Minster Cleaning was established in 1982 and has been a full member of the British Franchise Association (BFA) since 1992. With so much experience of franchising and the commercial cleaning market, Minster Cleaning gives prospective franchise partners a rock-solid business model with considerable opportunities for growth.
With a network of over 40 branches throughout the UK, operating large, exclusive territories, group turnover is now well over £55million. The top Minster Cleaning branches have sales of up to £3.5 million+ per year whilst over half of branches have a turnover of £1 million+ per year.
Paul Backhouse has been the Head of Finance at the company for a year. He manages the day-to-day activities of the finance department and is responsible for all finance related functions of the franchisor. These include internal management reporting, employee benefits and payroll, statutory returns, liaising with auditors, dealing with insurance brokers and much more. Paul works closely with the Directors on the interpretation of financial results and key financial trends, enabling the executive management team to make sound business decisions.
Paul is a central point of contact across the network for financial related queries, but with such a large number of franchisees to support, he cannot do it alone. There is a dedicated team working with Paul helping to support the Minster Cleaning network.
Paul says ‘Whilst the Directors of each franchise business are responsible for the performance of business functions, we provide ongoing guidance and support in areas such as payroll, auto-enrolment pensions and VAT. The requirement for this type of support tends to be centred around month-end and quarter-end, so it’s important that we have enough resource available in the Finance Team at these busier times’.
As well as being on hand for enquiries, the Finance Team proactively perform ‘financial health checks’. These involve onsite visits by a member of the team and include checks to ensure that transactions are being accurately recorded. The health check aims to benchmark a branch’s performance against best practice across the network. Trends in sales revenue and contract wins/losses are reviewed and additional analysis is carried out by sector and location.
The Finance Team recently worked with the Directors to launch financial support and growth incentive schemes which are now available to all franchisees. These are in response to recent changes in Employers National Insurance and Minimum Wage regulations and help to support the franchisees in growing their businesses whilst navigating these challenges.
Interdepartmental communication is a big part of Paul’s job. Working with the other Heads of Department and the Managing Director at Minster Cleaning, he helps to manage and deliver the strategic objectives of the business. A key priority for the business in the next 12 months is working on the development of more insightful reporting across all departments, using the latest data analysis tools including AI.
The Finance and IT Teams at Minster Cleaning are also working closely to introduce a new software system for the management of commercial cleaning operations. The new system has an intuitive interface which makes it easier to schedule staff across multiple contracts whilst still recording time and attendance accurately.
Paul says ‘Having been with Minster Cleaning for a year now, I have a good grasp of the business and the franchisees and how they work. I know that there is a lot more to be done and I am looking forward to helping to move the business forwards’.
New franchise opportunities include Buckinghamshire, Doncaster, Guildford, Leicestershire, London and Peterborough. Initial startup cost is £20,000 plus vat, which covers a £5,000 marketing launch fund, along with licence fee, training, I.T. equipment and stationery. In addition, you will need £35,000 working capital (plus personal drawings).
