in taking advantage of demand from new customers, which has been quite unlike anything I’ve seen in my 30 years in the cleaning industry. And this includes seeing Molly Maid grow and become a household name throughout Canada and the United States, too.”

Hipkins also credits the company’s leading and resilient franchised business model, which has proven to be largely inflation-proof. “We’re fortunate that most of our costs are oriented around labour, which isn’t really impacted by inflation.” The company increased its prices in 2020 and again in 2021 to provide wage increases to their hundreds of cleaners, and when combined with a claim of being the ‘Best Employer in the Home Cleaning Industry,’ they’re also experiencing record increases in interest for their cleaning jobs, too. This is all needed to meet the huge demand from new customers.

Industry recognition

It’s not surprising then that the company celebrated a trio of awards in 2021 – another 5 Star Franchisee Satisfaction award, another top 15 ranking in the prestigious Elite Franchise 100 ranking (at position 13, Molly Maid is the highest-ranked domestic cleaning franchise), and a finalist in the BFA-HSBC Franchisor of the Year awards.

Hipkins is justifiably excited about all these accolades and what they say about the company’s franchisee-focused culture, but he’s even more excited about the future. “We’ve already seen some franchisees double their weekly turnover in the past year, and predict that, overall, we’ll double in size over the next five years. Everything that we’re doing now, from our social media feed to our partnership with Meta/ Facebook to provide a platform to connect with franchisees and our marketing campaigns, is focused on one thing – helping franchisees take advantage of the great conditions to grow their business.”

For more information about becoming a Molly Maid franchisee and to learn more about the company’s leading business model, contact Aaron Watson, director of franchise development.

At a glance

Established:

1984

Number of franchised outlets:

94

Location of units:

across the U.K., from Scotland to the south coast

Investment range:

£18,975 (+ VAT) and £7,000 working capital (£10,000 of the £18,975 is allocated to marketing for the first 12-18 months)

Minimum required capital:

at least 30 per cent of the total investment (£7,975). The remainder can be funded through a business loan

Contact:

Aaron Watson, director of franchise Development. 01628 583765. awatson@mollymaid.co.uk