Social-purpose cleaning company gives 50% of its distributed profits to workers

At its recent AGM in the City of London, social enterprise cleaning company Clean for Good announced that it was sharing 50 per cent of its distributed profits with its workers. At a time when many employers are concerned about rising employment costs, this social business is showing that by investing in its workers it can deliver a ‘triple win’ – excellent customer service, financial dividends to shareholders and social impact for employees.

Clean for Good is a different kind of cleaning company, established as a social business to provide a fairer deal for cleaners and to drive change in a sector that is infamous for low pay and poor conditions.

Clean for Good is only seven years old but has grown rapidly to a turnover exceeding £1 million, employing 75 cleaners. At its AGM on 13^th November it announced that it has now made an annual profit for the fifth year in a row, demonstrating that a responsible business can also be financially sustainable.

The company also declared a dividend and announced that the company’s profits would be shared out equally between shareholders and employees, with each group receiving 50 per cent of distributed profits. This is in line with the company’s highly unusual Profit Policy which is part of the company’s deep commitment to fair pay. A total of £20,000 of profits was distributed in November.

Some 46 cleaning staff received a share of the profits in their November pay packet. A full-time employee will receive £378 of the profit share, with amounts varying depending on the hours worked during 2023-24.

Most of the company’s shares are owned by the three founding charities, so most of the shareholder dividends will go to support other charities. Even for these charities, it is a powerful demonstration that philanthropic giving is not the only way to create a positive change.

A triple win

Clean for Good pays the real Living Wage and also provides better employment terms and conditions for its cleaners than most of its competitors – like occupational sick pay from day one of a cleaner’s employment. This approach has enabled it to deliver a triple win – high customer satisfaction, high employee satisfaction and financial returns to shareholders.

A new independently researched Impact Report recently highlighted that the company’s cleaners were likely to have higher job satsfaction than the staff of the offices in which they are cleaning.

Many employers in low pay sectors face higher employment costs arising from increases in the Minimum Wage and upcoming reforms to Statutory Sick Pay through the Government’s Employment Rights Bill. This is concerning many employers who see it as a negative, but Clean for Good demonstrates that paying higher terms and conditions is actually good for business. Clean for Good already pays the real Living Wage and offers employee benefits like occupational sick pay, all above statutory minimums already – and this has strengthened the business, not undermined it. What is good for workers can be good for business.

Charlie Walker, Clean for Good’s Managing Director said: “At Clean for Good we don’t see our cleaners as a cost that needs to be managed down, but as our greatest asset that needs to be invested in. By sharing our profits we can demonstrate this value tangibly. It is great news for our cleaners but we also believe it is good for the business as staff feel valued, and recognised and this generates a sense of belonging and loyalty within the organisation.”

Becky Morris, Finance Director for the Church Mission Society (CMS) and one of the company’s founding charitable shareholders said: “As a shareholder, it’s certainly gratifying to receive a dividend on the investment we’ve made in Clean for Good, because we believed – and still believe – strongly in its purpose and vision. And seeing the company continue to treat its employees fairly and sharing out the profits so equitably makes us feel even better about our investment in this model of enterprise.”

Jacqueline Carrion, employed for over five years as one of Clean for Good’s cleaners, said: “This bonus makes me feel more valuable and more close to the company. I believe, in London, that it is the only [cleaning] company that recognises the values of the employee, by showing this generosity.”