The Helping Hands Group has been cleaning and maintaining domestic and commercial properties for 25 years. Suzanne Waring started with a mop and a bucket 25 years ago and has built her (almost!) 40-strong team into one of the region’s most trusted high-quality cleaning businesses.
They provide a range of cleaning services for both commercial and domestic properties in Lancashire. Bespoke cleaning solutions include everything from regular house cleans to deep cleans and specialist services like carpet and oven cleaning. The business has expanded and now provides home help services too which can include laundry, ironing, and general property maintenance.
Their team is fully trained, supervised, and insured, ensuring a high level of trust and reliability for their clients. In fact trust, care, and customer experience are at the heart of everything Helping Hands does, and they are happy only when they are happy. That’s why the business has been built on its famous 100% customer guarantee on all services.
In this interview, Suzanne tells us what she loves most about her business success and the joy she gets from great feedback and team development.
Why did you start Helping Hands?
I set the business up simply because I could never find a decent cleaner. I worked for the police, full-time, and I wanted someone in my home when I wasn’t there, who I could trust and rely upon. So, I gave up working for the police and started a cleaning business – just me, a mop and a bucket! I do what I do to make people’s lives easier.
Everything for them is workable, whether it’s the business or the home. They come into their premises and think, “Wow, Helping Hands have been!” It just helps. Big businesses, elderly people who live alone – however it is, we’re happy to serve them. That’s why we do what we do.
What do you enjoy most about your business?
I enjoy the great feedback we get. We’ve got eight teams out there today, working merrily away. What I enjoy is the feedback from the clients because we’re very close to them, speaking to them all the time. That great feedback always fills me with joy because I’ve invested my time in my team, and they’ve gone out and represented me and what I promised to the client.
When you get that feedback, it’s the trust, isn’t it? They just go along and do a great job. They’re looking after people’s keys and homes, and they’re in the most personal areas of people’s lives, whether it’s their work or home life.
We’re not supervised; it’s just trust, and that, for me, is massive. So, when I get great feedback, it fills me with joy.
What are the biggest problems you solve for your clients?
Well, for a business, it’s the cleanliness. They can completely rely on us.
For example, we have a big client with three sites across Lancashire. We go into those sites every day with a full team. We’re given access to all areas – we have all their keys – so they’re not having to send someone in early to let us in. They trust us to get in, and obviously, cleaning is what we do, and the expectations are high.
But beyond that, we solve the problem of saving them time and ensuring the place is clean before their teams arrive. We’re in there at 5 am, ready for their teams at 8:30. We leave as the unseen people making it a workable, lovely environment for them.
What makes Helping Hands different?
My team members are employed by me. They’re all on my payroll. There are lots of companies out there that operate as agencies. They get a client, for example, in Lytham, and then they have to find a cleaner to service that client. That’s not how we work.
I currently employ just shy of 40 staff members who work in teams under the guidance of a supervisor who is part of that cleaning team. The supervisor is responsible to me, ensuring the customer consistently gets what they want.
We’re different because our team operates under supervision at all times. Our supervisors are responsible for keys, security, and the quality of the work. We’re constantly talking to our clients to ensure they’re getting what they need and their environments are as they want.
We’re fully insured, and our teams are very well-paid and looked after. That’s one or two of the differences between us and other businesses.
What part has your team played in your success?
I could chat about my team all day. I’m very lucky to have a great team of people from different backgrounds. Magda has been with me for nearly 26 years – she’s Polish. I’ve got a lady from Latvia. [They are] both running teams for me. I’ve got people from Darwen – a variety of people, all shapes, sizes, and personalities.
But the biggest thing is they all come to work to do a good job. They’re all bought into me, and I’m very much bought into them. Because of that, we look after the customers, and we’re like one big family. It’s not always happy, but we’re one big family. There you go.
Do you enjoy seeing your team develop?
Yes, I love it. Caroline, for example, is from Manchester. She’s a great lady with a big personality. She started as a team member, content with just being employed and earning a living. Now, she’s my senior supervisor, and I love that. I’ve always loved seeing potential in people, even when they don’t see it themselves.
Magda, for example, couldn’t speak a word of English when she came here. She’s been with me for 26 years, running a team. Her clients love her.
Then there’s Elaine, who said in her interview, “I don’t want any responsibility.” She wouldn’t even drive because of a past car accident. I told her not to worry – she’d be fine with us. Now, she runs a team and drives a van.
I love it!